V froze for a moment, his eyes widening as he turned to regard the man then back again.
"Yes! This is what I want give me something worthwhile !"
The term "fruit" held much deeper significance than Ray's simple words suggested. It wasn't merely produce, but rather a designation for vessels that could contain anything from magical items to weapons. While receiving fruit as reward for slaying two seeker-rank humans wouldn't be extraordinary.
Still, it was aid nonetheless. For V, it could be summoned from nothingness with a simple thought of it.
"Give me something good!" V wasn't particularly in need of a weapon right now since he was already wielding one. Still, he was hoping to acquire armor at the very least—it would provide some protection to his frail body.
[You have received a fruit: white clay]
"What?! Clay?! And white at that?"
V sighed heavily, hastily examining its description with palpable disappointment evident in its name.
"The name is terrible! What use could it possibly have with a name like that?"
Nevertheless, this artifact worth investigation. Perhaps it possessed some function.... Uh! Does clay even have a function ? Can I make something useful from this clay? Thinking V summoned the egg shell hastily.
Name: V
Rank: Seeker
Core Root: Seedwake
Fruit : white clay
Frame: —
Attributes: [ Unwritten one ], [Claim of Unwritten], [Within], [Mark of Unwritten]
Branch: [Unwritten]
Immediately, he focused on the white clay, and a clay-like substance materialized before his eyes. Below it, text began glowing.
[White clay: A soft, pale mold from a forgotten land, once used to shape the faces of the past. White clay from which one can create a statue of oneself a remarkably realistic one. You can modify and reposition it at will.]
"What a piece of garbage," V thought, dejected. His first fruit had proven to be virtually useless.
"What would I even do with this worthless trash? Unless I become a politician, it's just a piece of junk."
Amidst that, suddenly that middle-aged man spoke.
"We will start to move at dawn!" His sudden sound made V pay attention eagerly.
"To where?" V asked with gritted teeth. The man looked at V for a second and turned his head outside.
"I am here by the command of my lord—"
"And what must that be?" V's voice was filled with malice and rage, which was obvious in his tone.
"To bring you to my lord! To the White Ghost... Now will you kill me? No!... Can you kill me just like those men ?! Huh?!"
V couldn't answer his question as V was need to face against a man—and not any man, at that, but one that had killed several creatures single-handedly without breaking a sweat. Even if he had decided to fight right now, it would eventually lead to his death, and if not, he would get sacrificed tomorrow. The odds of his survival were too low in either way, so low that anyone would have laughed in his face if he were to ever suggest fighting him.
And on top of that, he had his broken body to handle. The ridiculous degree to which the odds were stacked against him from the very beginning of this delayed execution had gotten old a long time ago when he faced a Kimire with his broken body, so he didn't have any more energy to think about it.
V, who had leaned forward after hearing his words, now leaned back and closed his eyes. After all, he was already as good as dead. It's not like he could get out of this situation. So why worry about tomorrow, which was already decided?
On the other side of the bonfire, the middle-aged man leaned on his sword and closed his eyes.
---
In the blink of an eye, dawn was there to greet V, so did the middle-aged man greet V with his creepy smile and rose to his feet, looking around the cave. The smell of dead flesh was getting stronger as V could feel it too, so much that he had somewhat grown accustomed to that smell after all he had endured it till dawn. V gave a look to the dead.
"Pitiful souls... still smell like shit!"
Yawning, he stood up and rubbed his face to chase away the last remnants of sleep. Tying his long, dark hair back, he stared at the middle-aged man who was looking outside.The man seemed different in daylight more clam and dangerous.
After a moment of staring, he turned back to V.
"Let's move... and leave that sword behind!" Saying that, he moved forward. Giving a look to his surroundings, V slowly followed him with a mind full of thoughts and planning. Night wasn't easy on him when he knew tomorrow would be his last day.
"How do I get rid of him?"
He didn't have any special powers, nor did he have his butler with him, nor any advantageous army ready to bury this man. Now he didn't even have a weapon to put up a little fight against that damn bastard.
After coming outside, the coldness sent shivers down his spine. V moved his gaze and looked past that man and turned to look around the endless snowy world. As he was watching the snowy world, a loud voice called him.
"Follow me!" he said without looking at V, and just a second after, he turned back to V and added, "Try to flee and die here and now!"
"Go and die yourself, you creaky piece of shit!.....Bastard!" V thought and started following him empty-handed. On that man's command, he left his only weapon behind to chat with the dead.
"Bastard!"
They walked in silence for what felt like hours, without a single stop. V's breath came out in white puffs that vanished quickly in the bitter air. His wound had gotten a little better but not much that he could move his body freely, but he pushed forward, knowing that slowing down would only make things worse.
In front of V, the middle-aged man moved with easy confidence not even trying to look back or even to check on V if he was following or not. His long white hair danced behind him like a banner, and his sword remained sheathed at his side, as if he had no concern whatsoever about V trying anything.
"Smart bastard," V muttered under his breath, low enough that the wind carried his words away.
The landscape around them was the same endless white expanse, broken only by the occasional drift of snow or a jutting rock. No trees, no shelter just the two of them walking across this frozen wasteland toward whatever shit he was meant to meet!
After another hour of trudging through the snow, V's legs began to shake with exhaustion. His injuries from the previous day were catching up with him, and the cold was seeping into his bones. But looking at the man in front of him, he gritted his teeth and kept walking.
"How much farther?" V called out with his hoarse voice.
Even after hearing V, he didn't say anything for a second. "Not far now!"
"That's what those dead shits said yesterday too," V thought bitterly.
As they crested a small hill, V saw something in the distance that made his blood run cold. A massive structure rose from the snow like a black scar against the white landscape. It was some kind of temple or fortress, all sharp angles and twisted spires that seemed to reach toward the ash-colored sky.
"There!" the man called out, finally slowing down his pace "The domain of the White Ghost!"
V stared at the ominous structure, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the cold run down his spine. The building seemed wrong somehow, something V couldn't explain with words or expressions it was just pure instinct crawling under his skin. Turning to the man next to him
"What exactly is this White Ghost?" V asked sharply without wavering, the man turned to look at him, and for the first time, V saw something other than cold confidence in his eyes a fear of that thing.
"You'll find out soon enough," the man said, and after a second of scratching his head, he added, "But I'll give you one piece of advice, boy. Whatever you do, don't resist unless you are in a hurry to meet your death."
V felt his stomach drop a little, then he turned to look at the fortress. "Resist, huh!"
The middle aged man gave a long look to v and exheld heavily
"White Ghost is an ancient thing try not to anger him," the man continued, starting to walk again. "It's been trapped in there for centuries, with growing hunger with each passing day. When those fools found you in that village and saw your skin and your blood, they knew you'd make a perfect offering for the White Ghost!"
"Offering?"
"The Ghost needs someone with potential, someone with great blood, and it's exactly what it's been waiting for. You are a unique offering!"
V gritted his teeth.
"You shitty Rays! Can't you do a single job properly? Why—why the hell am I in this kind of trial? I want to go back!" V thought and a second later he speed up his pace to catch up with that man.
"I don't understand!" V said and added, "What's so great about my blood?"
The man glanced at him with pity in his eyes. "He is in search of great blood from myths known as white blood. Unlike human blood, white blood is so rare that only tens of people in all continents have it—"
"So... do I have it?!"
"That's the mystery! No one knows how to differentiate human blood and white blood only my lord knows what actually is that white blood is."
"What—what kind of crap are you spouting, old man?"
V was frustrated—frustrated out of his mind. From the beginning of this trial, there wasn't a single favorable situation for him. At least he deserved a butler to assist in this messed-up trial even that shit was missing from his trial. Being unlucky was one thing, but being this unlucky to face such horror was truly just unfair.
Even then, V had somehow swallowed it all, but now he was getting sacrificed for what—blood. which he doesn't even know if he even has or not?
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
V laughed, looking at the fortress like a maniac, standing at one spot. Then after a while, rubbing his face, he started following him without further questions. They continued their walk, and with each step, the fortress grew larger and more menacing. V could make out details now—twisted gargoyles perched on the walls, black windows, and a massive door that looked like the maw of some great beast.
"Why are you helping it?" V asked suddenly. "You could have left me to die in that cave. Why help?"
"It was my lord's order to bring you alive. You are a precious resource for my lord!"
V couldn't find words to argue.
"If you're done, then follow me quietly without noise!"
After that, V followed him quietly, walking with the weight of his own thoughts, which were driving him crazy. Stumbling in snow wasn't really a good feeling V was embarrassed a little, but standing before that fortress made all of his embarrassment vanish. Then he took one deep, ragged breath and dropped to the ground, utterly exhausted.
The middle-aged man turned to V.
"Get up! We are entering the castle!" With an intense stare at the young boy, he added, "Right now!"
Before his words could reach V, suddenly a loud, guttural horn tore through the air, and those massive doors opened with the creepiest sound !