THEY WENT straight up to the second floor when they arrived at the goddess’ place. The air around the house was so quiet that he couldn’t feel anything blowing at them. Xurden thought something bad might have happened to the woman since it was unusual he heard no noise from the inside when she knew they would come. He was sure she saw them in her mind through her ability that they were already there.He knocked on the door a few times, but he didn’t receive an answer. Thinking of what to do, he twisted the knob and opened the door. His forehead furrowed because Arasia left the room on the second floor unlocked. He didn’t even try to feel the woman because a spell that prevented anyone from knowing who and what has inside surrounded that house. One spell that he remembered didn’t work for Yric. That’s why he looked at him after he let go of the door while Sebastian went inside to check the room.“Do you feel her?” Xurden asked Yric.Yric met his gaze.“No,” Yric answered while shaking h
XURDEN REMOVE the sickle aimed at his neck. “You shouldn’t just aim a weapon,” he said to him as he pushed its pole.Yric lowered his weapon after Xurden said those words. The sickle’s pole made a slight sound on the round platform where they were standing.“I’m sorry,” Yric apologized.He couldn’t see if Yric regretted bringing the sickle closer to his neck because of the blank emotion on his face at that moment.“Don’t do it again,” he told the young boy. “We’ll start now.”Arasia interrupted their conversation when she came down from the portal. She was wearing a simple t-shirt and black pants. She tied her long black hair at the back of her head.“Do you want me to train him? You know, I am pretty good at it. I’ve raised armies before,” Arasia said as she approached them. “You will see what has to be taught and changed in him that way.”“Ask him if he wants,” was all he said to the woman.Arasia turned her attention to Yric who just stared at her. Yric surprised the goddess with w
YRIC didn’t thought that in just a few weeks a lot would change in him. The speed of time in Arasia’s training room was no joke. His body was now in good shape and he had developed muscles. Besides that, his skin was no longer pale. He was a little brighter now than before. After his training, he cut his hair.He made the right decision to find Xurden to help him grow. He gained confidence in himself to face the coming days with less fear. That’s why he went to university alone, without Sebastian and Marco watching him.He couldn’t listen to the new professor talking in front of the class because his mind was wandering. He couldn’t help but wonder what Xurden was doing at that moment. Since the end of his training, Xurden didn’t talk to him that much. He was worried that he had done something wrong, which displeased Xurden.The weather was nice and clear, and he just stared at it. He was sitting next to the window so he could clearly see the other people walking and some birds flying
AFTER THEY LEFT the building, they got into a car driven by Sebastian. He sat in the back with Xurden. Xurden said nothing, even though the man didn’t want someone sitting next to him. Ever since Yric lived in his house, Xurden had no complaints about him, so the younger boy got used to sitting there.“What’s with you? You’re talking to me now,” Yric asked as he closed the door. He made himself comfortable in the seat.Xurden turned his head at him as the man also close the other door. “I was busy. I had something to do,” the man said. They were really his reason for not being on Yric’s side, even though it became his duty to protect him.“Okay. I thought I did something wrong. That’s why I can’t see you for a while.”“I already kick you if that’s really the case.”“Where are we going? I still have classes to attend.”The car moved, leaving the school grounds. Sebastian looked attentively in the front in order not to bump into anyone walking along the path.“They were all canceled,” X
XURDEN could see that Yric didn’t like the neighborhood where the seer they wanted to talk to live. Maybe because the atmosphere in that place was not good. The stench of death constantly lingered there and the noises never ended. It was a place crowded with people and in this kind of place, killings were a normal thing that happened almost every day. Most of the houses in that part of the city had patchwork walls. People blocked the narrow road busy with their work that they have to walk just to get in. The group of men was watching as they passed by. It was still early, but the men were already drowning themselves in liquor. They also pay no attention to the other people as they continued to walk.“Why do we have to come here? We have Arasia. Did you forget to ask her?” Yric asked Xurden.The younger boy walked to his right while Sebastian was on his left. The people voluntarily avoided their path. They were driven by fear, thinking that if any of the beggars bump into them, it woul
BY MIDNIGHT, the noisy neighborhood became quiet, as if no one lived there. The streets and alleyways became empty. Most of the lights in the houses were off. No one went out at night in fear that only death awaited them on the street. The masked cat demon could not hear even the slightest noise. The neighborhood became dead. It was an unfamiliar sight, far from the town nearby, where bright lights shone inside the tall buildings.On the roof of the tallest house, the masked cat demon stood. He watched the town in the distance. His two hands were behind his back. He was still wearing a mask and pure black clothes from head to toe. He didn’t take his eyes off the town even when the seer Niliandra landed behind him.There was no moon or single star peeking through the thick clouds in the sky that night.“Did you tell them what I told you?” the demon asked the woman.“Yes,” Niliandra responded in her clear and calm voice. “Why are you helping them? Do you really fancy that man?”“No. He’
XURDEN caught the demon on his list, but he couldn’t be happy because of Yric. They were still not talking. After the younger boy boarded the train, he didn't know where he went. He didn’t look for him, because he had no intention of lowering himself just to give in to his wishes. He had done nothing wrong, so he shouldn’t apologize for it either. They could no longer save people corrupted by demons. He didn’t know where Yric got the idea that he could still help. It only reminded him of their meeting on the island where the younger boy also tried to help the man controlled by the demon.It’s been some time since Yric separated from him. He made himself busy by reading a book in his office without thinking about the younger boy. After all, Yric thought he could move alone, that’s why he let him be. He said to himself that Yric had left voluntarily so he could also learn to go home.He stopped reading when his assistant Marco knocked on his door. He took his eyes off the book when the
XURDEN was not wrong that Yric went to Vivian’s house. He could feel his energy from the road where Sebastian parked the car. People were simple to understand. They could not let go of the things they were used to. They would still come back in the end, just like what happened to Yric. The younger boy thought differently, but he still really wanted to be friends with Vivian and Noah.“Boss, how did you know that Yric’s here?” Sebastian asked him when he turned to him from the driver’s seat.“I just guessed,” he said to his assistant. “Both of you stay here. I’ll go out. It might surprise his friends when they see me with other people they don’t know who.”“Alright. We’ll just wait here,” Marco said.He couldn’t wait for what his two assistants had to say, so he got out of the car.Xurden felt strange again as he stared at the big gate of the house. After closing the door with his hand, he walked towards the small gate. Apart from the restlessness of his chest and energy, his body felt