Smell Of Fear

After a little bit of back and forth Xilo decided to keep going and check out the next town to see what it was like. Once he was there he would decide while Tearia got busy, for now three days wasn't going to break them. Looking back at Tearia as they ran, Xilo grimaced. "keep pushing." With the third town upon them, they slowed down a bit as Xilo showed his badge at the gate. Once more they were let in with zero hassle. Walking into the town they were met with the same depressing sight as the other places.

"You can practically smell the fear this poison is causing them."

"Yeah...It's awful but that's why everyone was sent to help."

Xelfia was right though, even he could smell it in the air. "The smell of death." Towns' body counts were rising throughout the days as Astral Energy was sucked out of their bodies. The only people who were safe were ones with very little energy or none at all. That didn't make it any better though, it just meant at any minute a group of wild Astral Beasts could attack the city or even other people. Even the guards they just met weren't in any position to fight. They were hiding it but it was still very apparent that they were sick too. The weakness in their voice or the wobble in their steps wasn't something easily hidden.

"You still have energy in you, Tearia?"

"Yeah, I also think I'm improving by doing this so there's a bonus."

"That's good to hear but don't push yourself too much, for now I'll go take a look around the town myself to see if any Astral Beasts haven't been poisoned. Xelfia and Relia I want you two to stay here and protect her, sound good?"

"Yeah, good luck."

"....Nnnn.."

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit."

Setting up a meeting place for when they were done and deciding where Tearia would make the cure, Xilo got that all figured out before he left them. Walking down the streets he grabbed a random guide book off an empty stand and looked around the town. Most places were completely empty and some had a few people still trying to work there. "Sick or not." He even saw a few people just lying around on the street. Some towns didn't have enough room for everyone in their treating area so they were forced to be elsewhere. Which led to people even dying on the streets before his very eyes. "Don't pay attention." Noticing a small younger man who wasn't moving that wasn't too far away Xilo held his breath steadily as he moved on. "He's already dead..." All three of them were given a small batch of the cure that could prolong someone's life by Tearia if they ever came along someone in critical condition.

"Felli. What the hell is going through your head right now."

Turning around the corner the body left his sight finally as he kept walking. That wasn't the first body he had seen so far and it wouldn't be the last. "It was the youngest though..." A young talent who had a bright future ahead of him, ended just like that. "What exactly is the reason they're doing this?" That was the one thing Xilo could never figure out. What would cause the ruler of a country to turn on their own people. All it did was make them weaker and more likely to be attacked. "Wouldn't it be better to do this to the others instead?" Everytime he got there in his thoughts he got lost.

He figured that maybe it actually was another country doing this and not their own but then he remembered the man who attacked Tearia a while back. "So frustrating." Each time he would always loop back to here and he would end up without a single answer to his question. "Another corpse." Looking at a woman that didn't move, Xilo sighed as he eventually made it to his destination. Looking at the building, Xilo would have entered but there was a big sign on it's door saying it was closed along with a few notes about why. "The water, the food, not a matter of which...it's both causing this." He already knew this but it was too late for other people, even the Astral Beasts. Feeling his emotions peak a bit he stomped in frustration, kicking the ground he tried to let some of his anger out.

"I'm useless."

Letting the dust settle a bit he heard something crash as he quickly looked up on edge. "Whoops." Noticing the door to the building fall off, Xilo knew he was the cause of it as he walked to pick it up. "Not just useless, I just cause problems." Putting the door against the wall he looked to see if he destroyed anything else important. "Hmm...I should be able to put it back." Taking a few minutes he put the door back in place as he adjusted his mood. Lashing out like that was the worst way to handle anger, he knew that but it was building up. "Handle your emotions better." With no one else around him for once he didn't have a limiter.

*GGGGGGRRRRRRR*

One he finished placing the door back he heard a loud noise coming from behind him. Turning around he saw an Astral Beast staring at him with all its hair standing on end. It was the size of a cat but it looked more like a tiny fox with red fur that covered its body and a white symbol on its head in the shape of a heart. "At least I think?" Normally it probably would have looked cute but it was pissed off at him and on full alert. Not too sure what to do, Xilo tried to raise his hands in an attempt to calm it down but it only barked at him louder. "Dammit." Looking at the best he tried to figure out how to calm it down without hurting it.

Sensing around the building he tried to see if any humans were in this place but he found none. Only a bunch of animals that were on the way to death. "What even is this Beast?" He had never seen it in his memories of books so he couldn't say. It also didn't look sick from where he was standing. Especially with it's aura spreading out slowly as it tried to scare him off. "Maybe if I back up?" Slowly he moved his foot backwards as he tried to leave the building. "Nope!" Once he tried that though the Beast instantly pounced at him with it's full body.

"I don't have time for this, dammit."