The smell of rain pierced through his nostrils, implying that there was a heavy downpour a few minutes ago and as proof, he felt his whole body being drenched by wetness. Strangely the strong smell of iron and the smell of blood were dominant, those did not concern him.
'Where am I?' He mumbled inwardly.
The Weight of myriad bodies that suppressed his strengthless vessel, the suffocation, the unbearable pain, and an inexplicable emotion he couldn't point out, made him yearn for the eternal slumber.
He did not possess the energy to swim out of the sea of corpses rather the agonizing pain inside his skull made it worse.
"shriekkk!" The sound of unsheathing a sword permeated his ears.
"Kueekkk!"
Followed by that, he heard a man squeal. This alarmed his survival instincts.
He slowly moved by thrusting the meager energy that's left of him and paddled upward in search of the reason behind the scream.
Digging through the corpses as carefully as possible he made his way to the side, a comfortable viewpoint to take a peek. He was so careful that he didn't even leisurely breathe and constantly maintained a steady breathing technique. Though those were subconscious phenomena he didn't notice those behaviors himself.
As soon as he viewed through the gap, the rays of sunlight flashed his eyes. He was in the solitude of darkness a moment ago and the sudden adaption to lighting was delayed by his mind.
The sky was shady with dark clouds scattered around like a painting as the orange hue permeated through the gaps between the clouds with some vultures circling around. It was the moment he realized that he was thrown into a ditch as food to the dead eaters. Dead eaters are monsters that appear in the dawn seeking the dead to devour their flesh.
It was dreadful yet beautiful, a peculiar scenery but it was no time to admire it. The strange eerieness, the cold feeling of death, the brutality, and the struggle for survival the thirst for life was in that scene. If it were painted by the most renowned artists it would've been hanging on a Nobel man's wall.
He instantly squinted his eyes and diverted them back to earth, his eyes caught onto a scene of a few men slaughtering the remnant survivors on the battlefield. As he drifted his eyes, he found a few of the dead eaters lying dead. The remnant bite marks left on his body and the dead conveyed the meaning behind this.
'Blood poison?' He questioned himself and turned his attention back to the ground.
There were men in ironclad, holding spears which were about two meters long, and a few carried swords, All the men had a branding of a lion in the center of their ironclad armor. And Their members were approximately above ten headcounts. A few possessed hounds tied with iron leashes. Those were probably there to detect or hunt someone as they possess a keen sense.
"Wrr! Wrr!!"
One of the hounds began barking as its eyes met with the hiding man.
His eyes meandered and began to estimate his surroundings. Strangely he was tranquil as though his soul was at peace regardless of the agony his body transmitted to his brain.
One of the soldiers who had a hound on a leash turned towards him as the hound began to perceive the injured man hidden inside the sea of corpses.
Momentarily a loud yell intruded the eerie battlefield.
"Ahhh!"
"Aren't those the ones we segregated a few hours ago?" One of the men asked pulling his spear out of a man he killed a second ago, staring at the back of the warrior who was assisted with a hound.
"Wrrr! Wrr! Wrr!"
The hound barked and tenaciously tried to drag the warrior towards the corpses Even though he was resisting its pull.
"Indeed" He nodded and continued, " but it seems strange to me as well. Will cost us nothing, to check again, does it? Can't neglect Cayta's instinct."
He responded and turned towards the injured man.
The injured young man's heart slowly began to beat wilder and wilder and the migraine's vigor increased as the soldier closed him. He relinquished his power over his body and lost his composture having been exposed to danger.
"Wait! I will accompany you!" Another soldier yelled and ran towards him.
"Are ya' scared of that Jegan? Wasn't he examined twice before being thrown into the ditch?" One of them asked with a wry smile towards the man with the hound as he noticed his slow approach.
'Jegan'
The hiding man phrased hearing the name. There existed no moment for him to contemplate why the warriors were terrified of Jegan.
For some reason, his lips arched up into an evil smile subconsciously. A strange ecstasy took over him, as he saw the men approaching with a terrified expression on their faces. He understood the reason behind his pounding heart. Yet couldn't recollect the reason behind his demise and situation.
All he knew was a feeling of satisfaction. He was in a terrible position to be smiling at a pair of armed men assisted with two fully grown hounds yet, he was tranquil.
His vision turned gray and golden lines appeared like strands of wires rooting into a weird golden window.
[The void has been Activated]
He was not able to recall why he is seeing a golden window before him. But, it was not the time to question the trivial. He quickly noticed a red pill displayed in the window and a few more things.
As he touched the image another golden window opened.
[Pill of Death (1) ]
{Description: Do you want to surrender? Do you want to enter the eternal slumber called death? If your answer is yes, this is not for you. This is for those who want to reach the abyss and return to the living.}
'Return to the living?'
He thought as his eyebrows shot up.
He didn't understand why something so trivial has appeared before him and he was unable to understand what this otherworldly power was supposed to be.
Next, his eyes meandered towards the three remaining things deciding inside the void.
[Survival Manual]
[Jegan's journal]
[Scorching Tiger]
They were like heaven-sent gifts but these weren't needed for him at that moment. There was no moment for him to waste but he found that the very likely to survive this ordeal would be ingesting the red pill called death. However, he felt wary to use it.
If the pill fails to resurrect him or if his body is in a weakened state that it loses battle with the pill. In any case, he did not possess any other choice other than ingesting it.
He inserted his hand into the void it was like a natural thing for him as though he already knew how to use the void.
Without wasting further time he took the pill put in his mouth.
Unlike his expectation, the pill didn't react immediately, rather he was found by the hounds and soldiers. But surprisingly his vision turned blur as soon as the soldiers brandished their swords on him and within a few moments, he lost his consciousness.
{You have died}