The next day came by. Of course, they didn't leave until extensive eating, along with other things. So, truthfully, it was reaching dusk by the time they They loaded their things and traveled via horse carriage.
Oscar sat in between Leah and Kai, while General Yesynore sat across them. Right now, Oscar was the only person that appeared to be awake on that carriage.
I really could've died that day. When he stuck his arm through my stomach.
If General didn't come there in time, then it would have been wraps. But for some odd reason, I seem really content.
Why is that?
I haven't done all the things I want to do.
Well, is there anything I really want to do? That's the real question.
Not having an answer to that question really worries me. What is it that I want to do?
"It's a bumpy road, isn't it?" Kai suddenly spoke.
"You're awake?" Oscar was caught off guard.
"Being able to fall asleep when the whole carriage is shaking like this would be a super power. Besides, these seats are in no way comfortable at all. You'd have to be pretty naive to think anyone could fall asleep in this. Well, except for people like Leah and General."
"Leah and General? What do you mean?"
"They're hardened. They've experienced the horrors of battle, one way or another. It's like, weird. While they're sleeping, they're still awake, noticing everything. So they omit certain things in their head whilst keeping it. Agh, its hard to explain. Leah might've been a little slow that other day, but she still woke up before me."
Oscar stared at Leah's quiet face for one moment, before looking back at Kai.
"… I see. It's something you gain from experience, right?" he inquired.
"Yeah. Something that you and me don't have. Well, I wouldn't be surprised if you had it," Kai informed. Shortly after he finished talking, Kai turned his head, staring at the window at the end of the carriage.
Oscar observed Kai's apparel. He was a little roughed up from the magical plant attack.
Meanwhile..
The Anore military immediately got to work in cleaning up the mess that Tou left in the moderately sized town.
Deep in the nearby forest, Tou hid with in the trees. No, Cerat hid within the trees. Pondering. Recollecting.
I remember it so clearly. 'Tou' imprisoned me and harnessed my power for his own doing. But the moment the bodies head was decapitated, I was sure of it. I was dead. But I survived.
Immense Regeneration was still active, just a little delayed. The evil, vile Tou had been completely ejected out of the body! Now it's just Cerat.
No. Now it's just Julian.
Julian walked toward a large pond. He stared at something that did not look like him, despite him not knowing what he actually looked like. Long, grey hair, with grey skin. The features of Tou the elf and Cerat the dragon had slammed together in an amalgamation of human.
He scavenged for a few seconds. To cover his large wings, he wore a large black cloak. Julian decided that this was enough.
It's time… time to regain my body back!
.
(Refer to Chapter 42)
"Please stay safe, Keon."
A soft voice whispered.
The forest was quiet. Besides the rustling of branches, and gnawing of flesh, the stretching and pulling of meat. The cries and howls of packs. To put it quite frankly, it was not quiet.
At the forest floor, wrapped in vines and leaves and things similar, a group of corpses.
!
A hand shot out of the ground. It belonged to a man. His chest heaved and he took heavy breathes, gasping for air. Then, he spit out the dirt that was in his mouth.
The man appeared disheveled; he was incredibly confused, his head swayed from left to right, and he constantly squinted, like their was this earth shattering headache that banged at the walls or his fragile cranium.
Instinctively, he reached for his forehead. A strange, horizontal scar was felt underneath his hair.
Words almost escaped his mouth. But he said nothing.
His silver hair was caked in dirt and filled with the leaves. The youthful skin that he likely once adorned was now dirty, filthy, even. There was a loss of life in his dark blue eyes.
Wh-where… where am I?
The words did not leave his mouth, and remained as thoughts. He turned to his side. A corpse with wounds that festered could be seen. Vines wrapped around it, along with insects, crawling through the holes that had not been there before.
The man held back a puke.
He turned his head to the other side. An image not too different was presented to him; less fauna, a lot more insect and festering puss still oozing out of artificial orifices. With this, he gave up and puked blood. The hungry man could not puke anything else, after all.
A terrible hunger shook his stomach.
"Damn it…"
Who am I?
A thought invaded his head. It strangely felt like it didn't belong to him. Then he vaguely remembered the soft beautiful words of a young woman. Something something Keon.
"Keon."
As words finally left his mouth, it felt familiar. He felt like he had said it so many times. A man who declared his name so boldly and proudly. That is the type of man he expected himself to be. Keon shrugged the damaged armor off, trying to move a little better. It was now that he noticed the sword on his waist.
"I… I am a swordsman."
From a distance, a deep hoarse roar was heard. The threatening howl belonged to a large green orc, wielding a wooden club. Keon squinted. The orc from such a far distance was hard to discern. So, he walked toward it.
Then, the orc started running. Heavy steps. Each foot planted, shaking the ground around it. Of course, this woke Keon up just a little bit. His shaky hands reached for the handle of his sword, pulling it out. Keon inhaled deeply. His eyes closed.