"Wh- Where am I?" Karan said while holding his pounding head and looking around.
He was sitting in a giant and dark forest that had silvery leafs and giant mushrooms. There was no noise aside from his heavy breath.
As he stands up, he feels like he's gotten taller since he last walked around freely. He could grab the silvery leafs, that, upon touch turned to dust.
"What happened... The only thing I remember is that darkness..." He said as he felt a sudden breeze from a brighter part of the forest, probably from the outer part.
Still feeling a bit dizzy, he slowly walks along the trees, holding onto some of them when needed befofe he sits down after feeling fatiqued.
"I'm thirsty... I don't hear any river or something though. I should probably get out of this forest as soon as I can." He said, standing up again and continuing towards the brighter part of the forest.
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As he walks and walks, he finally arrives at the edge and takes a look on the outside.
There he could see giant mountains, grassy plains, lots of animals, some of them he didn't know, and what looked like a small village.
"A village... They should have something for me to eat or drink..." He said as his stomache grumbled and he started walking towards the village.
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"Steffany, dear! Can you go and get some milk from the Terars, please~" A gorgeous, tall woman with long blonde hair and a slender body, probably in her early 30s, said to a small girl with dark brown hair and a glowing smile.
"No problem, mom! I'll be right back!" Steffany said before grabbing a small bucket and running outside.
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"Good morning, Alex!" she waves to a small boy that smiles and waves back.
Everyone had old and worn out clothing out of cloth and hide. They seemed to be a poor village, but they all seemed happy.
As she runs to a small barn at the other end of the village, a middle aged man with black/gray hair greets her.
"How are you doing, little Steff! Did your mother send you for some milk?" He smiled and ruffled the girl's hair a bit.
"Yes! She told me to get some for breakfast!" She giggled and showed him the bucket.
"Well, come with me, the Terars just recently got some babies, so we have plenty of milk." He says and walks into the barn with Steffany.
"Woah, they're so cuuuute!" She said as she patted the baby Terars that looked like calfs with small horns on their forehead and very fluffy fur all around their body.
"Well, here's big Teresa. She hasn't been milked yet, so there you go. I have to go to the males and and feed them. You know how this works, so I'll leave you be. See you!" He said and walked outside the barn.
Now that she was alone, she sat down in front of the giant creature that was the mother Terar. She put the bucket under her teats and started milking her.
After the bucket was nearly full, she stopped, stood up and picked up the heavy bucket before leaving.
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Suddenly, a tall and bulky man shouted and a bell rang.
"Demon! It's a demon! Run to the safe shelter!" The villagers freaked out and ran into their houses to get their wives and children and then running off into a certain direction.
"Are you sure it's a demon, Garrick?" A small man with glasses asked the bulky man, Garrick with calm eyes.
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"It looks like one. It came from the direction of the forest..." He said and the man with the glasses now had fear in his eyes.
"Nothing has come out of that cursed place since the Guardian took over. This is bad... I am sorry that I can't help you, please be careful." He bowed and walked away into the direction of the shelter.
"May Ghaldia be with us..." He shortly closed his eyes before walking to the village gate again.
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"I can see people... Why do they have their weapons up? Hm, probably the guards from how they look. Not really a surprise, they don't know who I am." Karan said as he continued walking slowly towards the village, oblivious to what he has caused.
As he came closer, he shouted: "Hey! I'm in need of food and water! I woke up inside of that forest, could you please open the gate?" He shouted, trying to sound sympathetic.
The guards looked even more scared as they shouted something he couldn't understand.
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Guard's POV:
The guards didn't know what the demon was saying, so as soon as they heard the deep and sinister voice of the tall demon that now stood in front of their village, they broke out in panic.
"You idiots! Calm down and get your weapons! Archers, get ready to shoot! Eric, you do you." Garrick said as he picked up his giant Zweihänder that had purple runes on it and put on an iron armor and an iron helmet.
"Velmar, can you give us an estimation of where he is on the power list?" He said to a young man in a robe that also had small, round glasses.
"I'm already on it... What? Why can't I-?" Velmar looked confused at the demon that was just quietly looking at them.
"What's wrong, Velmar?" Garrick asked, confused.
"I can't measure his power... This has never happened before..." Velmar looked at Garrick and then at Eric.
"I don't have the expertise in that field of Magic, young man. I am a Battle Mage. But if I had to guess, it is either a very powerful demon or has a scanner blocking magic. It doesn't have a strong demonic aura, nor do I feel a big mana pool, so I'd say he has a blocking magic." The old man, Eric, said. He also wore a robe and had a staff out of wood in his hand.
"Then let us attack before the demon can do anything to our families! Archers, get ready! When I say go, then shoot!"
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Karan POV:
'What are they doing? I don't understand them, so this is a bit bad. Hopefully we can communicate via writing or drawing, because I'm still very thirsty and hungry.' He thought to himself while looking at the guards gathered at the wall.
As a big man suddenly started to shout, guards with bows walked to the front and started shooting arrows at him. 'What?! Why are they shooting me-?!' The arrows came faster than expected and pierced his body one after another. He felt nothing much but a small sting with every arrow. 'What the-?'
As they continued shooting him, images of his old life flashed into his mind and he felt rage building up inside of him.
Suddenly, he saw an old man, swinging a staff in the air and a big ball of fire appeared that was now approaching him fast.
Karan failed to dodge because he couldn't comprehend what was happening to him. As the fireball hit him, he felt an unbearable pain as his flesh started to melt away.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" He roared from the pain and fell to his knees after the fireball disappeared.
'Why is this- Why is this happening to me... It's the same all over again... I did nothing wrong...' He thought to himself as the anger coming from the unwanted memories started to build up even more. Soon, more images and memories popped up and his anger grew beyond his pain.
"Do you want me to help you...? Kekeke~" a dark voice said to him.
"What the- Eho are you, and how can I hear you? Wait, You're the one from that eternal prison... Can you help me, and how?" He asked the voice, intrigued and also a bit panicked because of the continuous damage he's receiving.
"Just trust me and you will not die... I can help you to survive and thrive to power~ Kekeke~" The voice laughed and Karan felt his conciousness slowly fading.
"Alright, I don't care how, but If you can help me, then please do." Those were his last words before his world went blank and his body fell to the ground.
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"You got him, Eric! That foul demon wasn't so strong after all! Let's take the corpse and sell it!" Garrick cheered.
"It isn't dead yet, Garrick. Concentrate. Demons are sinful beings that always have a trick up their sleeves." Eric looked at the demon's body closely.
Before suddenly- "Oh lord almighty!" Eric shouted, soon to be followed by Velmar vomiting on the ground and looking scared to death.
"We- We have to get away! FAST!" Velmar shouted as he looked at the others and pulling on Garrick's arm.
"What? What's even happening? Why are you freaking out?" Garrick said, before a fearful aura started to creep up from the demon's body that made him feel like he was already dead.
Suddenly, guards started to faint left and right, foam running from their mouths.
"What- What is that thing..." His body refused to move.
The demon was suddenly standing upright, looking at them with a wide and toothy smile.
Then, he just appeared before them, on the wall. He looked down at them, before picking up the fainted guards. As he picked them up, a bright blue flame consumed their bodies one after the other, bright blue lines appearing on the demon as he seemed to get stronger.