Chapter 7.

Fear in his veins.

Nihilborn was scared. He didn't know these strange species he'd heard about in history books and mythology. He'd always believed they were mere fantasies, but now the fantasy didn't sound so far-fetched. 

In fact, their appearance in the books was even very embellished, because seeing them in person made the reality much more terrifying. However, he found courage where he had none. He aimed his gun and began shooting at them, but the bullets didn't even pierce them. 

When one of the Gargoyles approached his face, he believed death was what he would find. But something very peculiar was what they told him after sniffing his hair: You are a descendant of the King, a descendant of the Knight of Time. You are not him, but you smell like him.

That action served as a shield, as they didn't harm him. On the contrary, Richthofen took advantage of the situation to his advantage by admitting that he knew the King's descendant very well, the descendant of the Knight of Time, but that the latter was ill and he had heard that mystical creatures could improve his health...

For a moment, none of the species there doubted his words; he sounded too convincing, even though he himself didn't know who the King's descendant was. Maybe, it was just what they call rookie luck, but he had to take advantage of it. 

It was there that the species made him a deal: they would teach me their healing arts, and he would bring the offspring home when his body, soul, and spirit had recovered.

 So, there the boy shook his hand, saying he was willing, that he accepted the deal. However, they also told him that for the casualties he had caused, he had to reward them with humans, to see it more as a way of sealing a pact. 

And of course, the young man didn't even think about it. He simply said yes, that he would bring two people the next day, but in exchange, they had to make him a superior being, someone far beyond the standard, who could turn the impossible into a possibility. And it was at that moment that the Gargoyles simply accepted the deal.

The young man left, but his word was already a guarantee that had to be kept, because whoever tries to deceive the unknown ends up sunk in the unknown.

When he returned home, he couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened, and his arm began to show marks as if the skin was being cut, the pact he had just initiated.

…(initium promissionis ad impossibilia), which meant (the beginning of a promise to the impossible)... 

Indeed, there was no way he could go back on what he had promised, but around here, there was hardly anyone he could take him to…

Then his parents came in and gave him a slice of mooncake with a glass of red fruit cocktail, telling him he was doing a good job, that he was a good boy, and that they were proud of him and the person he was becoming. It was then that he knew: the people who would follow him into the forest and not ask any questions were his parents…