'Today is the 21st of April. It's been a year since I came to the Azaroth Mountains.
Today is also Akiko's birthday. Wouldn't have guessed it was so close to mine…
When the month began, she advanced to the Red Stage. I'm still stuck in the Black Stage, but no hurry—I'll get there.'
'What should I get her? I don't have anything on me, and I don't have money either… what do I do?'
'Yeah, I've got nothing… I'm just gonna give her nothing. But wouldn't that be rude?'
"Well… we could go hunting, and I could let her have all the spoils…"
'Yeeeaaahhh, that's never going to work. First, I need money. Second… I need money.'
Azazul stood from his bedroll and looked over at Akiko, who was still sleeping. Her face, however, was red as a berry. Without thinking, he placed the back of his hand on her forehead.
"Are you coming down with a fever…?"
He left the cabin—unaware that Akiko was actually awake and had heard everything he said about getting her a gift.
Azazul walked over to Matthew, who was already sitting with two bowls ready. He took one and sat on a log.
After a while, Akiko came out, took her bowl, and quietly sat beside Azazul.
Azazul said softly,
"Happy birthday, Akiko… I don't have a present yet, but I'll work something out."
Matthew chimed in as well.
"Happy birthday, Akiko."
Akiko thanked them with a weak smile, but then she unexpectedly coughed. To Azazul, that confirmed she was coming down with a cold.
When they finished eating, Azazul whispered to Matthew,
"I think she's coming down with a fever. I'm gonna go look for some medicine."
Matthew nodded with a knowing smile.
Since it was Akiko's birthday, they had no training that day.
Retrieving most of the medicine ingredients was easy—but one specific plant grew near the den of an A-rank beast. Azazul didn't worry, though. Being only at the Black Stage meant his mana signature was weak, and the creature wouldn't sense him from the entrance. It should be a simple in-and-out job.
***
Azazul walked over to the entrace of the den and safely retrieved the final plant, but deep inside the cave he sensed a very strong, almost toxic presence.
"I probably shouldn't go deeper… should I? With my luck, I'll end up in a dire situation…"
And yet, Azazul found himself standing face-to-face with a massive, sleeping serpent—its body easily two hundred times larger than his own. His curiosity had gotten the better of him.
'This is bad… Should I kill it?'
'No… I'd probably die. This isn't A-rank—this is S-rank. But if I leave it, what happens to the village when it wakes up?'
'And what if it's here to protect the village?'
'…No, that seems unlikely.'
Worst case: I die. Best case: I—huh? What the hell is that?
Behind the serpent, partially hidden, was an—
'Egg?'
'Is it the serpent's? Or was it left here for the serpent to guard? So many questions… and no answers.'
After a long hesitation, Azazul jumped—just high enough to reach the serpent's head and light enough to avoid noise. Mid-air, he smoothly unsheathed his tachi and plunged its beautiful electric-blue blade into the serpent's skull. As the blade pierced skin, flesh, and bone, he released 300 kilojoules of lightning energy into its brain. The serpent didn't even twitch; the tachi slid through with precise fluidity. Its breathing stopped.
Azazul pushed off the serpent's head, landing softly—but instantly clutched his left eye in pain, as if a heated blade had stabbed into it.
He lifted the tachi to reflect his face. His gold eye remained. His grey eye was gone—replaced by the Eye of Darkness.
Before his eyes, the serpent's massive body turned pitch black—blacker than tar.
'Don't tell me that thing is alive… Bad timing, Eye!'
A sharper pain stabbed behind the dark eye. Still covering it, Azazul looked back at the serpent's head.The once-dead creature was now alive. Its body, fangs, even the inside of its mouth were pitch black. It released a terrifying hiss, its scales swallowing every bit of light, its eyes burning with murderous intent.
'This is bad!.'
Azazul froze. His heart racing. He couldn't move—or even lift his sword. One wrong motion meant instant death. The serpent lowered its enormous head to his face...and then it was sucked into the Eye of Darkness.
One moment it existed. The next, it was gone—absorbed into him, though he had no idea what the Eye truly granted its vessel.
'What just happened…?'
Not sticking around to find out, he grabbed his sword, the large egg, and ran.
Back at the cabin, he hid the egg and made the medicine. When Akiko felt better, she sipped the leftover mixture while they sat by the fire.
Azazul thought of the cave incident. Staring into the darkness, he raised his hand to summon the serpent, but nothing happened. He tried again, pouring more mana into it—still nothing. He lowered his hand, circulated mana through his body, and gave a mental command to the serpent—
Akiko lifted her head, noticing his strange posture.
"What was that?"
He turned to her, his long jet-black bangs falling over his face. When he brushed them aside, Akiko froze. His left eye—was gone.
"Weirdo… your eye—it's—"
Something moved in her peripheral vision. She whipped her head toward the darkness.
A massive serpent slithered forward, its head easily five times larger than the logs they were sitting on. Akiko went pale. She didn't dare move—she felt she would die if she did.
Azazul spoke, trying to sound calm.
"Meet my new… pet."
But even his voice shook.
The serpent's oppressive aura pressed on them both. Akiko turned to Azazul, desperate for reassurance—but he was just as terrified.
Azazul quickly dismissed the serpent and looked at her, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah… I killed it when I went to fetch medicine for you."
Akiko blinked, confused.
"You killed it? Then how is it alive? And how didn't we see it when you came back? I only saw the egg."
"Well, long story short… I stabbed it in the—wait, you knew about the egg? I thought you didn't notice."
"I noticed. So you better explain."
Azazul sighed.
"Okay… okay. I stabbed it in the head, then the Eye absorbed it. That's why you couldn't see or sense it."
"Is that the eye your uncle talked about? The one you need to control your fire element?"
Azazul scratched his head again.
"Yeah… it's called the Eye of Darkness. But I still don't understand what powers it gives."
"Weird name. By the way—what rank was the snake?"
"I'm not sure, but definitely not A-rank. Probably S-rank… Plus I got a sweet-looking egg so it was worth the risk."
Before he could go retrieve it—
"S-rank?!"
Akiko punched him on the head.
"Ow—what the hell, Aki?!"
"You could've died, you moron! You don't just casually kill an S-rank!! How do you think I'd feel if you died while getting me medicine!?"
Azazul rubbed his head, trying to soothe the pain.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry… Damn it , why do you hit so hard?"
"Well? Where's the egg?"