NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: I want to change my profession
Rain was pouring hard. The clouds are still getting blasted with the earsplitting thunder from the lightning. Cold air is now enveloping the land of Sibu where the small village of Liones is situated. Nevertheless, the atmosphere surrounding Phyxius is as hot as boiling water. He walked the road from Tristram Valley and arrived at the gates of Liones, towing the cart carrying the cold corpses of his family. His swollen, puffy eyes ceased crying at some point during his despairing walk from the valley. However, the rage within his heart has yet to simmer down.
"Who goes there?" The soldier guarding the gate asked, suspicious about the man's identity. "Please verify yourself and lower down your aura." Unconsciously exuding his aura, Phyxius just stares at the soldier for a few seconds, then reaches for his pocket. "Wait!!. What are you trying to do?" The soldier got anxious because, in his point of view, it looked like he was going to pull out his sword. Phyxius did not stop and just continued pulling out something from his pocket. "Stop!!... Or I'll shoot you in the head!" The soldier is now holding his bow and arrow aiming at him nervously. He was on a rampart of the gate, the only defensive wall that the village had. Phyxius did not even flinch and just continued pulling out some sort of a card. The soldier mistakes it for a weapon, releases the arrow aimed at his head, and shouts at him, "You fool!" With just a slight movement of Phyxius's head, he manages to dodge the arrow without a problem and almost simultaneously shows the guard his Identity Card. "I am Phyxius Ezriel, son of Odessius and Gressylia Ezriel. First batch cadet and a graduate of the Dawn Academy."
The soldier's eyes widened, realizing his life's biggest blunder. He sprints down the stairs, unlocks the gate, and falls down on his knees with his forehead touching the ground, begging for forgiveness. "Please forgive me, sir! I was just following standard procedures when dealing with a possible infected person!" Phyxius, who has noticed that he has activated his aura, turns it off and just stares at the soldier once again. "What is your name, soldier, and which lord are you affiliated with?" The soldier was hesitant to answer, but when he looked up and saw the rage in Phyxius's eyes, he knew that one wrong answer could cost him his life. "Garrick sir, Garrick Oswald and I served Count Darius Etherious." Phyxius was surprised as if he had realized something. "I see; get out of my way before I report you for trying to harm a radiant candidate." Garrick cleared out of the way immediately. "Thank you so much for your generosity, sir; I will never forget this." Phyxius did not even bother looking at him and just continued walking inside the gate.
The village of Liones, at present, is crumbling. Currently, most of its food storage wouldn't even last for a year, and the taxes that the citizens are paying have been doubled from last year. Citizen's disgruntled faces are evident throughout the village. A village that once had a bustling street full of people that are just minding their own business is now like a ghost town; you could hardly even see a mouse running around the corners of the village. Phyxius, on the other hand, thinks something is amiss. Especially for the one who runs the village, which is the Elder, and the one who owns it, which is Count Etherious. He has his own suspicions before but he might have confirmed it now. All he needs to do is to make a thorough investigation about it and present it to the king directly. As of the moment, what he really needs to do is to bring his family to the church for them to prepare Dusk of the Dead Ritual. It's the formalities that are needed for corpses infected by a demon's bite or claws. The bodies will undergo cremation that would involve using UV-rays. The ashes will then be placed on a specialized urn where the members of the church will perform their final incantations to bless it with holy power.
"Heavens! Phyxius, why are you here? What happened to your family outing? And why is your shirt all torn apart? Oh! Is this b-blood?" It was priestess Rosillia who saw him first at the front of the church. She runs towards Phyxius visibly shaken from the condition he is in right now. "Please perform the Dusk of the Dead ritual." Muttering these words, he points at the cart behind him. Rosillia is taken aback by his words and turns to inspect the cart, and as if to affirm her thoughts, what is revealed before her eyes are the dead parents of Phyxius and a chest that contains her sister in a liquefied state. She throws up the lunch that she had from two hours ago. Phyxius wasn't shocked by her reaction. "I'll bring them inside for the ritual. So please be ready by then." He picked up his father's and mother's bodies, carrying both of them on one shoulder and placing the chest on the other one. "Wait, Phyxius tell me what happened?" Rosillia who couldn't understand anything, demanded an answer from him. "Demons!" Enlightened by the word that he had just spoken, Rosillia composed herself. "I understand please bring them inside quickly and tell me about the details later, got it?" Phyxius just nods without looking at her and proceeds inside the church.
It took about two hours for the ritual and explanation of how it all happened to finish. The sun was setting down when Phyxius arrived at the village; it was now completely dark outside. This could spell trouble for them since demons thrive on darkness. However, the land is protected by a barrier that will repel any demonic being, which was installed around the continent of Philippus. So it was a mystery how demons could appear in the valley since it's within the premise of the continent.
"I want to change my profession." Rosillia was stunned by his words. "Haaaa!!!!???.."