Someon plunged his entire body into the cold river water and began to swim. He knew where he was going, but he kept swimming. Anything to get away from the pack that was chasing him right now!
From the whispers of «Wind Shroud», he realized the wolves weren't pursuing him. For some reason, they didn't risk diving into the water after him. How could he have guessed, from what «Mercy...» had told him, that these wolves were stronger than any he'd encountered before. So they must have had enough strength to follow him. Or perhaps he was grossly overestimating the rank of these creatures. After all, the exact ranks were unknown to him. What if this type of enemy turned out to be the weakest, not the strongest?
«I don't need to think about that now!» – he abruptly cut off the flow of thoughts and concentrated on straightening his body.
The next moment, he was swimming more or less smoothly and calmly. Someon didn't know where to go or how far. He'd leaped into the unknown. And he didn't know what dangers awaited him here. Could this river be the same as the one he'd emerged from? And was there a monster lurking here, like that serpent? If so, he was in even more trouble than he'd been in before.
«Why am I having such bad luck? What did I do?»
He kept complaining about his dire situation, which showed no signs of getting better. On the contrary, it was getting worse and worse with each passing day.
Luckily, he didn't need air to stay underwater. But more out of habit or perhaps instinct, he still held his breath while in the water's embrace. Now, this ability, which clearly distinguished him from ordinary people, was more useful than ever. But even so, it had been bothering him all this time. Why did he have it, and what had happened in his past?
All these questions remained unanswered and only gave rise to new ones. So he put them aside for now, in the far corner of his mind... or at least pretended to do so.
At some point, unexpectedly for the young man, the river's flow suddenly changed. The water temperature became much colder than it had been before, warm and pleasant for swimming. And the current's speed increased sharply, carrying him ever further forward.
Bam!
He hit his body against a protruding rock.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He continued to beat against the rock, unable to control his body in such a strong and turbulent current, which only seemed to grow stronger.
Fish swam past him, carried forward by the current even faster than him. Eventually, he couldn't see them. They simply disappeared into the distance. His vision was clouded by the water's veil. This river wasn't as clear as the other one. Which made everything look much worse. Which he didn't particularly like.
Having collided with a couple more rocks, Someon, covered in bruises and bruises, attempted to climb out of the river. He tried to surface a second time. Surprisingly, it was easier than he expected.
[By overcoming the Nilla River's challenge, you receive its temporary blessing!]
As if explaining this lightness, a voice of «Mercy…» sounded in his head.
«What is this, Nilla River? – but for Someon, things only became more confusing. – Is this the river I woke up in?»
The questions kept coming. Which, to be honest with himself, really irritated him. Having unanswered questions was never a good sign. A person either found the answers or simply forgot about them. But even then, they continued to make themselves known, tormenting him with their presence.
He'd accumulated too many questions in such a short time. And he needed to do something about them. But what? To his chagrin, he didn't know.
A strong current slammed into his face, knocking him off course. But the young man was surely swimming upward. He wasn't about to give up so easily after emerging from the river that "Mercy..." had named the River Nilla.
Under this strange and unclear [Blessing], he floated to the surface with relative ease.
Sprawled on the ground, a puddle of water had already collected beneath him. Meanwhile, breathing heavily and squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to rest. Such moments were rare. So he quickly learned to appreciate them.
– Hah... I'm back on the shore again... Back to the same place, it turns out?
He felt his body react with a negative reaction. He might not have felt hunger, thirst for water, sleep, or the need for air, but he felt pain and fatigue. It seemed to him that the loss of these senses intensified the pain... and more than once.
«Agh! Damn it!» – Someon couldn't move his body. His eyes were fixed on the only place he could see right now—the sky.
A clear, bright blue sky and a bright, warm sun hovering alongside a snow-white, beautiful moon. Under their light, he felt calm and at ease. The calming and relaxing effect of the Paradise Forest, coupled with this feeling, had quite a positive effect.
The young man's thoughts, raging in a terrifying torrent, began to settle into a calm and orderly state. His eyes, slowly but surely, began to close.
The lights crept closer to his body. Mostly blue and green, they seemed to cling to him, unwilling to leave.
Somewhere on one of the branches, birds began to sing, flying away and then returning. They watched the tired, sleepy man.
But soon another person appeared nearby. At that moment, all the birds and animals suddenly vanished, trying to get as far away from him as possible. The atmosphere around him was, to put it mildly, not particularly welcoming.
A light, relaxed, and kind smile played across his face. But something about it nagged at me. Perhaps it was his eyes, which seemed to be somewhere else, not there? Or perhaps it was the man himself? Looking at him, one might have thought he was no more than twenty-five or twenty-eight years old. But the feeling that arose as soon as one looked into his eyes instantly vanished.
Long dark hair cascaded down his back, and his dark gold eyes gazed solely at the silver-haired, sweetly sleeping youth.
Dressed in cloth clothes, he calmly muttered:
– So it's you, right, the Little Prince?
An even more gentle smile blossomed on the stranger's face, and his dark yellow eyes narrowed, looking Someon up and down. Meanwhile, the young man, unaware of anything, was fast asleep. His chest rose and fell, and his breathing was even. Quite the opposite of what it had been just a few minutes ago.
– And she, from what I can see, tried quite well, – said the stranger, squatting down in front of him. – Did she really succeed? That fool?
Running his hand through the boy's silver hair, the stranger's smile never left his face, concealing something more than met the eye. His touch made Someon's body suddenly tense, and his brow furrowed.
«Oh? It's reacting to me? – the stranger thought with interest, removing his hand from the boy's head. – Interesting. So the body still remembers me, huh. Funny.»
Silence fell around them. All the birds, animals, insects, and even monsters vanished from sight, as if they had never existed here to begin with. With the stranger's appearance, the atmosphere changed, concealing a greater uncertainty than the entire forest.
He stood up, his long black hair, reaching to his waist, swaying and fluttering in the slight breeze. His dark gold eyes stopped watching him and now scanned the surrounding area.
– I didn't think a couple of wild animals would give him any trouble. Maybe it's her mistake? – the stranger muttered thoughtfully, unable to suppress the cheerful chuckle that escaped his lips.
– Well, I guess it's none of my business what she did, – he began, but stopped abruptly and looked back at Someon, who was now sleeping with a sullen expression. – But perhaps he could entertain me. It would be interesting to see how someone like him would live among humans. Yes, that's right. I've decided.
After these words, he approached Someon and crouched down, running his finger through the young man's silvery, silky hair one last time. Dark strands of his hair fell across his face, obscuring his vision, but he didn't pay the slightest attention. A strange, cheerful glint flickered in the stranger's eyes. But something else lurked within it… something cruel, something terrible…
Her lips spread into a cheerful and friendly grin, but it didn't touch her eyes, leaving them the same.
The stranger extended his hand and ran his sharp nail along the inside of his palm. A weak trickle of blood flowed from the resulting scratch.
«I think that's enough»
The stranger raised his bleeding palm directly to the boy's mouth, opening it with his other hand. Clenching his fist, blood slowly trickled down, landing on Someon's lips.
Swallow.
Someon swallowed the blood that had gotten into his mouth and on his lip... Immediately afterward, his entire body was engulfed in an unimaginable heat! A heat he had never felt before—even in his forgotten life, and he felt it.
The stranger stepped back a few steps, watching with amusement the show that had begun before him.
Someon hunched over on the ground, his face contorted in pain. He felt with his whole body and soul that all his blood was boiling inside him!
Cough!!
He spat out a large amount of his own blood, but it didn't improve. It felt as if it were being displaced by something foreign, something stronger than itself. Again and again, Someon spat out his own blood. The fever didn't subside for a second. The young man's face turned red, and sweat broke out all over his body.
– Hahaaaa... Haaah... Haaahhah...
– He's holding up better than I expected, – the stranger whispered in surprise, folding his arms across his chest, not distracted from this performance.
– Agh! – a groan of agony escaped Someon's lips. With each passing second, the agonizing groans grew louder, and soon his cries echoed throughout the forest.
His blood seemed to be being replaced, because with each subsequent time – after the tenth time, for example – he began to feel better. But his insides continued to burn and ache. Someon hugged himself, crouching on the ground.
A voice of «Mercy...» rang out in his head, announcing something new with such delight and jubilation as had never been heard before:
[Congratulations! You have obtained a piece of the Bloodline of an ancient Mythical Creature!]
["Blood of Memories" Power acquired!]