A huge bear three times bigger than the trees was watching both Kenji and Bel. Kenji froze in place and couldn't move when a hand reached him and pulled him to the trees. The gigantic bear stood up and walked away. Kenji was terrified by the sight of it. Hender was in front of him laughing at Kenji's reaction. He was the one who pulled him into the forest.
"What was that!?" Kenji asked.
"Yeah, what was that?!" Bel followed.
"A bear?..." Hender replied, tilting his head.
"I know it's a bear, but why is it that huge?" Kenji shouted at Hender.
"Don't know," he simply replied.
Bel recalled what the instructor just said. "Thousands of beasts lurk in the forest, and weird phenomena happen here."
"Maybe it's one of the phenomena of this forest," she said, speaking while thinking deeply.
"Now I know why only a few come out alive," Kenji was breathing heavily. He sighed as he stood up. "So what now?" he then added.
"What do you mean, 'What now?'" Hender leaped into a tree and picked a fruit before turning around to face Kenji. "We have to survive, of course..."
Bel stood up proudly. "Yeah. We have to survive. I'm not afraid of that bear because you know what?" The two looked at Bel. Hender was eating the fruit in his hand. "Because we have each other's back..."
Kenji and Hender looked at each other and laughed. "What was that!!!" Kenji teased Bel.
Bel pouted because her statement didn't move them at all. "Come on. At least be motivated."
They were interrupted by the scream of someone in pain in the distance. Startled birds flew away from the branches. They rushed to the scene, leaping from one branch to another. Bel stopped and was horrified at the sight of a body in front of them. It was one of the summons who participated. It was missing some parts as if some kind of animal had bitten it off. Hender approached it curiously. He kneeled down as he investigated. A paw was on the ground. A paw much bigger than his hand.
"Hender. Let's leave before that thing comes back for his snack," Kenji commanded Hender. The three of them rushed away from the scene. Bel puked from the sight of it while her hand was clinging to a tree. She could feel her hair standing up.
"What could have caused such a thing?" she questioned, her voice trembling in fear.
"Whatever it is, it was big enough to bite that corpse in half." They recalled the bear they encountered.
"Could it be..." Bel curiously asked.
"No... The bear could swallow the body whole. Whoever did it is much smaller than the bear." Suddenly howls could be heard. Kenji and the others glanced back.
"We have to find shelter before it gets dark," Hender took the lead.
The king was sitting in a chair in front of his breakfast. A soldier whispered to him. "Good," he smiled before taking a bite of his food.
"Are they in?" the priest asked eagerly. The king nodded. The priest let out a small laugh of joy. "Whoever comes out of that forest is the perfect weapon. Cold-blooded killers who will kill whoever they are ordered to. Abandoned by their emotions. Fast, strong, and experienced, perfect for every task you give them."
The priest grinned at the sight of this perfect weapon he desired. "Magnificent!!" A gentleman applauded at the sound of the perfect weapon. "But what is the chance of someone coming out from the forest?" he asked.
"This is our second attempt and so far, three have successfully survived. They are now being trained to handle certain situations," Richard spoke in a dry voice.
"With the use of these summons, we will be able to achieve what our ancestors were unable to achieve," the gentleman exclaimed. "And I'll be able to have all the other countries' treasuries," he then added.
"Is money all you're after?" the priest questioned the gentleman, pointing a fork at him.
"Of course," he answered. He clasped his hands on the table before continuing, "And that's because this world is ruled by gold." The other two listened intently. "People will do anything for it. They will exhaust themselves just to have something in their pockets. They use money to determine their place in society. Those who are poor are branded as commoners or below. Those who have a lot will be called nobles. And those who have none become slaves. They kiss the shoes of those above them and let them stomp their pride for money. They put their dignity aside, sucking every tiny bit of money they can. They will even sacrifice their freedom just to experience the pleasure of money. And because of their lust for money, it manipulates them like a wooden figure attached to a shining string. The strings will make them move by killing, robbing, and even selling their own bodies. Envy, anger, lust, pride, gluttony, sloth, greed... All of the seven sins are born. People start to lose their rights in what they call society if they lose more profits and start to gain some if they earn incomes. Through the use of money, you can escape crimes, manipulate the law, buy slaves, or even put others down. They treat it like a competition, pulling what's above them and kicking what's below them. They are like puppets in the hands of gold. And that's why I put my care into it."
The priest clapped his hands. "Wow!! Wow!! Nice speech," he complimented.
"Thank you," the gentleman bowed as if he were on some sort of stage. "But we still have a long way to go. Thanks to this ceasefire agreement and banning of summons, we are unable to mass-produce the same way our fathers did," the priest claimed.
"And finding more sacrifices is challenging without committing any illegal activities," the gentleman was down. "And I used a lot of my possessions just to transport them secretly without being noticed," he added. The three of them chatted and laughed as the moon rose in the sky.
In the forest, the sun was setting, and small animals started to hide from the darkness. What lurks in the dark is unknown. Kenji and Bel were hiding in a small cave with a campfire in the middle while Hender was out hunting.
"We've spent our whole lives training, running, and having duels. Throwing us in a dangerous forest out of nowhere is just too much," Bel complained. Her face was illuminated by the campfire light. She took a deep breath as she watched the forest being covered in the dark.
"I know, but we don't have any choice. Since it was the King's order," Kenji replied while poking at the fire with a stick. Hender came back dragging a rabbit. The rabbit was almost the same size as him.
"Woah, how can you hunt such a thing?" Bel was mesmerized by the size of it.
"You forgot that you are trained to do such a thing," Kenji teased Bel.
"You make it sound like I'm a brute," Bel pouted.
"Now now. Help me skin this thing," Hender settled the two.
After a few moments, rabbit bones were compiled. They were resting and chatting when they were interrupted by a voice outside.
"Hey hey. That seems comfortable." The three glanced at the entrance of the cave and saw two other summons. One was wearing a clown mask covering his face while the other was wearing a leather mask covering half of his face. The three recognized him. It was Reilly.
"Unfortunately, five people will be too crowded," Hender stood up and spoke. "This is ours. You are free to join, but if you insist on showing signs of aggression, then go somewhere else." This irritated the two. Reilly started to step forward to the bright cave.
"You are Hender, right?" He was approaching Hender. Kenji and Bel stood up and held their double daggers, preparing for the incoming battle, but Hender raised his hand to stop them. The man grabbed Hender by the collar.
"You know what," Reilly growled, "ever since I met you, I already hated you. You act high and mighty like you are some kind of our leader. What!! Just because you are much better than me in both training and duels?" Hender grabbed the man's hand.
"Why don't we talk?" Hender tried to calm Reilly down.
"Talk!! You want me to kill you!!" The man glanced at Bel, who was standing beside Kenji. "Say. You have a real beauty with you. Why not leave that girl and this place with us to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed." Hender suddenly pushed Reilly, causing him to fall on the ground. This made the other summon standing behind wearing a clown mask unsheathe his blade, alerted. It was a katana placed on his back. The man growled in pain and opened his eyes. A dagger was about to pierce his face. Hender was standing, grabbing Kenji's arm, who was about to kill Reilly. Kenji's eyes were cold and emotionless, ready to kill anyone he wanted. This terrified the two masked men. Hender also noticed his killing aura. The man stood up in frustration.
"Tsk. Fine, but we will come back. Especially for you, Hender." The two left, disappearing into the dark forest. Bel approached Kenji and Hender with a worried face. Kenji calmed down upon noticing Bel.
"Sorry, I lost my cool there." Hender was staring at Kenji like some sort of danger was in front of him.
The masked men were walking in the shadows.
"Are you sure you let them walk away?" the man with the clown mask asked.
"Don't worry. I'll have them for sure," replied the man in the leather mask, recalling Kenji's death stare. It felt like making a small mistake would mean game over. A huge leopard, twice the average size, appeared in front of them. The clown-masked man stopped, but the leather-masked man continued. When the leopard attacked, he disappeared. The leopard's vision turned dark, and it fell to the ground. The leather-masked man reappeared behind it, his blade covered in blood.