The boy appeared to be nearly the same age as Roland; he was on the other side of the lake from Roland's house and was looking at it with astonishment. He had dropped the bucket that he was holding and had just turned his head towards Roland, mouth agape, Shaka, and the 2 other clones.
Then he ran in fear, screaming.
"MAMAAAA"
Then he got to the person who had just exited the trees, who could only be presumed to be his mother. And pointed at where Roland was supposed to be standing. But there was no one there.
Who are these people? As far as I had assumed and travelled, there shouldn't be anyone around.
Roland had quickly run into the forest and was silently making his way towards the two humans.
"Mama, I swear, there were 4 kids standing there just now; 3 of them looked just like each other, and one had black hair. I swear I'm not lying; also, look at that stone hut over there. Someone must be living there."
"Yes, sweetie I understand. Let's be careful, okay? I mean, we still do need the water."
"Who are you, and why have you come here?" said Roland in his deepest voice, who had jumped onto the woman and was currently holding a knife to her throat.
She yelped but stayed calm. "W-we are from the village; we have come to take water." She said, trembling.
"Where exactly is this village located? I have been living here for a while and haven't seen even one."
"It's located east of here, around 2 days' worth of walking, if no dangers are encountered."
"And why haven't I seen you come for water here before?"
"Because during winter water tends to run out from our river."
Sighing, Roland got down to the ground and dismissed the knife and apologized to the two, saying that he was simply on guard from living in the forest for a while.
***
"If I may ask, why is a child of your age living here?" asked Maria, now carrying a bucket of water in each hand, occasionally putting it down every now and again.
"Well, let's just say my family's kind of crazy, and I'm on a field trip."
"... I see." She said with a confused smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "You haven't yet mentioned your name." She said, trying to change the subject.
Suddenly Roland stopped walking and looked up in thought. "It's Kleos."
"I see why you stopped. Kleos sensed something?" asked Maria
"No, it's nothing; I just thought I sensed something."
At least that's half the reason why I stopped. The other half—well, I've been thinking about it, but I don't want other humans to know that I am a Royal; they will most definitely try to use me somehow. Better lie about my name.
"Sense what, Kleos?"
"I thought there was a mana signature, but it appears not."
"Ah, I see."
***
"I believe that we should go to sleep. I'll take first watch; switch with me later, Roland."
"But Mommy, you never let me take the watch!" said Max
"Well, that's because you're not a mage, sweetie, but Kleos is," answered in a motherly voice Roland hadn't heard in a long time.
"When will I get to become a mage, Mom?"
"Soon enough, sweety, considering that Kleos is a mage. One with an elemental affinity, no less. How did you achieve that, Kloes?" She said with a sweet smile and genuine curiosity.
Nah, that definitely ain't genuine curiosity; she knows I'm hiding something and keeps staring into my eyes. Guess those white pupils can't be hidden. I'll just say I'm half a demon or something. She'll get too "excited" if she hears I'm a phoenix.
Might even ask her friends to sell me or something.
"Ah, well, I'm half a demon, you see. That's why I have a weird name and might seem strangely mature. Demon minds grow quicker. And most of us are gifted mages," he answered with a 'sweet' smile of his own.
"Well, that's very interesting."
Yeah, she doesn't believe me.
"Anyway, I'll head to bed. Thank you for keeping the first watch."
When it's my turn to watch, I'll just summon a clone of mine, but she doesn't need to know I can do that.
***
The next morning, after a couple of hours of walking, Roland suddenly halted.
I knew I wasn't wrong; I did sense a mana signature yesterday. As far as I can tell, it's strong, much stronger than I can handle, probably an orange heart, and I can't even handle a yellow core without traps. This is going to be difficult.
"Maria, I need you to grab onto Max and run, run as fast as you can. I'll buy a couple of seconds for you to run and then get away myself; I know I can't beat it."
"We can't just leave you. You run with us too."
"No, do not question me and JUST RUN." He yelled as loudly and as authoritatively as his little body could muster.
I'm actually dumb; I should use these two as bait and run myself. But that wouldn't be very princely of me, I don't think.
With one final look, the mother grabbed her child and ran as she heard the bushes rustling, and suddenly, she was looking at her own body, splattered on the ground, and perhaps it was imagination, but her child was screaming from behind her.
She tried to turn her head, but she couldn't, as she no longer had a neck.
But before losing consciousness, the screaming of her child also stopped; instead, his head rolled right in front of her.
Roland was standing still, shivering. The sword he had conjured on the ground, next to his feet. Just then the beast turned its head, glaring straight at Roland.
No wonder a mother and child were sent; they knew that this would've most likely been a suicide mission.
Roland was breathing heavily but quickly; his eyes were blurring. His breathing quickened with every breath. Grasping. Grabbing for air, he tried but to no avail. Oxygen wasn't enough to overcome the fear that had been instilled in him.
The two corpses, which were walking a second ago, were now on the ground. With only one of them having had the ability to scream before their end.
He knew that it would soon be his end as well. This creature was far stronger than the cat that he had faced on day one. Yet there was no mistaking it; it was the same creature he had seen. Just larger.
"This is almost romantic."
It had matured.