The young man left his companions and happily wandered through the forest alone. He found many small branches on each side. But he wasn't satisfied and went further in search of more.
"This is enough! I need to go back, my companions might be worried about me." Emrys was eager to return, but he immediately felt a strange gust of wind around him.
Emrys suddenly felt cold at what happened, and when he looked to one side, his eyes seemed to be glued there.
He seemed to be staring into nothingness, as if there was a strange force drawing him to that part.
He dropped the firewood he was carrying and seemed to walk towards the direction his eyes were going, without thinking.
He was like a drunkard in the middle of the forest. And it didn't take long. He was heading towards a cliff.
But he was unaware of that, as if he were asleep, walking towards danger.
One step before he completely fell into a very deep ravine, a man's hand pulled him back. "Emrys, are you okay?"
Emrys returned to his senses and looked at the man who had saved him, smiling. "Sai. It's you."
"We were worried about you because you were gone for so long. It's good we caught you because if not, we might not have found you."
Emrys looked up at the cliff and let out a sigh. "Thank you, Sai. Let's go back."
"Okay." The friend nodded in response.
But before Emrys could leave there, Sai quickly grabbed the young man by the shoulder.
Emrys was startled by his sudden stop and looked at Sai in confusion. "Why? Is something wrong?"
Two seconds of Sai's silence passed, and then a very wide grin appeared on his lips, like an animal staring at Emrys with extreme sharpness and opportunism.
Emrys was nervous because of what he saw and couldn't resist when his arm was pushed back.
Emrys lost his balance and was about to fall completely down the ravine, but he desperately grabbed Sai's wrist, who was standing straight in front of the ravine.
"S-Sai! Help! Don't joke like that! This isn't funny!" Emrys shouted in panic, but he received a very strong kick to the stomach in response.
Emrys vomited blood from the pain. He lost strength in his body and let go of Sai's wrist.
"Goodbye, Emrys."
The last words the young man heard before his body fell completely into the ravine.
He screamed loudly in fear. His echoing cries for help quickly faded as darkness swallowed Emrys' body and disappeared from anyone's sight.
Sai adjusted his clothes and returned to where his companions were.
When Loan noticed this, he immediately asked. "Where's Emrys?"
Sai grinned. "Stop acting like that. It's really disgusting, Loan."
Loan laughed and was annoyed by what he heard. "You're the one who said we should pretend to be nice to that Emrys, and now here you are. You're teasing."
"Did you kill him?" Eris asked. His previously smiling and gentle personality had now become that of a calm young man, cultivating on the side.
Sai turned to him. "Of course. That was the original plan, wasn't it?"
"Just because he was close to the Elder of our clan, he's allowed to join the White Temple Institute and not us? Heh. Good for him. He's too opportunistic, a useless cultivator. He's so weak." Loan said, as if spitting poison from his mouth.
"That's enough. We better get going. I want to get to the Institute right now." Sai took Emrys' small bag of belongings. "May his soul rest in peace in hell."
In the shadow of the forest.
The lowest part of the mountain where Emrys fell. He suddenly opened his eyes when he felt pain in his body.
He vomited and fell from the furry body of a giant creature where he had fallen.
He looked up around him and noticed the towering trees around him. Their leaves were thick, so it was very dark around him, and only a little light passed through the gaps between them around him.
Emrys breathed quickly. He was scared. His face and body were covered in wounds, and his stomach obviously hurt from the kick he received from a traitor.
He couldn't believe Sai would do this to him. It seemed they had been plotting against him from the very beginning, and he regretted being so oblivious to not notice it.
Elder Morem had warned him before that the original ancestors of their clan were evil people or had actually come from the clan of demons.
One day, children would be born who could claim that kind of character, but even though Emrys knew that, he still hoped that Sai was different from them and that they were good.
But he was disappointed in his dream. That hope was lost because of this.
He was so weak.
He felt small in himself. He hugged his knees and sulked among the roots of the tree he was leaning against.
His tears flowed and he began to sob silently as his arm became wet with his own tears.
"What's the matter?"
Emrys was startled and raised his tearful eyes in front of him.
This made him even more surprised and scared when he saw a giant wolf with very black fur. And it had a pair of large, fiery eyes. It just stared at him as if it was having trouble standing.
And Emrys could only think one thing at that moment.
This was the end for him.