A tranquil silence hung over the forest, as if the animals had all fallen asleep.
The rustling of leaves grew softer, as if to not wake up the animals as they rested.
The silence was only broken by the sound of muffled sobs.
Atop a tall tree, a small girl was hanging from a branch, trying desperately to hold on.
She gulped when she felt her hands slowly slipping.
Glancing down, she saw the enormous wolf circling around the tree, baring its sharp fangs at her.
The girl whimpered.
'Why did this all have to happen? I was just out picking berries and then that...that thing showed up and...'
She had tried to climb high up to escape, but now she was stuck hanging from a branch. Soon, her hands would slip, and then...
Shaking off such thoughts, she kept on trying to climb up the branch.
A sudden rustling sound caught her attention, and she caught a glimpse of something running out of the bushes.
Thinking that it was a competitor here to take its prey, the wolf leapt at the figure, only to be violently thrown back with a single strike.
It scrambled back to its feet, but the attacker was already upon it by then.
Another blow sent the wolf tumbling into a nearby bush and then...Ah, but that was all that the she had time to see, because then her hands finally slipped, and she fell down from the tree.
Thankfully, however, the unknown attacker caught her just in time, breaking her fall.
The child finally got a good look of the attacker, it was a man with brown hair and grey eyes, he was looking at her with a concerned expression.
"Are you alright, kid?", Raymond asked
He had seen the little child in danger, and couldn't help but intervene.
He was honestly a little unsure of how he'd handle it without a weapon, but it turned out alright in the end.
He turned his attention back to the wolf, who should have gotten back up by now...only that it hadn't.
Strange. He didn't think a Dire Wolf would have been scared off that easily.
But it certainly seemed that way. He couldn't even hear the wolf's growls.
It was completely silent aside from a strange crunching sound.
Wait, crunching sound?
The little girl shuddered as she heard the sound, because she knew what was causing it.
After all, it wasn't the wolf that she had been running from.
She pointed ahead with a trembling hand, "That...that thing...it's over there..."
She tried to warn him, but it was too late.
Raymond's eyes widened as the trees shook and bent. What emerged from behind them was a hulking giant, at least seven meters tall.
The creature took short, lumbering steps, the ground trembling beneath its feet.
The trees snapped as it pushed its way through them, their large trunks falling down with a violent thud. A rotten stench filled the air as it drew closer.
The forest was quiet today, for every animal was holding its breath, hoping to hide from that hideous fiend.
It had large, muscular arms and short, stubby feet, it's fingers and toes ending in sharp claws. Its pale green skin was riddled with festering wounds while its head and shoulders were covered by a pulsing black mass, two murky red eyes glowing in its depths.
In its hands, it carried the bloody remains of the Dire Wolf, occasionally lifting them up to take a bite out of them.
It was an Ogre, or at least, it used to be.
Whatever it was now, it was clearly after the little girl, staring at her with hungry eyes.
Raymond inwardly cursed.
The Ogre lunged at them in the blink of an eye, barely giving Raymond time to dodge. The child yelped as Raymond jerked to the side, avoiding the beast by a hair's breadth.
It was fast for a creature of that size.
Fortunately, it was also clumsy, as it kept going and rammed straight into the trees ahead.
Getting back to its feet, the Ogre lashed out once more, but Raymond was ready to dodge this time.
He couldn't really fight back while carrying the child, but he could dodge the clumsy beast all day.
Or so he thought, but he soon started feeling tired. No, it wasn't that, rather, he felt...distracted?
It was like a strange, insidious haze was settling over his mind as the fight went on, and he couldn't think clearly anymore.
His thoughts were getting muddled, and all he could feel was...anger...resentment...bloodlust. The hatred in his heart flared up once again, but this time, it was being changed and distorted. Now, it felt like the target of his rage wasn't just his wife, but every living thing around him.
Why was he thinking of these things suddenly? He didn't know, all he knew was that he wanted to kill...someone, anyone!
For a moment, even the child in his hand seemed like a good target.
'Ugh!'
Shaking off those thoughts, Raymond tried to focus on the task at hand, but it was too late.
The Ogre was already upon them, bringing down its fist like a giant hammer.
"Back off, you big oaf!", Leta rushed to help, pecking the Ogre repeatedly.
She managed to distract it, albeit only for a moment. But that moment gave Raymond enough time to get away from it.
Raymond could feel his mind becoming clearer as he distanced himself from the Ogre, but his thoughts still felt somewhat muddled.
'I've got to get away from here, and fast!', he thought.
As if reading his thoughts, Leta dived in to distract the Ogre again, giving Raymond an opening to escape.
He ran as fast as he could, rushing past the towering beast while it was distracted. He almost made it out of there.
Almost.
The Ogre roared with rage. It swatted Leta away, causing her to crash into the ground and fall unconscious, and grabbed a nearby tree.
With one fluid motion, it ripped it out of the ground and threw it at Raymond.
The girl closed her eyes and gripped Raymond tightly. Raymond stifled a curse as he covered the child with his body and braced himself.
He had never intended to test the durability of his new body, but it seemed like fate decided to do it for him.
As a Sword Expert, his body had already been quite durable. Now that he was a Spirit, his body should be strong enough to stay in one piece...right?
'Time to find out.'
He gritted his teeth as the tree crashed into him, shattering into countless splinters against his back and throwing him on to the ground.
Fortunately, his body turned out to be durable enough, and both he and the girl remained unscathed for the most part.
However, they were now laying on the ground, struggling to get up. They both stared with wide eyes as the Ogre charged towards them, aiming to tear them apart.
But then it froze, and for a moment, Raymond thought he saw something in its hazy eyes.
Was it shock, no...fear?
Raymond heard the sound of footsteps coming from nearby.
The Ogre flinched, quickly backing away from them.
Step. Step. Step.
It was Niko. But the little boy seemed...different.
He walked towards them with small, measured steps. His face was calm, yet his eyes glowed with fierce light.
Step. Step. Step.
With each step, the temperature fell.
Step. Step. Step.
With each step, the wind grew stronger.
The Ogre turned and ran, aiming to escape from the dreadful child
But Niko was in no hurry, as the monster wouldn't be getting far.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of skeletons dug out of the ground, latching on to the Ogre's arms and legs. The Ogre struggled to break free, but Niko had already reached him.
The Child of Death stared coldly at the mighty beast, like a predator looking down at its prey.
The Ogre shuddered, but then gritted its teeth. In a fit of rage, it made a desperate attempt to attack the boy.
Straining its muscles, it broke free from the skeletons' grip and lashed out at Niko with one of its arms.
The sharp claws tore into the child's shoulder, digging deep into his skin and soon, an agonizing scream filled the air.
But the scream didn't come from Niko, who didn't even turn to look at his wound. Rather, it came from the Ogre.
As soon as its claws touched the Child of Death, a wave of change began to spread through its arm.
The skin began losing its color, while the muscles started to shrink and shrivel.
In the blink of an eye, the Ogre's pillar like arm turned into a dried twig
But it was only when the changes reached its shoulder, where the edges of the pulsating blob were, had the Ogre reacted.
It pulled back its arm, its eyes now filled with frenzied horror, and turned to run, disappearing into the forest. Niko followed behind with unhurried steps.
After they had left, Raymond sighed in relief.
Niko had seemed reluctant to join him when Raymond had told him that he wanted to help the little girl.
Raymond wasn't sure why, nor did he know why the boy had changed his mind and stepped in now, but he was glad that he did.
He took a deep breath, banishing the remnants of the Ogre's influence from his mind, and turned his attention to the child in his arms
"Are you alright, kid?"
But the kid in question was staring at the sky with wide eyes, her mouth agape and her skin pale.
She tried to say something, but fainted before any words escaped her lips.
It seemed like the recent events had been too much for her to handle.
Raymond sighed and set her down near a tree to check her wounds.
He flinched after a while when he heard several deafening shrieks come from where the Ogre had fled, but tried to ignore it and continued tending to the little girl's wounds.
After a while, he heard footsteps again, and saw Niko walk out from behind the trees.
The boy had received a few more wounds on his small body, and one of his arms was horribly broken. But the child paid them no attention, only turning to look at them when he saw Raymond staring at him.
Once he did, however, the gruesome wounds became enveloped in green light.
The missing flesh and bones started to grow back and, in an instant, the injuries disappeared without a trace.
He waved at Raymond with his usual blank expression, but then his eyes widened, and he rushed to where Leta had fallen.
The bird had regained consciousness, and was sitting dumbfounded as she tried to remember what had happened.
The boy carefully picked up her up, checking to make sure she wasn't harmed.
"Huh? Oh! it's you," Leta shook her head, "Don't worry, I'm fine, just a little dizzy. You should know, I'm a lot tougher than I look!"
She stood up and spread out her wings in a proud stance, emphasizing her point.
Niko's expression remained empty as usual, yet Raymond could sense a hint of worry on his face. He hugged the Leta gently and cradled her in his arms.
Raymond was rather shocked at the scene. It was truly strange. The boy's previous cold demeanor had vanished, as if it was never there.
Niko came over with Leta still in his arms. He looked at the unconscious girl and then at Raymond, before tilting his head.
Raymond shook off his stupor and spoke, "Oh, her? She's injured, but she'll be fine, I think. I tended to some of her injuries, but her leg is wounded quite badly", he stroked his chin as he tried to think.
"Oh!", Raymond snapped his fingers, "There's some herbs that grow in these parts that should help with that. I'd use them to treat my daughter all the time when she injured herself".
His voice drifted off slightly when he said the last part, but he shook his head and forced out a smile.
"You watch over her while I go and find some of them", with that, he rushed off.
Niko stared in the direction Raymond went in, but then walked up to a nearby tree, sat down with crossed legs, and stared blankly at the unconscious child.
After some time, he heard a slight rustling sound coming from nearby, which quickly subsided.
He didn't react to it, but after a minute or two he got up and walked away to watch the animals going about their day.
Once he left, there was another rustle, and someone walked out from behind the bushes.
It was a young girl with pale blue hair that cascaded down to her shoulders. She wore a white, layered skirt with silver accents.
A soft glow suffused her skin, filling her surroundings with dim light.
As she walked, trees and plants bent towards her, greeting the little Spirit with a welcoming bow.
Outside her hiding spot, the ghostly girl looked more like a beautiful fairy out of some children's story.
She walked towards the unconscious girl, her golden eyes staring at the child's wounds with concern.
She bent down, gently placing her hands on the child's leg. She sighed with relief when she saw it start glowing dimly, before beginning to heal.
"Wow, you can heal people?"
The girl flinched when she heard Leta's voice, and turned to see Niko standing behind her with Leta sitting on his head.
The bird flew over to the girl, excitedly bombarding her with questions.
"Do you know how rare healing magic is? How did you learn it? Did someone teach you? Who? How long did it take?"
Even Niko looked at the child's healed wounds with curious eyes.
The girl frantically looked around, hoping to find a way to escape. Fortunately, Raymond came back with the herbs, announcing his return with a triumphant voice.
Niko only looked away for a moment, but when he looked around again, the girl was already gone.
Niko sighed, but then shrugged.
"What happened?", Raymond asked, a bit confused with Niko's behaviour.
Niko thought for a bit, but then shook his head.
Raymond scratched his head, still confused. But before he could say anything, the child he had saved stirred, rubbing her eyes as she woke up.
Now it was Niko's turn to frantically look around for a way out. Raymond, on the other hand, was happy to see the child regain consciousness, hoping to help her be on her way back home. That is, until Leta spoke.
"Uh, sorry to spoil your mood but...shouldn't you cover the hole in your chest before the child gets a good look at you and faints from fear again?"
Raymond's jaw dropped, and, unable to think of anything else, he used the herbs in his hands to cover his wound.
Niko, meanwhile, leapt into a nearby bush, his face planting into the ground unceremoniously. Leta landed near him a moment later, shaking her head in exasperation.
"What...what happened?", the child looked around in a daze as she got back to her feet, but then flinched when she recalled the monster that had been after her.
"It's alright, you're safe now", Raymond spoke in a calming voice, "the monster's gone".
The girl hesitated for a moment. But then, remembering how Raymond had tried to save her, she quickly thanked him.
Looking at him, she lingered for a moment.
Raymond thought that she was suspicious of his wound, but her gaze was focused on his face instead.
The child frowned as she thought to herself, but then shook her head and bowed, thanking him again.
"Thank you—thank you so much for helping me, mister".
Raymond felt a little awkward seeing her bow her head like that.
"You're welcome", he scratched his head, "but maybe you should go back home now. Do you want me to take you there?"
He had offered to escort her, but he was inwardly hoping that she would decline. That was because he knew that unlike the little kid, her parents wouldn't be fooled by the herbs stuffed into the hole in his chest.
Thankfully, the child shook her head.
"Sorry, but my mother told me not to stay near strangers for long. I'll be fine on my own".
Raymond inwardly thanked the unknown woman.
"Well, that's good. Your mother is a good parent, I see. Well, farewell then", he waved at her with a smile.
"Goodbye!", she bowed and ran off towards the town.
Raymond found himself in a strangely good mood after meeting the child.
Sadly, his mood was not meant to last, because before the day ended, he found himself standing behind thick bushes, staring grimly at a house ahead.
That was because, standing in the garden outside the house, was a young woman with golden hair and grey eyes, who was humming happily as she tended to the flowers.
He had found Qulia.