Chapter 282

Vorbuk felt strange as his eyes slowly opened. It was not the palace that surrounded him. Scent of blood tainted the air at first. With his eyes open he saw that it soaked the surroundings heavily. Blood was even dripping from the ceiling above.

Where am I? Vorbuk looked around hectically as he tried to understand where he had awoken to.

Why did I wake up standing inside this place? Is this a lab? Vorbuk flinched as he searched himself. He was in his wolf form like normal. No parts seemed to be missing which made him feel relieved a bit.

A wave of emotions washed over him causing him to feel slightly suffocated, angry, sad, hurt, and a deep hatred. What are these emotions? They were not his and yet he was feeling them. Just as quickly as they washed over him they were gone.

Step. Step. Step.

Vorbuk slowly walked forward through the huge building he was inside of. It seemed like a lab or a facility of some kind. Blood and death stained every hallway and room he came across. In some rooms fires were already spreading out. Smoke paving its way slowly throughout the building.

"No-no-no! Please, wait! Sto-!!" The sounds of people shouting in the distance could be heard. Desperate cries for help. People were crying out and begging to be spared from their fateful ends.

Rushing into the room where a person was screaming for help he was faced with a sight he never expected. A young child drenched from his hair to his feet was towering over a fresh corpse. The one that had been screaming for help had been sliced to pieces by the child who stood holding a small knife that seemed to be used for experiments on corpses and things in the lab.

The young child had pink eyes that sparkled in the light like jewels. Even with his face covered in blood they were beautiful. Making him instantly recognizable to Vorbuk as he had seen those eyes clearly many times.

"Aoki." Vorbuk muttered the child's name under his breath.

The child version of Aoki stumbled on his feet. Holding onto the side of a lab table to sturdy himself on his feet. His little vampire fangs as he breathed heavily from exhaustion made it feel as if he was watching someone else entirely.

Was this Aoki's past?

Was this a dream?

[ It is actually both. ]

A familiar voice from the system called out to answer his thoughts. As if it was silently observing Vorbuk's reaction to wherever he was.

"What is this?" Vorbuk asked the voice.

[ You are being shown a piece of Aoki's past. ]

"Aoki's past? Why?" Vorbuk did not understand why he would be shown something about Aoki's childhood. What was so important about Aoki's childhood?

[ When you collapsed from exhaustion I brought you here. ]

"... Why?" Vorbuk asked for a reason.

Boooom!

A hole was blown into the side of the building. Squinting as the wolf tried to see who was coming in from the wall he saw him. The young Aoki was being approached by Grand Duke Heket. Every step he took, every motion he made, was silent as a phantom. His cold demeanor as he looked down at the young vampire child showed that he had no real care for the child.

[ How well do you truly know those around you? ]

"I have no reason to question the others over matters of their past. You should know very well that I do not have the right to do so. They are loyal to the prince's cause right now and that is all that matters." Vorbuk was not sure why the god was pressuring him about the others. Is the voice trying to make him question those closest to him right now?

Loyal to the prince? It seemed as if a hesitation could be felt from the voice that spoke to him through the system's messages.

[ The first god once trusted in the second god. ]

[ I did not bring you here specifically to make you mistrust in the others. Do not be mistaken. ]

"Then why are you showing me this about Aoki?" The wolf asked while watching the young Aoki struggle to avoid being caught by the hands of Grand Duke Heket, from the kingdom of Drethia.

[ Invalid. Caution is a virtue. ]

The wolf looked around and felt a tinge of pain in his heart as he looked at the conditions that Aoki had gone through as a child, "It is also a curse. If one is too cautious they will never be able to experience things that otherwise may have been good for them. Too much caution in life can become one's own prison."

Vorbuk thought he heard the feint sound of laughter. Was he mistaken?

[ Indeed. ]

[ It is both a blessing and a curse. Indeed. Very similar to life in itself. ]

DING!

[ Quest Completed: Rescue A Long Lost Friend ]

[ There are many forms of knowledge in the world. Many forms of truth to the world as it is known. ]

"What are you talking about? I have many questions to-" Vorbuk wanted to ask so many things on his mind. That was not what the voice wanted to allow. When it offered him knowledge in return for saving Sebastian there was already a specific set of knowledge it wanted to impart on him.

There was clearly a reason it wanted to impart that bit of knowledge onto him. He could only stop himself from talking. Nodding slowly as the wolf pinned its ears back it accepted that fact. It could only accept the fact that he knew it would be impossible to ask for more then he was being given. The god that spoke to him through the system was not wiling to give more information then it chose to at a time.

At times it felt as if the voice was worried about him learning much too quickly. That was something that the wolf found strange. It felt as if the voice cared about him at times. He pondered if he was mistaken and just imagining things.

[ Converting memory to one of God Iemis ]

[ Initiating Memory ]

The wolf was startled as he looked around the place. Everything was fading out from the world around him. It felt as if he was within the dream realm and yet somewhere completely different at the same time. The world seemed to spin and warp around him as everything changed. Morphing into a different place, time, and the people around him evaporated into the air.

In front of him a man started to appear with hair that seemed to glisten like silver. His eyes were colorless white making him seem very intimidating with a glance from his eyes. There was also a sense of loneliness about him when the wolf looked more deeply at him. It was God Iemis who stood there in the memory that the wolf was seeing.

Flashes of the god from the temple long ago came through the wolf's mind. This was a closer look at the first god of this world? What could his memory possibly tell him about? He pondered that question as he wished he could simply ask his own. The only thing left for him to do was watch the memory of Iemis play out before him.