A strong wind blew across the forest illuminated by the bright sky, and the branches and leaves of all the trees moved in accordance with this absolute force. Only a gentle whoosh could be heard despite the strength of the wind, which could topple even the sturdiest of trees. Little blades of fallen leaves encircled Vice, who was walking with determination against the direction of the wind.

‘It’s been ten years since that day, hasn’t it?’ Vice thought as he walked passed the spot where a large brown tree used to stand. The forest had burned down back then but was already flourishing even more than it had previously done. The trees were also much bigger, and even sturdier than before, and a multitude of birds were perched on the branches, squeaking in the daylight.

On that fateful day, Vice had gained something he’d found to be a priceless treasure, something he’d hoped to never part with for the rest of his life. He’d found a friend. Alas, this ‘friend’ of his was actually only present in his own mind and had a rather unique personality.

‘Ten years? Wait until it gets to a thousand years, then you can be all sentimental about it,’ a cold voice said.

‘Sure, whatever you say, Favian,’ Vice replied as he continued walking through the tough weather. He had become a relatively tall boy, standing at 6 feet tall despite only being 16 years old. This height was far above the average man’s in Restok, which was about 5 feet 8 inches. Vice’s head was still the same, covered by a purple skin that looked like a purple mask had been drawn on his face. The two horns on his head had grown much larger and made it difficult for him to wear any hoods to hide his face. The black horns were extremely sharp and were made up of multiple triangular, shark tooth-like segments that overlapped.

Due to this ‘deformed’ face, Vice tried to only travel in large cities at night, and instead made the forests and wildlands his home during the day if he wasn’t exhausted. Vice took a map out of a small pouch hung to the side of his belt and studied the location marked with an ‘X’ for a moment.

“If we’re here, that means the treasure is there,” he mumbled to himself. Vice studied his surroundings as he continued walking through the thick forest, and about an hour later he reached his destination.

A small opening had been dug into the walls of a large hill. There was no light inside for Vice to see what was in there, but he knew that his target was hidden somewhere within that cave. As he walked closer to the cave opening, a pungent smell pervaded his nostrils. Where any regular human would wretch in disgust or cover their noses, Vice simply continued walking. He walked with his back straight and his chest puffed out, like a dignified emissary.

‘There is trouble up ahead, want me to tell you about it this time, or are we just going with the same old routine?’ Favian asked.

‘We’ll go with the same routine, Favian, I can’t have you helping me out every single time,’ Vice replied. He took a torch out from his pouch and lit it. With a burst of light, the insides of the cave were revealed to Vice. The inside was many times larger than the small entrance outside would let on, and the ceiling stretched up so high that Vice’s torchlight didn’t reach it. Despite Vice’s ability to see unhindered through the dark, he still regularly used a torch to deter any beasts. Flames were useful for not just sight, but also for fights.

The profuse smell of death intensified as Vice walked further in, and the bones of humans and animals were strewn about the rocky floor. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw something of interest glinting at him. Vice slowly bent down and crouched onto his knee, inspecting a silver amulet that was lying on the floor, half-broken. Despite its insignia being torn apart, Vice knew exactly where this was from because he wore a similar necklace.

‘So the three from the Treasure Hunters Guild who went missing weeks ago died here. But why, this wasn’t their mission?’ Vice thought, frowning at the necklace as he rubbed his chin in confusion.

‘Who knows? Human greed can be used to explain any and everything possible. Who knows, maybe they killed each other after finding the treasure? I wouldn’t put that against their kind,’ Favian said.

‘Haha, wise as always, aren’t you? But you’re a human too, look at you talking down on your kind so easily,’ Vice retorted playfully, something which he only ever did with the voice in his mind.

More and more bones were found strewn about the room as Vice made his way through, yet fear never gripped him even once. Such a feeling was only but an afterthought, and couldn’t usually affect this boy. After walking for a while, the cave opened up into two different paths, forking either to the left or the right.

‘Huh, what’s that sweet smell?’ Vice thought as he tilted his head to the left path. He stared on into the darkness of that path, wondering what to do. The path to the left smelled sweet like honey, whilst the right path smelled like rotting corpses.

Vice rubbed his chin for a second and decided to go with the right one. ‘Everyone would have taken the left path, and I also feel some sort of magic imbued into that sweet smell. No wonder none have been able to make it out alive, they were fooled by their sense of smell,’ he thought as he made his decision.

‘To think I haven’t taught you much, yet your senses are already so sharp. You truly amaze me, you brat,’ Favian said. He sounded like a proud father whose child had walked for the first time without needing their help.

‘Thank you, your approval is the only thing I aspire for in life, really,’ Vice joked with a smile on his face.

The path went on for longer than Vice had expected. The walls were damp, and a sticky substance oozed out of them. Despite the crunching sound underfoot, he continued walking at his normal pace. A small cave opened up at the end of the path, and a stagnant pond was all that was inside. The green water glistened under the bright light of the torch in Vice’s hand.

Vice took the torch close to his face and blew it out, after which he put it back into the pouch by his belt. Unlike any normal person, Vice didn’t take off any of his clothes before jumping into the pond. This was because they were all made of special materials that were waterproof. He wore a simple black shirt along with cotton jogging bottoms. The pond was a lot deeper than he had expected. Despite this, he continued to dive as he held his breath. The murky water obstructed his vision slightly, yet Vice continued to search for the object.

After taking a look around for a dozen seconds, he found exactly what he was looking for. At the bottom of the pond, about 100 feet down, there was a large obsidian tooth, about the size of Vice’s arm. He tugged at it with almost all his might but wasn’t able to dislodge it from the sediment.

‘What if I try this?’ Vice thought as he used his two hands to push away the muck and sediment that had accumulated at the bottom of the pond. After almost a whole minute of that, he was finally able to pick up the heavy tooth. He then placed the tip of the tooth into the pouch to the side of his belt, and the gargantuan tooth magically disappeared into it. Vice swam back up and gulped at the air when he finally resurfaced, filling his lungs with the sweet remedy he needed. However, once he came to his senses, his face darkened in worry.

The whole cave was shaking like crazy as if an earthquake was happening, and tiny pieces of rock began to fall from the ceiling. The water from the pond splurged out into the pathway as dozens of the rocks plopped into it. Vice pushed his hands onto the ground and propelled himself out of the pond before sprinting out of the cave. Larger rocks were falling onto his head but were crushed into dust by his two extremely sharp horns.

HISS HISS

Just as Vice jumped out of the cave and got back to the forest, he heard a deafening cry from within the cave. The scream became louder and louder until finally, he was able to catch a glimpse of what monster resided within the cave.

‘So you are the one that killed those three treasure hunters?’ he thought.

A large snake slithered frantically out of the small opening of the cave, seeming to struggle to push its large body out. Its green scales were splattered red and all over its body were numerous stalagmites piercing into its flesh. It’s dark green eyes stared at Vice, who was stood only ten meters away from it with a purple great-sword in his hands, purple energy buzzing and crackling off the weapon. Vice held the weapon defensively against his body as he thought, ‘Come at me you ugly beast, I’ve been wanting to fight something for a while now.’