Red…blue…yellow and even black delicately crushed powdery substances could be found in different sections of the bag, but no matter how quickly Karh opened them up and how long he stared at them, he couldn’t tell what effect they would have.
{Tick…Tick…The healer is probably already on his way back}
In a split second after that, Karh made his decision.
One after the other he began to sprinkle everything he could lay his hand on into the first patch of cloth in front of him, while keeping track of how much time passed in his mind.
He could hear his heart thundering heavily in his heart even as he dabbled and messed with the first one on his left, his ears working harder than his eyes as he made sure to listen to every single sound he heard.
Working even faster than before, feeling heavy drops of sweat pool on his face from the anxiety he felt, he was somehow able to get past the second one too and had only begun sprinkling over the third path of black cloth when he suddenly heard footsteps close to the door.
He balked in fear, tying up the contents in Orvian’s bag one after the other with lightning speed, and dashing back to the corner where he had been sitting the moment he was done.
He wiped his face with the back of his hands, trying to wear a chilled expression on his face even though it felt like his thumping heart was about to give up on him.
{Two? Even of somehow you got it right how are you going to kill the remaining three}
He heard the voice in his head say as he heard the footsteps from outside get closer to the door only to stop before slowly fading away.
His eyes widened in shock, as he turned his face from the back door of the Carhan’s room he had been staring at, back to the five patches of cloth on the floor.
{Don’t even think of it. The time it would take you to untie each pouch in the bag. Before you start…}
But Karh didn’t wait for the voice to finish before running forward, dropping to his knees as he began untying the bag as quickly as he could.
{Are you stupid? You’re not going to make it. Moreover, how are you so sure whatever you’re doing will actually work? What if all they get is an upset stomach?!}
Karh was too far gone to care, knowing that every second he wasted would only be detrimental to his survival, as he opened all the pouches right back.
One after the other, he went back to sprinkling everything he found in the back into the third pouch with hopes that he could make it to the fourth to even if he couldn’t make it to the fifth.
But luckily for him, he had only just begun when he heard heavy footsteps approaching the door. It was loud and confident and he was instantly sure that they belonged to Orvian.
As quickly as he could possibly manage he began to tie back the pouches he had opened, his hands trembling ever so slightly as he moved to shove them back into the bag.
But even before he was done, he knew that he wouldn’t make it. The footsteps were already too close to the door, his shaky hands didn’t help and by the time he had shoved everything back in Orvian’s bag, he heard the door swing open to reveal the healer.
Karh had no time to return and all he could do was simply kneel in the position he was caught in with his head bowed.
“WHAT…” Orvian’s voice thundered in the room the moment he caught sight if Karh rushing forward only to find his entire body trembling, his face contorted into one of extreme pain.
“What…what you gave me didn’t work…” Karh cried with tear filled eyes as he looked up starting directly into Orvian’s eyes as he continued speaking.
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“I looked in your bag for a drug but what I really hoped for was poison. Any…any would have been fine,” Karh said as he thought of everything he had experienced until that very moment. Going as far as to recall the exact day he had begged Orvian for one only to get a shitty response.
“You’re in Blodisfed. How dare you try to disgrace the Carhan by hoping to die from nothing but the sword?”
But this time around, Orvian simply stared at him quietly for a few seconds with a clearly irritated look before he loudly hissed and moved to bend over the concortions in the five patches of cloth.
One after the other he hurriedly added tiny pieces of what looked like red sand before quickly tying them up one after the other.
Without so much as sparing a glance to Karh he made his way out the room. Karh instantly followed him with his head bowed strongly to the floor, going as far as to crouch down the moment they got back outside.
‘If it didn’t work then he was dead but if it did then he definitely had a chance,’
{Delusional…you barely managed to put anything in the third one, which means that two brothers will be completely fine.
‘I’ve done the calculations in my head. As long as Kon and Roe die then I definitely have a chance,’ Karh responded to the voice in his head in a much more confident tone, than how he truly felt.
The truth was that in his heart, he knew that the chances of him dying were still way higher than him being able to kill all his brothers.
Even if Kon and Roe died and by chance Drue the last and evil brother also did, how was he supposed to deal with the remaining two.
Yes he had an invisible dagger and might be able to somehow kill one if he got a chance but how was he supposed to fight the last one with his element of surprise gone.
Suddenly a spark went off in his mind.
‘Won’t you give me rewards for every brother I kill?’ Karh hurriedly asked the voice in his head in an anticipatory tone that sounded like he was convinced he would get one.
{Yes you’ll get rewards for every brother you kill}
‘He…he. Then I don’t have to worry too much. If I get good rewards then killing the last brother shouldn’t be too hard,’ Karh thought to himself while watching from the side as his brothers argued back and forth about who was going to go first.
While all that went on, Karh simply hoped that they would start knowing that he barely had five more minutes left, even as he fixed his eyes on the pouches Orvian held in his hands.
He needed Kon and Roe to pick out of the ones he had touched.
Finally, incensed at the never-ending yelling match they were having, Nox suddenly stepped forward and picked a pouch.
Karh instantly breathed a sigh of relief, only for his eyes to widen when Froh also stepped forward only to pick one of the ones he messed with.
‘Its fine. There’s still two left but those words had only just crossed his mind when he watched the rest move to also pick theirs only to be slightly annoyed to see only Roe pick well.
Nox, Roe and Drue picked the ones he touched and Kon and Froh didn’t.
‘It's still fine…’ Karh had only just thought to himself when he watched Roe suddenly speak to Froh, watching in blatant shock and obvious annoyance as they exchanged pouches.
“Yeap. Blue definitely feels like my lucky color…” Roe
chuckled as he held Froh’s pouch in his hands and Karh would have liked nothing more than to toss his dagger right at him and watch him die.
“GO AHEAD! One after the other…” The Carhan ordered and Karh watched, doing everything he could to mask the annoyance he felt from appearing on his face, as Kon opened his tossing the contents smoothly in his mouth.
Karh began to bite his lower lip on the verge of biting it to shreds. If they were going by age then that would mean that there would barely be enough time for Drue to take his own.
{What makes you so sure that it’ll kill them?}
‘One problem at a time,” Karh responded, his eyes fixed firmly on Nox even while the rest of them moved on to Roe after Kon had been questioned.
At this point, it was Nox he cared about. If nothing happened to Nox and he was fine then Karh knew that he might as well save everyone else the trouble and find a hole in the ground and toss himself right into it.
Finally, Nox’s time came and to Karh’s great displeasure, Nox was completely fine even as everyone moved on to Froh.
{He…He…}
{Who knows maybe dying by the sword is the best way to go}
But Karh was lost and unable to take his eyes off Nox and Froh as he watched in shock as finally they moved on to Drue.
{He…He. They are all absolutely fine. This is hilarious…}
Karh however, couldn’t laugh as scrambled to his feet with a wry smile on the edge of his lips.
‘I tried my best,’ knowing that the moment they were all transferred back to the battle hall like the voice said he would, he would die as horribly as the first time he tasted death.
It was Drue’s turn and he had just opened his pouch halfway to pour the contents in his mouth but Karh didn’t pay him any mind.
‘If anything I managed to kill one of them,’ Karh shrugged standing properly, as he openly stared at his brothers knowing that it was the end of him.
But he had only just digested that fact and accepted it, ready for whatever else came, without a trace of fear in his eyes.
However, suddenly everything changed. Karh had no time to take in what was happening when he suddenly heard the voice in his mind announce:
{Time Dilation}
{Inheritor 506# -Accept Inheritance}
{All participants will be immediately teleported to the battle hall}
The next thing he knew, Karh found himself in the roofless and battle work hall dyed in dry blood standing at the very top of the stairs with the red ball in his hand.
For Karh it was almost like everything happened in slow motion as he looked down at his five brothers.
His gaze however settled; instead on Nox unable to hide the shock and delight in his eyes as he suddenly watched Nox stagger, doing his best to remain upright only to fail and find himself on the ground the very next second watching Nox suddenly bend over, blood splurging heavily from his mouth.
The only unlucky thing was that the rest of the brothers instantly noticed Nox’s abnormality too.