Helmut

Chapter 5

“Answer me!”

The man wouldn’t let Helmut stay silent.

This was the Forest of Pahe. There was no way to tell what a ten-year-old might be capable of in these parts. But once the blade moved closer and lightly pressed against Helmut’s neck, he immediately blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“You’re the first human I’ve seen here.”

Helmut was ten years old, but a leopard was the only conversation partner he’d ever had. So, it was challenging for him to express his thoughts and feelings in a way that would convince others.

The man seemed to understand what Helmut meant because he withdrew the sword. Regardless, he was clearly not happy to see the boy. He flicked his hand and motioned for him to go away.

“Leave my territory.”

“No.”

The man looked at him in disbelief. “If you’re looking for warmth and affection, you came to the wrong place.”

“Warmth? In a person? Does that mean humans are warm?” Helmut asked out of habit because he had no grasp of abstract concepts.

The man stared at Helmut intently. “Were you born in the forest?”

“No. I was sent here after I was born.”

“Then you must have the seed of darkness.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Most children born with the seed are killed on the spot. It would seem you are of noble birth.”

Helmut tilted his head in confusion. He didn’t understand what “noble birth” meant. What little he knew of the human world was based on things Elaga mentioned from time to time and the brief moment he had been in his mother’s arms.

“You could be the child of my enemies or my allies, but it matters not since those days are long behind me. But I do owe the leopard a favor, so I suppose this would make us even.” The man muttered to himself for a moment before asking another question. “Do you have anything to prove your identity?”

“Anything to prove my identity?” Helmut repeated the question word for word. The man raised an eyebrow, appearing frustrated. It was like he was communicating with a toddler just learning to speak.

“Did you have any objects with you when you were left in the forest?”

Helmut tried to remember whether there was anything in the cloth he was swaddled in. If there was, Elaga would probably know about it. Though given the leopard’s personality, he probably never kept them.

“I’m not sure,” Helmut said with uncertainty.

The man nodded as if he never expected anything out of it to begin with. “I never thought I would receive human visitors ever again. But since you’re here, let me ask you.” He put on a serious face and turned to Helmut. “Is there anything you want from me?”

He sounded like he might grant any wish the boy had. Helmut gulped. The question was vague and difficult to answer. So he said the first thing that came to his mind, which was not what he expected.

“I would like to leave the forest.”

A lightbulb went off in his head. Elaga had mentioned that the man might know a way out of the forest, although Helmut had forgotten that detail until now. As soon as those words left his mouth, a heavy weight struck his heart. The emptiness within him sounded like a bell.

Helmut discovered a desire that he had never been aware of. He wanted to leave the forest. It was a natural instinct, like a salmon swimming up a river to lay its eggs. He wanted to return to his roots. Or perhaps he only started yearning for it just now. But why?

He couldn’t complain about the life he currently led since he barely faced any challenges or hardships. However, satisfying one’s basic needs was never enough for a human. They needed more than that. The same held true for Helmut. That’s why he desperately tried to educate himself by asking countless questions.

Or perhaps, this desire was nothing more than his nature. He was abandoned at birth and forced to live in the Forest of Pahe after all. This place wasn’t meant for humans, yet here he was. Maybe he simply desired to be where he belonged.

Elaga’s stance was somewhat ambiguous when it came to this topic. She always said Helmut ought to return to where humans belong, but she never gave him much information nor urged him to pursue it. Yet she constantly reminded the boy of his human nature and of the world outside the forest.

Perhaps all these pieces had finally come together to form Helmut’s newfound desire. Tears welled up in his eyes. He felt a lump rising in his throat, but he managed to force out words.

“I was abandoned as a baby and have lived in the Forest of Pahe ever since.”

“And?”

“What’s out there? How is the human world different from the forest?” Helmut asked.

The man’s stern gaze softened. “The human world is not as beautiful or as peaceful as you might imagine. People have neither sharp claws nor fangs, and their bodies are weak. But what they lack in physical prowess, they compensate for by being crafty and vile and banding together in groups.”

Helmut was puzzled. He’d never held any fantasies about the outside world. Surely, the outside world must be safer than the forest if people had neither sharp claws nor fangs, and especially if their bodies were weak.

However, the man didn’t seem to think that way.

“You were thrown into the forest due to having the seed of darkness. So long as you carry the seed, people will hunt you down and try to kill you, even if you manage to leave the forest. So, are you sure you still want to go to the outside world?”

Helmut nodded without hesitation. There was little need to think about it, given he only had two options anyway. As it stood, he was fated to live in Elaga’s territory for the rest of his days until he died. It wouldn’t be so bad to live out his life in the forest as the magical beasts do, and there was nothing dismal about it since it was the natural course of things.

But what if there was an alternative?

From time to time, the memory from his distant past came back to him. Helmut remembered how his mother, a lady with blonde hair, cried as she held him in her arms.

He might have dismissed all alternatives if he had no memory to cling on. But the memory of his mother kept surfacing time and time again, stirring up a mix of emotions within him. Helmut fell from her warm embrace to the Forest of Pahe, from which no one was said to have escaped. His desire wasn’t born out of some naive hope, for he no longer entertained childlike optimism. What he had instead was determination and perseverance.

If there were a way out, he would take it. This became a burning mission in his mind.

Helmut raised his head and looked the man in the eyes.

“I still want to leave the forest.” He frowned and asked the man a question this time. “What about you? Why do you live here, and why aren’t you trying to leave?”

“If I left this place, there would be a bloodbath.” The man’s voice carried a chilling intensity. “If I were to return to the world, I’d have to take revenge on those who sent me here. In the process, I’d stain my hands with the blood of countless others.” There was remorse in his eyes. “I am ninety-six years old, and I have seen enough blood in my lifetime to fill a river. What would I gain from revenge other than the ashes of my wrath?”

“I-I don’t know,” Helmut said, shaking his head, not realizing what a rhetorical question was. “But as for me, I would like to leave the forest.”

Repeating the words made him desire it all the more. The goal brought focus to what had been a blurry world and etched itself across Helmut’s heart. The empty part of his soul was now filled with purpose in life. It hardly mattered whether it was actually achievable or not since his survival in the forest should’ve been impossible as well. There had been a flame in him, which he had failed to notice until today. But now, it sparked a burning desire in him.

Helmut’s once weary eyes now flickered with passion.

The man nodded upon sensing the change in him. “I do not know how to leave this place because I have never tried. But I know someone who might.”

“Who?” Helmut’s eyes widened in surprise.

The man seemed to hint that other humans were in the forest. “I cannot tell you that yet.”

“Yet” implied a potential change in the future, and even Helmut could understand that.

“It’s a long journey to the holy barrier, and the one who knows how to cross it is dangerous. He will not take pity on you because you are human or because you are young. He enjoys feasting on human flesh, so he might even slice you up and eat you while you’re still alive.”

“Then, what must I do?” Helmut asked.

“You must become stronger.”

The meaning of the man’s words became clear. Helmut understood what he must do: He must grow.

Magical beasts became stronger over time or by accumulating demonic energy through the consumption of other beasts and their cores. Humans could become stronger by consuming cores as well, but they couldn’t accrue as much demonic energy. In fact, humans couldn’t handle demonic energy well. Collecting too much of it could make one go insane or even make one’s body explode.

In that regard, Helmut didn’t have much demonic energy in him because he only ate magical beasts to keep himself alive. He did learn to hunt, but it had only been days since he marked his first kill. Despite the seed of darkness in him and how well-trained he was, Helmut was still just a human child. He lay at the very bottom of the food chain in the forest of Pahe, a child who’d likely be devoured at any moment if it weren’t for Elaga.

“How do I become stronger?” he asked.

“You must do as I say.” The man then stated another truth. “In your current state, you will never be able to cross the holy barrier.”

Helmut’s eyes widened. The man’s words implied that he might be able to cross the barrier one day if he met certain conditions. He had been told it was impossible to cross the holy barrier all this time, but this man spoke as if the task could be done.

“What must I do to cross the holy barrier?”

One question led to another.

“Have you ever consumed the core of a magical beast?” the man asked.

“No.”

“That should make it a bit easier.” The man frowned and clicked his tongue. Then he suddenly grabbed Helmut by the back of his neck. “Before we get to that, I’ll have to do something about your sorry state.”

“What are you doing?” Helmut protested.

Pow!

The man’s huge fist struck the side of his head, making his ears buzz. Helmut clutched his head and glared back at the man with his dark eyes.

The boy’s got a temper, the man thought. But a swordsman ought to have a bit of a temper; that was clearly better than being soft. “If you wish to return to the human realm, then you must first learn to be a person.”

He saw Helmut as an uncivilized child who was only better than a beast by a tiny margin—the only consolation being that he wasn’t completely feral.

With that, the man confidently declared his plan.

“I shall make a man of you.”