“Is this a trap? Or is their hold really empty?”
“I do not know. Eighter way, prepare to make camp here! We will do surveillance in cycles, while the other two will sleep. I will be the first to begin.”
“Alright.”
Although the scenes were short, what came along with the pieces of information of what Adrian's eyes were seeing, were his emotions, as Levis was getting bombarded by a stoic and ever questioning type of presumptions, once the scenes were changing.
[ [What is going on with me? Why is my mood weird?] ]
[ [Just a side effect, as this is your first time. No need to worry, once you disconnect, you will stabilize your emotions after a period.] ]
Yet, as Levis was combating his strange feeling brought by Adrian’s consciousness, the scene was proceeding to change once more.
As the double stone door that was opened, and was just observed, stood currently, in front of the observer. While he looked into the dark of the tunnel ahead and took a small stone in his hand, that he made it shine with a weak white light, not stronger than the weak rays of light from the sun, coming from the top of the mountain to the east.
“Alright, stay together, and be prepared for anything that might happen.”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
As he received the confirmations, from the scout and the guard. What followed next for Levis was a series of fast-moving scenes of long tunnels-like-corridors, and various size rooms and halls, one more unclean than the next, as pieces of information about the foul stench were reaching him, from the one to have experienced it firsthand.
However, it did not take long for the fast scenes to stop, as they seemed to arrive at a large stone door, in one of the most elevated, and second biggest corridor of the structure,
“Stone door inside!”
[This must be the place of the “Pervert”, that the slave-bandit had mentioned.]
“What is this? Does it hides something?”
“This whole excursion had brought nothing beneficial. So, what do we do now—, Adrian!?”
“Ahh---, yes, sorry. I will go alone, and check the interior.”
“What? Have you gone mad all of a sudden?”
“No, this is supposed to be the habitational site of the “Pervert”, if by any chance he is still here, I can give you a head start to run and escape.”
“The second leader of the bandits?”
“So you really want to die!”
“Yes, and no, I am faster than the both of you, I will be able to escape, but if you come with me, you will just be caught, and killed.”
“Alright, but if anything occurs, call for us immediately.”
“Uhm.”
Immediately after the small discussion with the two others, he opened the large stone door of the hall, and he walked into the dark corridor with his light stone in his hand, towards the back of the tunnel, where another door could be seen.
[ [What was that? Did he talk to himself?] ]
[ [No, that is a thought, from when this might have happened, or from now, as this is not us watching, but him, as I forced him to relive through his past actions, made by the information he had retained from said moments.] ]
[ [Urger?] ]
[ [That is right, kid! I am back.] ]
Though, as Levis was getting slightly irked, Adrian's eyes were already on the door at the end of the passage, as he placed the glowing stone behind him while drawing his sword, and using one hand to open the entrance.
Yet, once he had pushed the door inwards, a foul stench that he could not describe hit him, as he was pushed to the limit of what he could tolerate.
Though as he covered his mouth and nose instinctively, and glimpsed inside the large opening before him, shock and real horror were crashing on him, as numerous mutilated bodies were hanging on the walls of the opening cave-like room, as well as on the ground.
Regardless, he turned around and grabbed the light stone in his hand, as he enter the “room”, in order to get a better view, of the nightmare that was the inside of the cave-like abode.
And yet, as he focus more, on the bodies illuminated by the light, he could finely observe in detail the difference between the “bodies”. As to the left, were hanging by a chain or by needles, a dozen or so middle-aged, yet what it could be presumed to have been beautiful long hair ladies, now in a horrifying state, as the majority were desiccated and rotten, while the “fresh” ones, were still painted by the blood of their own bizarre wounds, and as to his right were numerous firm middle-aged men, all in a similar state as to the women, and yet, still to be ad, were the numerous large fishes on the ground, that were the size of a man, all sporting the same type of injuries as the women and the men, large, deep and rough wounds.
“---!”
"Hmm---!!
“He–, he had said—, “Red”!!!!”
[Fuck, this—, he is! This is bad, I have to escape. No, alert the others first.]
Though the most shocking discovery yet, was that of a back, of a human-like figure, near the end of the place he was in, meanwhile, the most eye-striking characteristic was the “red” colored of its hair, and upper garment he was wearing, that had nearly made him part of the picture, that was the nightmare like-place, he had entered.
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[ [He is?] ]
[ [Stay silent, and watch.] ]
Yet, as Adrian was trying to move back, to his shock, was now finding himself incapable of movement, and of making any sound whatsoever, as all he could do was watch the backside, of the being ahead of him.
“Now, now---, no need to be alarmed, I just want to talk a tad with you, since your captain had killed my little pup, Vice-captain Adrian, of the Forest county!”
However, as the man with his back pointed at him began to speak, with what seemed to be a high level of closeness and a sense of familiarity, that send chills down his spine, as he had no idea how to evaluate his situation. While his own unmoving state did not seem to be made by the man in the cave, but by an instinctive reaction, of prey not commencing an escape, that could not be realized, making him understand the being ahead was a monster of unknown power, stronger than anyone he had ever seen in his entire life, to the point he had unconsciously surrender himself.
“You are far too afraid and tense, you should relax a bit, I am not going to do anything to you, aha.”
And yet, at his words, the state of near paralysis was undone as though pardoned from a crime he could not run.
“ “Gasp”. Are you----, the one called “Pervert”?”
“Perv—, ahhh, that is what those idiots had called me for the last year, that is not my real name, so stop using it, it gives the impression of me being a weirdo”
“So—, what is your real name then?”
“My nam—aha, shrewd---, but I can not reveal it---. This year-long stupid mental adjustment sure is annoying. You know, my hand had been itching, since those loud idiots in the south made a mess, and now, ants and flies are crawling and flying all about this place, truly testing my tolerance. However, this is part of the adjustment as well, although not talking with someone honestly is the most stressful issue.”
Though, as he rose from a rectangular stone that was using it as a chair, Adrian did not see a man getting up, but an immense expanse of water that was rising to cover the plains and mountains, as it grew into a sea so deep that it did not allow any mountain to rise above it, however, it seemed to be unsatisfied, as the red sea was now trying to flood the sky itself, delivering him an unalienable sense of terror, as he was having the real impression of being crushed, by the pressure made from of the world cataclysm he was experiencing it.
“Hey, ohy, ohy—, are you good? Do not go off like that, when I am having an honest conversation with you.”
However, as he seemed to be lost in a trance, by the sole first movement of the man, his voice ironically, was what had awakened him, as the same red man was now facing and gazing directly into his eyes.
Though, what stood in front of him, was a young man no older than eighteen, just slightly younger than himself, and about the same as his captain, a rather docile face, with short hair, with his upper and lower clothes of a rugged and rustic kind, of a dark red colored, and with his feet bare on the unclean reddish ground, that could not be understood, of what was it that was covered with, and yet his eyes were the ones that killed any chance that he might be recognized as a human, as all that Adrian could see, was red sea swirling inside of them.
"----."
"You do not want to talk!? Alright, then I will. You see, restraining myself had been really hard, most of the time here, I wanted to kill all those ants, however, I need great self-control for what I am about to do, you understand, right."
And yet, the silent stare between them lasted for just a few moments, as the man in Red began to talk, without regarding if Adrian was listening to him or not.
"And, oh yes, I could have moved from here, when the ones you are looking for left this place, however, I need it to know if Dou could escape the mindset of the slaughter he was in, nevertheless as you know, he died at your captain and that bandit hands, however, now I have been waiting for you, to come here."
Yet, at the words from the almost smiling man in front of him, Adrian could not feel any less terrified, as he had the vague impression something bad was going to happen.
"I am about to enter the mountains, and I am not sure, if I will be myself once I will come out, so I need to make one last disciple before that. Dou was a failure, as he lost himself in murder and did not understand my true essence, however, your water element is far better and can still be changed, so---, I will give you some of my understanding and make you my disciple of "blood"."
"Pat"
Nevertheless, once the smile was fully manifested on the face of the "young man" before him, his right hand patted Adrian's left shoulder, making him feel a cold chill in his blood, flesh, and bones.
Although, what followed once his hand was taken, was an undescribable burning and pain coming from his left shoulder as he was pushed back.
And yet, as he was falling down, his left view was covered by a red cloud, as well as of pieces of something flying, that he did not know what it was.
"Thud"
"Ahhhhh---, sorry this I did not want to do it like this … it was an accident, I keep forgetting just how weak you are, and this body of mine is still—, but yes, this might be a good thing, as a greater challenge can lead you to achieve a greater success, yes that's right."
However, the fallen Adrian on the floor was not paying attention, as his armor, clothes, flesh, and bones had exploded, leaving him to stay in a pool of blood that was growing, as he could not muster the strength to even ascertain what had happened to himself at this moment, due to his momentary confusion.
"Cough, gu, Cough, glu."
[Am I---, going to die here?]
Regardless, blood was accumulating in his mouth as he was starting to drown in it, from a puncture to the lungs, that was flooding them.
"What? I can not understand you---. This---, might be a little too much, let me fix you back a little bit."
Though as the man was moving his fingers over the wound, Adrian's eyes bulged, as he was having the feeling, that molten metal was being poured on his open wound.
"Alright, I closed some of your critical wounds. Now take this, and you may possibly become my disciple if you don't die today."
Yet, as the man drew back his finger, and look at the fallen Adrian that could not even wriggle in all the pain that he was experiencing while maintaining a sadistic grin, he did not try to hide.
"I will leave you that—, if you can live, then this will help you in your life, and become a disciple of mine if you can make use of it. You seem quite good in your own mediocrity."
Although, Adrian was not paying much attention, as the excruciating pain was keeping him from falling asleep, from the huge initial blood loss.
"Well, good luck, if you can make some noise, maybe your friends will come and save you, if they can survive that is---, Ehh! What? Who is it!!"
"RUMBLE"
However, as the "young man" in red was speaking about the other two companions, as he was about to give them the same treatment, the place he was in began to tremble intensely, making him reveal a surprise and slight anger, as he was looking to an upper side of the cave, with an intensely locked gaze.
"It seemed that a surprised guest is here, I will leave to see who this guest is. Well, your friends are coming here, so good luck, my disciple!"
Despite Adrian looking at the "young man" speaking to him, he was forcing himself to stay awake from the ever-growing tiredness that he was having, as the man disappeared from his sight abruptly, leaving him with the last image of the man smiling and caring countenance at him, and yet his look was more akin to someone looking at a small animal, and not a human.
[Fuck, fuck, who the fuck is he? How did a monster like him, ended up here? Am I going to die? Are they---, hurry--- leave------.]
"ADRIAN, ADRIAN, WHERE ARE YOU!??"
"HE'S HERE! WHAT THE----, FUUUCK ADRIAN!!!"
"QUICK, HELP ME CLOSE THE WOUND, WE NEED TO LEAVE THIS PLACE, IT IS GOING TO COLLAPSE!!!"
"I CAN SEE THAT TOO, HURRY!!!"
Yet, as he was about to lose consciousness, while questions were swirling in his mind, the voices of the guard and scout reach him, as he could not keep his eyes open to see them while he was slowly succumbing to unconsciousness.
[ [This is everything?] ]
[ [Yes, I can not show you what he did not register, after all, he was unconscious. Now remove yourself from his consciousness.] ]
As the scenes were done, only blackness remained, as they detached from Adrian's consciousness. returning to their forms of a middle-aged man and an elongated cloud of energy, near the sea of mind that was Adrian.
"So kid, what is your impression?"
"Powerful, very powerful, I have never experienced something like that, is he the one to have made the overflow of the river, he seemed to talk about the "water" element."
"No, if he were the one to fight then you would not be alive at this moment."
"So he is not the one to have made the snow and the wind? Then how much time before I can kill him? He is obviously evil, so even if he was not the one, I still need to kill him."
"No, you can not, after all, he is much stronger than the ones that had made you your weird weather, this one is the real deal, he is not just a peak Emperor. Moreover from his body---, well in a dozen of years he will be far stronger than he is now. Although if you will still go with the crazy idea that I promise to tell you, you might be able to do it in ten or so years."
"Too much time."
"No good things will come if you rush."
"However, I wonder who was that made him leave."
"It is useless to talk about that now---, go eat and drink a lot of water, mending your finger had taken a lot from your body, so go. I have healed most of the nasty wounds of the boy, we will talk later if you want to steal the thing that your friend had received."
"What!?"
"Move already, they will get suspicious, if they found you sitting with your hand over his forehead for so long, I will give you back your senses."
However, if they could have continued to observe the man in red, they would have seen him stay at the top of a mountain, above the valley where the hold of the bandits was trembling, as it was about to collapse on itself.
While his gaze was on the top of another mountain, a few thousand meters away from him.