Fershingan was known for its strange landscape, devoid of any sort of plant life. This caused it to have an overall grim appearance,
But, strange enough, the scenery was nothing like that. An orchard, of some sort. The soil was as rich as could be. The grass was an almost bright green, in comparison to the dark soil around it. Fruits hung from the high arcing trees, and flowers bloomed on the floor.
In the graceful orchard, a man and his wife rested there, a basket of apples lying by their side.
"Sten."
Tou's voice was calm and fairly still.
The green-haired demi-human was the first to speak.
"Sten, he's calling you."
Sten quickly got up.
"Julian?"
Sten squeezed his eyes tight, squinting. The sun was a little bright, after all. But he couldn't get over his new appearance.
"You look a little… different."
He had his finger on his lip. Tou simply stared.
"I need your help."
Tou tossed the apparent corpse onto the floor.
"You're the only person I know who can do stuff like that."
"You speak to me as if we're buddies or something. Why should I help you?" Sten said, his hands by his side.
He turned around for a second, to look back at Evelyn. Evelyn gave him a thumbs up, smiling at him.
"I'm the soul that's interacted with you the most, right? I'm the only human soul that knows of your true identity!" Tou pointed.
"Evelyn knows all of that as well. And it's not a big idea."
"Jeez! Isn't there anything I can do for you?"
Sten rested his chin on his hand, pondering.
"Well, there is a beast that you could slay for us."
Evelyn chimed in.
"Beast?"
"Manabeast, specifically."
Even after she specified it, Tou did not understand what she was talking about. An eyebrow rose. Evelyn sighed.
"Manabeasts are unique monsters, that can use Mana. They are pretty rare, being found in Fershingan."
"That sounds easy."
"That's a good way to think! You'll be fighting against a common manabeast. It's not named, so you won't have too many problems with it."
"What does it look like?"
"It's a Kerahound. They have white fur and yellow eyes. As expected, they use lightning mana."
"Alright."
Tou sprinted away, without asking for directions, or anything like that. It was strange, to Evelyn.
"I didn't even-"
"His sense of smell is strong, along with his vision. That's how he tracked me down. I'm sure he'll be able to find it."
…
..
.
Tou jumped from tree to tree. He noticed a rustling in the bushes. He landed down.
Tou took his swords out.
"I'm starting to regret breaking my sword in half."
All of a sudden, a mutt rammed into his side.
Tou tanked the hit, his feet sliding into the dirt. He looked down.
There, the Kerahound was. Evelyn's description did not give it much justice. It was around as big as Tou, if not bigger. Its fur was more of a light grey than white, and its eyes were blue, not yellow.
Saliva dripped from its fangs, onto the floor.
"A hungry one, huh?" Tou noticed. He bit his thumb, letting his blood drop onto the floor. The hound was immediately riled up.
He dashed at Tou. The hound was as fast as Julian, if not faster.
Tou barely blocked, holding out his two swords. The hound bit onto the swords, pressing down on Tou. It sent him to the ground.
The hound's hair started to stand up. Tou quickly rolled out of the hounds gripping, abandoning his swords.
An intense shock was emitted from the animal. Tou was lucky to escape in time.
'That shock might almost be a problem.'
Tou got into a low stance.
"You're the only thing stopping me from getting my body back."
The hound lunged at Tou yet again, bloodthirsty. It continued to smell the blood lingering from his finger.
Tou grabbed the hound by the leg, bringing it to the floor.
Its hairs began to stand up, again.
Tou bit into the beast's neck. Aggressively, it tried to shake Tou off. Its efforts were futile, as Tou began to dig his fingers into the animal.
Tou pulled his mouth out, spitting the skin and muscle out of his mouth. He took another bite, this one being a lot deeper.
He landed a final blow, picking the sword up from the floor, and drilling it into the Kerahound's skull.
…
..
.
Tou tossed the body of the hound onto the floor.
"Jeez, overkill much? But, a deal is a deal. I'll help you get your body back."
"Can I have one request?"
"What is it?"
"Erase my memory, please. I'd like to live as a regular kid."
"Yeah, sure. "