[Third POV]
Thanatos stayed and chatted with Solon for some more hours. In the end he left when the sun was starting to rise and the soldier's started to wake up.
"You know. I am jealous of your body, you never seem tired of hungry no matter how long you go without sleep or food." commented a soldier as he looked at Solon.
HIs comment lead to the others looking carefully at Solon and seeing the lack of dark circles under his eyes and his healthy face.
"What can I say. That's just how I was born." said Solon while avoiding giving them more information than necessary.
"Stop wasting time. Get on your rides, we have a long and dangerous journey ahead of us." Said the older soldier sternly trying to remind the rest of his team the danger they were in.
The soldiers and Solon got on their horses and started moving once again leaving behind them the nice condition Solon was in despite their situation. Most of them that is.
'Even if he is extremely powerful, the condition we are living in should affect him, even if barely. Not to mention that according to his story he just reached home from a long travel when we found him. He's hiding something.' The medic thought as he looked at Solon back intensely.
He shook his head reminding himself that it was not yet the time to act on this hunch he had, as he once again turned his attention to the road.
~~~~~~~~~~
[Solon POV]
The next few hours were calm, no attacks no problems whatsoever.
However the soldiers were slowly getting hungry and the fact that they had to hunt in these dangerous lands haunted them as they wished to avoid said duty.
Slowly the sun rose until it reached it's absolute peak lighting up every part of the forest they were travelling.
The time came when some of them had to hunt and could prove fatal to the morale of some soldiers while others will be happy that their commrades will be send to their death.
It was time for the world itself to test the nature of the humans that fought for their survival.
However it wasn't bothering me much. It was the nature of things. When one's life is on the line most people won't hesitate to sacrifice their friends and family to keep themselves in one piece.
What WAS bothering me was that small but sick amusement I felt when I saw the humans look at each other while thinking who and what they would give to avoid being send to hunt.
I didn't want to aknowledge it, but this situation felt like some kind of experiment for me.
It could help me understand the emotions and minds of humans when under stress. It could help me obtain knowledge.
It was something I couldn't resist. It was in my nature, to seek to obtain information no matter the cost.
They treated me well and tried to protect me despite knowing my power, yet I used them as guinea pigs.
It didn't matter to me who or what they are, they were just humans I used for my amusement.
I could just teleport us directly to the border after all, it wouldn't even cost me any energy. I could will it and it would happen, but that would ruin my fun. I couldn't allow that.
Maybe that's why concept-level spirits can only have relationships with their herralds and other spirits of their level. It was the instinctual disregard about anything they considered beneath them that affected them unknowingly.
'What a sad fate, to be forced to lose any interest or care about things that cannot affect you. I should really study the effects my power has on me.' I thought as I looked at the soldiers drawing lots to decide who amongst them would become our hunter.
~~~~~~~~~~
[Present leader of the party POV]
Forcing people I considered my friends and brothers to draw lots to see who would risk their lives wan't something I wanted to do.
But desperate times call for desperate measures, if I don't do this then we will starve and once we get attacked by spirits we won't have the energy to fight back.
It was a gamble, if I lost it we would all be dead, if not we would obtain everything we needed for the rest of the journey.
I finally understand why the general complained so much during the start of the war.
Responsibility was a heavy load, but someone had to carry it.
Right now I was that someone, so I drew a lot first, and despite my feelings I felt happy when I wasn't chosen.
I wasn't proud of it, but I wanted to return home and see my family again, if they were alive that is.
[Third POV]
In the end 4 young soldiers were the unlucky ones to get send to hunt some food.
They put on a fake front and moved towards the forest despite their fear, knowing full well that their comrades were depending on them.
Solon just looked at them and despire being hesitant to do so, he used his power to bless 2 of them slightly, enhancing their intelligence and wisdom for a short while hoping to keep them alive.
Of course this blessing didn't come without a cost, the 2 he blessed would be haunted by their own mind to abandon the other 2 during the hunt. The decision was now theirs, would they resist their twisted thinking or would they succumb to it.
'It would be interesting to see how the betrayal would affect them.' He thought as he looked at the team leaving the safety of the camp.
~~~~{chapter end}~~~~