The Baronet's guards carried Helen through the empty streets as quickly as they could. The woman's struggle earlier had already caught some attention from a few passersby and although silencing a few people with bribes was easy, too many witnesses would result in a lot of questions being raised. They already failed their instruction to be subtle, so all they could do was reach the mansion as soon as possible.
“Ack!” cried out one of the guards carrying Helen's legs as the woman kicked him in the stomach. “I swear when the Baronet is done with you, I'll make your life hell!”
Helen didn't tremble from the man's threat and only intensified her glare. Her fear was already replaced with smoldering anger as she thought desperately of ways to escape the situation. Alas, the group had already arrived at their destination.
The group surrounded Helen and the guards carrying her to hide them from view as they made their way to the back entrance of the Baronet's mansion. There were a few civilians walking around as they made their way home, and Helen tried to shout for help. The rag in her mouth muffled her voice, but her plea for help was still recognizable, causing some of the people nearby to look suspiciously at the group.
“Shut up!” one of the guards hissed as he struck Helen's face with his elbow. The blow disoriented her, stopping Helen from making any more attempts to plea for help.
The group successfully entered the mansion as civilians watched the Baronet's mansion suspiciously.
●●●
“Put her there,” Ivan instructed. The guards carrying Helen dropped her roughly at the carpeted floor of the Baronet's living room in front of a large chair, then left. Only Helen and Ivan remained in the room.
“Did you enjoy the trip?” Ivan asked mockingly as he removed the rag from Helen's mouth.
“Damn you!” Helen snarled. Her eyes were red from crying but her face did not have a hint of fear in it, only pure anger. “Why are you doing this?!”
“Don't ask me,” Ivan said while shrugging his shoulders in fake innocence. “I only take orders. Don't worry, you'll have your answers soon when the Baronet arrives.”
“Why are you even here, you monster?” Helen asked with a glare. “You're supposed to be exiled.”
Ivan laughed derisively at Helen's question. “You already know the answer to that question, whore. The Baronet sheltered me and sent another guard pretending to be me to be exiled.”
“The Baronet wouldn't go to such lengths for a mere guard,” Helen spat.
“You're sharp,” Ivan said, impressed. “I'm no simple guard. I'm a Redhood and unlike the guards, I'm not expendable.”
Before Helen could ask what he meant, the large doors on one side of the room opened and a corpulent man entered. The Baronet had arrived.
“Having fun chatting with my right-hand man, Ms. Arte?” the Baronet asked as he sat on the chair placed right in front of Helen. The bound woman remained silent and simply glared at the obese man. “Well, you can stay silent if you want, but I'm sure you'll start begging me for mercy later,” the Baronet said with a sinister glint in his eyes.
“What do you want with me, pig?” Helen finally said.
The name enraged the Baronet. He stood up and slapped Helen hard, knocking her to the side violently. “You'll do well to give me respect while you're in my home, whore. Or have you forgotten our first night together?”
The memories of the past came back in full force inside Helen's mind. The atrocious acts that the Baronet did to her rendered Helen's body frozen in fear. Her face became a conflict of expressions as she tried to suppress her fear with false bravado.
“You're nothing more than a whore, so behave like one,” the Baronet sneered, then sat back in his chair. “The reason I invited you here today concerns your business, Ms. Helen. I find it promising and decided to offer your humble shop security. As you know very well, our town is a bit… dangerous.”
The implication in the Baronet's offer was obvious. If Helen didn't pay his fee, he would let her experience the ‘dangers’ that he was hinting at.
Helen remained silent as she listened to the Baronet. She wanted to lash out again, but her trauma kept her from finding the courage to act. The incident during her son's second Awakening had helped her in overcoming some of her fear, but facing the Baronet himself had been too much.
“In exchange for security, you will pay me one gold every month,” the Baronet said with greed. “I know you make enough to make you one of the richest merchants in town. I have been keeping my eye on you and your son. What do you say, Ms. Helen? Do we have a deal?”
The mention of her son caused Helen to flinch, and the Baronet didn't miss it.
“By the way, I heard your son is growing up fine!” the large man said with glee.
“DON'T!” Helen shouted, her fear gone and replaced with pure fury. “YOU WILL NOT TOUCH A SINGLE HAIR ON HIS HEAD!”
The Baronet laughed at the woman's display of anger. “Why, I only hope for the safety of your son! In fact, I already sent some of my guards to ‘check on him!’”
“YOU FUCKING PIG!” Helen screamed as she tried to break free from her bonds. She attempted to stand up and strike at the devil incarnate in front of her, but the rope binding her ankles caused her to trip.
The Baronet guffawed at Helen's fury. “What's it going to be, whore?! Pay me and avail of my protection, or risk your son to the dangers of the world? Choose!”
Helen furiously struggled in her bonds for a full minute before she finally stopped. Her wrists and ankles were already bleeding from rubbing against the rough rope binding her and her breathing had turned ragged. Ivan and the Baronet watched in amusement as the woman's face shifted into despair.
“Fine…” Helen murmured weakly. “I'll pay. Just keep your grubby hands off my son…”
“Splendid! But I'm afraid I still have to retrieve your son for ‘safekeeping’ purposes,” the Baronet said with a laugh.
“Oh, and to seal the deal, we'll be having some alone time in my room, Ms. Helen,” the Baronet added with lust in his gaze. “It's been a long time since our last reunion.”
Helen didn't respond and chose to lay still on the floor. Her eyes were blank as she stared at the space in front of her, defeat written all over her face.
“Ivan, cut her bonds and bring her to my room,” the Baronet said, ignoring Helen's silence. He had already begun walking toward the doors.
Ivan followed his orders and quickly brought out a knife somewhere from his body. He crouched beside Helen and with a single flick each, he cut the thick ropes binding Helen's wrists and ankles.
The moment her arms and legs were free, Helen moved so suddenly that Ivan froze in shock for a moment before he could react. Within a second, Helen was up and was rushing towards the Baronet's vulnerable back. Her eyes were red with fury and rage as she reached her hands toward the Baronet's neck, intending to strangle him. “YOU'RE NOT TOUCHING MY SON!”
The Baronet spun around in panic, his hands raised to block the madwoman running towards him. But before Helen could even step within arm's reach of the Baronet, a strong force struck her back and caused her to jerk forward and fall. A knife protruded from her back.
The Baronet's eyes roamed up and saw Ivan, his stance indicating that he had just thrown the knife he used to cut Helen's bindings.
“You bloody idiot!” the Baronet shouted in outrage. “How are we going to explain her death, you stupid bastard?!”
“She was trying to kill you,” Ivan reasoned out, but even the uneducated thug realized that the frail woman wouldn't be able to kill the Baronet. His boss wasn't a weak man and he could easily kill anyone smaller than him, especially if they got within his range. Defending himself from a madwoman was child's play.
“She's close with the pastor of this town!” the Baronet shouted, a hint of fear on his face. He remembered the first meeting he had with Mother Betha, and he was sure that the old woman wouldn't show him mercy once she found out about Helen's death. The only reason he had enough courage to extort a friend of the pastor was her son that he intended to take hostage.
The Baronet tried to think of the possible actions he could take to avoid the wrath of the pastor for several minutes, but nothing came to mind. In the end, he decided to erase all the evidence and contact his superior to ask for help. He was surely going to receive a punishment, but it was better than being dead.
“Take her body and burn it!” the Baronet ordered in panic as he started running towards his bedroom to write a letter to Blackhood Rella. “When I come back, I better not see a single piece of ash of that whore's body!”
Ivan nodded, but before he and the Baronet could move further, the mansion trembled.
●●●
“I can't wait to kick back, relax, and forget this day ever happened,” I grumbled as I made my way home from Garin's farm.
Keeping records of their harvest this season turned out to be a monumental task that consumed all my free time. I almost lashed out at Garin for forcing me to help him, but the payment after everything was done helped calm my temper, although it still didn't make the effort worth it.
As I neared our house, I realized that Mom wasn't home yet, which was unusual since it was already pretty late in the afternoon. A glance upwards revealed that the sun was already setting.
I focused on my fabric sense to find Mom's whereabouts. The range had increased to two hundred meters after so much training, allowing my fabric sense to reach the center of town, which included the town square and the Baronet's mansion. The only drawback of my fabric sense was that most of the information that I perceived passed through my mind vaguely unless I focused on it.
I focused on the part of my fabric sense that detected the town square and easily found Mom. Based on what I sensed, she was buying textiles from a merchant. I realized that I couldn't recognize what kind of fabric she bought. Ooh, what kind of fabric is that? Satin? Chiffon? Maybe velvet?
I withdrew my focus from Mom as I entered the house. My mouth formed into a grin as I did my favorite thing every time I got back home. I clapped my hands and the dark room turned bright as the magic lanterns situated all over the house automatically lit up with warm yellow light. Heh, looks cool every time.
Magic lanterns didn't really have a function that made it turn on when somebody clapped. Their enchantments only consisted of simple ‘turn on’ and ‘turn off’ runes, but since I was a mage, I could activate the runes with my mana from a distance. It was one of the basic usages of mana manipulation. Clapping my hands was simply an aesthetic gesture to make it look cooler.
I plopped myself down on the soft couch and relaxed while waiting for Mom. I looked around and saw Tedd and Cuddles sitting atop one of the corner tables in the room. It has been a long time since I last talked to them ever since I outgrew my ‘imaginary phase’ where I talked to nonexistent people. Or teddy bears.
With their primary purpose as my imaginary friends gone, Tedd and Cuddles now simply served as mere decorations in our house. Looking at them now, I felt a twinge of sadness as I remembered all the good times I spent with the bears. When did I suddenly start ignoring them as mere stuffed toys?
With a thought, I levitated them toward me and placed them atop my lap. Both stuffed bears were still in good condition even if they were made with cheap materials. Their button eyes stared at me with what seemed like longing, but I chalked it up to my overactive imagination. I'm already twelve. I'm not supposed to talk to toys anymore.
To keep myself from talking to stuffed bears, I decided to inspect our shop and prepare it for opening, although I brought Tedd and Cuddles with me. They deserve to see what I achieved up until this point, I thought wryly.
I entered our shop and turned on the lights with a thought, no longer clapping since I had my hands full with Tedd and Cuddles. The bright light illuminated racks full of clothes of various colors and styles. From the simplest shirts and trousers that featured my first ever design to the cute dresses that became a quick hit with the town's young women, our store was at the forefront of fashion in Erfeld.
I glanced at Tedd and Cuddles in my hands and after a moment of hesitation, spoke. “What do you think, guys? Impressive, huh?”
“Pshh, without your mother, I bet the clothes you'd be making would solely consist of plain shirts and trousers,” Tedd said.
“I think you've done very well, Brogen. Ignore Tedd and keep up the good work!” Cuddles said.
Talking to the first toys I ever had brought a smile to my face. “I hope—”
My thought was interrupted when I sensed Sister Lina's clothes rushing towards the house. I must have been very distracted with talking to my toys since I only realized she was coming when she was right at the door of the shop.
With a loud bang, Sister Lina opened the door to the shop. Her swift entrance made me realize I forgot to lock the door this morning when I left. I hope Mom doesn't find out about that.
“Brogen!” Sister Lina shouted as she rushed at me.
“Sister Lina? What's—”
Before I could ask why she was in a hurry, I realized that a group of men was approaching the house. My mind didn't realize they were approaching our house when they were still blending in with the civilians walking in the streets at this late hour, but their destination was obvious now that they were all headed towards our location. They were already close.
“Are you alone?!” Sister Lina asked quickly.
“What? Yeah, I am, what's wrong?” I asked as I kept track of the men's movements.
“Where's Helen? Did she tell you where she went?” Sister Lina asked, rushing me.
“Mom went to the town square this… afternoon…”
My mind went blank when I focused my fabric sense on Mom's clothes. I expected her to be walking on the streets as she made her way home, but she wasn't. She was in the Baronet's mansion.
I could hear Sister Lina shouting in the background as the door to the shop burst inward, but my mind was focused on Mom. She was lying prone on the ground as two other men stood in the same room. What…
Mom suddenly stood up and rushed the large man, the Baronet. I sensed the other man move his arm as if throwing something, then Mom jerked forward and fell to the ground. She squirmed in pain for a short while then stopped moving. I could sense a tear in Mom's dress. Just a small tear, but my screaming mind knew that only an extremely sharp blade could pierce a dress I made.
There was a blade sticking out of Mom's back.
My numb mind came back to the present when I felt a strong slap on my face. My eyes registered a guard grinning right in front of me, the leader of the group of men approaching earlier. The others were busy pinning down Sister Lina on the counter and arresting her as she struggled and shouted for help.
I Awakened.
●●●
“Is that the one?” the leader asked as the group of five guards eyed the house in front of them. The house itself was small, with the shop built onto its side a bit bigger. There were glass windows at the front that displayed mannequins clothed in beautiful dresses and apparel.
“Probably,” one of the men said, eyeing the sign hanging above the door of the shop. “But I'm not sure. I can't read.”
“The boss said it's a clothing shop,” another one said. “I see clothes on display, so that's definitely it.”
“Let's get it over already, it's just a kid,” another piped in.
“Then let's go,” the leader said. He saw a glow of a magic lantern inside the shop, which probably meant there was somebody there, so he decided to enter there first.
The first thing that the leader saw upon entering the shop were the arrays of beautiful clothing. Even with his untrained eye, the leader knew that each of the clothes inside the shop was made expertly. I wonder how much all of these would sell for if we get our hands on it, he thought greedily.
The group's attention was caught by a person in the room. A woman in a nun's habit was standing there with a terrified look on her face, and behind her, a child stood with a blank look on his face.
The leader looked at his men and nodded. We have our target.
“W-What are you people doing here?” the nun asked as the men approached. “You're trespassing!”
The leader's mind was conflicted for a moment. Their boss never mentioned anything about a nun from the chapel staying in the shop, so he had no idea whether he should leave her alone or bring her with them.
After a second's hesitation, the leader barked orders at his men. “Arrest the nun.”
His men obeyed and proceeded to pin down the outraged nun as she struggled and shouted. The leader saw some of his men groping the nun as they arrested her, lust evident in their eyes. Fucking sex-crazed idiots, he grumbled in his mind.
While his men were ‘arresting’ the nun, the leader approached the boy with a blank face. “You're coming with us, brat.”
The leader waited for the boy's response, only to be answered with silence. Annoyed, the leader slapped the boy on the face, although he had to make sure he held back his strength. The leader grinned in vile satisfaction when the boy's head snapped to the side and his blank eyes finally focused on him. “Did you hear me, brat? I said you're coming with us.”
The boy glanced to the side, where the other guards were molesting a nun, then back to the grinning man in front of him.
The leader was about to slap the boy again for ignoring him when the boy's expression changed in an instant. From a blank look, the boy's face suddenly contorted into one of grief and fury.
“AAAAHHHH!”
The boy screamed, his voice shrill and loud, full of pain. Everyone in the room, including the nun, stared at the screaming boy, surprised.
The leader recovered from his shock and was moving to knock the boy unconscious when everything in the shop started shaking. The clothes and dresses hanging in their racks started fluttering violently and the light of the magic lanterns flickered. The room filled with noise as the shelves and racks rattled from the flailing clothes as the boy continued to scream.
“What the fuck is happening?!” one of the men cried in fear.
“I-I think that brat's an Ascendant!” one of the guards with a sharp mind exclaimed.
At his statement, the five men eyed the boy with greed.
“Leave him alone!” the nun cried.
The men ignored her and approached the boy quickly, eager to claim the bounty offered for Ascendants. Even if split five ways, the bounty was enough to make the men rich enough to live out the rest of their lives without working. The men were already dreaming of what they would do when they received the bounty as they approached the boy.
Their dreams were dashed when all the clothes in the store ripped into thousands of scraps of fabric and combined to form dozens of writhing tentacles. The fabric composing the tentacles slowly turned black as they became diffused with power.
Stolen story; please report.
“What—” the leader started to say, but he didn't get to finish his sentence as dozens of tentacles snapped forward and skewered the guards all over their bodies, killing them instantly. The tentacles withdrew then impaled them once more, again and again as the boy continued screaming in grief. Waves of heat emanated from the boy as torrents of mana poured into the tentacles, burning his flesh, but he gave no indication of noticing it.
Blood and gore flew and splattered all over the store as the five men were reduced to nothing more than chunks of flesh. By the time the tentacles stopped moving, the entire room was dyed red. The blood-splattered magic lanterns glowed a sinister red light, illuminating the brutality that had just occurred in the small room that once housed a happy mother and her son.
The nun was paralyzed in one corner of the room, her formerly white habit now dyed a dark red. She stared at the child she once called family and felt fear.
The boy was still screaming, tears flowing down his face, but his voice was changing. His cries of despair became deeper and took on a raspy quality until it sounded like the rustling of coarse and rough fabric.
Hundreds of stitches started appearing on the boy's body. In his neck, his arms, his legs, his cheeks, black stitches appeared and what once looked like a boy now looked like a living doll. The writhing tentacles shuddered and attached themselves to the boy's back, stitching themselves to his skin. Some of the tentacles turned rigid and bent at certain points, transforming into appendages that resembled a spider's legs.
The boy stood up using the spider legs, rising several feet into the air, and with an ear-splitting roar, the Ascendant struck the door outwards with dozens of tentacles, knocking it off its hinges. With frightening speed, the Ascendant exited the shop and rushed towards the center of town to avenge his mother.
The nun lay on the floor of the shop, soaked completely in blood as she desperately prayed to the Holy Mother, but no matter how fervent her prayers were, there was no response.
●●●
Brogen stepped out into the open, his dark tentacles brimming with power and displayed for all the world to see. But he wasted no time worrying if anybody saw him. He did not worry about the consequences, nor did he think about what to do after. He did not think at all, for there was only one thing left in his mind.
“KILL THEM. AVENGE. KILL THEM.”
Brogen rushed through the streets of Erfeld, his spider legs propelling him faster than a horse at full gallop. He muttered the same words over and over again with his raspy voice, his eyes focused on the Baronet's mansion that got closer and closer.
Brogen's earlier roar did not go unnoticed. Everywhere he passed, the windows were closed and the streets were silent. Despite the dark setting in, no lamp or light was turned on in any of the houses for fear of attracting the monstrosity's attention.
In less than a minute, Brogen arrived in front of the Baronet's mansion. His long spider legs allowed him to tower over the mansion, giving him a good view of the area. The only people present were the panicking guards and a lone person nearby. Brogen did not notice nor did he care for that person, even when she called for him. He only cared for one thing.
“KILL THEM. AVENGE. KILL THEM.”
His Authority followed his desire. Brogen's tentacles drew back, gathering power to strike the mansion's walls. When the tentacles were ready, threads emerged from their surfaces and formed into magic circles. It was the magic circle for the Wild magic spell ‘Shove,’ a second-circle spell.
Hundreds of magic circles made of thread appeared all over the tentacles and hummed with power as Brogen overloaded them with mana. The threads making up the magic circles disintegrated from the extreme amounts of mana poured into them, but not before achieving their purpose.
When the spells activated, Brogen sent the dozens of tentacles towards the mansion in a whipping motion, taking only a split second before they reached the stone walls. The second-circle Wild spells were weak, but with hundreds of them activating at the same time, it boosted the powerful tentacles even further and with a loud boom, the earth shook and the front half of the mansion crumbled. Brogen saw some of the Baronet's guards get buried under the rubble, but there were more exiting the ruins looking for the threat. When they saw the monstrosity before them, they cowered.
“W-What the hell is that?!”
“M-Monster! Monster!”
Brogen's eyes gleamed and the slaughter started. Before the guards could even run away in fear, Brogen's tentacles darted forward and impaled all the men simultaneously.
“N-No… I don't want to die…” one of them said weakly as blood filled his pierced lungs.
“Help! Help! S-Somebody save me!”
“It hurts! Agh!”
Not satisfied, Brogen lifted them up, split the tentacles into countless wiggling threads, then spread them deep inside the guards' bodies like worms. The guards made shrill screams of pain and pleas for mercy, but it only served as music for Brogen's ears.
With the threads rooted deeply within their bodies, Brogen sharpened the threads and made them flail wildly in random directions. Like a blender, the threads minced and mashed the guards' innards, turning them into mush. Their screams stopped abruptly as blood spilled forth from the men's orifices in torrents and splattered on the ground below.
“KILL THEM. AVENGE. KILL THEM.”
The entire area was now filled with the stench of blood and death, but Brogen was not perturbed. With an absent thought, he severed the parts of his tentacles still inside the bodies of the guards he had brutalized, causing their ravaged bodies to fall on the ground with a splat. Their bones had been too hard to cut through, and the threads got entangled with them.
Brogen shook the bits of meat off his tentacles and darted into the mansion. He could sense other people inside: servants, maids, and cooks, all scrambling to escape through the backdoors, but Brogen did not give a single damn about them. His eyes were solely on the Baronet and the man that threw the blade that killed his mother.
It only took Brogen less than thirty seconds to reach the room where the Baronet was, and with a single flick of a tentacle with a wide and blunt end, he bashed the door in that led to the room.
Brogen's entrance was not unnoticed as the man in a black cloak was already moving to intercept him, sword in hand. Brogen already knew the man was waiting to ambush him with his fabric sense, but he was still caught off-guard. The man had moved far too quickly for a normal human, and with a downward swing, the enemy almost struck Brogen's body if not for the tentacle that quickly blocked the attack.
“KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILL.”
With his mother's murderer right in front of his eyes, Brogen's mind further descended into rage and madness. His tentacles flailed wildly in all directions as his instincts drove him to kill the man at all costs.
“What is that?!” the Baronet screamed in fear. “Kill it! Kill it! Ivan, kill it!”
“I'm trying, but it's fucking hard!” Ivan shouted as he tried to cut through the tentacles once again. He was an augmenter, and yet his immense speed and strength were not enough to fully cut through the dark appendages that emerged from the child's back.
“I'LL KILL YOU!” Brogen screamed as all his tentacles attacked at once. The skin on his face was starting to burn and blacken from the intense heat of his mana.
Ivan moved quickly and tried to dodge the dark appendages. He successfully avoided the first few attacks, but there were too many tentacles coming from all directions. One tentacle managed to graze him and the force knocked him out of balance, leaving him vulnerable.
Without even getting the chance to utter a cry, dozens of tentacles impaled Ivan's body, instantly killing the augmenter.
“No, no, no, no!” the Baronet cried as he tried to escape through one of the small windows in the room. The destruction of the front part of the mansion had resulted in one of the exits being buried in rubble while the other one was blocked by Brogen, leaving the small window his only path to salvation, but his large body did not let him fit through it.
“YOU!” Brogen screamed as he turned his attention on the Baronet.
“Please!” the Baronet cried as he gave up trying to fit through the window. “Have mercy! I didn't kill your mother! It was him! It was that bastard who threw the knife!”
Brogen did not listen to the Baronet's words and prepared to kill him with his tentacles, but he heard a faint voice that pierced through the veil of rage and madness that clouded his mind.
“Sweetie…”
Brogen's rage quickly abated and his face contorted into fear as he realized that his mother was still alive. He rushed towards her side and lamented at the blade protruding from her back.
“Mom!” Brogen exclaimed in grief, his voice turning back to normal.
“Come closer… sweetie…” Helen said weakly.
“We have to get you to Mother Betha! She can heal you!”
“It's too… late… for me…” Helen whispered with a weak smile. “Lost… too… much blood…”
“No, no, we can still save you!” Brogen cried. He retrieved a large piece of cloth from his tentacles and placed it around the knife protruding from Helen's back, taking care not to remove the blade to prevent more blood from escaping.
Brogen realized that his mother's dress was soaked in blood. There was so much blood that it was a miracle that Helen was still conscious. He thought that the wound wasn't serious because it wasn't bleeding too much, but it turned out Helen had already lost too much blood to bleed even further.
“Sweetie, I'm sorry…” Helen whispered as tears fell from her eyes. “I tried.. to stop them… from hurting you… I… won't get… to see you… grow up… anymore…”
“Please, don't go!” Brogen whimpered as his body shook from his sobs. “I don't know what I'm going to do!”
“I'm sorry…” Helen repeated weakly. “You're going… to have… to face every… thing… alone from… now on…”
“But I can't do it without you! Please, Mom, stay with me!”
Brogen used his Authority to press down the fabric on the wound to keep more blood from spilling, but her wound wasn't even bleeding anymore. Helen's skin had become extremely pale.
“Its… so cold…” Helen whimpered. “Can… you… hug me… one last… time..?”
“I got you, Mom,” Brogen said in between sobs as he embraced his mother, her blood dripping down his hands and arms. “Don't worry, Mother Betha will arrive soon to heal you and everything will be okay. After this, we'll go to mass every Saturday and then eat Sister Lina's meat buns after. We'll stop by Maly's place to greet her every day when we go shopping in the town square. We'll celebrate my birthdays in the years to come and invite all my friends. So please, Mom, just stay with me!”
“Meat… buns..? That… sounds nice…” Helen murmured, her eyelids closing. “I'm… so sleepy… wake… me up… after ten… minutes… sweetie…”
“Mom, don't sleep!” Brogen shouted, shaking his mother's body to keep her awake.
“Good night… sweetie…” Helen whispered with her last breath. “I… love… you…”
Helen's eyes closed and her breathing ceased. Brogen stared at his mother's unmoving body, paralyzed. He stared at her for a long time. He stared at her dress soaked in crimson blood and at her pale face, beautiful even in death. As he held his mother's body in his embrace, Brogen felt no warmth from her, only the cold sensation of a corpse.
Brogen looked at his hands that were covered in his mother's blood. He rubbed his thumbs over his palms and fingers, feeling the wet and sticky crimson fluid, and looked back to whom it came from.
Helen was dead.
“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
The Baronet, who was slowly making his way towards the exit, squealed in fear and made a run for the exit. He only made three steps before tentacles impaled his arms and legs and pinned him to the wall. “Aaarrrggh!”
“SHE'S DEAD! MAMA IS DEAD! MAMA IS GONE! AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!”
With rage-filled eyes, Brogen retrieved the knife from his mother's back and rushed the trapped Baronet.
“Please, have mercy!” the obese man begged. “I-If you let me go, I'll give you everything you want! I'll give you all the gold you need so you don't need to— AAAAAHHH!”
“I WANT MY MAMA!” Brogen screamed.
Raising the knife high, Brogen stabbed the Baronet in his fat belly, eliciting an inhuman shriek of pain from the man. Brogen stabbed the Baronet repeatedly, screaming all the while. Again and again, Brogen stabbed as blood splattered on his face and body. Dark red blood soaked his clothes, but the black color of his attire masked the crimson stains. The Baronet's shouts of pains and Brogen's screams of grief mixed into a ghastly symphony.
The Baronet did not die instantly from the stabs. He was large and the knife was small, and it took Brogen dozens of stabs before the Baronet's cries weakened. Brogen had been stabbing the man in front of him for a whole minute, and only after several dozens of stabs did the Baronet turn silent.
The Baronet's once colossal belly was now nothing more than ravaged flesh. A large pool of blood had already gathered underneath him, soaking Brogen's bare feet, and the Baronet's face was frozen in an expression of fear as he died.
The man responsible for Helen's death was finally dead, and yet Brogen did not feel satisfied. Killing the Baronet and all his subordinates did not satisfy his desire for vengeance.
“THEY DID NOT HELP HER,” Brogen realized. He was sure that Helen wouldn't have entered the Baronet's mansion all on her own, so the only other alternative was a kidnapping. A kidnapping in daylight was impossible without witnesses, and Brogen knew that his mother was already in the mansion before the sun had even fully set.
“THEY DID NOT HELP HER. THEY DID NOT HELP HER.”
With eyes filled with rage, Brogen turned his sight outside the window, towards Erfeld and its people.
●●●
Helen felt herself floating. She did not know where she was, nor did she know what was happening, but it did not matter to her. Helen's mind was at peace, and the only thing that mattered to her was a faint call from somewhere. She did not know where this ‘somewhere’ was, but she did not care. She let herself float towards the call. Follow the call! Helen thought with childish glee.
Then she felt something warm surround her. She did not know what it was for she had no eyes to see. All she knew was that something had taken hold of her, preventing her from floating off to whatever was making a call that beckoned for her. Aw, I can no longer follow the call, Helen grumbled.
With nothing else to do, Helen's mind wandered aimlessly. With no body to move and no brain to process information with, Helen's thoughts were dictated by her pure, honest emotions. This warm thing surrounding me feels so gooood, Helen giggled.
A foreign thought entered her mind then. Hm? Somebody there? Helen asked to whatever entered her mind. After a short pause, another foreign thought entered her mind. It told Helen who it was. Wooow, I didn't think I would be able to talk to the one and only! Helen thought excitedly. If she had hands, she would be clapping happily.
More foreign thoughts entered Helen's mind as the entity communicated with her. The entity could not speak using the words of mortals, so it communicated through direct thoughts and ideas. Helen ‘listened’ to the entity's thoughts and soon, she finally understood its message.
Sooo, I am now simply a soul and I'm about to go to where souls go to when their bodies die? Helen asked with innocence. Isn't that a good thing?
The entity sent its thoughts again.
You're giving me a choice? You can reincarnate me again with my memories?! Helen asked excitedly without understanding the implications. She was simply a soul, and her mind only consisted of primal emotions and a primitive awareness.
The entity ‘nodded’ and gave more details.
I'm gonna live again as a baby? That's cute! Helen exclaimed. Wait, when you say I'm going to live again, you mean where I experience all sorts of nasty stuff?
Helen was a soul driven by emotions, but her memories were still intact, albeit fragmented. She experienced a lot of traumatic events during her life that left a significant imprint on her soul, and so the bad memories were the first ones she recalled.
I don't think I want to experience bad things again, Helen grumbled with childish innocence. You said I had a choice, right? What's my other choice besides reincarnation?
The entity hesitated for a moment, then proceeded to tell Helen the truth.
My son is in danger? Helen asked with confusion. I have a son when I was alive? Oh, yeah! I remember now! His name was—
The memory of her son's name triggered a myriad of intense emotions to surface. Joy, sadness, anger, pride, fear, and the most prominent of all, love.
Helen felt the emotions all at once, driving her mind into a confusing jumble of thoughts. Aaahhh! Brogen! I remember! My son! Sweetie, where are you?! I'm home, sweetie! Did you wash the dishes? What are you doing? Monster, monster, monster! Come here and give your mommy a hug! Eat your meat buns before they go cold, sweetie! So who's your cute little lady friend? It's… so cold… Can… you… hug me… one last… time..?
The emotions came in a flood, along with the memories associated with them. In one short instant, Helen recalled her memories with her son and lived through them again. One moment she would cry, the next she would laugh like the happiest woman in the world, and then she would suddenly tremble in fear.
The entity watched Helen with pity. Souls were immortal and indestructible, but the only thing that could hurt it was its own memories. The entity felt guilt for making Helen remember, but it was necessary if she was to be given a choice. Helen's soul writhed in happiness and agony, in joy and despair, until at last, she calmed down.
What… what happened to my son? Helen asked in panic. The last memory she recalled was the last one she experienced: her death and her son's transformation to a grotesque monstrosity. What happened to Brogen?! Helen shouted at the entity.
Without replying, the entity withdrew its ‘hands’ that wrapped around Helen's soul. As it did, Helen was able to see again. She was still floating, but her surroundings were now a mishmash of vivid colors. After her ‘eyes’ adjusted, Helen finally realized that she was floating right above her house. Instinctively, she realized that the entity was showing her its memories.
With an unconscious thought, Helen was able to peer through the house's walls, and she trembled in shock. Inside the shop was her son, wicked tentacles and appendages jutting out of his back, with Sister Lina trembling in a corner. The entire room was the very definition of carnage. No… Helen lamented.
She watched the memory as it played. She witnessed her son dash through the town in full view of all its inhabitants, destroy the mansion, and slaughter the guards. Every time she heard Brogen's scream of grief, Helen felt her heart break, even if she didn't have one as a soul. Watching Brogen kill the Baronet was the last straw.
Show me my son as he is right now!
The entity obliged, and the entire landscape changed again. This time, Helen was floating in the same room as her son. Brogen was snarling like a wild beast as he eyed the town outside, but Helen didn't give her full attention to her son, for there was something else in the room.
Floating right above her son was a presence so dark and so vile that Helen felt sick, even if she was merely a soul. She saw it as a mass of dark fog that writhed as if something was moving within, and from the fog came two dark tendrils of smoke that were attached to her son's temples. It was manipulating her son's mind.
GET OFF MY SON! Helen shrieked, but no matter how much she wanted to attack the dark presence, she could not move. What are you waiting for?! Kill that thing!
Helen tried to compel the entity to kill the dark fog, but it could only communicate its helplessness.
Then why are you even showing me this?! Helen cried in despair.
The entity sent a thought that would finally give Helen her choice.
Reincarnate with my memories… or help my son by destroying the dark fog? Helen repeated. Can't I do both? I want to live with my son again!
The entity told Helen it was impossible. If she were to dispel the dark fog that plagued her son's mind, then she wouldn't be able to reincarnate with her memories intact. In exchange for her son's salvation, Helen would have to sacrifice all her memories and return to the circle of reincarnation as a blank soul.
After a long moment of silence, Helen finally made her decision with grim determination. I choose to save my son from the dark fog.
With an affirmation, the entity gave Helen information and instructions on what to do and prepared to depart. Before the entity left, Helen bade it farewell. Thank you for giving me a choice to save my son, Holy Mother.
The entity, the Holy Mother, transmitted one last thought of farewell to Helen before finally returning to wherever She came from.
All alone now, Helen watched the dark fog, which, according to the Holy Mother's information, was an Eldritch. It's all between you and me now, bastard, she muttered as she looked at her son. Knowing that she would soon forget him and the memories they made together hurt her deeply, but she satisfied herself with the thought that this one last act was for Brogen.
Without further preamble, Helen gathered a part of her soul into a ball of power and prepared to use it to attack the Eldritch. The Holy Mother had told her that it was the only way to harm the creature in her current form. When the attack was ready, Helen looked at her son one last time with sad eyes. Goodbye, sweetie. I know this world is cruel, but I hope you live on. I won't be there to guide you, but know that whatever you end up doing, I will still love you from the bottom of my heart.
As a soul, the only thing that Helen could manipulate was a part of herself. Souls were indestructible, but during the course of a living creature's life, a new layer forms over the indestructible part made from the memories they gather while they were alive. This layer was the only part that wasn't indestructible and that Helen could manipulate. Using it as an attack would destroy the memories.
I love you, Brogen, Helen thought before sending her attack made of her memories towards the Eldritch. The dark fog didn't even have a chance to register surprise before it was erased from existence from the powerful attack.
Helen, or what used to be Helen's soul, remained in the room with no clue as to where it was or what its purpose might be. It looked around the room with childish curiosity and saw the grieving Brogen. It did not know who he was, so it merely watched the child inquisitively.
The soul watched Brogen sit down in resignation and wondered what the child was up to. Then the soul finally heard the call. With an instinct that it could not explain, the soul felt the need to follow the source of the call. With one last look at Brogen, the soul started floating away to return to the circle of life. Before it left, the soul saw Brogen stand up.
●●●
Everything passed by in a blur. The moment I sensed Mom lying prone on the ground in the Baronet's mansion, my Authority underwent another Awakening. A new wave of foreign emotions and instincts overwhelmed my mind, but this time, I welcomed them. I was too frail to accept the image of Mom's body unmoving on the ground. So I let my Authority drive my actions.
I saw myself slaughter countless men brutally as Sister Lina watched with fearful eyes. I saw the terrified gazes of the people who saw my form when I rushed to the Baronet's mansion. I saw Mother Betha calling out to me, her face a mask of worry and fear, before I destroyed the Baronet's mansion and slaughtered the guards. I did all these things but it felt like watching a dream. I did not care, because the only thing on my mind was to avenge Mom.
KILL THEM. KILL THEM.
A voice was whispering to me. Was it my subconsciousness? Or was it my Authority? Either way, something was urging me to kill all the men related to Mom's death, and I agreed wholeheartedly. The rage and hatred inside me felt like a blazing inferno and the whispers fanned the flames even more.
THEY DID NOT HELP HER. THEY DID NOT HELP HER. KILL THEM. KILL EVERYBODY. THEY ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR HER DEATH.
Yes, the people of Erfeld did not help her. Why would they? The Baronet has a much higher status than them and an entire army of guards at his disposal. Why would they risk themselves when they could just watch from the sidelines? They would express their pity and sympathy, but they wouldn't act because they aren't the ones who are suffering. If that's the case, THEN I WILL DRAG THEM INTO THE HELL I'M BURNING IN.
I was looking outside the room's window, and I could see a veritable number of people. They kept their distance from the mansion, as if fearful of what lay inside. THEY ARE RIGHT TO BE AFRAID.
A keener observation revealed that the people outside weren't watching the mansion. Most of them were looking somewhere else, somewhere near the mansion. The front?
I followed their gazes and saw an old woman. She looked familiar. She wore white priestly robes and held a staff that glowed a radiant yellow light. She was trying to enter the mansion but two men were blocking her way.
Before I could take a step forward to leave the room and slaughter the people outside, the fog that covered my mind vanished all of a sudden and my self-awareness returned. I was no longer simply a spectator to the dream, no, to the nightmare. I was now living it. Throughout my rampage, my emotions had been dulled except for my rage, but now they were back.
I looked at the carnage around me. The brutal scene was done by my own hand, and I knew there were more outside the mansion and back at the shop. It brought a confusing jumble of emotions within me. I wanted to feel guilty for slaughtering dozens of men without mercy or hesitation, but the silent fury smoldering within me prevented any notion of regret from blossoming.
I sat down on the ground slowly. I could feel my body burn from fatigue, but my mind didn't register it. I was shocked at what I was about to do. Was I really going to kill the people outside?
I stared at Mom's body, wondering what I should do from now on. I wanted to cry for eternity, but I already ran out of tears when I held Mom as she whispered her final words. Mom, what do I do?
Despair was starting to take over my mind. I had trained my Authority nonstop for years with a single purpose to protect Mom, but in the end, I still failed.
I wanted to give up. I just wanted to get the eternal rest I had been craving for since my first life and leave everything behind, but a single glance at Mom's peaceful face immediately crushed the notion. I had no idea what transpired in this room that led to her death, but she did everything she could for my sake. Killing myself now would be the same as spitting on her sacrifice.
With an exhausted sigh, I stood up on shaky legs. As much as I tried to mask it with anger, I was extremely afraid. Mom was no longer there to hold my hand and help me through life's journey. I felt like falling apart, but Mom wasn't there anymore to piece me back together. Just like in my first life, I was alone.
Even my friends wouldn't be able to help me. I had exposed myself to the entire town in the full glory of my Authority and even slaughtered dozens of guards in front of them. If I sought help from Mother Betha, she would be put at risk, along with the two nuns. I have to leave.
The thread appendages on my back were still active, but I knew I had little time left before they crumbled into fibers from being overloaded with mana. With a single thought, I carefully picked up Mom with several tentacles and exited the room, using my spider legs to move. When I was near the front area where the mansion crumbled, I heard shouting.
●●●
“I don't care if there's a monster in there!” Mother Betha snarled at the two augmenters in front of her. “While you two bastards are wasting my time, Helen is dying.
“If you go in there, Helen won't be the only dead woman!” Carson spat angrily. “Jannik, you tell this old crone why going in blind is the stupidest thing she could possibly do!”
Jannik didn't reply to his companion. His gaunt eyes were staring at the mansion, on guard for any movement, and his ears were keenly listening to something inside the building. He heard screams and cries earlier, but now it was silent. Whatever was inside the building, it was done with its business, and Jannik was waiting for it to come out.
Mother Betha glared at the two men. She knew they were just doing their jobs as the town's most powerful individuals, but she had no time. The Pope's vision involved Helen's death and Mother Betha knew it could only be under the hands of the Baronet, not from her own son.
Her eyes almost popped out of their sockets when she saw him earlier, but Mother Betha was sure that the ‘monster’ everyone was talking about was Brogen. She tried to talk to him before he wrecked the mansion, but his rage was so palpable that the pastor knew her words didn't even reach the boy. The sight terrified the old woman, but what Mother Betha feared most was the cause of his rage. There's only one thing that could make that mature child disregard caution and waste all his years of effort in hiding.
Since the two men in front of her weren't budging, Mother Betha decided to do things by force. The pastor's staff flared with hot yellow light as she began casting a spell to slow down the augmenters' metabolism that would force them into hibernation. It was a risky spell to use on humans that weren't supposed to hibernate, but Mother Betha was desperate.
Carson's face lit up in alarm and within a second, his arms brought up the greatsword gripped in his hands ever since he arrived on the scene and pointed it towards the old woman. “The old hag's finally gone senile! Jannik, get over here!”
“Shut up, you two. It's coming,” Jannik replied before taking his stance, his dark shovel gripped tightly in his hands.
Mother Betha and Carson stopped facing each other and turned towards the mansion. There were a few people brave or stupid enough to get a glimpse of the monster that suddenly attacked the Baronet's household, and they watched the situation unfold from a distance.
Everything was silent for a few moments, then Mother Betha and the augmenters heard it. Something was walking, no, crawling out of the mansion's ruins. The noise was akin to a crawling insect, but the sound was deeper and heavier, as if the one making it was larger.
Mother Betha knew it was Brogen and the weird spider legs he formed using thread, but the two augmenters had no idea what was coming. When the sound was just at the edge of the mansion's shadow, Jannik and Carson activated their auras. Jannik's dark blue aura wrapped around his body and turned into an exquisite suit of armor while Carson's surrounded him in chaotic red light.
The release of their auras brought a halt to the noise. Mother Betha, despite knowing that it was Brogen, still prepared herself for battle. After the slaughter she had seen earlier, the pastor was sure that if Brogen was out of control, the two augmenters in front of her would have a hard time suppressing him, but she was sure that they could bring him down. Despite his power, Brogen did not stand a chance against two veteran augmenters.
Mother Betha's staff glowed with a readied spell.
Everybody watching the mansion waited for the monster to come out, but there was only silence. For a full minute, nothing happened, the only noise coming from the cawing of the crows above as they eyed the buffet of human corpses.
Carson grunted and complained. “What's taking so—”
The large man couldn't finish his sentence before a large something dashed out of the mansion's ruins and ran away, towards the town's exit. It moved so fast that only Jannik was able to react. With a grunt, the Gravekeeper moved quickly and tried to cut off the monster's path. The tall man moved as fast as the monster and with a swing of his shovel empowered with mana, Jannik managed to lop off two of the monster's long legs.
The creature tumbled and crashed in one of the buildings that surrounded the Baronet's mansion. Jannik tried to rush the creature and kill it, but a crowd of screaming civilians slowed him down.
When Jannik finally reached the monster, what he saw were two figures wrapped completely in fabric. The one wrapped in colorful fabric was being held by long tentacles while the smaller one wrapped entirely in black threads sprouted dozens of appendages on its back. The smaller one stared at him with human eyes, filled with fear and anger.
The unusual sight made Jannik hesitate for a split second before swinging his shovel for the finishing move. The split-second was all Mother Betha needed to cast her spell.
A bright yellow light flew from Mother Betha's staff and struck Jannik on the back. The tall man's movement slowed and lost energy as he struggled to stay upright, and the monster took the chance to escape. With large strides, the monster ran away quickly, shooting a sad look at the pastor that helped it.
“Go,” Mother Betha whispered, hoping that Brogen understood what she said from the shape of her mouth. “Go and live.”
The monster waved a tentacle in Mother Betha's direction before finally escaping Erfeld. Carson tried to give chase, but he was not as fast as Jannik.
“Fuck!” the big man swore. “What the hell was that, Mother Betha?! You missed your spell and hit Jannik instead! He's lucky the monster didn't use the chance to kill him or else Ralf would be growing up without his father!”
“It was a mistake on my part,” Mother Betha replied absently, her eyes never leaving Brogen's shrinking figure. She didn't miss the body he carried with him, and her sharp mind easily drew a conclusion. A tear slid down her wrinkled cheek, but the pastor quickly wiped it away without anybody noticing.
“Now the monster got away,” Carson grumbled as he walked towards Jannik to help his weakened friend. “What spell was that anyway?”
“It's supposed to put mundane creatures into hibernation,” Mother Betha replied. “But since Jannik's a third-augmenter, he should only be feeling weak for a few minutes.”
Mother Betha walked over to the hunched Jannik and apologized. “I'm sorry for hitting you instead of the monster, Jannik. My eyes are not as good as they used to be.”
The tall man eyed the pastor suspiciously, but he merely grunted. “It's fine. We'll try to hunt it down, but it would be almost impossible with winter setting in.”
The two augmenters walked away after bidding the pastor goodbye. Mother Betha stayed in the area and simply watched as people started coming out of their homes to exchange rumors and clean up the mess. She saw messengers on horseback sent to the nearest city to relay the news about the attack on the Baronet. Although Baronets were lesser nobles, outright killing one was still a crime that the nobles couldn't ignore.
“May the Holy Mother help us,” the pastor prayed as she rued the turbulent future that was about to come.
●●●
I crashed into the trees as the threads that composed my tentacles and spider legs finally crumbled into a ragged mess of fibers. I fell to the ground like a ragdoll, my body too weak to move further. My consciousness was waning from the sudden accelerations I was doing using my spider legs, and coupled with my simultaneous use of mana and magic, I was surprised that I was still awake.
The cold soil of the forest soothed the nasty burns all over my body because of using so much mana nonstop. I had been running from Erfeld at full speed for more than an hour and my mana was completely exhausted, rendering me vulnerable to whatever might find me. I used up all my mana to run as far as I could from Erfeld, but I now realized that I should have saved some to defend myself against predators.
Night had fallen and the forest around me was dark and cold. For the past few minutes, I had regenerated enough mana to fuse the bundle of fibers into usable fabric and turn it into a blanket to keep myself warm, but I used the mana for a more important purpose.
I turned my attention to Mom. Before I left the mansion, I wrapped her entire body tightly in fabric and made sure not to overload them with mana so they wouldn't break down into fibers after a while. The fabrics were filled with dozens of stitches of magic circles that glowed weakly with a yellow light.
I channeled all the mana I regenerated for the past few minutes into the magic circles stitched on the fabrics wrapped around Mom, and their weak glow turned bright yellow. Good.
With a tired sigh, I lay on my back and stared at the thick canopy above. I had hundreds of things to worry about my situation. I had no food, no water, no spare clothes, and definitely no shelter. I had zero experience in surviving in the wild and the entire kingdom was probably out looking for me. I had so many problems, but my attention was on something else.
What am I going to do?
Mom was gone, I had no home, my clothing business in Erfeld is as good as dead, my friends probably think of me as a monster, the kingdom is out looking for me, and Mother Betha can't be seen associating with me. Simply put, I was now a homeless, jobless convict lost in the woods.
“What do you think, Mom? Should I live as a hermit in the mountains or make a comeback?”
There was no reply except for the hundreds of insects chirping their ass out into the night. After what seemed like forever, I made up my mind.
“Make a comeback it is.”
From the corner of my eye, I spotted something buried underneath the pile of fibers that used to be my tentacles and spider legs. I reached out and brushed away the top layer, revealing Tedd and Cuddles.
I thought I escaped Erfeld by myself, but it turns out I subconsciously took the first two friends I ever made in this world with me when I began my rampage. Their sight brought a fresh batch of tears I didn't know I still had, and I hugged them tightly, just like I did when Mom first made them for me.
I cried myself to sleep. The nightmares came, but when my life already turned into one, it was just one more problem to add to the list.
Just wait for me, Mom. Before I leave this wretched world, I'll make sure it'll regret ever messing with me.