A young man, his figure hidden under the green cloak he wore, held a knife in his hand. Dark eyes studied the area intently, noting locations he can safely go to. A pair of goggles around his eyes to protect them from both the sunlight and the dust in the area.
"I need to find a place to see things clearer." The young man said as he pulled a part of the cloak he wore to cover his mouth and nose like a scarf. The desert mountain he was on was hot and judging by the place of the sun, it was around 10.
"I will have to stop moving once it gets too hot, and I need to find a place far away from here. Think, Ren... I'm on a desert mountain range filled with sand and stone, with a group of people with weapons who will probably try to kill me." Mumbled the young man.
'I have to get out of here first. I have to survive, find a source of water to drink, and hope for the best.' The young man thought as he started to walk, trying to not as much noise.
'Judging by the distance of that mountain and the terrain, I have several hours to get out of here.' Increasing his speed, the young man soon found himself chuckling nervously.
"Why is my luck this bad?" He mumbled quietly as he stood shell-shocked at the sight in front of him. It was a small town, filled with buildings, roads, and some other infrastructures.
The young man's face started to become green. Who could have done such a thing?! Unable to hold it anymore, the young man of Earth fell to his knees and vomited the contents of his stomach on the ground.
The town in front of him was destroyed, blood splattered the sand and stone paths, the walls. He could see some of them impaled on the stakes. Some of them were rotting and looked like they were offered for some kind of Cult rituals.
"This... is way worse than the anatomy films." throwing up one more time, the young man took his canteen and gargled a mouthful of water to remove the taste of his vomit. "God! I really hate my luck. I won't be able to sleep for a while."
Now, common sense will dictate that a person should not come close to a place. But our protagonist has none of that left.
Steeling himself, the young man pushed himself up. Hands holding his shaking knees.
"Not now... damn it! Stop being a pessimistic idiot and move." The young man told himself as he started to walk towards the town.
'A town will mean resources. It's already destroyed. God, I hate this.'
After what seemed to be an eternity later, the young man entered the town. Tears stung around his eyes as his chest tightened.
'So many people...'
'Stay strong. You don't know them. Don't think too much.'
The rational part of his head tried its best to make him see reason. It worked slightly as the young man managed to come inside the city.
"Just prepare what you need. The dead don't need it. You need it more." The young man repeated these words before inhaling. His words helped in convincing himself to do this. To survive.
Traveling inside the town, the young man saw nothing. Other than the bodies on the town front gate, there was no one else. There were no corpses but there was blood. Many of the buildings have been destroyed either by burning or by force as evidence of the black marks and ruins of the town.
The town was fairly small, it has a wall surrounding it. No, this was not a town but a village. Arriving at one of the buildings still intact from whatever happened, the young man held his knife in his right and held the door with his left. Breathing deeply, the young man pushed the door open slowly.
Peeking out from the doorpost, he looked left and right to see that there was no one inside. Sighing in relief, he went inside, keeping the knife close and his body prepared to move in the case of an attack.
"Seems like this place is slightly untouched." Stepping inside, the young man finally let out a sigh of relief before collapsing to his knees.
Looking up from his position, dark eyes scanned the room. it was a simple house, probably big enough to house a family of four. The bookshelves were neatly arranged. A fur carpet from what seems to be a lion can be seen. Looking closely, the title of the books were written in some sort of symbols.
The house seemed to be mostly untouched, unlike the other ones. It was filled with furniture and some jugs of water. A portrait on the wall showed several people, a woman with a pair of children by her side. Their faces were scratched out with some wear and tear on some parts as if they were trying to hide their identities.
"For the time being, I can make this place my base. The books... I don't know if I can read them but I hope I can." The young man stood up and closed the door. From the position of the sun, it is safe to say that it was close to noon. The heat was more bearable now that he was inside a shelter.
'There can be some clothes inside the rooms and the like. I think I can find some that can fit me or find something to make a makeshift bag.'
Walking towards the bookshelf, the young man was cautious enough to not make any sound. Reaching the bookshelf, Ren carefully scanned his surrounding. The bookshelf was close to the windows, allowing natural light to help in reading the books. A desk and table with some candleholders were near the window for a more comfortable reading position.
Reaching into his bag, he took out the three books inside it. Three leatherbound books around the same size as his hand with each one having three different colors. One in green, red, and blue. It was beautiful and reminded him of the third-gen pokemon games.
'I wish I have a Mudkip with me... or an Aron with me. Those two are my favorite pokemon in Hoenn with Castform as a close second.'
Looking at the books from his back, they were written in the alphabet and in English. Taking the green one, he looked at it and was awed by the design. The cover was filled with some kind of tribal designs which was cool and awesome.
'I always did prefer Pokemon Emerald.' The young man thought as he opened the book while missing the other books some of their shade, turning a bit darker as if they lost a bit of their lives.
The book was a collection of numerous quotes he had written in a notebook he had.
"Strange, I could have sworn I wrote this on a paperback notebook." Flipping through the pages, he soon found out that the first 20 pages were filled with different quotes and the rest of the pages were filled with the techniques he had learned during his training. There were also some drawings of how the techniques were.
"These techniques..." looking at the book once more, the young man nodded to himself and closed the book. No one should be allowed to take this book away from him. The techniques in this book were the ones he spent years practicing and perfecting with blood and sweat, mostly sweat.
Picking up the red book, it was similar to the green book but instead of having any designs, it was just a plain red leatherbound book. Opening it, Ren let out a small hum as he read the title. Just like the green one, this one is written in English. Skimming through the pages, Ren's face started to change into one of pure shock.
Taking several deep breaths, the young man took a look at the book once more and sighed deeply.
This must be some sort of a cruel prank.
The book in his hand was a bible.
"No. I might be a faithful man but just no." Closing the Bible, the young man placed it on top of the green book he put down before looking at the last book. The blue book contained songs. Songs that he has heard before, played before, sung before, even those he made.
Putting the books back in his bag, he looked at the ones on the bookshelf. There was another one that caught his eyes. Taking it, he saw that it fit his hand well and had some sort of symbols like the shield of David on it.
"What's this?" The young man asked as he opened the tome. A small gust of wind gently and playfully brushed his hair up, much to his surprise. Taking a small peek, the young man was about to turn the page when the window he was near suddenly broke.
Raising his head, his eyes widened as he saw what seemed to be a person get launched to the wall. Looking closely, the person has a spear impaled on his chest. The young man gulped as he held his knife close and pressed his back on the wall to hide. He did not know what will happen next but it was better to be prepared.
"Aww, he broke." Hearing the voice made Ren freeze up and hold his knife tighter before he relaxed. Looking closer, the one who attacked that guy is a man with dark hair and tanned skin. He wore some sort of Arabic Clothes and a sick cloak that was awesome to look at.
This man is dangerous! He killed that man and I will be the one next. I have to kill him!
"I was hoping to have some more fun but... I guess he will be my first Risen to make." It seems like this man was too focused as he did not even notice me. Reaching in, I slowly loosened the knot keeping my cloak/cape on. The moment I felt my cloak/cape fell from my shoulders, I kicked off the ground with my knife raised and aimed at the man's back.
*schlick* *Splatter*
The knife I held tightly stabbed through the man's flesh. Blood splattered from the man's back as I grabbed the knife with both hands and stabbing it deeper while tackling him to the wall. I could feel the warm liquid on my face as I looked at the man in horror.
"Oh my! I have a new toy!" The black-haired young man said as I could feel and see the sinister glare on his face.
"Son of a bitch..." I said as I feel shivers in my spine. Doing the only thing I could properly think of at the moment, I punched him hard on the nose possibly breaking it from the sound, and pulled my knife out of his back before trying to stab the man in the face, between his eyes. The man was able to recover quickly and use his arm to stop it enough to the point the tip of the knife only stabbed it lightly, not enough to kill him but deep enough to draw blood.
"And feisty too! The princess would love you." The man said before a twisted expression appeared on his face. "This is turning me on..." He moaned pervertedly despite the fact that I just stabbed him on the back and tried to put my knife between his eyes.
'Great... a Hisoka Expy. Curse my luck.' I thought while raising my other hand.
"Is she hot and single?" There is no way I will die a virgin again.
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So I am back with the new chapter. I have been busy with college, Economics is hard man.
So, we are now finally in the first arc of the story and it is called Desert Canyon escape arc. I don't know how many chapters it will take but it will be fun. I hope. Any way Chirith out!