The hound bolted forward, growling like it was possessed by the devil himself. Cedric froze in fear. He tried to grab his sword, but he was too late. The hound tackled him down, got on top of him, and bit down on his shoulder violently.
His scream of agony pierced through the sky. The hound shook its head fiercely while clenching its fangs deep into his flesh, down to his bones.
His right hand was paralyzed and lost its grip on the sword. Cedric, in his last effort to free himself, bit the hound back on its neck. The wild beast didn't take it kindly; it lifted him with the sheer strength of its neck and swayed him, throwing him away.
He fell hard on his back, injuring his spine, and blood poured profusely from his wounds. Terrified, he tried to move his body back, pushing his legs on the ground, pleading for it to leave him alone. "This can't be the end. What about my sister?" Cedric panicked. The hound walked toward him slowly, its fangs covered in Cedric's blood.
Just then, a bright, tiny flash glimmered from the forest, its brightness matching the sun's rays. Within a second, it flashed through the hound's skull. The hound's eyes widened for a moment before it collapsed on the ground.
He looked around, perplexed by the whole event. He saw a vague figure appearing from behind a tree, but the blood loss was taking a toll. His vision was blurry, and his body was trembling intensely. Everything was going dark, and he lost consciousness.
Campfire crackling sounds could be heard, along with the smell of burning meat and the sound of a gentle river flow. Cedric opened his eyes weakly. He remembered getting attacked by a large hound but couldn't remember what exactly happened.
Suddenly, he realized he should be dead from the blood loss, but the warmth of the fire was too real. When he looked over his shoulder, his wounds were healed completely, as if he had never been wounded.
A middle-aged man, rugged and tall, sat on the other side of the campfire, chewing on cooked flesh.
"It's the hound's flesh," he said calmly. "Eat it, it will restore your energy," he added. Cedric thanked him for saving his life and inquired about his healed wounds.
The man said he healed them, which Cedric couldn't believe, since he had never heard of someone who could heal a severe wound instantaneously without leaving a scratch.
Biting down on the flesh of the hound who nearly killed him, Cedric asked the man who he really was. The man introduced himself as "Alviz," a simple hunter—but he was no simple hunter, that much Cedric realized.
"You remind me of a person. Are you perhaps the son of Rodric, the man who was once the head of New Crowns?" the man inquired.
Cedric nodded, asking him how he knew his father. "Just someone I met in the past," the man dismissed his question.
After filling up his belly for the first time in a while, he felt much more energetic than ever.
Alviz suggested they go hunting, and so for hours they hunted smaller game, even though Alviz was capable of hunting bigger ones alone.
In the process, Alviz taught him a variety of different tactics and hunting traps and told him about the different kinds of beasts and where they lingered, along with the terrain of the mountain. He told him there were twelve ranks for beasts, just like there were twelve ranks of Vowed.
Alviz was surprised by the strength of his skill, even though Cedric seemed like a novice. He was enthralled when he learned about the legendary demon Cedric possessed. Alviz himself possessed a Celestial Demon—one rank below Legendary.
There were seven ranks of demons, and all of them were strong. The average Vower had a third-ranked demon, but it was enough to be substantially stronger. Rank four and above were rare, and all of them could give you unimaginable powers if you maximized their potential. Legendary was ranked five, and there were two more above it.
As they had a successful hunting day, twilight was upon them. Cedric was satisfied with his game, and the meat, along with the loot, was enough to keep him and his sister full for a week. Along with the newly gained resources, he leveled up to level 27, gaining +100 to all his stats. Infernal Surge leveled up to 5, making it more effective, and with it, he unlocked Infernal Dance.
Just as they were about to depart, Alviz asked Cedric what he planned to do moving forward. Cedric, caught off guard, replied with two words, "Get stronger." Alviz chuckled.
"Yeah, it's that simple. By the way, how has your sister been doing?" inquired Alviz.
"Oh, you know my sister too? She's been sick for a while, but don't worry, I'll take care of her," said Cedric optimistically. Cedric thought for a moment and asked if he could heal his sister. The man refused, saying he could only heal external wounds.
Alviz wished the boy good luck and told him to come by the shelter he had shown him earlier whenever he came to hunt. He reassured him that he would be there every day. "I still need to teach you a lot of things, boy," said the man as he walked away.
"Finally, I am getting stronger. Just wait and see! I will make my name known all across the globe and teach those bastards a lesson," Cedric hyped himself up as he walked back home.
At home, he cooked the game he caught for dinner, and for the first time, they had a nice dinner together. It reminded them of their old days, when they would all sit together in a big dining hall and enjoy their food with their entire joint family.
"Don't worry, sister, we will live like the good old days again, and I will get you cured soon," Cedric spoke softly with a smile as they sat near the fireplace. His sister was impressed by how much Cedric had changed. "You are finally becoming a man. You have grown physically and mentally, Sir Cedric Alvyren!" She patted him on the back.
Cedric chuckled and said sarcastically, "And you, Lady Selina Alvyren—a witch!" She hit him playfully, while they were laughing Cedric's sword glimmered thrice brightly. But as they were laughing she stopped midway and clutched her stomach as she vomited violently, blood pouring out along with the digested food.
She started breathing heavily. Cedric shouted, "Are you alright? Should I call for a doctor?" She denied the suggestion, knowing no doctor would see an outlawed person, and they didn't even have a single penny to offer. She started coughing violently, gasping for air. Cedric began shedding tears, unable to do anything.