At night, when everything should have been quiet, screams and cries echoed everywhere. The air, which should have been cool and pure, was filled with the disgusting scent of blood. The streets that should have been empty were crowded, but not with humans.
'WHERE ARE THEY… WHERE ARE THEY… WHERE ARE THEY!!!!!!!'
A man screamed in his mind. Blood poured from the wounds all over his body. He was holding two swords dripping with a sticky green liquid.
Clinging to his torso was a small girl, repeating,
"I trust you, Desper."
…
The morning before that night.
"Arghhhh…"
A young man suddenly woke up, holding his head in pain. He had short black hair and deep black eyes. His face might have been handsome, but due to the large burn on his left cheek, no one could tell.
"This dream again," he murmured in annoyance.
'You should stay alive, Desper.' These words kept echoing inside his head.
Arghhhhhh…
He felt a severe headache and a sharp burning pain on his left cheek, as if it were still on fire.
"Is something wrong, Desper?"
Suddenly, a soft voice beside him snapped him.
Desper looked over and was surprised to see a little girl sleeping next to him. She had long brown hair and blue eyes.
"Amal? What are you doing here?"
The girl, called Amal, held his arm tightly. "I had a bad dream."
Despite the terrifying burn on his face, Amal didn't fear him at all.
Desper's lips lifted in a warm smile. He stretched out his arms and hugged her.
"Don't worry. Everything is all right."
Fifteen minutes later, the two of them sat at the table and started having breakfast.
Desper only ate a little and watched the girl eating; a hint of sadness covered his face.
"Amal."
"What?"
He hesitated for a moment, then said, "We are going to leave the village soon."
"Huh? Leave the village?" She looked surprised and confused.
Desper sighed and said, "We are going to live in the sect."
The girl's eyes widened. "The sect?! The safe place?!"
"Yes. The safe place." Desper sighed again and looked through the window at the sky. In his mind, he added, 'Only safe for you.'
…
Thirty minutes later, they were standing in front of a small building.
"Don't forget to say goodbye to your friends," Desper said while waving. "And listen to your teachers if you hear the signal."
"Okay," Amal waved back and happily entered the school.
After making sure she had entered safely, Desper left.
He walked through the village until he reached the vast green fields on the outskirts. That was where he worked.
Although everyone worked in farming, they all carried at least one weapon: a sword, an axe, daggers, or something else. Desper himself wore two swords at his waist.
After exchanging greetings with the men working there, Desper approached an old man.
The old man had brown eyes and white hair. His face was full of wrinkles. He was leaning on a stick while examining one of the plants.
"Good morning, Elder Wei," Desper greeted him with a smile.
"Oh…" The old man left the plant and turned to face him. "Good morning, Desper."
Desper stared at him in silence.
"Is something wrong?" Elder Wei asked.
Desper sighed. "I'm leaving the village."
The old man's eyes widened. "So you are the one who awakened his Origin?"
Desper placed his hand over his chest with conflicted emotions. Inside his chest, he could sense a fist-sized dark sphere resting there.
"Yes, I'm the one," Desper murmured in a low voice.
Awakening his Origin meant that he had become a cultivator, which wasn't good news for anyone because it meant that he had to fight the monsters for the rest of his life.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Elder Wei said, consoling him.
After that, both Desper and Elder Wei remained silent for a couple of minutes.
"Phooooo…" Elder Wei let out a deep breath. "I still remember the day you appeared in our village a year ago."
"Your body was burned in many places. You had no memories," he recalled. "You caused huge chaos in the village that day because we thought you were a Lurker. I had to ask someone from the sect to come and confirm that you weren't a cultivator."
Desper smiled as he remembered that day. "Thanks to Amal's parents. They helped me a lot through these da—
"MONSTERS!"
Suddenly, someone screamed.
Desper and Elder Wei looked over and saw around ten large gray worms crawling toward them. They were almost the size of a grown man. They weren't very fast, but their mouths were full of large, sharp teeth.
All the men stopped working, picked up their weapons, and surrounded the monsters.
"Won't you join them?" Elder Wei asked.
"After joining the sect, I will spend the rest of my life fighting monsters much stronger than these worms. I want to take a rest today."
"Yeah, you deserve it," Elder Wei agreed. "By the way, how do you feel after becoming a cultivator?"
Desper replied, "My body feels lighter. I see better, hear better, and can even taste better."
Then he drew one of his swords and looked at it. "I think I will need heavier swords now."
By that time, the men had already killed the worms and started preparing to burn their corpses.
"I wish you good luck, Desper," the old man sighed. "I hope… I hope you won't die."
Desper faintly smiled, "Thank you."
…
After that, Desper spent some time wandering through the village.
He had lived in the village for a year, yet he didn't know every place there. Since he had the whole day free, he decided to visit every spot in the village.
Five hours passed.
Desper stood in front of the school and saw Amal standing with other girls her age. When she noticed him, she waved to her friends, then ran toward him.
Desper welcomed her with a smile.
"How was your day?" Desper asked before carrying her.
"Like every day," she replied simply, as she always did. "You promised to eat outside, so let's go."
Smiling, Desper didn't ask more questions and headed toward the best restaurant in the village.
It served the best food and was the most expensive, but Desper didn't care about the money anymore.
After sitting at a table, Desper looked at Amal and said, "You can order whatever you want today."
The girl's eyes lit up.
He added, "Not only that, you can order another meal to take home for dinner."
She was stunned for a moment.
After the food was served, Desper simply watched her eat with joy, since he wasn't in the mood to eat.
After eating, Desper took Amal to the village park.
The park was filled with rides and children playing everywhere.
When they arrived, Amal jumped from his arms.
Desper didn't stop her, and for the next two hours, he watched the girl play with the other children.
In the evening, Amal was exhausted from the long day and fell asleep in Desper's arms.
When he got home, Desper put her on her bed and covered her. He looked at the sleeping little angel in front of him and kissed her on the forehead.
"At least you will have a safe place for the rest of your life after I die," he said quietly with sorrow.
He closed the door gently, trying not to make a sound.
Desper felt dryness in his throat. He walked to the kitchen and found that there was no water. Usually, he filled the tank after finishing his work. Because his mind had been so busy, he had forgotten to do so.
He lifted the clay tank and left the house. Outside, he saw an old man sitting on a rocking chair.
"Hello, Uncle Zeff," Desper greeted him.
"Oh, hello, Desper. How are you and that little girl, Amal?" the old man replied with a cheerful expression.
Zeff was Desper's neighbor. He was a kind man whom no one could ever hate.
"We are very well. What about you?"
"Ho ho ho, I have nothing to complain about," Zeff said with loud, old laughter.
"Uncle Zeff, I'm going to the river to fill the tank. Amal is sleeping, and I don't want to disturb her. Can you watch the house until I return?"
Ignoring the monsters, the village was generally safe, but Desper still didn't feel comfortable leaving Amal alone in the house.
"Ho ho ho, don't worry. I'm a weak old man; however, if someone tried to break into your house, I would scream like a woman giving birth to a huge, fat baby. Ho ho ho ho…"
"Tha… thank you," Desper said with a forced smile.
He didn't waste any more time and went to the river on the outskirts of the village.
After a few minutes of walking quickly, Desper reached the river. He noticed some men watching for monsters. Desper nodded at them and submerged the tank in the flowing water.
After a few seconds, he lifted it and was about to leave when….
"What was that?!" He heard a strange noise on the other side of the river, where the green fields he used to work in were.
But when he looked, there was nothing strange.
"Is something wrong?" one of the men asked.
Desper ignored him and kept staring at the fields.
Desper had awakened his Origin, so his body was on a different level from that of a normal person, and so were his senses.
He looked closely between the green plants. Despite the darkness, he could still see a little.
Suddenly, his breath stopped, his pupils narrowed to pinpoints, and his body froze in place, drenched in cold sweat.
The tank dropped from his hand. Then, as fast as he could, Desper ran toward the village.
"MONSTERS! MONSTERS!" he screamed, his face filled with fear.
"Huh?!" The guards were stunned.
Every one of them drew their weapons, preparing for the fight.
BOOOOOOOOOM…
In the sky above the village, something exploded into a burst of blue light.
"Th—the Distress Signal?!" one of them stuttered.
They quickly tried to escape, but it was too late.
Screeeeeeeeech…
A terrifying screech rang out as tens of large rats leaped at the guards.
"Aaaahhhh…!"
"Nooooooo…!"
"Heeeeeelp…!"
They screamed, but no one came to help.
Desper was running through the village. He saw villagers leaving what they were doing and rushing to their homes.
"HEY, YOU! COME HERE!"
One of them called Desper to enter his house, but Desper ignored him and kept running.
When there was a Distress Signal, everyone had to get into their houses and make no sound. Even if someone was far from their own house, they could shelter in anyone else's home.
Desper didn't do that because he was sure he would reach his house before the monsters caught him.
He wanted to get there faster, so he decided to take a shortcut by climbing onto one of the houses instead of taking many turns.
When he reached the top of the house, he froze in place; for a second, he even forgot how to breathe.
"Im—Impossible!!!" he muttered in horror.
Thousands of rats were attacking the village from every direction. The village would never survive such an attack.
Soon after, he could hear screams coming from everywhere: men, women, children, and elders. The monsters showed no mercy to anyone.
"We're dead! We're dead!" his face filled with despair.
"The sect!" he quickly remembered. "Yes, the sect should arrive after the Distress Signal. I must survive until then."
With that in mind, Desper jumped to the ground and started running again.
Suddenly, he sensed danger and bent his body backward. He barely dodged the teeth of a leaping rat.
He didn't have time to feel relieved because, at the same moment, a long tail smashed into his face.
Desper lost his balance and almost fell to the ground.
Now he had a clear view of the monster.
It was a large rat, about twice the size of a normal cat. Except for its tail, its body was covered in deep brown fur. Its eyes glowed red. Two large, sharp fangs protruded from its mouth. Its tail was about three meters long.
Desper didn't expect the rat to attack with its tail like that. Although it didn't leave a wound, the hit was very painful.
He didn't want to waste any time on the rat, so he ignored it and kept running. The rat tried to catch him, but it was much slower. After becoming a cultivator, Desper was much faster than usual.
He climbed another house. He was about to land on the other side, but he stopped himself. On the other side, he saw a rat feasting on the corpse of a grown man. Around them were three rat corpses, cleaved into two pieces, probably by the sword beside the dead man.
Desper hesitated for a second, then jumped from the roof.
Screee—
The small monster let out a muffled shriek before its body burst as Desper's legs crushed down on top of it
Desper stood up and picked up the sword. He didn't leave immediately; instead, he waved the sword toward one of the corpses. The sword sliced easily through it.
"Very weak. No wonder he could kill three of them," he muttered. "Maybe the village has a chance."
After more running and turning, Desper was about to reach his house, but he was confronted by two rats that were gnawing at one of the houses.
He wanted to run past them, but unfortunately, they noticed him. They abandoned the house and lunged at him.
This time, Desper didn't hesitate and charged. He struck one rat with his sword and stepped aside to dodge the other.
The sword slashed easily through the first rat's body. After dodging the second, the rat tried to use the same trick and lashed its tail at him, but Desper was ready. He swiftly grabbed the tail with his other hand.
He swung the rat in the air, then, gathering as much strength as he could, slammed it into the ground. The rat didn't move afterward, but Desper still stabbed its corpse with the sword.
Shortly after, Desper finally reached his house.
His heart skipped a beat when he looked at the spot where Uncle Zeff had been. His eyes filled with grief at the sight of the kind man's body being torn apart by a group of five rats.
He wanted to rush and tear these monsters apart, but in the next moment, his heart sank when he saw a small hole in the wooden wall of his house.
He rushed inside, terrified to see a rat coming out of Amal's room, blood dripping from its mouth.
"NOOO!" Desper cried.
The monster noticed him and jumped toward his neck.
"I WILL KILL YOU!"
He didn't attack the monster with the sword; instead, he caught it midair.
His head trembled, and his face twisted in rage as he held it with both hands, squeezing and twisting the monster's body in different directions.
Screeeech…
The monster screamed in pain and whipped its long tail at him.
"HOW DARE YOU!!!!"
Desper ignored the pain and kept moving his hands until the rat's body was torn apart.
Unknown to him, strange green veins appeared in his eyes, slowly creeping toward the center.
He tossed the two halves of the monster aside and walked with a heavy heart toward Amal's room.
"Huh?!" He was surprised and relieved when he saw neither a dead body nor blood inside the room.
So he rushed to his own room.
"Amal?!" he called her name.
"D—Desper?" A soft, stuttering sound came from under his bed.
Hearing her voice, Desper hurriedly looked under the bed. Amal's face was terrified and covered in tears. He quickly pulled her into his embrace.
The strange green veins disappeared, as if they had never been there.
"I thought… you were… dead," she couldn't finish a sentence without gasping between sobs. "I was so afraid."
"I heard them trying to break into the house, but Uncle Zeff yelled at them and they…"
"It's okay, it's okay. I'm here now."