"Are you ready for this? If you agree, upon opening the book you accept to our contract." the translucent man proposed.
Arthur returned to his senses and calculated his routes. He recognised the gap in this contract; you had to open the book to accept it. Therefore, he could wait till he finds out his element affinity.
In reality, there was no other alternative. Arthur had to keep this book and remove everything from this cave to cover his trail. He was confident that Leitus's father would come after him. He placed all the skeleton remains in a bag that Leitus carried, excluding the head that he just decided to hide somewhere randomly.
Arthur thought of the axe that Leitus brought with him. He knew that killing Leitus with a knife in the cave would be difficult to cover due to the blood; that's why he choked him out instead.
Arthur took a deep breath and cleared his mind to think correctly. After a while, he immediately grabbed Leitus, placed him on his shoulders, and took him out of the cave alongside the bag.
He knew he had to work fast before it was too late.
Arthur carried Leitus for around 30 minutes till he reached the lake that he and Leitus had stopped by previously for a break.
Arthur removed his clothes entirely and also did the same to Leitus. He grabbed the axe with a firm grip and started to chop his legs into different pieces randomly without any knowledge whatsoever; then, he began to work his way up till he reached his arms and head.
He took a step back and gazed upon his work, dropped the axe and swallowed his saliva as he stared at his two hands, his whole body submerged in blood.
As Arthur closed his eyes, he heard the same voice echo in his ears again 'Erra... your terror will always haunt zion...'
'Life and death is nature's law. All living beings are equal, and everyone has their privilege to surive and be slaughtered. There might be higher and lower beings, so what ? in face of death, a person's death is no different than an ant, What's the contrast? They're both dead.' Arthur told himself right after he heard that.
'No, no, no, what am I thinking? This is not me. Ugh, I need to stop thinking about this and come up with a plan. Now it's not the time.'
Arthur grabbed Leitus's chopped off head and had a flashback of what happened in the cave. A map of wrinkles was visible on his face like he had lived a long life; his hair and eyes turned white mysteriously. After thinking for a while, he knew that it was difficult for somebody like Arthur to do this, and indeed he is not capable of it in people's eyes.
He left the head in the pool of blood and placed the other body parts in different locations alongside the skeleton remains next to it to make it as problematising as possible. He also threw all Leitus's belongings in the lake.
Arthur didn't know what else to do and decided to go over his plan again to ensure he didn't miss anything before heading home.
Nonetheless, Arthur was convinced he had overlooked something, but there was no time anymore; therefore, he started running back home.
His mind couldn't stop reexamining what he had done, and Arthur was afraid of getting captured. However, Leitus's ageing is an excellent cover for him.
'I need to leave this village as soon as possible. The caravan will come to sell goods in this village next month; I will have to find a way to sneak in. Till then I have to slow their investigation as much as possible. I can start with Talia exploiting her will be my biggest advantage.'
'I desire to become the moon in this life, ascending above the mountains and heavens, playing with the clouds. I will have to survive this.'
....
When Arthur reached his house, it was almost dark. His parents weren't home yet.
He walked towards his window in a dimly lit room to look at himself through the reflection.
He was expecting to see a physical difference since he could feel a change in his body after consuming Leitus.
Arthur was now sure there was a reciprocal connection between him and Erra but couldn't figure out how or why. Regardless, there was no doubt in his mind that they shared something. The way Erra's father died corresponded to what transpired with Leitus.
'That sensation of joy, I can't keep it out of my mind. It was what people call "paradise" to me. Even now, I'm slightly craving it, which shows how perilous it is.'
'I need to hide that inheritance book someplace secure.'
He touched his face and noticed his skin was much softer than before.
It didn't surprise Arthur as he got used to the transformations as time went past.
What Arthur failed to notice was the faint of red in his eyes.
Arthur sat on the cold floor and inspected the inheritance book that he had just got.
'Nervous emotions are there to guard me; all they are asking is for me to double-check everything before I do something that I might regret. It's a precaution mechanism that people fail to understand and try to get rid off. I need to guarantee that I won't get caught.' Arthur tried to handle the nervousness since it was his first time doing something like this. However, he was only frightened of getting captured and had no remorse for what he did to Leitus.
'I can kill others, and others can naturally come to kill me. This is absolutely nothing in my eyes.'
Knock. Knock
"Are you home Arthur?"
Arthur recognised the voice as it was her mother.
"Yes, mother, I've been here for a long time. Thank you for checking." Arthur said.
"I'm going to prepare dinner, you should come and join us." she offered.
"Yes mother I'll come shortly." he answered.
.......
'Dear lord, I think I have suffered enough.' the young boy felt foggy. 'I didn't mean to do that to my father, I don't even know what happened. You are my witness.'
He opened his eyes slowly; it felt painful, like he had never seen the light before. His world, his sanity, was falling apart just as he thought he had a grip on it.
The chilling room stung against his skin. They left him alone in a space that even light did not dare enter; there was only a tiny opening on the ceiling. The loneliness caused him to remember his mother.
'My beautiful Erra.' she said as she patted his head.
The walls, in his mind, seemed to close in further and further every day, wanting to crush him. He didn't know if he was going crazy or his eyes were telling the truth. It didn't matter; the world had already destroyed his heart. The walls can be the animals and feed on the remaining of his suffering corpse.
The starvation pricked his stomach with each passing day. Sometimes he would hallucinate having a meal in front of him. Nonetheless, it was the meal that left him in starvation.
His skin turned into a ghostly pale, and his lips purple. His eyes had dark circles from his restless nights. Scars and lacerations littered his body as they would whip and torture every inch of it.
He knew they would come again to refresh his traumatised mind.
'Please my lord. Help me.'