Ch10 Team Of Three.

Morning has arrived. The once peaceful village was now left in ashes and dust. The smell of burned flesh and land can be smelled from miles away.

Ash, who was trying to forget the nightmare, was sound asleep in a still safe house that has somehow survived the aftermath of battles.

A woman with yellow hair and soft facial features had her hands on Ash's abdomen as a soft green light emitted from her. She was wearing a white robe with blue patterns embedded on it. After feeling satisfied with her work, she stood up and left the room to meet her team outside.

Outside the house, two men can be seen waiting for her to come; one was a man with a sword hanging on his waist and a gun; he had curly black hair, and the other was similarly also holding a giant sword and shield on the back of his massive body.

"He is not in danger anymore but seems quite tired. He should wake up in some time," the woman named Anny told her companions.

"That's good to know; when he wakes up, we can finally find out what happened here." The curly-haired man—Liber—said as he walked towards Anny.

"That kid was burned pretty badly; do you think he is awakened?" The massive guy known as Gian was asked.

"There is no doubt, with the origin shard we found, it's quite clear we found it in the tree. It's certain that he fought some kind of monster and survived." Liber explained.

"The monster must be at least a rank-2 beast from what appears of its shard." Gian told in a heavy tone as he took the purple shard from Liber's hands.

"It still doesn't explain how a new awakener defeated it." Liber thoughtfully said.

"No, I think it does explain it actually. Don't you think all the dried-up bodies we found are suspicious? What if the monster that boy fought was a newborn and somehow took all the energy of villagers to evolve into a rank 2 beast, even temporarily? Anny, who has checked almost every dead body present, told her hypothesis.

"So you think a newborn monster managed to do such a disturbing act?" Liber and Gian felt a shiver run through their spines simultaneously; if such a thing truly happened, it will explain what has truly transpired here.

"No, it must have reached rank-2 not perfectly then, since the shard is not a perfect purple in color, it can be said to be a quasi-beast rank creature." Liber, taking a deep breath, explained further.

"What about the old man you found beside the boy? Is he alive?" Gian, who had been taking care of dead bodies together with Liber, looked at Anny with hopeful eyes.

Anny sadly shook her head with a sad face. "The old man didn't make it. His spirit was already gone when I arrived. It seems he sacrificed himself to protect the boy.".

"What should we do with so many dead bodies?" Anny asked, while looking at Liber, she did not want to see so many deaths, but fate has arranged for her, a healer, to come here in a place where she can heal to save nobody.

Liber glanced behind his back to see all the dead bodies he and Gian had gathered, almost reaching 200, laid down with their faces covered by clothes. "Let the kid wake up first.I have already sent a message to bring a priest here."

Anny simply nodded at this sad scene, her face almost in tears at such a gruesome sight. 'So many lives have been lost.'

"I will go check again if we missed anybody." Gian, seeing the atmosphere, left to give some space to Anny and Liber, his two friends.

Liber led Anny to a seat infront of the house she just came from. His kind friend was a crybaby, who cried even at other people's loss of life.

"Everything is good; you were here; that's why we were able to save that boy. Don't cry." Liber consoled her as she was about to burst into tears.

Anny noted not wanting to get overwhelmed by this; she was a healer, and she would do her job.

Seeing her calm, now he asked. "Okay, tell me now what you find out." Anny nodded once again and told her finding of trees and people condition on how their vitality was lost.

A healer who takes care of life was more proficient in such acts compared to others, so even if Liber and Gian see any anomaly, they will consult with Anny at least once.

Before they could discuss the situation more, the door behind them abruptly opened as a man with soft black hair and shockingly beautiful silver eyes appeared. He was bandaged in many places with small bruise marks left on several places in his tall body.

He looked at them for a moment, but ignoring them, he ran forward toward the bodies lying on the ground. He quickly kneeled toward them, checking them one by one, every single one, to see their faces. He briefly stopped near a girl with brown hair, and dried body, her condition was not better than any other. She has lost all vitality and succumbed to death.

Not stopping, he again took off to again check on others, once again stopping near a chubby boy lying in the middle of people with his head shivered. Touching his hair, he again tried to look around. He reached the last body and saw its face.

Seeing the face of an old man with similarities to others but with an extra burned face, he fell down near on his knees. And looked toward the sky.

Liber and Anny did not stop him nor question him as they simply let him grieve; they can never understand what he has lost.

After some time, Ash looked back at them with teary eyes. He recognized Anny as the one who had treated him. "Thank you," he murmured, his voice cracking with pain.

Anny, with a gentle smile, patted his head. "You're welcome. What's your name?"

"Ash," he replied, his voice barely a whisper as he tried to sit up. The pain was still present, but it was now a dull throb compared to the agony he had felt before.

Liber stepped forward, extending a hand to help him up. "Take it easy," he said, his eyes filled with concern. "What happened here, Ash?"

Ash took a deep breath, the weight of his loss heavy on his shoulders. "The village was attacked by a... monster. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. I ...two days ago returned to the village...." He trailed off, his gaze falling to the ground, and continued his story, starting from how he met his friends first to how the villagers found a dead body.

Ash simply recounted everything that happened in a span of a single day; his eyes, which had always been full of hope, now lost their light and looked hollow.

Anny and Liber quietly listened to everything as Asher recounted it; in the middle of it, gasps and shocking sounds would come from them.

As the story ended, both their faces were pale white after hearing such shocking events on how a normal tree, centuries old, turned into a monster, trapping the villagers to evolve itself. On how a boy this young awakened and desperately fought to save his grandfather only to meet a cruel demise of everyone present here.