Awe and trepidation. The two emotions of Ezekiel, watching as a hundred foes struck down into ground meat instantly by a single man. Hudas yawns and snapped his fingers. The whacking blockage of wood pressing down the monsters into minced meat disappeared into thin air only as ashes blown by the cold wind. Ezekiel looked at the man, his eyes popping out while Hudas's was slouched, not a care in the world or anyone. Their eyes meet as Hudas slightly glared unto the young man.
"You're-" Ezekiel tried to converse with the man but was cut off.
"Yeah, I know. I'm a traitor to Magbato. Rumor this, rumor that whatever." Hudas Picked up his coat and gloves from the ground. A sense of guilt detected inside the man who didn't seem to care about anything.
"What kind of power was that? Has that old fool been filling me with lies? Only three types of magic? Is everything you said all lies?" Ezekiel muttered to himself.
Hudas overheard Ezekiel and turned his look unto him. "Three types of magic? How old are you-" Hudas then accidentally bit his tongue. A moment of shock surges through him. He stared at Ezekiel's belt carefully and looked at the glowing stone. "Kulog. Written in ancient Baybayin. Seems like a lucky one has found one of the great one's specials. Not bad." Hudas mumbled to himself. "You're not from around here aren't you?" He asked.
Ezekiel stammered and wiggled. He broke his eye contact from the leathered man, blowing the dust from his clothes in the process. "No. No, I am not."
Hudas sighed. "Let's get back to the village first before anything. That woman looks exhausted."
The three of them walked back the path to the village. The shining light of fireflies along with the crescent moon presented even more beautiful by the stars lit up the surroundings despite the darkness that lurks under the trees of the forest. Loud howls of wolves echoed from the south. Ezekiel, fatigued, felt his feet sink in the moist cold dirt each time he took a step. Dazing forward, he could only reimagine the havoc Hudas created.
"How does one get to that level?" He asked to himself. "More importantly who is that guy?"
Soothing light from the lanterns comforted Ezekiel as he took a slight glimpse at it. His legs shook as he walked, exhausted from the chase that he went through. Noah along with Danilo and Eeya waited at the front gate with the other gossipers to see who or what made it. As the light enveloped the three, a burst of happiness and relief filled Magbato. Shouts and cheers buzzed the streets in the middle of the night.
"He made it but barely..." Noah muttered in disbelief as he saw Ezekiel injured.
"She's alive..." A villager's jaw dropped in awe.
"Fortuna!" A woman yelped, in tears rushed towards her slightly injured daughter. "Thank you..."
The townspeople once again murmured at the sight of Hudas and Ezekiel in different conditions.
"Did Hudas use the boy to survive?"
"Probably did."
"What type of power does that kid got then?"
"Traitors will always be the same as always."
Hudas once again paid no attention to the crowd and only focused on what he wanted. The coated man walked straight and approached Noah. "What's your plan now? That boy is gonna be your line of defense?" He queried.
The man sighed and sat on the ground. He picked a chink of sugarcane out of his pocket and chewed on it. "Well, I know you're not that dense to sense he's not from around here. He'll probably leave tomorrow at dawn."
Hudas rested as well next to him. "The head of this place is still a week away from returning from Kaharian Perlas. Are you sure you can make it through? You were once a leader anyways."
"I hate you." Noah pouted, stood up, and stretched.
"Thanks, bud." Hudas sarcastically replied. He stood up and walked to the nearest liquor store in the village.
"One bottle of rum." Hudas placed a coin on the shop's table.
"The store is closed sir." The owner argued, mustering up all his courage in the process.
Hudas gazed at him in the eyes with disappointment. The villager sighed and served him for the night. "Wasn't so hard was it?" Hudas picked up the bottle of liquor and leisurely.
The sound of running footsteps emitted through the empty street. A young man approaches him rashly. Hudas activated his magic. His tattoo glowed once again with a resonating aura of power, it now smoldered as a bright red light and so did his pupils. A small flame lit up to his finger, without any hesitation he aimed behind him towards the young man.
"Whoa, it's just me!" Ezekiel screeched. His wound was now patched with bandages powdered by crushed herbs meant for healing cuts.
Hudas turned his head away from the boy and deactivated his magic. "What do you want?" He irritatedly asked.
"What was that?" Ezekiel questioned the half-drunk man.
"Huh? Oh, that was a 'Bungisngis'. See how it smiled and stuff." Hudas stated. "It most likely targeted the woman since she smells like bread. Those things are absolute gluttons."
"Well... That's interesting, but how did you do that?" Ezekiel excitedly asked. "I want to be as powerful as you and find the Buhayostine."
Hudas spits the liquor from his mouth. He let out a hysterical laugh partially choking him and roughing him up in the process. "You want to find the Buhayostine?"
"Yes," Ezekiel replied. "It is my sole purpose of approaching you."
Hudas burst into laughs once again. "Don't even try kid. Even I can't find the Buhayostine. It must be in some filthy god's and or something by now."
"But-" Ezekiel tried to parry.
"No, but this, but that, it doesn't make a difference of what you say." Hudas countered. "The product of the complete power of all the gods combined into one isn't going to be lying on the ground somewhere that I can assure you. Unless you're Higan that is."
"Higan?" Ezekiel asked.
"Say where are you from kid?" Hudas asked.
"Village Magpagisa." Ezekiel instantly answered.
Hudas, now fully drunk due to his excessive intake in alcohol opened his eyes wide. "Woah! Mapagisa citizens shouldn't know anything here..." His voice swirled as his body tumbled in the ground, knocked out.
"Shouldn't know? What?" Ezekiel asked himself. "Guess I should take this body to a bed..." He sighed looking at the wasted Hudas lying on the ground. He carried him back to Noah.
As Ezekiel roam towards Noah's place, he noticed a man next to Noah examining the remains of the monsters. The young man approached them with the body of Hudas on his arms.
"Crap! What happened?!" Noah asked in a panic.
"Don't worry he's just passed out drunk," Ezekiel assured. "He'll be fresh tomorrow morning for sure."
"Anyways..." The person Noah recently was conversing with spoke. "This is not a normal creature."
Noah noticed the two in the same conversation and decided to introduce them to each other first. "Before we start, this is Professor Lagun. Professor, meet the man who helped carry the mission. Erm... What was is it again?"
"Ezekiel." He answered.
"Ah yes, there we go Ezekiel." Noah clapped his hands. "We discovered something peculiar about the monsters. Sir, please elaborate."
"First and foremost, Aswang may hunt in packs but they are unable to reach their numbers to hundreds in one place unless they ultimately gained the territory. Second is that they all look identical. They may be one species but I can assure you they don't all look alike. Lastly, is that none of them seem to have had a special ability over the other, unlike normal Aswangs." Lagun explained.
"So what are you suggesting this is ?" Ezekiel asked.
"Necromancy."