"…"
"Argh… damn…" Scott mumbled, scratching his head with his hand.
He rubbed the dirt off his reddish cheek and muttered, "That hurts…"
"…But… where am I?"
He slowly rose from the ground and looked around. He seemed to be in some small valley, surrounded by grass, trees and the sounds of nature. He was unfamiliar with this place, and it seemed he had no memories of anything related to what happened before this whatsoever.
"…What is going on here?" Scott murmured, just before he noticed something strange about his left arm and chest.
They were both blackened and abnormal! However, he could only go to a nearby pool of water to confirm whether he was seeing correctly. And then, he saw something horrific.
His appearance was… treacherous, to say the least, and for some reason, his appearance felt… unfamiliar.
He had long, luscious, snow-white hair, with eyes so dull that they appeared to be a bluish-grey. He also seemed extremely malnourished and had a great, reddish scar on his chest that was so large that it was noticeable no matter how far away you were.
And, not to mention, blackened crystals sprouted from both his left arm and the left side of his chest. Safe to say, he looked quite odd.
Scott even wondered if he had passed out for a few thousand years, without the sight of any food at all.
"…I look terrible. I need to eat something, quickly!" Scott muttered.
But, as he turned around, he was suddenly met with a sword to the face, and as he narrowly evaded its sharp edge, he yelled:
"Holy shit!"
The individual that the blade belonged to held a strange, killing intent, wearing strange brownish robes and bandaged hands.
"Who are you?!" Scott demanded as he felt warm blood trickle down his cheek. His eyes began to blur, as the smell of "sickeningly sweet" blood entered his nostrils.
"Hah. I knew I sensed a demon!" The mysterious individual replied.
"Now, with my exceptional senses granted by the great blessings of the "Chained God of Beasts", I will slay you and prepare you as a great gift for the cathedral!"
Scott snarled, before quickly covering his mouth. Due to the smell of blood, Scott was slowly starting to drool! His eyes turned a faint shade of red, and he charged at the robed man fiercely, aiming to take his life.
However, as if he were properly trained, the robed man dodged the attack gracefully and swiftly jabbed his sword at Scott several times, to create space between the two of them.
"So it is true! As soon as a demon catches a whiff of the smell of blood, they become crazy and attack everything in sight!"
As time passed, Scott slowly grew even more enraged. Yet, for some reason, the scar in the middle of his chest also began to glow a shade of crimson.
"…It's chest is…? This is not an ordinary demon!" The robed man exclaimed.
Scott clutched his head. His mind felt as if it was on the verge of breaking apart, but, after that brief loss of control, he managed the feat of keeping sane, even when it seemed like he was turning into a demon so suddenly.
But what was even more bizarre, was the fact that the scar on his chest was morphing, morphing into a strange "symbol" that the robed man recognised at once. And, although it morphed back into the great scar that it was beforehand, the mysterious person remained shocked.
"You… you…"
"How…? A follower of the Blind God?!" The robed man yelled out, as he jumped back in surprise.
"Impossible… How could a demon have a Mark?!"
"A… Mark…?" Scott mumbled, "Also…"
"I'm not a demon." He murmured, as he lunged at the robed man and subdued him, pressing him onto the ground with force.
"Now, it's best if you answer my questions… unless you feel like being hit."
The mysterious, robed man nodded his head quickly.
"Alright… then first of all, where is this place?"
"Yo-you're in "Wolves Valley", in Harpinbale! We're also close to Saint Carydias' Great Cathedral! Sa-Saint Carydias is also a "Lord of Annihilation" if you also didn't know…"
"…Alright. Then, secondly, do you know what this is?" Scott asked, pointing at the strange symbol that had now appeared on his chest. A symbol illustrating a strange, glinting star.
The robed man nodded. "O-Of course…! That's the Mark of the Blind God! If you have that Mark, that means you must have been gazed upon by "Them" at least once before…"
"…I need way more information. Tell me everything you know about this place." Scott said. Though, the robed man only looked at him with nervous eyes.
"…I... I don't know much about this place, or any other Deity, for that matter, except from the Chained God of Beasts. I'm just a young disciple of "Their" Cathedral, you see, so I haven't explored around much…"
"Then, just tell me about this "God," Scott replied with a stern voice.
"Give me as much information as possible."
"Ah… all I know is that there are twelve "Deities", and my God, the Chained God of Beasts is among them!"
"The "Almighty World Bible" talks about the "Old World" too, but I don't know enough about that to tell you…"
"…But… you probably already know that." He added, chuckling nervously.
"…Alright. Go on?" Scott responded.
"…Among the twelve Deities, the Chained God of Beast is the manifestation of blood, savagery and triumph. "Their" Mark allows you to enhance your physical body to the most extreme levels, and you can gain abilities like "Branded Blood" to accumulate earth-shattering strength!"
Scott nodded his head and stroked his chin. He couldn't remember anything at all of his past, but he knew he couldn't just sit around after obtaining that information.
"Hey!" The robed man yelped, as Scott grabbed him by the robe.
"C'mon, you're coming with me until I say you can go. Until I find out exactly what's going on, we're gonna do plenty of adventuring today."
***
On the stony path through the Wolves Valley, the pair, Scott and the robed fellow warmed up to each other quite a bit once they walked together.
As he handed Scott some wolf pelts to act as temporary clothes, he even admitted that swinging a sword at him was over-the-top, and the fact that he was simply excited to fight someone, who seemed to be a demon, for the first time.
And also, as it had turned out, the robed individual was no older than fifteen, he was a young lad who seemed a bit naive, and as a disciple of a Cathedral, he lived his life mostly according to "His" Creed.
"So… this "Saint Carydias" can use the power of a Mark to summon a thousand-beast army? And, you're telling me she can even summon large artillery and cannons from incantations of blood?" Scott asked, clearly intrigued.
"Yep! Like most reputable or notorious Blessed Ones*, the Saint can utilize their Mark to create "miracles", and also, did I mention the fact that the Saint has even fought against a "Named Demon" before? They're the size of entire buildings, and can decimate entire cities!"
"…Huh. Then I guess meeting her would be quite a dream."
"Of course! But, of all people, you shouldn't be saying something like that!"
"…Why?" Scott asked, raising his brow.
"Because you also have a Mark!"
"And, I heard that with that Mark, you can wield the fullest power, knowledge and capacities for alchemical processes and transmutation, and it's even possible for you to use your imagination to fight!"
Scott let out a small chuckle.
"…I feel like I should doubt what you just said."
But, he smiled. The way this young disciple got excited about everything he talked about almost reminded him of something familiar, yet distant.
"…If you don't mind me asking… do you still have no idea of what possibly could be the reason why you have no recollection of anything, at all?"
Scott shook his head. "I have no clue in the world. Honestly speaking, I think it might have something to do with this cursed arm of mine. Maybe that's also the reason why I freaked out when I first met you."
"And, it makes sense. From what you told me these past few minutes, these attributes are most likely not commonly found in humans or animals, and especially not together."
The young disciple nodded.
"Yeah… but, I think that you could've just been afflicted with "Berserker's Poison", which turns you crazy for a moment, instead of you having the qualities of a demon."
"However, my best guess for your cursed arm is probably from an abnormal ailment, so perhaps we could go to the Cathedral and see if they could cleanse you!"
Scott shrugged. "You sure they aren't gonna just scream at the sight of me and chain me up?"
"…I don't think so... The Cathedral's Bloodsoaked Altar's bishop is pretty kind and forgiving, and so are the other clergymen."
"But… if the bishop doesn't give the reaction I'm expecting, you might be delivered to the New Capital to be "purified" by the High Ritualist…"
Scott's head jerked at the mention of that word, or name.
"High… High Ritualist?"