After an unknown period of time Zach who was still lying in a huge pool of his own blood opened his eyes. He was heavily panting and his thougths were fuzzy. 'I am still alive ?? The system said I was mortally hit and on the verge of dying. How can I be alive.'
He decided to check the notifications and there only was one which he did not check. [Effect of the title : The one who cheats death : activated]. He still did not know what this title effect did so he decided to look.
[The one who cheats death : As the one who will become death host is naturally able to avoid the most trivial death. When host avoid death host shall be in a dormant state for 48 hours before waking up in great shape. Cooldown : 3 months
However host shall be careful, it does not mean host is immortal. Host can still die, if host's soul is obliterated or if host's body is blown to smithereens, host will truly die and will not be regenerated. Obviously host can also die if the title's effect is on cooldown.]
'That means I was out 48 hours. This fucking Arnold I will ripped him to shreds as soon as the opportunity arises.' Zach stood up, trembling with fury. 'Luckily he doesn't know I am still alive neither do my parents, it worries me, I need to tell them that I am safe and sound.' Suddenly the system ringed in his head.
[Ding ! Quest acquired : Death retribution : A mortal being decided to betray the one who shall become death and tried to kill him. This being is guilty of one of the greatest possible sin, host shall smite this lowly being for his affront
Target eliminated : 0/1
Time limit : none
Reward : Soul mastery skill]
'I have to hurry, I don't know what he will do to Jess and I am sure it won't be something good.' Zach was worried about the last things Arnold told him.
He got up, looked right then left, the heaps of gold and weapons were now gone, it was replaced by just a few handfuls of golds and some weapons as for the bookshelf it was totally was empty.
He headed to the door on the waterfall side, he was out, looking at the same starry sky he gazed a few days ago. He did not see any griffin in the sky which reassured him. He descended carefully the mountain, the last thing he wanted was to draw the attention of beasts who could roam in the dark. It was so dark, he had troubles to see what was on the ground.
He suddenly walked on something soft, this same thing started to roll up his leg, Zach was almost certain of what it was and when he heard a hiss without further thought he made his scythe appear in his hand from his shadow.
The scythed narrowly avoided his leg but Zach did not feel like he had sliced anything. When he looked at his scythe a black snake was wrapped around the handle, in fact he would not have seen it if not for its glowing yellow eyes.
Zach instantly put back his scythe in his shadow which made the snake fall on the ground, angry the snake threw itself to Zach's neck. Given he could not kill it with his scythe Zach kicked it away before it reached his neck. He saw a black mass flew away, second after he heard it fell in the lake.
When the snake fell in the lake, every kind of beast manifested themselves, Zach heard a wolf howl, loud hissings, growls and even eagle cries. When he heard the eagle cry, Zach got cold sweat, he decided that caution could be thrown to the wind.
Luckily for him the tunnel was not very far so he started to run as fast as he could to avoid being mixed up in a fight those beasts could have.
As he progressed the howls were louder and louder, the wolves were not very far from him. Just when he was about to exit from this mountain range a bunch of 10 wolves popped out and blocked the road to the tunnel entrance. Zach knew he would not be able to slay them and get out of it alive, so he decided to make a path between them.
Oddly enough he felt very calm, he knew what to do, how to do it and when he had to do it. Scythe in hand, he runned toward the tunnel, one wolf jumped for his head but Zach slided along the ground avoiding it.
Three more wolves went on Zach, he put away his scythe and pulled a spear from his shadow, he used it like a pole and jumped over them. Two other were running to Zach, he dashed towards them took support on the head of the first and dodged the second.
He landed in front of the tunnel entrance, the last wolves leaped on Zach but he rolled and got past the entrance. Very strangely when the wolves were about to enter the tunnel an unknown force bounced them far away, destroying trees on their way. 'This arch is very mysterious, I don't know what other thing it does but the power it holds is huge.'
When he exited the tunnel he saw the corpse of the mysterious man, though when they traveled his hunch told him that they were followed. 'This should be one of the man who was following us, I suppose that the others killed him on Arnold's order.'
He searched the corpse to find more clue about what happened, the thing he found frightened him, it was a particular gold coin, his father gave those to his most loyal subordinates. 'They should have been here to protect us but after Arnold play they could not let him alive and give a satisfactory explanation.'
He runned across the forest at his highest speed, he needed to reach his house as soon as possible. He was like a starving beast that was just released, every beast that stood in his way got mercilessly slain and just became souls added to his stock.
The night was still dark when he reached Tionys, he was on the same mount they went by during their training when they were younger. The view was still breathtaking, in fact it even more beatiful with the starry sky.
Zach entered the town stealthily, 'Better safe than sorry.', he did not know if Arnold or his family had somehow overturned the villagers' opinion. He moved in the shadow of the streets and progressed little by little to his house. He was just a few streets from his house but he heard the noises of a soldier patrol.
"It's tragic what happened to those poor kids during their first adventure, isn't it ?" The first soldier said to the others. "Yeah, only the commander's son made it out alive." Zach was utterly confused, the only one to survive was Arnold, he toppled a box, it made a low thud.
However it was loud enough to draw the attention of the guards, "Who is there !?" One of the guards yelled, he rushed toward the alley, he inspected it but nothing was out of place. "You are becoming crazy man, you hear voices, Ha ha ha." The others guards made fun of the first.
Zach was observing everything that happened from the roof of a nearby house. He avoided the guard just in time, small beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead, the thing he wanted to avoid the most was to let the information about his survival leak.
Although he was still confused about what they said, it made him worry even more, because Arnold took Jess alive so how did he was the only survivor.
Zach decided to stay on the roofs to move, he could avoid an unexpected encounter, though he was not hidden, he could be seen easily but the people won't think the man on the roofs is one of dead kid.
Just a few moments later he reached his house. When Zach saw his house, his mind blanked, he stood there unable to move or utter any sound, gaping at the sight before him. Shivers ran down his spine, he did not want believe what was before his eyes. After 5 seconds, which seemed like 1 hour for Zach, distress, anxiety, nervosity and worry filled him.
Zach's house was no more, it was only ruins now, there were burnt remains here and there. The old first floor, where his room was, sank in the ground floor.
He jumped from the roof he was on, rushed in the debris and started to seek for his parents. 'Unlike in my last life I had parents and the best on top of that, they can NOT be dead, they HAVE TO be alive !' Zach thougth, his anxiety only getting stronger, tears were slowly rolling down his cheeks.
"MOM ! DAD ! It's me Zach so answer me please !" He was beginning to despair, he shouted their names hoping to get an answer. He continued to shout to no avail while he was searching in the pile of rubbles. When Zach removed a big timber, it revealed him a space which was in rather good condition, it was his old dining room.
He entered in this unstable room hoping to find his parents alive. When he entered it he saw his parents bodies, he rushed to them. However when he saw them, he was totally petrified, the two of them were in a huge pool of dry blood, both stabbed in the neck.
However, this time the only things he felt now was despair and a colossal wrath, he knew who had done this and why. 'Even if right now I won't be able to do something, I will become their worst nightmare, the grim reaper, one day I will come back and collect their souls.' He was blinded by his wrath and the only thing he could think about was what he would do to them.