Seeing the state that Von had acted in, Kron knew something was up. The child was not his responsibility, which was why he had immediately gone to the clan base. Von had eventually woken up, and all of the elders were in shock at his actions.
He wandered about, stumbled over his own legs, and was banging the floor constantly. No matter what they did, they were unable to get through to him. They called out, asked him questions, but none of it was working; there was no response back.
They had even tried to get him to write what had happened, how he had become this way, but with his sense of touch gone, he couldn’t even hold a brush properly. Eventually, Von was even unable to walk as he was unable to sense his legs.
This was as much as Kron had witnessed before heading back to the temple. He had told them what he knew, how Von was in this state when he had found him. It was their guess that he had stumbled there after receiving this condition, whatever it was, because they believed he had no reason to be there.
With no clue as to what was going on, they took Von to the physician, with one of the Clan members guiding him. At the moment, he was laid out on the bed, his mouth open. They had force-fed him some food, closing and opening his mouth for him.
It was quite amazing that they still had gotten him to swallow, but for how much longer, it was hard for them to tell.
“This, I have never come across a case like this before,” the physician said. “I will continue trying what I can, but as of right now, I wouldn’t count on his state changing. He will continue to live, but not in the same way as he did before.”
This news had reached the elders of the Red Brigade clan, and a meeting was called between them. As this was a big loss to them all, because it was one of their rising talents.
In the master’s main hall, chairs had been set up, and six of the elders, including the master Yon, were sitting opposite each other around four meters away in each direction. All of the elders were sitting apart from each other as they would do when having a meeting.
“I have to ask,” one of the other elders spoke up, stroking his large beard that dangled to his chest. “Do we perhaps believe that what has happened to Von is the same as the rest of the death-related incidents that have been occurring around town?”
“I believe this is separate,” Yon answered immediately before there could be any such rumors. “This does not fit anything that has happened before, but I can’t say we can rule it out, as at the moment we have no leads.”
“It’s the Demon faction!” one of the elders yelled, jumping out of his seat nearly pushing his chair over. “They have always had ambitions to rule over the entire continent through whatever means are possible to them. They are worse than the Light faction! Taking out our talent before they even have the chance to grow.”
“Calm down, Donaven!” Yon waved his hand, telling him to take a seat. “Although I agree with your views on the Demonic faction, it makes no sense for them to go after a small clan like ours. For now, we just have to keep a closer eye on this town, for I fear even worse things are to come.”
—
Inside his room, Simyon was continually staring at the earring that was in his hand. There was something fascinating about it. When he saw it on the floor, right by his foot, something had drawn him to it.
Eventually, he had picked it up, and there was a strange sensation over his body, as if it was informing him he had done the right thing. After giving it a wipe, it was now in his hand, but he had yet to put it on.
‘This came from that disciple, it looked like he had gone a bit crazy and tore this thing off. It makes me wonder if it’s expensive; maybe I can even sell it for some coin,’ Simyon thought.
While it was in his hand, he was reluctant to let it go, and continued to twirl it around, looking at every detail of the earring. Yet there seemed to be nothing special about it, but he felt like he was holding onto something like a diamond in his hand.
Catching himself in this strange state, Simyon placed the ring on his bedside counter, and turned away, looking at his room’s wall. It was only a few moments later that he had turned around and had picked up the earring as well.
Now sitting up, he held it in his hand and was bringing it ever closer to his ear.
‘What am I doing? This literally just came off the ear of someone else. It’s pretty disgusting if I put it on like this.’
Leaving his room, Simyon had traveled to the kitchen, and after giving it a quick rinse with a hose, he lifted it in the air and brought it to his ear again.
“Now it should be okay, Ouch!” Simyon screamed a little; he had only brought it to his ear, the last thing he had suspected was that it would attach itself to him and pierce him.
Touching his earlobe, he could feel that the earring was now on him; he tried tugging and pulling, but there was no success in removing the thing.
‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ Simyon thought. A little worried, he decided to head toward his room.
As he was heading out, he bumped into Safa, who looked to be starting cleaning duty in the main hall. Even though Kron wasn’t back yet, she had decided that she would get a head start on some chores.
She smiled at Simyon, and he smiled back, but then she started to stare at him for a few seconds before pointing to the new accessory he had on him.
“Oh, this, do you like it? Do you think it suits me?” Simyon asked.
Quite quickly, she shook her head, which just made Simyon a little more depressed since he couldn’t remove this thing.
“Hey, I’ll have you know that I’m starting a fashion trend. Soon all of the kids at the temple will want to wear an earring like this one.”
The comment had made Safa chuckle a little, and she was soon continuing her duties. In the middle of her cleaning, surprisingly, Raze, who had been outside nearly this whole time, had entered the main hall and started to approach her.
Her heart started to beat a little faster; it was rare that he would come up to her first, unless it was a telling off of some sort. 𝑂𝒱𝑙xt.𝓬𝒪𝑚
“Hey, while you’re cleaning, look out for a small black earring. It’s a small loop type one that looks like a ring,” Raze said. “And if you do find it, come to me straight away, and whatever you do, don’t wear it.”
The item was a dangerous one, and as a thank you for obtaining the original owner’s body, he thought the least he could do was warn his sister. But after telling her of such things, Raze could see the look on her face with her mouth slightly ajar.
“You’ve seen it, haven’t you? Tell me, where is it now!”