“Benedict, the deadlines for our Projects is getting closer. Why did they give our clearance three days before the exams?!”

Benedict opened his eyes slowly, blinking as a yawn escaped his lips. His mind was a bit under the water, being woken so abruptly from his nap had made him look daze for several minutes, followed by him replying with another yawn.

“Jio, this is the norm in our school.”

He drooled a bit as he spoke that, quickly wiping it off with the sleeve of his jacket with little to no care at all. Shaking his head as a strange nagging feeling entered his mind, as if voices were there. Idly he could identify them as strange chants, he would turn to look at the one known to him as Jio. His friend looking confused.

“Do you hear that?”

Jio asked, his voice childish and immature accompanied by an accent all too common to those not fluent in English. Jio resembled a typical filipino teenager from Luzon, a part of the archipelago of the Philippines. He had hints of chinese ethnicity and the mix-blood of the Filipino people, however his unkempt hairstyle which comically resembled a standing paintbrush painted a clear picture of his character. As did his obvious carefree attitude and taste in fashion.

He was one that could be considered an avid gamer. With thick eye bags and a posture that suggested constant use of a computer. With a mischievous grin that is nearly present at all times that turns into a mocking one, whenever he begins belittling their other friends during their MOBA sessions.

“Hear what?”

A much serious voice asked. Coming from a tall lanky male, nearly a pale complexion with similar chinese features. He wasn’t taller than Benedict, but seemed to be much more composed and silent as he looked at the two in confusion. His eyes were naturally squinted with a hint of intelligence beneath them, followed by a neutral expression that was nearly present on his face at every single moment.

“Carleon, that chanting?”

Benedict motioned with his hand to the general area of the empty classroom. But Carleon looked at him and Jio with confusion, before Benedict just waved his hand to signal that he didn’t want to pursue this conversation. He assumed it was just someone’s phone ringing in the class, and given the eccentric nature of many of their classmates it wasn’t an impossibility.

“So.”

Benedict spoke again, as Carleon returned to what he was doing, which was writing up a research paper of sorts for one of their subjects. Benedict shook his head at this sight and turned to Jio with a mirthless grin.

“It’s probably some ringtone or from another class. So, about our projects. Have you finished yours?”

Jio returned a confident smile, crossing his arms as he adjusted his posture slightly to puff out his chest. Benedict leaned slightly on the armrest of his chair, staring at Jio expectantly. As if he was waiting for a surprise to come from whatever answer he chose to say.

“You know me Benedict. I haven’t finish anything, at all.”

Then he bursts into laughter, as did Benedict. Even Carleon had a slight smile on his lips as he tried his best to focus on his paper. Benedict shook his head as what Jio said nearly brought him to tears.

“Damn it Jio, please don’t look so serious when you haven’t done anything at all.”

He asked as Carleon couldn’t take it anymore and laugh out loud himself, nearly crumpling the paper on his armrest. Jio shrugged as he remained smiling, tapping on his own arm rest as he pointed to Benedict’s.

“You too, you look so lax and all yet you haven’t done anything too! Don’t make excuses Benedict, all of us here haven’t done anything yet!”

Benedict’s smile remained, though only for a while as it turned back to a natural grimace. He shook his head and simply turned to rest his head on his arms again, positioning his arms on the armrest so he may return to his nap. His phone idly rumbled in alert of something, but he paid it no heed as he rested his head on his arms, tilting it slightly so he may have one eye looking at Jio and Carleon.

Carleon then suddenly frowned just as he was furiously jotting down letters on his paper. Looking around in confusion and irritation before turning to Benedict, looking at him accusingly as that chanting returned.

“That’s not… latin.”

Benedict breathed a sigh as he took out his phone from his left pocket, quickly tapping the screen of the phone and drawing the symbol to gain access. With a more confused look, he showed his phone to them, where not a single song was playing. What was strange was the fact that the time was stuck on ‘0000’ including the dates. Each one glitching out as the chanting grew louder, and the world outside through their windows became blurry.

“What the hell?”

Carleon cursed as he stood up, looking around for any sort of source for the chantings they heard. Jio did the same, as did Benedict as they started to search the room for the source of the chanting. The two assumed Benedict was the source initially, as he was the only one in the room that had something similar, as he had expressed interest on Roman Catholic Chants due to his faith.

He held his phone tightly before putting it back on his pocket. He looked around like the others, trying to follow the sound of the chants. They were indescribable, similar to Latin, but with Latin he could identify it was language from earth. But this was not, and it was too eerie, ghostly even. And the source came from all over them.

“Benedict, are you sure that it’s not one of your chants?”

Jio asked as he tried to open a window, finding that the covered window wouldn’t budge. Carleon would meet the same fate with the door, as Benedict took out another phone and confirmed with a confused grunt.

“I only have two chants, Da Pacem Domine and Salve Regina. Whatever this is, it’s not Latin. Or anything I have!”

He retorted as he walked to a chair to sit down again. But as he tried to do so, a sudden weight was pushed upon his body. Instantly he fell to his knees, with his palms supporting his body. The others experienced the same thing, with Jio hitting the floor flatly on his face, as Carleon had hit his back. Both were groaning in pain as the chanting became almost deafening to their ears.

“Shit.. what’s happening?”

Then everything was engulfed in a bright light, as they felt their bodies being pulled by something so harshly that all of them screamed.

-

Groaning in pain, he opened his eyes. Blinking them tiredly as pain slowly registered in his mind Benedict groaned. He could feel wounds upon his body, and his mind swam in between the waking world, and that of dreams.Vaguely he was aware of a dream, or rather a memory. It was cut short, but he knew at the very least it was how they were transported to this world, or rather how it all began.

But the reason why he was here in this world, was pushed aside as he curled into a fetal position. His thoughts focused on what happened to him before this, and he realised he was supposed to be dead. He could not have swam, nor could he have held his breath for long to reach what place he laid upon. And wherever he was, it was not the snow covered land of Isalabi.

The sound of a flowing river was to his left, and the chirping of some sort to his right. Slowly his eyes registered his surroundings, strangely as if his body was having a hard time even functioning. But he was supposed to be dead, that was what he thought, and he understood that his survival had a cost to it.

‘What is this..’

Though as his eyes finally functioned, he noticed that he was facing a forest. Similar to the one he ran into, hoping to lose his pursuers. But unlike the ones he saw, these were normal in a sense. Oak trees, or something similar from earth, and not like the towering trees of Isalabi. Their brown bark and green leaves was comforting his mind, but he couldn’t stare for too long as he needed to move.

His pursuers could still be chasing after him, looking for a body to confirm that he was dead. So he sat up, groaning in pain as he felt how sore his body was. He had exerted himself, that he knew.

It made him regret being unfit, and was pleasantly surprised that he managed to run for more than a few minutes. But in the end he was cornered, and he had resorted to jumping off of a cliff. He winced at the memory and sighed, opting to examine his body for any wounds on it, as he was not wholly convinced he actually survived the jump. Perhaps he was dead and this was some sort of purgatory, he wouldn’t be surprised, but he wanted to live.

His eyes could not find any wound on his body, only that his attire was tattered. The attire of his, was composed of rusty second-hand equipment, made from some sort of steel. It wasn’t that dependable, but it was free so he kept it. And he felt strangely in tune to the shoddy armor. It was nearly a full-plate of armor, with parts of it chipped and broken, alongside the chainmail underneath showing signs of rapid degradation. Even the cloak he had on showed tears, at least from what he could see.

Beneath the armor was normal clothing, or as normal as it could get. His original attire from earth had been long discarded in favor of this one, as it was much more ‘resilient’. It was a simple black shirt alongside leather pants, a utilitarian set of clothing. Even the underwear he wore was one such thing. It was a good thing, as this world he was in was seemingly stuck in a medieval age. But there had been inventions that shouldn’t be in this world, yet they exist.

“I seem.. To be.. Fine? This, this is impossible.”

Benedict muttered in disbelief, his eyes nearly bulging out, as he confirmed he was not wounded. He felt sore in almost every part of his body, but there wasn’t anything that caused him pain, or indicated that he was dying. He was briefly relieved, until he looked over his person again. And realised something was missing. Several items was missing. First among them was his sword, followed by his necklace and his small bag of coins.

It wasn’t that surprising, but that made him curse in anger. As without his sword or bag of coins, he had little to no chance at all in properly surviving on his own. Perhaps as he was drag by the rushing rapids his items were flung off of him. But that couldn’t explain as to why his necklace was missing. It may have fallen off like the rest, and he wasn’t willing to find them again.

“No, no.. I shouldn’t worry about my necklace, even if it has value to me.. Where the hell am I anyway?”

His priorities shouldn’t be on his necklace, it was to be on the situation at the moment. He turned his head to face the sound of moving water, and he widened his eyes at what he saw. There was a large lake, and to the further back was a waterfall. And he could see mountains from the furthest parts of the area, with snowy backdrops that may just be the place he came from.

Then he lowered his gaze to the edges of the lake, and he saw what could only be drag marks. Where the ground was disturbed by something, or someone was being dragged to. They lead directly to him, and it meant that someone had deliberately dragged him from the water, yet they did not stay or even bother waking him.

This was a confusing thing to know, but perhaps the person that found him thought he was dead? Of course he should be dead, that was a matter that he himself could not dispute. Even then if he was alive, if the person had left him here, that would mean death would come for him as he had no survival skills at all. Which he was only starting to regret now.

“Shit, shit, shit. I’m gonna die here, on this stupid world. On a world where heretical GODS run around as if it’s some fucking game!”

Suddenly anger went into his mind, as the entire situation was brought about by the Gods of this world. Gods that, he himself, would never desire to worship. As there is only the One True God of humanity, and these were to him, are entities that deserved to be put to the torch. For it was them that had caused him, and several others to be teleported to this world. Breaking everything he knew about reality, and thrusting him to one where he would die alone.

This anger was only intensified when he realized that, he may in fact have been robbed. As his necklace was suddenly gone alongside two other things. Certainly an opportunistic individual would have robbed him, or looted him rather. But for them to not show respect to his body, was unacceptable and it drove him further to an animalistic rage. Then with a sickening snap, a crunch of both flesh and bone something had hit the floor near him.

“What the hell?!”

He was taken aback, quickly jumping back in surprise and fear. But something prevented him from doing so, and it was in the form of what could only be described as two spider legs. They were an ashy grey of color, made from a material that eerily resembled bones with muscles showing in their joints, with some outright coating parts of it. It was nearly twice as long as his entire height. And the way they looked made him remember of some sci-fi beings, primarily those that devour.

“Good God!”

He screamed, partially in fear. As the sight of those two spider legs scared him, as they seem to have been fully embedded into the ground itself. Their tips clearly having punctured the earth with little to no effort. This only served to make him move away, but when he tried to turn and run, he would feel a tug at his shoulder blades and fall down. He yelped at that, hitting the ground face first was not something he wanted to ever experience.

“Fuck, that hurt..”

Groaning as he looked up, pushing against the ground with his hands, he noticed a chilling fact. Those very spider legs, were in fact, connected to him. And only now he started to feel sensations coming from it. Like how a limb would feel, and it caused him to scream again. It caused his heart to beat rapidly as his head tried to explain why it was connected to him.

“Oh shit, I am a host for a fucking parasite?! Oh God no!”

The last thing he ever wanted, was to be a host for a parasite. And he remembered from a particular souls game, that there were enemies that had been humans being used by spiders. This made him reach out to pat his back, desperately trying to feel the parasite that he thought would be on his back. But to his dismay and surprise, there was nothing that indicated such a being. He would touch his shoulders then, initially feeling nothing out of place.

All he could feel from touching his back or shoulder, was the cloak and the metal of his armor. And occasionally the leather on some parts of his armor. Then he felt something on his shoulder blade, where a part of the armor was rent and torn. He nearly had cut himself, if not for the metal gauntlets he wore. He could vaguely feel the sharp parts of the damage, and there was indeed a hole on that particular part of the cloak he wore. Then he had gripped something hard. Akin to bone, but he could feel his touch upon. Feel the grip he had on it. And it startled him, causing him to desperately let go and stand up.

The two spider limbs lifted up, scattering dirt as the part that was stuck in it was taken out. To his shock and horror, the tip of the spider limbs was not what one would expect. They were, scythes. Shaped like the blade of scythes. Bone-like growth forming into a natural scythe, with flesh connecting it to the rest of the limb. The edges of the scythe itself had some muscles wrapping around them, and on the base of it was a pulsating organ of sorts. Clearly pumping out a nearly clear substance that dripped from the tip of the scythe.

The sight was utterly terrifying. If he was in a much better frame of mind, he would find them fascinating. And utterly ‘cool’ so to speak, but now in this situation, the sheer unnatural biological weapon before him was terrifying. Something so inhuman and unnatural being a part of him, was a thing he could not comprehend properly.

“Oh no no no no. This can’t be real.. This cannot be real.”

He voiced his thoughts in disbelief, staring at the two new limbs he had. Fluidly as if it was not unnatural, they would be reeled in and fold on his back. It wasn’t a full folding as the limbs drooped down from his shoulder, especially the scythes which was near his chest. The large scythe-blade could be said to be the claw of these spider legs he had, but to his knowledge spiders had multiple tiny claws. Not just a single one.

And this very blade reminded him of undead abominations from a survival horror game. Something about the dead being in space. He was slowly calming down at the realization that this were his limbs, but it was unnerving for him and made him wish this was just a dream. But it was no dream, as everything was clear, and the limbs felt like a part of him. Something numb, but still a part of him.

“This is real.. God, this is real. Why! Of all the things I could have gotten, from diseases to an arrow to the heel! Why this!”

Hesitantly, he tried to calm down. His hands holding his head as he combed his hair a bit. The cool sensation of the gauntlets giving him a short reprieve from the situation. Try as he might, the shock of the situation was too great. One he had managed to survive a jump from a cliff, ending up on a place he knew not of. Two he had lost three things, one of which contained the currency of this world. And three, he had these new limbs.

“No, think Benedict. You just have to calm down.. You just have to calm down. You have some rather… awesome limbs now! Limbs that scream ‘I’M A GOD DAMNED ABOMINATION PLEASE BURN ME ON A CROSS’. Certainly you can return to civilization and live a normal life!”

There were many downsides to having these two new limbs. And it almost made him wish to chip them off, but the good thing about them which were simply too few, made him reconsider. He was unarmed, and certainly lost. There isn’t even a guarantee that he would find civilization again anytime soon.

Reluctantly, he had forced himself to accept the situation. It wasn’t that hard, and it worried him the first time. But ever since had been forcefully thrown into this world, he had just accepted everything. Most of the time it worked, and he at least had given himself a false sense of normality from what he saw. But this was one of the times he couldn’t fully bring himself to accept a thing he saw, especially when it is a part of him now.

“Alright. Perhaps this isn’t as bad as my previous situation.”

Even then if he would accept these new limbs. And quite possibly use them for their intended purpose from their look, how would he even move them? His brain is wired to only have two arms, how is he to gain the ability to move these new limbs when he could barely feel them at all? Certainly just thinking about it wouldn’t be that useful.

“Well.. How do people with more than two arms move their arms? I’m pretty sure those stuck-up Nobles said something about other races.. Aside from Humans, Elves and several other races that will certainly be happy to kill me! Glorious!”

He sighed, dejected that his situation won’t truly improve. Not when he was spending nearly all his time at the moment complaining.

“You know what. I’m going to try and make these new limbs work.. I don’t have anything else that could act as a weapon. These sharp scythe-like.. Scythe.. Scything claws seem to be perfect for defending myself. Or obviously killing something.”

He was also curious as to why he had these new limbs. There was real magic in this world, allowing individuals to just defy the laws of reality and setting their own. It was mind boggling at first, then it turned to be particularly heretical for him, as it made some individuals act as if they were god-incarnate due to it. If magic could defy reality, it could also forcefully induce rapid mutation to an individual. That line of thought didn’t comfort him, as he wondered if it also caused someone to have literal cancer.

“Now that I have closer look at them.. They don’t really resemble spider legs properly? They are not separated into four segments, but rather three from what I can see..”

Regardless of what they are, Benedict had decided to use them. Certainly if it grew out of him, due to some ungodly reason, it was a good thing? There may have been worse things happening to the denizens of this world, and this may just be a great boon for his current situation. He was only human, in a world where Gods walk among men, and races thought to be seen fantasy to actually exist.

It was a baffling concept that he had only dreamed of, in lonely days and during class lectures. But now that it is real, he had wished he was never in this situation. As the reality of such a world, was far cruel than the one he came from. With deep breaths, Benedict would carefully try to will his new limbs to work. Using thoughts to try and feel them, which did nothing for a few tries.

It was a frustrating experience for Benedict, whose erratic temperament caused him to begin yelling in frustration. But when his anger began to creep in, he would feel the limbs react. Unfurling slowly as if they were ready to strike out, Benedict looked at them in surprise. His anger nearly fading, until he idly thought for one of the limbs to lash out on the ground.

Without the sickening snap and sound of flesh, one of the limbs quickly slashed at the ground. Cleanly cutting through the earth and leaving some of that strange liquid coating its blade on it. It quickly returned to its original position alongside the other, similar to how a praying mantis may prepare to strike. With another thought, a simple desire to destroy something, both scything-blades lash out again on the ground. Repeating the same result as the first strike, cleanly cutting through the earth.

Then, as if in response to this discovery. A surge of hunger came to him, his stomach growling as an indescribable desire to feast on food manifested itself. He remembered then, that as he ran from Isalabi, the kingdom or city he was summoned to, he had not ate at all. He was starting to feel the hunger, the need to eat. It was a strange desire though, as it wasn’t truly natural. It urged him to seek out something to feast upon, something to sink his scything-blades into.

And he nearly gave into that desire, as he turned around to where the sounds of birds chirping was. It came from a forest, a thick swathe of forest. Several metres away from him, with trees that look as if they had been standing in this very land for millennia. They were towering giants, far larger than the trees he had ever seen from Isalabi, or earth for that matter.

There were smaller trees below them, sized normally as one might expect. But Benedict couldn’t help but gawk at the large trees. Their trunks varied in thickness, but the most common thickness was the length of a small truck. If their size and thickness was any indication at all, they were glorious. And this implied only one thing to Benedict. With all the knowledge he had amassed from cartoons, novels, games and the ramblings from Jio, he could only come to one conclusion.

“This is a holy ground.”

What else might explain the sheer size of the trees? And the large body of water behind him was also unnaturally blue. Almost clear enough to be drinkable. Assuming that there was nothing in there that may kill him, or poison him.

He was almost reluctant to walk to that forest and enter it, walking under the shade of its large branches and seeking out a way to survive. It was like a grand adventure, where he was the hero of his very own story. In a quest to clear his name, and find his friends. But he was not that optimistic, and chances are he would be killed by any sapient thing he would encounter.

Still despite that, he would resort to trekking through the field of grass and into the large forests. He dubbed them ‘Forests of Giants’, as it was a fitting name. And would obviously hold beings that had specifically adapted to the large trees, meaning that they may as well be titanic monstrosities.

His scything-claws as he now called them, had returned to their ‘inert’ position. Strangely feeling weightless and natural. And as time went on, he felt more in tune with them. Feeling a connection slowly establish itself with these new limbs of his. Barring the hunger he felt, he felt great. Even in his rather unfit state, he wasn’t feeling particularly tired or bad.

The trek towards the forest was a long one, as he had to cover a particularly large clearing. Not enough that it would take an hour for him to cross, but large enough that running would be a better option to cross it. But there was something that caught his attention, making him slowly walk.

“Are those…”

Dotting the grassy clearing, was what seemed to be stone obelisks. It was ancient, and they numbered in at least dozens. Each one in a varying state of ruin. With moss or vines growing over them, hiding away the features of the obelisks. This convinced him further that this place was indeed a holy site, or at least some place of great importance.

From what he could see, each obelisk was placed in a pattern. A pattern he could not deduce. The most prominent of these obelisks was near the forest. In what he could only be described as an entrance, due to the ground there looking as if it was a road, with the soil being beaten down to look even and be capable of allowing wagons to move on its surface.

It was also particularly strange, that there were no signs of animals in the clearing. But he could clearly hear the sounds of birds chirping from the forest, despite it being relatively far. And without those chirping, the very area he treaded upon would be silent.

“I like this.”

He said, breathing in crisp air that reminded him of home. Or parts of his home that did not reek in pollution. Complain as he might, he had to admit secretly that he was deeply fascinated with this world. But now, he had to reel in that fascination as he was approaching the very obelisk near the path. It was a large thing, easily dwarfing the normal sized trees that it stood near to.

Unlike the other obelisks, it was clean. Not in the sense it was new, but in the sense that it was being tended to. As one might expect, it had ‘runes’ engraved into its surface. It was not similar to the nordic rune present in earth, but rather closely resembling egyptian hieroglyphics combined with something else. He was no linguist, but there was something about these runes that evoked a sense of peace.

“Whatever this is, it seems truly important.”

He nodded to that, as his eyes went down to observe the base of the obelisk. He wouldn’t spend much time staring at the runes or letters engraved on its surface, as he couldn’t read it, nor even comprehend their purpose. But at the base, he would see several wooden bowls. Each filled with something, and near them, around the base of the obelisk was a variety of items. As if they were offerings.

“Is this supposed to be.. An altar?”

He crouched and examined one of the bowls, not daring to touch it. One of them contained coins, similar in shape to the ones he had. But obviously not belonging to the country he recently escaped from. The coins were, gold, silver and copper. Each one having a face of some humanoid thing, with the same runes circling the faces. There was even food in the other bowls. Fruits, pieces of meat, even bottles of liquid. They all looked so tempting to take and eat.

“No no no no. They may be poisoned.”

He swallowed his saliva, which threatened to slip out of his half opened mouth. He reached out to gently touch one of the bottles of liquid, but only going that far before taking his hand back.

“I am hungry, I am lost, and I may aswell be a monster. But I am no thief.”

He was hungry, very much so that it was nearly painful to be in such a state. But Benedict, knowing that this was a world of true fantasy, was reluctant and fearful of taking these apparent offerings to this obelisk. It was like a shrine, a shrine to something. And with that fact, he did not want to risk anything. Instead, he would stand up and laugh.

“Stupid, stupid..”

He was not the most honorable person in the world, nor was he even one of the people considered to be good. But there was just something, about this obelisk, that made him not dare to steal from it. It was not that he feared a curse, but rather it felt wrong for him to steal from something like a religious altar. Shakily his fingers curled to a fist, his legs bringing him away from the obelisks and its offerings, and into the beaten dirt road to the forest.

“I’ll regret this soon, very.. Very soon.”

He looked back as he walked away from the obelisk. His brows furrowing as his eyes looked upon the food on the bowls, then to the runes on the obelisk itself. A sense of regret, anger and strangely, pride welling up inside of him, alongside his hunger. The hunger, it was there, that urge. His mouth opened, watering at the memory of the fresh food he just turned his back on.

A low growl, not unlike the ones he constantly does when he is frustrated, escaped his mouth. It was primal and human, but something one would not expect from an individual such as Benedict. He walked under the shade of the large trees, his mind slowly growing strangely clearer as he observed his surroundings.

He was alone, that much was certain. The chirping he had heard minutes ago still rang out, but as he went further into the forest, it seemed to grow distant. As if the source was not within the forest, but somewhere outside it, near the lake. The silence that followed next allowed him to feel how clear his mind was, but that clearness was disturbed by the hunger he felt again.

“Shit.. I really should have eaten those offerings..”

Not wanting to turn back, Benedict continued to walk. He was no stranger to hunger, as it was a natural thing to feel. Especially when he had missed several times to eat in his old world, partially due to his unhealthy sleeping habits, and total immersion to gaming. This hunger was something innately different, it was a result of him needing to eat, that one was obvious. But it had another layer to it, something he could not describe or properly understand.

“Considering I have been passed out for who knows how long.. It is natural I would be.. This hungry.”

He sighed, rubbing his mouth with the palm of his armored hand. The sensation of the cool metal on his rugged skin sending a short shiver down his spine. Idly he gently bit down on that armored hand of his, not doing any damage, as he would nom on it to pass the time. It didn’t help that he felt hungry, if his hunger was entirely something else he would have started biting down on his own hand. But the taste of the metal was not to his liking, and even then he disliked cannibalism. Not only was the thought of such an act disgusting to him, it was quite detrimental to him in many ways.

He would walk aimlessly for what felt like minutes, barely noticing the world around him. The feeling of clarity was still there, and yet it was overshadowed by the hunger he felt. It reminded him of something, something he had heard from this world. He could not recall it properly, causing him to hit the side of his head with his left palm, angrily grunting as he stopped munching on his right hand.

Narrowing his eyes in irritation, Benedict would be broken out of his thoughts by the sound of grass being rustled. And right before his eyes, a herd of something passed by. They resembled large stags, though their form was far different from that of the ones found in earth. Their necks was much longer, and they lack any sort of horns, and their hide was of a black hue alongside their head being without eyes. Not only that, their heads were strangely skull-like, with them sporting large ears constantly twitching here and there for the sound of an incoming predator.

It was an eerie sight as they passed him, going deeper into the forest. Though instead of simply allowing them to pass, marveling at just how strange and creepy they were. Benedict salivated at the sight.

“Meat..”

A chance to feed the hunger he felt, with the flesh of these strange creatures before him. It was a prospect that he could not deny, as that very desire to feed came and filled his mind. Without him realising it, he had began to sprint after them, his scything-blades raised high as he grinned with hungry eyes. The strange beasts reacted almost instantly at the first instance of his foot hitting the floor towards them, the sound of rattling armor alerting them of something.

They fled away from him quickly, though maintaining their herd formation. Strange cries akin to a pained moan and a grunt from a human came from the creatures, which served to further encourage him to give chase.

-

“Child, where did you find this?”

An aged voice prattled in the air, kind and soothing like wind blowing through the hollow trunks of ancient trees. It came from a hunched figure, human-like with features resembling closely to that of the ones found on humanity. Yet this hunched figure was no human, as his skin was unnaturally pale. His eyes glowing blue, with no hints of the true nature of his eyes being shown beneath. Curving horns extended out from his temple, black in color and its surface carved by runes.

His wrinkled face looked onto an object on his thin hands. He furrowed his brows as his other hand stroked the long flowing beard he had, as he pondered on about the object he held. He looked up briefly, to a person in front of him. A young girl belonging to his own kind, nearly far taller than him in his hunched state.

“Elder..”

The girl started, bowing respectfully before the old man. She was similar to the hunched figure, but different enough that one would think they were not related by blood. Her voice was like silk, echoing forth with gentle ease that it was not supposed to be possible in reality. She had tanned skin, a beautiful face that evoked a sense of nobility and kindness. Reminding one of tales relating to priestesses that were the embodiments of their Gods.

She had ivory horns, four of them jutting out and curving back, each one decorated with both runes and circlets. Unlike the elder before her, her eyes were not glowing. And one would be able to see her yellow irises. Faintly glowing blue in the dim room she was in.

“I found it on a human body, floating on the lake of cleansing within the fields of altars. From the smell alone, the body has been dead for at least a week.”

She looked at the item on the Elder’s hand. It was a necklace, unlike anything she had seen in this world. It was reminiscent of human necklaces, but far different. As it was completely made from some manner of metal that was quite resilient. It was bead-like and had several trinkets hanging from it, one was a strange ring that had a blue crystal on its middle, a once golden and rusting key, and another key that looked small and strange. There was also a wooden statue, small and strangely shaped in some form of a lion.

But there was another, a symbol. It was engraved on a small slab of metal that hanged in the middle among all the others. At the front, some sort of dragon was engraved, it did not have any hindlegs and resembled no living dragon in this world, be it true or mythical ones. Behind strange words were marked upon it, letters belonging to a language that her people had never encountered.

“Clearly this belongs to some sort of noble. What did you do to the body? Did you bury it within the field Salia?”

The Elder asked, his voice expressing worry and curiosity. It was natural, as for a human body to be found on that lake, it meant that it came from up north, further north into the lonely frost.

“No Elder, I do not know the customs of how to bury the dead belonging to humanity.. “

She lowered her head in shame, causing a gentle smile to come from the Elder as he offered the necklace to her.

“Describe the body to me. I am certain that I at the very least would know from which land this human came from.”

Salia tilted her head in confusion as he took the necklace in her hands, gently holding onto it as she feels a strange thing from it. Something primal. But she shook it off as she nodded, quickly trying to describe the body, even when she expected to be scolded for just leaving the body there and not honoring it.

“It was a male, a young man to be exact, no older than eighteen summers from what I could see. His skin was utterly pale, Elder, as if he had been submerged in chilling water for quite sometime before he had reached the lake. He wore a cloak over his incomplete set of plate-mail, there were no indications on the armor if he belonged to any Knight Order or Mercenary Company, or even an adventuring guild.”

The Elder nodded, trying to straighten his posture as he leaned back on the chair he sat on. He looked slightly confused, as it was unusual for an armored individual to have any sort of marking. Perhaps it was the necklace he wore was the marking, relating to a noble house he had yet to know of.

“Continue Salia, what did his armor look like? And what of his facial features? Was there anything that set him apart from the humans we have seen?”

Salia looked thoughtful for a moment. It was as if she was looking for the words to describe the looks of the young male she saw. Opening her full lips and showing her slightly sharp but pearly white teeth, she spoke slowly as a small blush crossed her face.

“He was, strangely handsome Elder. Unlike many of the young humans I have seen, noble and peasant alike.. He was different. His skin was brown, was before it became pale from his chilling death. And yet, his face held a sort of enduring nobility even in death. He could be described with a near gaunt-like face, his sharp nose, thin eyebrows and frowning face painted him as a noble. One that rarely smiled it seems.. I couldn’t see his eyes however, as it was disrespectful to open the closed eyes of the deceased.”

The Elder stared blankly at her, not too familiar with the qualities Salia had said. Regardless it caused him to stand, shaking his head as he motioned for the girl to follow him.

“That wasn’t truly helpful. But regardless, we must go to the body. We cannot let it rot in our holy ground. Plus, we need to return that to its body, as we may earn the ire of its spirit. Humans are particularly possessive, even more so than dragons at times.”

Salia widened her eyes at his, looking a bit fearful as she followed the Elder. She looked down on her hand for a moment, staring at the strange writings on the slab with the dragon on it. Unknown to her, the writings said this.

No hope, only faith. As we endure through this life to earn absolution through suffering, may we earn forgiveness for our mistakes once we stand with our lord.

To: Benedict Ligare

From: Jio Seighart, Carleon Krieger. Your greatest friends.