Aethelgard.

  Aaetherwood.

  Bright sunlight was covering the whole sky of the forest. The day was yet to reach its final phase. But a hint of redness was already present in the sky, unnaturally so.

  Under a not-so-large tree.

  A black, five-foot tall, ferocious looking wild beast with pointy ears and yellow eyes was chewing the meat of a freshly caught wild boar. Besides the boar-body at its large claws, the beast had three piles of bones with not a single ounce of flesh sticking in them.

  A few freshly taken wounds were noticeable in the beast's body here and there.

  Not too long ago, this particular beast found a healthy wild boar followed by three little ones. As if it was a scene where a mother went for a walk with her three children.

  It was clear that the black-beast was the one who held the power here. So it immediately decided to treat the four as which naturally indicated that the beast was fulfilling the role of the

  …

  Redwood's territory.

  The air, reeking of blood, was actually not flowing in any direction.

  The soil, soaked in blood, was giving off a subtle feeling of coldness upon touching.

  Three human bodies in black robes lay there, unmoving. They each had a pair of eyes in full white. They all had the same expression on their faces. A horrified expression.

  As if, even though they had wounds in their chests where their heart should be, the reason for their death was in fact not the wound in their chests.

  As if, they died the moment their eyes fell upon something… Something, they shouldn't have seen. that be gazed upon.

  At this time, beside the three dead bodies, a silver-robed man with half of his face covered with torn silver clothes was standing.

  Mr.Aveon was looking at the young man before him, who held a bone-knife covered in blood in his left hand.

  The youth had his eyes closed. His head directed at the sky. Like, he was seeing something way behind the vast sky.

  Or maybe, he was looking at someone… But with closed eyes.

  Everything was silent.

  Everyone was silent.

  Mr.Aveon held his breath. He was recalling the scenes he saw a few minutes ago. And-

  He felt his heart rate increasing momentarily. Just a few minutes ago, he saw how the youth before him silently pierced three human hearts one by one, with his left hand and a crude bone-knife.

  But what actually terrified him and caused him to lose his composure was the part when he noticed the three men never resisted the process. Also, just before that, their eyes turned full-white when their gazes shifted towards the youth’s eyes.

  Mr.Aveon gulped subconsciously.

  Another moment of silence followed.

  Then the youth slowly opened his eyes.

  Two drops of blood dripped down from the bone-knife. He looked at his left hand holding the knife and then at the silver robed man beside him.

  By now, Mr.Aveon had already regained his composure. Noticing the gaze, he said, “I hope we will go our separate ways from here. I, personally, did not cause you any danger. And even if I was involved somehow, I believe, I have already compensated for that.”

  “..."

  The boy remained silent as he looked at the one-meter long sword held by the silver robed man.

  "Huh? You ca—”, Mr.Aveon frowned as he guessed the youth's intention correctly and was just about to refuse to give up his sword, when he suddenly shuddered and felt a pair of eyes looking at him from above.

  Mr.Aveon moved his head as he saw a pair of eyes in the vast sky, looking down on him. Those eyes slowly started to glow.

  But before watching anything further, he quickly shut his only eye and shouted,

  Then he slowly moved his right hand holding the long sword and offered it to the before him.

  "...”

  The young man also lifted his right hand and approached the sword.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  His hand touched the sword.

  At the opposite end of the sword, Mr.Aveon was just about to fully loosen the grip.

  But, right at that moment.

  Something unexpected happened.

  A sudden, loud sound of thunder surrounded all of the Aetherwood.

  All the living beings in the forest jolted.

  A look of fear and confusion spread among all of the wildlife.

  A blinding light flashed near Redwood’s territory.

  “AAAhhh!”

  An ear-piercing scream filled the area.

  A body was suddenly sent out flying towards the redwood tree after it directly faced a lightning bolt.

  Upon witnessing the scene before him, Mr.Aveon was totally dumbfounded as his pupils dilated when he saw the figure of the boy clashing with a lightning bolt suddenly disappearing somewhere.

  Just now, he heard the loud sound of thunder and saw a lightning bolt coming from a clear sky, falling on the boy before him. Then the boy let out high-pitched screams. After that, Mr.Aveon found himself standing there alone with no one standing before him.

  Mr.Aveon stood there for a few minutes, trying to process what exactly happened earlier.

  Has he been actually alone, all this time?

  But he quickly discarded the idea because of the three dead bodies beside him.

  Then did the boy from before really disappear somehow?

  …

  Inside Redwood’s territory.

  A figure stood up with much struggle.

  He found himself under the redwood tree.

  His body fully unscathed, a one-meter long sword in his right hand and a bone-knife in his left hand.

  “..."

  He tried to remember what just happened.

  When he was about to fully take hold of the long sword, suddenly a blinding light flashed and he was sent flying towards the redwood tree, feeling pain only for the briefest second.

  Then he took a deep breath and saw a silver robed man standing near the tree’s , wearing a confused look on his face.

  With this, the boy understood that the man could not see or sense anything in this territory. One of his many doubts about the tree was just cleared.

  The young man started walking towards the confused-man.

  Left behind the Redwood tree.

  Appeared before the man.

  "...”

  "...”

  "What the f-”,

  The silver-robed man nearly cursed out loud after he saw a young man appearing in front of him, literally out of nowhere.

  His heart skipped a beat as he fell on the ground. Cold sweat started to drip down from his forehead across the face through the chin. His face paled.

  He was already a thin man to begin with, now that he was in that condition, he appeared to be utterly pitiful to the young man before him.

  Due to some unknown reasons, the boy found the situation quite funny and tried to hold back his lips from curving into a grin.

  "Y-y-you, what just happened?!

  Didn't you just get struck by the lightning?!”

  Mr.Aveon lost all of his composure for the second time in a single day.

  If those who knew him closely were to know of this, they would have been left dumbfounded.

  "Do you wish to see my badly?”, a cold and cynical voice spoke to Mr.Aveon.

  “Huh? N-No, I—”, realizing that this is the first time he heard the boy speaking he was caught off guard for a moment.

  Then observing the situation he was in, he quickly stood up and straightened his robe as he regained his composure.

  After letting out a fake cough to cover up his embarrassment, he said, “If there is nothing else, then I shall take my leave now.”

  “Your name?", the youth asked with a calm voice.

  "... Aveon”, the silver robed man replied, with a sudden trace of sadness.

  Then asked, “And you are?"

  “..."

  The boy remains silent.

  “What? You do not want to reveal your own name after wanting to know mine?", Aveon asked while frowning.

  "I… have no name”, the boy replied while subconsciously looking at the long sword in his right hand. He noticed for the first time that there was a drawn in the of the sword. He kept staring at it.

  “..."

  This time Aveon went silent for a moment and then said,

  "... Aire. I am ”

  Listening to Aveon's words, the unnamed youth's eyebrows perked up and he said,

  “Aire… You!”

  Seeing an expressionless face on Aveon, the boy didn't finish his sentence as if he understood something and then nodded slightly.

  Aveon nodded back lightly while wearing a mysterious smile on his face and then turned back without saying another word.

  The boy looked at the direction Aveon went and then turned back to return to the Redwood's territory.

  ...

  Kingdom of Nyx.

  Secret chamber of the Royal Palace.

  "Thank you, grandfather."

  A melodious, pleasant voice spoke as a young lady with long black hair, clad in a black robe, took a sip from the cup of medicinal liquid before her.

  An old man in his eighties sighed and turned around while saying, “It seems that, no matter how many times you try to look at his eyes, you're bound to fail.”

  "...”

  The woman remained silent.

  Then her two hands clenched into fists.She took a deep breath and readjusted her posture.

  "I will leave Nyx within two days. And look for clues by myself this time. We have already wasted more than enough resources on both official and unofficial networks. But did not receive any information about she said.

  Hearing these words the old man responded, “I've taught you everything I could. And I believe in you. Thus, I'll not be stopping you. Your life should be led by your own choices. I can only pray for your betterment”, reaching at this point of his speech, his eyes became watery. Regret and helplessness filled his heart, as two drops of tears dripped down from the corner of his eyes.

  ‘To confront the impending doom, I have no other choice but to set the bird free from its cage. I'm sorry, Navan, my boy. You probably would have understood me for it if… you were here… I wouldn't have to face all of this alone, while risking so much… if only, if only day…Ah…

  Those were your last words… Don't worry though, our Naqeera is a strong girl. She has all the qualities it takes to survive in this cruel world. She'll be fine. Now I only wish for her to live well and happy. Hopefully, one day, with a loving family of her own too.’

  A few silent moments passed as the old man was in deep thoughts. He seemed to have grown much older within the last few moments.

  During all this time, his eyes were closed. However after the drops of tears fell, he slowly opened his eyes.

  A pair of eyes–

  …

  Aethelgard.

  Aaetherwood.

  The sound of water splashing could be heard under the only stream of Aetherwood.

  A young man was taking a bath there.

  He dived in the water a few more times before exiting the area.

  The sun was just about to set.

  The boy looked up at the sky.

  Then he murmured something,

  “I, who am I?”, he asked himself, as a sudden sense of grief filled his heart.

  A while later, he went to the riverbank. There he grilled some fishes while chewing on some wild fruits.

  The fishes were still inside the burning wood, when the youth shifted his eyes towards the sky and uttered one word,

  “I–, he couldn't get past that single word.

  Pursing his lips, he looked down.

  Then he pulled a fish from the fire and without waiting for another second, bit down on it.

  One by one, he ate all the fish.

  After finishing his meal, he went back to the Redwood's territory.

  He lay there for a while.

  Looking at the tree branches,

  “I am–this time he produced only two words before stopping.

  He bit his lips gently, eyebrows knitted together, he rubbed his temples.

  Then he sighed as if giving up on something.

  His eyes closed.

  Night has already arrived by now.

  However, the nocturnal animals didn't start their daily life tonight.

  The cool and gentle breeze didn't pass through the whole forest.

  Tonight, the sky didn't hold the shining moon in its laps.

  The forest wasn't covered with the beauty of moonlight.

  The water from the river wasn't shimmering tonight.

  For some unknown reason, the Katydids and Crickets didn't sing their song tonight.

  Pitch darkness.

  Death silence.

  Tonight… The forest wore a

  Tonight… The forest was

  But

  Somewhere near the central part of the forest, there was a tall and wide tree.

  Beneath the tree, lay a boy.

  Sleeping peacefully, without a single care about the world.

  Then…

  …

  Royal Palace, Kingdom of Nyx.

  The secret chamber.

  All the three clock-hands pointed to the number

  The ringing sound of the bell announced the arrival of

  All the lights of the palace turned off.

  Darkness was encompassing the whole palace.

  …

  Aetherwood, Aethelgard.

  A tall and wide Redwood tree slowly started to emit a golden light.

  Suddenly, the body of a youth started to float from beneath the tree.

  Then…

  The youth’s whole body shook.

  And he instantly opened his eyes.

  His breathing came to pause.

  As he looked at the scene before him, while still floating in the air.

  It was a...