A tall man, wearing a black butler's suit with an even but steady stride, headed to the wide door at the end of the long hallway. On his chest was a round badge with two crossed dark swords.
Knocking on the door three times, the man opened it and stepped inside.
A thick stream of smoke came out, from the many smoked cigarettes - enough for an entire platoon of soldiers, however, there was only one man in the room.
There were several half-empty bottles on the table, amongst the scattered cigars.
"Argh? Is something wrong?" A hoarse voice said without stopping from smoking a large cigar.
The butler tossed the man the newspaper that had come out this morning.
"Hmm?" The man's eyes traveled with obvious interest over the lines of text that told of the events of that night.
Then, a wide grin appeared on the man's face, growing wider and wider from the joy overflowing him.
"Hahaha! An evil spirit rioted in the prison and Astrid Einrich was mutilated? What a great start to such a boring day!" The man exclaimed with an excited expression.
"You think it's an accident?" The butler asked, without concern. He was one of the few who could talk to the man casually.
The man raised an eyebrow, giving him a questioning look.
"I mean, an evil spirit left Astrid alive, but why? The only reason for that is to humiliate the Einrich Family rules, there's no way a normal evil spirit could know that, and even so, the evil spirit would have killed her no matter what." The butler explained.
The man nodded deeply, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "I see where you're going with this. You think someone summoned an evil spirit, right?"
"Yeah. That's the most possible scenario. An evil spirit with a high level of intelligence is rare, but even so, understanding its motives is even harder than figuring out who could have summoned it."
"Well, let's see. Now, let's buy up all the crystals on the market." The man got a sly smirk, "The Einrich Family is going to have some trouble mining crystals in the near future, so this is a good opportunity to make some money. Hehehe."
"Sure." The butler said calmly before leaving the room.
...
Fed up, covered in a bear hide, and ready to move on, Evan, Klaus, and Hana exited the cave.
This time the blizzard had spared them, so even hours later, when the sun was already slowly sinking towards the horizon, the temperature as well as the wind only caressingly fluttered their hair and made their cheeks blush.
'Amazing. Only two meals, and I'm already feeling much better, all it took was a few pieces of meat.' Evan pondered while clenching and unclenching his fist, 'Although... that's not the point. Meat is great food in a situation like this, but how shitty is this body in, if I'm feeling such a strong effect from something trivial?'
"Klaus... Do you know where to go?" Hana muttered, keeping close to him.
Klaus nodded as he pointed upwards, to the distant peak, the highest mountain in the snowy forest.
"Here. We need to get there first. Then, I'll be able to choose the most optimal path, but before that... we have one problem." Klaus's face grew darker.
"Water." Evan replied as if reading his thoughts.
Each of them was extremely thirsty, and that was far more important than food. It was possible to starve for almost a month, but it was hard to go without water for even three days.
"Any options?" Evan asked.
"Yeah. Here!" Klaus exclaimed before abruptly running forward, rushing past his companions.
Evan and Hana glanced over, shrugged, and followed him.
The snow crunched under Klaus's feet as he reached the top of the hill, breathing heavily, resting his hand on the stiff trunk of a tall spruce tree.
A view unfolded before him, causing Evan's eyes to go wide with sparks of amazement.
A mountain pass, amidst two snow-capped ridges, ran down a long trail, almost colliding with a raging river that didn't freeze even with the constant frost and brutal blizzards.
The road and the river were like two parallel arcs, they seemed to have no end disappearing in the distance among the mountains and forests, yet they would still never manage to collide, even though they were so close.
"Not bad, not bad at all..." Evan muttered, mesmerized by the simplicity and tranquility of a natural landscape completely untouched by the hand of mankind.
"Your point is true. However, we need to be careful, besides us, there are plenty of beasts here looking to get rid of their thirst." Klaus became more serious.
Evan smirked, "Well unless we meet someone stronger than that bear, we have nothing to fear."
Klaus looked at their weapons, "Yeah, I hope so."
...
Carefully descending through the snow drifts, they approached the riverbank, feeling an inner peace of mind from the mere murmuring water.
"Agh... Mother Nature can ignite the flame of life even in the emaciated and sick..." Evan muttered, leaning towards the river and filling his palms with cold water before taking a sip.
"Damn! How I've been waiting for this!" Klaus exclaimed happily without pausing, "Hana, what do you say?"
However, Hana didn't answer, she stared off to the side with her eyes wide open, slowly taking steps backwards.
Evan glanced in the same direction, only to see a huge wolf approaching at their side. Its fur was long and thick, its fangs and claws stronger than steel, and its gaze like a true warrior.
A chill ran down Evan's back as he drew his sword, ready to attack.
"Wait!" Klaus exclaimed, stopping him by poking him in the chest with his palm.
"He won't attack us." Klaus said seriously, narrowing his eyes.
"What the hell are you talking about? If we don't act, we'll be dinner for him!"
At the same moment, the wolf turned around and bent towards the river, enjoying the water as much as they did. Unlike Evan and Hana, the wolf didn't react to the intruders, he just did what he came here to do.
Soon, Evan noticed several roe deers running toward the shore from across the river. Even though the wolf was close, they weren't afraid of him, it seemed to be the neutral zone of this forest.
"Unlike monsters, beasts are driven by their instincts, not aggression or bloodlust. If we had met this wolf elsewhere, and he was hungry, we would have already been caught in his jaws, pierced by his fangs, but things are different now..." Klaus explained, keeping his guard up.
Evan nodded, mulling over Klaus's words.
'Monsters and beasts... curious, what are monsters capable of then?'
"Let's get a drink of water and head on, don't want to linger here..." Hana suggested.
"Sure."
After a few gulps, they were saturated, getting ready to leave, as well as a few beasts by the river.
"Agh...? What's going on?" Klaus looked puzzled at the roe deer that had run away, though they obviously weren't full yet. The wolf stopped, turning around sharply and baring his fangs.
At the same moment, in the distance, a small, round shadow ran out from behind the trees, as if fleeing from death itself.
Evan smiled at first, but soon his expression changed to a puzzled one since the running shadow was the same bear cub.
Then, a second shadow appeared, tearing down trees in its path like a mad beast.
"ROOOAAAARRRR!!!"
A furious roar spread from a huge, three-meter-long moose with snow-white fur chasing the bear cub.
The moose's horns were long and sharp like the dry branches of a sacrificial tree, and its hooves and body were sturdy, containing a power that could spell disaster for an entire region if awakened by the flames of rage.
"Something's wrong..." Evan muttered, looking into the moose's eyes, which were filled with blood and anger, but not righteous, instead soulless and savage, like the disease, saliva flowed from the moose's maw.
At the same moment, everyone saw something long like a worm pass through the moose's eyes before disappearing. Then, the moose roared once more and rammed into the poor cub, whose fate had already changed twice in one day.