Chapter 6: I am Markless Right?

“You woke up early again, Kuro.”

Satsujuno said, leaning his back on the door’s frame as he looked at me picking another book to read.

“I-“

“You don’t need to tell me the reason. I’ve always knew you can read.”

“H-How?”

“It’s easy. Why would you bother flipping pages of my books if you can’t read them?”

“Well… that’s… why you never asked how I can read?” I asked.

“It’s not like you’ll tell me,” he said with a smirk. “Want to come with me? I am going to the forest to hunt for food.”

Every dawn, Satsujuno leaves the house and hunts for food. It was the first time he asked me if I want to come with him.

I got reborn in a world where people could use magic when they are “Marked.” I spent my years reading books that are hiding in Satsujuno’s room. I was amazed that we have the same alphabet, which made it easy for me to gather information about this world through textbooks. First, I learned that ‘marks’ are like tattoos that appear on your body when you turn five. It has six elements and are divided into two; higher attributes and lower attributes. Water, earth, and air mark belong to higher attributes because they are the most abundant element in this world. Fire, sword, and light marks belong to lower attributes or also known as rare marks. People who are marked with higher attributes are commonly healers but they also learned attack spells in order to survive the battlefield, and people with lower attributes are combat types. It is said that a person can’t hold two marks at the same time, but there are people who have their marks mixed.

Second, there are four races that are inhabiting in this continent; Humans, Dwarves, Encantos, and Beastmen. Humans in this continent are living into two different kingdoms; Marked kingdom, where it is said that people of this kingdom use different variety of magic, and Selene kingdom where people follows a certain god who said to be the guardian of the moon. Dwarves are living in Duen that is located atop the beast forest – according to the map. Encantos, who said to be near-to-extinct race, are living in Foresto, where most of the places with high mana concentration are located. Encantos were believed to be divine beings in the past, their appearances resemble elves – they have pointed nose and ears, and lastly, Beastmen are located in Beast Forest. According from what I have read, Beastmen are demi-humans. Their origin was still unknown, but most of people think that they are products of human and dead beast because of their human-like figure and pale complexion.

“Kuro, hold this for me.” He handed me the dimensional bag – a small bag with limitless space.

Satsujuno told me that hunters use this bag to massive things. Hunters are mages who enter dungeons to collect valuable materials that are essential in discoveries of magic.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“I need to kill that wild boar.”

“B-But…”

“Don’t be afraid. I’m strong,” he said, smiling at me.

Satsujuno left me under a corpse tree. Corpse trees are trees that produce blood. They have blood-like color of leaves and dark brown torsos. Their roots were totally burried beneath the ground but someone of the largest trees have massive roots that were massive enough to mistake them as small mountains. maybe it is the reason why Beastmen are living near them because the smell of blood is similar to flower.

It’s not that I’m afraid that he might lose. I am more concerned about my safety. I was born markless, that’s why I won’t be able to use magic at all and my body was still a body of a five-year-old kid. Why would he leave me in this state? Why would he leave me in a bloody and creepy forest?

Satsujuno Karasu, a Beastman who took me in his care after the large eagle – Arnulfo – left me in this forest. He is Air-marked, he can treat wounds but can also use attack spells. It is said that Beastmen could use another mark called “beast mark.” This mark allows them to transform into beast. But for some reason, Satsujuno never transformed into his beast form.

“Air, wind arrows!” he casted.

Arrow-shaped winds attacked the boar. It was an easy kill for him. Well, I’m not surprised. I heard some Beastmen saying he’s one of the strongest Beastman that is living here. I guess the rumors are true.

“See?” he said, having a smirk.

We continued hunting wild animals and collecting dried woods. I got reborn to this world and started experiencing that old and primitive–like way of living. It’s not that bad after all. Even without technology, I still find interesting things that would ease my boredom. This world itself is an interesting thing. There are things that don’t exist in my past world. I’m really curious what does the human kingdom looks like.

We got home and prepared an ancient-looking stove, It somehow reminded me of the style of the old stove that was used in old times. The smell of the meat that was being burned and smoked in the controlled amount of fire was invading my nostrils. I never experienced this scenario in my old life with my parents. It’s not that I was too focused in my studies, it was because they are not satisfied with the achievements that I had.

“You should reach the peak, son.”

I remember my mother saying that phrase with a dimmed and scary face.

“What are you spacing out for, Kuro?” Satsujuno, who seemed enjoying cooking, asked.

“Nothing,” I said.

“Are you that hungry? Come here, eat this,” he said, widened his right arm, holding a plate of meat in his hand.

I stood up from the rock where I was perched and walked to his direction. He handed me over the plate of meat that he was holding. The shadows that are caused by the light of fire were making the atmosphere of the scene.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You really are a man of few words.” The line of his lips turned curved.

“Well….”

“You know, it’s not that it’s wrong to be a man of few words and reading books all day. But you should also start looking for friends.”

“It’s not that I don’t like having friends. I just find it tiring,” I mumbled.

“Tiring?” he asked.

What? Did I actually say that out of impulse? Did I make him angry?

“I-I’m sorry,” I stuttered. “I didn’t mean to….”

“Fu-“

Fu? Is he gonna curse me or what?

“Fuhahaha! That’s hilarious!” He laughed. “Do you actually think having friends is tiring?”

The corners of his eyes were almost stretching while as he laughed. I remained silent as he continued laughing loudly. His laughter slowly stopped until it reaches the point where he can already speak straight.

“You know what,” The remains of his long laugh were still visible, “When I’m talking to you, I feel like I’m talking to someone who’s same age as me.”

I continued being silent while eating the meat he gave.

“Well, if you don’t like having friends, I won’t force you. Just don’t mistake loneliness as being independent,” he suddenly said. The fire’s light was reflecting in his red eyes, making it glow.

After eating, I decided to continue reading on Satsujuno’s bed. I opened the book that has a hard tree-like cover. The title of the book was “The Introduction to the World and Magic.” I wonder who’s the author or this book. His pen name, “World War,” was written in the first page. His use of words were easy to understand. If you are going to look in professional’s perspective, you will notice some wrong use of punctuations – or maybe they have different punctuation rules. However, the way he uses words to explain something was not hard to understand. If I could only meet the author of this book.

I continued reading while lying on the wooden bed where I spend most of my days. It’s now like I’m lazy to find friends or to socialize, I just find it tiring to look for friends and I don’ wanna experience what I had experienced before.

I continued reading until my eyes got tired and fell asleep. I’m sure tomorrow is another day like this for me.

***

“Kuro! Get away from here! Now!” Satsujuno – who was struggling blocking the sharp and long claws of a rare beast that resembles a werewolf – screamed, worrying that I might get hurt. How did we end up in this situation?

It was another day to hunt for food. Satsujuno decided to take me again. We usually hunt before when the sun is setting up, be we came bit earlier this time. If I were to base the time in the sun’s position, I could tell that it’s still around 5:00 am. The Bloody forest that was usually warm was still asleep at this time, causing the place to be misty and have blurry visibility. While making our way through, a group of red eyes suddenly appeared in the shadows of the mist.

“Kuro, make your way out of this forest. I can sense danger. They outnumber us greatly.” The usually calm Satsujuno was now having a serious expression.

I didn’t say anything but I started following what he said, however, a pack of common beasts appeared before me when I was about to run away. They all have similar appearance – wolves. Their eyes were glowing red and emitting a menacing aura and their sharp fangs were exposed. Their growls were loud; it was as if they are telling me not to move. They slowly moved aside when two bright red lights appeared behind them, opening a way for him.

“Kuro!” he screamed. “Move!”

I could feel it, an intimidating pressure that is coming from a beast. Just by experiencing this pressure is making me feel the sensation that I never want to experience again – death. Slowly, it approached me. I couldn’t move even an inch. Its appearance was starting to reveal as he got near to me. The throbbing of my heart started getting fast, to the point where my chest was about to burst.

“Kuro!”

I could hear Satsujuno’s voice but my body won’t respond. What the hell am I doing?

He’s a zombie werewolf. His figure is similar to the werewolves in fictions. His fangs and claws were sharp and are on par with newly bought knives. He grinned are he got nearer to me and in a split moment, he moved in a great speed towards my direction.

“Air, Sound Wall!”

When he was about to reach me, Satsujuno dashed and repelled the werewolf’s claw with loud sound that could break your eardrums. The werewolf was forced to step back because of the sound waves that are coming from Satsujuno’s magic.

“Kuro, step back,” he said.

“O-Okay.”

The tension that I was feeling earlier calmed a bit but bids of sweat are dripping coming from my forehead, making my body feels more cold. I stepped back a bit, I couldn’t step back any farther because of the zombie wolves that are blocking the ways outside the forest. The mist that was making the visibility blurry has now vanished, making the forest clear as day. The bluish color of the sky is telling me that it’s already dawn. If I were to guess the time, I could say that it’s already around 6 or 7 am.

“Grrrrrr.”

You could hear the growl of the zombie werewolf that they call as rare beast in this world. You could feel its urge to kill just by looking to his eyes. It was as if it is telling you that he’d devour you if you move even a single step.

“Don’t worry, Kuro,” he said. “I’m here.”

Satsujuno smiled at me as he blocked the werewolf. His words reminded me of an unclear memory of a guy in mirage.

“I’m here, Kuro.”

I heard that voice from my head. I know it’s from my past life. I thought I could clearly remember everything.

“Where could this rare beast came from? It’s been a while since a mid-level beast appeared here,” he said. “I guess I have no choice but to kill you.”

Satsujuno raised his left arm to the level of his waist. Suddenly, three magic circles appeared, glowing dark purple. As the light gets brighter, a handle of sword appeared coming from the magic circle. It has markings of black feathers and has a red crystal that resembles crow’s eyes. He moved his right arm and pulled sword out from his wrist. The blade of his sword was shining and obviously sharp.

According to the book that I have read, you can draw sword from your wrist if you are marked. This is probably that thing that I won’t be able to do since I am not marked by any of the attributes.

The werewolf dashed right to our direction with its claws and fang revealed. Satsujuno blocked its attack using his sword. The blades of their weapons spark as they clash and you can even feel the vibration of the pressure of their clashing in the premise. The emitted heat waves from their fight were adding to the warmth of the bloody forest.

Both of their eyes are glowing red. The fangs of the werewolf are widely revealed. It was as if his rage was building up more. I slowly stepped aside and hid behind a rock as they fight, I even forgot about the zombie wolves that are surrounding us because of the pressure of the fight that I am witnessing. I picked up some rocks and shouted.

“Satsujuno!” I looked at him intensely. It’s my first time addressing him in his name and he looked kind of shocked. “Imbue some magic to these rocks!”

He looked confused. However, he just followed what I said and imbued some mana to the rocks that I am holding.

“Kuro, stay right there and wait for me to finish this beast!” Satsujuno shouted while fighting.

“Okay!”

“Air, Endo Manatory!”

A black massive sphere started forming and surrounded the two of them. “Manatory” is an ability that can create a space without affecting the current dimension where the mage is residing. Mages who reached the higher levels could only perform this spell because it needs a great focus and concentration. I’ve always thought that Satsujuno is strong, but I never thought that he’s strong enough to cast a high-level spell was being sealed.

The zombie wolves noticed that the presence of their leader was gone. That was why they don’t need to follow anyone for now and just going to do what they want.

“Now, let’s test these magically-imbued stones.”

If I really get the principle of how magic works here that having magical energy will make your body strong, my theory that when you imbue mana to a particular thing, it will become more tough. The power and toughness of the magically imbued thing varies depending on the mark attribute and the level of the mage. Mana is like a magical energy or a life force that allows someone to use magic. Magic and mana are different things. Magic are spells that need mana in order to activate.

They started surrounding me with menacing look in their eyes. Their killing intent was lingering in the atmosphere of the place, making it feel creepy. They stopped of a mere second and when the wind blows up, they all clenched their sharp claws to the ground and dashed toward me. I climbed and stood up to a boulder of rock near me.

“Now, let’s do this.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

I raised my right foot, tried the pitching position using my 5-year-old body, and took another deep breath.

“Here I go!”

As I hold the first rock that I, the wind gathered in my hand. It was probably because of the air mark attribute. I moved my hand and when the rock was about to reach the endpoint of my fingertips, it gathered more mana from the air which made its impact skyrocket. The wolves who were hit by the stone I threw had their body shattered.

“That was a homerun!”

Is it weird for me to enjoy this? What I am doing right now isn’t a sin. I’m basically killing dead bodies.

I jumped and dashed toward the part where wolves died, which opened a path of escape for me. You could hear the vibration of their voice box as they ran. It was really hard to run with this small body. I came back again to the part of the forest where the manatory of Satsujusno was residing. I stopped near it and zombie wolves stopped, making a line. Before they started surrounding me, I positioned myself again to make another pitch. This time, I will throw the rocks consecutively. The wind gathered in my hands. I could feel that it was getting more intense as I wait for it to gather. Without having second thoughts, I started throwing the rock and as it reaches the end point of, it gathered even more mana. The rock hit the wolves with a strong impact and shattered their bodies into pieces. I continued shooting them more with the stones left from my pocket before they could get near me.

After killing every last of them, the black sphere opened, revealing Satsujuno who was holding the head of the werewolf.

“K-Kuro?” He looked at me with both surprised and amazed expression.

“Kuro, another one is coming!” Satsujuno shouted.

I saw a piece of rock on my foot. Maybe I dropped it earlier. I look at him before doing another pitch. It seems like he can’t believe what he just saw.

“Ku…!”

“Haaa!” I shouted as I throw the rock.

I successfully hit the last zombie wolf that is running towards us. It’s body didn’t shattered but I am sure it’s dead. After throwing it, I noticed one thing; the wind gathered in my hand was weaker than usual. However, as it passed to the air, I imagined it gathering more mana, which I made it able to pierce the body of the enemy. Or was it just my imagination?

“K-Kuro?”

Again? Is he still flustered?

“I…”

I was about to speak when my eyes turned blurry. I felt dizzy, my head was spinning, and everything turned black. I passed out.