Chapter 26

Five people were journeying along a dirt road, surrounded by mostly expansive flat green plains with distant forests punctuating the landscape. Three of the five people were members of the fairer sex, two of whom were women, while one was a little girl.

The first woman had brown hair and brown eyes, her face completely emotionless to the point of being off-putting and uncanny. The second woman had raven-black hair and black eyes, her expression indicating a strong desire not to be there and a wish to be as far away from the rest of the group as possible. In contrast, the little girl, also adorned with raven-black hair and black eyes that were the same as the second woman's, radiated happiness, her face a beacon of positivity.

The remaining two members of the group were men. One was covered from head to toe in dark black armor that resembled a knight's armor; his emotions were unknown as his face was covered by the helmet he wore. The other man had slicked-back black hair and red eyes, and he wore a very annoyed expression.

Why was he annoyed you may ask? It was simple: everyone was riding atop horses that looked to be made of shadows, with the shadows writhing and twitching as the horses moved. Yes, all of them were atop horses, except for him.

"Why don't I get to ride a shadow horse!? Why do I have to walk!?" yelled Lennix at the top of his lungs.

Lennix had reached his limit! Not only had he been on watch last night, but now he was forced to walk instead of enjoying the luxury of riding a shadow horse? It was an injustice of the highest order!

"Dear goddess! Don't just start yelling like that out of nowhere!" exclaimed the black knight, turning to look at Lennix, who realized he had startled Mari and shocked Karin with his sudden outburst. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized to Mari before turning to the black knight. "Maybe if I had the honor of riding a cool shadow horse, my tone would be more composed," Lennix retorted, gesturing to the absence of a shadow horse beside him.

"Master Lennix, please try to act your age. You're starting to sound like an entitled child," chided Clarissa with her usual emotionless voice, while Mari nodded in agreement, chiming in with, "You're reminding me of my friends from school, Uncle Lennix." Each word felt like an arrow piercing his undead heart, and even Karin joined in, mumbling to herself, "How was Mistress Eirisse related to him?" Despite her murmuring, Lennix caught every word, feeling the final arrow strike his undead heart. (God damn writer, my boy comes back in the story and immediately gets verbally assaulted)

"I just want to ride a shadow horse," Lennix mumbled, gazing down at the ground. "But why, though?" questioned the black knight as the group continued moving, with Clarissa securely holding onto Mari as they shared a horse.

"Because I'm tired of walking," Lennix replied wearily, his tone reflecting his exhaustion. If the black knight's face were visible, Lennix would have seen him raising an eyebrow in skepticism.

"You're a vampire; you can't biologically get tired," the black knight stated matter-of-factly. Lennix flailed his arms around in frustration. "My feet can still ache from the constant walking!" he exclaimed. It was true; while he didn't actually need rest, he could still feel the physical toll of walking for who knows how many hours.

"Listen, man, if I could have, I would have conjured you a shadow horse," said the black knight, earning a skeptical look from Lennix. "Would you really?" he asked. The black knight shrugged nonchalantly, "Eh, probably not. But still, I literally can't right now. My mana and magic are still recovering from making that colossal tree."

"Fine, I guess I'll just continue walking," sighed Lennix, resigning himself to his fate. "Well done, Master Lennix; you're taking a step towards maturity," commented Clarissa, her tone flat and unemotional, causing Lennix to let out a sigh.

As they trudged along the dirt road, Lennix couldn't help but wonder, *How much longer we have to go?* The black knight had mentioned that his Covenant was quite far to the north, but he hadn't provided specific details about the distance.

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed through the air, causing everyone to tense up, except for Mari, who remained blissfully unaware of the danger. "What was that?" Lennix asked aloud, scanning the direction from which the roar had originated.

"That sounded like a Forgebear," the black knight responded, his gaze also fixed on the forest where the roar had come from. "What's a forgebear?" asked Mari, holding onto Clarissa.

"Yeah, exactly, what's that?" Lennix chimed in, observing as the black knight conjured a shadow sword. "A very dangerous beast, one we really shouldn't face unless we have to," explained the black knight. Despite his reluctance, he prepared himself for a potential encounter. "Then why are you making a sword?" questioned Lennix. The black knight replied, "Just in case." Though he truly didn't want to fight a forgebear, as they were up there with Razorhooves in terms of danger, he knew the importance of being armed for safety.

"Then how about we just speed up?" suggested Lennix, preparing to sprint. The black knight nodded in agreement. "Good idea. Everyone, hold on tight to your horses," he instructed, prompting Clarissa and Karin to grasp the shadow reins firmly. As they were about to start galloping/running, a scream pierced the air from the direction of the roar.

Without hesitation, the black knight immediately commanded his shadow horse forward towards the source of the commotion. "Hey, where are you—damn it! Okay, you guys stay here!" Lennix shouted to Clarissa, Mari, and Karin before darting after the black knight.

Clarissa was about to say something, but Lennix was already gone, chasing the black knight. Soon, he caught up with the black knight, easily outpacing the shadow horse. "I thought you said we shouldn't fight it unless we have to?" Lennix said as he ran beside the shadow horse.

"Yes, and now we have to," the black knight replied. Lennix rolled his eyes before running ahead of the black knight. "What are you-" the black knight began, but Lennix had already gone out of earshot at that point.

Running at full speed, Lennix reached the forest in just around 10 seconds, where he saw...