To think that at any second, everything around him could go rogue, it was insanity, truly. It’s not something that is meant to just happen, since if it did, then something like a good night’s sleep would never exist.

The night was deadly, or at least it could be.

He didn’t think he would find himself watching over this small village, all just to notice if some scorpions decided to attack.

If they were to come out, then he didn’t know what was going to happen next; he really had no idea how he was supposed to not only survive the encounter alongside Kade, but also get that shard from Lucien.

Plus, Kade also… wanted to save the village; it was something they hadn’t fully decided on, but it was going to be a possibility, and if it happened, then he was about to have a really hard time.

…

Really, what needed to be done was that he needed to talk to the guy, no matter how their last meeting went, no matter that the guy didn’t like him, and had kicked him out of his room, he needed to talk to him; if he didn’t, then this village was never going to survive.

‘So put your pride to the side, for once in your damn life!’

Since… it was closer than he would have wanted… as in the distance, he could see the shadow of a black scorpion… the attack was going to come soon, they were probably scanning the surroundings to make their plan.

…

…

Aether waited in the bar for the show to end. He knew he didn’t have a lot of time, yet at the same time, he knew he couldn’t rush things; if he did, it wouldn’t ever help him with his goal, so he needed to be careful and not make reckless decisions.

So he waited and followed the boy again inside his room.

Lucien sat down, and a deep frown appeared on his face as he finally made eye contact with him.

“I said I won’t give you the shard, so what don’t you get? And stop coming into this room without permission its annoying.”

Aether rolled his eyes, while he clenched his fists… this guy was to entiteled for his own good. It was going to make things really annoying.

“You know, I didn’t come here for that. Interestingly enough, it may do the opposite of helping me get the shard… The village will be attacked. My friend noticed that the scorpions have all been heading towards the village, which couldn’t mean anything else than them wanting to attack… if we don’t fight, the village will fall… I wanted to tell you this, so that maybe you can save this-“

Aether had wanted to continue, but quickly stopped, as the man started to laugh, a laugh that made his organs roll around inside his chest… this guy, he was too full of himself…

“What a joke, I should be offended really, and what if some scorpions are attacking, I will just kill them all, it is not that big of a deal. So just get out of here, I don’t like your face inside this place, it ruins the aesthetic.”

Aether chuckled from irritation.

“Kill them all? Do I have to remind you that you are a Will-less? How are you… a retarted egoistical bastard going to fight against an army of scorpions, who not only could kill you quite easily in a normal fight, but one sting from them, and that would kill you too. And that is just what will happen with one, we’re talking about tens.”

Lucien burst up on his feet, showing the door to Aether with his arm.

“Out, now, unless you want me to throw you out of the village.”

Aether raised his hands up. “Fine, I’ll leave, but soon, there won’t be anything remaining to throw me out of.” And with that small warning, he left.

…

That had not gone to plan at all… and he knew that most of the fault was his, he let his anger take over his decisions… maybe his talk with the Abyss was still messing with his mind…

But at the same time, it was hard to stay calm when dealing with such an idiot, someone with an ego so high it seems as if they live in an imaginary world. How could one be so blind? It was terrifying… since this was who the people of the city considered their leader, and the person who they were going to follow when the village was attacked.

‘This… is going to be really hard.’

Killing so many scorpions will be extremely dangerous; one by himself was hard, but so many, it was going to be impossible. He just had to hope that at least it was at night, since if it was in the day, there was no way he could defeat them.

He needed the night advantages.

So really, the battle was like a ticking bomb; he knew it was going to come, and it was going to be a disaster, but at the same time, he didn’t know how to prepare or, more importantly, when it was going to appear. There was even a small chance that this thing happened after two weeks or more; what are they going to do until then?

Really, the faster it happened, the better; if not, people would lose faith in them, plus, staying would also make it so they can’t improve at all, especially him, since at least Kade can practice with his Will.

What was he supposed to do all day?

…

…

Days passed, around four… really, it was a very interesting experience, to know something horrible is bound to happen, and that could happen any moment, yet to see everything around you so calm… even those who believed in the attack had lost most of their hope, there wasn’t anyone who still thought that they were going to be attacked.

They had lost their trust, and now it was going to be impossible to take it back from Lucien.

As yet another night came, Aether climbed onto the roof of the Bar, watching as everyone went home. Kade was also around, but he was just making sure nothing happened, like a small, drunken fight. It was the last thing they wanted, with news of an attack coming.

As the last few left the building, the village became quite… calm.

…

…

But… that was when he saw it, the tail of a giant scorpion.

Aether sat up as a smile appeared on his face. For what reason he was smiling, he wouldn’t know even if you asked him yourself… it was more of a ‘I was right’ moment, even if it meant he was going to have to risk his life to fight against these guys.

Aether watched as more and more appeared from the ground, their black scales made them look frightening, as their tail arched inwards, with a tip so sharp and dripping with their green poison.

And they weren’t just coming from this direction; they were everywhere.

The village was surrounded.

‘Well, I guess… we will be seeing a lot of blood tonight.’ He chuckled, turning toward Kade. “They’re here, let’s split up, so we can each take care of one group.” After that, he pointed in another direction where the scorpions had appeared. Seeing this, Kade quickly nodded and ran to fight.

Aether just watched… the boy was truly fearless… how much he had changed, he wondered if he would have also run like that if it were him from the beginning.

‘I guess I should also start fighting…’ So then… why was it that he didn’t want to do so? Was it that he was scared… was he afraid that he wasn’t going to be enough… after all, even if it was during the night, it was going to be really hard to take care of so many of these guys.

Aether clenched his fists.

‘Do you think I can use partial control for this fight?’ Aether asked the Abyss… really, it was his last remaining hope, even if he didn’t want to use any help from this guy, it was one of those times he knew he had to do it.

“No, you can’t.”

Aether’s eyes widened, since he had expected the Abyss to accept instantly.

“You have already used this form a lot; it’s not good for a Reader to use this power so many times. Your soul is not strong enough. Next time you are going to use it, you will feel an immense pain, so… you’re going to have to find a way to win without partial control.”

…

Aether sighed, looking at the scorpions advancing. He was going to have to go now; if he wanted to stop them before they attacked, he couldn’t waste any more time.

He clenched his fists.

But then a small smile appeared on his face, and he let go.

“Let’s just… get this over with, it’s better if I fight without anything going on inside my mind… If I want to win this thing… I will have to fight recklessly.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep