Novus was not the only one who was currently within the woods; a bit further from his location were orange lights that lit up the darkness as they moved together in unison.

Within the woods where Novus woke up from, there were other figures swarming and moving throughout the diverse collection of frosted plant life, lighting up the darkness with their torches as their eyes scanned every corner, seemingly searching for something important that they wished to find.

Their search, however, would quickly be interrupted by something that roamed all too commonly within the frozen forests.

"ROAARR!"

In front of the searching knights was a gigantic bear of monstrous proportions: its blood red hide was thicker than even the toughest leather, and its claws were as sharp as the most honed blades.

The fell creature quickly rushed in to attack the group, as it swiped its monstrously sharp claws against the nearest warrior. Before the blow could land however, the knight within its vicinity managed to quickly avoid the attack with a perfect combination of excellent footwork and frightening agility, and instead, the bear's attack had landed upon one of the nearby trees, quickly destroying its bark and shattering it into pieces.

"We have no time to waste on this worthless animal... cut it down already..."

One of the knights then rapidly charged towards the bear in lightning-quick speeds, as he then swerved his sword in a singular, yet powerful downwards motion. Almost instantly, the monstrous bear's body had been cleanly split in half, as the 2 dead parts of its corpses fell lifelessly onto the ground and covered the snow with the now-deceased creature's blood.

"Keep searching!" one of the armored men shouted, the unique insignia on his armor clearly signifying his leadership amongst the knight-like figures. "We have to capture that brat before the sun rises! We cannot afford to let him escape!"

In truth, these soldiers were men of the Neugomian Empire, the greatest nation in the continent of Xathra. Such an empire contained the greatest armies within the continent, and the vast amount of territories they have laid claim to, as well as the impressive military might they often boasted, would easily prove their superiority.

There was only one reason why they were in such a dense, unpopulated place in the first place; these men were sent to kill a member of royalty, under orders from their cruel master, a lord who was also simultaneously one of the poor child's own flesh and blood: the 1st Prince, Triston Neugomia, a power hungry despot who also, sadly, was the next-in-line to the empire's throne.

"He won't make it that far anyway, captain." one of the men snickered, as they continued to prowl about searching for their prey. "Not with that magickless body of his, he won't."

The knight captain retorted back, displeased with his subordinate's foolish assumption. "Don't be so quick to assume things, you fool." he replied. "Brats can cover long distances when they cower and flee, make sure that you all check every single nook and cranny of this damned, frozen woods."

And so did they continue to search, checking even the most absurd and impossible places where the boy could have hid himself; of course, they wouldn't be able to find him just yet. The freezing weather did they continue to endure, their bodies warmed and heated by the insulation provided by their armor and leather, as well as the fires that lit up their torches. It would be a while before they would finally manage to find even traces of the runaway.

Eventually, however, they would indeed find traces of the target they had long sought after for so long.

"Captain, we've found something..." one of the men came rushing as he spoke in a rush. "footprints, traces... blood trails... we'll be able to find the boy quickly at this rate."

A small, nearly sadistic grin emerged from the captain's face, which could only be slightly concealed by the helmet equipped onto his head. "... Excellent... call the others at once, let's see just where exactly this trail leads to..."

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Novus had been searching around the snow-ridden forest for a while, and yet he still hadn't managed to find other people. Gradually, however, a light, though repetitive pain had suddenly appeared and began plaguing his fragile head, which would eventually get worse over time.

His head would eventually hurt so much; a dangerous, nerve-wracking pain had seized his forehead, as memories and experiences not belonging to him began showering his mind in an endess train of unwanted thoughts.

The boy... or at least, the original owner of this body, whose soul had long been gone and had been replaced with that of Novus', was the 3rd prince of a nation known as the Neugomian Empire, the mightiest empire and nation within the lands of the Xathran continent; how such a royal prince of an esteemed country ended up in such a situation was completely bizarre and tragic, however.

Unlike his 3 other siblings, the 3rd prince had been born as a sickly, frail being with not even a single ounce of mana in his body; magic was the essence of life in the continent of Xathra, and those with high magic affinity were considered to be the highest forms of life, while those who had not even a single ounce of magic were automatically considered as outcasts. Eventually, when the 3rd Prince had reached the 13th year of his miserable life, his own father, the 32nd emperor, Titus von Neugomia, had sent him in exile to the empire's faraway lands, making sure that Novus' pathetic self would never be seen again.

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Although, of course, the poor child's tragedies would not simply just end with that.

In the middle of his journey to the borderlands he was exiled and banished to, the knights who had been handling his transportation had eventually decided to turn on him; in truth, they were secretly the 1st Prince's lackeys charged with getting rid of the 3rd Prince in order to ensure their master's uncontested right to the throne. On the 3rd day and at dawn of night, the horses stopped and the carriage came to a grinding halt, their entire convoy surrounded with the endless, snow-enveloped forests which would serve as the perfect cover for their treasonous crime.

However, as they opened the door to the prince's carriage, the young child immediately bolted outside and made an escape; the clever boy had quickly managed to figure out the malign intentions of his supposed vassals, though he didn't completely manage to escape unscathed, as he got wounded by the rough housing of the knights who tried to prevent his escape.

This would all eventually lead to the situation Novus was in right now; although, he wasn't still exactly sure as to how he was transported to the prince's body, as the memories that came after the boy's escape were too, incredibly foggy for him to surmise. Perhaps the prince succumbed to his injuries, allowing him to be easily transported into the body? Or maybe, his soul had been forcefully taken out in order for his body to serve as Novus' vessel? Regardless of what truly happened however, even Novus couldn't help but feel pity for the original owner of this rather pitiful body, as he slightly regretted the fact that his second chance costed the life of a poor, innocent boy in the process.

"There he is! After him!"

To his far left he saw multiple men clad in steel, carrying radiant torches whose wooden bodies' flickered with the life of orange flames. Novus, who had, by now, fully recognized what their true intentions were, immediately tried to run towards the opposite direction and flee from his wicked pursuers.

"Don't let him get away!" one of the knights shouted in anger as the shuffling of several knightly boots and the rustling of bushes could be heard even from far away. "Capture the bastard! Don't let him run any further!"

And so did it quickly become a desperate chase, as Novus limped and ran from the people who wanted to get rid of him. While the trees and shrubs proved to be troublesome obstacles for his escape, they had fortunately also equally impeded the chase of his pursuers.

Eventually however, his luck would run out, as he soon tripped on one of the tree roots and stumbled onto the ground, allowing the knights to finally seize and take hold of him in order to finish their dastardly work.

Once more, Novus quickly found himself in another, equally deadly, and utterly horrible situation.

________________________________________

"Bring him here!"

In a rather sadistic fashion, the knights had chosen not to kill him quickly by usual methods such as slitting his throat; instead, they had dragged him towards one of the nearby cliffs, where there was nothing but stone and death that awaited those poor souls who would fall into its cataclysmic depths.

Novus couldn't even resist at this point: as soon as he had been captured, he had been brutally beaten up and pummeled mercilessly with their fists, breaking some of his bones and leaving numbing bruises on his body. Even though they'd simply been tasked with assasinating the young 3rd prince, the knights had taken their time to torture the poor boy as painfully as they could afford.

He would have definitely been able to kill all of them in his old body. At the very least, he would at least have managed to injure some of them had this pitiful body not been seriously injured already. Unfortunately, the worst case scenario had happened to him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it anymore.

"Now then, before we kill you..." from the ranks of the vicious men emerged their leader, the knight captain, who spoke with a tone that was obviously quite mocking. "... Do you know why we want to kill you, your highness?"

Novus could only say a few words, as his mind was gradually coming to terms with the cruel fate that had been bestowed upon him once more. "... No... why?" he answered back, his voice hoarse and battered due to the beating he suffered from earlier.

"Because you're a pathetic disgrace to the imperial family, a magickless, worthless bastard who deserves to die in the worst ways possible." his voice was drowning in hate and scorn as he spoke. "... And most importantly, your highness..."

"You're a thorn to our lord's side... for as much as we loathe you, you are still a member of the royal family." he continued as he then violently seized him by the hair. "And for the sin of being a magickless royal... you must die..."

"But first... my final parting gift... your highness..."

the knight captain drew his sword and swiftly made a downward stroke. Blood then splattered all about, as Novus' left arm came clean off, leaving the poor third prince cursed with an even greater physical pain that made him grunt and shout in anguish.

"There we go..." the knight captain said as he chuckled in sadistic glee, amused at the brutality he had just unleashed. "Now throw him off the cliff..."

"... Fuck you..." in a last moment to defy his tormentors, Novus spat the blood and saliva collecting up within his mouth upon the knight captain's armored helmet, much to his extreme anger, and it didn't take long for the arrogant warrior to lose his composure.

"You magickless bastard!" he cursed, as he delivered a powerful slap to his face, sending him hurtling towards the ground once more. "Take him away! Throw him into the depths this instant!"

The men then violently seized him by the shoulders, dragging him towards the final destination he was fated to fall in. The prince kicked and screamed and shouted in an attempt to resist his fate, which would only be met with swift kicks from the knights, as his destiny was once more forever sealed.

"Farewell then, your highness..." the knight captain uttered with a hint of sadistic joy in his tone. "May nobody ever see your miserable face again..."

Novus was then quickly thrown of the cliff, as his body made a rapid descent towards the deepest depths it could reach. Slowly, the darkness of the cold night engulfed him, as a large and powerful force knocked him out cold as soon as he landed upon the jagged stones beneath.

________________________________________

How bothersome, the creature thought to itself as it soared through the moon-lit night skies. A blinding, intense nuisance of a magic beacon had brought her to this corner of her domain, and as she finally found the source of it, a sense of disgust began to fill her heart.

Another group of those magic-bound interlopers had tresspassed into its domain. As a monster who was content with its complete solace, having company, much less unwelcome, noisy ones, had become more than enough to rouse its fury.

"... well then, captain, I guess it's done now, eh? All we have to do now is to go back to the first prince and report of our-..." one of the knights, who had been conversing quite eagerly with his captain after they had just comitted their grisly deed, spoke rather enthusiastically before something caught his attention... which of course then quickly turned his expression into that of horror. "... Shit... w-what the hell is that..."

"Hm? What do you mean, Arle? Is there something behind-"

A bright, blue torrent of beaming heat and energy then struck the cliff they were on. Instantaneously, every single one of he knights were erased to the bone, as not even the stone cliff they stood on top of would survive the sudden energy outburst. Satisfied with their destruction, the proud creature then huffed to itself triumphantly, amused by the destruction it had managed to unleash.

Although, as the fell creature continued to dwell in it's recent victory, something interesting would quickly catch its attention.

"... Hm? What's this? So I was right to have killed those pathetic Neugomians in the first place..."

With its sharp, watchful eyes, the creature saw a lone, bloodied, half-dead figure lying down on the depths of the now-erased cliffs, and it could easily tell that the cause of its pitiful tragedy had been those knights she had just annihilated. From what she could tell, the human that fell into those deep depths was a rather young one... a human child who had probably not even reached the ripe young age of 14.

"... How pitiful... Perhaps... Hmmm... Should I?"

The creature then began pondering to itself in silence; it was actually considering whether it should help the poor, dying child, or to leave it be and to let it die. While it didn't want to associate itself with the arrogant, ignorant humans of the present era, there was a sense of wrongness that dwelled within its heart whenever it considered simply abandoning the poor thing that had clearly been thrown off the cliff.

Ultimately though, its compassion and pity would win against its desire to remain alone and isolated within its cold domain. The creature may be a monster, but it wasn't an individual who ultimately lacked compassion.

And so, it began descending from the altitudes it was flying in.

"Fine then... I'll go there right away..."