Many say the night is young and it was long. And it wasn't just a saying among the village. Truly, when the night consumed the world itself, the darkness had every right to decide whether to last long or vanish instantly.
But that day, the darkness decided to stay longer than it ever had.
The road past the south gate was quite peaceful than Damien imagined. It was dark, yes, but it was unusually quiet like a sanctuary.
But it didn't have the hint of life either, unlike the massive wilderness up ahead.
The road was thin, unlike any roads in Flower Field Village. It was like the more they went forward, the more it become vanished.
It became thinner and thinner to the point it was no longer a road. Only briefly spotted old foot signs that seemed to disappear from the road.
The darkness had already swallowed them whole. If not for the lamp that the beggar carried in his hand, the three of them would have definitely been lost on the trail to the dark forest.
The old beggar took the lead, and Lila and Damien followed behind.
It was absolutely silent; only the sound of their footsteps kept them sane.
Grass and plants brushed off Damien as he slowly walked behind, still holding Lila's hand.
The forefront was utter dark, leaving only the light of the lamp behind.
They all were unspoken until now. To break the silence, Damien muttered:
"How long do we have to go? We've been walking for an two hours straight."
His voice was low, but it was just enough to reach the walking old beggar's ears.
"It seems the more we walk forward, the thinner the road becomes," Lila, who was walking beside Damien, spoke.
"Nilrem, are you sure that we are going the right way?" her voice was filled with uncertainty.
But the old beggar didn't answer. He continued walking without turning his back.
"So that's his name — Nilrem. Bit odd, but to a weird fellow like him, it suits him very well," Damien thought in silence.
Without answers, they kept walking for another half an hour.
The road was now no more, only the path that Nilrem cleared by stepping on grass they could follow.
To Damien, this was very easy. His patience was already on par with his father. As a hunter, he remembered the days he had gone into wild forests to hunt, to lay traps, wait until the right environment set up, to lure the prey. Sometimes it would even take up to a week to hunt a big beast. And this was all done with wooden craft swords and bows.
In Damien's life, he never learned real swordsmanship. To wield a sword and learn swordsmanship, one has to enroll in the Grand Academy of Rain Heart.
But to even do that, one has to have body mana — a form of magic that resides in the user's body to strengthen and quicken his movements. Basic magic is the practice of harnessing mana to manipulate natural elements and more.
But due to his hunting, he had his own hunting techniques without using mana. This was Damien's biggest strength so far, and also the phenomenal reason that he was able to defeat those soldiers who tried to harm Lila.
And from that event, he obtained a real sword that only royals and knights could use —
A silver sword.
"Although normal guards like soldiers shouldn't be having this, it's not my problem how they got it in the first place," Damien chuckled, tapping the sword tied to his belt.
But Lila,on the other hand, was running out of patience. Her face turned bit red, not from blush or shyness but due to unbearable irritation.
She could no longer take it; she finally raised her voice:
"How long are we going to….."
Before she could finish, Nilrem the old beggar spoke while stopping.
"We are here."
Damien and Lila both looked around, but nothing could be seen except for darkness. The gleam of the rusty lamp couldn't even penetrate through the dark.
"Just take this lamp and walk a few miles; you will find it," Nilrem gave the lamp to Damien and turned his gaze at Lila.
"As for the payment. Well….. let's see, if you make it alive, I don't need it.
But if you didn't… he..he… that's another story."
"Well then lads, good luck to you."
Nilrem laughed bitterly before turning his back and walking in a different direction.
"Wait! Don't you need a lamp? And that's not the way we came!"
Lila stunned, raised her hand and yelled at the old bagger but he kept walking along with out looking back and dispersed in to the foggy darkness.
…
The cold wind brushed through every exposed part of Damien's outfit bringing a unusual chill to his body.
Damien was used to the cold and harsh weather throughout his life being a hunter. But Lila — she was no hunter. Damien began to worry deep in his heart. Even if their encounter was brief and bitter, he swore to protect Lila's mother before she left.
Damien placed the rusty lamp on the ground and began to take off his upper shirt, and the black robe covered it.
"Hey… hey… what are you doing Damien?" Lila muttered nervously. Even though it was dark, Damien saw the brief redness of her face from the dim light of the lamp that was placed on the ground.
"Is he really going to take his shirt off? What does he think I am….. but if I can see his pale, beautiful, strong body again…
"It's fine, it's fine, I've seen his body before….. but seeing it again…"
"Is he doing it purposely…? I have to keep a straight face, or he will think I'm crazy…"
Her thoughts were at war against her.
While Lila was fighting her inner desires, Damien folded part of his shirt and placed it on the ground.
"Okay, if we ever get lost, this would be the first mark that'll help us," he thought after securing it with a huge rock.
"Here, wear this. I don't want you to get cold on me, Lila," Damien smirked at Lila, offering his black robe to her.
"But what about you?" Lila, who suddenly broke free from her thoughts, asked with concern in her eyes.
Damien's upper body was now naked; even in the darkness, his muscular abs shined.
"Please wear this, Damien. You will be cold. Take it back, I'm fine — look at me!"
Lila, still reddened, refused to let Damien win against the cold, even if she could have a peek at his body.
"Hachuu!"
Before Damien could argue, she sneezed, breaking the surrounding silence for a mere second. Damien couldn't help but smile at her.
"Lila, that answers it all. But don't worry about me; I have trained for this."
"But…. but…"
"No buts. Let's go. We have to keep moving, Lila," Damien took the lamp in his hand and began to move forward into the deep darkness