Fully taking in the image of the Myder, Cisse's head slowly returned back to its normal position.
Seeing this Myder, it slowly dawned on Cisse what was going on.
About a year ago, while accompanying Dinga and a few others on an excursion into the forest. They were ambushed by a troop of Myders. Needless to say, t was a one-sided massacre. However, during this massacre on the outskirts of the conflict, was a severely injured young Myder and standing over it was Cisse with a dagger in hand. Though it wouldn't be Cisse's first time killing, courtesy of other trips 'observing flora and fauna,' it was the first time he would do it while making contact with eyes pleading for life. Unable to bring himself to do it, Cisse kicked the body to the side.
Now behind him stood a variant DD-ranked Myder with a deep diagonal scar running from its shoulder to hip.
"HUOOH!"
Feeling another heavy breath, Cisse tightly clenched his dagger.
THU-WHROO-CRSSHK!
Before Cisse could even do anything, a large force suddenly slammed into his back, sending him flying into a nearby tree.
"COUGH-COUGH-COUGH!"
Unable to help himself, Cisse released fitful coughs along with a mouthful of blood.
Seeing this, the scarred Myder released a sneer.
"EEE-EEE-OOOH-OOOH"
Roaring out, the scarred Myder began to make its way towards Cisse as the surrounding trees began to be filled with trumpeting Myders.
Making it to Cisse, the Myder picked him up by his neck and raised Cisse until his eyes were level with its own.
Though not known to Cisse, it was also then that something deep within himself expressed a strong sense of disdain. However, although Cisse did not feel that, what he did begin to feel was the warming up of his entire body while his eyes began to blank.
"BRRR!"
Not seeing what it was looking for, the Myder released a deep growl.
WHROO-CRSCH-"COUGH!"
Thrown against a tree, another mouth full of blood involuntarily ejected itself from Cisse.
Making its way to Cisse again, the Myder picked him up and raised him to its eyes again. Locking its burning eyes onto Cisse's, the Myder was simply greeted by a pair of nonchalant eyes.
"BRRRR!"
Not finding what it was looking for in Cisse's nonchalant eyes, annoyed, the scarred Myder threw him against another tree while the other Myders atop the trees yelled on.
Again the scarred Myder went to pick up Cisse, locking eyes once more. Perhaps, blinded due to its rage, the Myder had yet to take note of Cisse's continuously heating up the body.
OOOM!
Slamming its fists down in frustration after having thrown Cisse again. The Myder's eyes burned in fury as it angrily made its way to Cisse.
Sliding down a tree, Cisse slowly lifted his head as the Myder approached once more. However, it was at this moment that Cisse's body which now felt like a furnace, instantly cooled.
WOOOM!
CRR-CRRR-CRRRRTCH!
In an instant, the surrounding towering trees bent downward, the primates in the tree crashed down, while the raging variant Myder fell to its knees as its head forcefully slammed face-first into the ground before a now standing Cisse.
With a heavy struggle, the variant Myder was able to raise its head a bit – just enough that its eyes could meet Cisse's looking down on it.
….
….
….
"I lost consciousness at point, but I was filled in on what happened much later. Turns out that father had been there the entire time and only stepped in at that point. Courtesy of him having mom's healing, he healed me of my injuries and called for someone to come get me…."
"Guessing that the story doesn't end there?" Asked Arthur.
"As if," replied Cisse. "With me gone, father proceeded to dismember the variant Myder while still keeping it alive. Then proceeded to drag it by the back of its head as he made it watch him slaughter each and every single Myder within this region. And when done, killed variant."
"I-"
"Still not done," chuckled Cisse. "So turns out this whole thing was a year-long life lesson in the making. Father had noticed back then that I'd let the Myder get away and simply let it happen. Although it isn't impossible for a beast to rapidly develop from F-Rank to DD-Rank in a year, they would need fortuitous encounter after fortuitous encounter for that to happen. Guess who decided to help make it happen?"
"Father?"
"Bingo!" Smiled Cisse. "I learned a few lessons from that whole ordeal. One, if something has made it clear it's your enemy, eradicate them, don't give them the chance to get revenge. Two, don't expect someone to come and save when you need it because it may never come. Of course, it's nice if it happens, but don't rely on it. Instead, come up with an exit plan for yourself. Three, the one I understood later when the rest of the story was told, the consequences of your actions don't always apply to just yourself. Those around can be implicated too."
Looking over at Arthur as they rode, Cisse couldn't help but smirk at the dumbfounded look on Arthur's face. "Don't worry, father is actually a pretty nice guy. He is the type to crack jokes and occasionally do dumb stuff. He just happens to be very good at what he does, leading and guidi-"
KRR-KRR-KRRRR-BRRRR-BOOOOM!
Out of nowhere, the sky suddenly shook and warped as the surrounding RE dispersed and clustered in chaos. However, within a few moments, everything returned back to normal.
Feeling as if the entire Realm just flipped, Arthur, who tightly clutched onto Aegon, cast a glance at a surprised Cisse and co.
"What the hell was that?"
"A Realm Quake." Breathed Cisse.