Derb was shocked awake by the feeling of being dropped onto a hard surface. He could feel two arms holding him down while someone else cleaned him. He felt weak, weaker than he did when he first came to this world. He remembered that everything in this world really could kill him back then, even newborns could probably go toe to toe with him. He went inside himself to meditate, whatever happened outside, happened. He couldn’t move, after all. He saw the foreign poison inject his system, stalling his and Connor’s healing process.

He saw something else though, a small amount of something slowly filling his body and cleaning whatever venom was in veins. It’d take too long, though, he could sense the poison was acting too fast, and once it got through his mana supplies he’d be next. He decided to help out whatever was helping him, it was better than just lying around doing nothing. With as much concentration as he could gather, he pulled in as much mana as possible, hoping for the best.

___

“Get me some antiseptic, get some ice as well!” Jenny shouted at the two hardworking brothers. They’d barely made it onto the cart and were just about to heal the black knight. Frederick still remembered the sight of him foolishly jumping towards those giant flying beasts. It was awe-inspiring to say the least, if a bit idiotic. The knight had his gauntlets and helmet picked up by the horse while they were tending to him. They'd turned back later to see the horse vanish, though. They feared the worst for it and the black knight.

While they were tending to his swelling arm they felt something peculiar. Well, Frederick and Derrick were never taught in the ways of mana control so they only felt a slight pull. Jenny, on the other hand, felt the seismic whirlwind of mana centered on Derb. She froze in shock and wondered if this was a new type of poison, but as soon as it came, it went. She noticed his wound looked much more stable now, and they continued the process of healing.

Derb looked at the poison inside him, what was then a bucket of poison in a small pond of mana was merely a cup, and then a spoonful. He felt the lull of sleep come off him like a thick blanket, and then opened his eyes. The moment he did he regretted it, the light burned his retinas like a hellish fire, though he was exaggerating a bit. He felt weak, and the ones on his body were no longer healing. He heard the chatter of the trio as he stood up but couldn’t make out what they said. He stood, eyes closed. “Can… someone bring me a demon… or an animal, living please..”

___

The three looked at him like he was insane, not only did he consume the venom almost instantly, but he had the power to stand up afterward? Derrick was the first to snap out of it, jumping from tree to tree looking for something alive, eventually, he came across a group of small birds and caught three. By the time he’d come back Derb had collapsed on the carriage floor again. “What happened? I thought he was better?” Jenny looked at him with panicked eyes. “I don’t know! He’s breathing well and fine, there doesn’t seem to be any poison in him either.” Derb could barely speak up, his armor crushing him in the process. “Give… me the birds.”

He activated the power of the boar, it seemed his body was really out of it, It couldn’t even support his own weight. He struggled to get up even while under the spell, slowly reaching out for one of the birds. It twitted in his hands and for a second he felt bad, it’d be too ruined to eat afterward. He covered the tip of a small dagger in dark mana, hoping his theory was correct. He pierced the creature's small heart and watched it struggle and shrivel up. For a bit, nothing happened and he groaned, but then he felt it.

The slight feeling of his body pulling itself back together, and the weird sense of bloodlust that came with it. He reached for the other two birds, no longer feeling empathy for their lives, and stabbed the knife straight through the two. The feeling came back stronger, and it felt like he’d just had a night of sleep for the first time in years. He clenched his hands, the strength hadn’t returned fully but he was able to walk again. “Thank you for everything, I'm sorry I acted so angrily at you before Derrick, especially after you saved my life.”

Derrick… had complicated feelings. On one hand, he’d just seen this man reap the life of some small animals. On the other hand, he felt extremely glad that he was forgiven. On yet another, he felt guilty that the black knight deemed it was his fault. “It was my fault for being so open about it, I sometimes forget that I have to keep secrets from these two idiots.” Jenny, who was in the back wondering how evil such magic was, instantly sprang forward. “Hey! I just haven’t had the right scenery to show off my skills in a while! Isn’t that right, Frederick?”

Frederick looked at the shriveled birds thrown casually out of the carriage. “Mr. Knight, I'm going to have to ask you about your background.” He reached for his sword, while Derrick and Jenny did the same. “Frederick, you could have been more gentle in how you said it...” Jenny quipped, standing behind the two in proper formation. Derb was still sitting in the carriage, too tired to move yet. He felt like he needed to panic at the situation but, honestly, he felt too tired to care.

“What do you need to know?” He asked, tossing the dagger aside. No need to look more dangerous than he did. He slid his fingers through his hair, trying to look more presentable. “Where did you live, who taught you, and what were their backgrounds?” Derb thought long and hard, he needed to look good. “I don’t know much about my teachers other than one being a renowned healer and the other being a powerful general who fought with the deformed. Deitre and master Gerald were the ones who taught me everything I know. I lived in a place called Barrel Village which is deep in this forest. Anything else?” The three looked at each other unsurely, until Derrick stepped in.

“Those two, Hannah and Tiffany, do they live there as well?” He asked. “No, they don’t. They live them just south of where you guys came from, it’s a long story actuall-” something lit purple in Jenny’s hands, and she and Frederick looked at him with a glare. Derrick just laughed at the situation. “He’s lying, but at least we know he isn’t blocking the lying magic, right?” Jenny’s eyes widened in surprise, and then she smiled at the fact. Derb was the most shocked of all, “You were checking that? Why does everyone I know have a lie detector...”

“It’s fine, the damn thing can only detect outright lies, either way.” Frederick asked, “It never works on criminals, those bastards lie like it’s their job. Nice job on that last question, Derrick.” He looked down, obviously ashamed at using Derb’s sisters like that. Derb wasn’t even thinking about that. “So uh, we cool?” Jenny looked at him weirdly, before realization spread across her face. “Oh, because we became so heated, I get it!” The brothers looked at her like an idiot, was this really the time for it?

“I’m sorry I tricked you like that. It was the only way I knew to get someone to lie, we needed to make sure you couldn’t block our tool’s energy.” Derb nodded, still glad that was the only part he lied about, if this was him before he’d have lied about every little thing. Like it was his job. “No… problem? How long have we been here? What time is it?” They were supposed to get to Ooraville by nightfall but the circumstances made it a bit hard to tell if they’d make it or not.

“It was only for about two hours, it took a while before you woke up.” Derb groaned. “We won’t be able to make it before nightfall, will we? I’m sorry for being so impulsive...” The three looked at him weirdly, “If it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t have been able to make it so early, if it wasn’t for that we wouldn’t even have made it, so don’t beat yourself up about it.” He smiled at Jenny’s words, he didn’t know if they were just niceties but it made him feel better.

“Thank you for the kind words, let’s move immediately.” He stood to ride his mount, only to not find him. Where’s my horse, by the way?” The three assumed the horse disappeared because his master was sick. They looked around before they heard a powerful neigh. Whilst came out of the bushes, carrying a massive sword in her teeth. “Misty! You brought my sword back… good girl.” He noticed his armor was half-heartedly hanging off her like decorations, too.

The three just looked onwards in silent appreciation. Except for Derrick, who asked what was on everyone’s mind. “He named that thing Misty?”

______

A couple of hours passed while they traveled, Derb had stayed on the cart with the three for his own safety. It was less his choice than theirs, basically carrying his still weak body back to the cart. At least he was able to read his book for summons while on it, his horse being too small for such a thing. He was keeping small talk amongst the three and managed to learn a lot about them. Derrick preferred to be alone, and preferred things that were beautiful. (The last part sounded a lot harsher coming from Frederick’s mouth.)

Jenny was the leader of the two even before they became her guards, apparently. Derb wanted to know more about that but he was shut down by Jenny’s angry and embarrassed stare. Frederick was the most open book, he himself bragged about all the times he’d gotten them in trouble. Partying, drinking, stealing, nothing was off the tables for the party when Frederick was in charge. He’d laughed about all the ways he’d gotten the other two caught up in his antics, usually through a large number of drinks. Derb just couldn’t hate such an honest and carefree man.

Eventually, Derrick stepped in when he realized Derb was the only one passing alcohol around. “Hey… what’s with all this? Why are you so eager to talk to us all of a sudden? You were so distant before.” Derb struggled to keep his smile on his face, damn they were still too sober to throw caution away, huh? “I’m in your three’s debt, of course I’d want to know more about my heroes.” Derrick and Frederick blushed, the thought of being referred to as heroes a classic dream for many young men. Jenny was a bit more perceptive.

“We haven't really talked about you, Mr. knight. In fact… we don’t even know your name.” Damn, damn it! He didn’t want to speak about himself, he didn’t know what parts he should even say! He couldn’t talk about his past because that would make him suspicious, and there were too many unknown things in his present that he had no idea if he could talk about. He knew the soulstone was off-limits but everything else seemed sort of sinister as well… In the end, all he had was one thing to talk about. “My name is Derbemiah, most people call me derb. If I have to talk about anything I'd like to talk about my sisters...”

____

“-She got stuck under it too! Could you believe that!? I had to hack my way out of there while she bawled her ears out.” Derb kept rambling as he reached for another drink, his captive audience keeping a forced smile. He’d been complaining nonstop about his sisters and teachers for a while now and by the context of his words they couldn’t blame him. “-My ribs were jutting out and I passed out when she forced them back in! She could have warned me at least!” His stories only became more and more gruesome as time went on. Jenny couldn’t help but gasp at the part of the snake.

“You could have been killed! Does your teacher even think you’re human!?” Derb laughed at the outrage. “Of course he does, I think. He just wanted me to grow past my limits, that’s how I was able to learn this.” The sharp tips on his gauntlet’s fingers glew purple, laced with deadly dark mana. “I mostly only used… never mind, you wouldn't be interested in that part.” The three groaned inwardly, that was the most unique part about him, though! They already guessed he was a unique ability user but they didn’t really know the concept behind it.

They couldn’t just ask, that’d be much too rude… They looked at Frederick with a hopeful gaze, who only crossed his arms in an x. “Why not? Just ask Derbemiah if his ability is all that. I’m sure as long as we don’t ask for specifics he won’t mind the intrusion.” Frederick shook his head, “Look how happy he looks talking about his family. I can't ruin a moment like that! The man was about to die just a few moments ago.” They looked at the black knight, going on about how an animal was stolen from him, they’d stopped listening long ago.

Eventually, Jenny was the one to speak up. “Derbemiah… that spell of yours… is it a unique ability?” Derb looked at her with blank eyes, “I'm sorry, what?” All four of them were confused at this point. “An ability that is… unique to you? I guess?” Derrick chimed in. Now that they knew Derb was unaware they chose to take advantage of the moment. Derb’s eyes lit up at the answer. “Wait, was that what it was!? I thought it was just another benefit Connor gave me!?”

It all made sense, now. It had haunted him before, not knowing how the spell came to be or even how it worked. He had just heard lacing weapons with different mana was useful for different things. He’d never heard of being able to take the lifeforce of people before. Why hadn’t the old man told him about it, it seemed very important… “Wow! An ability user so near us! Those types are one in one million!” Ah, he understood now. It was just that rare.

“Wait, wait… let’s just forget about all that, ok? Jenny, you said something about the two being your guards since you were children?” Jenny just glared at him again, it was probably a dark past. The brothers were no longer so reserved, though. “How does it work!?” “Does it have to be on a weapon first!?” “How long does it last!? Do you have to kill them or is maiming enough?” Derb’s eyes spun around trying to make sense of the two’s questions, some he didn’t even know himself. “Wait, mercy please...” The two didn’t listen, merely moving in closer as night slowly overtook day.