I was finally out into the word. As I was walking through the forest of sleeping trees I remembered it was winter. When we had passed through here it was still fall and the tree leaves were colorful and vibrant with only some of them having fallen off back then but now the ground was covered in those leaves and the trees were left naked. Kenos hadn’t even given a second glance at the beauty of this forest… I was Kenos no longer.

A few aqua wolves passed by me as I was walking. They didn’t attack me. They knew I meant them no harm and knew that they should not attack me. They were much more than mindless beasts. Why did people call them monsters I wonder? Because they were created out of pure mana? I don’t see why that has anything to do with it. They were wolves just like normal. The only difference was that when they died instead of becoming a corpse to slowly decompose they would turn back into the mana they were composed of. It was still death. But unlike those who have souls they would never come back. They were forever gone. People who had souls could rest inside of me and then return to the world after a while as someone else. These wolves could not. Thus I could not bring myself to harm them when they are just silently passing by.

I looked forward and one of them had stopped in front of me and seemed to be bowing. I wonder if it understood what I am. I smiled gently at it and pet its head. I wanted to help it but I could not. I knew that giving it a present would break the balance of nature. The wolves here hunted and they were hunted in exchange. That is how it was and that is how it should be. I stopped petting the wolf and it got up running after the rest of his pack.

I continued walking in the vibrant colors which covered the ground. I could see so much more in this world. I saw as nature took its course and a deer was hunted by the wolves I just passed by several kilometers behind me. I saw as a beastman was aiming a bow at a wolf isolated from its own pack, different than the one I saw, more to the southeast. I saw Leon’s men guarding the mountain pass in the direction I was walking in. Just like they were a month ago. As I got close I decided I should change up my clothes a bit. Not like I’m planning on being seen by them or anything but I might as well.

Until now I was wearing the same clothes Kenos had. I quite liked them still but I had something else in mind. As I walked my old clothes changed slightly. The coat now instead of looking like fur looked silken and didn’t have a hood and my trousers also changed the same way and a mantle forming around my shoulders which reached around the middle of my torso in length and being held by a silver brooch in the middle of my chest right below my neck. If people could see under my coat they would have seen my shirt changing into a white one, still with long sleeves with the shirt itself reaching a bit under my waist in length and a belt holding it and my new pants in place. For my feet I had some simple but high quality leather boots. I was going more for the noble look than the rich adventurer thing Kenos had going on. I laughed a bit at myself for being concerned with fashion at this point.

I had been walking for four days already when I reached the mountain. I could have gone faster but I decided instead to take it easy for a bit. The whole time I was hiding my aura from the gods. The whole reason Kenos got discovered so easily is probably because he messed around by controlling the darkness and not hiding himself at all. The god of darkness probably detected him in no time at all. Kenos… was not really the thinker among us. Kenos was the strongest but at the same time he was the most vulnerable because of his foolish belief in his strength. He only realized it when it was too late and he was clawing at the ground in pain in the god’s domain.

I had already passed into the point the beastmen were observing but none could see me. A spiritual being isn’t so easily found if he does not wish to be seen. Again Kenos was bad at that. Now that I think about it. Kenos was pretty much the biggest idiot amongst us. His abilities were filled with so much potential. So much power in the hands of someone who could not use it right. I hoped that I hadn’t inherited too many of his bad points. I thought for a second about going to see Leon but I shook my head. There was no point in it. How could he have refused an order from the gods themselves? I remembered how he looked at Kenos when he handed the little girl a coin. He seemed to question what he was going to do but he didn’t have a choice. Zahrah… took that choice away… I walked by and entered the mountains.

Some parts of the mountain were already covered in snow. They weren’t before. Though it was fall the mountain was not tall by any means so the snow had still not come to it even then. Now though I could feel the cold. I could feel it but was not bothered by it. The only reason I could feel it was because I wanted to. I could easily block it out. Or if I wanted to I could turn this whole mountain warm with the flick of my wrist. I did not though. It would break nature. I did not want to break it. Some breaking was good. Just like how a mirror breaks so can the shell of a newborn chick’s egg. This however would obviously be the bad kind. Not like how the void broke only to reveal a new shape.

I appreciated my white surroundings while I walked. I felt monsters approaching from a long distance away but they generally either avoided or ignored me… with the exception of one specis. The goblins in this mountain were not smart enough to feel the danger I was exuding and just thought I was another human passing through the mountain that they could loot. As one of them tried to jump on top of me from a nearby cliff I jumped backwards slightly which amounted to a distance of ten meters. Unlike Kenos I wasn’t physically weak. In fact even dragons would have difficulty matching up to my strength.

The goblin fell to the ground headfirst but since the cliff wasn’t that tall in the first place it did not die. It just got back up while wobbling around unsteadily. After they saw that the ambush had failed a few others fell from the cliffs in front of and behind me. The place I was at was perfect for an ambush but I had passed through it since I could already see anything several miles around me.

I knew this ambush was here. And it was also the perfect place to test out my new strength. A black and white energy came out from the ground gathering in my hand. The energy itself looked incredibly beautiful to me. Unlike the void which looked nothing but creepy this energy was elegant like a stream of water travelling through the air. A white stream with the occasional black mixed in. It showed that the void was still a part of me… but only a small one. The true me was much bigger than the simple void. The stream itself let out a weirdly soothing, dim, silvery light.

As it gathered in my hand the energy did not make a sword or anything like that. It made a stick. A walking stick, or a cane, to be exact. The handle was rounded and easy to hold. I grabbed the cane which had formed in my hand and made a single stroke with it towards the goblins in front of me.

The stroke caused the air to split and as the force of the swing reached the goblins each of them turned into mana instantly and disappeared into the air. I turned my eyes to the ones behind me but they were starting to run away. These creatures were not ones I was going to let get away though. I remembered what Kenos saw in that goblin dungeon he created. I remembered the women and their dead eyes which looked like they were begging for death. Looking at them with a glare like a knife which could stab through a dragon’s scales like they were nothing, my smile nowhere to be seen and replaced with a sharp gaze, I made another swing towards the other group of goblins. A few hobgoblins were mixed in but that did not matter. They were all split apart and disappeared into the mana stream in the air. As they did I changed the way I held my cane and put it to the ground continuing my walk using it with an increased pace.

There were no further offenders after that. I had gotten over the mountain in only two days as I had walked at a speed that would make a normal human tired in minutes let alone days. When I exited the mountain I didn’t bother going west to the village where Kenos had stayed a week to gather information and instead headed straight south. Through the plains and the forests instead of on the dirt roads. At one point it started raining but the raindrops did not hit me. The animals approached me curiously when they saw me and followed me for a bit from time to time while some avoided me like the plague. I thought that the ones avoiding me would live long and prosper. Though I did not mean them harm they had a brilliant ability of avoiding potential danger.

I reached a road which I wanted to follow after a few days. The road was muddy but I just walked on it as if it was solid. A few travelers on the roads seemed to wonder what a noble was doing by himself on a road like this while they were walking the fields. The fields were much easier to walk across while the road was in such a condition as there was at least grass there which would make it easier to traverse the mud though it was currently just dry grass and not the lush greenery of spring and summer. Fortunately none of them were slave traders so I did not have to murder them. One caravan in particular also had a few women and children. Some of the children looked at me from not too far away and a few waved. I just smiled gently and waved back with the hand free of holding my walking stick. I reached the place I was aiming for after only a day of walking. A black void spike was coming out of the ground next to the road and I stood in front of it. I went in my inner world. The white background, the black shards, the silvery light. It was just like the energy I had controlled to make my cane.

The black shards reflected memories and people. They reflected forms and experiences. In one I saw a man in his late thirties or forties drinking with Kenos and smiled. Approaching the soul I touched it and showed it the image of the black spike to which it laughed. I could feel what it felt and what it felt was “That’s one creepy looking grave that guy made me.” After that thought the rest was simply gratitude for showing this to him before he moved on. I only smiled at his words and wished him a good new life. The soul disappeared from inside me. The black shards which were around it before were still reflecting his memories and form but soon cracked and broke before turning to dust and eventually completely disappearing.

Technically Kenos hadn’t asked me for that but I was sure he’d be wearing an awkward smile on his face right now if he was still here. I also smiled. Much more gently than him. Not awkwardly. I just smiled. I could have made the grave look much better but I dared not to touch it the memento left by Kenos. I had not the right to. I simply continued walking. Next stop. Karpas.