It was dark in the night and mostly everyone had returned to their place of rest.

Deep into the woods, in an old wooden compartment, inside an iron box, a long voice was heard which lasted for a couple of minutes. After the sound had died down, the iron box began to vibrate; at first, it was slow and barely noticeable but after a while, it began to shake uncontrollably.

The ground began to shake, as well as the entire wooden house. It was as though an earthquake was about to take place.

~Boom~

A resounding echo filled the air as the iron box exploded, revealing the naked body of a man with long white hair that seemed to reach his waistline. His face was covered with his hair and so no one knew what he looked like yet but his body was covered in veins that seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere.

~crack~

A loud sharp cracking sound was heard as an arc of lightning shot out from the depths of the sky and descended upon the body. After his body had finished absorbing the almost endless lightning, his eyes shot open, and a beam of light shot out from them but it didn't last long as it died down not long after its appearance.

He sat up and looked around, nothing seemed familiar to him but he didn't just sit there and do nothing.

As he emerged from the wooden compartment, his legs buckled beneath him. It had been centuries since he last walked, and his muscles protested the effort. He tried again, but his bones creaked in defiance, refusing to cooperate. With a growl of frustration, he paused to adjust his skeletal frame, the dry cracks and snaps echoing through the stillness.

Finally, he managed to stand, albeit unsteadily. He followed the narrow passageway, driven by a primal urge to leave the cage. The air grew fresher, and the darkness gradually gave way to a soft, golden light. He stumbled into the entrance of a small town, the thatched roofs and rustic buildings a blur as his legs gave out beneath him.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in an uncompleted building, the scent of damp earth and sawdust filling his nostrils. A strange man sat beside him, watching him with an unreadable expression. As he sniffed the air, the unmistakable tang of blood lingered, teasing his senses. Hunger stirred, its familiar pangs gnawing at his belly. His gaze locked onto the man, his body beginning to move of its own accord, drawn to the source of the scent.

"Hey, hold on! What are you doing?" The man asked him as he tried to escape from the hungry-faced beast.

"$&#&#;@"

The strange man was stunned by the language of the man he saved. He couldn't understand one bit of what he was saying.

"I don't understand you but the way you are looking at me, my mind tells me you want to devour me. Hold on, I just saved your life, is that how you are going to pay me back?" He asked but the other man didn't say a word and kept advancing further. Scared, the young man jumped to his feet and moved away but all of a sudden, he grunted. He looked down on his bloody leg and hissed.

"Those bastards really dealt with me," he cursed between gritted teeth as he stared at the deep hole left in his leg.

To his greatest shock, the other man rushed over to the spot covered in blood and began to lick it. After cleaning the place with his tongue, he moaned and licked his lips.

"Wh-what are you?" The young man asked with his eyes wide open in shock.

The other man seemed to have come back to his senses so he stood up and walked over to where the young man was standing. The young man was ready to run but his leg was grabbed, therefore causing him to fall to the ground.

"The hell!" He yelled but the other man ignored him and continued what he was doing.

He took the young man's wounded leg and placed his palm above it, a warm light radiated and soon, the wound was seen closing up until it was no longer open.

"What was that?" The young man asked kn awe.

"This is for helping me," the other man replied, stunning the young man who thought he couldn't speak English.

"Y-you can talk?" He asked and the other man nodded. "Wow! My name is Ethan, what is yours?"

"Valentin."

"So Valentin, what's up with the magic?" Ethan asked, curious to know how the man was able to heal him.

"It's not magic," Valentin replied and straightened himself. "Where is this place?" He asked.

"Here? Well, this is my hideout. I don't live here, just running away from..." Ethan paused as he noticed the look on Valentin's face. "Never mind."

"Some group of people are coming. They will be here in a minute," Valentin said, and Ethan's heart skipped.

"Damn! How were they able to track me?" He asked with a face clouded with fear.

"They are not stupid like you," Valentin replied and looked down. Ethan following his line of sight caught a glimpse of the blood and smacked his cheeks. They had obviously followed the trail of his blood.

"What to do? I am going to die!" He gasped.

Just as he was done speaking, a group of men carrying metal weapons barged into the place.

"Ah ha, I found you!" A man said and came to the front. He seemed to be the leader of the group.

"Haven't you guys had enough?" Ethan yelled.

"No, not until you pay us everything your father owned us before he died," the man replied. He ignored Ethan and faced Valentin, he hadn't seen the man before, and there was this strange aura around him. "Who are you?" He asked him.

Valentin stared blankly at him without responding and this then got the man offended.

"I am talking to you!" The man roared and began to run toward Valentin who didn't move from his spot. As the man got close, he raised his weapon in an attempt to hit him but all of a sudden, he froze. He wondered what was happening to him but was unable to speak or move any part of his body, the only ones unaffected were his pupils that kept darting around.

Ethan glanced at Valentin, the source of what was happening and a wave of relief and happiness washed over him. In respect to that, he moved away and gave the limelight to the man of the show— Valentin.

"Our boss needs help, don't you think?" A member of the group asked his fellows.

"We should help him!" They said and all of them jumped into action but before they could get to their boss, they also froze.

"I assume you are hiding away from them, isn't it?" Valentin asked with his head titled; he was talking to Ethan who was hiding.

"Y-yes!" Ethan yelled.

"What should I do to them?" Valentin asked him.

'What should he do to them?' Ethan asked himself. He had been running away from them ever since his father died three months ago. Though he had paid half of the money his father owned them, it was all he had and couldn't afford to pay the remaining. As such, he had been living a life of hide and seek and today just happened to be his unlucky day. He had been thinking of ways to deal with him completely but he hadn't been able to come up with any idea, fortunately, one came. He just has to make up his mind and do it.

"Don't keep me waiting," Valentin urged him.

"You know what? We will use them as food for you," Ethan hastily replied and Valentin turned and gazed at him in surprise.