Edward reached Agripin by the late evening as the sky was darkening and the shadows lengthening. He had spent the whole day running to cross in a single day what had taken the expedition two days of travel.

Once Edward left the cover of the trees, he saw Agripin clearly visible in the distance. Torches had already been placed at regular intervals on the palisade and the watch towers, adorning the village with luminous dots.

I’m glad to come back, and yet I’m dreadful of how I will announce the demise of the whole expedition. How I am supposed to explain to the grieving family, that their loved one died, partly through my fault, and yet that I am the only one left alive? How will I tell Bertrand that Adrien died?

I will have to bite the bullet on this one. It’s better to do it quickly since it needs to be done anyway.

Edward let out a sight before jogging toward the village. He had been running for the whole day, but his body wasn’t exhausted and he felt that he could still go on. Running for seven hours straight was a tremendous effort for a normal human, but it didn’t feel this way for him. For Edward, the run had been just a bruise, his body was recovering faster than the running could tire him out. Nonetheless, he was still feeling tired, not because of the effort, but rather because of the lack of sleep. Now that the tension was gone, the weariness was settling in.

The guards on watch duty saw Edward before he reached the gate, pointing at him with hurried and nervous gestures. Agripin wasn’t used to visitors, especially when the visitor in question was someone roaming alone as the night was settling in.

“Who goes there? Stand in the light so that we can see you properly!”

Edward had the thought of using his aura to spook them, just like Marc had before. But he let it go away, it wasn’t the time to play, especially with the kind of news he was bringing back.

“It’s me, Edward. I left with the expedition to explore the ruins within the Vipin Forest.” He answered them while stepping closer to the gate so that the light of the torches illuminated him, helping the guards to recognize him.

“Bloody hell, no way! The expedition has left for more than three weeks already. No one can survive alone for that long inside Vipin Forest. The expedition had a few days of ration at most.” One of the guards berated him. “I won’t let you in, you shape-shifting monster!” he exclaimed, his voice infused with both fear and pride of managing his duty so efficiently.

What the heck?! One vein was throbbing on Edward’s forehead. First, that beetle thinks I’m a larva, and now people think I am a shapeshifting monster. What’s wrong with this world? Are there even shapeshifting monsters in this forest? I only encountered dark wolves and Bloodmaws.

“Stop spouting nonsense you jackass! Shapeshifting monsters ain’t real, and this is clearly Edward, I recognize him, he was always hanging with Adrien and Bertrand.” His comrade cut him off. “Let him in, and call the captain, he will want to be here to hear this.”

The first guard left begrudgingly mumbling something about duty but he still complied with the order. The gate opened soon afterward, and Edward was able to safely enter inside the village.

It’s not like those walls would have stopped me now that I can teleport, but it is better if I don’t show my power to everyone. Monsters are straightforward, but people can be deceptive, teleportation or not, a dagger in the back will kill me all the same. It’s better to keep a trump guard in hand. I don’t think there is any danger coming from Agripin’s inhabitants, but better be safe than sorry.

The guard that had let him in came to meet him as the gates of the village were closing.

“I’m Wallace by the way. Glad to see you back. I seriously thought that the whole expedition had kicked the bucket when you didn’t come back after the first week. I’m quite curious about your story but I’ll wait until the cap’tain is here. I don’t want you to make you repeat the same story twice after all.” He paused. “Josef should be back soon with the cap’tain. He can be oblivious sometimes but he means good.”

“I’m glad to be back as well, the expedition hasn’t been the most pleasant,” Edward said in a big understatement.

They both stayed quiet, waiting for Josef to bring back Caspian, the guard captain. Edward and Wallace didn’t have to wait for long, Josef came back with Caspian after a few minutes only.

As he arrived, Caspian’s aura washed above Edward detecting his Awaken status at the same time. Edward hadn’t made the effort to suppress his aura even if he wasn’t flaunting it either. His newfound rank wasn’t apparent for ordinary people but a single wave of aura perception was enough to sense it. Caspian stopped in his tracks, a look of surprise etched on his face.

“From what I’m feeling you must have a long story to tell me. Come with me to the guard station, it’s something best talked about over a cup of tea. I must say, I wasn’t expecting you, I thought some of the forest beasts were attacking the village when Josef fetched me.”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Wallace and Josef went back to their watch duty, they couldn’t leave their post for long lest the walls stayed unguarded.

Once they were alone in the guard station Caspian took the time to boil a saucepan of water above a small fire, taking a chair and motioning for Edward to do the same, before asking about the elephant in the room.

“Seeing as you came alone, I deduct that this expedition didn’t end in a good way.” He sighed. “Too many youths seek fortune and adventure without realizing the danger of the wilds. Though I must say it is quite the shock to see you come back as an Awaken. You know, normally it takes several years to climb from the quiescent to the Awaken level, you must have quite the story to tell.” Caspian announced calmy. It seems he wasn’t that surprised by the fact that the expedition had disappeared, but more by the fact that Edward had managed to come back as an Awaken.

Seeing how he is reacting, they must already have made up their mind about how the expedition ended. It’s better than I thought, at least I won’t destroy their hope by telling them the truth.

Thus, Edward began to tell the whole story, beginning with how Marc led the expedition to Vipin Forest and how they had left the safety of the path behind. Edward didn’t hide his anger toward Marc, insisting on how he had behaved like a jerk and how the whole expedition had been totally unprepared to face this level of danger.

Edward slowed down when he reached the part about how he found the amulet and kept it for himself rather than giving it to Marc. He still felt guilty about that part, if he had done a different choice maybe the expedition would have ended differently. Or maybe Marc would have still discovered the secret passage hidden under the fake empty pedestal leading to all the Bloodmaws, condemning the expedition to the same gruesome end.

Edward told how the expedition faced monsters out of their levels. He explained how a single one of the monsters in the ruins was able to overcome the guards and how even Marc as an Awaken had to flee when confronted by two Bloodmwas at the same time.

Caspian didn’t interrupt him, listening silently, nodding his head, or raising an eyebrow when Edward recounted events that surprised him. Edward felt relieved about telling the amulet part to somebody else, his involvement with the expedition demise had still been gnawing at him from the inside. Admitting this part to somebody else freed him somehow.

When Edward told him the part of the teleporting mural, Caspian grew interested, asking him if he knew where he had been teleported to. However, Edward had no way to answer him. He didn’t know this world, and that place had been far from civilization, the only remarkable landmarks were the mountain ranges and the forest. That was not enough to narrow its location.

Edward explained quickly how he had spent his time in the wilds between hunting monsters and training. He omitted to tell Caspian about the books he found in the ruins explaining about auras, as well as the fact that he was now able to read the Damkinan language. Some secrets were still best kept to himself, at least until he was certain he could trust Caspian. However, Edward did tell Caspian that he got a power when he became an Awaken, without specifying which one. At this point Edward stopped his story to ask some of the questions that had been tormenting him.

“When I broke through to become an Awaken, I realized I had gained a power, is that something that usually happens?” Edward asked Caspian.

The latter stayed silent for an instant before answering him “Not all Awakens are able to gain a power. It is a possibility but you have to kill monsters that have powers themselves, and they are not the easiest to kill. You also need to absorb a lot of their blood. How many monsters did you even kill and drained for yourself to get that power?” Caspian asked without mentioning if he himself had such a power.

“I don’t know, I don’t think I killed that much. Before reaching the Awaken level I killed a second dark wolf at the start of the expedition and then maybe just four or five monsters in the forest when I got stranded.”

Caspian frowned “Only that much? Mmm, it makes sense in a way, you killed those monsters entirely by yourself and so you didn’t have to share their blood with anybody. Still, they must have been particularly strong, one usually needs to kill a lot more monsters to climb a level. Those monsters mustn’t have been easy to kill for someone at the quiescent level.”

They didn’t seem that hard to kill to me. But again, without aura perception it would have been a different story.

“You see, breaking through a level requires a lot of energy, and if you want to break through to the Awaken level, you will need either to kill a lot of weak monsters or to kill a monster near the Awaken level in the first place. Which is particularly hard, when you are a level below it.” Caspian announced, finishing his explanation.

I see, then it seems I won’t reach the next level anytime soon. But there is something else that is bothering me with those levels’ breakthrough.

“Before I broke through, I experienced a craving for more power, as if I needed to absorb more blood, and the one I was getting from killing a monster was not enough. Did you ever hear of something like that?” Edward asked, his voice tinted with a hint of worriedness.

“Yes, this part is actually very common. When you are close to a breakthrough, your body can feel it. It needs more power and more blood to reach the next level. Those body needs are what made you develop a craving.” Caspian gave him a solemn gaze. “This is not without risk. The craving encourages you to take more risks, to quickly gain more power, and without even noticing it, you begin to take fewer precautions, becoming more brazen. More than one has succumbed to a harsher monster that they expected, deluding themselves with their thirst for power.”

“Now, continue your story, you still didn’t explain how you managed to come back here with all those monsters haunting the ruins. I have the feeling that you left out some important information that you are keeping for yourself until now.” Caspian urged Edward, the latter wiggling on his chair feeling ill at ease.

“Well, you know…those monsters I told you about. The Bloodmaws inhabiting Oshle Tirion’s ruins, the ones that the expedition wasn’t prepared for. I might have accidentally led those monsters out in the forest during my escape. I wouldn’t recommend hiking in the woods right now.”

Caspian stood up. “You WHAT ?!!”