Two figures emerged through the blizzard, barely visible to each other. One was a cloaked man with black hair; the other was a man who was pure black.
Not his skin, but he was covered in what was his own shadow. That man was Benson, and the other, Yadrith.
'What an interesting Regalia.' Yadrith could hardly hear his thoughts over the blizzard. 'That darkness obscuring the entrance of the cave was his shadow... So, his Regalia allows him to manifest his shadow into something physical? I wonder what the limit is.'
Benson raised a hand, signaling a stop. Yadrith followed his order instinctively.
'Hmm?'
Earlier, Benson had explained to him the methods of hunting and the different groups of demon beasts in the area.
Because Yadrith wasn't a Rekh user, Benson took him to the least dangerous spot. Where a group of demon beasts known as Ice Wolves, who were large bipedal wolves about twice the size of the average male. Benson made sure to note that Ice Wolves had a stinger instead of a traditional tail and that it carried a dangerous poison.
'That description reminded me of Werewolves... Though, the tail is a bit odd.'
Benson suddenly jogged over to a spot in the snow and called Yadrith over with a quick wave of his hand.
Yadrith quickly ran over.
Benson lowered to one knee, brushing away snow until a dark smear appeared.
It was fresh blood, still crimson.
The two shared a glance, and suddenly a loud growl echoed in the distance.
The hunt has begun.
Yadrith quickly unsheathed his sword, while Benson simply stared into the distance. He stood back up and gave Yadrith orders:
"Two of them are approaching; prepare to fight. Beware of the tail."
Simple orders, yet the emphasis on the tail had him a bit nervous.
"Yadrith!"
His eye had widened.
Through the white veil of the blizzard. A massive maw, nearly the size of his torso, appeared.
Biting his lip, he raised his sword to block it. Only to be met with pure strength, sending him flying right off his feet.
Luckily, he was prepared for such an outcome and stabilized his form on solid ground a few feet away.
'F-fuck, with just impact I was sent this far.' His hands felt numb; just like with the strange birdlike demon beasts, he was overpowered easily.
Something whipped toward him in a blur. Hardly perceiving it, his sword moved in an arc. A majestic arc, carrying his full force and will.
'The tail!'
He recognized the blur as it met his sword, a tail reminiscent of a scorpion stinger.
"Graaah!" The wolf let out a roar, retracting its tail and lunging at Yadrith.
He had no way of defending himself, so his plan of action was just to stall for time. He took a quick step backward and then launched off his foot to his side.
His body rolled through the snow, and the sound of something massive crashing in it could be heard just next to him. He recovered his posture and raised his sword once more.
The tail shot back at him as the wolf maneuvered its entire body to his right—his blind spot.
'It's moving to my blind spot?' He put all his attention into parrying the tail. It made a strange movement mid-air, bypassing his sword. Luckily, the tail only whipped past his head before retracting.
'Close!'
He suddenly realized the wolf had disappeared. He quickly turned to his right; a powerful fist was coming straight for his face.
With no time to think, he raised his sword in defense. The fist, just a few inches away from his face, met the sword.
Futile, Yadrith's efforts were. An overwhelming amount of force met his sword; if it was another sword, it would have crumbled immediately.
The fist knocked his sword aside, and his hands. Revealing his pale, shocked face.
The wolf smiled, revealing its sharp teeth. Its other fist raised as the one that had just hit him retracted.
The only movement he could make was a slight grimace to prepare for the pain.
"ROOAAR!"
His eye closed, and the fist descended upon him. A terrifying amount of air hit his face, yet even after a second passed, there was no actual force.
He opened his eye, and a large black shadow had wrestled the wolf to the ground.
"Yadrith!"
He quickly came back to his senses, moving his numb arms and throwing himself forward. His Stone Sword descended, stabbing right into the wolf's head.
"Hooo... That was close." Benson stood up. "Good work, you didn't tear up the meat. Honestly, I wasn't expecting you to last that long." He patted Yadrith's head.
"Why did you ask me to fight it then...?" Yadrith narrowed his eyes.
Benson laughed loudly. "I had to test my new hunting partner?"
Yadrith looked up at the man, who was nearly the same height as the Ice Wolves.
"Right."
Benson sighed, "You know, fighting them is better than eating them."
"Is it that bad?"
"Mhm... It's been some time since my last decent meal. Hopefully, we'll share a good one soon."
Yadrith felt an eerie feeling about the man.
"Say, what work did you guys do before coming here?" He asked.
Benson suddenly smiled. "We were slavers, of course, what other business would we Pelsacians have on this continent?"
Yadrith's eye twitched. "Haha... Is that so? I knew a slaver; her brother showed me around Telbak."
"Hehe, she must have been from Pelsac then; our people show hospitality to other humans no matter the situation."
"By the way, you said we could share a good meal soon? You weren't talking about the Ice Wolves, were you?"
Benson shook his head; an indistinct but evil desire radiated from him.
"That friend of yours—it's clear she won't recover. The meat of demons like her isn't any different from steak, and if it makes you feel any guilty, I've eaten a few of my deceased comrades... It's far better than anything you'll taste down here."
Yadrith held himself back from showing a face full of horror and smiled.
"I understand if it must be done. By the way, we should head back. I don't have a Regalia that protects me from the cold like you."
Benson laughed, "I like you, kid! Smart and very wise. Let's hurry back and cut open these dogs!" His shadow suddenly separated from his body and lifted both the Ice Wolves from the ground.
The sight would have impressed Yadrith earlier, but now he was horrified.
'Fuck... These people have gone mad! Eating people? Enslaving demons?' He trembled, not from the cold. But, to his fear. 'We need to escape from these people.'
The moment Mahaya woke up, he planned to leave with her. He had no doubt that she would wake up, considering he had experienced this already.
'It's probably been no more than three hours since she passed out, so she'll be up soon.' He let out a sigh.
"Let's hurry back, young man; the storm is worsening."
"Alright."
***
The entrance to the cave was finally in sight, causing Yadrith to smile lightly.
He and Benson trekked through the last bit of snow, finally arriving at the cave entrance.
Benson gave him a light push, urging him to go in first, and Yadrith entered.
Behind him, Benson's shadow tossed in the Ice Wolves and then stretched out, creating a barrier stopping the winds from reaching the inside of the cave.
It immediately felt a bit warmer when he sealed the cave.
Yadrith blinked, noticing Karadael and Vincent weren't around the fire. Instead, they were standing next to Mahaya's cot, seemingly loitering.
He felt his heart drop and quickly sprinted across the cave.
"Hey!" He shouted, "What's going on?" He lowered his voice, trying to seem calm.
He lightly grabbed Karadael's shoulder and peered over at Mahaya. Her body was still as pristine as earlier, though her vest had been taken off.
And a few buttons on her shirt were undone.
He felt his head spin for a moment. "What were you doing?"
Karadael chuckled, "It seems she won't beat the cold; it's been hours, and her condition has gotten worse." She smiled, gripping Yadrith's shoulder with inhuman strength. "You don't mind, do you? If we eat this demon?"
Feeling his shoulder being crushed, he stood in silence.
Benson arrived behind him and smiled. "Why don't we give her a bit more time? I've come to like this young man." He knocked Karadael's hand away.
"Well, if she does wake up, then eating her would be wrong. Let's just do it now; I'd rather eat her than him." Vincent spoke, adjusting his glasses.
Benson stroked his beard. "Hm... That's a good point, but either way I wouldn't eat Yadrith unless he died somehow. Let's just eat the demon." He turned back toward Yadrith. "Haha, I'm sorry, friend. Which part do you want? I'm telling you the—"
Yadrith toned out his voice and felt his eyelid twitch. He silently lowered his hand, unsheathing the sword from his back.
Benson gave him an odd look but ultimately smiled.
"Oh? You want to fight over her?"
He looked at the other two, who were also smiling.
'This is what they wanted—an excuse to eat us both. I was wrong earlier; this is far beyond madness.'
His expression turned dark as he looked upward at Benson; the odds were simply impossible.
There was no way for them to face them; all three of them were Rekh users. They were nothing like Oliver or Mahaya, but still they were a threat.
"Are you going to swing that sword, pretty boy?"
At his provocation, Yadrith felt angry but not enough to lose his head. Still, he swung his sword.
A simple arc, aiming right for the man's neck with the intent of cutting off his head and killing him.
It was the first time he's ever put into the world that he wanted to kill another person. His pupils dilated, and something surged from within him.
Benson moved his arm in a relaxed movement, stopping the blade. Benson brought his other arm down as if it were a falling guillotine. His intent was clearly to kill Yadrith, splitting his skull in two.
However, Yadrith continued to put all his muscle into cutting Benson's bare arm. The arm wasn't even covered by its usual shadows.
The world blurred for a moment, and Yadrith's muscles screamed. The feeling of something surging within him amplified until completion.
'This is Rekh!'
He understood it.
Benson's hand reached Yadrith's head.
Yadrith did not even flinch.
"Hu—"
In the next moment, in a beautiful arc of perfect motion, Yadrith's blade flashed—the past insurmountable adversary had been reached.
Cutting through muscle, bone, and then Benson's neck in just a single moment.
Karadael and Vincent had eyes that widened watching the scene. Benson's body fell completely limp.
"...I understand now. How cruel." He stared at Karadael and Vincent, gripping his sword.
The condition of activating his Regailia was to kill another being that possessed fate... Or simply a Regalia.
A phrase echoed in his head—the title of his Regalia.
[ 'Assimilate' ]
A beautiful prismatic light suddenly ignited from Benson's corpse. In moments, his body was swallowed by it... Consumed.
Yadrith turned his attention to the light, feeling its call. Pleading for him to accept it. He moved closer to it, almost by instinct.
The colorful light compressed into the shape of a small sphere and flew toward Yadrith's chest.
He accepted the light, allowing it to enter him, and heard an echo from the depths of his soul.
[ 'Casting Shadow' ]
Subsequently, he felt foreign emotions and feelings enter his mind. He quickly understood what Assimilate did.
He had essentially devoured Benson's soul, and a part of the person known as Benson had influenced him.
However, he quickly choked these feelings out with his own. His eyes began to feel wet as he raised his sword once more toward Vincent and Karadael.
"I'm sorry..." He took a step forward, and Vincent and Karadael both sprang into action.
Benson's emotions influenced him. He watched as Karadael approached him. She was shockingly slow. Despite being a Rekh user, who should be his senior, she was unimpressive.
It was clear to him that not all Rekh users are equal.
He took the pommel of his Stone Sword and shoved it into her stomach, sending her flying into the wall of the cave. He went a bit easy on her and didn't deliver a fatal attack.
But why? Just moments ago, he was resolved to kill all three of them. In his heart, he felt a tenderness for Karadael.
He dodged Vincent's dagger with an optimal motion and clenched his fist. Yadrith couldn't help but smile.
Boom!
A powerful shockwave moved throughout the cave; using all of his physical strength, he had punched Vincent, killing him on impact. It was a horrifying scene, seeing the man's head explode with no resistance at all.
'Yet... I feel nothing for Vincent.' He watched Vincent's headless body fall to the ground. 'I only feel bad that Karadael will be sad.'
Yadrith understood... Benson had feelings for Karadael and was bitter toward Vincent. However, he was not Benson.
He felt Assimilate call out to him once more but rejected it. If he Assimilated with people recklessly, he would lose himself.
He didn't know what would happen if he Assimilated with Vincent, who was married to Karadael. Would he choose her over Mahaya?
His expression turned dark as he looked toward the unconscious Karadael. His hands shook over the handle of his blade, and his lips trembled.
As his resolve crumbled, he felt his body weaken.
'The reason my Rekh was so powerful was due to my will then?' He sighed, looking down at Karadael's unconscious body.
"My kindness is indiscriminate." He lifted his blade. "For the sake of Benson and myself, who has taken on his life and ideals. I will free you from this madness."
In the name of righteousness, his blade moved, performing a beautiful slash. Karadael died a quick, peaceful death.
As if he had resolved something within him, the pull of Benson's persona weakened. His mind felt far more liberated from the emotions of their Assimilation.
'Benson's emotions would have swallowed me if I hadn't killed Karadael there.' He felt his heart pound. 'I'll have to be more careful using Assimilate in the future.'
He quickly confirmed that Mahaya was unharmed, and his mind shifted toward something else—his own shadow. It was time to reap the rewards of his Assimilation.