The two brothers felt the very ground beneath their feet shake as they read those words, those hateful words, coming from the very one unilaterally loved by everyone in the village, as if he were their very own flesh and blood.
How could Kale actually have such thoughts in his heart, to spit on the love of everyone in their village like this?
Josh clenched his fists in fury, "This… how, how dare he?? After everything that everyone did for him,"
The other twin, Jared, did not respond, but his expression wasn't much good either. However, his mind raced with thoughts; he was not as quick to jump to conclusions as his brother.
Thinking of the complicated expression Kale wore for the whole journey, and how he was strangely quiet or lost in deep thought.
The words written here might not necessarily be true; maybe he just said it so that it's easier for the people of Dagan to hate him, rather than to put effort into searching for him, and worrying over Kale. But what could be the reason behind doing such a stupid thing?
Everyone in the village knew that Kale was indeed meant for greatness and that he would one day leave to garner great power and fame throughout the empire.
Yet, there was no need for him to do this, just for that reason, was it?
Jared could only fold back the leaf in his pocket, keeping it safe, and put this matter aside for now, albeit reluctantly. He put a hand on Josh's shoulder, who continued to rant in rage, and stopped him, "We need to go into the Church now. There's no time. We can think about this later."
The twins mixed into the crowd of awakening candidates, without the third and perhaps their most important member, the one meant to be the very hope of their village, had turned his back against them.
But unknown to the twins, the green-eyed boy watched them from afar, his figure hidden in the shadows of the buildings, his gaze fixed on them as they passed through the church gates. Kale never left the town.
After all, what better place than to do this?
Kale leaned against the wall, his gaze turning cold, as his green eyes shimmered with a trace of cruelty. His mind began to spin with the course of action he needed to take, the details going over in his mind one more time, and he became more sure of his plan.
Kale sighed and turned away, disappearing from his spot, and then, as usual, things inside the church's gate went the same as they were supposed to, with little changes here and there. Since Kale wasn't there to show his immense talent like the last time, Viscount's bastard son Felix did not find anyone to bother or lash out at.
He kept gloating about this and that to the other peasants in his assigned group. Josh and Jared tactfully remained quiet and unassuming so as not to draw the arrogant boy's attention.
The twins again awakened the same talent, to which they were both overjoyed. But Kale's absence remained a pain in their hearts amid that joy of a bright future.
The Dragon priest did not find anyone displeasing apart from the one boy who awakened talent on the path of Fleshcraft.
The twins walked out of the church through the other side, having successfully awakened. They still tried searching for him through the town, to the best of their abilities, or even asking around if anyone had seen the green-eyed boy loitering, since green eyes were quite uncommon.
But even that yielded no result; it was getting too late, so they had to hop back into the carriage and leave. Jared still wore a complicated look, seeing the center of Ebon viscounty turn smaller in his vision. But Josh remained furious at Kale.
But maybe, deep down, even he knew that things could not be so simple. However, the next thing that worried them most on their way back home was how they would explain it all to everyone back in the village.
Kale's parents, how would they react to it? What should they do? Should they just hand over the letter? Or think of something else? The twins could not figure it out.
Kale had booked a small room at an unassuming inn within that town. Getting in a few hours of shut-eye, before everything goes to shit, with a sigh, he eventually woke from a groggy sleep. It was a few hours short of midnight.
He sneaked out of the inn, leaving no trace. It wasn't particularly difficult since he was still incredibly physically fit, fast in his legs, and had an acute sense of his surroundings; he still had it even after being cursed. But what he found strange was that his awakening status didn't seem to give any physical or mental boost.
Perhaps he would only receive it after taming his first beast, which as of now seemed impossible, unless he, of course, found a way to circumvent the curse.
Kale stood at a somewhat distance from the Church, gazing at the people guarding it. He had already asked some locals about the routines of the church deacons and the Dragon Priest.
Unsurprisingly, these four core individuals always stayed within the bounds of the church, praying day and night, like the pious believers they were.
And with no warning whatsoever, it happened….
The swaying of trees halted, the gentle breeze stopped, and the temperature of the whole town spiked so abruptly that it caught the attention of the locals. An ominous foreboding that everyone could feel.
The clouds of the night sky parted in two, and the silver light of the moon cast a monstrous shadow of a winged creature from above. When the denizens of the town looked above and saw the visage of a Dragon descending, one by one, without exception, everyone prostrated on the ground.
Kale hurriedly hid himself behind a wall, despite his rage that was nearly about to explode; he did not make the mistake of looking at the Dragon's eyes, which could instantly paralyze him because that's exactly what happened for anyone who dared to look towards its glowing red eyes.
Even though the creature was still far high in the skies, the effects of it were instant.
A deafening growl of the mighty Dragon reverberated throughout the world; it was like the screech of an erupting volcano, shaking even the ground. All those who had been asleep jolted awake. Every person of the Dragon Church rushed out of the church gates, their expressions utterly fanatic.
Rows and rows of people walked out of their homes, prostrate, kneeling, praying, thanking the heavens for this opportunity to witness the world's mightiest race.
Kale's cold green eyes scanned over all of those wretched fools; there was no pity in his eyes for them. Only ridicule, he glanced up one more time, the distance remaining before the Dragon fired its breath, there was only a minute left in his hand at best.
Kale gritted his teeth and rushed towards the Dragon Priest from the back, who was also kneeling like everyone else, wearing a fervent expression more fanatic than anyone else. He was muttering things in an incomprehensible language.
Kale snickered. The old fool was completely distracted. This was the perfect chance... to kill him.