'What picture can I even think of?' Yung screamed. He couldn't replay a single picture, nor was he able to create one.
When he finally did, a smile tore across his lips. He tried to contain it but couldn't, as he pictured himself in one of the recent programs he had gone to.
Not to mention, the program was one that had reps from all around the world—many citizens from other planets, including Celestial City citizens. The cause of the smile wasn't the program itself. Instead, it was a chubby lady he met during the program.
A fine humanoid lady who came with men dressed in black suits. Wherever she went, they followed her. But when she came to Yung inside the dressing room, she came alone. At that time, Yung pulled down his mask, letting her see his eyes and nose.
At the same time, some celestial people were around, acting as if they were looking for something. Someone. Though what happened after the program was a chase of life, all he focused on was the face of the lady and the name she gave him.
"Zoe…" The name tore out of Yung's lips before he realized he was actually speaking.
Damien's breathing paused as Yung kept repeating the name over and over again, followed by smiles.
He stared at Yung with narrowed eyes, waiting for him to come to his senses and question him.
When Yung realized his lips were actually moving, he changed the words and began to recite what Damien always told him to do when they were about to start their daily training.
"Zeal to Overcome and Empower." He repeated it countless times until he heard Damien laughing.
Slowly, Yung cracked his eyes open. Under the moon's light, he saw his father staring at him cunningly.
Yung's expression turned completely. He shifted his gaze sideways, wanting to flee from his father's teasing eyes.
Damien turned, stretched his hand toward the sky, and pointed to a particular constellation. "Look at this constellation. What do you see?"
Yung shifted his gaze and followed the direction his father was pointing. He stood there staring, tracing the constellation.
For a period that felt like five minutes, Yung finally captured the entire constellation. "That's Orion," he said, leaning on his father.
"What about this?" Damien changed the position of his finger and pointed toward a new constellation.
For that particular constellation, Yung was familiar with it. The structure, the position, and his frequent scanning of the sky made him smile. "That's the…" he paused, scratching his jaw.
Damien and looked at Yung with a squinted expression. But the moment Damien tried to talk, Yung continued.
"Aha, that's Leo. The lion." Yung laughed at his father.
"What do the two constellations tell you or teach you?" Damien asked, moving toward the very edge of where they stood.
"Orion is the hunter. Leo is the lion." Yung scratched his head for a while and continued. "The hunter hunts down the lion."
Damien exhaled, placed a hand on Yung's shoulder, and sat on the ground. He moved his legs freely, paddling them in the air.
"Leo—the lion—is you." Damien pointed a finger at Yung. "In this life, in this world, you are the lion."
Yung giggled but maintained a steady posture as he sat by his father.
"And who is the hunter?" Yung asked, placing both palms on the ground as he paddled his legs, following his father's movement.
Silence ruled between them. Damien didn't answer, but Yung could tell everything through the way his father's eyes looked at him.
Not to mention, Yung studied every move his father made: the stare, the laugh, the wiggle, the calmness. Everything was etched at the back of his head like a map. He could tell if his father was hiding something or holding something back. And at that instant, he knew his father was holding something back.
"You can be your own hunter," Damien broke the still air with a single statement.
"How can I become that and take myself down?" Yung turned with a puzzled face.
"When you don't watch the circle you choose as friends. When you don't do your best and rely on others to do your job for you. When you doubt yourself in doing something. When you make yourself the only one and not one of many."
Damien yawned as his voice trailed off. He rose from the ground and stood on his feet. He brushed the dust from himself.
"Let's get back. You have to prepare for school tomorrow." Damien stretched a hand forward, helped Yung rise from the floor, and walked through the trees.
Damien kept turning his head backward. Shallow cracks tore through the air, followed by a chittering sound that resembled half a cricket and half a deer.
In a remote place like their own, it was easy to become prey for monsters and creatures beyond human strength. Yet still, Damien had no fear—not until after Jax gave him the news about the humanoid beast that devoured an entire pupil in a hospital, along with its own mother.
"Go inside. I'm coming," Damien said, opening the door for Yung. He watched as Yung entered, closed it, and stood there tightening his fists into a punch.
Slowly, Damien walked forward toward the very road they had taken. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes.
Scratching and chittering sounds erupted around his ear. But he didn't crack his eyes open. He stood there as if waiting for something—someone beneath the shadows.
For a while that felt like ten minutes of no movement, Damien cracked his eyes open. Shimmering golden light glowed from his eyes, changing everything—including the trees and the sky—into a golden color.
He squinted his eyes and moved wherever he saw a slight movement that didn't seem right.
Upon his arrival at the towering tree, a seven-foot figure erupted, growling.
"A dog-like beast. Huh!" Damien gasped, seeing sickly sticky liquid seeping out of the beast's jaws.
Not to mention, this wasn't his first time seeing a dog-like beast around his mansion. Instead, this was the hundredth dog beast he had seen. Among the beasts, the dog-like beast was classified as a Tier Two beast.
Though they were just under Tier Two, some could change their level to god-level in an instant with a particular celestial grass that erupted on the first visit of the celestials. The grass was distinct in the world but wasn't rare in Damien's mansion. So, he was always careful whenever he saw one of those beasts.
Although most of the beasts were dull-minded, Damien never let his guard down.
The glow in Damien's eyes blasted and shimmered across the trees he stood in between. His clenched fist glowed with the same color his eyes had.
The beast howled and dashed straight at Damien. But he blocked and pushed it away with his left hand, pulled his right hand backward, and launched it into the beast.
The punch blew the beast countless meters away, smashing it into one of the trees he had marked with his palm when he was playing with Yung.
The beast rose, shook itself – making the dust drip from its fur, and howled.
For most of the same creatures he had fought, they would dash at him even if they were pushed thousands of meters away. But for this particular one, it stood there staring at Damien with an alarming gaze.
It moved from where it was, sniffing the leaves on the ground, and followed the wind as it directed it to one shimmering grass.