As they say there for a long time with Tania tightly hugging Acht, not even thinking of letting him go. He gazed at her and patted her head gently. He then said with a rather soft voice.
"I'm fine now. Thank you for carrying me through such a huge forest. You did a great job."
Tania lifted her face and looked at him. It was the first time she saw him smile at her with such grateful eyes that held some gentleness to them.
She wasn't accustomed to such a treatment so it was even more lethal to her. Instantly, Tania's face blushed and she averted her eyes quickly so as to not make her embarrassment any worse.
Acht ignored his adorable companion and stood up on his feet. He then made some light stretches and said.
"You can rest for a few hours. I will go out to check the vicinity."
Then, he disappeared into the darkness at an incredible speed.
When she was sure he was now far enough, she bent down and muttered with moist eyes.
"Ah~ Acht…Acht….Acht….Acht…Acht…"
She kept muttering his name endlessly like a broken record. Her mind was filled with his gentle expression that he showed her a few moments ago. She loved his stoic expression, but she also loved his gentle and caring attitude as much if not even more.
At this point, even Tania knew what her feelings for him were. She never experienced them before but she knew enough to make a deduction by herself. She loved him, a lot.
That was why she held a strong resolve to make him look at her the way she looked at him. It doesn't matter whether it takes a year or 1000 years. She wanted to feel him caress her and hug her. She wanted to wake up in his warmth and his radiant smile. She wanted to see him look at her with living eyes that never wavers no matter what happens.
She was addicted to the sweet nectar that was Acht.
"Ah~ Acht…is…mine!" She muttered as she clenched her fist with a firm look in her eyes.
**************************
A few hundred meters away from the cave, Acht, who was oblivious to what Tania was thinking about, was moving between the trees searching for some monsters to kill.
He didn't kill any monsters since they entered the forest and he needed to act quickly to come back.
As he jumped from one branch to another skillfully, he saw his first prey for the night. It was an overgrown bird that resembled an owl but with an even sharper beck and a stronger build.
He sneakily moved through the bushes until he was very close to it, he didn't want it to fly away or he would lose his opportunity.
The bird was looking in one direction for some time. Its big, emotionless eyes didn't blink or shift for even a second. Then, it was suddenly drawn to something in the distance.
Acht saw the opportunity and immediately jumped on it with a swift move. His speed was simply incomparable to any normal human so the bird wasn't able to react.
"Kraaaak!!" The bird squeaked in surprise and tried to resist. But, its futile attempts ended up prolonging its imminent death and nothing else.
Soon enough, Acht's sword plunged into its body and ended the bird's life.
When he was sure it was dead, he pulled the sword out and returned it to the hilt. Then, he made a look at his device. The 0 points suddenly turned to 12 points.
Then, he took a look around him and jumped from the tree to move to his next target.
A few hours later, Acht had already killed a few monsters and collected a considerable amount of points. He has almost 75 points now. Some animals ran away from him so he didn't bother to chase after them or his score would've been way higher.
Then, as he was inspecting his device and some other things. He heard something. It was a faint sound coming from a distance.
He looked around him as he prepared himself for any sneak attack. He didn't forget that there were thousands of people roaming the forest too. That's why he chose to dive into the deeper parts of the area so that he could minimize the human encounters he will have in the next few days.
Then, as he waited silently, the sound reached his ears again. It was very faint but somehow got clearer the second time.
He was now able to know the general direction from where this sound was coming. So, he jumped on one of the trees and made his way to the sound as fast and quiet as possible.
After passing a few trees, he could finally hear the sound very clearly. It was the sound of laughter. Indeed, he heard the sound of someone laughing.
He couldn't believe his ears at first but then, he didn't feel like it was a hallucination or something. It was a clear laughter and a playful one at that.
Seeing no point in staying in his place, he approached the voice as slowly as possible.
Then, he saw him. A boy that seemed to be barely under 10 years of age. He was looking at a tree and laughing loudly as if he heard the funniest joke in his life.
He squinted his eyes to see his face but he couldn't because of the darkness and because of his position.
'Did he lose his mind?' He thought to himself as he started to lose interest. It was none of his business whether this boy was fine or not. He wasn't some hero who saves everyone under the veil of justice, he was as selfish and indifferent as humans could be and he has no plans of changing that attitude of his any time soon.
So, as he was about to turn around and leave, he caught a glimpse of the boy turning around and revealing his face.
It was a small glimpse that couldn't even make him see his face properly. But, that small glimpse was more than enough to know who that person is. And that shocked him to his core.
Because of his shock, he broke a small branch with his foot that made a considerably loud sound.
The boy heard the sound and looked in the direction of the sound with his creepy smile.
He then giggled slightly and started running as fast as he could. In a matter of moments, he crossed tens of meters and flew away from Acht.
"Wait. Fuck." He cursed under his breath and followed the boy. If what he saw was right then he needed to catch that boy as soon as possible.
He ran after him while following the sound of his ominous laughter that rang throughout the forest.
He was moving at maximum speed but he wasn't able to close the distance between them. However, the distance didn't increase either.
That meant that their speed was almost equal.
The chase continued for minutes and minutes. Acht didn't only have to chase him but he also had to deal with the monsters that stopped him each time.
This made him lose some time and make the boy run farther and farther away.
'Dammit! He's gonna run away.'
He knew that if he lost him now, he would not be able to find him that easily.
Finally, After running for some time, he saw that the sea of trees he was moving through came to an end. Instead, there was some light coming from the other side.
Then, he jumped out of the forest and found himself on a small plain.
A grassy land surrounding a vast lake with a full moon illuminating the lake and making it look like a sea of diamonds shining calmly.
It was a very beautiful place in the forest that not many knew of. But, Acht's attention wasn't concentrated on this magnificent beauty. The boy he was looking for was just a few meters away from the lake gazing at the moon with his back facing Acht.
"It's a nice night, isn't it? Hahahah" he laughed loudly while speaking.
"You…who are you?" Acht said with utmost seriousness in his voice.
"You are really a worrywart, Acht. Hahaha." he giggled again and then continued.
"You always think that you are in full control of the situation no matter what happens. You think that nothing could make you feel hopeless or weak. Isn't that a little bit arrogant? Hahahahah!"
"I said….who the fuck are you?!" Acht said a little more loudly.
"Hahaha! You didn't get it yet? I am…"
Then, he turned around and revealed his face. A Dark hair and a small white face. He had the same height as Acht, the same body build, posture, and even…. The same features.
"I am You!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to support this book. I would be more than happy if you review the book and give me your opinion about it. Thank you and have a good day <3
Follow current novels on (f)reew𝒆bnovel