Nathan

Year 2849 | Month 10 | Day 22

Fortunately for me and my patience, the men all become rather loose-lipped after I unconsciously let out a growl while holding back my bloodlust. So it only takes around five minutes before I get everything I need out of them before letting them go.

But right as I’m about to let out a sigh and consider everything they’d said, I feel pain blossoming from my back at the sound of a rifle firing. And then my self-control snaps. I immediately find myself rushing straight to the one that had shot me who’s already at the tree line before tearing out his throat with my teeth and feeding off of the blood that comes out, feeling a faint satisfaction upon doing so. But after noticing that his pulse has gone dead, I come back to myself and realize what I’d just done.

I try to cough out the blood a few times, but nothing seems to work, and I end up falling to my knees on the ground with my hands clenching into fists so hard that my nails end up digging bloody holes into my palms that immediately heal.

“Damnit…” I mutter after a few minutes, just to look up at the realization that the others had all run away. Damnit.

Several more seconds pass before I notice that the hunger in me is gone. But for how long, I can’t guess.

I stay on the ground for a few seconds as I both come to terms with what had just happened, and I consider everything that the men had told me before they made their escape.

First, the Kingdom of the Fallen is separated into various independent cities, each ruled by a magician. And the closest city with a magician nearby is the city called Darkin, which is ruled by a Class C dark magician.

I should avoid that city, even if I don’t think the magician running it will be too much of a problem. Magicians at this point aren’t much of a threat to me unless they’re Class B or higher. Or, to be more specific, I don’t think a magician would be able to capture me unless they’re a Class B or higher. Or just working in a group of Class Cs.

Second, the skeleton’s dead tree was inside of a place called the Dark Forest, which all the people here seem to know is that it’s a place filled with miasma that no one has ever escaped alive. As for how they jumped to the conclusion that the miasma changed me into what I am now? It’s apparently because no one crosses the river, as it’s considered some sort of border into the dark forest’s domain that blocks the few undead who make it out from going to the inhabited cities. So they just assumed that I came from the dark forest, whether I was turned into this there or not.

Not really sure how their thinking works there, but it doesn’t really matter.

I finally climb to my feet and look around, just to begin sprinting off in the direction opposite to the one that the hunters ran in so as to avoid coming into conflict with them again. While trying very hard to ignore the sight and smell of the corpse.

The third thing that I learned is that the survivors of the kingdom – whether magicians or not – hate the people of the Republic. With a passion.

Which in hindsight should be obvious, considering that the Republic was one of the largest players in the kingdom’s destruction.

After running for several minutes through the woods, I notice more miasma surfacing on the ground, which brings up the last thing the people mentioned. The part about how miasma is spread throughout the entire kingdom at varying levels, with the cities placed specifically in the areas with minimal miasma.

I ignore the miasma though to keep running.

Miasma is a contradicting substance in and of itself. It relies on living things to grow in substance, while also killing off the living things in the process. It does nothing but kill, but it needs life to maintain itself.

But at the same time, it can’t do anything to nonliving things. So the only thing it can do to me as I run is basically nip at my skin, giving me a light burning sensation on my legs as I run through the thin miasma covering the ground, without damaging my armor at all.

And speaking of my armor, I stop for a moment to cover it all with dirt and mud to hide its origins from the people here. Or at least to make it look like some long lost artifact that I managed to find so that they don’t suspect me of being someone actually from the Republic.

I pause at that thought.

Am I still technically from the Republic? I’m probably listed as deceased in the official records in the Republic, so I’m not actually sure about that anymore…

I look down at the Republic’s crest on my armor for a few seconds before eventually grabbing it and ripping it off the armor entirely.

That nation is bull shit. This entire world is screwed to hell and back.

I frown, ignoring the constant burning sensation from my legs.

Maybe I could change that? Just get rid of the higher ups of the Republic and the other stupid nations.

Or I could also just ignore it all, save my friends and family, and find a nice island to live on for eternity. Which doesn’t sound bad either. But someone’ll eventually find me.

My frown deepens as my thoughts run in circles, always back to ‘cleaning up the nations higher ups’ for one reason or another, whether selfless or selfish.

Eventually I shake my head to clear the thoughts away and begin continuing through the miasma-filled forest.

Nothing I can do right now as a pseudo Class D magician anyways, so there’s no reason to think about it now.

Although one thing I know I want to do is to find some way to get rid of this bloodlust. The enhanced physical capabilities and senses are nice, but I really don’t want to have to worry nonstop about draining people dry of blood. Or worse. Eating them.

A shiver runs down my spine at the thought.

I let out a sigh now that I at least have a semblance of a plan for the future. Now if I can just find a village not ruled by a magician. Or maybe one ruled by a Class D one that I might be able to kick out and take over.

Because it would be rather nice to have a city to call home while I’m here.