"Goodbye brother"
As I left the manor I was immediately greeted by the cold spring air as it swept across the capital.
Imperial Capital Region, Albion, the crown city of Emmeria. Founded three thousand years ago, Albion is a walled super metropolis that's comprised of nine interconnected cities and is home to more than twelve million people.
Situated at the center of the continent along the great Dolores River, Albion is known for its culturally diverse population, technological reclamation, and advancement, as well as being the central hub for all trades in the continent.
Arriving at one of the busy main roads, I see a throng of people wearing similar school uniforms to mine with varying course insignias on their shoulder pads and rushing towards the central railway station.
First Imperial University or simply Cerestine University... that's the name of the school that I am currently attending. Named after the first high empress, Cerestine University is by far the most prestigious as well as the largest educational institution in the empire.
Being situated right at the center of the capital, along with the imperial palace, and central cathedral, you could say that this university is without a doubt one of the pillars of the empire which is only further emphasized by the scope of its size.
Consisting of sixty-three campuses, over a hundred dormitories, a small commercial center, a complex yet highly efficient railway system, and various guilds, the Cerestine itself is a small walled city that's inside of a walled metropolis.
The University is split into two major parts where the first half of it was for general education which facilitates primary and secondary grades, while the other half is divided into two further branches of specialization namely the imperial scholarium which handles domestic and industrial studies, and the imperial martial study which falls under the military.
Another noteworthy fact to add about this institution was that ever since its inception the academy, as per her, the first high empress' decrees, has offered and dedicated all its resources to granting all the citizens of the empire be they noble-born or commoners the equal privilege of studying in this very institution without a single amount of expense aside from miscellaneous.
As I continued my march towards the station I managed to come across a familiar street, and along that street was a large rusting gate filled with creeping ivy.
Taking a short peek, I see a burnt-down manor that looks like it hasn't been touched for decades.
Every time I come across this street, I can't help but feel a cope of nostalgia. Reminiscing about the past, this very street reminds me of those happy days back when I was just a kid. You see, I used to know the person who once lived here. An unfortunate girl who has a weak complexity to the point that she couldn't even walk on her own yet at the same time has a strong will to always brandish a bright smile on her face and kindness that couldn't ever be rivaled.
Though not very proud, I used to be very different back then, a gloomy kid who can only be found at the back of the group all alone. I had no aspirations back then and was always being harassed by my peers as well as be compared to my older sister who at that time had already been recognized as a full-fledged spirit mage.
I was at rock bottom during that time, although Mom and Dad of course were always been there to support me, but still, I was really fortunate to have met the person who used to live in that burnt-down manor.
It was just a pure coincidence really... or rather it was more like an accident.
"I wonder where she is now... I hope she's still in good health"
"Sigh... Enough getting sidetracked I need to hurry"
********
"Okay class turn your book to page 127"
"""Yes ma'am!"""
I am now inside the class and standing right in front of us was a long black-haired woman who was currently in her mid-twenties. Wearing a standard set of uniform which consists of a white blouse, a black buttonless overcoat with blue trimmings, a black short skirt, and a black sandal. Aside from that she also has a blue beret with an anchor and sword insignia, a neat blue scarf, and to top it all off a reading glass which I think she is only wearing for fashion statement... though that all aside there's no denying that she gives a very charismatic aura of that of a very well-experienced person in its profession.
Her name is Professor Kailene Faharbor, twenty-four years old, and was one of the brightest graduates of this institution. Aside from that, there's not much we know about her personally as she had just suddenly become our instructor by the middle semester, permanently replacing our previous instructor who happened to have gotten himself severely injured in a wild fiasco while conducting our practical training almost a month ago.
During her introduction, she said that she was an active imperial marine officer who just happened to be reassigned here as an instructor.
In the last few weeks, she's been steadily handling several of our subjects such as world history, history of human society, etiquette, weapon arms training, and of course practical combat training.
"Slaine if you please, kindly read the title of our lesson for today"
"Yes ma'am! Cold World: The Cryogenian Period"
"—That's right! Listen up, Today our lesson is about the Cryogenian period which is also known as the 'Frozen world'. Now the cryogenic period refers to the period when the entire surface of the Earth was blanketed by a thick layer of ice which happened approximately around seven hundred twenty to six hundred thirty-five million years ago, not much was known during that time except that part of the earth including the oceans and tropical region were all frozen solid"
As Professor Faharbor wrote some keywords on the board, I began to notice that the entire class was currently in a state of trance and everyone was dead quiet as they listened to the person in front of them.
This type of atmosphere truth to betold was a very rare occurrence, especially for this set of classes within the academy, It truly was a very remarkable feat where one could say that this is very out of the norm, our former and other instructors who teach this class know better as they first-hand experience how hellish the true nature of this class was.
"Now during the cryogenic period, there were two known intense glaciation events which are the Sturtian glaciation period and the Marinoan glacial period. The Sturtian glaciation period is the first episode of the cryogenic period which started about seven hundred and twenty million years ago and lasted about thirty-six million years, and the second episode which is the Marinoan glaciation period started about six hundred and fifty million years ago and lasted about for only fifteen million years"
As the class continued, I covertly let out a deep yawn and listened to the lesson while reading my copy of the book.
Looking out the window I could only see dark clouds forming in the sky, a sign of an upcoming heavy rain which I do hope won't happen.
"Hope it's not gonna pour soon" I whisper to myself before continuing to pay attention to the class.
"—That being said, there was some speculation on what's the cause of such a glacial age, some article from ancient society suggests that at some point in time, the earth's rotational axis wasn't as similar as it is now, but the most realistic theory was that it was caused by a massive volcanic event which covers the entire earth's atmosphere with thick plumes that no sunlight can pierce through lowering the earth's surface temperature—"
Another hour has passed since then and droplets of water began to drop and soon enough just as I expected it turns into heavy rain.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
A very familiar bell rang outside of the room indicating that the current class had now ended.
"Well then students, since it's pouring real heavy at the moment I have to cancel our sword training, I guess that'll be it for this week.
Next week will be the start of your rehearsal for your graduation so those that still haven't passed their higher education specialization application, you better start filling up your forms or else you won't be able to apply for the imperial scholarship, the deadline is on the first week of next month.
—Oh, before I forget, I also received a notice earlier that today is the start of this month's weapon maintenance so don't forget to drop all your academy-issued weapons at the armory. Lastly, I would like to remind you all again to do all of your homework about the great collapse which will also be our next topic for your 'History of Human Society', okay?~"
Upon hearing the word 'assignment' numerous unhappy groans can be heard from my classmates.
"—I know, I know, nobody likes assignments. But just because you are all graduating doesn't mean you all got a free pass, okay?~ I know I'm just your replacement professor but we still got three months left, so you know... just suck it up"
The professor then let out a captivating wink at the class before packing her things up. Wait is this woman really a marine?... "well then, class dismiss, have a nice weekend" and left the room which was followed by my other classmates.
"Yow Rey!" As I began neatly putting my books back into my bag, a person with a familiar voice suddenly tapped my back "Ain't our replacement professor so sexy and hot?!"
"Tch... it's been three weeks already, don't you ever get tired of saying that Arthur?" After I manage to put all my things neatly into my bag, I then turn around only to see a familiar mildly 'irritatingly' handsome face with smooth blonde hair that could even rival promotional models found on the recruitment poster of the academy "–because I'm kinda seeing a pattern for the last six years that were classmates"
Arthur Ruela [https://i.imgur.com/7efhdUq.png]
"what do you mean by that?! RESPECTING WOMEN IS A MUST!" Arthur then puffs his proud chest out showing his gallant stature which was followed by some suppressed wails, and giggling sounds from the girls at the back.
Sigh... This guy...
"Though I'm not against your antics, but your 'respecting woman' kinda falls into a different category when you're the one saying it"
"I'll take that as a compliment!" The two of us then laugh.
As we continue to exchange words, we then leave the classroom and head to the armory to drop off our weapons before heading outside.
As we approach the main door of the building, we start to hear the loud howling sound of the wind as well as the heavy pouring of rain outside.
"Say, do you have an umbrella?" Arthur asks but I can only shake my head silently in reply.
"Guess we're stuck here huh" Arthur nervously chuckles and whispers something under his breath "shit! Mom and Dad are going kill me"
"My condolences" I whisper.
The two of us then decided to wait for the rain to stop but looking at the dark heavy sky, it indicates that it isn't going to let up any time soon.
**********
"ARGH! I wanna go home dammit! Mom and Dad are gonna kill me for missing another swordsmanship lesson" Arthur irritably kicks the pebble of stone on his feet. His frustration at the very least is very justifiable in my opinion as we've been stuck in the rain for roughly an hour now.
"Again my condolences. —but still, Swordsmanship huh, I thought you hated practicing with swords. I still remember in the past that you've endlessly struck your sword against a big boulder just to chip and dull the edge of your first iron sword to convince your dad to stop training you.
—Nevertheless, it backfires hard when it instead gives your dad the impression that you're practicing non-stop to the point that it dulled your sword in a short amount of time. That was funny" I lightly tease Arthur as I monotonously watch the rain.
"What are you talking about? That was seven years ago, I learned that young beautiful ladies who like to hang out in the taverns heavily favor men with good muscles and know how to handle swords"
"Hmmm... so I guess it's safe to say that you're following your dad's footsteps now huh? Aiming to be an Imperial knight someday?" I continue.
"What?! Wa— wait Imperial knight? That's impossible, especially for someone who only has an honorary background, I could opt to be a warrior or a normal knight but as you know I'm only training with a sword so that I can have a chat with the ladies. I'd still want to be a civil servant"
"Our military is run with the principle of meritocracy I'm sure skill of your caliber is more than enough to warrant you an officer rank"
"Hmmph as if! As far as I'm concerned you're only good to the armed forces if you have an affinity to aether and mana otherwise you'll just be another grunt"
"Ho~ I wonder what will be your dad's reaction if he suddenly hears those words that you just said right now, considering he's one of the prestigious knight captains of this empire even though he doesn't have any affinity with Aether... I'm sure he'll be furious!" Amid our serious conversation I then out of nowhere pulled out a blackmail card.
"I know you have an old grudge against me trying to hit on your elder sister in the past, but trying to kill me using my old man, isn't that just plain cruel!"
"I mean I could always just tell it to Madam Ruela instead"
"Ahh no! Nu-uh! Please spare me! If my father is like a stampeding stallion then my mother is a rampaging war elephant! I'll get killed!"
"Hmm... I don't know"
"You're heartless as ever! This is why girls never approach you! I swear I'll haunt you to the end of the world if I die!" Arthur retorted.
"I know, I know. I'm just kidding, just kidding. Anyway a civil servant huh, that's actually not a bad choice you know... —Heck with a face like yours I reckon you could even go as far as an ambassador. Just don't forget to introduce me to some foreign girls if you manage to catch some pretty ones if you know what I mean"
"Ugh... seriously You're giving me too much credit"
"Hey I'm not joking here... hmm... maybe a little" I chuckle before nudging him "Anyway, worst case scenario since my parent decided that I'm the one who's taking over the family enterprise I'll just employ you as one of my accountants or my bodyguard who knows"
"Pfft you? Need a bodyguard? The world must be ending right now haha" Arthur with his remark then laughs at me.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing it's just that I'd feel really sorry for someone who's gonna try to attack you, especially after you managed to beat my mother in a classic duel during the school festival last semester"
"for the record, I didn't beat your mother, secondly both our weapons got destroyed so it's a draw, lastly she was going easy on me. Seriously, you think I can win against a heroic mage like her?"
"Well then young sir Argent let me educate you about the devil mage that obliterated the rebellion of the mountain pass. My mother, Lian Arte Ruela may be well known to many as the sweet caring wife and a devoted mother of the knight household Ruela, but the moment you challenge her to a duel is the moment that you'd realize why the imperial family and the minister of defense bestowed her the title of the 'death lily of the river valley'. I literally got beaten to a pulp when I nonchalantly challenged my mother to a duel thinking she'd hold back and teach some of her skills!
At first, she smiled at me like the sweet mother that she was until a second later everything went black and the next thing I knew was waking up in the local clinic with all my limbs and ribs either broken or cracked. It took me the entire summer vacation to recover..."
"So that why I didn't see you during summer three years ago"
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"—Enough about me, I don't wanna recall my past trauma... how about you? Our graduation is just around the corner what's your plan for the future?"
"Me? Well... I still have no idea... My main goal was to enroll in either the vanguard officer course, or the command officer course for my higher education at the Imperial War Academy, but then out of nowhere both my parents got suddenly awarded the noble title of court baron and baroness along with ministerial position in the palace"
"I don't see any problem with that though"
"It's just too complicated... like I said since they won't have any more time to manage our business and are now both forcing me to take over. One side of me wants to continue on my original path, while the other side wants to continue what my parent has started since I'm going to inherit everything in the future" I let out a deep sigh.
"Pfft... you're just overthinking it that much, knowing your parent, I'm sure they both want you to follow your own path. My parents meanwhile had already filed my application for the knight cavalry course overseas at my mother's homeland without even informing me! I just learned about it yesterday..."
"If I remember correctly Madam Ruela came from the northern kingdom of Lacuna, Man, You sure have it rough huh, guess we're going on separate paths after all"
"Don't worry I got a plan though if doesn't work I'll be sure to send you some mail every once in a while"
"Pfft... I'll be sure to do the same"
As another hour passes by, there is still no change in the weather.
"Arrghh! I don't care anymore!"
Frustrated, out of nowhere Arthur suddenly decided to make a jump for it and began to charge through the rain.
"Hey wait up!" Surprised of Arthur bolting out in the rain and running like a madman, I decided to follow suit.
Waterproofed and made out of leather, we used our handbag as impromptu umbrellas to cover our heads, but because of the bag's small size as soon as we stepped out of the cover, our shoes and clothes immediately got drenched from the rain.
"Argh dammit!" Irritated we both continue to make our way without any care.
!!!
Arriving at the busy main road where carriages usually go through I suddenly felt a faint pulse inside of my head, although not painful I shortly began to feel dizzy but since it couldn't be helped I decided to just ignore the pain and continue following Arthur.
"Hey Arthur what's our plan? You know the train station won't let us in 'cause we're thoroughly drenched!"
"Who said we're going to board the train, let's marathon our way home!" Arthur nonchalantly declares.
"Godda— I knew it! I'm seriously beginning to question your sanity!"
"Sorry, but this is better than getting punished by Mother! But hey this isn't the first time, right? question is can you keep up?!"
"Is that even a question?"
"Now that's the spirit!"
**********
"We're almost there"
"Yeah"
After what seems to be an eternity of continuously running our way through the roads and streets, we soon finally arrive at a familiar intersection.
"Well then, see ya on Sunday Arthur" I said as I waved goodbye to him.
"Oh yeah, I forgot your new residence is by this street, see you then" Arthur then also waves his goodbye and continues on his way.
"Sigh... that guy really is something, hope he survives Madam Ruela's punishment."
After seeing Arthur make another turn, I then decided to continue on my way. But as I turned around and took my first step—
!!!
I felt a sudden pulse that was similar to earlier but this time it was much more painful than before.
"Arrghh!"
As I could not ignore the pain anymore, I let out a loud groan and unconsciously dropped my bag to squeeze my head desperately trying to alleviate the pain, and to my surprise, it somehow worked.
As soon as the pain dissipates I again open up my eyes, but unexpectedly everything in my sight is now covered in a blue hue, and that everything is now frozen in place as if the flow of time itself has stopped.
Needle-like raindrops that are suspended in mid-air are like billions of arrows that are going down the battlefield. I tried to close and open my eyes multiple times to see if I was just hallucinating but to no avail. The entire place is nonetheless frozen still, even the howling wind that was hammering both me and Arthur earlier was also surprisingly gone.
"What... is this?" I curiously touch the frozen raindrop but as my skin makes contact with the water droplet, it then regains its clear color and naturally flows in his palm.
"Fufufu. It seems that... you have finally awakened..."
"Huh?! Who's there!" Hearing a sudden voice I turn around to see if there's a person nearby, but as expected I am the only person out in the street.
"Hello?... —Arghh! My head... It hurt!"
"For so long I've waited for your return..."
"Hello? Who's there?! This is not a joke show yourself!"
"You, who had slain countless souls... You, who had cursed the past... And you, who have destroyed the world.."
Hearing such an ominous voice, I panicky make my way through the empty street, although everything seems to be completely frozen still, I pay no mind as I just want to get away from this place as soon as possible.
turning to a corner, I then see an odd mysterious black smoke gushing out of the manhole on the ground. To my surprise, the smoke then began to combine together and start to take shape.
"What is that?!" I muttered as I could not believe what I was seeing right now.
As the black smoke finishes to take its form what came out is the large pitch-black wolf that has three heads with each having a pair of red glowing eyes.
"!!!" After hearing my shocked voice, the three-headed wolf turns around and stares right into my soul making my chest pound uncontrollably.
Slowly trying to approach me, it tries to encircle my position while eyeing me as if I were its prey. It growls and snarls at every small movement that I make trying to intimidate me and force me to make sudden instinctual movements.
I, On the other hand, after seeing the beast's action decided to keep my distance. Aside from being a good swordsman, I was also a decent hunter that has many experiences in dealing with different kinds of beasts, but I can't really deny that in this situation those will hardly help me as there's no telling what this foul beast is capable of, I can only remain cautious.
The two of us played cat and mouse for several minutes, everything can happen in a flash but none of us is willing to budge. Pressure rises by the seconds as the continuous growl and snarl force my instinct to make a run for it, but knowing the rules of the jungle that whoever moved first will lose, I steel myself further.
Everything was at a stalemate, hunter and hunted... but it was until, with an intent to go for a kill, the three-headed beast snarled and lunged at me.
Logically this kind of beast is impossible to exist, especially when it comes from black mysterious smoke, but then again my instinct tells me to run away as fast as my legs can carry me. As the three-headed beast lunges towards me, I reflexively jumped away resulting in narrowly dodging the attack, but still, the beast didn't let up his ferocity and lunged for a second time, this time it managed to graze me at my shoulder and opened up three shallow wounds where the blood starts to gush out and trickles down my arms.
"Ahh! It hurts!" I yelp in pain.
"Grrrrr!" Striking first blood, the beast growls horrendously.
"What is that thing!" As soon as I felt the pain, out of panic and unarmed I immediately bolted as fast as I could, away from the beast.
"A crownless king that has put the past to eternal damnation... depriving it of its life, and torment countless souls to endless suffering" The faint voice returned.
"Ah!" I tumbled sideways trying to evade the beast's attack as it chased me, but to no avail. Hitting my left arm with its sharp claw blood began to flow uncontrollably from my new wound.
"I need to stop the bleeding!" I screamed in my mind as I tore pieces of fabric from my uniform trying to make a makeshift tourniquet.
But it was then that I was then hit with another slash.
"Argh! If only I have a weapon! somebody help!" I cried for help as another set of claws struck my chest tearing up my uniform and opening another three deep wounds before biting me by my right shoulder and hurling me by the wall.
"GUA—AAH!" Hitting the stone wall, it immediately caves in by the sheer force of the impact. Paralyzed due to the shock and pain, I desperately punch my abdomen to force my lungs to gasp for air as I hang for my dear life out of suffocation.
"Ugh..." I let out another groan in pain as I weakly tried to move away from the beast.
Normally, a normal person would have died by now, it's a miracle how I still manage to remain conscious from all the beating, maybe it's because of the insurmountable pain I'm experiencing right now that forces every fiber of my being to stay alert and hold out as long as possible...
—but it seems like my luck is now reaching its end as I weakly feel the beast slowly approaching me from the back with an intent to end it all.
"A selfless warrior who sacrificed his everything, ending countless lives on the battlefield in the name of liberation against oppression"
This voice in my head... why does it feel nostalgic...
"A keeper of knowledge living in complete solitude only wishing only for peace as he selflessly protects all life from those that are corrupted"
"And lastly, A lost soul searching for atonement from whom he had once lost leading to the end of the world and the salvation of the many"
"Countless souls that you've extinguished now sing to the world a song of retribution..."
Blood continued to trickle out from my wound, and maybe it was because of too much blood loss that the pain itself was slowly beginning to feel numb. But still, trying to hold to my consciousness I began to limp away clinging to hope for someone to come. I continue to shout for help several times, but as expected, to no avail... the feeling of helplessness is also beginning to cloud my mind, but knowing that I might be killed I still continue to cling to hope.
"No mercy... No forgiveness... only retribution..."
"Please help me..." as I was about to succumb to my injuries, I let out a small voice of desperation as my final plea.
"—but the world does not judge, so do I, and so do all souls that you've saved in exchange for the damnation of the wicked!"
"Many may not know your many feats and sacrifices... many may have forgotten you now... You who have cut billions of lives in exchange for the salvation of the helpless... the burden that you carry I shall forever remember them, relive them, and immortalize them... and for that, I have come to wait for your return... My one true king"
"Altheria Azelria...
Oh mother of all spirit...
Your champion, our ruler, high king...
Has finally returned to fulfill his oath once more!"
As if a miracle a faint voice suddenly pulses in my head, and the next thing that happens is a blinding blacklight exploding right in front of me.
"Agghhh!"
Reflexively covering my eye from the blackish bright flash, although obscure, I manage to make up a silhouette of a person. It was a figure of a beautiful woman that's adorned with extremely long pitch-black hair, and a pair of raven wings.
"A black angel?" I could only weakly utter those words as I suddenly got bombarded by flashes of memories that I couldn't explain.
Focussing on the person in front of me, I then saw the woman raise her hand towards the three-headed beast and let out a smile.
"Phantom beast, the sin you've committed will not go unpunished, your death will be painful, and your soul will be vanquished in eternal torment! I, seraphim of end and chaos, Entropy, will see to that!"
"First herald of the end,
Death!"
Six razor-sharp edges made out of shadows then began to form in the woman's hand, as the spell finished taking its form, the woman didn't utter another word and immediately launched the shadow blades at speed.
Due to the distance and velocity, the three-headed beast had little to no time to react resulting in the pitch-black blade cutting through its body without any resistance and severing it into nine pieces, the three heads, the four limbs, and the front and back part of the body. All nine pieces drop with a thud before simply vanishing away into thin air.
Everything happens in a flash of an eye, I didn't manage to see much except for the silhouette of the woman's face before vanishing away as quickly as she appeared.
"I will await your visit... my... ... ..." was the mysterious woman's last word.
As I adjusted my eyes, the world is now no longer covered in a blue hue and everything seems to be back to normal. Inspecting myself it seemed that my uniform was no longer in tatters, and all my injuries from the beast's bites and slashes were also now gone, it was as if the things that happened earlier didn't even occur.
Confused about what just happened, I remain frozen where I stand as the heavy rain continues to pour down on me.
"What the hell was that" In a sort of trance I couldn't believe what I had just experienced, it could hardly be denied as just a hallucination, the sensation of pain and the feeling of fear were well carved in my mind.
Shaking my head and trying to make sense of everything, I continue my walk towards home.
"Something is not right..."
After a short walk, I finally arrived in front of my residence.
"I'm home" I announce my arrival as I enter the foyer but no one answers me which is a bit unusual as Rain and Maya should have arrived from the school much earlier than me.
"Odd.. where's Rain?"
"They might be gone shopping" I immediately disregard any suspicions of something wrong, but then again... "—why would they leave the front gate unlocked"
With that thought I immediately bolted towards the stairs and into Rain's room where I was greeted with a—
"—Kyaaa!" As I slammed the door open, a loud shriek and a thick book immediately greeted my face.
**********
"Ouch Don't press it!"
"Hold still! Tch...That's what you get for barging into my room!"
Lying down in my room Rain was currently patching up my swollen face.
"Why did you leave the gate and the front door open? where's Maya anyway?"
"I let her go out in the market to buy some supplies, which I kinda forgot to close the gate" Rain guiltly explained.
"Any way you threw that book pretty hard, I could have died... what are you a gorilla?"
"—I said hold still!" Rain pretty annoyed at my comment pressed the ointment-covered cotton ball hard into my swollen face.
"YOUCH!" I again yelp in pain as my swollen cheek got squashed.
"This is partially your fault, you don't just casually leave the gate and front door unlocked especially when we still haven't hired some guards"
"yeah-yeah I get it, it won't happen again, but just don't tell Mom alright? Or else" Rain then again presses the swollen face this time with an added force and of course, I yelp in harsh pain.
**********
Back in my room, I'm now lying in my bed in my changed clothes. Still trying to understand the mess of what has just transpired today, I could not help but just stare at the white ceiling and contemplate.
"dammit, it still hurts!"
"But still what was that all about, the wolf back there was no ordinary wolf! Well, considering it has three heads and twice the size of me... OF COURSE IT IS NOT! But even so, just who was that person that saved me earlier? How did she kill that wolf without any weapon? Magic? Everything is just too hard to believe to all that to be just a little daydream, even if the wounds and pain already disappeared... it just that..."
Touching my chest I recall the huge claw of the wolf that slashed my chest wide open, remembering the sensation of fear and pain I sharply shook my head a couple of times...
"—It's just too ridiculous to call all of those just to be just a dream! It's too ridiculous..." Calming myself down I let off a deep sigh.
It was then that I heard three knocks at the door.
knock knock knock
"Dinner's ready" It was Maya's voice from the other side of the door.
"Ah! already? Coming!" I calmly step out of my room and head downstairs.
The pain from the pulsing headache from earlier is still lingering on my head making me walk very sluggishly to the dining table.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Rain then placed her hand on my forehead to check my temperature.
"I'm fine, just a little bit dizzy from the rain... —Where's Roxan?"
"She's gone to the palace, I wasn't told anything aside that it's about something that had happened in the south"
"Hope it's nothing too serious. Anyway let's eat"
**********
After finishing my dinner, I'm now back in my room again.
It is now eleven in the evening.
While the rest of the neighborhood is already fast asleep, I on the other hand am still fixated on recalling everything that happened earlier.
Unable to calm down, I then sit in my study area and bring out a sketchpad and a pencil before beginning to sketch a woman's face.
Under the flickering light of my oil-filled lamp, I then try my best to retrace the series of events that happened earlier. The beast, the pain, the blue-hued world, and of course the intervention of that mysterious person.
Intensely rummaging through my memory I tried my best to recall the face of the woman who saved me, although my vision was indeed obscured at that time, I still managed to catch a glimpse of that woman's face.
"what do her eyes look like again?..." I whisper to myself as I smoothly guide the pencil's tip illustrating every inch of detail of that woman's face.
Halfway through my sketch and way past my bedtime, my eyes start to become heavy.
Determined to stay awake, I urged myself to finish my work, but my body's desire to rest was slowly betraying me, by the seconds my body slowly became more sluggish whereas my eyes became more numb. After a while, It seemed that my body couldn't fight it anymore and finally shut itself up.