"I'm afraid so... you won't survive for long"
The Cleric gave the news to Aldo straight since he asked for it.
Although he already prepared himself to hear the bad news, Aldo's heart still felt pained even though he had already braced himself, thinking that his life would end is not the reason that concerns him.
But thinking that Laziah would have to go through hardships alone when their situation just got better breaks Aldo's heart, and he unconsciously shed a tear.
'Of course... Why would I become an Ego Fighter without a catch', Aldo ridiculed himself.
Everything that happens in his life always has a catch,
A moment of thrill and happiness of becoming an Ego Fighter and also rich just before he got diagnosed with a deadly sickness, that alone has a very nice ring to it.
"I-Is there any cure?", Aldo asks without expecting anything.
Hearing this, the Cleric sighs before she replied, "There is no cure because your condition is more of a mutation rather than a sickness, it happened in very rare cases after becoming an Ego Fighter through Beast Blood Essence"
"It's called Talentless Body"
This caught Aldo in surprise as he unconsciously glanced at the Cleric in disbelief.
"Before you blame me, I told you that it happened rarely. Talentless Body happened when a person can't sustain the Ego Beast they're associated with, the Beast Blood Essence amplifies one's talent but in rare cases such as yourself, your body refused to become stronger hence it's called the Talentless Body"
"It's so rare that only one case in the entire Hummara Kingdom territory has been recorded, the person must have a hereditary defect in their bloodline, and even then the probability of getting the Talentless Body is still extremely low"
"The Talentless Body is just as rare as Ternion Ego Fighter"
Aldo can't help but chuckle upon hearing this as his life never stopped surprising him.
Even in a village that is hardly ever had any contact with the Hummara Kingdom, Aldo has heard of the legendary Ternion Ego Fighter who possesses three Ego Beasts at the same time.
The stories he heard state that Ternion Ego Fighter happened once in a millennium.
It's ironic to know that he's very lucky just like Ternion Ego Fighter, but the difference is that he got a very rare disease instead of immense power.
Seeing Aldo that is chuckling to himself makes the Cleric pity him.
"How long do I have until I'm dead?", Aldo asks again.
The Cleric sat by the fire again before she replied, "It's hard to say since I've never seen this myself, but not long, a day or possibly two days"
After hearing that, Aldo then forcefully sits down on the bed.
"Rrgghh!", he groans painfully as the pain inside his body becomes too much, it feels like getting stabbed by a hundred swords but miraculously still alive.
It's a pain that he never thought was possible,
Seeing this, the Cleric rushes to help Aldo with a frown, "I told you to not move much"
"What's the point in lying down when I'm going to die tomorrow? I'm going to see my sister one last time before I die", Aldo replied before struggling to stand up.
But the Cleric stopped him, "You can't go back with the condition you're in!"
Hearing this, Aldo slaps the Cleric's hands away while glaring at her angrily, "Then what am I supposed to do?! If I stayed here then I won't be able to bid goodbye to my sister!"
Aldo's chest is heaving up and down, his breath becomes heavy because of anger.
Cough! Cough!
He started coughing severely again, his strength got pulled away every time he coughs but he still didn't give up as he fixated his eyes on the door.
Without wasting any more time,
Aldo struggles to stand up using both of his hands on the bed as support, he then slowly walks toward the door with determination while grabbing anything he can as support along the way.
The Cleric watches this from the back while biting her lips,
Brak!
With how weak his body is, Aldo slipped and fall to the wooden ground grunting in pain.
But still, he started to crawl on the ground refusing to give up.
Feeling that she should help, the Cleric then approaches Aldo before she helps him to get out of the house where the man is still waiting outside.
It's been two hours since Aldo passed out, but the man still waited in case something like this happened.
"Let me come with you", the Cleric said seeing the blizzard is heavy.
Hearing this, Aldo shakes his head after he got helped to sit down on the sleigh just beside the man that drove him here before, "It's okay, I don't have any money to pay you..."
"You don't have to pay me. Let me help you, I can explain to your sister about your condition", the Cleric insisted, she's driven by the feeling of pity and a little bit of guilt.
But once again Aldo shakes his head, but he suddenly thought of something.
He looks at the Cleric with hopeful eyes before he grabs the Cleric's hand lightly, "If I may boldly ask...When I die..."
"Take my sister in with you, she's still young and good at housework. She won't be a burden"
After saying that, Aldo taps the Cleric's hand lightly without waiting for her answer before he signals to the man to drive the sleigh heading back home to Pendle Village.
The two of them left the Cleric who is still looking at them with a troubled gaze.
While heading back to Pendle Village,
The man struggles to ride the sleigh as the blizzard is very strong, even the horses are having a hard time pulling the sleigh but seeing Aldo's condition he didn't complain.
It takes twice the time to get back to Pendle Village but they arrive anyway.
"Do you want me to help you get back to your place?", the man asks.
Hearing this, Aldo who just strugglingly got down from the sleigh looks at him and saw the man is genuinely trying to help, "If it's not much of a hassle for you, then I will accept the offer"
Just like that, the man helps Aldo back to the inn he's staying with Laziah.
Upon nearing the Inn, Aldo signals the man to stop when he saw Laziah coming out of the Inn while holding Daley's hand happily.
Her jet-black hair is waving left and right as she walks outside of the inn skipping,
Seeing her through the harsh snowy blizzard doesn't seem to fade the radiating warmth that Laziah emits as if she's the speck of fire in the harsh snow, a gorgeous princess that even nature's cold fingers are unable to harm.
Aldo is mesmerized by the happiness Laziah is currently feeling,
Both Daley and Laziah are holding hands in front of the inn just like any other couple in the winter does, sharing warmth while they both converse as if there is no problem in their lives.
Truly a worthwhile moment that makes the coldness Aldo currently felt disappears.
His eyes are fixed on the couple who plays and tease each other as they both ran back inside the inn playfully, but even with the couple gone, Aldo still gazes at the Inn with tender eyes.
"Sir... Let's get inside the Inn first", the man said from the side.
There's a slight pause after the man said that, Aldo slowly lower his gaze to the ground that is covered by thick snow before he finally said, "Here is enough... I can get back on my own"
After saying that, Aldo takes the last silver coin he had before giving it to the man.
"You don't have to pay me, Sir... I did this purely just to help you get back safely", the man pushes Aldo's hand away rejecting the silver coin.
But Aldo insisted, he grabs the man's hand weakly before putting the silver coin on his palm.
With a bright smile, Aldo holds the man's shoulder, "Thank you for your help, you're a good man"
"I'll take it from here, I'll be alright...", he added.
Although the man hesitate to leave Aldo here just about fifteen meters away from the Inn, he finally bowed a little seeing that Aldo doesn't want his help anymore.
It's very near the Inn but Aldo suddenly asks him to leave albeit indirectly.
After the man heads back to the bar, Aldo sighs.
Giving one last look at the Inn where Laziah and Daley are probably still teasing and playing like before, Aldo turns his head away from the inn and heads in another direction.
Nobody is on the street since the blizzard is strong,
But nevertheless knowing that he's at the end of his life, Aldo didn't care and just walk absent-mindedly heading to Aunt Liv's house.
With a slow and stumbling walk, he finally reaches the house.
Taking a huge deep breath to relax his hurting body, Aldo knocks on the door before Aunt Liv opened the door and her eyes lit up upon seeing Aldo.
"Aldo! Come inside, it's cold outside", Aunt Liv said with a smile.
Hearing this, Aldo smiles back, "There's no need aunty, I'm not going to be long"
"You're getting cheeky now eh since you become an Ego Fighter, but whatever, an Ego Fighter can handle the cold more I guess", she said with a slight chuckle.
She then raises her eyebrows and asks, "What have you come here for, Aldo?"
Aldo looks down as he feels blood wanted to gush out of his mouth, but he forcefully swallowed it back not wanting to let Aunt Liv to know about his sickness.
Upon looking at the weird expression, Aunt Liv sparks a frown on her face.
But Aldo then quickly replied giving no time for Aunt Liv to ask any questions, "I'm going somewhere for a bit, Can I ask to look after Laziah for a bit?"
"Oh? Then just leave it to aunty, I'll look after her don't worry", Aunt Liv replied
She then wink her eye before she added teasingly, "If you're worried that Laziah and Daley will do something, just leave it to me! Aunty will keep a look out!"
"Thanks, Aunty! You're the best!", Aldo replied giving her two thumbs up.
After conversing for a couple of minutes, Aldo bids his goodbye that somehow feels heavier to say before Aunt Liv finally closed the door shut.
Uncle is already asleep so Aldo doesn't get to meet him but he's rather thankful for it.
"Huakhh!", Aldo falls to his knees in front of the house's door.
He already tries so hard to keep it cool and composed in front of Aunt Liv, so immediately after the door is shut he spat a mouthful of blood.
The blood now doesn't come out red, but it's straight to black instead.
Letting out all of the blood that he swallowed back while talking to Aunt Liv earlier, Aldo then wipe the blood marks on his mouth before slowly standing up.
It's back to the coldness of the winter again, no warmth that can be felt.
Just like how his life turned out after a couple of days of happiness of being an Ego Fighter, everything becomes depressing, dark, and cold.
Aldo then exits the village by walking and heads into the woods,
He has been getting deeper inside the wood for almost fifteen minutes now, only the sound of the blizzard and his thudding steps on the snow can be heard.
But when he walked further, the sound of beasts growling can be heard all around.
There's no fear in Aldo's eyes as he's on the verge of death, he can already feel the hands of death is already creeping on his back, inches away from taking his life.
'Getting killed by a beast seems better than dying of sickness', Aldo thought with a wry smile.
Step after step, Aldo dwells inside the woods aimlessly.
He doesn't meet with any beasts even after half an hour of walking deeper into the woods, maybe it's because of the blizzard or even the stench of death coming from his body.
Only blood trails were left behind by Aldo but they got quickly covered by the snow.
When Aldo was about to fall to his knees, his attention was attracted by the sound of rough footsteps coming from his front where a huge boulder can be seen.
Aldo stopped in his tracks before suddenly,
Thud!
A huge beast with dark furs landed right on top of the boulder, the red glowing eyes of the beast can be seen clearly even with the thick blizzard blowing on Aldo's face.
From the bearing it emitted, the beast is at least a middle-tier beast.
'Who would've thought the rumored beast turns out to be true', Aldo thought while looking at the beast that is also looking at him with its predator's eyes.
ROAR!
The beast roared powerfully that it almost shatters Aldo's eardrums,
After roaring menacingly,
The beast leaped from the boulder before landing right in front of Aldo, it's body easily shadowed Aldo who looks way smaller compared to its beastly body.
Now that he can look closer, the beast turns out to be a mix of beasts.
It has a muscular body of a silver-back gorilla but way bigger, horns that of a moose, a head that of a deer, and even claws and tails that of a tiger with piercing red eyes.
The beast leans forward intending to sniff Aldo,
But even with the beast's head so close to him that even its rough warm breath blows onto his face, Aldo didn't budge from his spot as he had already surrendered himself for the beast to kill him.
Seeing that the beast raises its claw and was about to strike, Aldo closes his eyes.
'At least I died from a powerful beast like this one, it's way better than dying from a rare sickness that prohibits me from getting stronger', Aldo thought as a smile appears on his face.
Just as he waits for the beast to strike,
Graah!!
The roar of the beast can be heard as Aldo tenses his body preparing to receive the beast's blow, but he feels something is off because the roar is more like a whimper instead.
After waiting a moment, Aldo slowly opens his eyes when the attack never came.
Upon opening his eyes, Aldo widen his eyes as he saw something else sitting on the boulder in front of him where the mixed beast was before.
This beast or figure gave a completely different aura from the beast before.
It's almost as if this beast or figure that is clouded by the blizzard is nothing, completely nothing as if it was a ghost but it clearly is something since Aldo saw the beast from before got decapitated cleanly.
"W-What is that...?"