Chapter 3 – Doubts
Joe awakened from his thoughts after slightly contemplating for a bit and slowly raised his head. He said, “Now that I think about it, you strike a point. There had never been a drill in the six-seven years I have been working. But the problem is, my contact told me it was nothing and not to worry about it.”
Franswift did not want the matter to end this simple, so he asked, “Do you know anyone that came for the drill, one that you could ask what is going on?”
“Unfortunately, no. I will look around since I thought of a few theories I also want to confirm. You might even know more than me; you have been operating outside the city for a few weeks now. Did you notice anything out of place?”
“I didn't explicitly look around, though I haven’t encountered anything during the week I have been waiting for the flower. Only during its bloom did I en– that’s right!” Franswift's eyebrows were raised, and his eyes opened wide.
Joe expectantly asked, “Thought of something?”
“During the week I waited, I did not see a single beast. The only one I encountered was injured. It probably wanted the flower to heal. But most importantly, it was alone.”
Joe asked, “You think it being alone means something?”
Franswift answered, “Well If it were a normal beast, it doesn't. But it was a brown hound wolf. Those dogged wolves always move in packs, rarely do they move alone. Even when I injured it, and it howled in pain, no one from its pack seemed to hear it, much less come. Not only that, while I was escaping, not a single beast intercepted us even with all the noise we caused.”
“That's a skill set I didn't know you had. You actually fought and escaped from a brown hound wolf, I thought…..” Realizing he was going off-topic, Joe returned to the main problem. “Aside from that, so you’re saying there is a problem in the forest?”
Franswift replied, “I cannot be certain, but it was awfully quiet for its standards. I will be staying away from it for now. So, this is all in speculations but, if this means there is a problem in the forest, what do you think is the cause?”
Joe hunched his back forward and pondered for a while before he answered. “Based on the records I have read and taking into consideration what you have said, there are two different reasons I can think of. First, a ferocious beast is causing trouble in the forest, so the guards are taking precautionary measures in case it attacks the city. Second, a beast tide is coming, and they are preparing for it.”
When Joe finished speaking, both he and Franswift stayed in silence for a bit.
"There is nothing we can do now unless we have more information," Franswift ended the subject at this point. He then took out a pouch and put it on the table. “I want one-pound level 1 meat, the same price.”
Joe emptied the pouch of the coins then walked to behind the counter. He took out a piece of wrapped meat and put it on the counter. “The same old price, 60 neutral coins.”
Franswift took the wrapped meat and stowed it under his shirt. He hunched his back a little bit to hide the protruding package and went out the door while bidding farewell. “Take care.”
While Franswift walked back to his tent, his thoughts kept rolling in his mind. It kept bothering him how the guards pretended to go for a drill while not a soul in the slums knew why. He was sure if someone in the slums knew anything, Joe would have known it.
And as Franswift was lost in thought, he found himself already at his tent. He sighed and stopped thinking as he went in. After getting into his tent, Franswift took out the wrapped meat from beneath his shirt and started eating. Finished with his meal, he looked at the empty wrap and felt bitterness rising from his heart. This goddamn ability costs too much; I am barely stashing money.
He remembered the first time he discovered his ability, which was also the first time he went hunting. It was after he had stopped going with beggars and was doing a few odd jobs. He had heard a conversation going between the guards. From the gist of it, they had spotted in the forest a feathered rabbit – a rare beast the fetched for a lot of coins. At the time, he was fed up with not gaining enough money to eat, even with the number of odd jobs he had been doing. Feeling lucky, plus also being ignorant, he had gone hunting for the rabbit.
He entered the perimeter of the forest, where he heard they had spotted the rabbit. And while he was searching, he heard a hiss from his back. Frightened, he jumped opposite to the direction of the sound and looked at where it originated from. It was a serpent, slithering on the ground with its slitted eyes staring at him.
More frightened than before, Franswift moved slowly to the direction of the forest's exit without trying to rattle the slithering beast. Still, the moment the serpent inched a bit towards him, he immediately lost it and ran away. But he was moving so frantically without looking that he failed to notice a root on the ground. His foot got tangled in it, and he stumbled. As his own feet brought him down to the ground, he felt something go past his face, followed by a sting on his cheeks. He raised his head upwards and saw the snake that was supposed to be behind him in front of him. The scaled beast had sprung up to bite his neck, but he was lucky that he had stumbled, resulting in it just making a small cut on his face.
With Sweat running down his back and his body was shivering, Franswift jumped up and tried to run.
Before he could even move his legs, the serpent shot back and tried to bite him again. seeing the serpent in the air and its fangs that would severe his life getting close, all that went through Franswift head was, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, if I can dodge it, I will live……. If I can run away, I will live……… if I can hold it, I will live; if I can hold it, I will live.
His thoughts and his will aligned as of him doing anything to live. Staring at the serpent, his mind frantically looked for a solution, trying to deny the impending death. Suddenly, his eyes contracted and everything around him started moving slowly. He felt as if he was moving in a viscous liquid as it tried to hinder his every move. Withdrawing from his trance and realizing what was happening, Franswift immediately moved both his hand to hold the serpent before it could bite him.
The moment he held the serpent, his heightened state faded away. He felt the serpent trying to wriggle away from his grasp. Out of terror, he held it tight and started to ram it on the ground with all his might. Slamming it multiple times, he then picked a rock from the ground and started pounding the serpent with his remaining power. He let out all of his emotions, leaving behind only a bloody mess.
“What went through my mind when I wanted to come here.” Franswift sat down and gasped for breath as trepidation filled his heart. He regretted his foolishness for coming here. If it were not for the sudden appearance of the strange ability, he would have lost his life. He did not care where it came from where or how it appeared. He did not have the luxury to think about that. If it would help him live, he would gladly use it. Still, the realization of his brush with death made his entire body shiver. Noticing he was still in the forest, he stood up and ran back to the city, not caring about the remnants of the serpent on the ground.
When Franswift went back that day, he had not known the worst was yet to come. First, Hunger had made his whole body tremble.
Like a starved beast, he devoured his rations and spent a lot of the money he had earned over the years to buy more food. Not only that but the next day, he also heard the guards had found the feathered rabbit and returned safely.
He was certain something was wrong when they had “unexpectedly” found the rabbit right after he had returned to the city.
Should have known something was dubious when they also mentioned the exact place where the rabbit was located out loud
Angry at the guards who fooled him and even more at himself, Franswift had gone in circles in his tent. Although he was ignorant, he was not stupid, and he had known the guards had used him.
Learning from his mistakes, he had gone to find someone who he could learn from the knowledge and experience needed. Also, he had tried to figure which guard he should deal with from now and try to get on his good side for trustworthy information since he had decided to start hunting.
Succeeding after that time, he had also learned the conditions to activate his focus. After multiple trials and errors, he had found that to activate it, he needed to have a clear will of what he wanted to do. Then, he had to solely focus on it without any distractions, ignoring everything else.
The weaker his will was for that single purpose, the harder it was to enter that state. He had also found out he could move his body in that state and that as he tried to match his body speed to the state, the less the viscosity he felt and the more energy or food it would require later.
The good thing about this was he could use that state for thinking or studying. It enhanced his learning and thinking ability by multiple factors, plus this usage was the one that required the least energy.
He supposed, Maybe I am not thinking or learning anything complicated.
When he Snapped back from his memories, Franswift unconsciously started thinking again about the fake drill. It was not like he could not let it go, but his body was completely restless as if it were on pins.
Frowning, Franswift sat down cross-legged. My body is only this restless when my life is in danger. It was an instinct that had helped him survive till now.
With his eyes contracting, Franswift filtered the thoughts that made him the most restless.
‘There had never been a drill in the six-seven years I have worked.’
‘Most importantly, it was alone.’
‘Second, a beast tide is coming, and they are preparing for it.’
‘It is very abnormal, so be careful.’
Exiting his state, Franswift quickly stood up. “I hope I am overthinking.”
A terrifying thought had gone through his mind, sending shudders through his whole body. He got immediately out of his tent as he felt the entire slum would swallow him.
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