Adam turned and started walking away, offering no reply to his uncle’s questions.
"Answer my question, boy," Edward called after him.
Adam continued towards the jungle’s edge, ignoring him.
"Your father let you off this ti," Edward’s voice was sterner now, carrying a warning. "If he finds out you’re heading back into the jungle, even I won’t be able to protect you."
Without turning around, Adam spoke, his voice flat. "I’m not going anywhere. I just want to be alone."
He walked on. Edward watched him go, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. He shook his head, a look of profound sadness in his eyes. This is our fault, he thought. He has to face so much, even from his own sister.
As Adam walked, his mind replayed the confrontation. My attack was powerful, he thought, flexing the fingers of his new hand.
This body’s father... he doesn’t look overwhelmingly strong, but he stopped my attack with ease. A sense of true astonishnt washed over him. The people here don’t seem to possess much magical power, but their physical abilities are on a completely different level.
He could make this judgnt with certainty. He compared them to the people he had known before—to Eric, to the students at the academy.
They were like children next to these villagers. He thought of his new father, Ricky, and made a cold, calculated comparison.
In a direct physical confrontation, my father could defeat the Emperor. Easily. He wasn’t exaggerating. The way Ricky had caught his energy blast was like a stone wall stopping a paper airplane.
He finally reached a quiet, grassy adow just outside the village. A single, large tree stood in the center. It was a good place to be alone.
The scene shifted back to Adam’s new ho. Ricky sat on the edge of the wooden bed, watching over his wife. Rachel’s eyes fluttered open. The fogginess of the sleep spell lifted, and she sat up with a gasp, her eyes wide with panic.
"Adam! Adam!"
Ricky imdiately put a calming hand on her shoulder. "It’s alright, Rachel. Nothing happened. Calm down."
She looked at him, her face still pale with fear. "Sothing happened to Adam," she said, her voice trembling. "He just... collapsed."
Ricky was surprised. "What do you an, sothing happened to him? He’s perfectly fine. We were worried about you. We found you unconscious in the garden."
Rachel shook her head, trying to climb out of bed. "No, I just fainted. I don’t know what happened. But I think... I think Adam ate one of the poisonous mushrooms from the forest. I don’t know how it got into the village."
Ricky’s eyes went wide. His expression turned deadly serious. He stared at his wife. "What are you saying?"
Rachel started to cry, her words tumbling out between sobs. "Yes. I don’t know where he found it. I don’t know how it got here."
Hearing this, Ricky recoiled as if he had been struck. A mask of cold, hard rage settled over his features. Rachel saw the fury in his eyes and understood.
"No, wait," she pleaded, grabbing his arm. "She’s still just a child. Don’t be too hard on her."
But Ricky didn’t listen. He pulled his arm free and stord out of the house, his jaw set like stone.
In a clearing used for chopping wood, Anastasia swung an axe. She was a whirlwind of controlled fury, the heavy blade whistling through the air, up and down, up and down.
Her face was a storm of anger, but tears stread unchecked from her eyes. With every swing, she vented her rage. A powerful gust of wind erupted from the axe with each downward stroke, a testant to her own incredible physical strength.
"Adam," she seethed through clenched teeth, her voice a ragged whisper. "I hate you. If you had never been born, my life would have been so much better. It’s all your fault. Because of you... because of you, I have to endure this."
She continued her frantic, tear-filled training for so ti, trying to
exhaust her anger. Finally, she stopped, leaning on the axe, breathing heavily.
She wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, her mind a turbulent sea of resentnt. She was still lost in her thoughts when a voice roared from behind her, a sound like thunder that shook her to her very core.
"ANASTASIA!"
Fear, cold and imdiate, washed over her. She spun around. Her father was striding towards her, his face a mask of such terrifying rage that she froze on the spot. She knew instantly. Her secret was out.
He knew she had brought the poisonous mushroom from the forest. He knew she had forced Adam to eat it. But she was also confused. If Adam hadn’t eaten the mushroom, how could her father know?
Ricky’s voice bood across the clearing, each word a hamr blow. "You tried to kill your own brother. Have you fallen so low?"
Anastasia stood there, paralyzed by his fury. She stared at the ground, at the wood chips at her feet. She didn’t have the courage to look him in the eye. She didn’t speak.
She offered no defense, no denial. It was as if she was so terrified of her father that her own voice had abandoned her. She just stood there, a silent, guilty statue, waiting for her judgnt.
Ricky strode forward, his massive form casting a long shadow over his daughter. He stood before Anastasia, his eyes burning with a cold, serious fury that made the air itself seem to grow heavy.
"I want the truth," he said, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "Did you want to kill Adam?"
Anastasia’s body trembled, a violent shiver born of pure terror. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words ca out. She was so afraid that her voice had abandoned her. Ricky’s patience snapped.
"ANSWER , ANASTASIA!" he roared, his voice echoing through the clearing.
Reviews
All reviews (0)