>>68638197>This boy was stout of heart and was a budding talent with the bow. Common consensus stated that he would be a talented huntsman or scout once he passed the coming of age trial. In the ages following the dragon's death, the village mandated every 16 year old would pray at the waterfall and then slay one of the beast's vile children prowling the wilderness. Only then would boys become men.>The cerulean eyed boy awaited the trial like the others, and dreamed of scales in the river. He prayed at the waterfall and set out to find a beast to slay, clutching his old bow as he breathed slowly.>It was many hours before he spotted one of them. Made of blackness and possessing distorted bone white faces, the hunchbacked humanoid had yet to detect the boy stalking it from the the branches above until 2 arrows pierced its neck and side. More arrows found their home in the beast's limbs, pinning the thrashing monster to the forest floor as it howled in bitcrushed agony.>The boy dropped down from the trees, bow on his back and knife in hand. His quiver was empty, and the elders would require proof of his kill regardless. As the boy approached the beast, he felt a strange sense of deja vu that was quickly replaced by steely determination. One of these faces, melted and shimmering with uncanny lights, would do.>As he started to carve away, he noticed the faces and cries sounded like they should've been familiar, yet they weren't. The h̶͇̃̀ȧ̷̠͐t̶͇̰̽m̴̪̙̿a̴͘͝ͅk̴̤̐͗ě̶̜̠r̶͎̾'̵̡̛̯̌ș̸̢́̑ ̶͍͙̚y̴̫͋̌ơ̵̙ů̴̬͈n̶̖̓g̶̥͛ ̷̣̓d̸̼̪̆̎a̶̖̙̐u̶̙͚̇͑g̷͚̋h̷̡͔͑͐t̵͕͒̎è̸̖͖r̴̙̋,̵̟̎͘ ̷͔͋ṫ̷̗͔ẖ̸̻́̌ȅ̸̮̀͜ ̷͔͇̒̃o̶͇̥͊n̴̨͆e̴̙̒͜ ̸͈̫̔e̷͖͓̐̑y̴̱̹͆̈e̵̫̥̓d̷̟́̂ ̸̬̤̋̀ḣ̸͍u̶̾͜ͅn̸̟͗t̶̢͝e̷̟̿r̵̳͆,̵̞͌͜ ̵͚́̓ṯ̸̀ḧ̵̫̓e̴͔̯̽̄ ̴̡͊o̷̗͐͝l̴̮̑̎d̷̹͒̓ ̸͇̀h̶̳̞͂ẽ̷̥͠r̶m̶̧̡̈̎i̶̤̞͗̓ṯ̵̿,̸̺̎́ m̸̙͍͉̩̂a̷͉̗̰͖̙̾̏̀̈́͛͠n̸̮̞̋ỹ̸̢̯̫̟̭̘͒͋̒̄͆͑̃ ̴̟̻͚̺̿̔̈́͂ẅ̶͇̗̖͉̤́͋͠h̵̩̿̂̔̔͆̚͝ó̸̡̡̠̹͓̱̈́̎̌̎̆̓ ̴̘͉̌̔͛̾̒̄h̸͕̦̤̺̜̘̠͙͊̍̾͋̾̿̇ă̷̬̯d̴͖̃̔̐̀͐̔ ̶͎͙͈͍̣͎͕͈̎̆͒͂n̸̹͍̠͍̻̬̩͈̽̂͆ḛ̸̹̌͆v̷̨̯̭̻̠̓̂̉͒ě̸̢̙̆r̴̦̻͇̣̔͊̆̋̍̒ ̶̡̨͇̜̯̑̊͛̈́̇ͅë̴̹͇́͛̎͒x̸̨̢̛͔͉̳̺͍̠̄̈̂̈́̎ḯ̸̍́s̸͈̱͇̤͋̽̄̚t̴̳͛̊̍̄́̕͠͝e̵͕̭̍̌̈́͜d̴̻͚̻̈̊̆̐͛̊̊̍.>But even if t̸̨͒h̷̨͒e̷̫͝ÿ̸͓́ ̶̗͠d̷̥̃i̴̻̓ḋ̶̜ṅ̵͈'̶͑ͅt̷͉͘ ̷̦̈e̴͎̍x̵̾ͅi̴̙͌s̶̛͎t̷̜͆, the beast was looking more like a plague victim instead of an evil loosed from Yomi. It troubled the boy enough to make him slow his cuts involuntarily, allowing the beast to tear one of its pinned limbs from the ground and grab the boy's knife arm!>Soon the boy's screams joined the beast's. Its claws dug into his flesh effortlessly. The same uncanny, patchy lights burst from the cuts in place of blood and he could feel a c̷o̷r̵e̷ ̷p̸a̷r̵t̴ ̷o̸f̶ ̷h̵i̶m̶s̷e̸l̸f̷ being irreversibly a̵l̶t̶e̶r̷e̸d̶. >It was p̸a̵i̵n̶ rebirth he'd fallen for it again this was his first trial he was a young village boy praying to Dragon to be a man he was Dragon bellowing at the darkness to face him h̶e̴ ̷w̶a̶s̶ ̷t̵h̷e̷ ̴d̴a̷r̷k̴n̷e̷s̸s̴ ̶a̵n̷d̸ ̸p̸a̴t̵c̶h̶ ̷l̵i̵g̵h̵t̶s̵ with [ERROR] [ERROR] [USER INVALID] [USER INVALID] he would die h̴e̵a̷r̵t̵ ̴r̵i̷p̴p̶e̸d̴ ̸f̸r̸o̴m̶ ̷b̶r̶o̸k̷e̵n̸ ̵s̸c̸a̷l̶e̷s̸ be nothing be nothing be nothing b̸̢̳̻̭͚̞̂̆̀͌̕͝͠ͅe̵̘̭̟͎͎͚̜̠͚̳͕̦͆̋͋͛͌̋͝͝ ̴͉͕̮̥͍̆̑̍͐͑̉̃̓̒̔n̷̥͍͈̝̬̬̥̮͊͗͆̑ơ̷̡̙̼͙̳͙͑̊̇͋̇̽̎͝t̵̡͔̊̏̃̈́͊́͘̕̚ḧ̴̢̥̦̙͇́͌̐̓͘͠í̷̧̛̩͕͍͓̫͕̞͓͕̟͔̟̮̤̋͒̔̑͑̐̚̚͜͠͠ṋ̷̻͎̫̠̳͓̜̏̇͛́͒͑̍̇̕͘͝g̵̡̨̳̖̥̙̖̝̐͆͋̈́͜ͅ
