Ethan opened his eyes slowly to find himself in a vast white space with no visible end.
He began wandering inside this emptiness, searching for an exit. After a while of walking, he spotted something in the distance.
He kept staring in its direction for several moments, trying to figure out what it was.
He started walking toward it slowly. With every step he took, it became clearer and clearer. The closer he got, the more he began to hear a strange crying sound that grew louder and louder.
The sound was familiar to him, but he couldn't remember it.
He continued approaching until he reached it and discovered it was the same old lady he had seen before.
She was collapsed on the ground, crying just like the previous time.
Ethan approached her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
The old woman stopped screaming, and silence fell over the place for a few brief seconds.
The old woman didn't move during those seconds.
Suddenly, the old woman slowly turned toward Ethan. However, when she fully faced him, Ethan's eyes widened in shock at the horrific sight. Her face was completely devoid of features, covered instead by intense black fire.
The old woman placed her hands on Ethan's shoulders. Even though she had no mouth, he could hear her voice clearly.
Her voice was sharp and echoed as if she were speaking inside a cave: "My child did nothing, yet they killed him! They killed him!"
Her voice began to grow slightly harsher: "I hate the Katuran Empire. I hate it with everything I have. Everyone hates it, but no one can do anything about it."
The old woman started gripping Ethan's shoulders tightly, making him feel anxious and uncomfortable.
He began pulling her hands away, but she tightened her grip on his arms even more and said: "No one can do anything about it. No one. No one. No one."
She kept repeating her words over and over while Ethan struggled to remove her arms from his shoulders. Until he managed to pull one hand off and struck her in the face, causing her to fall to the ground and release her second grip.
Ethan remained breathing heavily and took several steps backward, moving away from her.
He felt something strange in his left arm.
He raised his arm and looked at it to see that his fist had filled with blackness.
Ethan felt horror and tension as he watched the blackness slowly spread across his arm until it became completely black.
He turned his gaze toward the old woman with a face full of anxiety and saw her still lying on the ground, repeating the same phrase. However, she stopped screaming for a moment.
Silence fell over the place, and nothing could be heard except the sound of Ethan's breathing.
The old woman raised her head toward him and began looking at him with her pitch-black face.
Ethan remained tense, sweat pouring down his face.
Suddenly, the old woman spoke in a strange voice, a mix between her voice and a man's: "But… can you do something?"
Ethan began to open his eyes slowly to find himself lying in his bed.
He got up from the bed and looked around the room to see that no one was there.
He walked over to the clay jar, poured some water into a cup, and started drinking.
After finishing, he headed to the door and left the hut to find Joseph waiting for him in front of the door.
Joseph greeted him, saying: "Good morning, you lazy one. Sorry to say this so early in the morning, but Mira asked me to wake you up and bring you to her, so please follow me."
Joseph turned around and started heading toward Mira's place, with Ethan following him.
On the way, Joseph looked at Ethan with a slight smile on his face and said: "Well, I don't know if you want to know or not, but Mira asked me to bring all of you to do your first mission. It's the first mission, so it won't be too difficult. It's probably just retrieving something or exploring an area."
Joseph stopped in front of one of the huts.
This hut was different from the others. It was larger in size with a group of white flowers around it, except for the stone path that extended all the way to the door.
Joseph looked at Ethan, gave him a light pat on the chest, and said: "So, what do you think of the place? It's nice, right?"
Ethan paid him no attention and continued staring at the flowers in amazement.
Joseph placed his hand on Ethan's left shoulder, chuckled a little, and said: "You like these flowers? They are the most beautiful thing in this simple village."
He pointed to the flowers and continued: "The villagers consider these flowers a symbol of hope, kindness, and tolerance. When they look at them, they feel that there is hope in this barren world."
Every time Ethan looked at these flowers, he felt comfort and peace spreading throughout his body.
The boy kept staring at them for several minutes until Joseph gave him a light tap to regain his focus.
Then Joseph went to the flower field, picked one rose from it, and gave it to Ethan: "Well, if you like these flowers so much, you can take one. But we have to go inside quickly because Mira won't be that patient."
Ethan took the rose from Joseph and they headed toward the hut.
After entering, they found Jesse, Jenny, and the rest waiting for them.
Mira looked at Joseph irritably and said: "Why the delay?"
Joseph apologized to her, and he and Ethan headed toward one of the available chairs.
Ethan sat in front of Jesse, while Joseph sat in front of Nicolas.
Jesse looked at the flower in Ethan's hand and said to him: "Oh! It's one of those flowers outside. You liked them too?" He began patting Ethan's head with a light laugh.
Mira asked everyone to pay attention.
Everyone turned their eyes toward her, waiting for the reason she had summoned them.
She said: "Well, I explained to you the reason I called you before, but I'll repeat it because these two were late. I brought you here to do your first mission in this village. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."
Nicolas spoke, saying: "Is there any material reward or benefit from this mission?"
Mira answered him: "Of course. For every mission you complete, each of you will receive 30 inro. Any other questions?"
Jesse raised his hand and said: "What exactly do we have to do in this mission?"
Mira replied: "Well, the mission is simple."
She turned toward a large map on one of the walls and placed her finger on one of the spots on the map, which was filled with simplified drawings of trees.
"You will head to the Sukata Forest. There, you will search for a tree in the middle of the forest, different from the rest of the trees — shorter than them, thicker than them, with a hole in the middle that leads to its depths. There you will find something like a mix between a seed and a worm. I think this is the description that was given to me, right? Anyway… a piece of advice from me: do not harm the trees in any way, because they can feel it."
Nicolas whispered, "Tree lover."
Jesse replied to her: "But we don't know exactly where this place is. We're not from this area."
Mira pointed her finger at Joseph, saying: "I know that, and that's why Joseph Anderson will go with you on this mission. He has complete knowledge of the area, so there's no need to worry about getting lost."
Jesse took a deep breath and looked at her, saying: "Also, what's the benefit of that seed?"
Nicolas continued with him: "Yes, exactly. Why would we go through all this for a seed?"
Mira replied to him: "It's a secret matter according to what they told me. That's all I have. Sorry."
The last one sighed in annoyance and said: "When are we leaving then?"
Mira replied to him: "Now. And also, Jesse."
Jesse turned to her in surprise: "What do you want?"
Mira replied to him: "No problem if you drive them in your car, right?"
Shock appeared on Jesse's face and he quickly turned toward her: "What? My car is here? Where did you put it?!"
Mira replied to him: "Calm down, man. You'll find it at the exit gate."
Jesse and the others left the place, following Joseph's footsteps.
They continued walking until they reached a massive gate. In front of it was a man in brown clothes and a hat of the same color, sleeping on his chair inside a small square room full of openings on all sides.
Joseph approached him calmly and said to him in a sarcastic tone: "How are you, Joe?"
The guard lifted his hat slightly upward, revealing his tired eyes.
As soon as the guard saw Joseph, a slight smile appeared on his face and he replied in a calm but optimistic tone: "I'm good as long as you're good, my friend. It's nice to see you again."
His pupils moved toward those with him as he continued: "So… what's new?"
Joseph replied to him in a cheerful tone: "I was sent with the newcomers to get something from the forest."
The guard replied: "So that's the case… Then I won't waste your precious time. Good luck."
He pulled a lever in front of him, causing the gate to open slowly all the way. Then it closed after Joseph and the others exited, where they found barren land with some dead trees here and there outside the wall.
Jesse looked to his right and saw that his car was parked in front of one of the walls.
He hurried to the car and started it. Upon hearing the sound of the car, relief returned to his heart. "Thank God it still works."
The rest headed to the car. Joseph sat in the front seat while the others sat in the back.
Before driving off, Joseph said to them: "No need to fear getting lost as long as I'm with you."
Joseph took out a map from a small bag he had and told Jesse to head right. Jesse moved the car under Joseph's directions and they set off on a new journey.
While driving, the sun was slowly rising in the sky, and the weather was getting hotter.
Jesse continued following Joseph's directions, turning right and left across the barren desert.
The car shook slightly due to the rough ground, and dust rose behind them.
Nicolas looked out the window and said sarcastically: "I was wondering why those monsters hadn't followed the sound of this thing yet, but after seeing the area we're in, I'm not surprised anymore."
Jenny laughed lightly and said: "Maybe you're right."
(The End)