"I cannot believe this." Yuri growled, pacing back and forth in front of me. "What on earth prompted you to eat a fucking corpse?"

Sitting down, I shrugged, and pulled out a chunk of meat from the bag. Quickly, I popped it into my mouth, savoring it's flavor, and swallowing loudly. Ah, delicious. Its taste was a wonderful combination of red and... chicken. I wasn't sure how it worked, but it tasted mighty fine.

Yuri snatched the bag out of my hand, staring disgustedly at the contents inside. I wasn't sure why she was looking at it in such a way. She'd seen and done much worse things.

"Well, I was hungry, and it was just kind of laying there..." I explained with a shrug. "We eat deer all the time. How is this different?"

I really didn't understand the problem. Yuri didn't care if I killed someone that attacked me. She also didn't mind when I literally drank someone's blood. So why was eating a corpse off-limits? It was literally just a pile of meat at that point. Why was this such a big issue?

"Alex, you're eating the corpse of what was once a person!" She exclaimed. "I don't like that you drink people's blood, but I allow it because it's necessary. This... This is just wrong!"

I felt a bit of anger rise up in my chest. She was being unreasonable. That roper deserved everything she got, and so much more. She attacked me, and I killed her. Therefore, I should get to decide what happens to the corpse. I mean, who was gonna bury a roper? They were fucking evil.

"I fail to see the issue." I deadpanned, watching as Yuri got madder and madder. "She killed and ate people. She tried to murder me, so I killed and ate her. It was a fair trade."

Yuri slapped a hand to her forehead, muttering angrily to herself. I couldn't exactly make out what she said, but I was fairly sure it contained the words "Dumbass" and "Cannibal."

"You know, technically it's not cannibalism because she was a monster." I chimed in, wincing when she fixed me a harsh glare.

After a moment, she sighed, a tired expression coming over her face. She slumped her shoulders, and sat down beside me. She kept quiet for a moment, a contemplative expression on her face.

"You know," She eventually said, destroying the tense silence that had formed. "I don't have a problem with you killing people that deserve it. There's a lot of folk out there that need to be put down. Just, eating a corpse seems like a step too far. That's just cruel."

I shrugged.

"Can you even begin to imagine what would happen if someone spotted you while you were eating someone?" She continued. "You'd be run out of town, of course. Word travels fast, so you'd also be barred from any other town in the region. And that's assuming someone doesn't put a bounty on your head for committing a crime against nature."

That seemed... a little extreme. I mean, sure, If I saw a guy eating another person, I'd think he was a freak, but I wouldn't say anything. He's just doing his best to survive, is all. Nothing wrong with that, provided he wasn't munching on an innocent person.

"I'll be more careful then." I grunted, earning a sigh from Yuri. "Besides, it's not like I'm going to eat everything that I kill. That would take way too much time."

Yuri groaned, holding her face in her hands.

"Just stop eating corpses." She ordered, giving me another stern glare. "This is not up for debate. If I catch you doing something like that again, you'll be in some serious trouble."

I smiled and nodded, content with the knowledge that I wasn't going to follow that rule whatsoever. That roper had tasted great, and I wanted more. So what if Yuri didn't like it? Well, we didn't always have to agree on things. How would she know if I ate a little when off on my hunts?

"Fine." I relented, turning away from her so she couldn't see my smirk. Hopefully, she'd just assume I was upset with her decision, and acting childish. "Not sure why it's such a big deal, but whatever."

If she noticed my lie, she didn't comment on it.

"Now, let's talk about something else." Yuri said, her gaze softening. "How was your day in the village?"

I sighed. That wasn't something I really wanted to think about. Just thinking about how everyone stared at me... Ugh, it made me feel gross. They were probably right to be suspicious of me, but that didn't make it feel much better. In fact, that probably made it worse. For fuck's sake, even the kid I was supposed to make friends with was scared of me. It had been just a complete waste of time.

"Well, people weren't really trusting at me." I grunted, staring hard at the floor. "The black eye you gave me really didn't help matters."

Yuri winced, giving me an apologetic look.

"Sorry." She whispered, looking away with shame. "I didn't mean to hit you that hard."

I glanced over to her, giving her a small smile. After a moment, I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into a hug. She squawked loudly, unprepared for the sudden embrace. She returned it though, gingerly placing a hand on my back.

"I know you didn't mean anything by it." I muttered. "Just be a tad more careful next time, okay?"

She nodded silently, and pulled away from the hug. Slowly, she stood up, taking time to wipe the dust off her pants.

"It's getting late." Yuri observed, glancing out the window. "I'm going to sleep. You should too."

I grumbled, slowly rising from the floor. My bones creaked a little, which made me feel way older than I actually was. With a sigh, I trudged over to my room, softly closing the door behind me.

There still wasn't much in the way of furniture in the house. Yuri had made a couple makeshift chairs, but beds were still just a distant dream. I had a sleeping bag set up in the corner, and that was just about the only thing in the room. I didn't really mind though. Usually, I was too tired to care.

With a sigh, I flopped down onto the floor, haphazardly rolling myself over to the bag. After kicking my shoes off into the corner, I rolled over onto my back, content to just sleep in whatever position felt comfortable. Of course, nothing did, considering the fact that the only thing separating me from the floor was a few inches of cloth. Whatever, I made it work.

Sleep didn't come quite as easily as normal however. The events of the day were still fresh in my mind, and they gave me a lot to think about. Mostly however, I was focused on the roper incident. I mean, why had I decided to eat her? It just felt like a "spur of the moment" thing, honestly. I didn't regret it though, because that had been fuckin' tasty. Besides, it wasn't like I just randomly attacked and killed her. She was the one who started the fight, so I was just defending myself. Nobody could blame me for feeling a bit hungry afterwards.

Also, why had Yuri made such a big deal of it? That roper had wanted to kill and eat me, so why couldn't I do the same in retaliation? She'd seen and done much more horrific shit in her life, so comparatively, what I did wasn't that bad.

"Egh, I'm overthinkin' it." I grumbled to myself, turning over on my side. Yuri was just concerned, was all. I mean, I still didn't really get it, but I knew she was just worried about me. As long as I didn't bring it up again, I'd be fine.

I mean, really, as long as I didn't bring any evidence home, how would she know? It wasn't like she was going to follow me every time I went on a hunt. It would just be my little secret. I already had a few of those, so what was one more added to the pile?

After following that line of thought for a while, I began to feel more than a little drowsy. I didn't fight it, instead embracing the tired feelings until they swept me away into the land of unconsciousness. I'd been trying to fall asleep for hours at this point, so this was a welcome turn of events.

As I drifted into a deep sleep, I hoped that I'd be able to have some nice dreams, for once.

*LINEBREAK*

Yet again, I found myself lying face-up in that cloudy place that I'd come to know and hate. I mean, the area itself wasn't all that bad. The clouds were really soft, and the whole place was rather peaceful. Unfortunately, the location's beauty was marred by a certain crazy bitch.

Like she had done many times before, she slowly descended from some hidden point in the sky, her body shining like a beacon. Honestly, I had no idea why she insisted on doing the dramatic entrance every single time. I knew she was coming, so why did she have to be so... extra, about it? I didn't say anything though, because that seemed like a rather poor idea. I'm not gonna tell the god who can literally smite me at any point that she's being corny, because she could quite literally send me to hell.

"Well, hello again." I said warily, eyeing her with no small amount of suspicion. "What brings you here today?"

Ilias sighed, and ran a hand through her hair. It was probably the closest to annoyed that I'd ever seen her. That was... interesting. Of course, that also meant she was probably in a bad mood, so I had to be extra careful today.

"I... didn't take into account your complete lack of social skills." She eventually stated, giving me a look of false-pity. "I should've thought about your lack of experience with others before I had you meet Luka."

...I didn't know what to say to that, so I just kept quiet. I mean, to be fair, I kind of agreed with her. I didn't like talking to people, so I just didn't. I was... out of practice, for lack of a better term. Yuri didn't count, as she was very different from the average person.

"He was... rather afraid of you when he left." She continued, a frown forming on her face. "I've managed to change his mind somewhat, but he's still not going to be comfortable around you for a while."

I mean, part of me wished he'd keep avoiding me, just so I didn't have to go on the stupid quest, but I had a feeling that Ilias wouldn't really be a fan of that outcome. So, I kept my thoughts to myself.

"So, should I just keep trying to befriend him, or should I just straight-up tell him that you sent me?" I asked.

Ilias sighed, and gave me a small, fake smile. God, how I hated her stupid fucking act. It made me want to just tear into her-

Okay, enough of that train of thought. I wasn't just about to go off and tackle a fucking god, because that would most assuredly get me killed.

"I told him that already, so he should trust you at least somewhat." She stated. "Just don't mention your... condition to him. I'm sure he'd come to accept eventually, but it would cause all kinds of problems in the short-term."

That was a given. Luka, from what little I remembered, was an idealist. He wasn't really willing to get his hands dirty. Sure, he'd fight, but it wasn't like he would kill somebody. It was a real shame, too. He'd never experience the absolute majesty that was the red.

"Though, while we're on the topic of your issue..." Ilias suddenly spoke, her voice growing slightly colder. "You need to learn to control yourself. I watched your interactions with Luka, and it honestly looked like you were going to kill him. That would be an... intolerable mistake."

I winced at her suddenly harsh tone, and gave her a nervous glance. Her expression was disturbingly blank, which probably meant that she was just hiding her fury. Quickly, I racked my brain for something to say, trying desperately to think up an excuse. Unfortunately, my mind was unable to create an assemblage of words that would calm the woman before me.

"Alex, I have been very lenient with you, but I will not show mercy if you kill him. Find a way to control yourself." She hissed, glaring down at me with narrowed eyes. "That is not a request. I don't much care what you do, or how you do it. All I care about is making sure you don't slaughter him."

With that, she turned sharply, flying off into the cloudy sky. As I watched her get further and further away, my vision began to darken. Soon enough, my mind was swept away into unconsciousness.

*LINEBREAK*

With a gasp, I bolted awake, nearly hitting my head on the wall beside me. My heart was thumping wildly, its beat somewhat resembling the sound of an early-era machine gun. There was a horrible feeling of anxiety in my stomach, and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get it to go away.

"...Fucking hell." I groaned, slowly climbing to my feet. Blearily, I peered outside, hoping that it was still night. To my dismay, it was exactly dawn. Yuri expected me to rise with the sun, so there went my fantasies of going back to bed.

I put my shoes back on with a sigh, stifling a yawn as I stretched my back. I took a moment to try and rub the tiredness out of my eyes, but that was a fruitless endeavor. Whatever. I was still ready to face the day.

I walked out of my room, fully expecting Yuri to be sat in the kitchen. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, she was there, reading one of her books. I didn't recognize the cover, so it wasn't one of the ones she let me read. That was... just a little odd, honestly. I'd never seen it before, so where had she gotten it from?

Ah, whatever. That wasn't important. I was just focusing on random things to try and distract myself from the fact that an insane, genocidal goddess was practically watching over my shoulder. I have no doubt that many would do the same in my situation.

...Perhaps I was just a bit stressed out. That seemed rather likely, considering how jumpy I felt. I swear, if so much as a gnat had landed on me in that moment, I would've jumped through the fucking roof. That's exaggerating, of course. I don't think I need to explain to you how that would go- and I'm ranting again. Jeez, I really needed to calm down.

Yuri, through some incredible feat of perception, managed to notice my slightly... less than relaxed behavior. She stared at me for a moment, a concerned frown coming over her face.

"Alex, what's wrong?" She asked, quickly walking over to me. "Why are you so... freaked out?"

I took a breath to calm myself down. It didn't help. I didn't know why, but for some fucking reason, I just couldn't stop shaking. It was honestly really starting to piss me off. I wanted to bury my fist in the wall, but that would be counterproductive, because we just got done building the fucking house. There was no need to start knocking holes in it. So, I settled for the old method of scratching at my leg.

"Had a bad dream." I grunted, agitatedly clawing at the skin above my knee. "Haven't been able to stop shaking since. It's making me feel real fuckin' annoyed."

She gave me a sympathetic glance, and laid a hand on my shoulder. Yuri was always understanding about nightmares, mostly because she had them a lot. She never talked about her bad dreams, but she always listened to mine.

Of course, I didn't plan to tell her about this one. I mean, what could I even say? "Yeah, an evil god visited me in a dream and basically threatened to kill me." That would totally go over well. For sure!

"Do you... want to tell me about it?" She asked uncertainly, raising an eyebrow when I shook my head.

I let out a sigh, once again trying to calm down at least somewhat. Yuri's presence helped a little, so I was able to chill out with a little effort.

"Sorry, but I just don't want to think about that right now." I muttered scratching the back of my head. "Just forget about it."

She gave me a strange look, but shrugged, and let it go. Honestly, I was sorta expecting her to force the issue, but she didn't, thankfully.

After... all of that, the day went on as normal. Yuri made breakfast, which we ate in silence. After that, we grabbed our wooden training swords (Because sparring with a real sword is just a plain dumb idea.), and walked outside for our daily fight.

I'll be honest, I was starting to dread these spars just a little bit. My bruises and cuts from the last couple of fights had already healed, but that didn't mean I was keen on getting another set. I was planning to go into town again, so I wanted to at least look presentable when all this was said and done.

"Hey, Yuri." I said, getting her attention. "Maybe don't give me a black eye this time. I'm going into the village after this."

Yuri nodded, but didn't say anything. That was a red flag. If she ever went silent when we were about to spar, it probably meant that she planned to kick my ass. Nervously, I shifted into a combat stance, my eyes firmly locked onto my opponent. Yuri was deathly still, gripping her wooden sword with more force than strictly necessary.

A few seconds of silence passed, the wind whistling through the trees as I continued to focus. If I looked away for even a second, she would pounce. Even when we were just training, she would take these fights as seriously as possible, taking advantage of even the smallest of openings. Truly, she was a ruthless opponent.

She made the first move, dashing towards me with a sudden explosion of movement. I met her halfway, sending a probing strike at her abdomen. She batted it away with her sword, retaliating with a quick and vicious slash. I dodged out of the way, bringing up my sword to block the barrage of hits that was sure to come. Just as I expected, Yuri launched a flurry of brutal, fast-paced blows, all with the sole intention of knocking me down. It was a rain of slashes, punches, kicks, and even the occasional headbutt. I avoided most of them, but only barely. Every now and then, as stray blow would pass through my guard, scoring a hit on my chest or stomach. Still, she was whittling me down rather quickly. Something had to be done.

I lashed out with my sword, briefly interrupting her attack. With the new opportunity that I'd created for myself, I slammed my shoulder into her chest, pushing her off-balance. While she was recovering from that, I rammed my training sword into her gut, drawing a muffled curse from Yuri. I gave her no time to rest, sending a kick into her ribs. She grit her teeth, and dashed away, creating some distance between us.

"You're getting better." She muttered, glaring at me with her sharp eyes. "Fine then, I think it's time we cease with the warm-up."

Shit, now she was getting serious. I braced myself, fully expecting to get my shit knocked around. Yuri always liked to start off easy, and then amp up the difficulty when she got hit. It was strange, and not a good idea in a real fight, but we were just training, so it was probably fine.

...I'm getting off-topic.

Once again, I readied myself as best as I could, carefully watching for even the slightest sign of movement. She watched me in return, her eyes narrowing as she scanned for an opportunity. After a moment, she sighed, falling into a combat stance.

Like a speeding bullet, Yuri shot forwards, closing the gap between us in less than a second. I brought my sword up just in time to block a devastating thrust, a blow so powerful that it shook my whole body. I lashed out with my foot, kicking at her shins in a desperate attempt to knock her down. I managed to scrape her knees a couple of times, but on the third kick, she twisted to the side, dodging the blow with ease. Then, she brought her sword down upon the limb, sending waves of throbbing pain all throughout my leg. I cursed, and punched out at her with one hand, trying to score a cheeky hit on her face. She tilted her head to the side, lazily avoiding the punch.

With one hand, she grabbed me by the collar of the shirt, and slammed me onto the ground. I tried to roll away, but she had a firm hold on me, and I couldn't break it no matter how hard I tried. I slashed at her with my sword, but she just batted it away with hers, before putting it to my throat.

"If this was a real fight, you would've died." She deadpanned, giving me a flat look.

Slowly, she stood up, releasing her hold on my shirt and stepping away. For a moment, I continued to lay there, wincing at the dull pain radiating throughout my body. It wasn't terrible, but I was definitely going to be sore for a while.

"Why aren't you getting back up yet?" Yuri drawled, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms. "Come on, we're not done."

...Fuck.

*LINEBREAK*

Once again, I limped into town, wincing whenever I jostled one of the many injuries that plagued my body. It was a warmer day than before, so I was sweaty as well as bruised. That was... just really unpleasant. I probably stank to high hell, so people were probably gonna stare at me again. At least I didn't have a black eye this time...

I had a few purposes for going into town this time. I was obviously going to visit Luka again, as that was basically my job at this point. Other than that, I planned to buy a hip-flask from the general store. Yuri had given me a small budget when I asked, so I had enough money. Now, you might be wondering why I was suddenly in the market for such a thing. The answer, my friend, is quite simple.

I wanted to take some red on the go. I went out on my hunts all the time, but I could never bring any of that wonderful liquid with me. I had to drink what I could, and leave the rest behind. With a flask, I could store some of it for later use. This would, in theory, help me control myself if I was hit with a craving while in town. Instead of tearing some poor bastard's throat out, I'd just take a swig from my flask. Honestly, I wasn't sure why I hadn't thought of it sooner.

Of course, it would be empty at first. I'd have to fill it up after I left, but that wouldn't be too difficult. It was just a matter of finding some poor animal (or a rapey monster, if I was lucky.), slitting their throat, and filling the container. It'd be a piece of cake.

Quietly, I walked into the store, nodding at the shopkeeper as I entered. He waved quietly, his head poking out from behind one of the shelves. It seemed he was in the middle of stocking items. Ugh, that brought back memories of when I used to work in retail. That shit sucked, mostly because I couldn't murder the customers. Some of those bastards deserved it, let me tell you.

"Hey, do you have any hip-flasks?" I asked, walking over to the man. "I need one for... stuff."

The man turned to me, one eyebrow raised.

"You don't look like someone who drinks often." He observed, giving me a strange look. "What would you need such a thing for?"

Suddenly, I felt thankful that I'd thought up an excuse on the way there. It would've been pretty awkward if I had to come up with something on the spot.

"Alcohol is good for cleaning wounds, so I figured it'd be good to have some on me." I lied easily, shrugging my shoulders. "Also, it can help dull serious pain."

The man continued to stare for a moment, before he turned around, and began to look through the shelves. After a moment or two of rummaging, he found his quarry, triumphantly raising it into the air. It was a metal hip-flask, not much else to say about it. It didn't look gaudy or tacky, which was good. It was just plain steel, nice and simple.

"How much for that?" I asked him, nodding towards the object in his hand.

"Eh, I'll give it to you for a couple of gold pieces." He shrugged. "Not all that many drinkers in town, so demand is low."

It was odd to be in a place where booze wasn't really sought after. In my old life, I'd grown up in a town that enjoyed its alcoholic beverages, so it was odd to see a place that didn't share such... dependencies. Enrika didn't really count because I never paid enough attention to whatever vices existed there. For all I knew, they could be the biggest drunks on the planet. That wasn't likely, but you get the point.

Quietly, I paid the man, depositing 2 gold pieces in his outstretched hand. Once I did that, he handed me the hip-flask, which I slid into my pocket. After the transaction was completed, I turned around, walking out the door with a small smile.

"Hey, you have a nice day!" He called out after me.

I stopped, vaguely surprised that he said that. I mean, he was just trying to be nice, but so many other villagers had just stuck to staring at me like I was weird. So, in my books, this guy was better than all the others.

"You too, man." I responded, before continuing on my way. I still had to visit Luka after all, and I wasn't quite looking forward to that. Don't get me wrong, he wasn't a bad kid, but the fact that I had to be friends with him pissed me off. I didn't want to be anywhere near him, because I wanted to be as far from the plot as possible. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option anymore, which just felt like bullshit. Ilias, that bitch, had decided that I'd be a hero, even if it killed me. Considering all the shit I'd probably have to face, that was... disturbingly possible.

Fuck, man. Thinking about your own mortality was always a downer. I'd already died once, if you recall, and I wasn't sure what would happen when I kicked the bucket a second time. What would await me? Heaven? Hell? Yet another world? I didn't know, and that scared me.

Whatever, we're getting off-topic again.

Quickly, I walked through town, searching for that familiar head of purple hair. He wasn't on the main street, so I turned off onto one of the side paths, heading towards the area where I'd last seen him.

It took a few minutes to get there, of course. Thankfully, when I arrived, he was there, swinging away in the field. His form, while still terrible, had seemingly improved somewhat. It seemed he took my advice...

I made a bee-line for the boy, ignoring the suspicious looks I got from passers-by. Great, now folks probably thought I was a pedo. That would just make my already-in-tatters reputation even worse. Oh well, It's not like I gave a shit about this town. Fuck all the people that live here (Except that shopkeeper, of course. He seemed like a nice guy.).

I managed to get right behind him without being noticed, so I decided to give the poor bastard a scare. With a not insignificant amount of force, I clapped my hand onto his shoulder, and shouted "BOO!"

He let out a surprised scream, jumping like a loaded spring. I burst out into loud, raucous laughter as he landed on his butt, glaring up at me with an unimpressed expression.

"That's not funny, Alex." He grumbled, his eyebrow twitching as I continued to laugh.

He was really salty, which made it so much better. I continued to giggle hysterically for a bit, before ever-so-slowly fading into quiet chuckles.

"Heh, comedy is in the eye of the beholder my friend." I said, wiping a tear from my eye. "Or however that saying goes. I don't really remember."

After a few more moments of angry staring, he let out a long, tired sigh. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, his expression was decidedly neutral. I wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. I was still awful at reading people, so I had no idea what he was thinking.

"I received a vision from Ilias last night." He said quietly, giving me a meaningful look. "She told me some... things about you."

I froze, feeling a spike of fear pierce my heart. For a moment, I considered running, but we all know that wasn't really an option. I sighed, trying desperately to calm down somewhat. It couldn't be that bad, could it? Ilias wanted me to travel with the boy. She wouldn't tell him anything that put us at odds. Still, this could be somewhat problematic.

"Oh yeah?" I asked, trying to ignore the growing pit in my stomach. "What did she tell you?"

He continued to stare at me with an expression that hovered somewhere between pity and discomfort. Quite frankly, I didn't care for that shit at all. Still, I bit my tongue. He hadn't really done anything to deserve my ire, so I'd at least try to be nice.

"She said..." Luka paused, seemingly searching for the right thing to say. "That you were going down a wrong path. She told me that you'd been through some horrible things, and that she trusted me to help you."

I blinked. Huh, that was... better than I thought. I didn't like how I was implied to be somewhat traumatized, though. I was a perfectly well-adjusted adult, thank you very much. I hadn't really gone through all that much. I mean, there was that time a dark elf time to rape me, and then I was chased by heroes, and a worm girl nearly killed me. After that, there was time I nearly got killed by that tentacle elf, and most recently, the roper incident.

That wasn't all that much, was it? I mean, I might be forgetting some small stuff, but even then, none of that seemed like a big deal. Really, those five incidents were all I could think of. That number isn't even in the double digits.

"...I think she might've exaggerated a tad bit. I'm not that bad." I shrugged, giving him what I hoped was a kind smile. "Honestly, I'm just glad you're not running away from me this time."

I wasn't really sure if that was a good thing, to be honest. He had been right to run from our last encounter, considering how close I'd come to ripping his throat out. Even now, I felt the urge to attack. It was light enough that I could ignore it, but it still clawed at my mind, seemingly buzzing right behind my eyes. Things would be easier when my flask was full, that was for sure.

"...I don't really know what else to say here." I grunted, shrugging my shoulders. "Ilias wants me to go on a journey with you sometime, and I figured that'd be easier if we were on friendly terms." Seeing an opportunity, I added: "Hey, wanna train again?"

He took a moment to decide, eventually nodding his head in approval.

"Sure," He said. "Why not."

*LINEBREAK*

Luka was... still unsure of how to feel about Alex. It was their second meeting now, and things still felt... odd. Of course, Luka knew better than to judge the man. From what Ilias had told him, the redhead had been through some awful stuff.

According to the goddess, he'd been separated from his family at a young age, and kidnapped by an evil monster. The monster, an elf, had kept him captive for years, forcing him to watch the death of many heroes, and to eventually kill his own father! How Alex's mind hadn't broken, Luka didn't know. If anything, it just gave him a newfound respect for the man. To go through such horrific things and remain (relatively) sane was just unimaginable.

He'd also been nearly raped/killed multiple times, but he apparently always managed to fight off his attackers. He must've been a strong warrior if he could survive that many fights.

Of course, Luka hadn't really mentioned the specifics of what he knew. It would be downright cruel to make Alex relive those memories, so he decided not to bring it up. That would only cause unnecessary pain.

The worst part was that Alex seemed unaware of how hard his life had been. He'd even claimed that Ilias had exaggerated the story! Why, that would've just been preposterous! Why would she lie about something as important as this? She was a benevolent goddess, so such things were simply beneath her.

The goddess had also mentioned how his mind had been poisoned against her. The thought of Alex hating Ilias was sickening, but somewhat understandable. He wasn't a willing heretic; he was just misinformed. Surely, he'd bow down once he learned of the goddess' kind nature.

Luka would make sure of it.

A/N: Sorry to cut this one a little short, but I feel like if I didn't, it would just go on and on. It's always a little difficult to find a reasonable stopping point, you know?

Sorry about the long wait. I got really sick (not covid, thankfully.) And was laid up for basically a week. Unfortunately, just because I was ill, doesn't mean that the work I had to do would just magically disappear. A lot of shit had piled up when I recovered, so I was only just now able to finish the chapter.

Anyways, it seems that Ilias has fed Luka some absolute bullshit. Is she purposefully lying, or is she just so delusional that she thinks all of that really happened? Find out... sometime. Whenever I get around to that plot point, I guess.

Please tell me if there are any glaring plotholes. I usually check previous chapters to make sure I'm not contradicting myself, but I'm very tired, so I could've missed something. Let me know if I did. If it's especially bad, I'll go back and fix it.