Fick’s eyes turned bloodshot, a red glow out of his pupils. His vision was red, and his heart was pounding in his ears.

‘Kill him.’

A whisper tickled his brain, as if a temptress’ hand was caressing his wrist, making his grip on the dagger tighten.

‘Cut his throat. Bathe in his blood. You will become stronger.’

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Then, with shaky hands, he sheathed the dagger and tied it back to his waist.

‘Why won’t you follow me?’ Arloum was dismayed, but he was more curious than angry. If he was even angry at all.

Of course, he wouldn’t spare the two elves. He finally saw the end of the tunnel, he would be a fool not to crawl out!

‘Don’t move.’

Using his dark energy, roots crawled underground before piercing the backs of the two elves. Silently, he sucked their life energy dry, not bothering to keep them alive.

At the same time, Fick opened his eyes—which had turned back to normal.

‘I don’t want to kill… my lord,’ he said, and Arloum felt Fick’s drowning mind.

‘Why are you feeling guilty?’ He asked, truly confused. ‘You already know that I’ll still kill those two.’

Fick nodded. ‘I know that. I’m not against it,’ he bit his tongue, before walking away. Behind him, the two elves were left on the ground, their bodies dry as though they had rotten in place for a year.

‘I… can’t bring myself to kill. I’m afraid to see blood. I’m sorry, I disappoint you.’

Arloum blew away his thoughts. ‘It is not too bad,’ he said.

He wasn’t lying.

[Dark Energy T2: 15/15]

Thanks to the two elves, his dark energy shot up to 15 points. After that, he couldn’t feel it increasing anymore, making him feel frustrated. However, he realized that he could still improve his dark energy’s “quality.”

‘I can make it denser. In a way that’s increasing the quantity too. However, it’ll make it unstable and difficult to control… I should focus on the rest of my abilities instead,’ he sighed.

Then, he watched as Fick slowly walked, the man's mind muddled and full of conflicting thoughts.

‘Although Fick doesn’t want to kill, it’s not too bad. At least, I can keep all the life energy. Even when he starts killing, it wouldn’t change much. It’s impossible to kill all the life in the world in one day.’

After walking for a while, Fick heard Arloum’s voice in his mind.

‘Let’s go to the half elf settlement. It’s time for the clan to have a feast,’ he said. As for what the feast would be, both of them didn’t know yet.

‘With excess darker energy, I can perhaps create numerous fruits. Or, better yet, we can loot the village after killing everyone captive.’

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Fick nodded, wordlessly moving toward the half elf village. He wasn't a talkative person in the first place, though he sure was an overthinker.

Meanwhile, Arloum closed his eyes, focusing on his and Fick’s inner bodies.

‘Fick can absorb life energy as long as he comes into contact with it. Bathing in blood is one way to do it, he can even drink blood, but that’s less efficient… As long as he's exposed to enough life energy, the dark energy in his body will react and absorb it, strengthening him.’

Arloum was sure that Fick would seek power, but as for when, he had no idea.

‘Hn… it’s not bad to nurture this hesitant Onyx. Who knows if his soul and mine can become linked together…’ His thoughts wondered for a while.

‘Even if he's stubborn for the time being, I can still give him a strength boost through my dark energy, which is purer than his. As for his life span and Ymer’s curse… hmph,’ he couldn't help but snort.

After parasitizing Fick’s body, he gained access to the energies in the latter’s body. There, he found that Ymer’s curse was a mixture of three energies — arcane, decayed life energy, and spirit energy.

‘It should be formidable in theory, but alas, my dark energy thriumps. I wonder how strong it was at its peak.’

After countless years of being passed down from generation to generation, the “curse” had long weakened. However, its effects remained the same. The only thing that weakened was the curse’s ability to resist other energies.

‘Maybe in the future, the dark elf’s natural energy can expel the curse. But, with their dwindling population, maybe they’d be extinct before it could happen… Tsk, Ymer, you ruthless woman.’

Recalling the woman who led a revolution against him, Arloum snickered.

‘After so much time, you should've died. Even if a Legend never dies, your memories would’ve long perished. However, all of me still remains. Even my body is still out there, banished in the outside realms.’

He laughed in his mind.

‘Oh “Legendary Heroes,” you pitiful things. You sacrificed your lives to “save” the world. But in the end, the one you believed in is nothing but a fraud.’

----------------------------------------

Horlum and Fredrinn panted as they sat side by side. They were covered in sweat, their clothes soaked and near translucent.

“Ha… Ha… that…” Fredrinn tried to speak, but he was forced to keep gasping for air.

“Sorry,” Horlum turned away, before glancing at his clothes. It was torn in many different ways from their earlier “exercise.”

“I didn’t think a wolf would suddenly chase us,” Horlum said bitterly.

Fredrinn slumped back on the bench they were sitting on. “At least… we made it… right?”

Horlum nodded. “Yup, we’re here. This is the village I grew up in,” he stood up, offering Fredrinn a hand.

Fredrinn looked at his hand, and then at Horlum’s sweaty face and his smile.

“Ha… don’t you… feel tired?” He helplessly panted. He was an elf, but Horlum was a half-elf.

He had greater talent in mystic arts, but his body was fragile. On the other hand, Horlum seemed to be the exact opposite.

“You said… your father… was a human?”

Horlum nodded, smiling as he recalled both fond and cruel memories. “He was… until he encountered a curse and turned into a beast. Mom and dad… perhaps they're enjoying themselves up there.”

Fredrinn froze, his mouth opening and closing like a frog. “Er…”

Horlum chuckled. “Don't worry, I'm okay. It's been so long… and really, I think I can't even cry anymore. This has been the happiest I've been!” —After all, I met a friend like you. You're like the brother I never had.

He grinned, hiding the last part of his sentence.

Fredrinn's face turned strange, before he clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “You darn… simpleton, saying words… you don't understand.”

“Huh?”

“Forget it… haaa, I can stand now… Hoo, my legs… are like jelly…” Fredrinn shuddered, grabbing Horlum's hand to stand up.

“You okay?” Horlum watched Fredrinn trying to stand on his own, his knees trembling.

“Yeah… I think…”

“Well, let's walk slowly,” Horlum said, to which Fredrinn nodded.

Soon, they found themselves standing in front of a small, wooden house. They've long entered through the village gates to ward off the wolf, but they didn't see the elf guards.

In fact, they haven't seen anyone yet.

Fredrinn rubbed his arm, feeling goosebumps. “Isn't this strange?”

“The emptiness?” Horlum asked, shaking his head. “It's the usual. No one likes to go out except for the kids… and, well, all of us were sent to the academy. Oh, come to think of it, why didn't the others return?” He murmured.

Fredrinn shrugged. Then, Horlum walked up to and opened the door. Seeing Horlum entering the wooden house, he followed him, when a silhouette caught his eye. Turning around, he saw a black shadow standing behind a tree in the distance.

Fredrinn’s heart skipped a beat. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, he bolted inside and locked the door.

‘What was that?’

----------------------------------------

‘My lord?’ Fick hid behind the tree after seeing Fredrinn enter the wooden house.

‘Avoid that house,’ Arloum said, his voice strange.

Fick didn't mind. Stepping out of the trees, he walked toward one of the houses. Pushing the door, he found that it was locked—but a few discreet stabs with his dagger killed the door.

Just as he gently placed the door on the ground, a strange, pungent smell attacked him in waves. Low and high pitched voices assaulted his ears, as well as the sound of clapping.

Fick froze for a moment, before hesitantly entering the house. ‘Lord, I… think you can attack them now. We came at the right time.’

Arloum, confused, let a root grow out of Fick's feet. The root drilled through the wooden floor, entering the ground and searching for the house owners. Very soon, he found two life sources entangled together.

‘You’re right. They seem to be fighting and are very close, I can kill them in one strike,’ Arloum said, praising his Onyx.

Fick's lips turned flat, his thoughts going off-track. ‘The lord doesn't seem to know…?’

Arloum listened to his thoughts, before brushing it off. Since he can't see anything with his “eyes” underground, he had no idea what the couples were doing in the bed.

He simply gathered dark energy with his roots, and then had his root penetrate the surface, as well as the couples.

The two couldn't even cry when their bodies grew weak in an instant, only feeling a sharp pain before life exited their bodies.

‘Hm… they seem to be… copulating?’ Arloum mused, before ignoring it. He'd seen many things.

On the other hand…

‘So this is where you live, you brat.’