"Sirs, do you want to know what this necklace is?"

  "Brothers, don't listen to him. He just wanted us to slice each other's throats."

  Julian was leading them far away from the cave. That was not a secret. While he had achieved that goal, he debated whether to proceed with his plan.

  "Are you not curious what is hidden under this clump?" Julian asked, dangling the necklace on his neck.

  On that necklace, hung a pendant wrapped and covered with clay that resembled the ash mud. It was wrapped around thickly, appearing as nothing but a ball of clay. Not even the original shape of the pendant could be made out.

  "Kid, you've done running your mouth," Emphry bellowed, impatiently stepping toward the young boy.

  "Tell us, boy," the bald bandit spoke.

  "Jring! Are you seriously going to fall for a child's word?"

  "We promise we will let you live if you do," Jring said, ignoring his brother, who was pointing a sword at him.

  "I will let you see it for yourselves."

  Julian gazed at Emphry. From his uneasy steps, Julain understood that the other two bandits had no relation to the necklace. Scoffing, Juliian ripped open the clay, revealing a metal sculptor. A peculiar-looking one.

  "No," Jring uttered, eyes widened.

  "Brother, do not fall for his tricks!"

  Jring did not hear his brother's words. He stared at that glowing carving in disbelief. His mind could not comprehend what he should do next. Even if the hues around that carving were not present, his eyes would never miss that disgusting creature.

  "Emphry... you bastard...!" Grinz spoke through his gritted teeth.

  "It's a lie, brothers," Emphry spoke calmly. Letting out a soft chuckling, he continued, "He must have swapped my necklace with that one. Obviously just a petty trick."

  "Shut up! I know you are despicable, but a traitor?!" Grinz, face contorted with pain.

  Letting go of his punchered shoulder, Grinz pulled out his short sword.

  "You... Grinz, do you realize what you are doing?' Emphry said in disbelief. Head snapping to the side, he faced Jring and said, "Brother, you are smarter than all of us. You understand it's all but a trick, right? Right?!"

  "Jring, it's for our clan," Grinz spoke, giving no mind to Emphry.

  "I know."

  Jring's sword was lifted. That sword had been accompanying him for years, yet it was the first time it was directed at his brother. It was the first time he had prepared to cut his brother down.

  "You fools!"

  Now surrounded by no allies, Emphry held up his sword. His face was troubled, accepting that his words had no more weight.

  Kting.

  'He's good.'

  In that ruckus, and with his back turned away, Emphry still managed to blockJulian's arrow.

  Twang.

  Julian fired another arrow, which was again easily avoided by Emphry. Just as his hand was about to reach for his quiver, Empry charged towards him. The bandit's step was light, moving in a jagged path with a sword leading his charge.

  Another arrow let loose. Emphry was only a couple of steps away from the bow. It was a distance that his arrow would only need a fraction of a second to cross and pierce Emphry. But with just a slight turning of the waist, the arrow flew past the bandit.

  "Deceiver!"

  Emphry's arm sliced through the air like a whip. It moved fast, locking on to the boy as he tried to roll away. Julian tried, yet the clenched fist still managed to find its way right into his stomach.

  Thud.

  Julian flew back, staggering several steps. His trembling legs clawed the ground in desperation, yet it was all for naught when a second strike flung him into a loose kite.

  Crash.

  His back rolled onto the wet soil uncontrollably, only to stop when his head smashed into a tree trunk.

  "Your words, sly. How dare you try to deceive my brothers!"

  The second strike flung Julian onto the earth.

  "Let me tell you something, kid," Emphry said, clearly not yet done with Julian. His steps calm, he spoke, "We are bound by blood. Your words could never cut our ties!"

  Squirming in pain, Julian had no strength to respond to the blabbering. He stayed stuck on the ground for a couple of seconds, only rolling himself up once the bandit got too close.

  "Oh, that's the spirit, kid."

  Julian faced the bandit, arrow already nocked in his bow. Though he managed to stand, his legs were trembling. It looked as if even the faintest of winds could knock him down. He made no sound and showed no pain, but it was clear to everyone that he was hurting.

  "Kid, lying is a sin. Did your elders not tell you as such? Come, tell them that you swapped away my necklace," Emphry uttered, expression and movement relaxed.

  Julian glared at the approaching bandit. He already knew that he could not take three of them directly. What he did not know was that he was actually incapable of even taking down one of them. He realized there that he may have been overestimating himself.

  But Julian was not without allies in that fight.

  THUD!

  "Argh!"

  With body curled like a ball, Grinz slammed Emphry onto the ground. Grinz's upper body had turned into stone, pinning and slowly flattening his brother under his weight.

  Cruck.

  A chilling sound echoes between those thick and lush trees. It was the sound of something being ground under a heavy weight. For what it was, the painful wail of Emphyr was enough of a tell.

  "...Jr-Jrin...g, I'm... brot..her..."

  "Don't let him bleed," Jring said, turning his face away from someone who should have never been his enemy.

  Grinz, hands trembling, clasped the face of Emphry. Slowly, all of his skin and what was lying under turned into stone.

  KTAK.

  With one snapping sound, the entire clearing went silent. It was as if the curtain was suddenly drawn amidst a play.

  Grinz rolled away from the corpse of his brother. He dared not even look at the state of that dead body. All he knew was that he had snapped the spine of his brother, killing him on the spot.

  "Shit..."

  It was something that he had done countless times, yet there he was, crying like a child losing their candies.

  "...You did right."

  Jring stood blankly before his two brothers. He wanted to go down and be with them, but he did not know if he should hold the one alive or the dead one.

  "Boy, let's end this day. Forget everything that happened here," Jring said through gritted teeth.

  He finally moved, crouching down beside Emphry. His hand extended and retracted, confused about what he should do next. In the end, he found himself continuously hitting his bald head on the pommel of his sword.

  [+40 Fate.]

  Staring into the bandit card that had turned into just a line of text, Julian felt relieved. However, that relief was only momentary. He knew that the matters were not yet settled. Thus, he picked his bow back up.

  "I am sorry for your loss," Julian spoke calmly.

  "There is nothing to be sorry for. He was a traitor to us humans, that much is clear."

  "Even if he was, your loss was not made lighter."

  "Tch, speak no more of him... Jring said as he retrieved the personal belongings of Emphry. Cursing under his breath, he continued, "Sigh, we are heading back now. Follow us if you want..."

  "...."

  "Don't worry, we are not going to hurt you two," Jring continued.

  "I know what you are thinking, bandits."

  "I am aware you do," Jring whispered, pushing himself up with a great struggle.

  Expression like one of a mindless corpse, Jring raised his sword.

  "But what can you do about it? What can we do about it? We can't just return. Not after this brother of ours... as dumb as he was...," Jring muttered, his voice cracked toward the end.

  "Your brother is dead. You are blind."

  Julian stared at the forehead of Emphry. Eye of Owl, that was the Gift of Emphry. It was also the one helping them thread the forest. While the two surely had trained their eyes for the dark,human limitation exists.

  If he kept chipping away at them, Julian was confident that he could take them down.

  "Keep running then. You have used your Gift too many times already. Nothing will change."

  "True. But compared to who can't even use his Gift?"

  That sentence seemed to trigger something within Jring. The lanky bandit went quiet for a few seconds before breaking his silence with a forced chuckle.

  "You... you know us."

  "Just enough."

  "I see. So, was it all a lie? Hah, no, it works better this way."

  He looked at the corpse of his brother, dead without shedding even a drop of blood.

  "Your brother's relationship with them was not a lie. That much, I can guarantee, "

  "Tch, that's enough talking, boy. I am already tired... Grinz, grab that boy."

  Julian stepped back from the two, an arrow already nocked in his bow. Seeing that those two took his bow as a threat, a light flickered in his eyes. He took advantage of their hesitancy and started trotting away.

  "..."

  However, those two did not seem to entertain the chase game any longer.

  "Boy, you really want to make this difficult, don't you? Grinz, you return first. Head to the cave we passed earlier. Our real target is there."

  Swift.

  Ting.

  "Aren't you going to run the other way?"