(A/N Big thanks to
Vyperking
For the power stones, they mean a lot. As usual, please don't hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)
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Something was wrong; fear was expected, it was his first time encountering monsters after all. But this was different, very different. The fear was practically seeping into him.
Orion was intelligent enough to realize that his fear was unnatural, yet that did little to ease his worry. His brain screamed, 'It's a technique, ' and all his heart said was 'run. '
Then he saw it, a single wolf or whatever abomination it was, 'the pack leader' was staring at him in an uncanny way as though saying, 'You are mine'. He could swear he saw a grin on the wolf's face.
Suddenly, the air stilled, and a single guard out of the group had stepped forward. He had the prominent silver hair symbolic of his heritage, dressed in silver armor with the sigil of the Chronos family on it, a sword in his hands.
Orion had no idea when he got there. The sheer aura of power emanating from the man stopped the wolves dead in their tracks.
Then Orion saw it, FEAR, he could almost taste it off their faces, they were terrified, the monsters that once seemed so insurmountable were cowering.
The man raised his sword and mumbled something; he couldn't hear it, whether it was because of his pounding heart or simply the snarls and whimpering of the wolves. He couldn't tell.
He brought the sword down, and everything stilled. He couldn't tell why, but he simply had the urge to hold his breath, and then they exploded, every single one of them.
Like a scene out of a horror movie, they simply turned to a mixture of purple blood and guts. He was used to blood and guts; he'd seen the worst of injuries during his time in school.
But this was different; he half expected himself to puke, but he was strangely calm and detached, his source of fear was crushed, never to live again.
First thing he felt was relief, the thought that they could no longer get to him or hurt him, that he escaped death brought relief, then came the disgust and self-reproach.
He had claimed he was ready, yet danger hadn't even gotten within a meter of his reach, and he'd been overwhelmed, so much for being prepared.
Then understanding and excuses started creeping in; he was young, he was inexperienced. His rational thinking created and formed reasons for his fear, but he shut it down.
He was feeling so many things at once, he couldn't even think straight, and then he heard his Father's voice.
"You will be part of the next subjugation, or rather, you'll face them alone next time," Erevan said to his son with an unreadable expression.
Orion turned back with wide eyes. He didn't believe Erevan could read the fear he felt or the emotions he was grappling with, yet he wanted him to run into the lion's den.
It came again, the grappling between reason and emotion. His reasoning told him it was all for growth, yet his emotions screamed, 'Fuck growth, I don't want to die,' and yet something else.
Something small, something disgusting. Yes, that disgust never left, or rather not disgust, it was deeper than disgust, disgust was the by-product of the contradictions between his actions and emotions, or rather that tiny emotion that kept leaking out.
Pride, yes pride, he understood it now; he could feel it. Raw unadulterated pride, it's been there from the beginning, from the very start. The pride that came with being the heir, the pride that came with being special, the pride that came with being the sole owner of some divine system, the pride that held him back from relating with the maids or guards.
He recalled all his past statements 'If I want to be strong, I'd be overwhelmingly strong', he'd never felt like this in his past life; he never saw himself as someone proud, but maybe he was unconsciously, he just couldn't tell.
It was all coming back to him. Did he feel disgusted by his pride? No. He was proud of his pride, redundant, yeah, but that was how he felt. He was disgusted and disappointed that his pride was trampled on by a beast no less.
All these thoughts ran through his head while he looked at his father. He faced down, squeezed his palm before returning his eyes to his father's and replied, "Yes, father".
His father said nothing and simply nodded, closing his eyes again. He thought he saw a bit of disappointment in his father's eyes, yet it didn't matter; their disappointment was mutual against him.
'Still not enough.' Erevan thought.
The guard stepped back to the group, mounted his horse, and the group resumed their journey.
Orion's and Erevan's carriage was silent most of the time, but the present silence was different, with Orion grappling with his feelings and Erevan keeping his stoic demeanor, as the days passed.
On the third day after the incident, it came again, that feeling, that indescribable sensation before the last incident.
His mind screamed they were coming again, those abominations, was this their way of scaring their prey before arrival?, If it was, it was foolish; they couldn't hunt like this.
As powerful as they were, they couldn't do this to all their prey, or was the feeling unique to him? No, it couldn't be; he had no ability related to such.
The fear of their impending arrival did nothing to reduce Orion's rationality. Predators only scare their prey when they don't want to be disturbed, not while hunting.
They'd have to be sadistic to do that, or maybe they actually were, and his mindset from Earth was failing him.
Then something came to mind, scared when they don't want to be disturbed and don't when they want to hunt, who was hunted in the last encounter? They were, by us.
His eyes widened, and then it all clicked. He turned to his father.
"You drew them in!!" Orion practically shouted at his father.
"That feeling wasn't them arriving, it was you retracting your aura, no, it can't be just you, it's all of you, the guard's too, you all planned this!" Orion said, exasperated.
"How a six-year-old can think so critically surprises me. If I weren't your father, I'd be very scared and hesitant to witness what you'd become in the future," Erevan replied with complicated eyes at his son.
"Why! Just to make me scared, if you wanted to teach a life lesson, there are better ways," he continued.
"Smart, too smart in fact," Erevan said with a narrowed gaze.
Now that scared Orion, his father was no fool; there was a limit to how smart and wise a child could be, intelligence could only go so far, and he was starting to cross that line.
He didn't know that much about magic in this world.
For all he knew, there might be magic of possession and mind control in this world, and he didn't want to know or test whether his reincarnation fell under such.
"For all your intelligence, your emotions get the best of you. You might have hidden it well at home, but the outside world will bring it out, and trust me, this is just the beginning," Erevan said with an unsettling smile.
Orion simply flopped back on his seat.
"Get ready, they are here," Erevan said, closing his eyes.
Sure enough, he heard the howls; another pack was here.
There was a knock at the door.
Orion turned to his father.
"Go, and remember, the Chronos do not fall," Erevan said to him without opening his eyes.
For some reason that lit a fire in his blood, yeah, maybe the pride wasn't just from his past life, maybe the blood surging through him was pride itself.
He opened the door and stepped out, coming face to face, or rather face to stomach, with the guard, unsurprisingly, the same one who slaughtered the former pack.
The man looked at the young boy before him with complicated eyes, yes, a boy, he couldn't tell what was in his lord's mind to pit such a young boy against monsters, yet he didn't say anything, he couldn't.
He simply handed him a short sword and started leading the way.
Orion felt the sword in his grip, not his first time holding one but definitely his first time using it, he rolled it and turned it around in his hands trying to get a feel of it, it somehow helped him calm his mind, the fear was there, a backdrop to the howls and snarls from the incoming adversaries.
So many things were on his mind, some mundane, some important, he felt like some protagonist going to war and planning to never return.
That last thought brought a smile to his face before he started laughing.
'Some red flag,' He thought while laughing.
The guard looked back, confused as to what was amusing.
Orion simply ignored him and kept chuckling before relaxing, releasing his breath, and steadying the short sword in his hands.
He faced forward and saw the incoming pack, the fear, the disgust, the pride, the anticipation, all of it bubbled in him, but for now, he was ready.
-DETECTED HOST'S RESOLVE
-QUEST GENERATED