章 4: The Mysterious Man And His Spider
"You nearly scared him to death, you dumbass," a masked man said, stepping out from the shadow of a tall tree.
As he moved into the light, a series of cracks spidered across the space around them, echoing like shattering glass.He reached out and lightly thumped the giant spider on its head. The spider blinked, taken aback by this strange mix of praise and punishment.
"A Domain is really something else—to be able to nullify a person's senses like that is... otherworldly," he murmured, gazing at the lake. "Shame it's about as useful as a hedgehog in a condom factory when it comes to offense."
Patting the spider's head again, he added, "You did well, though. I might have hit him if he kept on rambling like that."
The spider, now more confused than reproached, eyed its master, suspecting he might be as mad as those old monks who used to chase them.
"Now to take care of you." Turning his attention to the creek, the masked man retrieved a small vial of green liquid from his belt
He stared at it for a bit before pouring it into the corpse filled water. "That should clear this mess up in a day or two," he spoke to the spider, as if it understood him.
Then, with Tega slung over his shoulder, he set off deeper into the forest, the spider keeping pace.
"So, what are we eating tonight?" He asked the creature absently.
"Really? Skunks? Have some standards!" The masked man yelled out dramatically.
With his voice which was punctuated by short pauses drifting through the forest, the masked man sounded like he was deep in a conversation with himself, or perhaps, to anyone else, like a complete lunatic.
---
"Ugh..."
Slowly regaining consciousness, Tega's hand instinctively went to his head. He woke with a splitting headache, his memory a mishmash of fragments.
"You were sleeping like a baby," came a voice from nearby. It was light and had a tone that suggested cheerfulness. "Or more like a log."
Despite the pounding in his head, Tega was on his feet in an instant, glaring at the figure in front of him with narrowed eyes.
He dropped into a defensive stance that might have been intimidating—if he were about twice his size. Instead, he looked nothing more than a Kindergartner who was trying to protect his candy from a mean grade schooler.
"Chill, chill. I mean you no harm," the man said, his tone mock-soothing. Letting out a laugh that felt like nails on a chalkboard when he finished speaking.
Still cautious despite what the man said, Tega's eyes stayed cold and fixed on the man. "What do you want?" he asked, his voice laced with skepticism.
"Ah... looks like you've forgotten," the man replied, a cruel grin creeping across his face. Extending a gloved hand, he added, "Don't worry—I'll help you remember."
The grin set Tega on edge, and just as he was about to spring backwards his eyes could only widen in surprise.
There was no one in front of him!
'He's behind me.' Tega realized, lurching forward to put distance between them.
"Too slow," came the man's icy voice from directly behind him.
Before Tega could react, a gloved hand seized the back of his head.
'How did he get behind me?'
In that instant, that was the only thought Tega had before a wave of memories flooded into his mind. It was like a dam had burst, making the incoming memories almost overwhelm him. He was akin to a canoe in the middle of a raging ocean.
"Argh!"
The searing pain tore through him, his hands clutching his head, veins throbbing as he let out an agonized scream.
Glancing at his nonexistent watch, the man said casually with a light grin, "This should only take a few seconds."
And just like he had said, Tega was back to normal in about ten seconds. Quickly staggering back to his feet, Tega stared at the man while trying to maintain his balance.
Unbothered by Tega's obvious hostility, the man turned to look at his spider companion. "Want a piece?"
Happily taking the meat from him, the spider quickly devoured it.
"Want a piece?" Turning to look at Tega he asked, holding up something the former couldn't identify.
Just as Tega was about to start questioning the man, he felt an awful taste in his mouth as the memories he had recalled finally became clear to him.
Collapsing to the ground, foam began to form at the corners of Tega's mouth as his body convulsed. With his complexion turning deadly pale, Tega puked, violently emptying his stomach of the tainted water he'd unknowingly drunk.
Knocked out cold after he couldn't vomit anymore since he had emptied the contents in his stomach, the masked man finally paid attention to Tega who was choking on foam.
--
"This should make him feel better right?" The man asked his spider, holding Tega in his arms he pulled out a vial which contained a reddish liquid from his belt.
"Of course..." Laughing to himself, the man had a hearty smile underneath his mask. Soon calming himself, he added. "It would be bitter as fuck. And hell would it hurt."
Like its master, the spider soon joined in releasing what it thought was a crazed laughter but in reality sounded nothing different than an obese duck getting choked.
He poured the contents of the vial into Tega's mouth with his spider's bizarre laughter sounding as his background music.
A few minutes after he had ingested the potion, Tega's eyelids quivered as he slowly regained consciousness. Forced to sit up immediately he regained consciousness, Tega clenched his neck tightly like he was trying to choke himself to death.
"What's wrong with him? It's probably what I fed him." The masked man said to his spider, staring at Tega with amusement visible in his eyes.
"What... what did you... feed me?" Tega wheezed, coughing in between his words. His eyes reddened and teary from the unbearable feeling of having his throat almost plugged.
"Don't worry you'll be fine." Eating a piece of meat, the man added. "I'm sure you would anyway. The only chance of you dying is if a herb I added fails to react with your mana."
Observing Tega for a while, the man paid attention to Tega who now seemed weaker than ever before.
"Crap he's dying!" The man cursed, rushing over to Tega's side.
Tega's eyeballs had almost popped out of their sockets, his whole body was filled with snake-like veins, and his limbs hung weakly by his side.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me you haven't Awakened yet?" The man asked, forcibly infusing his mana into Tega's frail body.
Hurriedly trying to save Tega's life, the masked man completely forgot that even the Unawakened usually had little mana in them while Tega was completely devoid of it.
If Tega wasn't in a half dead state, he would have probably left the mad man with only one of his precious balls even if it costs his life.
How did the bastard expect him to tell him that when he hadn't even gotten the chance to catch his breath since he got here?
Unbothered by Tega's hand which was holding onto his collar, the man kept on infusing his mana into Tega's body. Smiling underneath his mask, he asked. "You aren't from around here are you?"
Immediately those words left his mouth, the somewhat nice aura he was emitting suddenly got replaced by a hostile one as he added. "Choose your next words carefully. Cause if your answer displeases me, your corpse won't be intact."
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