Forgotten Conqueror B2

Chapter 20- The Tides of Change

Kaidus' eyes jerked open as a familiar sensation awoke him from his rest. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out the four metal rings he had confiscated a couple days prior and saw that one of them was glowing brightly.

Picking it up, without injecting his own mana into the communication ring, he sealed the mana coming from it. "Finally." He spoke, looking down at all four rings.

Three of the agents had already tried reporting in two days before—after the decimation of the Tal'hrus base. Their actions had assisted in him locating one of them quickly, and he was on his way north to find the second one, while the third was somewhere in northeastern Darsus.

Holding the newly sealed ring in his hand, he closed his eyes and concentrated on it. Tracing the mana signature he had bound, a weak response came through, revealing that the third agent was lurking somewhere far to the south.

'It's in the opposite direction...' He sighed, wondering if he should head south to deal with it first, or keep going towards the direction he was headed.

Looking at the position of the sun, it was still high noon. Hungry and unready to make up his mind, he stood up and surveyed his surroundings.

He had not paid any attention as he descended early at dawn, but in the light, he saw that the forest was covered in patches of wild evongrass—a type of edible plant that looks like ordinary grass, except for the red culm on the young plants, and its slightly larger size—and even the sleeping spot that he had chosen was a bed of the plant. "Looks like I need something substantial to go with my greens." He smiled, seeing that he would not have to look far for his vegetables.

...

A ray of sunlight shone down on him as he relaxed beside the two birds that were roasting on a small flame.

Without a bow, he had used magic to bring down two small pegrils to add to the handful of evongrass he was steaming atop a rock bowl.

"Salt and spices... I have to remember to get some." Kaidus reminded himself, looking at the bland dishes before him. He had spent the past ten days eating nothing but plain roasted meat and vegetables, and was beginning to miss the taste of Adalina's home cooked meals.

As he sat, he began twisting the silver ring on his finger.

He chuckled, remember his conversation with Anise a few days ago.

That day, after taking care of the Tal'hrus base and getting plenty of rest, he had contacted his sister.

She began crying upon hearing his voice and started apologizing, asking for him to not dislike her. After calming her down, she explained that she had accidently spilt her drink on one of his books, and thought he would be mad at her. She tried to reach him to tell him and apologize, but without any answer, she thought he already knew. She assumed it was the reason why he didn't want to answer and had been worried.

He recalled her sniffling tone, half crying, half cheerfully repeating his words of reassurance. He had comforted her, telling her that he was not mad about the book. He also explained to her that he was riding in the wagon with other people, and couldn't answer.

He had lied to her about his situation, and about why he couldn't reply, and with her childish innocence, she unconditionally believed him.

Looking at the silver ring, "Never again." He vowed, speaking the words out loud, engraving them into his very being.

His world was an abyssal darkness, one plagued by death, and not a place someone like him could ever hope to escape from. His family were the only lights in that darkness, and he was prepared to turn the world against him once again, if only to protect their livelihood.