Chapter 38- The World Inside (Part 3)
The Serenity Abyss was a place that solely contained the most unnerving of creatures. Some legends even said that the monsters that lurked in that abyss were creatures that were hated by light and so darkness was their only place.
Many others would say that it's all fairytales, however, the truth still prevails. The Serenity Abyss wasn't a place where a human would think about living. Holem was a dangerous world filled with creatures that are more than ready to shred you to pieces if you end up in their clutches inside of it, this dark hellhole was one of the places uncharted of any human civilization.
Yet, here is Akio, standing in front of a small village built inside the Serenity Abyss where supposed humans were living. It was hard to believe that these people were able to adapt to the environment around them.
"We have many great people that are more than willing to welcome newcomers." Norma smiled widely.
'Newcomers?' Akio's eyes squinted as he stared at the man with suspicion.
Why did he assume that they were going to stay there? Or was he just being friendly? Am I just overthinking?' He thought to himself.
"We aren't going to stay for long, Mr. Norma. Thank you for your hospitality though." The one who said that to him was Toru. The young man seemed to have sensed the weird behavior of their savior and so he tried to politely decline his offer.
"Oh, don't be that rigid. Come on, we have great food here. Make yourself at home." Norma insisted as he pushed Toru inside.
"Food? Hmm, what kind of food?" Hearing the keyword, Keth lifted his head up.
"We hunt daily so you can find fresh meat that can give you status bonuses and the such. We even have some food that can heal your body."
"Oh…" Rubbing his chin, Keth seemingly evaluated his choices here.
*GRUMBLE*
Suddenly, a loud roaring came from the scarred man's stomach. It was akin to the howl of a monster.
"Hmm, I might consider spending the night. I'm interested to see this place from the inside." He said as he slapped his stomach a few times.
'You just want to eat some food.' Both Akio and Toru thought the same with a sigh.
After that, Norma, Toru, and Keth walked inside, leaving only Akio behind. The latter turned his eyes to look around. The place was quiet, calm, and serene. The only thing he could hear is his rhythmic breathing and the sound of his clothes rustling from time to time.
'So this is where the word Serenity comes from.' He wondered.
However, deep down, Akio wasn't feeling comfortable at all. The place, the atmosphere, and everything about this situation screamed for him to just leave and never look back.
Without noticing it, his feet had already turned around to go elsewhere. It didn't matter where, he needed to just get as far away from here as possible.
*Step*
Taking one step, he dazedly started heading back to where he came from. The Serenity Abyss was a vast world, he won't face any hardships finding a place where he can settle for the time being. It was merely a few more days and he would be out of this place.
But, the moment he reached a good 20 meters distance, something touched his shoulder and made him flinch visibly.
"Where are you going, youngster?"
Looking back slowly, he found Norma staring at him with his friendly smile.
"I… I decided to leave." Shaking his head, Akio responded briefly.
"Oh? Do you perhaps not like this place?"
"No, I'm… I…Huh?" Suddenly, his eyes widened in shock.
'Why was I about to leave again? I can't remember.'
No matter how much he thought, he couldn't recall what made him feel the urge to leave.
'The Serenity Abyss is dangerous and I also need food.'
Now that he looked at it properly, there was actually no logical reason for his suspicions. The man, Norma, didn't seem to have any bad intentions toward them and even if he did, why would he go this length just to kill them? Hell, he even saved Akio from certain death. That wasn't something a bad person would do, right?
'Yes, I guess I'm paranoid.' Nodding his head as if he was approving of his own thoughts, Akio turned around.
Not even for a second did Akio think that there was something wrong with his thought process.
"Nevermind, I think spending the night here is the best choice."
"Great! We are always happy to welcome anyone who wishes to spend the night."
Then, the two walked back to the village. For some reason, Akio now felt a lot clearer than before as if his senses were clogged and now they were finally back to how they used to be. The world felt even livelier too.
Entering the village, he found people going back and forth doing what seemed to be a daily routine. Some were chopping the wood, others were dragging what seemed to be the hunts of the day.
Women, children, and elderly alike were all living normal life even though all of them with no exception were blind. Staring at the emptiness in their eyes was akin to staring at a star-filled night sky. It's dark, and empty yet also charmingly mesmerizing as if it's calling for you to stare at it for a minute longer.
"Norma!!" The moment they stepped inside, the children that were playing around quickly swarmed him as they grabbed his clothes and jumped around.
"Hahahaha! Behave yourself in front of our dear guests, kids." He said as he patted some of them gently.
"Keth… Psst, Keth!" On the other side, Akio saw Toru and Keth.
"What do you want?!" Glaring at Toru, the scarred man grumbled.
"Stop staring at the women in here. Do you want to get us kicked out?"
"If I see a hot woman, I will stare as much as I want. Don't tell me what to do, pussy."
'You are literally ogling someone's wife, you dumbass!' The handsome young man screamed in his head.
Even though he didn't dare to say this in front of Keth, he still couldn't hold himself from sighing loudly.
"You, woman, I want food." Clicking his fingers as he called for a random woman passing by that looked somehow beautiful.
"Oh my, aren't you three the newcomers? Welcome to our small village." She said ignoring the clearly rude way he addressed her.
"Oh, thank you for taking us in, Miss." Smiling gently, Toru said politely.
"No, no. We are always welcoming new faces. Follow me, I'm going to make a small feast in celebration of your survival outside."
Standing up, the two left after the woman.
"You can follow them if you want. We can speak after the feast." Norma pointed out.
But, Akio merely nodded his head absentmindedly before leaving on his own.
'This place is impressive.' He thought as he strolled around the area, looking at the small houses. The place had many facilities that Akio had never seen before. Hell, he even found a blacksmith shop during his exploration.
*Tap*
"Hm?" all of a sudden, Akio felt himself step on something sticky. Because he was still shoeless, he immediately noticed the wet feeling under his feet.
Looking down, he saw a small puddle of what seemed to be blood.
"Is this from the hunt that was dragged before?" He murmured in confusion. Since the thing was put inside a huge bag, he couldn't clearly see what it was.
"Hmm, why does it look familiar?" Squinting his eyes, Akio crouched and touched the blood with his hand. Then, he rubbed his fingers together to check the consistency.
This wasn't the first time Akio had seen blood so he was starting to learn the differences between the blood of different creatures.
For example, human blood was rather warm, very thick, and sticky to the touch while the blood of animals was also sticky but less in thickness. Holem creatures, on the other hand, were unique as their blood can be completely different in color, texture, consistency, and many other factors.
"Huh?" However, all of those thoughts came to a halt as Akio discovered something far more important.
(A//N: Thank you everyone for supporting the book with power stones, golden tickets, and comments. I'm deeply grateful. Let's all keep it up :) )