A gentle breeze hit the tree, moving the hanging corpses slightly as millions of insect wings buzzed loudly while a pungent stench of rotting corpses filled the air.
The nightmarish scene shocked Luz to the point that he could not utter a word, as his eyes were glued to the horrors around them.
As the wind continued blowing, Luz heard an eery, squeaky sound coming from the tree that sounded like the screams of the hanged.
Scared shitless, Luz gripped his weapon hilt as tightly as possible while stuttering, "L-Le-Let's le-leave this place."
Even though Luz wanted nothing more than to run as far as possible away from this place, he could not. No matter what he tried, his legs didn't listen to him and had taken root while his gaze remained on the waving corpses.
'Liv… please answer,' Luz thought, hoping Liv would take the initiative.
But she remained quiet. Instead, Liv raised her shaky hand, pointing at the tree, while her face was contorted with a mixture of shock and fury. "Who… Who was that?" she asked in a cold voice suppressing the wrath she felt at the sickening sight.
Luz hesitantly placed his hand on her shoulder, whispering quietly, "Maybe we should leave and report our findings for the time being."
However, Liv shook her head, and a fireball began forming on the top of her finger while the wind around the old tree grew stronger.
'Why is the wind only affecting the tree?' Luz wondered at the sight of seeing the hanged corpses swing violently.
But before he could ponder more, Liv uttered coldly, "the sight sickens me to the core," and an orange fireball shot from the tips of her finger, setting the scene ablaze as a fire tornado engulfed the tree.
"That should have taken care of all these pesky insects," Liv muttered, turning her back onto the three as Luz watched in horror and awe as the 10-meter (americano: 33 feet) high fire tornado destroyed everything.
"This is the power of an intermediate mage," Luz muttered as he grew excited at what he could achieve at such a level.
But before he could speculate more about his future, Liv shouted, "for what are you waiting for, Luz? Come here. We have some dark mages to kill."
And so the two walked the trail that led to a small village without uttering a word.
But on their way, a bush nearby began to shake, and Luz immediately unsheathed his sword, ready to strike at whatever creature was there. However, Liv simply raised her hand, stating, "Calm down. It's just a human child."
After stating that, Liv simply pushed the branches aside, revealing a young starved girl around 8 years old, shaking in fear.
"Pl-Please r-run," she stuttered as tears began streaming down her cheek. "Th-They w-will hunt y-you t-too, sis."
The angry and cold face Liv had moments ago immediately vanished as she gently petted the girl, whispering, "don't worry, girl. Everything will be fine."
The girl continued shaking uncontrollably, and Liv slowly took out an amulet encasing an eye in silver. The amulet's eye was closed, and Liv whispered to the girl with a calming voice, "please take a look."
But the moment the kid glanced at the closed eye, it opened up its eyelids, revealing a slit teal pupil that cried out blood before shutting down. Blood continued streaming out of the closed eye, and Liv gently hugged the girl that was now in a trance, before lifting it up.
"Tell me, kid… what had befallen your village," Liv asked as she gently petted the back of the kid.
The kid's eyes, by now, were dull, devoid of any life, as she answered emotionless, "The village elder demanded the death of all females after more and more girls puked out insects. A conflict was ensured, and the village elder's side won with heavy casualties."
"I see, I see. Thank you," Liv muttered with a smile before sighing, "Unfortunally, I cannot save you from the fate awaiting you."
Liv's hug tightened around the kid's body, and before Luz could even comprehend the meaning behind her words, the young girl got set ablaze.
Bone-chilling screams followed as the burning kid awoke from her trance and immediately began hitting Liv in hopes of freeing herself.
Luz, in his shock, watched the event unfolding, not understanding why the girl he trusted so much would kill an innocent girl in such a gruesome way.
The kid's beatings grew weaker over time, and it didn't take long till Liv hugged ashes that broke into millions of pieces, getting swept with a simple breeze. In the end, only her unawakened mana core remained in Liv's hand, and she gently stored it in her pouch while her gaze was fixed on the horizon.
The smell of grilled flesh made Luz's stomach ache earlier, and the parasites in his body demanded him to devour the girl. Confused and disgusted by his own thoughts and what was happening in front of him, Luz stuttered in horror, "What have you done!?" as he watched Liv expressionlessly clean her armor.
After sighing loudly, Liv answered gloomily, "I've done what I had to do." Seeing how Luz wasn't satisfied with the answer, she explained the situation to Luz. "My nature talent lets me sense all kinds of living creatures, Insects, humans, animals, mages, monsters, you name it. I sense the millions of parasites in your body, but I also sense the millions of tiny insect eggs filling her chest…."
Luz remained speechless, and Liv merely sighed loudly. "Do I look like someone that feels pleasure killing an innocent child?"
"No, of course not," Luz replied, and the two proceeded to walk the trail without saying a single word.
It didn't take long before a group of armed men appeared in their vision.
The two immediately halted their tracks upon seeing that the group of men aimed their crossbows at them.
"Put these pesky crossbows down if you don't want me to glass your village to end up like the tree I glassed earlier," Liv replied as she slowly raised her arm.