《Vas Erithnir; Serin - Volume 1》 Prologue The first thing he noticed was the ringing in his ears and alongside it a growing headache. He grumbled internally at the discomfort. He could not see anything due to the darkness covering his vision. Within the darkness he could hear voices which seemed at a distance away. As the ringing began to lower¡ª his hearing adjusted. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean!¡± The voice that was painfully loud to him, sounded masculine with a degree of immaturity to it and he could clearly feel the anger and hostility alongside it. While he did not recognise the owner of the voice, he immediately felt irritated by him. Thoughts of ¡°Must you make such a racket?¡± and ¡°Silence you annoying fool¡± began to creep into his mind. However, he remained silent and motionless. ¡°Exactly, what it¡¯s supposed to mean you idiot!¡± Another voice answered in likewise anger, also sounding masculine. The two were engaged in some sort of argument, of which he knew nothing about. It was at this moment he realised something. The darkness that had been covering his vision was not caused by being in a dark space or by it being night or anything of the like, but by the fact that his eye lids were still closed. Suddenly becoming aware of his body, he could feel the aching in his bones and a deep heaviness throughout his body. ¡°U-umm does anyone know where we are?¡± Another voice, this time sounding feminine. While he could be mistaken, he assumed that this person was female. The question from the female speaker made him wonder the same thing and curiosity had begun to build inside him, as he pondered on his situation. Questions such as Where am I? or Who are these annoying fools? And am I perhaps in danger? Began to form at the back of his mind. The number of voices began to increase, and so slightly giving in to his curiosity he decided to slowly open his eyes and peak at his surroundings. A brilliant light bombarded his eyes and for a few seconds he could not actually see anything however, as his eyes quickly adjusted, and his head began throbbing in pain¡ªHe could finally see. He looked around warily, careful so as to not make the slightest movement. For he feared making his presence known, when he did not understand the situation around him. He was laying on his left side on a stone floor, facing what looked to be an incredibly dense forest, his hands were tucked away at the side pockets of his coat. The stone floor did not feel cold, perhaps this was because it was relatively warm outside or because he had been sleeping on it for some time. However, from the way his bones were aching, he could tell that must have been sleeping like this for a while now. He could hear several people perhaps a few meters behind him deep in conversation with each other, each asking questions of the same nature¡ª ¡°where am I?¡± ¡°who are you?¡± ¡°Do you know where we are?¡± ¡ªand so giving in to his curiosity with his hands still in his pockets, he slowly turned to lay on his back and faced in the direction of the voices. Some of the people were standing desperately fiddling around with strange rectangular devices, while others were sitting down idly. There were even some that appeared to still be sleeping. ¡°Hmm- my phone¡¯s not turning on¡± ¡°It¡¯s not just you it¡¯s like that for everyone else¡± ¡°B-but seriously. How did we get here? I¡¯m starting to get a little scared¡± As he covertly listened in on two females one with long ruby coloured hair and the other with short black hair the situation was beginning to become more clearer to him. For reasons unknown he and the others here, had ended up in this mysterious place and neither of them seem to know the other. Knowing that he was not alone in this peculiar situation helped to alleviate some of his concerns and so feeling slightly more confident and no longer in danger. He slowly sat up and faced in their direction. Nobody had noticed him. Or rather they were too self-absorbed in their own problems or were too busy gathering information to pay him any attention. This however, was a preferred situation for him. For it meant he could simply sit back and observe. He did not consider this to be a bad thing but rather something he would prefer to call a privileged position. Here he could sit back and watch others struggle through their problems while believing he had none. It was a temporary escape from reality, but it brought peace to the mind, something he felt was best taken advantage of considering this unknown situation. He had counted twelve people including himself, of which seven were males and five were females. All of which appeared to be of similar age to him, with the exception of one who looked noticeably younger. The majority of them had small rectangular glass like objects which -through eavesdropping- he learned were cellular devices or cell phones. While this sounded familiar to him, the shape of these devices was not something he felt he recognised. The ones that had been previously sleeping had now woken up and had quickly managed to join in on the conversation of the others. Their questions were similar to those from earlier and he now found himself pondering on those very questions. How did I end up here? Where even is here? However, no matter how hard he tried to recall, the only thing he was able to get was a headache. Letting out an exhausted sigh he moved to make himself more comfortable, arching over his left leg and placing both hands on his knee. Upon doing so his attention was immediately stolen away by the many rings he wore on his fingers. Each one radiant and exotic with a luxurious different coloured jewel resting on top. The rings was so intricately designed and eye-catching that it would be clear upon a first glance that they were of exceptional wealth, they would draw the eyes of any and all people while emanating wealth, authority and power, as he examined each ring¡ª There were six in total, five on his left hand and one on his right index finger. Each ring held beautiful exotic patterns across the bands, each seeming to be made of silver however, there was only one made of gold. Each ring carried a gem of; amber, amethyst, diamond, emerald, ruby, and sapphire, each gem resting on its own ring. Out of all the rings, there were three that stood out the most. On the right index finger was a silver skull with diamond for eyes and on the left thumb was the head of a silver dragon with sapphire for eyes. Lastly, the left index finger had the only ring made with a gold band instead of silver and was engraved with exotic patterns and carried a large square cut ruby. Each ring stood out far too much, as though desperate to be seen and admired. However, contrary to the desire of the rings the bearer did not share those same desires ¡ªhe felt nothing but the feeling of disgust forming within him. He did not wish to be seen or admired. As though to answer his own desires, his hand instinctively reached towards the inside pocket of his coat, as though searching for something and sure enough it found a long rectangular black box amongst other things. As he opened the rectangular box, he found several slots for each ring. He smiled internally at being able to discard the flashy rings. The sudden unintentional movement made him realise something that he probably should have done from the very beginning. He had not yet checked his pockets. A quick rush of excitement filled him deep within as the hope of potential answers, that could be lurking within his own possessions. However, to his disappointment all he could find was several cigars inside a black humidor zip pouch, a silver lighter and a silver pocket watch. He opened the humidor pouch and found eight cigars inside, and after a quick examination of one cigar, the words Regius Anim could be seen across a black band. Regius was written in red in bold writings and Anim was written in black across an opened gold scroll in the same font. It was the name of the brand and the type of the cigar. The lighter seemed to be custom-made with silver and luxurious foreign etchings all over. He did not open the lighter for fear of drawing attention, but he could tell it was a lighter for the cigars as it housed a cigar cutter neatly inside. The silver watch was similar to the lighter as it also appeared to have been custom-made perhaps by the same maker. As a similar etching design ran all across the outside, upon opening the watch the time was stopped at four seventeen in roman numerals. The watch was an automatic watch, and so one had to twist the dial on top each day to recharge it. However, since he did not know the current time, he did not do so. After searching through all his pockets, those were the only possessions he had. While this was not what he had been hoping for, it was however, a welcomed surprise, particularly the cigars. After putting away his belongings and suppressing the urge to light a cigar. He had decided to temporarily give up trying to find answers for those previous questions and chose instead to observe his surroundings once more. The stone floor that he had been asleep on was of a large circular shape, there were strange marking engraved on the floor following the circular outline, as well as stone pillars on the outside which too had strange markings. Giving the impression of some sort of altar. The stone itself looked heavily worn by the elements and there were grass growing out the cracks with patches of moss all over. Surrounding the stone altar was a dense forest with thick trees, bushes of varying sizes and many kinds of plants. While the forest was not completely dark, much of the light seemed to have been blocked by the leaves on the trees. This made seeing further in the forest difficult. He had also noticed a small, narrow broken cobblestone path leading from the altar into the forest. The altar, the path and the surrounding greenery gave the impression that it had not been maintained in tens no perhaps hundreds of years. After observing his surroundings, he decided to focus back on his current situation and so again turned his attention towards the people in the altar. The situation seemed to have progressed a little and three different groups had now been formed. The first two groups were similar in that they seemed to be formed of those who were trying to gather information, the last group was simply those that had been left out ¡ªthe ones who had still been sleeping or sat alone. The first two groups were deep in conversation and it looked difficult for outsiders to join in and so feeling slightly excluded and in an awkward position he was reluctant to attempt to join in. He now turned his attention to those who had fallen into the last group. The majority of everyone here seemed to now be awake and there were only three people sitting alone away from the others. A young girl with blond hair, another girl with silver hair and a tall man with curly brown hair. Everyone, in the third group either had their attention on the other groups or seemed to be deep in thought. As he began to regret his decision of examining his possessions, instead of joining in the conversations at the right time, he noticed that he had made a mistake in counting the number of people in the third group. Said person was the only one still sleeping. He had been sleeping flat on his back, with one leg arched and the other laid straight. The man had his left hand on his stomach slowly scratching his belly with his right hand cushioning his head. The man looking to be around five foot eleven in his late teens, with a strong well-built body and a nicely trimmed beard, his skin was golden and fair and glistened in the light. His hair was dark brown and was tied up in a bun, above his right eye was a scar that cut across the brow of his eye. The man along with his scar and herculean muscles gave the impression of a strong person, and yet despite this appearance he did not look the least bit scary. The man wore a white shirt with a light-blue floral pattern that was unbuttoned at the collar, several leather wrist straps, black jeans and brown leather shoes. His overall appearance looking relatively smart. The man was sleeping peacefully with a happy smile on his face, mouth slightly open with a little bit of drool coming out. His face embodied the very definition of peace. The man''s carefree attitude was so out of place for their situation that he had mistakenly forgotten about him and this irritated him a little. No, it irritated him a lot and his anger was steadily increasing. Here they were in a situation where they had no clue where they were or who any of the people around them was, and here was happy man having a leisurely nap completely unaware of it all. He stared at him for a moment with a cold stare of disgust. He had become annoyed to the extent that he had not realised that he had silently stood up and had already walked over to him. This guy¡­ Words would not form in his head to describe his displeasure of happy man and the more he stood there and watched the greater his displeasure became.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Therefore, in an act of desperation from a lack of words he kicked happy man in the stomach. ¡°Wake up you useless dolt¡± Although he spoke quietly and in a low tone so as to not be heard, the man woke instantly and in a panic. It would appear he was not in a deep sleep. ? ? ? His hazel brown eyes darted left and then right with a confused expression across his face, his eyes searching for the one who had awoke him in such a manner. At first, he was angry at being awoken so violently and was about to retaliate with some force. However, as he looked up, he saw a man about the same height as him, with skin that was pale white. The man had a medium build, and a short beard with a nicely trimmed moustache. His hair was as dark as the night sky and tied into a short ponytail. He looked to be in his late teens, but his short beard made him look older. His eyes were black with a faint reddish tint that seemed to draw one in, and yet for some reason they appeared lifeless. As he stared at those eyes, he could feel a small tinge of sorrow in his chest. He wore a long black coat and solid red shirt with the collar unbuttoned. His trousers and shoes were both black and he was dressed smart as though he was meeting with important people. His overall appearance looking very smart and luxurious. His anger had vanished almost instantly. While he did not recognise the man, he felt that he knew him from somewhere. As he struggled to recall where, words slipped from his throat. ¡°N-Neko?¡± ¡°¡­Eh?¡± They stared at each other bewildered. It had just occurred to Neko, he had not even been aware of it, up until now he had not been aware of his own name. Until it was spoken just now, he had not remembered his own name. He had intended to kick happy man and when he awoke to coldly stare at him and let him know what an idiot he was, except now he was taken aback. As he stared in confusion at the likewise confused man he was lost for words. He did not know what to say but could feel the need to say something, the sudden shock from hearing his name had settled in causing him to feel slightly dizzy. He could hear a ringing sound in his head with each ringing becoming painfully louder. "H-hey¡­ you okay?" As he placed one hand on his head to suppress the pain, he spoke with out meaning to. ¡°K-King?¡± His voice was low, and he spoke softly, this did not appear to come from the shock he was experiencing but his actual voice. ¡°Y-Yeah¡± They stared at each other again in confusion. His name was Neko and the man who had just been asleep was called King. While this did not appear to be their real names, it seemed to be one they each recognised. How do we know each other¡¯s names? I don''t know anyone else here¡­ Rather, I don''t even know who he is¡­ I just know¡­ his name¡­ ¡­How do I know his name? He felt that he recognised King, but from where? He could not tell. Questions began swarming inside Neko¡¯s head. We must know each other, right?! How else would we know each other¡¯s names?! For starters who is he?! Wait he¡¯s King. Yeah King¡­ King? King who? Am I suffering from some sort of amnesia? No wait if I can¡¯t remember then I am suffering from amnesia! Are we all suffering from amnesia?! How did we get it?! How did this happen?! WHO DID THIS HAPPEN?! Wait no... who? WHAT IS GOING ON?! Neko screamed internally. His words were scrambling in his mind. It was safe to say he was still in bit of a shock. No, he was in shock and he was most certainly in a panic. He could not keep up with the situation at hand. There was too little information and he did not know what anything was anymore. ¡°So, who are you?¡± The sudden question from King brought Neko back to reality. Who am I? WHO ARE YOU?! He stared at King who was still laying on his back, now with his eyes closed. Neko did not know who he was, and no matter how hard he tried to think, nothing came up. With that in mind and the sudden question from King ¡ªwho appeared so carefree¡ª caused Neko¡¯s frustration to increase exponentially. This¡­ This is all your fault¡­ Damn you¡­ If Neko had calmed down and thought about it more reasonably he would have realised that this was a perfectly normal question considering their situation. However, Neko was currently unable to think rationally and instead stared in disbelief. You idiot. You complete idiot, are you actually that stupid?! Venting out internally like this helped calm him down enough to make a response. ¡°¡­You literally just said my name¡± Neko¡¯s voice was cold. ¡°Yeah but¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªah, I don¡¯t know¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± King smiled, seeing how easily King gave up destroyed Neko¡¯s ability to think and so he simply stared at King with a lifeless expression. Neko was confused again, he was just confused. No seriously¡­what?! This guy is bad for my health¡­ Okay calm down me. Deep breath Neko sat down besides King, he slowly breathed in and then let out an exhausted sigh. This was his first exhausted sigh upon waking up and something told him this was not going to be his last. First, calm down¡­ find and gather¡­ information. Then all other thoughts can come next. ¡°aahhh¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªAlright, never mind.¡± ¡°¡­Now we know each other, right? Because if we didn¡¯t then we wouldn¡¯t know each other¡¯s names¡­ You with me so far?¡± ¡°Y-Yeah¡± King looked slightly confused however, for the sake of Neko¡¯s inner peace he ignored him. ¡°Okay so let¡¯s just sit down and think¡± ¡°Oh-Okay¡± King sat up and the two stared at each other silently, although it felt awkward it didn¡¯t feel out of place. ¡°S-So, where are we?¡± ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know¡± ¡°Who are they?¡± King nodded over to the direction where the people had formed their groups at which Neko stared at them for a while, During his interaction with King, he had completely forgotten that there were others here besides them. However, given the situation. He forgave himself. ¡°No idea¡± An instant response, which seemed to reflect how little he cared. ¡°hmm¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re in kind of a bad situation, aren¡¯t we?¡± ¡°What gave you that impression?¡± ¡°Ahh, we don¡¯t know who anyone is, and we don¡¯t know where we are¡± ¡°I was being sarcastic, genius¡± ¡°No need to be mean, and thank you¡± King smiled happily from what seemed as genuine appreciation of what had been intended by Neko as nothing more than pure sarcasm and insult. After seeing this, Neko died on inside as his mind went blank again. The two remained sitting down facing the other people in the altar, while one observed the other people in the altar. The other simply gave up thinking for the sake of his inner peace. ? ? ? A man began walking to the centre of the altar. He was a tall man that looked to be taller than six-foot with a well-built body. He had spiky silver hair and ruby red eyes. He walked from one of the groups to the centre of the altar. He was dressed in a tight-black, short sleeved t-shirt that clearly showed his well-toned muscles, army style camouflaged pants and black boots. Around his neck was a chain of what appeared to be a dog tag. He walked to the centre of the altar and by the time he reached the centre he immediately had everyone¡¯s attention. At this point there were no longer anyone still asleep. ¡°My name is Kenji¡± His voice was loud, deep and authoritative combined with his appearance gave him the look of a strong and reliable leader, someone who was not to be messed with. Kenji¡¯s sharp gaze fell over everyone in the altar, his powerful presence caused everyone to become silent. ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone here is in the same situation¡± ¡°Our phones aren¡¯t working, and we don¡¯t have any information as to where we are or how we got here, but to be sure I¡¯ll ask now¡± ¡°If there is anyone here who has any relevant information what so ever¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªSpeak now¡± Kenji¡¯s voice echoed at the altar. His already loud voice appeared louder in the silence of the altar. His voice, demanding and interrogative. No one at the altar spoke up. It appeared everyone here truly did not have any relevant information on how they had got here or where they were and after a short pause Kenji continued on. ¡°We don¡¯t know where we are or how we got here but staying here isn¡¯t going to help¡± ¡°There seems to be a path over there¡ª¡± Everyone looked in the direction in which Kenji pointed and sure enough there was a path that lead from the altar and into the dense dimly lit forest. ¡°¡ªHowever, before we go in there. I will have everyone introduce themselves now, starting from you, going clockwise¡± Kenji pointed to a man who looked five foot nine but appeared shorter, perhaps it was because he was the shortest of the males here. His voice was commanding and left no room for debate. The man who had just been forced to introduce himself had spiky red hair and amber eyes, he was skinny and looked relatively wimpy. The man was dressed in a red t-shirt with leather bracelets on both hands, light-brown shorts and white sneakers. ¡°U-uh m-me?¡± The man who had just been chosen had hesitation all over, his voice had a degree of immaturity to it and Neko recognised it immediately as the idiot who woke him up. Idiot number one¡­ Serves you right. While Neko thought this to himself, he did feel slightly sorry for the idiot who had been chosen first to introduce himself. Everyone was now focused on the man. However, Neko was still discussing internally on how Kenji remembered his name. Was it just me who forgot their name or are there others like me? ¡°a-ahh erm heh-heh¡± ¡°M-m-my name is N-Nakano Ren, u-u-um a-age n-nineteen, hobbies a-are football, videogames and karaoke. A-ah n-nice to meet you!¡± It was clear with one look at Ren''s face ad from the sound of his voice that he was nervous. His face had quickly turned red at some point and drops of sweat could be seen trickling down his cheek, and for some reason he could not stop scratching the side of his head. There were also some girls quietly laughing during his introduction. As Neko listened to Ren¡¯s introduction he could not help reaffirming his assessment of Ren ¡ªas a complete idiot. Truly, Neko did not like anything about Ren, not his voice, not his appearance nor his actions. He simply hoped that this annoying idiot would stay out of his way. ¡°Hi, my name is Hide, nice to meet you¡± Quick, clear and simple, that''s how it should be. Hide¡¯s voice was neither deep nor light but mature and matched his appearance. He had wavy brown hair with a bang that covered his left eye. He wore a white shirt with the collar unbuttoned, blue jeans and light brown boots. His overall appearance looked smart. Neko also recognised Hide¡¯s voice as the person who had been arguing with the idiot and he could not help but feel sorry for Hide, for having to bear with that idiot. ¡°¡ªHey, he didn¡¯t give his full name, age or hobbies!¡± Ren spoke out in what seemed like a childish tantrum. After introducing himself, Hide sat down and chose to simply ignore Ren''s existence completely. In response to Ren¡¯s objection no one seemed to care and since Kenji made no comment it ended there. Seriously, what an idiot. ¡°Ah u-um hello m-my name is S-Shiori n-nice to m-meet you¡± Following after Hide, the next one to speak was a woman called Shiori. Shiori had a light voice and spoke quietly although this seemed to be more because she was nervous than just a quiet speaker. Neko recognised her voice, it was the third voice he had heard when he gained consciousness. At the time Neko had kept his eyes closed and was unsure whether the speaker was a woman or an effeminate man. Neko had also seen her in one of the groups that had been formed earlier. The woman known as Shiori had her hands tightly clasped in front of her chest as she spoke. She wore a light-brown cardigan, white shirt with a short navy skirt with black tights and white shoes. Shiori had a slender and petite body, silver hair with a faint purple that looked dyed, her skin was as white as snow and she had a piercing in one ear and light blue eyes. Ren could not stop eyeing her chest and after speaking she sat down. ¡°Hello, my name is Akihiro, nice to meet you¡± The man who called himself Akihiro was around five foot eleven and had dark blue eyes over which he wore a pair of round glasses. He had black hair that was clean cut and seemed dyed, his speech was sophisticated and calm. He dressed in smart casual clothing with a grey blazer, white shirt with blue jeans and light brown shoes. He also followed the others and sat down after speaking. ¡°Hey! My name¡¯s Rei nice to meet everyone! And this is Miyoko¡± ¡°Hey, Miyo is fine, nice to meet everyone¡± ¡°¡ªMiyo and I are friends while we don¡¯t remember anything much from before we woke up, we remember than much as least¡± Rei spoke immediately after Akihiro sat down and gave her introduction alongside Miyo whom she clung onto, she had a smile on her face and her voice was energetic, she appeared to be very social and around five foot eight. Rei had long ruby red hair with reddish hazel brown eyes, she had both ears pierced and wore a summer dress with a floral pattern, a silver chain bracelet around her right hand and brown sandals. Miyo who was slightly taller and looked around five foot nine had light green eyes, short black hair, a single pierced ear. She wore a green top with light blue jeans and white sneakers. Her voice was not as energetic as Rei¡¯s but instead calm and relaxed. After speaking the two sat down. ¡°Hi everyone, my name is Arche, nice to meet everyone¡± Arche was tall but not as tall as Kenji and looked to be around six foot. He had curly brown hair with a mixture of light brown. He had light blue eyes a piercing in one ear and wore a black jacket, blue shirt, light brown pants and white sneakers. He spoke softly and appeared to be very friendly. ¡°Hello everyone, my name is Lily! nice to meet you all!¡± Amongst everyone here Lily looked to be the youngest, her voice was bright and cheerful. Lily had long blond hair, light blue eyes and looked to be around five foot four. She wore a summer dress with a white straw hat and white shoes. After speaking she sat down. ¡°Hello, my name is Lahna, nice to meet you¡± Lahna voice was plain but mature, and she spoke soft and slow. Lahna was tall for a woman and looked to be around five foot eleven and had long violet hair, with brownish blue eyes, both ears pierced and wore a black jacket and a purple summer dress with black boots. Although she was the tallest amongst the women, she had a large chest, round bottom and thick thighs of which some of the men could not help but look. The introductions had gone swiftly and now it was King¡¯s turn, and after that Neko¡¯s. However, Neko was silently in a panic this was because he was not confident in speaking last in front of everyone. If he had a choice, he would have preferred the middle, that way it would have less of an impact however, it had not ended up that way but instead with him and King being the last ones to introduce themselves. For starters why do I even have to introduce myself to these people in the first place. He silently hoped King would include him in his introduction as Rei and Miyo had done. ¡ªHowever, it would seem it would not be so. ¡°Hey everyone, my name is King I¡¯m not really sure what¡¯s going on but nice to meet you!¡± King smiled. ¡°Nice to meet you King!¡± Rei shouted, ¡°King that¡¯s it?¡± Ren asked, ¡°Hey!¡± Lily waved, ¡°Yup¡± King smiled again after his introduction and then sat down, while he had thought of introducing himself alongside Neko he did not really know how close he was to Neko or what Neko was to him. He did not know if Neko was a friend and so decided to not make any assumptions and make his introduction independently. Neko was not pleased. Oi. What is this? Why is everyone smiling at him? All he did was give a simple introduction like everyone else. Is it because he¡¯s happy man? Does happy man have the power to make everyone happy and get along with him? What is this bullshit. Indeed, King was the only one to receive such treatment out of all the introductions. Yet here Neko could see all of the guys with the exception of Kenji ¡ªwho did not seem to care much¡ª and all the girls smiling at him. As Neko pondered on the supernatural powers of happy man, he stood up without meaning to. ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡± Hmm¡­ I stood up without meaning to. Oh well, I should probably just introduce myself. I got this. A simple and quick introduction will do. ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡± Neko simply stared at everyone and froze, he was not smiling and had an expressionless face on him for a while now. ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡± W-wait, why can¡¯t I speak!? Simple introduction, where are you?! As Neko stared at all the unfamiliar faces at the altar, he could not speak. This did not seem to arise from nervousness or anything like it. His body was simply not responding to his commands. It was as though something was fighting his control. He began to test his control over his body by stealthily moving his fingers and toes. He was able to do this with no problem at all. However, he was still unable to speak. Everyone seemed to be staring at him with anticipation waiting for him to speak, and yet no matter how desperately Neko fought for control he was unable to make even a sound. I was able to speak to King earlier! Just what exactly changed?! AAAAAAHHHHH! I don¡¯t got this. Someone, a little help over here please?! Not much time had passed. However, to everyone around it felt long and to Neko it felt longer, he could hear some people beginning to whisper and could see some people smiling too. Neko cried internally. Ah, why me¡­ Oh, this is bad. ¡°Well say something!¡± Ren shouted. Neko cursed Ren silently as King stared at him dumbfoundedly, after Ren made his annoyingly loud request, there was some quiet laughter amongst the altar. Neko did not particularly care about anyone here, he didn¡¯t mind introducing himself and trying to get along with everyone, but it wasn¡¯t a priority to him. His sudden inability to speak was of more curiosity and priority to him. However, now that it had come to this, in front of all these people what he wanted more was to simply avoid looking like a bumbling fool. Despite the quiet chatter and laughter arising at the altar, there were still some people staring intently at him. It was an unwanted pressure for something so simple to do. There was only one thing he could think of to save himself from embarrassment. Neko did not say anything but instead moved his hands, since moving his body seemed to be the only thing he could do. Everyone present stared at him confused as he pointed to his mouth and then made an X with both hands, trying to instead to make them understand that he could not speak. As silence fell on them, he prayed that no one had seen him speak to King or that King did not do anything stupid like reveal that he could in fact speak. ¡°H-Haaah?!¡± Ren seemed completely confused but Neko did not care as he didn¡¯t have a high opinion of Ren to begin with, he simply labelled him as idiot number one. Neko could not help but stare at King. You better go along with this, I mean it. I swear one word out of you, and I¡¯ll cry. As silence descended once more. ¡°I-I think he can¡¯t speak¡± Lily spoke nervously assuming Neko could not speak. However, this was all he needed. He silently thanked Lily for falling for his act and made a thumbs up sign, at which everyone except King replied with an ¡°Ahh¡± or ¡°Oh I see¡±. However, King just continued to stare at Neko confused. You¡¯d better not. One word. I mean it. Don¡¯t you dare. ¡°So, if you can¡¯t speak¡ª¡± While Neko was silently trying to convey his thoughts to King telepathically, Kenji had walked up to Neko and was now face to face with him, meeting Neko¡¯s eyes with a sharp glare. ¡°¡ªThen, who are you?¡± Neko stared back at Kenji, he did not like Kenji much. While it was a good to organise everyone considering their circumstances. Neko, did not like Kenji taking authority, he was fine with Kenji acting like the leader over the others at the altar, but not over himself. Neko did not acknowledge him as his leader or as his better, and despite losing his memories there was still something Neko could strongly feel, and that was¡ª There was no one that stood above him. You¡¯d better step back boy¡­ Before I show you your place¡­ Neko¡¯s eyes had begun to go dark, his face beginning to take a cold expression¡ª ¡°AH Y-yeah¡­¡± ¡ªHowever, at that moment before anything could happen. King had decided to speak up and he quickly brought back his expressionless self. ¡°He can¡¯t speak but I¡¯ve been calling him Neko for now and he doesn¡¯t seem to mind¡± ¡°Neko?¡± ¡°Y-Yeah¡± Kenji looked at King and stared at him suspiciously. After a few seconds he relaxed his gaze and looked to be deep in thought. ¡°Neko huh?¡± After hearing King say Neko, Kenji faced Neko once more at which Neko simply nodded, Akihiro for some reason decided to say Neko¡¯s name and others could be heard also saying Neko. Fortunately, perhaps thanks to King¡¯s assist Kenji backed down and continued only after passing Neko a side glance. ¡°Now that that¡¯s all over there¡¯s no point in staying here any longer¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªWe will follow the path and try to find some people and gather some information¡± No one spoke instead getting up and following Kenji towards the broken path at the altar. Neko stayed at the back of the group and King alongside him and together they all made their way into the dimly lit forest. Chapter 1 - What Lurks In The Forest? Part 1 They followed the broken path into the densely packed forest, the path was small and narrow although this did not appear to be the way the path was designed but more because nature had claimed over it in the years past. Upon entering the forest, everyone was filled with the same feeling¡ª the feeling of entering into a new world. The trees were primordial and large in scale. It was clear from one look that they had been around for a very long time. The forest was humid, thick with the scent of the many different types of greenery within. While it was much darker in the forest than at the altar¡ª due to the large branches and trees¡ª they could still see fairly well as the sun was not completely blocked by the treetops and every so often, they would see rays of light that had broken through the layer of leaves above. The sight within the forest was breath-taking and beautiful. There was a big contrast between being at the altar and in the forest. For starters, the forest was noisy with the chirping of birds and the buzzing of insects and yet the altar had been abnormally quiet as though, cut off from the rest of the world. They had just entered the forest and had not been walking for long, but some could not help but let out sighs in amazement of what they saw. The grass, the trees, leaves, plants, flowers and bushes everything here was too large in scale of what they felt they were used to. It was the first time, they had ever seen anything like it. ¡°Wow, even the mushrooms are huge. W-what the hell is this?¡± Ren pointed at a red mushroom with a stick he had picked off the forest floor. The mushroom was equal to him in height with blue and yellow dots all over. ¡°Y-you think it¡¯s e-edible?¡± ¡°Of course not you idiot, it looks like you¡¯d die from touching it¡± Hide responded almost immediately and was quick to rebuke Ren, from Hide¡¯s point of view it was clearly obvious the mushroom was dangerous, and Ren was just asking stupid questions. Ren and Hide were close to the front of the group just behind Akihiro and Arche who were closely following behind Kenji. Kenji had been leading the group and paid no mind to Ren¡¯s questions instead, continuing to press on. Arche and Akihiro would occasionally look back at Ren and Hide arguing but none seemed wanting to step in and instead ignored them and continued moving. The girls who were behind Ren and Hide walked slowly causing a small gap to form in the line, this did not seem to be because the girls were slow walkers but done intentionally.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The girls were whispering to each other carefully so as to not be heard and seemed to already be getting along very well. King along with Neko walked at the back of the group behind the girls and could not see past them and so instead closely followed behind them. Unfortunately Neko ¡ªwho had been quietly enjoying the scenery¡ª was steadily becoming more and more irritated by the whispering of the girls in front of him. This was because Neko could clearly hear their whisperings as well as Ren¡¯s idiotic questions. He did not know why he was able to hear them with such clarity, but it was becoming a problem. It¡¯s that idiot again. No one cares about the damn mushroom. It clearly looks poisonous you idiot. There¡¯s no way you don¡¯t know that. Just how stupid are you? Neko grumbled internally, his situations and circumstances was not good and to top it off everyone now believed he was mute. His mood becoming sourer with each passing moment. And finally the girls. You annoying pieces of shits, just how slow do you have to walk we¡¯re falling behind. Whispering¡­ Laughing¡­ I¡¯m glad to know you¡¯re having such a merry time but WHY ARE YOU WHISPERING AND TRYING TO HIDE IT WHEN ITS CLEAR YOUR TALKING ABOUT HIM?! I CAN HEAR YOU! I CAN FUCKING HEAR YOU! I DON¡¯T CARE ABOUT HOW MUCH OF AN IDIOT REN IS! FUCK HIM! Neko screamed internally, on the outside he was still the calm and expressionless Neko that had given his silent introduction. However, on the inside he was a furnace, spewing curses at every little thing that irritated him. ¡°You can¡¯t tell that just by looking at it! Who¡¯s the idiot now?! Idiot!¡± ¡°AHH, FINE THEN GO EAT IT AND FIND OUT DUMBASS!¡± ¡°Ah, I¡¯m not that hungry¡± Hide had finally lost his cool and was hoping for Ren to go eat the mushroom and die but Ren had given up the mushroom topic immediately after being told to ¡°go eat it and find out¡±. Neko had conflicted feelings about what he could hear. On the one hand he could not help but strongly feel sorry for Hide who had to put up with Ren, but on the other hand he was simply glad it wasn¡¯t him. The mere thought of such a thing was enough to make him want to cry. Why was Ren such an idiot Hide wondered, if you¡¯re going to give up that easily then why bother in the first place?! Neko who had been unwillingly listening to Hide and Ren from the beginning had finally reached his limit and was now looking for a good tree to smack his head into. It was then when he noticed, King had been silent for a while now. Surely, this had to be bothering him to some extent, right? Or could it be that King can¡¯t hear them? He looks really out of it¡­ Taking care so as to not be heard or get caught, Neko decided to talk to King. ¡°K-King¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°King?¡± ¡°..hmm¡± ¡°K-king?¡± ¡°¡­hmm¡± Hmm? Did he perhaps not hear me? I thought I was speaking fairly clearly for our distance. It would be too risky to try speaking again under these circumstances¡­ since I might get caught. That would be awkward. Try talking myself out of that one. Hahahaha. While Neko had been curious about Kings odd behaviour, he was not willing to risk exposing himself, and so he instead decided to give up and settle with his light humour. Neko observed King as they walked through the forest. King for reason unknown, did not reply to Neko with words but with hums, he seemed to be in autopilot and had a distant look in his eyes. I wonder what he¡¯s thinking about¡­ he didn¡¯t seem like the thinking type earlier¡­ Nor does he seem that smart¡­ Meh, it¡¯s probably nothing. Neko had no idea what was going through King¡¯s head, but it didn¡¯t peak his curiosity so quite frankly he didn¡¯t care. He simply allowed King to continue his thoughts, while he tried to get back to admiring the scenery once more. Chapter 1 - What Lurks In The Forest? Part 2 They had been walking in the forest for some time now, while it was difficult to tell, the sun appeared to be at its highest point in the sky and at some point, the path had gradually become wider to the point of becoming a dirt road. King who had been walking alongside Neko, had been silent ever since leaving the altar and had remained deep in thought upon entering the forest. For in King¡¯s mind, a single scene had been on his mind. King was the last one to awake, and it had not been long since his waking when things had quickly progressed to the introductions. Therefore, there should not have been much that could have bothered him besides the same questions one everyone¡¯s mind, and yet since leaving the altar he had been deep in thought on a recent event. After entering the forest King had been replaying the scene that had occurred back at the altar. There Neko had been trying to deceive everyone into thinking he could not talk. At that time King was truly confused, he was just as confused as everyone else. It was a simple thing and it should not have been bothering him to this extent. King did not know why Neko had decided to become a mime and pretend to be mute, but at he assumed Neko had his own reasons for doing so and instead chose to remain quiet. During Neko¡¯s mime act he had been thought desperately for a reason behind Neko¡¯s silence to the extent that his mind had gone blank several times, and yet in the end he had been unable to find any reason behind Neko¡¯s silence. It was only when Kenji had walked over to Neko, and everyone turned silent, that he had come back to reality. King had no intention of interfering, nor was he going to reveal that Neko could talk, neither did he plan on helping Neko when Kenji began confronting him. This was because King felt that Neko had got himself into this mess and should therefore get himself out. Personally, he did not like the situation between Kenji and Neko, since he did not like aggressive people. However, his personal feelings was not enough for him to intervene. So why did King intervene? It was during Kenji¡¯s questioning when King looked at Neko, and he noticed. He was the only one to notice¡­ Neko¡¯s expression had not yet changed, but in that transition a trigger had set off causing King to recall. It was something he felt was important. Something that should have never been forgotten. A past memory¡­ At that moment time crawled to a stop, the world around him blurred, his eyes fixated on the dark of Neko¡¯s eyes, pulling him into the darkness and in that darkness ¡ªhe remembered a cruel and dark memory¡­ ? ? ? The world was grey. There at a seaside where the beach was littered in all manner of unwanted things, he sprinted as fast as he possible could. From the garbage filled beach through the mazes of homes made from scrap metal and junk. The residents of these homes hid inside like frightened mice, their frightened faces staring at him from the large, poorly cut squares that served as the windows of their homes. His destination was to the top of the cliff, and at this speed it would not take him long to reach there. The wind blew heavily across the clifftop. It was windy this high up and the long grass swayed in the wind as he breathed heavily, struggling to catch his breath. He could feel drops of sweat pouring down his cheek, his clothes sticky, clinging to him tightly. The wind up was ice cold, his body began to cool quickly as he looked from the ground upwards to the edge of the cliff, but It was not the wind that chilled him but what he saw.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. There at the top of the cliff, spread out and fallen lay many people. Some with cut off limbs, others with deep cuts and gashes all over their body. However, none were alive. There they all lay as corpses, many of which he recognised and knew. Childhood friends, close friends¡­ family. Yet here they now lay, cold and lifeless. Out of them a thick murky red flowing into the ground, the only colour in this grey world. He could hear his heart pounding. Feel the heavy throbbing in his chest, his heart trembled, paining him. Why had I been in such a hurry to get here?! He could not remember. All thought had left his mind before this gruesome scene and all he could feel was the throbbing pain echoing from his chest, and yet he forced himself to walk further. To the top of the cliff. The number of bodies increased, painful memories springing forth from the bodies of the those whom he had once known. He could no longer hold the tears back in his eyes and so countless fell as he walked. There at the top of the cliff where the bodies were most. Across the sprawled-out bodies on the blood-soaked ground, at the edge of the cliff was a man staring at the distant sea. The man¡¯s long black hair swayed in the wind, a red shirt torn open at the front, black jeans with a silver chain dyed in red and blood all over his body. The blood was not his own and he was the only one left alive¡­ The only one left standing¡­ Tightly gripped in the man¡¯s right hand, was the decapitated head of an old man with silver hair stained with blood, a scar over one eye and a silver beard. Despite being old the man had a strong and muscular face. The now former lord of the territory, their former lord¡­ As King watched in shock, he could not stop the shaking in his hands, as he brought his hands up. The same murky red substance dripped from his hands to the ground. His clothes had not been made sticky with sweat but with blood. None of which was his own. How did it come to this!? He cried inside as he looked at the numerous corpses sprawled out in front of him. King fell to his knees. Exhausted and weary he looked up to the sky, clenched his fists as tightly as he could and let out a powerful cry with all his might, but in this grey world there was no sound. As he sat there on his knees, he could now very clearly hear his breathing becoming steady, the trembling in his hands had stopped. He looked from the sky back to the edge of the cliff and there he saw the man looking at him. The man¡¯s face was lifeless and cold and yet his gaze was penetrating. Their eyes met and as he began to lose himself in the darkness of those eyes, the world began to distort and spin once more. He could not look away, his eyes locked in on the other. Irises as black as the night sky with a faint crimson glow, from them spew an all-consuming darkness that spread out and began consuming the grey coloured world. As he began to lose himself in the darkness, he could faintly see the man say a single word. ¡°King.¡± ? ? ? In that instant King had come back, his breathing had become irregular and he could hear his heart beating, loudly. There was a faint ringing sound in his ears and his head felt as though it had split open. He did not know what had happened and was about to collect his thoughts, when he heard Kenji¡¯s voice. Suddenly, becoming aware of the two in front of him. Fear coursed through him ¡ªThere was no doubt in his mind. The man from back then and the man from now, was clearly the same person. Time began to resume back to its normalcy and King could not shake off the bad feeling crawling up his spine. Who is Neko? King did not know, but he could tell something bad was going to happen. Something, like back then and so as he calmed himself internally and intervened. Back at the altar he did not have enough time to gather his thoughts and think about what had happened, and since then and upon entering the forest, he had been thinking non-stop about what he had saw. King had been replaying over and over in his mind that one scene, recalling it and relating it back to his flashback, he had many questions about Neko but no matter how much he tried to recall, nothing came up. He could not remember. However, one thing that was certain. The man who stood at the edge of the cliff was without a doubt Neko. There was too little information to go on with, but for one thing he knew Neko was dangerous. Neko was a cold-hearted killer, a murderer, everyone here was in danger and yet no one else knew. Who knew what Neko would do? To protect everyone here King needed to be ready. He needed to be on guard. He needed to know what he was up against and so he had been trying to recall as much as he could. Anything that could help him against Neko. He needed to be ready to make a move at any time. But how? How can I save everyone from Neko? I can¡¯t tell them anything since I don¡¯t know even know what that flashback was? What is my connection to Neko? That was what King had been thinking about, the best way to protect himself and everyone around him from Neko. However, there was one thing that bothered King as he thought deeply on countermeasures against Neko. It was something that had begun to eat away on him on the inside. Why was I there? Why was there blood on my hands? and why was I covered in blood? As King began to think back on that memory once more, something grabbed his arm. However, before he even had time to scream out in surprise the grip tightened forcefully, and his gaze met with Neko¡¯s. As he looked at Neko, he noticed a serious glare in Neko¡¯s eyes. Chapter 1 - What Lurks In The Forest? Part 3 King had been quiet for a long time now, while Neko had decided to leave King to his own thoughts he unfortunately had no choice but to interrupt him. This was because from the corner of his eyes Neko had noticed something, and not just one thing but many. In the dense greenery on opposite sides of the road there was something moving stealthily, each one moving carefully so much as to conceal themselves as much as possible. At first it was only one or two, but the numbers quickly began to increase. Perhaps it was because they were walking at the back of the group that he had managed to notice, because whatever was following them seemed more focused on the centre of the group. No one else in the group had notice yet but Neko had very good hearing, so much so that it became apparent to him as to how unusual his hearing was. He had not only been able to hear the conversations of the girls in front of him but also of the boys ahead of them. As he focused his hearing, he was able to deduce from the sound of their footsteps that their stalkers walked on two legs. Their footsteps were light and along with the sound of their movement and collision with the nearby greenery told him that they were small-bodied, around the height of children or perhaps slightly taller, and relatively skilled at stealth. ¡­Children? That¡¯s a lot of them¡­ they¡¯re being cautious too. Why are they hiding like that? Should I let someone know? And just how will I do that? Everyone believes I can¡¯t talk¡­ Meh, it doesn¡¯t look like that much of an issue and who knows maybe someone else will notice. If not, I¡¯ll just try and let someone know when we stop walking. The perfect plan, I got this. Since they were only following them Neko did not think they posed that much of a risk, and since everyone believed he could not talk, it was difficult for him to let everyone know. Therefore, he decided to just observe them for the time being without being spotted. He looked from the corner of his eyes, carefully so as not to be spotted. First towards the right-hand side of the forest and then towards the left. It was very difficult to spot them with his eyes alone, it was as though they were camouflaged, blending perfectly with the scenery. All he was able to see were the slight movements of small green shapes. Definitely some form of camouflage that their wearing. I have to admit, it¡¯s good. I can barely make them out¡ª It was then when he heard it¡­ It was only for a brief moment, no longer than a few seconds. Even with the absence of his memories. He could never forget that very memorable and distinct sound. He made a small smile. It was the sound of metal brushing against the grass, the leaves, the wind¡­ The sound was comforting to him and so he closed his eyes and allowed himself to indulge in its brief pleasantness. Ahh¡­ I remember this¡­ where was it again? A sudden realisation caused him to quickly break out of his trance like state. Are those weapons they¡¯re carrying?! Why would kid¡¯s be carrying weapons?! Fuck¡­ Something isn¡¯t right here. He narrowed his eyes, switching to a more alert state at the thought that their stalkers were carrying weapons. There were two groups of stalkers on opposite sides of them, steadily following the group. Oh, we¡¯re fucked... Wait we don¡¯t even know if they are carrying weapons, maybe it¡¯s just something else? Yeah like¡­ like¡­ erm¡­ Cooking utensils? Of course! Why on earth would they be carrying weapons, Hahaha! OF COURSE THEY¡¯RE FUCKING CARRYING WEAPONS. WHY ON EARTH WOULD THEY BE STALKING US WITH KNIVES AND FUCKING FORKS!!! ¡­Wait a minute, Fuck no¡­ Horror descended down on Neko like a flash of lightning as the thought that their stalkers were carrying knives and forks to eat them. Fuck! This isn¡¯t good! I let my curiosity lower my guard, now what do I do?! I should have quietly let someone know when I had the chance, back when there was only one or two of them¡­ Oh, that is a lot of them¡­ He sighed internally. He had allowed the stalkers to increase in number without anyone else knowing, and to make matters worse, they were potentially all carrying weapons. In other words, in the case of everyone else here, they were essentially now unknowingly surrounded. AHH! Fuck, I¡¯m telling you now, I¡¯m not getting fucking eaten by kid¡¯s in this god forsaken, but beautiful forest!... I know what to do! They¡¯ve been mainly focussed at the centre group, right? I¡¯ll just fucking run! That¡¯s it, when they attack and are eating everyone with their fucking knives and forks, I¡¯ll just run for the fucking hills! He smiled internally at his new-found salvation, in the event that their stalkers attacked, Neko would just run while everyone was being eaten alive. A simple and effective plan. One has to look out for number one after all! It¡¯s perfect! I¡¯ll just do that! I¡¯m so smart, I got this! Unless of course they choose to chase us¡­ Wait what? What are you saying?! Who are you?! ¡­I¡¯m just saying, what if they chase us? I mean think about it, everyone¡¯s gonna run dumbass. They¡¯re not just gonna sit there and let themselves be eaten, it¡¯s a bad plan and also, I¡¯m you, who else would I be? ¡­dumbass. ¡­He¡¯s got a point, you should listen to him¡­ WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?! WHERE ARE YOU ALL COMING FROM?! ¡­Why we¡¯re all you of course, seriously dumbass, you can¡¯t even tell that? More importantly, what do you plan on doing now, getting eaten? That¡¯ll make a lot of people happy. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold up, how is it a bad plan, if they attack, even if everyone gets freaked out and runs. They¡¯ve been following the centre, right? So since I¡¯m at the back it would stand to reason that I would have the best chance for escape, as the centre is the likeliest point of attack! ¡­Unless, if they go for a box type formation and lock you all in. Even so! Even so, the centre has more people so their forces would be concentrated at the centre I should be able to break through the back! ¡­That¡¯s if their numbers don¡¯t increase any further, seriously think about it, you¡¯re fucked. Let¡¯s say you¡¯re right and you manage to break through okay? ¡­Just ask yourself, where are you gonna go? How do you know that there isn¡¯t more of them out there or something else deeper in the forest? Say you get lost; how will you find the path again? See¡­ You¡¯re fucked¡­ They we¡¯re right, the other Neko¡¯s were absolutely right. Even if he escaped, where would he go? What if he lost the path? What if he ran into more of them? He was screwed, there was only one thing he could do. Okay, okay, let¡¯s say I tell them, they¡¯ll be angry and ask why I didn¡¯t say anything earlier and more importantly why I lied about not being able to talk, then what do I do?! ¡­You really are a dumbass, aren¡¯t you? You should just offer yourself up as the main dish already¡­ Listen up, they don¡¯t know at all right now, right? I¡¯ve noticed you¡¯re being consistently, incredibly mean to me and yeah, they don¡¯t know¡­ ¡­Just die already¡­ trash¡­ Main dish¡­ IM SORRY OKAY! JUST TELL ME! ¡­All you have to do dumbass, is pretend you just found out. They can¡¯t blame you then, can they? B-but what about the talking issue? ¡­I won¡¯t tell if you won¡¯t Huh? The other Neko sighed out loud in Neko¡¯s mind. For some reason he really had it out for Neko, despite them all being Neko to begin with. ¡­Look who¡¯s walking beside you, you blind fuck. Neko looked through the corner of his eyes towards the right and found King who had been walking besides him, silent throughout entering the forest. Ohhhhh. Now I get it! Hahahaha! Smart! ¡ªI¡¯ll tell them, we¡¯ll tell them, we need to let them know. By saving them we save ourselves after all. ¡­Exactly, now you get it, seems you¡¯re not that stupid after all¡­ Neko out¡­ Neko out? Wait no, no, no, no, no, please, you gotta help me! Don¡¯t leave me!!! The voice of the other Nekoes left and Neko found himself once again alone with his own thoughts. He had decided not to abandon everyone else and to instead work alongside them. They¡¯re gone¡­ sigh, best I better get to it then. Time is of the essence as they say, although I don¡¯t know who they are¡­ Neko silently grabbed King¡¯s wrist, he needed to let King know the situation without drawing too much attention to himself. Currently, the stalkers were still focused on the centre of the group and were stealthily tailing them. For how long would this last? Neko did not know, but they needed to act quickly. The moment Neko grabbed King¡¯s wrist, he quickly came back from his thoughts, but before he could act out in shock Neko tightened his grip and glared at King through the corner of his eyes. This simple act was enough to silence King before he could make a sound. King met with Neko¡¯s eyes, his eyes were filled with suspicion and appeared very threatening. However, he did not say a word but instead simply maintained eye contact with Neko. Uwah, what¡¯s the hell¡¯s his problem. I only grabbed his arm¡­ Is my grip to tight? He looks like he¡¯s about to kill me. I wonder if he just doesn¡¯t like people touching him. Sorry bud, but there¡¯s no helping it. We need each other right now¡­ but still that stare is super scary, if you wanna kill someone, kill them¡­ Although, feeling extremely uncomfortable under King¡¯s threatening gaze, Neko met with King¡¯s eyes and then with the corner of his eyes, looked towards the right and then the left-hand side of the forest. King¡¯s eyes followed Neko¡¯s and shortly after a look of shock appeared on his face. However, it quickly changed back to normal as Neko tightened his grip once more. It would appear, King had seen the stalkers. Good¡­ Good. You get it now, right? You saw them too, right? Now, it¡¯s all up to you. I did my part¡­ King looked towards Neko, it would seem that he truly understood the situation now. Neko let go of King¡¯s wrist and placed a finger on his lips, indicating silence. ¡°Who are they?¡± ¡°How would I know?¡± ¡°How long were they following us?¡± ¡°I just realised now¡­¡± ¡°What do we do?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ but strength in numbers seems good right about now, they seem to be focussed at the centre¡± ¡°Let¡¯s catch up to the others¡± ¡°Ok, but not too quick. They might notice¡± Although, Neko wanted to communicate silently without words, King was not willing to play along, and instead chose to communicate by whispering. He nodded slowly in response to Neko¡¯s plan to regroup with everyone else, and then gradually began to increase his walking speed. It would not take them long to reach the girls, since the girls were walking slowly after all. However, there was a small distance between the girls themselves. Lahna and Shiori who did not appear as athletic as Lily, Rei and Miyo were walking at their own pace and so a small gap had formed between them. Neko kept his sights focussed on the stalkers as they tried to catch up with the girls. He could now clearly make out some of them, his earlier assumptions were correct. They really are short people, what is that green pain? They¡¯re carrying weapons too, wooden clubs, something that looks like stone tools and one of them is carrying a dagger. Wait, what the fuck? Now that Neko had got a better look at them, there was something extremely strange about them. They were wearing what looked to be brown loin cloths and animal skin, but that was not what Neko found strange. Their eyes appeared yellow with some having goat like eyes, there nose was large, pointy and had bumps and spots all over. Not to mention that green paint looked more skin like than paint. It truly was strange. ¡°Lahna, Shiori¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, hey King! Neko¡± ¡°Hello¡­¡± Neko and King had now managed to catch up to Lahna and Shiori. Lahna smiled and greeted Neko and King, while Shiori appeared slightly nervous. Neko nodded in response to them. King however, did not smile. It was not a situation in which he could smile.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°We have a prob¡ª¡± Neko nudged King and looked towards the left-hand side of the forest. The majority of the stalkers had begun to increase their speed, while there was still some stalking them the majority had now moved further up. King caught on immediately, it would seem that the stalkers were done stalking. ¡°What¡¯s the matter, King?¡± ¡°Shit! We ran out of time, we need to run now and catch up to everyone!¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°H-Huh?¡± King grabbed Lahna¡¯s arm and began running, while Neko gently supported Shiori from the back to make her run. The moment they began running, Neko could hear the stalkers near them also running but desperately trying to remain hidden. ¡°W-wait K-King, what¡¯s going on!¡± ¡°N-Neko?!¡± ¡°We¡¯re being followed, and there¡¯s a lot of them! We need to catch up to everyone now! Hurry!¡± ¡°F-Followed?! Where?!¡± They ran forward desperately trying to catch up with the group ahead. King looked towards the forest as they ran, the stalkers we closely following behind them. Neko despite being at the back, got a glimpse of the road ahead. The group ahead had come to a stop and he could see Rei running towards the boys. ¡°Hey! why¡¯d we stop?¡± Rei called out to the boys as she sprinted over towards the group further up. Akihiro turned to face Rei and then pushed his glasses up with his index finger. ¡°It would appear that the path further up splits into two, that¡¯s why¡± ¡°Ooohh! yeah now I see¡± Rei caught up to the boys quickly, it was clear that she was a fast sprinter. She placed one hand over her eyes and looked further down the road. The road ahead had now split into a fork, with two paths. ¡°Damn, you girls walk slow!¡± ¡°Haaah, shut up Ren¡± ¡°Whaddya say!¡± Hide was quick to tell Ren to shut up, seems like walking next to Ren had drained quite a lot of his mental strength, and he had now gotten used to telling Ren to shut up. However, Ren being Ren always needed to have the last words. ¡°Which way do we go now?¡± ¡°First we¡¯ll wait for everyone to catch up, and then we¡¯ll decide¡± Rei looked up in surprise, but it was not just her but the group of boys near her who were likewise in surprise. For it was Kenji who had answered her question. For the most part of the walk Kenji had remained silent, walking ahead of the group alone. Yet now he had walked back and had regrouped with everyone. Kenji looked back once more to the fork in the road ahead, he was looking for recent signs of people, footprints, road tracks anything that would have indicated human presence. However, it was then when he noticed. ¡°¡ªGET BACK!¡± Kenji¡¯s roared at Rei with all his might, his face looking as though he was furious. Rei, backed away quickly, terrified from Kenji¡¯s expression, she accidentally tripped and fell back. However, that alone had been enough. An arrow flew off a few inches away from Rei¡¯s knee. A second later and it most certainly would have hit its mark. ¡°Aiiiieeeeeeee!¡± ¡°¡ªWha¡± ¡°W-what!¡± ¡°What the hell are those things?!¡± They did not have enough time to react to what had just happened. Immediately, after the arrow had missed, a group of small green people ran out from hiding and proceeded to attack them. Kenji backed away from the two-green people near him, behind Kenji was Akihiro who was met with one of the green people as well as Arche, who found himself with two of the green people. All of them had either a wooden club or a stone weapon. Rei was in the centre of the group behind everyone, with Hide and Ren covering her from behind. There was three green people facing Hide and Ren. They were quickly surrounded from all sides. ¡°What are these things!?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± ¡°I-I think they¡¯re Gob-Goblins!¡± ¡°Goblins?!¡± ¡°Where the hell did, they come from?!¡± ¡°Quit asking me, you idiot! Why don¡¯t you ask them?!¡± ¡°Th-There¡¯s more of them up ahead!¡± ¡°Tch! This isn¡¯t good¡­¡± ? ? ? ¡°W-What the hell are those things?!¡± ¡°Aiiiiiieeeeeee!¡± Miyo looked in shock as the group ahead of her was surrounded by goblins, she was about to run over and help, when Lily screamed. Three goblins had appeared out of the forest behind her, carrying wooden clubs and slowly began approaching them. ¡°Geheheh!¡± Miyo quickly grabbed Lily bringing her close, the goblins were slowly moving forward causing them to step back towards the group. It was only a matter of time before they ended up sandwiched between the goblins attacking the group and the ones in front. ¡°Lily! Miyo!¡± Lahna looked over ahead and saw Lily and Miyo, in front of them were three goblins. The goblins jumped up and brought their wooden clubs down. However, they were unable to land their attack. This was because, King had arrived. ¡°¡ªGEH!" King let loose a powerful punch while the goblins were mid-jump, connecting them and sending them flying towards the right. The wooden clubs fell to the floor in front of King and neither goblin got back up. ¡°You all right?¡± ¡°Y-Yeah¡­ th-thanks¡± ¡°K-King!¡± Lily ran from Miyo over to King and hugged him, while Miyo just stared in amazement of how King took out three of the goblins with a single punch. He had made that impending threat disappear in an instant, and it was not just Miyo but Lahna, Shiori, Neko and even the goblins following them who could not help but just stare in shock of King¡¯s strength and fierceness. ¡°It¡¯ll be alright Lily, now let¡¯s go help the others¡± ¡°W-wow¡± ¡°Wh-What are those?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but we need to get to the others now¡± ¡°Yeah¡± King put Lily down and gave her a head pat after doing so he picked up two wooden clubs and ran with everyone to the others. Neko quickly took the other wooden club and then ran after them. ? ? ? ¡°Just what the hell are you?!¡± Kenji looked at the two goblins facing him, they were both carrying wooden clubs. He roared as he tried to kick one of the goblins, the goblin backed away while the other jumped up to attack him. ¡°Gueehhhhh!¡± However, Kenji was quicker as he managed to grab the wooden club, the goblin stared at him in fear as he headbutted the goblin and took the wooden club. The other goblin charged at him, but Kenji parried the attack and kicked him away. ¡°Kenji, there¡¯s too many of them!¡± Akihiro and Arche who were behind Kenji had been doing fairly well working together to dodge the incoming attacks, but they could not keep this up. In fact they had already begun to take a few injuries, although they appeared to look as nothing more than light scratches. ¡°WH-WHAT DO YOU WANT?!¡± ¡°GUUOOOHHH¡± ¡°OI, IDIOT REN, YOU¡¯VE ONLY GOT ONE, HELP ME OUT OVER HERE!¡± ¡°IM THE ONE WHO NEEDS HELP YOU IDIOT!¡± Hide called out in desperation at the two goblins in front of him as he desperately tried to dodge the second goblin, while Ren was struggling to take the wooden club off of the goblin who was on top of him. ¡°NYAAA! TAKE THIS!¡± ¡°YEAH! GET HIM!¡± ¡°GUEEHHH!¡± Rei meowed as she kicked the goblin off of Ren, the goblin let go of the wooden club and snarled at her as Ren got up and chased after the goblin, attacking with a flurry of attack, each one missing completely. However, the mad flurry of attacks succeeded in scaring the goblin as it backed away and drew one of its stone knives and stared Ren down. ¡°GUEERRRRR¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s right, I ain¡¯t no small fry. You¡¯re dealing with the great Ren! HAHAHAHA!¡± ¡°GUOOOHHHH!¡± ¡°Wh-What?! AAAAHHHHH!!!, get off!¡± ¡°Seriously! What the hell are you doing?! Stop fucking around!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not! This goblin¡¯s got serious skill! It¡¯s clearly the strongest goblin here!¡± The goblin that had been kicked off of Ren threw its stone knife at him. As Ren dodged the knife the goblin had jumped up and tried to bite down on him. Ren acted quickly and blocked the bite with the wooden club, except the goblin refused to let go, no matter how much Ren shook the club. ¡°GGGGGRRRRRRR¡± ¡°Ahahahahah!¡± ¡°GRREOW!¡± ¡°Come at me you idiots! AHAHAHAHA!¡± ¡°Haaah. He¡¯s finally lost it¡­¡± Ren succeeded in knocking the goblin off of his newly obtained club, while Hide and Rei just stared in disbelief at the idiot who was now taunting the defeated goblin by patting his ass, while laughing smugly with an idiotic face. Ren¡¯s taunt made even Hide want to switch sides and beat him up. ¡°GUUHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± The beaten goblin made a strange cry and out of the forest came three goblins. One of them was carrying many iron knives, the other had two iron short swords. However, the last goblin was unlike any of them¡­ it was a giant. A cold sweat fell from Kenji¡¯s face. Akihiro, Arche and everyone there went pale. Not even Ren could muster up any words as they stared in silence. The giant goblin looked to be over seven-foot-tall and had very large muscles. It carried with it a large iron sword that looked to be about the length of a person. It was clearly in a whole another world from the goblins they had just been fighting. ¡°GUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRR!¡± Upon hearing the giant goblin¡¯s roar the other goblins with wooden clubs began getting up and readying themselves once more. The already dire situation had just become drastically worse. The twin sword goblin charged at Kenji and began slashing at him. Kenji armed with only a wooden club was barely able to defend against the sword goblin. As Kenji fought back, he realised the sword goblin was much faster than the other goblins. It was skilled¡­ it was experienced¡­ Akihiro and Arche quickly tried to help Kenji, but they were blocked by the knife goblin who swiftly intercepted them with knives. They soon found themselves on the defensive trying to dodge the attacks of the knife goblin. ¡°Oh f¡ª¡± ¡°S-Shit!¡± ¡°You pissed them off Ren!¡± ¡°Sh-Shut up! They¡¯re trying to kill us anyways. They¡¯re already pissed off!¡± The goblins that had gotten back up, began targeting Rei, Hide and Ren. The giant goblin walked past and sat down at the end of the road blocking it, preventing their escape. Ren¡¯s taunt had been too effective. ? ? ? ¡°Watch out! Stay back¡­ There¡¯s an archer somewhere out here¡­¡± King quickly stepped out of the way of the incoming arrow that appeared from nowhere. The goblin archer that had tried to get Rei was now targeting them, or more specifically it was now targeting King and due to the thick greenery in the forest, it was difficult to tell where the goblin archer was hiding. King stopped running, he instead began to focus on the direction on where the arrow had come. He could not advance any further with the archer targeting him, in the worst-case scenario one of the girls could be hit in the crossfire. Where are you? You sick son of a bitch. Neko and the girls stayed a small distance away from King, if they were too far away from King, the goblins that were behind them were likely to attack. It seemed that they were currently afraid of King and were not willing to attack yet. ¡°Where did that come from?!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, just stay back for now. I think it¡¯s after me¡­¡± ¡°B-but King you¡¯re in danger then!¡± ¡°it¡¯s okay, don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯ll be fine¡± ¡°You sure you¡¯ll be okay King?¡± ¡°If there¡¯s anything we can do to help just let us know¡± ¡°Sure thing¡± King smiled towards the girls. They really were nice people, he wasn¡¯t going to let anything happen to them. Not the goblins, not Neko, not while he was still alive and able. Meanwhile, Neko just stared at King from behind. Kyaaa! King you¡¯re so cool! B-but King you¡¯ll be in danger! It¡¯s okay don¡¯t worry about me¡­ Sure thing¡­ Ughhhhh, get room you pieces of filth. The idiots just standing there like a target dummy, he got lucky dodging that arrow does he actually think he can do that again. Fucking idiot¡¯s going to get himself killed. Fuck, he¡¯s an idiot but he¡¯s actually good in combat, seriously what was that fucking punch from earlier. Those poor things probably got broken ribs or something, they¡¯re certainly gonna feel that when they wake up. Right, before the idiot gets himself killed. I better take care of that archer. Neko picked up a rock from the ground, he then focused his hearing and sight. He already knew from earlier that his hearing and sight was above normal. All he needed to do was focus in the direction the arrow came from and see if could find anything. ¡°Neko? What are you doing?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Oh crap, Shhhh, I¡¯m focusing¡­ Now where are you¡­ Shiori had spotted Neko picking up the rock, but Neko did not have time to play the mime game and try and have them guess. King was a sitting duck out there and the idiot was quite literally going to get himself killed. There you are¡­ A small glinting came from the forest under the dense greenery. It seemed appropriate considering the goblins general height. He just needed to throw the rock at the goblin archer, a hit would be good but even if he got it near, the archer should be spooked enough to move locations and when that happened, he¡¯d be able to spot him or at least it would buy more time to advance. ¡°¡ªGuh¡± Neko threw the rock he had picked up into the forest, and then he heard it. The dull sound of the rock hitting the goblin archer, it sounded like a headshot. The others most likely had not heard it, but he was certain he got the archer. ¡°N-Neko?¡± Neko waited a moment not making a movement, for some reason when he was completely still his senses appeared more focus. A short moment later, the idiot was still alive, and the goblin archer had not moved. Neko had managed to get the goblin archer, whether it was still alive or not, he didn¡¯t know but it wasn¡¯t moving for now and that was good enough. I got him, archer down. Let¡¯s move! ¡°What are you doing?!¡± ¡°N-Neko!¡± Neko walked up to King and stared at him and then simply started walking past him. It was time to go and regroup, and since King was not moving and he could not be bothered with the mime act, he simply started walking past King to indicate the archer was gone. ¡°I-I think he got the archer, he threw a rock there into the forest¡± ¡°N-No way¡± Shiori pointed into the direction of where Neko threw the rock. While King did not say anything, Shiori was right, he had got the goblin archer and Miyo¡¯s doubt was understandable, he did not expect to take down the goblin archer that easily. He was beginning to find out he was skilled in more ways than he thought. ¡°What the hell is that?!¡± Their attention was quickly brought over to the group ahead of them. Unbelievably, a giant goblin had just appeared as well as some other dangerously looking goblins. No way, what the hell is that thing. Oi this ain¡¯t fair, I didn¡¯t sign up for this! We can¡¯t fight that thing. Seriously! What the fuck is that! ¡°King! Rei and the others need help!¡± ¡°I got it! Guys get ready!¡± Before Neko could even think about wanting to run, King had already run off to fight the many goblins that were attacking Rei, Ren and Hide, behind him the girls followed close behind. He wanted to try his mime act to convince them to run, but now that was not an option. The only idiot with enough strength to run with a good chance of escape has just charged into that shit fest. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck this. Fine I¡¯ll fucking do it, that¡¯s what you want right. Fine, Fuck it! While he wanted to run, he still wasn¡¯t confident in testing his luck out there and so Neko followed in after them. ¡°Woah! What the hell king! Nice!¡± ¡°K-King! Nice timing!¡± ¡°Miyo!¡± ¡°Rei! I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay!¡± ¡°Is everyone okay?!¡± ¡°Y-Yeah just about, thanks to you man, no thanks to this idiot though¡± ¡°Who are you calling an idiot! But you really did save our asses man!¡± ¡°B-but what are we going to do about that?¡± ¡°Th-that is a problem¡± King used the wooden clubs to bat aside goblin after goblin from behind, it didn¡¯t take him long to reach the others. Rei hugged Miyo as the others fended of the goblins. Hide and Ren despite arguing with each other were in an agreement for once about the giant goblin that stood in the way of the forked road ahead. ¡°KENJI! We need to run!¡± ¡°HOW, THERE¡¯S TOO MANY OF THEM AND THAT GIANTS BLOCKING THE ROAD¡± The goblins that they had knocked down were slowly getting back up, and to make matters worse the longer they stayed, more goblins began appearing. They couldn¡¯t stay here like this, that much was obvious, but they could not do anything with the goblin giant sitting in the road. ¡°GET READY AND LEAVE THE GIANT TO ME¡± ¡°WHAT ARE YOU INSANE?!¡± ¡°JUST GET READY¡± Kenji dodged one of the short swords that came a few millimetres away from his neck, he then kicked the sword goblin straight in the stomach sending it flying off its feet a few meters and into a tree. He than ran over and slammed his wooden club in the head of the knife goblin from the back. The knife goblin dropped to the ground instantly and did not get up. ¡°READY!¡± King ran as fast as he could, knocking the goblins in front of him out of the way. He charged towards the giant goblin. The giant goblin saw him and began to stand up and readying itself. ¡°RUN NOW, JUST KEEP RUNNING, IGNORE THE GIANT AND RUN, LEAVE HIM TO ME!¡± ¡°W-What?!¡± ¡°KING!¡± ¡°RUN, EVERYONE JUST RUN NOW! TRUST ME!¡± ¡°COME ON, LEAVE IT TO HIM, EVERYONE RUN NOW¡± ¡°LILY COME ON GO!¡± ¡°B-BUT KING!¡± ¡°RUN, AND JUST KEEP RUNNING!¡± ¡°GUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!¡± King ran towards the goblin giant as he threw one of his wooden clubs aiming at the goblin giants head. The goblin giant batted the wooden club out of the way with his large sword and roared as he ran towards King, causing the ground to shake as he ran. As king drew in right near the goblin giant, he threw his other wooden club again aiming for the goblin giants head as the goblin giant batted the wooden club once more, he noticed the group of people trying to run past him. The goblin giant roared as it tried to lower its huge sword down on everyone passing by, in that moment something strange happened as everyone ran past the goblin giant. The goblin giant had frozen and a pained expression was across its face. In the moment the goblin giant had tried to target everyone, King had attacked it in the solar plexus. His wooden cubs were nothing more than the tools used to get the goblin giant to raise his sword and leave an opening. King twisted his fist as he brought it back. The goblin giant stepped back and fell on one knee. It was clearly in a lot of pain and from the look of its face it was furious and desperately trying to stand. King¡¯s attack had brought enough time for everyone to flee. However, King did not run. ¡°Get up¡­¡± What would happen if King was to run now? The goblin giant would soon recover and then proceed to chase after them again, and from the way it ran over to King earlier, he knew it would not take long for the goblin giant to catch up to them. When that happened everyone would be in danger again. Which is why he planned to end things now¡­ King picked up his two wooden clubs. The goblin giant was about to get up when in fell forward and collapsed. King stared in confusion until when the goblin laid down on its front, he saw Neko behind it. Neko had not ran with everyone else but instead stopped after passing the giant. He had picked up another rock and aimed for the back of the goblin giants head, he had merely been awaiting a good opportunity to throw the rock and had taken it when the giant was on one knee. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°I could ask the same, I knew you were an idiot, but this is too much. It¡¯s time to go, we can still see them so we should be able to catch up fairly quick¡­¡± King asked suspiciously, he still did not trust Neko, not after what he had remembered. He couldn¡¯t. Neko had suspected that King was not the type to run after observing him, but he also knew that King would likely die if he tried to fight the goblin giant and Neko needed King to get him out of the forest and so he had chosen to help. Together they made their way to regroup with everyone else.