Time seemed to flow slower than usual. Tale felt his heart beating calmly as a coldness surrounded him.

Stab!

"argh..."

Stabbing a dagger into the right knee of a middle-aged man who looked far older than he should as his overall appearance was like an old man's, Tale controlled the blood from the stab point, freezing the flowing blood. Expanding further, the freezing of the blood effected both legs and arms halfway, as parts of blood spiked into small blood needles inches apart, poking at the inner tissue. The repaid change in the complexion showed the result.

Who was this man...? He was simply someone carrying the emblem of Virus. Around the man, the corpses of his fellow associates laid lifeless in their pools of blood, as his own white hair had stained red.

Tale had a cold but calm gaze as he looked at the man.

"Why did 'they' send you?" The calm voice of Tale sounded like a whisper in the man's ear as he tried to steady his breathing, he could feel his eyes growing heavy, but he didn't answer... Tale didn't expect one, he was simply a pawn who had met another pawn after all--but...

"[Vital Sacrifice]"

After a moment's passing, an unexpected event occurred.

Using his quirk... looking at Tale with a slight blood grin, the man had sacrificed his already limited time and strengthened his ability of speech for a moment, something he knew his comrades would chew him out on as he used his life on something 'useless,' but... he didn't feel it was a waste. He would see them sooner as well... he didn't want to keep them waiting for to long, they could get lost without him, he was the leader after all...

Watching as the man was sucked of vitality as his face wrinkled and body shriveled more than it had, Tale didn't understand the purpose of the man... he could 'see' or rather feel what was being strengthened. Even if he didn't have thoughts on the matter, it was odd... It lit a torch of the past.

At the start of their meeting, the man was middle-aged, but now he was like a 200-year-old rotting mummy.

["It's fine... it doesn't hurt, keep running..."]

["Okay... eat this... no, I'm not hungry... no, eat it, or I'll throw it away-"]

'I see... It's a rather interesting power... but, for a human to have it... it must be painful...'

["I-it's fine... it can help us... it only hurts a little- haha-"]

'Till your dying breath...'

Recollections of the past came to Tale as he stared at the calm eyes of the dying man as his ability gave him a pain far worse than he could ever inflict.

"..."

Through hazy eye's, looking at Tale's visage, the old man laughed slightly as he closed his eyes. "You asked why we came...? We rats merely followed the trail of bills to hunt a weak man... a weak man-hahah." There was a tone of mockery and a sad yet joyful vibe in the old man's voice.

Tale felt cold, hearing the old man's words.

"Yes, I am rather weak... Differently than what is seen from the outside... now, let me ask you, why did you use your remaining moments on such a useless thing..." Shaking his head, Tale asked the only thing that came to mind as he began to turn around to leave.

Arching to a bloody smile, the old man paused.

"On behalf of us 18, the rats of Britall Jallem... I thank you... the storm clouds we couldn't chase away have finally cleared. We lost, but now we can all rest for a bit..."

With a weakening voice, with a final laugh as blood dripped, the old man Edenel closed his eyes forever with a slight grin. His associates around him all had impassive or calm, eternal expressions as well.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Tale sighed. "My path is stained far too red... it won't wash away anymore..." From as far back as he could remember, this side had always had a bloody road, since the day of coming to existence.

Blocking the sun rays from hitting his face with his hand, Tale lightly tilted his head down as he bent down, tracing the blood stained ground with his left index finger. The symbol of Virus, a headless bird soaring, was etched.

Standing back with a moment's pause, Tale lifted his left foot and stomped with power at the symbol of blood he had etched, sinking the earth down by 6 to 10 centimeters at that spot it was made in the shape of his left sandal.

Drip. Drip!

The blood around quickly filled the hole as Tale lifted his foot back, which was stained red.

"Britall Jallem... there's a base there, hah..."

"Perhaps it could be a plan... I'll head elsewhere for now... that in of itself could be the plan, though..."

Walking ahead as the sun shone, at a speed where afterimages lagged behind, Tale fell into endless thoughts. Fatir, his other self, joined in this brainstorming of his as they both felt dazed with their continuous ideas. Their pool of knowledge started to merge to fast, so they had to stop the process, with Fatir simply correcting Tale.

The corpses and blood Tale had left behind had evaporated and turned to ash, so no evidence of the earlier event remained... though Edenel's body was solely preserved and in the vacuum of a domain far away.

"Arkenltek."

"Arlentek."

"Austek."

"Anticforma."

"The world is rather large..."

Thinking of Planet Earth's size, Tale had a headache... it wasn't small. It consisted of these four main continents, which themselves spanned large distances. It wouldn't be easy locating Virus. He had thought of plans, but they weren't efficient enough.

Tale had gone to every continent over his life to find a peace, so he was familiar. He had explored the depths of the ocean and walked through uncharted lands.

Virus seemed to be able to find him regardless of wherever he went, though. It was frustrating he couldn't do the same.

"That plague is planning something big this time..." Tale murmured. Virus was usually far more direct in intrusions of peace... Virus wouldn't use useless pawns otherwise.

'Virus is probably going to try to distract me before whatever plan is being cooked is ready... damn it...'

Unable to think of anyway to find Virus quickly... Tale continued walking without stop at his continuous speed.

After a short while, skipping past various signs, Tale arrived at a city. He was on the Arkenltek continent at present, though he didn't think Virus would be here... He just needed some information... after, there was no stop...

"Sigh... Villains and Heroes will be a problem now though... i'l-"

"..."

"Nevermind... let's be quick then..."

Suddenly vanishing, Tale became silent as a ghost... he seemed to be on a pursuit? Or perhaps it was best to say "Hunt."

...

As Tale dealt with a headache, on the other side, Fatir, slowly rose. He was slower than usual as he was focused on watching through Tale's eyes, but steadily stopped.

"Good morning Yul." He greeted as he tapped the wall lightly, causing a small flash, ringing a bell.

With a tired motion, Yul slowly rubbed his eyes as he groggily opened them. "Good morning..."

Lightly yawning, Yul sat up as Fatir handed him a glass of water.

Reaching his hand to grab the glass and drinking, Yul looked at the reflection for a moment before placing it down on a table next to himself.

"Hu...?"

Blink. Blink.

Gaining clarity, the strange new surroundings came to focus.

"Um... dad, where are we…?"

Looking around curiously, the strange room he was in triggered a strange feeling in Yul as he tried to quickly get off the unfamiliar bed he was sitting on to hurriedly go next to Fatir.

Seeing Yul's actions, Fatir lightly spread an aura which enveloped Yul as his feet touched the floor of the strange room, sending a cold sensation through his body before the aura fully enveloped him.

"Be careful, this place isn't fully suited for a human."

There were two opposing energies currently mixing and at a large abundance, Yul had a small core as he was young, so it wasn't pleasant for him to suddenly feel them.

"Ah...?"

Blinking, Yul looked up with a slight daze as he saw Fatir's extended hand, which he grabbed and steadied. A light glow surrounded him, giving a peaceful feeling.

"Did you use that blanket... aura magic again, dad?"

"Yep. Want to learn it?"

"YES!" Suddenly growing excited, the thoughts about the new surroundings halted in Yul's mind, but quickly returned as Fatir spoke.

"Haha, calm down, not now."

Yul was a bit embarrassed, but curiosity quickly hid it away.

"Dad, where are we? It isn't our home?"

"Hm..."

Starting to walk forward with Yul following whilst holding his hand, Tale looked out towards a window, which Yul did also.

"We're at an Elven Village, remember the place I showed you in that book?"

"Um... elven village... elf? Oh! Why are we here...?"

"Hm... you'll find out. Let's go prepare a meal.

"Hm. I'll help!"

__________________

To be continued.