The next day,
William woke up early in the morning to search for the goblin village. He was too determined to kill the goblins in that village.
'They are too disgusting,' he grumbled inwardly. He didn't like the way they looked at Achlys and Seraphina.
He shivered with anger and disgust at the thought of the goblins looking at his mother, Aquila, if she had gone with them.
He turned toward the tent where Achlys and Seraphina were still sleeping.
RUSSLE RUSSLE
As William was about to go into the tent and try to sleep some more. He heard a noise coming from the branch of a tree nearby. William swiftly turned toward the branch only to see an owl staring at him.
The owl's feathers were white as snow, reflecting the moonlight falling on it. It had red-colored feathers on its forehead, differentiating it from a normal owl. It had big blood-red eyes that were shining under the moon as it stared at him.
William frowned at the owl while squinting his eyes since, 'It was the same owl that I saw at the entrance of the forest yesterday.
William and the owl stared at each other, his amethyst eyes narrowing in on its eyes.
"William?"
William turned around to the source of the voice to see Achlys walking out of the tent while rubbing her eyes.
"What are you doing this early in the morning?" she asked as she yawned, still groggy from sleep.
"I saw the owl from the entrance of the forest sitting on that branch." He informed me while pointing his hand toward the branch that the owl was sitting upon.
"Owl?" Achlys asked while frowning; she moved her gaze toward the spot that William pointed to, but there was no owl.
William, too, turned his gaze toward the branch, but his eyes widened in surprise when he noticed that the owl had disappeared. 'Is it my imagination? Or did it really disappear?' William questioned himself.
He was confused about whether the owl was real or if it was just his imagination.
Achlys, too, frowned, 'I don't think William is lying, but there is no owl.' She mumbled inwardly.
"What's going on? Why are you guys up this early?" Seraphina, who woke up due to their conversation, asked.
Achlys turned toward Seraphina and answered, "William thinks that an owl has been following us since we entered the forest."
Listening to her words, all the grogginess from the sleep disappeared from her eyes; she turned toward William and asked, "Are you sure, William?"
William, who was still confused about whether the owl was real or an illusion. 'Those blood-red eyes felt real, but how can it vanish without making a sound?'
"William?" Achlys called out, waking him from his stupor.
"Huh!?" William exclaimed, "I-I don't know. It felt real, but it vanished into thin air without making a single sound."
Seraphina creased her brows at his answer, but still nodded her head and said, "Whether it's real or not, we will be more careful from now on."
William and Achlys nodded at her in agreement and packed their belongings to continue the search.
It took them an hour to eat and then pack their belongings. "Are we all set?" William asked, looking at Seraphina.
Seraphina nodded her head while looking above the trees. The sun had just risen, casting its morning rays on the forest. Her long golden hair glistened under the sunlight as she moved toward William and said, "Let's go."
"Hmph," Achlys snorted at Seraphina for her shrewdness. 'Look at her, hovering over him like a fly over sweets,' she thought in annoyance.
'Ahhh! Why don't I have the same shrewdness as her?' She complained as she lightly stomped her foot.
"Hmm?" William turned around to see Achlys sulking behind him. "What happened?" he asked.
'Fufufu, you are still too naive, my sister-wife.' She thought as she smiled slyly.
"It's nothing," Achylys mumbled defeatedly while she glared at Seraphina, who was amused by her actions.
William tilted his head in confusion but still nodded and said, "Let's go. We need to find that village."
The trio walked deeper into the forest and began to search for any clues that might help them find the goblin village.
They walked for a few hours and searched their surroundings using their auras. Achlys spread molds of darkness along their path while Seraphina sent strands of light outward.
Achlys's molds of darkness were little balls of mana that sensed something moving near them and sent signals to Achlys.
Achlys, who was walking while looking around, stopped suddenly in her tracks. She then swiftly raised her hand, gesturing to William and Seraphina to stop as well.
William and Seraphina turned toward Achlys and watched her carefully for further instructions. 'Is it the goblins?' William wondered.
Achlys then turned toward the direction in which her molds had sensed a monster and pointed at it to William and Seraphina.
She then slowly began to walk in that direction while carefully avoiding any sticks or twigs. William and Seraphina, too, walked in the same direction while trying not to make any sound.
As they got closer to the monster, the trio slowed their pace even further.
William, who was too focused on the monster hiding in the bushes, didn't notice that he was stepping on a twig.
CRACK
His face immediately crumpled and turned red with embarrassment. 'Dammit!' he cursed inwardly, annoyed by his own mistake.
"GRRR." The monster beneath the bushes let out a low growl as it emerged from them. It had black fur as dark as a moonless night and had golden slit eyes staring at the trio.
"It's a night panther; it's like an assassin who kills his prey dead in the night," Seraphina informed. William went on guard as he lowered his stance, ready to attack the panther at any moment.
But the moment the panther's gaze fell on the group, its pupils dilated and its whole body jerked. Its fur bristled as the panther turned around and ran away with its tail tucked between its legs.
William frowned as he squinted his eyes at the running panther. 'Why is it running away like that?'
The night panther was an apprentice-ranked monster, known to sometimes kill prey stronger than its own.
William turned toward Achlys and Seraphina, who, unlike him, had no surprised look on their faces. Instead, they were just standing nonchalantly as if there were no danger whatsoever.
The trio stood there for a few moments before continuing on their search for the goblins.
They encountered a few more monsters on their way, but they too ran away in fright.
"Why are they running away?" William asked while furrowing his brow in confusion. He could clearly see the fear for their lives in their eyes as the monsters ran away.
"They are too afraid of the aura we are emitting," Achlys explained, her red eyes glinting in competition as she looked at Seraphina.
"...Then why didn't the goblins run away?" William asked, 'If the monsters are afraid of our aura, then the goblins must have felt it too, right?' He questioned inwardly.
He recalled the scene where the four goblins stared at Achlys and Seraphina with lust. He clenched his fist as anger rose from his heart, recalling the scene.
Achlys's face, too, contorted in disgust as she answered, "The goblins are driven by lust and rarely consider their opponents' strength."
William nodded his head in understanding, his expression still, tense.
The trio continued to search for the village.
.......
Elsewhere,
An owl was flying high in the sky, its snow-white feathers shining under the midday sun. It flew through the trees, gliding in and out of the branches until it reached its destination.
It landed on a tree branch and looked and gazed toward the village in front of it.
The houses in the village were made out of mud and clay, with their roofs consisting of dry sticks. But the odd thing about the village was that there was no one there.
Moss grew wildly in front of the houses and streets, and there were pots made out of clay lying broken on the streets as if the people residing there had left in a hurry.
The owl stared at the village before its eyes and hooted.
HOO-HOO-HOOO
RUMBLE RUMBLE
The entire village rumbled at the owl's hoot. The houses shook while the moss growing in the streets and houses dried and died almost instantly.
RAAAWR RAAAWR
A series of roars began to reverberate throughout the entire village as humans crawled out of their homes. Each of them was seven feet tall and crawled on all fours.
They began to destroy everything in their path as they rushed toward the tree where the owl was sitting and began to circle it.
The humans had tattoos all over their bodies and wore only a loincloth covering their waists. Bone piercings covered their entire faces, with their lips, cheeks, and nose bridges covered in them.
RAAAWR
A powerful roar cut through the chaos as the humans made way for the person crawling toward the tree.
The entire village turned dead silent as the human, who appeared to be female, arrived at the tree.
CRACK CRACK
She slowly stood up, her bones cracking with every inch she moved, and a wild, bloody aura began to emit from her body, overwhelming the humans around her and crushing them to the ground.
HOO HOO HOOO
The owl hooted again, flew toward the female, and landed on her shoulder, who was creepily grinning from ear to ear.
The owl rubbed its head on her grinning cheeks while it hooted in a low voice, seemingly communicating with the female.
hoo hoo hooo
The female's blood-red eyes glinted in madness as her aura began to flail wildly, crushing some of the men behind her to death.
The female slowly raised her hand and patted the owl's head, whose eyes shone in satisfaction at its master's caress. But,
CRUNCH
The female crushed the owl's neck with her fingers and stuffed the owl into her mouth.
CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH
She began to eat the owl, its bones crushed under her teeth. Blood leaked out of the owl's body and soaked its white feathers in red.
The woman grinned as she ate the owl whole, not leaving a single feather behind. She licked her lips after gulping the owl down in satisfaction.
She then turned toward the crawling humans and roared in madness,
RAAAAWR
The humans who were being crushed under her aura began to grin, bloody aura, just like the female's aura began to ooze out of them, while they roared, sending shivers down the forest.
RAAAAWR RAAAAWR
.............
Seraphina, who was walking along with William and Achlys, frowned. She turned toward Achlys and asked, "Did you hear that?"
Achlys, hearing Seraphina's question, narrowed her eyes and asked, "Hear what?"
William, who was impatient to find the goblin village, muttered, "Girls, we should go. We can't find the goblin village like this."
Seraphina squinted her eyes briefly before she nodded hesitantly at William and said, "Yeah, let's go."