CHAPTER 3: The PREDATOR
Aetherwood.
"It has been two days since I woke up, and I haven't been able to get my hands on a single prey. How many days do I have to live on these wild fruits?!"
A boy was sitting near a river bank,as he threw some berries in his mouth, while complaining to himself about his misfortune. For the past two days, he had been trying his best to catch a small prey for a proper meal.
No matter how cautiously and skillfully he tried to execute his plans, each time he failed at the verge of succeeding.
As if, something or someone was intentionally playing tricks with him so that he doesn't get to achieve success.
Finding no other options, he started to eat wild fruits, about which he only had some basic knowledge.
Furrowing his eyebrows, he thought,
'Nope! It won't do. If this goes on,I'll never be able to get a full meal and gain some resources to leave this accursed forest!'
A few minutes passed by.
The cool and pleasing air flows away as if purifying nature from its impurities and replacing the old life of the wild with a new touch of serenity.
After enjoying and praising the picturesque beauty of nature for a while, the young boy stood up.
A determined look appeared on his face.
Today, no matter what, he will find out the reason for his failure!
…
The day passed by almost like the past two days.
The sun was just about to take its leave.
The young boy failed at all attempts , today as well.
Right now, he was sitting under a giant Redwood tree and thinking about all the things that happened after he woke up two days ago.He tried to remember what happened to him after he went unconscious. Unfortunately he only remembers up to the point of hearing some beast's groaning. After that he doesn't remember anything until regaining his consciousness and discovering the black figure.
Up to this point, everything he could recall was pretty much what he had already known.
Then suddenly a memory came to him.
After waking up, when he first exited the part of the Redwood tree, he had felt an invigorating sensation. And from his recent and clear memories, he noticed that he never saw any birds flying over the area of this particular tree. Not a single wild beast even mistakenly shifted their gaze towards this area. Nor did they ever pass by this area.
Upon discovering this unnatural variation of nature, his heart skipped a beat.
Then suddenly he recalled something which caused his pupils to dilate.
In the very first memory that he has, he was sleeping under a giant tree.
After the , when he was on the verge of death, he subconsciously crawled his way to a Redwood tree.
When he regained his consciousness two days ago, he found himself under the giant Redwood tree.
And after connecting these bits of memories,when he realized that, right at this very moment, he was sitting under the very , his breathing became ragged.
He doesn't know why, but a certain type of fear bloomed in his heart.
The fear of the unknown slowly crawled its way into his heart, coiling and trying to quelch the heart with all its might.
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However in the end, as if sensing something sinister laying deep inside the heart, the unknown fear suddenly vanished.
It caused the boy to let out a deep sigh of relief.
Just now he had felt as though, if the didn't stop its march there, he would have suffered a terrible fate.
It took him some time to adjust his breathing and regain his composure.
'This tree… It isn't simple at all, no matter how beautiful and harmless it may appear. But… I seem to have a great circle of fate with it.', he thought.
Then a sudden expression of confusion covered his face as he recalled that , in his very first memory, another man was near the tree, the man who woke him up at that time was clearly a normal human.
'Is this tree something that only a human can see?'
Shaking his head, although he was about to give up that line of thought, he paused for a moment. According to the rumors, Aetherwood is considered to be the most mysterious forest among all the other six great forests. So it wouldn't be too weird if something like that was even possible.
The youth stood up and walked around the tree, curious to find something more unique or interesting. After a while, not finding anything like that, he decided to put the matter of the tree aside for now.
Then he sat down once again and recalled his failed hunting experiences. He contemplated at those memories,
‘Now that I think about it, every time I almost hunt the prey, it appears to be startled as if something has made it aware of my presence beforehand. Is there anything abnormal about my presence? Or is it something else?’
'Hmm… I will directly test this and find out what's wrong about it all.', he came to a conclusion.
...
Soon, the next day arrived. A new day passed and a new night made its way through the continuous cycle of day and night.
The night was quite peaceful.
The sound of katydids and crickets could be heard.
The moonlight fell upon the clear water flowing through the river.
A boy was casually laying near the riverbank while softly mumbling about the experiences he had during that day.
'It appears that there is indeed something unique about my presence.
It's as if the wild beasts can sense my aura. Not only that, my due to some unknown reasons contains something which the beasts find unpleasant to be around...'
A little pile of bones was spotted somewhere near him. And some burning wood was still emitting hot vapor.
As the boy shifted his gaze towards the pile of bones, his lips curved up in a smile.
'Although I felt quite helpless at first, my decision to use my aura to hunt was right after all.', he thought as he recalled how he was actually able to get his first prey all by himself.
The he spoke of, was indeed the reason for his previous failures.
However, after he came to accept it and tried to control it a bit, he thought, what if he used his aura to lock into a single small prey and make it unable to move? Then he would strike it immediately with the intent to end it all at once?
As this idea crossed his mind, he was feeling proud of himself for coming up with such a unique yet simple idea.
But things were often easier said than done.
It took him a full six hours and multiple attempts to finally succeed in getting his first prey.
It was a wild rabbit. Not too big, but more than enough for a full grown person's main meal of the day.
After feeling quite happy with his new accomplishment , the boy went back under the Redwood tree to sleep and pass the night in harmony.
...
A few more days passed.
During these days, the boy went deeper into the forest and explored new areas. Occasionally hunt down some small beasts. Ate to his heart's content. Tried doing new things with his aura. Slept peacefully at night without worrying about anything.
Life was good. He lacked nothing.
However, even though the forest could provide almost all the basic needs of a person.
A human being requires a more human-like setting to live in.
And the forest lacked the that a human being requires as a person.
So, the youth has been subconsciously preparing himself to leave the forest and enter the normal human society.
He carved a unique knife from the bone of an unknown beast he found near the
When he tried to cover the knife with his aura and tested it out on a large tree, the result left him greatly shocked. The tree broke down from the stabbing point and fell into the ground.
With this, now he was quite confident about entering the while ensuring his minimum safety.
...
Today at noon.
The weather is especially hot.
The bright ray of sunlight had reached each and every part of the forest.
At this time, an unnamed youth was walking towards the eastern side of the forest. He was wearing something ragged made from a beast's skin and a knife could be seen hanging around on the left side of his waist.
His destination was the nearest human city, the Aernight City.
Aernight City was on the western part from the capital of Aethelgard, .
And Aetherwood's eastern part was in contact with Aernight City.
As the boy was walking, he suddenly heard a faint sound coming right into his direction.
His movement paused for a moment.
After noticing that the sound was gradually growing louder, he was alarmed and quickly spotted a tall tree on his left.
Without wasting another second, he immediately climbed up the tree.
Just as he finished reaching the top, he saw a horse carriage crossing the path, where he stood just a moment ago.
After remaining silent for a few seconds, the boy decided to follow the carriage.
A few minutes later, the carriage came to a halt nearing the of the Redwood tree.
A thin but solid built man wearing an elegant silver robe got out from the carriage followed by three men wearing black robes and masks.
Pointing to a place not too far away from them, one of the three men spoke, "Sir, this is where we left the body."
Hearing the voice, the boy standing on a large branch of the Redwood tree, jolted.
His eyes became sharp and ears perked up.
"... Take a look around and notify me immediately if you find any remains of the body. Even bones will do.", the man in the silver robe spoke as he started to scout the area as well.
The three men in black scattered around the area upon receiving orders.
After searching for a while, one of them said in a low voice, "Maybe, it has long been eaten by a wild beast as nothing was left behind... There's no way an almost-dead body could unnaturally revive itself and go on a rampage."
Upon hearing these words, the boy, who was actually not too far away from them, understood that those four had come to inspect this area because of him. And something unnatural seemed to have happened while he had been in the forest for the past week.
A cold glint flashed in his eyes. His lips curved up in a malicious grin.
The air around him slowly started to become heavier.
He disappeared from his standing point in a flash.
And reappeared right before the three black robed men.
By this point, the silver robed man had already noticed something unpleasant was gazing upon them. But he couldn't pinpoint the location.
Then he grimaced in surprise as he turned around and spotted a young boy standing before the three black robed men.
The boy had a devilish smirk on his face.
His eyes were clear and as sharp as a sword.
He simply stood there and looked at them.
But the four men including the one in the silver robe found it hard to breathe.
They felt as if, suddenly a heavy mountain was pressing on their back.
Cold sweat dripped down their faces.
They didn't move an inch from their original spot.
Because they
The boy lifted his foot and started to move toward one of the three black robed men, crossing one step at a time.
Watching such a scene unfold before him, Mr.Aveon only had one thought at that moment,
'The has found its