28 November Year 2367

"What time is it?"

Telfer roused from his slumber and rubbed his eyes. The sun blazed like a celestial fireball in the sky and bright light filled the cave. Telfer looked around the cave. The fire had burned out long ago, leaving a pile of ashes.

Where's Sheryl?

There was no trace of Sheryl. An old faded scroll laid where she would rest. Telfer picked up the scroll and started to read it.

"Since you have overcome Berserk Mode, my part of the deal is done. Within this scroll is a map which shows your current location. The map also contains directions to both Fruinga and the Demon Kingdom. I truly hope that you will come to the Demon Kingdom and join the Ghoul Legion. The fact that you are able to complete what even some of my most rugged soldiers speaks for itself. If you want to join the Ghoul Legion, I have placed my insignia within the scroll as well. You will be escorted promptly to the Ghoul Legion upon flashing that insignia. Farewell. Regards, Sheryl Marrow."

Telfer inspected the badge and the map attached within the scroll before stuffing it into his smartwatch. Items like these could not be laid out in the open. Despite Sheryl's sadistic treatment for the past week, Telfer believed that they should be genuine based on Sheryl's actions. She had upheld her end of the deal even though the the trade was not really satisfactory. She had also saved him while he was in Berserk Mode.

"System, display my stats while in Berserk Mode."

Status Window Name: Telfer Berkley Age: 12 Race: Ghoul Gender: Male Stats Health: 120/120 (50/50) Heath regen.: 10/min (20/min) Energy: 70/70 (100/100) Energy Regen.: 3/min (8/ min) Mana: 40/40 (40/40) Mana Regen.: 2/min Strength: 6.5 (8) Agility: 7 (10) Dexterity: 6.5 (8) Stamina: 8 (10) Intelligence: 8 (5) Wisdom: 8 (4) Skills

Ghoul:

Mass Transfer

Magic Spells:

Poison Hand (Poison Magic)

Cloak (Illusion Magic)

Self created skills:

Yama's Strike

A massive increase in recovery rate and the physical body which was traded for a decrease in health and usage of mana. There was also the double edged sword where Telfer lost control of his body and could only obey his instincts but he could more killing power. Telfer went over his stats and found that it was quite to his liking. Forget about using spells, he was happy as long as he could stay alive. The map showed that he was quite far away from both countries.

Demon Kingdom or Fruinga? If I went to the Demon Kingdom, Sheryl would probably find me and torture me even more. But if I go to Fruinga I risk getting my identity exposed.

Telfer poked the stumps on his head and frowned. He picked up a rock and started to grind away at them.

At least they can be filed down. If it's like this, let's go to Fruinga. I have to smack those fuckers from The People's Blade anyway.

Telfer gritted his teeth. Bryan's death at his hands was most probably found out by the rest of the organization. He had to start moving. While Telfer was standing up, he felt a wave of coolness ripple from his neck.

What's going on?

Telfer immediately rubbed the back of his neck but nothing followed. Telfer frowned and continued moving.

"Let's see... I should go to the East then."

Telfer rolled up the scroll and moved into the cover of the woods. The path back to Fruinga had begun.

After around 2 hours or so, Telfer found a watering hole within the forest.

*Grrr*

Telfer's stomach rumbled. Just then, a herd of deer arrived at the watering hole. Telfer dashed up a nearby tree and watched the deer. They had black fur and green spots. According to what he was taught, Telfer recognised that this herd of deer belonged to the Green-spotted deer. Although Green-spotted deers were herbivores, many hunters had lost their lives due to the deer's innate skill, Wind Charge. One of them swivelled its head around before lapping up the water. The rest of the deer followed suit. Telfer eyed one of the smaller deer that wandered off.

Sorry little fellow but you're my lunch. Come on, walk a little further.

One of the larger deer suddenly bleated at the small deer and the small deer walked over to the watering hole.

Why can't you just listen to me?

Telfer cried bitterly in his mind and watched his prey stray further away from him.

*Growl*

A pitch black wolf appeared behind a tree that was some distance from Telfer. A few more wolves appeared behind the trees in the surrounding area. Telfer noted how their fur crackled with lightning occasionally.

A pack of Thunder Wolves huh? I will just relax and pick up any stray prey.

Telfer sat back against the tree, intending to watch a good show. All of a sudden, one of the deer stomped its hoof and charged at the tree where the first wolf was hiding. The rest of the deer instantly spun around and stampeded towards the tree. Telfer's initial target stumbled around, apparently not knowing what was happening. The deer crumpled onto the ground and Telfer grinned. He jumped onto the deer and covered its mouth before pulling it back up the tree.

"Mass Transfer."

Telfer crushed the deer's neck and ended its suffering promptly. He glanced at the skirmish below and frowned.

Shit. Why are they still here?

"Cloak."

Telfer dragged the deer and walked away silently. He could feel his mana draining away rapidly.

Is it so hard to cloak the deer? Almost there...

Telfer dashed towards another tree as Cloak fell off. The wolves had stopped the intial charge using a shockwave. Chaos ensued as the wolves pounced on the herd, felling the deer one by one. Suddenly, the remainder of the herd bleated and a green aura started to rise.

A combined Wind Charge?

A cloud of dust rose as the deer charged the wolves. Unfortunately, the wolves were unable to stop the charge and were crushed under the deers' hooves. Howls of anguish arose as Telfer fled the scene with his meal.

Couldn't you hold on for a little longer? You're supposed to be fucking wolves!

Telfer scrambled from tree to tree while the deer mourned their fallen members. Suddenly, an extremely loud bleat rang out behind him. Telfer immediately scrambled up the tree. There was no need to look back. The impending sound of hooves hitting the ground and oppresive aura explained everything.

Shit. I need to shake them off.

Telfer swung from tree to tree. The moment he landed on a second tree, the first tree had been toppled over. After covering a rough distance of 5 km, the bleating and oppresive aura had disappeared. Telfer glanced around and found no traces of the deer.

No hoofprints and oppresive aura. There's no bleating either.

Telfer hopped down excitedly and glanced around, making sure that there was absolutely nothing nearby. He drooled in anticipation as he looked at the deer in his hand.

I can finally enjoy the fruits of my labour.

A method of cooking the deer appeared in his head.

I need some branches!

Telfer broke off some branches and started constructing his idea. He stuck 2 branches into the ground, making sure that they were around 2 metres apart form each other. He took out the Eternal Harmony and started skinning the deer. The skin could be used to make a water bottle. Was it safe to cook the deer without gutting it? Telfer mumbled and scanned his memories.

Oh well. If I gut it I can't seal it back it up again.

Telfer pierced the deer with the longest branch he could find and hefted it onto the 2 branches.

Let's start!

Telfer created a fire using his knowledge of friction from Earth and started rotating the deer. He could already imagine the glistening fat and crackling skin. The mouth-watering feeling of meat melting in his mouth. Telfer salivated while rotating the rod. After God knew how long, the sun had already set. Telfer had also decided that it was time to feast. Telfer picked the deer off the fire and laid it on a long wooden plank that he had cut out while cooking the deer. He tore into the deer with glee and found that the meat did not really match up to his expectations. The meat had been cooked for a little too long as it was somewhat tough. Telfer stuffed his mouth anyway. He had starved himself for an entire day for this one meal. There was no way in hell he was going to complain about a little overcooked meat. After he had polished off the entire deer, Telfer looked at his smartwatch. It was already 11pm. Telfer looked around and eyed a spot in a tree which had quite a number of branches. He scraped off the dead leaves and some of the bark before lying down on top of the branches to sleep.

29 November Year 2367

*Plop*

A drop of morning dew landed on Telfer's face, causing him to wake up. Shafts of light burst through the gaps in the leaf canopy above. Telfer waved his hand and sat up drowsily.

The deer yesterday was pretty good.

Telfer yawned and hopped onto the ground. The smartwatch currently displayed 8.00 am. Telfer retrieved the map from his watch and studied it. As time passed, Telfer's eyebrows started to crease together before his eyes widened in horror.

I'M LOST!

He had been running from the deer without any sense of direction. After the deer had left, reading the map had not come Telfer's attention as he was too busy with satisfying his wants. The landmarks Sheryl had indicated on the map was no where close to Telfer's location. He couldn't find his own location on the map.

Shit. Am I stuck in this forest forever? I need to get back to civilization.

Telfer grimaced as he thought about eating deer 24/7. Even though it tasted fine, he would eventually kill himself out of desperation and boredom. Telfer scrutinized the map closely as if he was trying to find a solution to his problem.

A path! There are paths through the Colossal Grove. I just need to find a path and follow it. Everything else will just fall into place.

Telfer looked around blankly. It all looked the same. Trees, trees and more trees. He didn't even know where he could find a path.

Fuck it. I will just keep walking in the same direction. I will walk onto a path eventually.

Telfer strolled off towards his left, whistling in an attempt to cheer himself up. A day later, a lethargic and exhausted man stumbled onto an open path.

"I... made it."

Telfer slumped onto the path and looked around. He felt as if his body would collapse on him at any moment now. He was like a walking zombie, dead inside but subconsciously awake. The desperation and fear of getting lost in a place far from home forced him to walk without taking a break. The only thing that could be counted as a break would be collecting water from watering holes into the deerskin before moving again.

*Whomp*

Telfer's face slammed into the ground and he entered a deep slumber.

30 November Year 2367

*Clank*

Telfer awoke to some mechanical clanking. He opened his eyes and found that he was immersed in a bath of green fluid within a glass-like container. No matter how he pushed against it, the container would not open. He was currently in a white room with what looked like 4 other similar containers. There was single sliding door opposite him. Telfer lied back down and eyed the green fluid. He was still wearing his clothes but the green fluid could still enter his pores, allowing him to recover his strength.

I guess I was picked up by some nice people along the path. That's some impressive technology.

Telfer let out a sigh of relief as he put away the thought of getting found by a psychopath. Just as he was about close his eyes, the door slid open and revealed a girl. Telfer waved at the girl and smiled. However, he froze within the next second when he saw the horns growing out of her head.

"Papa, he's awake!"

The girl dashed out of the room and brought a muscular man back. His horns were at least twice the size of the girl's horns. Both father and daughter sported blonde hair and blue eyes. They were both dressed in what looked like tracksuits. However, the similarity ended there. While the girl was constantly smiling as she pointed at Telfer, the man stroked his beard and glared at Telfer.

Why is he glaring at me like this?

Telfer lamented and looked away. Just then, the girl twisted a knob on the container, causing the green fluid to be flushed away while pushing Telfer out of the container.

"Nice to meet you! I am Claire Browning. And this is my father, Harrison Browning."

The girl gestured to the muscular man. The muscular man continued to frown.

"Thanks for helping me out! My name is Timothy Rutherford."

Telfer quickly came up with a fake name. There was no way he was going to reveal his identity especially with how he used to be human. The muscular man's face gazed at Telfer and loosened up a little.

"What is a newborn like you doing out here? You were too tired out from whatever you were doing. Why are newborns so reckless today?"

The man shook his head and walked away, leaving Claire and Telfer alone. Claire rubbed the back of head and bowed.

"Please don't mind my father's behaviour. He's always this uptight. Anyway, we are currently inside my family's personal flying shuttle. Its name is the Crescent Blade. Father got it as a reward. It's pretty cool right? There's even a medical room in it!"

Claire walked up to the wall of the room and patted it. Telfer ignored the shuttle's description and weakly asked,

"Where are we headed?"

Claire looked at Telfer strangely before saying,

"The Demon Kingdom duh. It's home."

Demon Kingdom...

Telfer's world shattered into pieces. He had found a path but instead of going home, he had travelled straight into enemy territory.

End of Chapter