I slept longer this time, passively absorbing the kernel energy of nearby trees, plants, and even microscopic amounts from the individual blades of grass around me. It was akin to eating a single grape when dying of starvation, where I found myself with a hunger for the energy of stronger beings like humans, but this was better than nothing.
When I came to hours later, I sleepily reached out around me to find something to latch onto. I felt something small rapidly pass over, where I anchored onto it with my kernels and found myself in the body of a nocturnal mayfly. I piloted the fast, delicate insect up and above the rolling field below and proceeded forward towards the town—or what was left of it. Much of Carverstead was smoldering ruins, with most remaining structures charred and badly burnt as a steady stream of grey smoke slowly rose up from everything in the streets below, to the individual houses.
Most notable of all, however, were the blackened, petrified bodies of the townsfolk. Burnt to a crisp, these poor people laid strewn about anywhere outside. Some were slumped up against the walls of the buildings while others looked like they'd fallen while trying to run. It was saddening, but also made me enraged at the undead monster that so easily wiped out the innocent civilians just to achieve the objective of killing me. Making a mental note that my revenge arc had begun, I spotted movement in the distance. Survivors? I flew closer, only to be confronted with some familiar faces.
"Mom?! Dad!?" Darotha shrieked as she weaved between the charred buildings. "Oh the gods, where are you!? Is this even our street?"
Walking close behind the gorgeous young woman was Lyka, who looked dazed and quite out of it as she slowly walked through the blackened street. To their rear was Dirx and Krissy, who also slowly observed the destroyed town in horror. The outfits of the two young ladies were now covered in a fair degree of soot.
"Guys! All of you, are you okay!?" I asked as I flew straight at them.
"Corn man! You're alive!" Dirx smiled as he and his sister looked around, trying to spot me.
"MASTER!!" Lyka screamed as she joined the goblins in searching for my body. "Master, what happened here? Where's my dad?"
"Please tell me the people got out of here!" Darotha begged.
Landing in front of them, I explained that my corn body was hidden in the nearby plains, before delivering the grim news. I told Lyka of her father's final words, and explained in detail how he stood up for the town until his last breath. I wasn't sure about Darotha's parents, but I regretfully explained how the Grey Storm was massacring the survivors that I did see fleeing as ordered by the one who hired them. Dirx explained that they'd all witnessed Dryden's final attack from the distance, but remained laying low until they figured that it was safe to get closer to the town upon seeing the barrier down.
I apologized profusely, begging for forgiveness in not being able to protect the town from the mages. Dirx tried to tell me that against 2 powerful members of the Magic Corps, there probably wasn't a lot that I could do, but I still felt bad. Naturally, Lyka and Darotha embraced each other, sobbing loudly and crying out. As tears slid down their pale faces, I indeed felt very bad for them. That pair of rich girls that I'd met at the farmer's market days ago were now possibly the sole survivors of their hometown.
As Darotha continued looking for her house, Lyka wanted me to lead her to where her dad fell. Returning to the underneath the now-destroyed bell tower, I located Soundov's corpse, which now heavily resembled a burned mummy. I felt sorry for him, especially since I was really taking a liking to the guy. A real man of the people. Bending down near his body, Lyka whispered something tearfully to her father, before reaching down and pulling the shiny necklace from around his shoulders and holding it in her hand. Depicting the pitchfork, the young woman explained that this was the emblem that represented Lorre, due to the province being the agricultural hub of the kingdom.
"I'll take care of her, sir," I silently thought to the departed mayor. "I'll avenge the town that you loved so much."
"G-guys?" Darotha stammered as she approached us from a distance. "I can't find my parents. Do you think they got out?"
"If they did, we'll find them!" I promised, although due to the mercenaries that basically spawn-camped the edge of town for survivors, I had my doubts.
"Those bastards, and they have the nerve to call us monsters?" Dirx scoffed as Krissy nodded in agreement. "What are you going to do now, corn man?"
"This is all my fault, those two mages were only here because they were looking for me," I sighed telepathically. "I owe it to your dad, Lyka, to avenge this place. I'm going to track down and I don't know…maybe destroy all those who did this?"
Amidst this tragedy, I almost found amusement in the fact that I had just seriously sworn revenge for a slaughtered people. As corn.
"This wasn't your fault, Master, you said they only came because you exposed yourself protecting our town from that brute," Lyka replied as she offered her hand for me to land on.
"Wait…so that means it's the fault of these goblins!" Darotha growled as she turned to the 2 green humanoids.
"H-hey! We tried to warn you that Gogrin would come for us if you kept us imprisoned," Dirx argued.
"And why were you imprisoned again? Oh, right, you were trying to hold us hostage!" the young woman exclaimed, with fire in her deep brown eyes.
"Water under the bridge!" Krissy replied.
"ENOUGH."
I impressed myself as I managed to make my mental voice boom almost as loud as if I were yelling it. The 4 individuals turned and looked at my insect host.
"I need all of you," I explained. "Lyka and Darotha, I owe it you guys to protect you and keep you safe. Krissy and Dirx…well, Darotha has a point that technically this all started because of you. But you've redeemed yourselves, and if you want to continue to do so, then I need you all by my side."
"Need us for what, Master?" Lyka asked.
"What I've been saying," I continued. "I'm going to make the one responsible for this know that he failed. Not only that, but he's going to know that I'm coming for him. They call me 'cultivator', so now I'm going to find out how much I can cultivate for real."