"Gray, Mark don't look."
Aina told them as the two of them were looking at the fighting from the distance, the main contingency plan of the Settlement was to head towards a handful of Trucks that were provided by the Archimans which is to evacuate to Ophel, a city located within the heart of the Loria Region where from what Mark had learned is the seat of power for the Archimans or the lack of a better term it is the capital of their stewardship.
"Will Papa and the others will be alright?" Miriam asked as she was turning around a few times at the entrance where they can hear the sound of the gunshots echoing off in the distance.
Now in their current state that's for sure. Mark thought glancing at his mother and the others preparing for the evacuation while a handful of soldiers were currently loading up in the trucks all the while the gunshots can be heard growing closer and closer alongside the sounds of buildings being demolished in the process.
There's gotta be something I can do, but what can I do? Mark crossed his arms as he was thinking of ways to help take it down. He did remember that hunting down behemoths the only way to kill them is--
His eyes widened shooting a quick look at his Mother and Aina who was busy loading people into trucks while Gray and Miriam were patiently waiting with the children.
Now's my chance! Mark thought as he sprinted out of the evacuation site and started making his way towards their home. Back then his go-through method of killing Behemoths was to shove his arm into its mouth and detonate Magical energy known as Mana into its mouth, this would cause a chain reaction that is easily compared to an explosion considering their insides are their weak spot.
While Mark cannot confirm the existence of Magic in this world, he is certain that the technology of this world is capable of replicating it.
Mark opened the doors and looked around, his eyes landed on the shelves where their parents would keep various stuff that isn't meant for him and Miriam to touch. The first one was opening the lower shelf containing a handful of chemicals that when used in it was just used for cleaning and medical purposes, but when combined with several others, it becomes a makeshift explosive.
How did Mark learn all of this? Through a school of thought known as Chemistry, which from Mark's perspective just looks like an advanced form of Alchemy from Urdia.
He glanced at the floor comprising various ingredients that were just basic cleaning and cooking ingredients. His eyes landed on a bottle of whiskey that he would catch his parents drinking on special occasions, opened it and took a gulp.
They have good taste. Mark thought as he proceeded to carefully turn the cooking and cleaning ingredients alongside a handful of hardware that he stripped from various items across his home into handmade explosives, experimental ones to be precise as Mark has little to no confidence on whether or not these would detonate upon contact much less land a hit on the Behemoth.
He looked at the finished product, it was a homemade grenade that in theory would cause a chemical explosion accompanied by a blast of broken glass and nails. A little overkill but when pitted against a Behemoth of such size it was honestly a necessity.
Mark gingerly loaded them all into a small purse that his mother used to buy groceries and other necessities and hurried his way to the front avoiding his Mother who was calling out his name.
Eventually, he arrives at the front and the situation was worse than what had happened earlier. A handful of Soldiers and Militiamen were killed, leaving the rest in a state of panic and fear all the while Joshua, Owen and the Old Man were focused on shooting down the Behemoth with their rifles.
I need to find the right time. Mark thought crouching behind the burning remains of a wall of what used to be the home of the Wiessmans. He peeked and found two Soldiers crawling out of the carnage, fortunately, they were too traumatized from the fighting so they didn't notice him, Mark quickly spotted the Behemoth rampaging all the while the three were busy firing their weapons at him. But unfortunately, all of this did nothing but infuriate the Behemoth that continued to rampage across the settlement.
I have to wait for it. Mark thought to himself but then the Behemoth finally opened its maw to let out a roar.
Now! Mark thought to himself as he threw the homemade explosive into the mouth of the behemoth its mouth was open wide but unfortunately he threw the bomb too close causing him to get caught in the blast radius sending him back as if everything had gone white.
As soon as his vision cleared and he found a handful of shards in his arms as he looked up being carried by his father with a mixture of fear and horror in his eyes. Mark glanced to the side and found that the Behemoth had fallen to the ground, it's mouth had been blasted open and split into pieces all the while Owen and the Old Man had been taking turns unloading their entire ammunition onto the exposed head of the behemoth in an attempt to make sure that it stays dead.
"Hang on Mark!" Joshua said was on the verge of tears as he glanced up, he has covered in Scratches and bruises thanks to what the Behemoth had done to him meanwhile Mark felt a sharp pain across his body as they did so finally making their way towards the evacuation site where it's still on its way.
The last thing Mark had seen was the horrified look on Mary's face as she saw them run up to her Mark's vision immediately faded.
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[The Second Advent]
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By the time Mark woke up, he was lying in a sterile white room covered in bandages and wearing white. Beside him, something was injected into his side like some kind of needle connected to a bag of unknown liquid.
"Where..." Mark coughed as he heard someone's voice call out to someone, he wasn't sure since their voices echoed so much that it was hard to discern. Eventually, his vision cleared and he realized he was covered in bandages and beside him were Miriam and Gray, with the latter running out of the room to likely call their parents.
"Mark you're alright!" Miriam smiled though her eyes seem to hint that she was on the verge of tears. Eventually, their parents burst into the room with a look of relief on their faces as though they were trying their best to not break down crying.
"Mark!" The two of them made it to his bedside and immediately started asking if he was okay. For the most part, Mark shrugged it off, he's been in worse situations in the past. The only reason that he's like this is that he has yet to develop his pain tolerance.
"What happened to the Behemoth?" Mark asked in confusion.
The two exchanged looks and eventually explained that he was caught in an explosion that critically wounded the Behemoth allowing Owen and the Old Man to finish it off but he was able to barely make it out alive due to being close to the blast covering him with cuts from the glass and nails, this forced them to have him taken for medical care.
Where is he in that case? Well, he's currently in the greater settlement of Caga, which was the nearest settlement due to the fact he had suffered from severe burns and puncture wounds from the explosion.
"But wait," Miriam asked with a confused and worried look on her face. "When did you learn to make bombs?"
"I read it from one of your books," Mark said honestly. He did, he remembered reading how certain chemicals would mix and cause an explosion. And then Mark got a bit creative and decided to use a bunch of tools like nails to create a more effective explosion.
"Well either way I think you deserve a good job for that," Joshua said causing Miriam and Mary to give him a disapproving look. "Oh come on, if he didn't help out things would have been far worse."
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
"But he's still a child Joshua," Mary said crossing her arms as she was about to lecture him and his father until Aina and Owen entered the room both of them carrying gifts for Mark.
Interestingly, the Old Man was also present.
"There's the little bomber," Owen said happily setting down a basket of fruits by his bedside to take a seat across from his Family while Aina just silently looked at Mark with a look of guilt. Well, he can't blame her, had she been a bit more vigilant maybe Mark wouldn't be in such a situation right now.
Then again.
"How are you feeling?" Aina asked worriedly.
"Bad, everything hurts and the bandages are starting to itch," Mark answered without hesitation earning an amused chuckle from the two older men. Meanwhile, the Old Man walked towards his bedside, this caused everyone to shoot a glance between Mary and the Old Man worried that they'll get into some form of an altercation.
Something must have happened to them in the past, Mark thought remembering the tension between them. But the Old Man silently walked towards Mark and placed a horn of a Behemoth by his bedside, it was partially scorched due to the explosion but it was mostly intact.
"I believe this is yours." The Old Man said to him, Owen and Joshua can be seen nodding in agreement.
"But I didn't kill it," Mark answered as he took the horn and he inspected it, he is flattered but he was certain that people are allowed to keep spoils if they land the killing blow on it. And he was fairly convinced that the ones that landed said shot against the Behemoth were the three of them.
"That's true but the thing is we wouldn't have been able to take down the Behemoth if it weren't for you," Owen said in a low voice, but he shook his head and smiled at him. "Well it's all in the past, all you need to know is that you're a brave kid."
"With that out of the way, you should get some rest," Aina said looking around as the others exchanged looks and decided to leave the room, but by the time Owen, Aina, Gray and Miriam had left Mark had finally spoken up.
"Can I talk to him a bit?" Mark said referring to the Old Man, Joshua and Mary exchanged concerned looks while the Old Man is just outright confused. When he noticed that his Mother's hostile behaviour earlier with him was no doubt a result of an incident.
"I want to ask him a few things," Mark added trying to reassure his parents. Alone, he internally added but he felt like if he added that part his parents no doubt would try to object to him. Fortunately, his parents relented but not before his mother shot a worried look at them as she left the room.
The door finally closed and the Old Man had a neutral look on his face as he sat by his bedside and crossed his arms.
"Who why—"
"You and mother have a history don't you?" Mark spoke bluntly, the Old Man was taken by surprise by his immediate question. "I've never seen my mother so unreasonably furious before until you came so I got curious."
The Old Man was silent for a moment, despite his silence he can tell that he was contemplating what to say as he took a deep breath and then reached into his pocket revealing a photograph. Mark looked over and saw a rather interesting sight, it was the Old Man but younger devoid of the scars he can see today all the while accompanied by a woman of the same age and a younger girl and all three of them were smiling brightly. But what was even more interesting was the fact that the young girl resembled Miriam, but with the same hair as their mother.
"So that makes you my Grandfather then," Mark concluded as he realized that this Old Man was his Mother's father.
"That's right, my name is Malachi Dirus." The Old Man spoke with a sad wistful smile on his face. "When I was a young hunter I used to take her and her mother out on hunting trips so I can show them the world despite its flaws."
"But then the Behemoth killed Grandmother?" Mark continued what he was explaining.
"You're a sharp child, I expected no less from my daughter's children," Malachi said with an impressed look on his face as he continued his story. It wasn't just any particular Behemoth that killed her, it was the same Behemoth that Mark helped killed earlier this spiralled Malachi into this path of revenge that drove him mad as for the last ten years he had spent trying to track down and hunt down the Behemoth that killed his wife consuming him causing him to neglect his daughter in the process.
This neglect had caused the rift between him and his daughter to grow until finally Mary had had enough and left him. Incidentally, by that point, it was likely she had already met Joshua. But that did nothing to sway his vendetta against that Behemoth so his hunt against that beast alone took him years, and few demolished settlements, until he would end up reunited with Mary with a less than pleasant one.
"How are things going between you and Mother then?"
"Nothing has changed." Malachi just said with a scoff. "She still refuses to talk to me, most of the time I spend my time talking with your father who seems to be a nice man. Which is reassuring knowing my daughter and grandchildren are in good hands."
Mark can't help but feel some form of envy toward Malachi but also made him think of his adoptive father as Marchosias. On the surface, he appeared to look like a normal man that was financially stable and caring enough to become a parent. But deep down he was a monster, he would abuse him in many forms but he seemed to favour sexually abusing him by night.
Eventually, Marchosias has had enough, he carefully fed him medicine to make him sleepy and then by the time his adoptive father had woken up. He had been strapped into a nail board and for thirty-five days, Marchoisas had tortured him leaving him a castrated and broken man with Marchosias essentially leaving him to die on the streets the same way he had found him not so long ago.
He was free but the scars of what he did to him were there and not even the torture he subjected him could cure it.
"Then go to her," Mark suggested with a sigh. "It's never too late for a reconciliation."
"You're surprisingly insightful for a seven-year-old," Malachi commented as he took a deep breath as looked at the photo of his family.
"I mean do you want to spend the rest of your days being hated by your daughter for something that you weren't even responsible for?"
"Well if you put it that way…" Malachi trailed off as he nodded, but then he smiled as he affectionately ruffled his hair as he stood up. "I never expected to take advice from a seven-year-old but it's worth a shot."
"I'm sure she'll hear you out." Mark thought as he remembered the worried looks she had been giving to them earlier the day.
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[The Second Advent]
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"So the Old Man is your grandfather?" Gray asked Mark as they were playing around the Building's playground for children to get some fresh air. The building they were on is called a Hospital, a common place for practitioners of healing to gather and treat people for a price, of course. Thanks to Aina and Ein they were able to give Mark the best medical care possible as thanks for essentially taking down the Behemoth.
"Yup, turns out he and mother don't get along very well thanks to that behemoth killing grandmother," Mark commented as they were sitting by the swing set. Gray is about to speak up but a boy their age walked towards him with a curious look on his face while beside him was Miriam with a somewhat proud look on his face as if to say 'I told you so'.
"I'm sorry but is that a Behemoth horn you're holding?" The Boy asked, he was a frail-looking boy with black hair and bright lavender eyes as he eyed the broken Behemoth horn on his lap. Mark glanced at Miriam who had an innocent look on her face as if to say 'I did nothing wrong' as she excitedly nodded at him.
"Yeah, I got it after a Behemoth attack," Mark explained holding the horn tightly fearing that the child, despite his frail appearance, might try and take the horn to form him knowing how children tend to be thieving gremlins, especially in his first childhood.
"That's so cool can I hold it?" the Boy said with a shy look on his face.
"No," Mark said bluntly as the boy's shoulders slumped.
"Mark comes on, let Gaige hold the Horn even just for a little bit." Miriam insisted, Mark sighed as he handed the horn to Gaige who had a look of awe as he inspected the damaged horn. He glanced at Miriam who was busy looking at him as well.
"So who are you anyway?" Mark asked turning to the boy named Gaige.
"Oh my name is Gaige Shinomori," The Boy smiled as he handed the horn back to him. "I don't go out very much 'cause I'm very sickly so I think it's cool that you have something like that."
I don't think so, Mark thought to himself but he looked around as he watched Miriam, Gray and Gaige talk with the former two explaining what they witnessed during the whole affair. But it was at that moment Mark had been struck with a tinge of brilliance as he realized something.
He can easily form an inner circle with this trio of children. Gray was an heir to the Archimans, while he has yet to learn if there are other Archiman heirs but given that he more or less had formed a friendship with Gray then there's a good chance that Gray will be able to inherit something out of it.
Meanwhile, he can use Miriam and Gaige as potential allies, it'll take some time but he can find some use out of them someday.
"Do you want to play with us?" Mark said standing up as he offered his hand towards Gaige.
"I was thinking of forming a little group, all four of us," Mark added, one thing he remembered is that children tend to group like wild animals trying to survive.
"That's a great idea," Miriam said placing her hand over Mark and Gaige's while Gray reluctantly did the same thing placing it on top of theirs. This caused Mark to smile, it was originally a handshake but it seems they mistook the gesture for something else. But regardless he's off to a great start, this little circle that he plans to make his pawns as they grow older.
"Can we like have a name for it too?" Gaige said raising his hand.
"I have a suggestion," Gray said as his eyes landed on the horn on Mark's broken Behemoth Horn. This was then followed by everyone looking at it, Mark raised it and looked as well.
"The Broken Horn?" Mark asked slightly confused hoping he got the same idea as they were, all three of them, fortunately, nodded in agreement.
"Alright then," Mark said extending his hand that held the horn, Miriam smiled as she placed her hand on the horn followed by Gaige and later Gray. "We'll now be called the Broken Horn."