Athen stared at the Old Man shocked, how could a human take down such a powerful creature so quickly? How was he able to vanish like that? Athen had many questions, but he was sure he wasn't going to get many answers soon.
By now, the body of the Stalker had completely burnt away. Left behind was a strange imprint within the Second. It was like the shadow world itself had a shadow, a permanent resting place of the emotions that birthed such a creature in the first place.
"A memory born, it learned to hate its own reflection. Fear turned flesh, a Stalker. The Abyss listens to all, and sometimes it answers." The Old Man quietly said, looking at Athen with a slightly sad look.
How cryptic…
Listening to the Old Man's ramblings, it reminded him a lot of different preachers back on Earth. Such a philosophical discussion wasn't his style, but he didn't seem to have a say now.
Mother.. Father.. Aubrey and Martha, I'll get strong with this man and I swear I'll get revenge for you. I'll make those people pay tenfold.
The events at the town, and even his life before the attack, they all seemed like a dream now. A memory from many, many years ago. Was it a trauma response? He didn't know yet, but he knew that if he wanted any answers for what brought him to this world, what's happening to him, and even what happened to his family would require him to walk under the Old Man's tutelage.
At that point, the Old Man was done thinking to himself and started walking deeper into the forest. Athen quickly followed, and just a few minutes after they started walking he sensed something from his right.
Hm? Those shadows…
Athen noticed that some of the shadows from the bushes seemed distorted, they didn't match the form of their origin. Peering deeper, Athen saw another shadow slowly flicker into existence.
A human? No.. it's not human. It looks like one but it exists within the Second.
Athen quickly discovered what he was looking at. When looking to the Second, everything would become colorless and hazy. He could see the underlying functions of the world, the ripples of the air, the beating hearts of once living beings, or beings that will once live.
The human-like creature he could see lying in the bush was clearly not of this world. It was colorless, but he could see what would make it have color. It's jaw appeared detached, and its long mangled tongue hanging down. If it was a real creature, it would certainly be bloody and quite the horrific sight. But now, he could see it for what it truly was.
Looking at how the Second was affected by the creatures presence, he felt an intuitive understanding for what the creature felt. It was scared.. so very scared.
Poor thing.. what could've happened to you to make you this way?
For some inexplicable reason, Athen felt pity for the creature. Was this one of the Eidolon that the Old Man had mentioned? It felt very different from the stalker they had just met a few minutes prior.
The Old Man then looked over at the creature, then at Athen. He stayed silent for a moment before saying just a few words,
"Go kill it."
His words weren't a request, or a suggestion, they were a command. Athen looked at the Old Man questionably, he wasn't attest to attacking the creature, but why should he?
"That creature was once human, a human much like you. The Abyss saw it, it gave that human a chance, but the human failed. It couldn't sustain the power bestowed upon it, and fell into madness. We call those creatures Hollowkin, and that would've been your fate had I not been there to stop your descent." The Old Man's words were firm, leaving to word for comment or argument.
That could've been me? How ominous…
Regardless, it seemed now that his only choice was to fight the Hollowkin. Athen looked back at it, and it immediately began to crawl forward.
Its speed was surprisingly quick, closing the gap between the two in a matter of a couple seconds. Athen, slightly startled, tried to side step the Hollowkin. His foot caught on an exposed root and he stumbled slightly, barely catching himself before he fell. However, that stumble gave the Hollowkin all the time it needed to attack again. Still crawling, its body lunged forward as its jaw unhinged further. Athen raised his arm to block the attack, and the Hollowkin's razer sharp teeth pierced his forearm, sending a wave of pain down Athens arm.
Shit!
The Hollowkin locked its jaw around Athens forearm, and no amount of thrashing could throw it away. Desperate, Athen dropped to the ground and began beating the Hollowkin with his left hand. Each hit, Athen felt a jarring pain in his right arm, but he kept hitting.
Is this thing not afraid of death??
Athens thoughts were panicked, the pain in his arm was severe and no matter how many times he beat the Hollowkins mangled face, it stayed latched on. Changing his plans, Athen raised his body, carrying the creature and slammed down with all his might.
The Hollowkins jaw unclenched at the weight of the impact, and it spot up a mouthful of blood. Taking this opportunity, Athen got on top of the creature and began hammering down fist after fist. His right arm was screaming at him, but he didn't care. He wanted the creature dead, so he was going to kill it no matter what.
Each hit was resounding, his strikes carrying far more power than a boy of his age and size should be capable of. Seconds turned into minutes, and the creatures skull had completely caved in, yet it was still alive.
Die you stupid bastard!
Eventually, it seemed that even this resilient creature was unable to hold on any longer against the ruthless onslaught. It's body turned limp, its skull nothing more than a pile of mush at this point. The rest of the body slowly began to disintegrate, a sign that Athen could stop.
He immediately collapsed to his side, his breathing rough and ragged. Besides the terrible bite on his right hand, and his extremely bruised knuckles, he wasn't really that injured. It seemed the Hollowkin was really thirsty for blood, and too dumb to attack any other way than with its disjointed jaw.
Even though the creature was long dead, Athen still felt a burning anger deep within him that wouldn't go away. Beating the creature was strangely therapeutic,
I guess I have a lot of pent up emotions, that's natural.
Athen had been through hell just a day before, his entire life stripped away from him while he was powerless to fight back. Even if his suspicions that the First Sigil, or the Abyss, had corrupted his mind slightly were correct, he would still have many wild emotions following such an encounter.
The Old Man gave Athen no time to rest, however, as he immediately beckoned him to his feet and began walking deeper into the forest.
"A unique way to fight, I expected much different from you." The Old Man said, clearly dissatisfied.
"I was angry, I guess," Athen remarked simply, he himself was confused about the way he fought. He took lessons from a distinguished knight captain of the area, he knew how to face such a foe much better than that, yet the results were obvious.
"No matter, I'll be sure to educate you properly." The Old Man instantly picked up his pace, turning from a walk to a slight jog.
The terrain was rough, so jogging through it was a tough endeavor. Athen was still tired after his earlier… display. Struggling to speak through his uneven breaths, Athen asked the old man,
"Where are we going? I've never heard of any humans traveling this deep into the forest?"
"To a perfect training place, a place riddled with weak Eidolons and Hollowkins. What better way to learn your new powers than by having to fight with your life on the line." The Old Man remarked, as though his answer was obvious.
Athen stared at the Old Man, he couldn't say that he was super shocked by his response, but it was his worst case scenario for sure.
That one moment of distraction was enough for Athen to lose his footing and start tumbling down the slope.