Chapter 201 The Savage Stranger

Sitting down, he put into practice what he learned from watching Vandread during the length of their journey together–skinning the rabbit and bringing it to a cookable state before conjuring a steady flame.

Magic truly is convenient, he thought.

It brought back memories for him of when his parents would have him help around the house with magic, whether it was warming the bath with fire or washing Julius’ stained clothes with water.

To him, it felt like so much time had passed since he was home, but at the same time, it all felt like yesterday to him.

I wonder how Julius and Treyna are doing right now? Irene, too. After I get through this trial…I should go back and visit, he thought.

“Hey, I think you might be cooking it a bit too much!” Melisande sharply said.

He snapped back into focus, looking down to find a portion of the meat beginning to char from the flame he conjured above his palm. Taking the flame away, the meat was prepared, or perhaps a tad overprepared.

“Ah–err, I’ll call this piece then,” he said.

Neither of the two looked particularly excited for their meal; there was no seasoning, salt, or anything to go with it but the bitterness of the bunny itself.

Even for such a tiny creature, its meat was rather tough, leaving the two youths to reluctantly eat it with scrunched noses.

“…I could go for one of Helfaffle’s dishes right now,” Emilio said.

“Uegh, don’t mention that please…I’d kill for one of his dishes,” Melisande groaned.

After a less-than-satisfying meal, it was time call it a night as Melisande laid down, trying to make herself as comfortable as possible despite laying on cold, smooth stone.

Though he felt tired himself, Emilio stayed up, sitting by the entrance of the cave as he watched the dark forest, listening to the abnormal rain as it pattered against the leaves.

It’s a little too quiet, he thought.

There was difficulty in seeing through the night and even more trouble hearing anything beyond the sound of rain droplets.

After sitting there for an hour, he finally decided to call it a night for himself. As he got as comfortable as he could, still sitting upright, he quietly muttered out “Salamander”.

The fiery lesser spirit manifested, hovering above his palm to his command. There was a part of him that wanted to finally try summoning one of his soulbound spirits to keep watch, but he still felt it would pose too much of a risk to rely on an ability he didn’t understand yet.

“Keep watch for me, okay?” He whispered to the lesser spirit.

No audible response came, but Salamander replied with a few brief blinks, giving him the go-ahead to finally close his eyes for the night.

That’s one day down…six more to go, he thought.

It only took a minute after he closed his eyes for his mind to sink into slumber, finding comfort even in the clammy cave.

[Day One Result: Twenty of Fifty Recruits Deceased.]

–

As the morning rose once more, or whatever time it was meant to be within the isolated valley, dictated by the colossal crystal, the soft rays of light seeping into the cave caused him to slowly part his eyelids.

“…Ngh…” He let out before yawning properly.

What immediately met his senses was a smoky smell, coming from extremely close by as he glanced around. It seemed his yawn had just woken up Melisande, who sat up, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

“Morning,” he said.

“…Mornin’…” Melisande yawned, “What’s that ‘burning’ smell?…”

“I was wondering that too,” he replied.

As he looked outside of the small cave, he found small piles of smoke, approaching them as Melisande quietly followed.

“What the?…” Emilio mumbled.

“Are those…lizards?” Melisande asked.

Left charred and smoked in the forest were indeed small reptiles that were turned to a blackened form.

“What could’ve done this? I mean, if something burned them, it had to be close to us,” Melisande posed.

Though the answer became obvious as Emilio looked by his shoulder, finding his eyes laying on the guilty-looking lesser spirit he summoned.

“Salamander…” He quietly sighed.

Still, he could hardly be upset with the fire spirit as it did its job, though perhaps a little too diligently.

Melisande poked at the charred lizards with a stick, holding a grossed out, but curious look on her face, “You think these are still edible?”

“Err, doubt it…Salamander did a number on them,” he answered.

Through an odd awakening, the two moved through the forest in search of something to quench their thirst, which led to Emilio following a narrow stream of water in hopes of finding a larger source.

“Do you know what you’re doing? We’re not just getting lost?” Melisande asked.

“I don’t think there’s such a thing as getting ‘lost’…I mean, we’re stuck in here,” he answered, “but yeah, I think so.”

“You think?” Melisande pressed.

“If you’ve got any better ideas, I’m all ears,” he breathed out.

Stepping over fallen leaves, he found himself exiting the tree line, finding an actual, vast stream flowing through the stoney clearing.

“There we go,” he said with a smile.

“Nice!” Melisande said.

As the silver-haired girl immediately knelt down to drink from the clear stream, she was pulled away harshly by Emilio.

“Hey–what was that for?!” Melisande looked up at him.

There was a ghostly expression on his face as he was caught looking towards the left, prompting the girl to turn her gaze the same direction.

Immediately, the girl covered her mouth out of shock at the scene: mutilated bodies of recruits were strewn across the rocky clearing around the stream.

“What happened?!…” Melisande let out.

Emilio was already standing in front of her, holding his sword out as he scanned the area, looking side-to-side in case the culprit was still nearby.

This is bad. There’s no way it’s supposed to be like this, right?…How? He questioned.

It was a nauseating sight; blood flowed into the stream and disembodied limbs decayed, already claimed by the insects of the forest.

Who did this?…This wasn’t a beast. The wounds–they’re done by a blade, he thought.

While he was stunned by the abhorrent sight, he was suddenly ripped from his frozen state as the forest rumbled, originating from the north.

What?…He questioned.

“Emilio…we shouldn’t stay here,” Melisande told him.

The rumbling became clear; something was rushing through the trees, barging through like a savage beast and it was coming straight towards the area he occupied.

Something’s coming, he thought.

He began stepping back, “Hide…Hide!”

Yelling this to the girl behind him, they both ran back as there was hardly enough time to completely leave the area, instead ducking into the tall foliage surrounding the deathly zone.

It was just as they delved into the obscuring bushes did the figure that stampeded through the trees reveal itself–a man.

Though it could barely qualify as a man or human; the being was monstrously tall with unnaturally long limbs with arms that hung down to his knees and stringy, unwashed hair that cascaded down his face.

Who is that?…That’s definitely not a recruit. Is he the one who did this? He thought.

There was something unsettling about the massive neanderthal-like man, who walked forward while sniffing the air, stomping over to the corpses left in the clearing.

“…No…” Melisande quietly said in disgust, knowing what was about to happen.

All Emilio could do was cover the girl’s mouth, not risking being seen by the imposing figure. As predicted, the caveman-esque being reached down, picking up one of the legs of the fallen recruits before–crunch.

“Agh!”

The sight of it mixed with the abhorrent noise that followed caused Melisande to involuntarily react. Even the brief, suppressed noise was caught by the cannibalistic man, who immediately looked up towards their direction.

Without hesitation, Emilio took the initiative, stepping out from the bush with his staff held forward, unleashing a volley of sword-shaped projectiles of fire.

…I didn’t want to go this route, but I don’t have a choice now! He thought.

It seemed his quick action paid off as the being hardly reacted to the sudden attack, standing there as the flames crashed into its body.

“You got him!” Melisande said in surprise.

“…I did, but…” Emilio quietly said.

I don’t have a good feeling about this, he thought.

As the smoke cleared, the man-eating giant was still standing there without a scratch left on his body.

It was a dismaying sight to both of them, reminding the young man of the magic-immune figure he encountered in the Unending Nightmare’s depths. Still, this felt distinctly different to him; the magic did take effect, yet it yielded no results.

There was a simple conclusion to come to from this: the enemy before him was monstrously tough, as simple as that.

“Melisande,” he whispered, keeping his eyes forward as he drew his sword, “Run.”

“But–”

“Just run! Trust me–I’ll be right behind you!” Emilio yelled.

There was an established understanding between the two: if Melisande was to undergo the trial, then she had to trust him when it came to life-threatening encounters.

Hesitantly, Melisande nodded before running in the other direction, which instantly caused the beast-like man to burst forward in reaction.

“No you don’t–!” Emilio called.

Intercepting the figure, he bolstered himself with reinforcement, swinging his steel forward as the man-eating goliath evaded with a quick flip backward.

He’s agile! He thought.