Simon was back—back in the pce where he had spent the first years of his life: the old man’s shack. The familiar scent anchored him to the past. Though the surroundings and greenery had changed, his instincts told him it was the pce.

  Yesterday, he cleaned up the shack to make it as hospitable as possible, had a meal, and slept the next day away. The following day, curiosity drove him to dig—just as he was doing now. Simon was digging behind the shack, where the familiar scent was coming from.

  ‘It was alcohol after all.’ He took out a rge jar and already knew what was inside because of the stench. He didn’t know what to do with it, so he stood up and brought it into the shack.

  The shack was now overgrown with vines inside, and the hammock they used to sleep on had been torn by time. Although he had already cleaned the shack, the dusky smell still lingered. Simon entered and pced the jar on the floor, he opened it up, and the sharp scent of alcohol filled the air.

  Simon liked the smell of the alcohol; it made him remember the old man. He closed and pced the jar just beside the makeshift bed, and he y down again. It's been a long time since he had a roof over his head. He closed his eyes and felt his heartbeat. He began to contempte ‘Maybe I should stay here for a while?’

  I stared at the ceiling of the shack, feeling empty. The void inside my heart was gnawing at me, forcing me to stay awake. Then I remember words as I closed my eyes.

  “Hmm… how about you go around the world, see the world for me.”

  “Go north, find the explorers, and try to join them, or you could go find your mother, whatever you like, boy, the world is yours!”

  I couldn't remember what I answered back, but I probably remained silent because I could only recall the old man's words.

  “If you don’t know what to do next, then move on! Continue and don’t ever be stagnant!”

  And the old man was right, I can’t remain stagnant, I must find my way in this world.

  ‘I could try to be an adventurer or an explorer-’ He heard the old man talk about explorers before, but he was not sure how to become one. Becoming an adventurer was easy. But then I remembered the sailor’s words back in Creek Vilge. ‘—I’m still underage!’ I smiled as I settled on my final answer. ‘Then I will stay for a while.’ With a nod, the boy made up his mind as simply as that.

  Simon was raised by the old man to keep moving, and never linger on what couldn't be changed. For Simon, the next step mattered more—whether that meant filling his stomach, testing his strength, or just getting some well-deserved rest.

  Finally feeling his heart at ease, Simon slowly closed his eyes.

  ‘Hmm?’

  Then, at the twilight of his sleep, he was abruptly disturbed. The sound of the insects, animals, and the forest disappeared. Something arrived, something was out there.

  Simon opened his eyes and stood up. He immediately picked up his gloves and wore them, then walked into his sword, which was lying by the wall. The Fin Bde glinted in the dark as he grabbed it. He walked out of the shack in silence.

  Whatever was out there, he knew that it was targeting him. The problem was that he didn’t know where it was. ‘Danger,’ he thought. Although the forest hummed silently, the boy could feel death, almost as if a knife had been brought to his neck.

  Guided by his instincts, he walked through the mountain forest, retracing his steps until he reached a spring. He recognized it immediately, though years had changed it—the spring was now slightly rger. He could remember that he used to bathe in it before.

  Continuously walking forward, his feet guided him into a clearing near a cliff. 'This is it,' Simon thought. There was no way an attack would come from any other direction.

  A brief silence followed as he stared at the forest he had come from. He was right—there was little to no sound, little to no movement. Then, from beneath the canopy, someone stepped into the light.

  “You know, I could have your neck anytime,” he was a man garbed in bck, but to Simon, he looked like a shadow whom no light could penetrate. He had the same air as the old man who raised him.

  “You… you want to kill me,” it was not a question; rather, it was a statement Simon had to say to confirm. By the intense blood lust that the shadow was emitting, there was no reason to ask the why behind the kill.

  The man’s face was covered in bck paintings but Simon could see a terrifying smile from the yellowish teeth of the shadow.

  “You do not feel fear of me?” The shadow asked as he took out a knife from his back. “Stop smiling,” the shadow said before pointing the knife at Simon.

  Although Simon could feel fear, it was numbed by the excitement that he was feeling. Now that he remembered, he also fought against a shadow back in the forest before. ‘Revenge?’ “I have fought one of you before,” he readied his sword forward, the stance he had used ever since he learned the sword.

  “That’s how I found you, you are a young one, but you must die,” the shadow stood his own stance. “One life for the many, one soul for the nd!” He decred.

  Simon didn’t need more words to understand, nor did he feel he needed to. If the shadow had come for his life, ‘so be it.’ He squeezed the hilt of the Fin Bde, feeling the gloves over it, and it fitted so right.

  ‘But you will not kill me!’ He dashed forward as quickly as he could, aiming to catch the shadow by surprise.

  Simon successfully surprised the Shadow, but the Shadow reacted quickly; he rushed forward to meet Simon.

  Realizing that the Shadow was trying to break his momentum, Simon remained unfazed, pressing on while swinging his sword and summoning two {Water Bde}s as he ran.

  The Shadow was caught off guard again, sliding down the {Water Bde}s to dodge. But as soon as he passed through them, Simon was already there, ready to pin him down.

  “CLANG!” It was the first time their weapons collided.

  ‘Strong!’ the Shadow thought. He couldn’t move—no matter how he pushed against Simon’s bde, it wouldn’t budge. Worse, the boy had pinned him in a vulnerable position, his back pressed to the ground while a massive bde banced against his small knife.

  He had other options, but the bde’s length made it impossible to force the strange sword to slide away from him without getting cut.

  Then the shadow finally noticed the eyes of Simon, whom he was trying to kill. It was snake eyes. Although pinned down, he still had so much to give, using his knees, he kicked Simon near his ears. Any humans who would get hit with it would be stunned.

  But it only staggered the boy who was surprised by the new pain he discovered. The shadow deftly escaped using this chance.

  Now that he knew what he was fighting against, the Shadow regretted that he hadn’t tried to ambush Simon when he had the chance.

  ‘Impossible strength—for someone so young. A true Banal!’ Angelo Cuss cursed under his breath.

  Trained to kill them, he knew the facts: Banals were not normal human beings. They were told again and again that Banals had to be killed before they transformed.

  But Angelo was human too. When he saw the boy digging, he was ready to strike him down—until the look on the boy’s face made him hesitate. Instead, he drew him out with bloodlust.

  Now the Banal stood before him, face to face, and yet there were still no signs of transformation.

  Still, it could be strategy. ‘First, I need to find out his true root.’ The {Water Bde} had to be one of his usable elements. If that was his root, then it would be a total uphill fight.

  A faint glint passed through Angelo’s eyes. He was fire-rooted—something he could never change.