In the middle of a forest, Small camps could be seen. These were the camps created by humans. Near the forest was a small settlement filled with multiple Gnolls. Each one of them was doing their daily work. A Gnoll kid was playing when he came across a shadow.
He looked around and was confused; he couldn't find any object this Shadow might belong to. He approached it and tried to touch it, but what happened next shocked him. The Shadow moved; he jumped back in fright, then looked at the place again.
He scratched his head with a dumb look. He looked around with his tiny eyes but could not see the Shadow anywhere. He got bored and decided to return. Unknown to him, his Shadow was bigger than it used to be. It then separated from him and entered the Shadow of another gnoll; this Gnoll was wearing armor. He was a soldier; he appeared in front of his house and was about to open it when he felt uneasy.
He was in a dilemma, but his wife opened the Gate and told him something in a foreign language. The man entered his hut and closed the door. The couple was about to go lovey-dovey, but unknown to him, the Shadow didn't wish to see the couple having fun.
He appeared out of the Shadow and used the silence spell, then summoned chains and bound both of them. He looked at the eyes of the couple that were looking at him as if they were seeing a monster. He could see fear and regret in their eyes; they didn't want to die.
Rishi looked at them, then at him in the mirror. No matter how much he tried, he could not see his older version. He touched himself and looked at his cold eyes. "What have I become? Is this why I wanted to become stronger? To kill innocents, what wrong have they done to me?"
"Am I any different than Demons or monsters?" The questions were many; the more he asked, the more he was confused. This all started when he started reading the minds of the monsters and realized that their lives were not much different. No one was born evil. There are some things that one must do to survive. Is it their fault if all the paths left to them require them to kill and plunder?
'slap' A red mark appeared on his face.
"Why am I getting so empathetic? Since when was I so kind?" He looked at the couple, his eyes radiating a red presence. The couple shook as they felt shivers. It was as if an ice-cold bucket was thrown on them; they begged with their moist eyes, but the Devil in front of them didn't know kindness.
The monster touched his head. Aahh," he cried in Agony. The couple smiled as they looked at each other with joy. A trace of hope appeared inside them. They looked at the sky and thanked the one above them. They prayed to God to punish this demon.
As the person in front of them cried more, The couple became more relieved. They decided to spend the rest of their lives serving the one who saved them today, but little did they know that their predicament was not over. No God was watching over them, only a Devil looking at them.
As his eyes traced them, they felt like they were dying every second. A cruel smile appeared on the face of the boy in front of them, and he laughed. His whole body shook uncontrollably, and black liquid streamed from his eyes. "Why do I kill you?"
He stopped moving, and a serious look appeared on his face. His ice-cold eyes traced the creatures in front of him. They were crying in Agony, which seemed endless, shaking uncontrollably. The boy watched them suffer with a sadistic expression: "I am not evil; I don't kill without purpose. I kill when there is no other way; I kill when I am provoked. I kill when I am certain I am right and will not regret it. If faced with the same situation again, I will kill again."
The red presence radiating from his eyes increased. The pressure made the Gnolls kneel in front of him. An image of a translucent red vertical eye appeared behind him for a moment; the next moment, it disappeared, and he fell to his knees. Despite this, he was smiling. So I have learned that killing intent.
He stood there for some time; the two creatures before him were set free, but they didn't dare to move. Their eyes had lost the will to live; they wanted to escape this place as soon as possible. The boy opened his eyes and looked at them. "So this is how Killing intent makes the opponent suffer; It destroys their will to live."
He approached the man and scanned through his mind. He learned details about the forces of this settlement. He learned about other useful information and learned that a small Gnoll unit guarded each Gnoll settlement.
He learned that the village was far from here, and in between, there were multiple Gnoll settlements, each with fifty to one hundred Gnolls; fifty percent were soldiers, while others were normal Gnolls. He then checked his memory about their interaction and saw how strangely he behaved.
He also discovered the moment when he looked at the man. The shivers he felt, and the scene he witnessed were all playing in front of him. This was scary; when looking at it, he realized how terrifying the killing intent was. He also saw the silhouette of the red eye that appeared behind him. What was it?
He had many questions but decided to get their answers later. He killed them both and noticed that he didn't feel anything. He also noticed that something inside him increased; he calmed himself by meditating before destroying their corpses.
He turned into a shadow and sneaked out of the hut silently. A blurry shadow could be seen traversing from one Shadow to another. After some time, it left the settlement and arrived in the forest. He turned back to humans and returned to their camp.
His guild members were waiting for him. Rishi explained to them the situation of the settlement and the number of guards; he asked them not to kill the ordinary citizens as they were not a threat to them. The others were confused, but no one questioned them, as this was not a big deal for them.
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