Tom, Bahmos, and the two other guys' vision returned after about an hour and a half.

Bahmos has been standing near his lizard corpse for a long while. I can’t tell what he's thinking based on his expression.

He looks like a teacher who is daydreaming.

He then randomly tells the three guys to assist him in burying the lizard. Jim offers to get rid of it, but Bahmos turns him down.

The four drag it to the grass field. The section that's densed with trees and bushes. They don’t go far since they lack the strength for it.

Once they are about six meters away from the road, they basically tire out, breathing heavy.

Tom asks Bahmos, “You want me to ask one of those villagers for a shovel?”

Bahmas shakes his head. “After what they just experienced? No.”

Julun then ask, confused, “How’re you going to bury it without a shovel?”

“In the carriage has a small one, bring it for me.”

Julun did that and Bahmos uses it to dig up the dirt. I don’t watch everything.

I am too angry at the fact that we don’t have a source of transportation. And that this monster could return at any time.

It would be best to stick close to those adventures since the monster fears them.

Jer-kel who is on top of Jim's shoulders, looks at Natasha. “I want to talk to you in private. It’s related to that boy of yours.”

“Ulah? What is it?” I ask.

She doesn’t tell me, but instead says, “It’s… Your mother will tell you if she thinks so.”

Is he… dying?

I ask, anxiously, “Please, tell me.”

Natasha touches my shoulder. “Vernisha, I am sure it’s nothin—”

“I am not stupid. Please don’t treat me like I am.” I raise my voice at her.

Natasha seems complex. She looks at Jer-kel and says, “Just tell us both. She can handle it.”

There is no way Ulah is dying… We are not even at the damn capital yet. He was sleep talking. He didn’t wake up, have a sudden seizure, get cold, or anything strange.

And I would know, I was with him in the carriage most of the damn time. I was keeping a close eye on him.

Jer-kel says, “I didn't have enough time to heal him, but I did manage to analyze his body for a couple of seconds. His body is weird, too weird, my monster’s and traditional means of healing wouldn’t fix it. I just thought you should know that.”

What?

I almost shout, “That makes no sense! What do you mean he can’t be healed?”

“I didn’t say he can’t be healed. It’s just that the normal way of how healing works just wouldn’t work on him. He would need something like gene editing surgery.”

Jesus Christ.

I ask her, “But why? I don’t understand why. L-like why? Why can’t he be healed normally?”

She seems unsure of what to say, her eyes drift around like she is about to give her first speech in front of a crowd of hundreds.

She says, “It’s difficult to explain. But, his body now thinks it’s something else. So healing him wouldn’t return his original features.”

Her eyes then widen like she has an idea. She taps Jim’s eyebrow and says, “His hair is black. If I pluck it out, a black strand would replace it. But if he was born with white hair, a white one would replace it. Basically, his body is changing, not getting ‘damage’.”

I get it. He’s basically becoming different.

Shit.

So the more time we waste, the more changes he will experience, and the changes… are going to be difficult to reverse.

Natasha then pulls out the same bread roll I had put in her hand from her pocket.

She asks Jer-kel, “You’ve seen this before?”

“Isn’t that just a bread roll?”

Jim eyes it and says, “Yeah, it looks like one to me. A stale one at least.”

“It’s kinda one. It’s what these two ate and what’s causing them to be so… ‘different.’

She ask, “Where did you get this?”

“In front of a Balash temple, on the hill of Vaera.”

Jim watches it and says, “Jer-kel probably wouldn’t know. Lo might. He used to study Balash history and all that stuff.”

Oh. That’s good.

He calls Lo, he comes over.

He asks, “What is it?”

Jim tells him what Natasha asked, and what it is responsible for. Natasha gives the bread to him. He twirls it around, examining it.

His hand is on his chin and he is deep in thought, “But why didn’t you ask one of the educators in that temple? Of all people, they would know.”

I thought of that, but we were bolting towards Sundawn to get immediate help. Those educators and scholars only possess knowledge, no mystical power, miracles, or anything like that.

But… in all honesty, I was/am scared that maybe what happened to Ulah wasn’t meant to happen and they may want to kill him.

Maybe the bread wasn’t meant to be eaten by anyone, and it is considered taboo?

“I did think of that, but I thought a temple that has something as suspicious as this wouldn’t be willing to be honest with me.” Natasha splits open the bread and drops it to the ground.

The two pieces hit the paved ground and try to roll.

She stares at it. The three are confused.

She says, “Give it a minute.”

She didn’t tell me any of this.

But I watch and… the bread slightly moves. It's like a rapidly dying plant in the way it shifts around.

What the hell is it?

Lo picks it up, and then asks her, “Can I keep it?”

Jim asks, “Are you suicidal?”

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“No. I just want to see how my monster would react to it.”

Nataha gives him the heads up. He thanks her and throws half of the bread high in the sky for his monster, which snaps to it, catches it, and sniffs it.

It then eats it, but it doesn’t swallow, it just keeps chewing.

Then it swallows. The three are a bit surprised.

Jer-kel ask, “You made it eat it…?”

Lo shakes his head. “No. I only wanted it to taste it.” He makes a sour expression like he ate spoiled meat. “It tastes like monster flesh.”

… What the hell?

Natasha doesn’t show much of a reaction.

Jim ask Natasha, “You are sure you found this at a balash temple and not a Darsean congregation?”

Natasha responds, “Yes.”

“And how are you sure about that?”

“Because I am not stupid.”

Lo looks at her with sudden anger. Then he shakes his head like he is dealing with an ignorant elder. “I am just saying, they like to take over balash temples to mock them. It’s easy to be fooled by them. I have been tricked by them.”

“I understand what you are saying, but I am certain it wasn’t one.”

He sighs, giving up. “Sure whatever. When you get into the capital, go to a vlanods doctor and a balash scholar. The scholars may know something.”

She nods.

He takes a deep breath and says, “I hope it works out well. Losing a kid and a partner hurts like hell.”

Natasha looks at me as she answers. “I imagine so.”

Jer-kel looks at us and claps her hand. “Anyway, we still have a monster to catch, so we can’t be just here talking about your family conditions.”

Lo responds, “You want to take a more direct approach?”

“I think so. If we stick with your method, we will be waiting for hours.”

Lo clicks his tongue. “I will switch monsters. I want to get the hell out of here in an hour.”

Jer-kel responds, “I think you should just tell your wife you would be late.”

“Or I could just say, “K chertu etu missiyu.”

Jer-kel shrugs, “Nub’ol wouldn’t want you going jail. Not over a date.”

“But I wouldn’t mind.” he smiles, getting an eye roll from her.

**

I was told what occurred here by Jim.

A monster left one of the monster zones for an unknown reason and just ran to where had the most life to kill and eat.

The three of them were sent to kill it two days ago. But they originally gave up and thought it returned to a monster zone after failing to find it.

But this happened.

The monster attacked a couple of houses, making the others flee from their homes, and it hunted them down.

They believed the monster knew they were on their tail, so it focused on killing and eating to grow stronger as fast as possible.

He didn’t tell me this part, but with it being on the loose for so long, it most likely 'mated' with many to have offspring, so sooner or later, they may have to deal with more than just one of its kind on the loose.

But fortunately, all the baby ones would start at level 1, making them easy targets, but annoying nonetheless.

I sit in the grass, waiting for good news. Which doesn’t seem like it will be coming any time soon.

Lo reaches his time/stamina limit with his monster and makes its return. The others aren’t as trained with tracking as him. So he has to use other methods to search for the monster.

Jer-kel and Jim are guarding the villagers and helping them in ways they can.

Jer-kel has been carrying lots of them to a single house, not inside but outside on the dry grass.

But many of them are being pains in the ass.

“That’s not my house. Bring me to my home!” a middle-aged woman who is being carried by Jer-kel complains.

Jer-kel is clearly fed up with them since she has been repeating the same thing to them: “Once it is safe to, I will.”

If she returns all of them to their homes, protecting them from another monster attack would be difficult.

Of course, many tried to flee once she set them down. Jim made sure that wouldn’t happen. He would move ridiculously fast and just block them with his chest.

Of course, that just pissed them off even more.

People hate being forced to do something; coupled with their dislike for vlandos already… yeah.

“This isn’t fucking right!” a skinny man in ragged clothes shouts. “If the monster comes back, we will be easier targets! You know that. You fucking know that!”

Jim shakes his head and says, “You all being in one area means we wouldn’t need to worry about everyone being everywhere.”

I also think it’s probably meant to be bait. Like, ‘monster, here is a massive plate of food and levels for you.’

“And you don’t think we being in one place means that it will be more eager to come back to kill us?”

“If we are here, no.”

A woman glares at him. “When the guild hears about this, I just hope you know you will suffer for it.”

His lips curl, and I see his fist clench. He takes a deep breath and asks her, “Would you like me to inform my operator about this?”

“Yes!”

He takes his pyramid communicator and does as she says. Once done, he tells her, “He said, make sure you all are safe.”

“That’s bullshit. Let me talk to him!" She steps forward.

He puts a hand forward, making it clear that her approach is unwanted. “No.”

“You fucking valuzaaa.”

Jer-kel who is moving about comes to a sudden stop and Jim starts staring at the lady.

He asks her, “Can you repeat that?”

“Rarthar,” a young man, perhaps her son tries to calm her down. “She didn’t mean that, sir. It just…”

“No no. She definitely meant that.” He steps forward. “I just want to make sure I heard it properly.”

unfortunately, she isn’t very smart and starts screaming, “Valuzaa! Go meet Valuzaa. Die like Valuzaa!”

Valuzaa is one of the most popular historical figures in vlandos history. A vlandos that… didn’t leave a mark in history during his life. He was just a regular man who supported Yer-oli-pon, like all vlandos that wanted a better life under the rules of humans. Valuzaa was seen as an easy target, so he was tricked by a couple of humans, tortured, killed, and his body was paraded around. It was a message to all vlandos.

That wasn’t really his name. It was a twisted and mocked version of his real name. (His real name was forgotten). Obviously, calling a vlandos, a person who knows of valuzaa and the events that took place during his time will take those words as a threat or an insult. Because that single name still conveys a message: 'You and all your kind will have the same fate as Valuzaa'

Jim is standing directly in front of the lady. She is looking at him in fear. He touches her shoulder and… smiles. “Please be careful with your words.”

He keeps his hand on her shoulder for a little while before releasing. Makes me wonder what he would have done to her if he didn’t have his communicator on.

Natasha is still just looking at the people, particularly the couples and those with kids.

While there are those complaining about their freedom, there are those who are clinging to the corpses of their children, crying and begging Jer-kel to somehow resurrect them.

It’s like the sick and poor begging god for something to eat and medicine.

“Please just heal him again! Just try again!” the lady is holding a boy who is no older than five years. The boy is missing half of his body, the left side which contains his heart is gone.

Jer-kel is sympathetic to their plea, but all she can do is tell them sorry and try to walk around them. However, they almost make it impossible for her to move about.

It’s probably over thirty around her. And the one with the body seems old.

“Please try again! You saved so many people here, you can try again. Please!” Her husband says.

Jer-kel shakes her head. “He is dead. There is literally nothing I can do.”

The husband, voice breaking, asks her, “Can’t you exchange lives? Take my life for his!”

“It doesn’t have that skill yet. I am sorry.”

“You just don’t want to!” he points at her. “If you try! At least just fucking try, he can be healed. He can come back to us!”

“It doesn’t work like that—”

“Fucking hell… what does it take from you to try… huh?” He is breathing heavily like he ran a marathon. “Nothing. It takes… nothing. But, you probably like this. Like seeing us humans suffering.”

“I do not take joy from this.”

“T-then.. Do you have a kid?”

“And what if I do?”

“If something like this happens to him, wouldn’t you want the healer to try everything she can to heal him?”

“You don’t have to say that to make me understand your situation—”

“Then how the hell are we supposed to make you sympathize?!”

“He is already DEAD!” She points at the missing part of his body. “I told you I can’t bring back the dead. Why the hell wouldn’t you listen? Do you just want the other half back? Body intact but without life?”

“That would be better than nothing…”

She looks over at Jim. He shakes his head.

She replies, “Regrowing half of that body would require too much ether. My monster used up almost everything it had today. I just can’t. Why do you think no one is fully healed? They just just had their fatal or life-altering wounds fixed. It was for me to be able to take care of everyone. Now, when the monster attacks again, I have no damn clue how I will be able to heal anyone, so, no, I can’t waste— I can’t use it on a dead kid.”

The parents look at her like they were betrayed by someone who promised them the world.

The man says, “I hope to the future that this happens to your fucking child.”

She gives them a mocking smile and walks forward, pushing them aside without hands.

Natasha asks me, “What do you think about all this?”

“It’s sad.” It makes me think of Ulah dying.

“I think so too.”

“Do you think you would react like this?”

She takes a while to respond, “If Ulah died? Yeah, maybe. What mother wouldn’t.”

She looks at him with a complex expression. “And I am afraid of how you would react.”

“What about Caren?”

“If Caren dies, imagine how heartbroken Ulah would be.”

“He would hate me…”

“Yeah. That boy only sees the good in his father. Perhaps, I am also at fault for telling him the same thing I tell you about your father. Unlike you, he believes it.”

“Just so you know, when he gets older, he is going to treat the people in his life the same as Caren.”

“What?” she is confused about my statement. Like it came out of nowhere.

“He sees and learns that this behavior is acceptable, that’s why. His father did this that and his mother never complained about it, so clearly there was nothing wrong about it.”

“I think you are being… ridiculous.”

“No. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if all your learned behavior is because of how your parents interacted.”

She just looks at me, surprised.

“I never saw my father, so no. I just realized you and my mom are a tiny bit similar. You both would kill their fathers if given the chance.”

“Why?”

“He abandoned her in the time of need. At least Caren isn’t like that, I guess.”

I twirl my left hand. “I take that back.”

Then I look at Ulah. “I really hope we can save him. And when we do, please give him more attention. Please love him like you love me. Even if he loves you, I don’t want him to grow up and realize how much you favored me.”