Chapter 29: Corpse

Karl smiles as he cracks his neck.

"How-" Before Serena could complete the sentence Karl disappears and reappears behind her back. She realizes few seconds late and Karl grabs her mouth.

"You should understand your own worth first. I am not your slave nor your friend. I help you find the ape and you will get me out of this forest. If agreed blink twice." She blinks twice immediately.

Karl assumption was right, Serena is weak in close combat situations.

"I possess the forbidden element and I planted a marker on your face if you try to harm me in anyway, your entire face will blast off."

Serena is genuinely scared now. She also notices Karl's irregular breathing. The forbidden elemental wielder appeared only twice in the history. Whenever they appeared it caused mass destruction throughout the entire world. Even the strongest mages and warriors were afraid to fight the wielders of the forbidden elements. Not because they were strong, but because of their uncertainty and unknown spells. Elements aside, a forbidden element wielder would be way weaker compared to a normal mage in the same rank. Only because there are very limited number of spells one forbidden element wielder can learn. Also, to perform any type of spell a large amount of mana is required. Therefore, even if they can't use many spells, the ones they use are already very lethal. As a librarian in the academy and belonging to an aristocrat's family, Serena knew about this information. Because of this she got scared and agreed immediately.

Karl releases her and steps back. Serena dashes a few steps ahead, away from Karl.

"Oh? Don't be so scared I fell for you remember?" Karl teases her.

"Shut up!"

"Anyways, answer my previous question. Why do you need that ape?"

Serena makes a serious expression and few seconds of silence go by. "I took request from my guild. To kill a three horned ape which was wondering too close in the outskirts of the forest."

Karl thinks for a second. "What if I say, this ape has been killed by someone?"

Serena's face shows complex expression.

'Did he killed it?' This question pops on her mind which sends chills down her spine. Serena is 3 years older than Karl. Not to mention she is a blessed which makes her way stronger than an average student. This was the reason that she took this quest. Killing a three horned ape while being a student is an incredible feat in this world.

"T-That is convenient for me. I can just take one tooth as an evidence and claim the kill." Serena fumbles.

"Can I?" She asks this in a very small voice.

"What?"

BOOM.

Thunder strikes in a distant area. Both Karl and Serena look up and sees that the sky is turning dark.

"Come on, we don't have all day here. We find your monkey and get the hell out of this forest."

"Ape."

"Whatever." Karl turns around and picks up the heavy bag.

'Why is he still lifting that? Didn't he just show that he is an equal?' A question mark appears on her face.

Karl lifts the bag and begins walking. 'Fuck! That hurt too much.' He slowly grabs his chest as he is having trouble breathing.

"So, where are we going?"

"South."

Few hours have passed and it started to rain pretty heavily. Serena suggested that they set up a camp near and wait for the weather to clear up. Reluctant at first but Karl agrees. They just gathered few wet sticks and sat under a huge tree which saved them from getting wet.

Serena grabs few sticks and taps the stick on her watch. Karl sees sparks coming out of the watch. On the fourth tap the stick catches fire and Serena also ignites other sticks, making a campfire.

Once done, she looks up and notices Karl's gaze on her watch. "What are you looking at?"

"How did that watch manage to start a fire? How does work? Could my watch do that?"

"Huh, poor people." Serena smirks, expecting Karl to get offended or something.

But Karl doesn't look bothered at all, he has his eyes fixed on the watch. Serena sighs. "This is Feneat model 3X. It is solely made for adventurers. It can ignite fire, purify water and detect poison in the air. Well, this is an older model now. I believe newer ones can also identify monsters by their blood or bones only."

'Wow.' Karl is making the face of a child who wants a candy.

"Also-"

GROWL.

Karl smiles as Serena's face turns red.

"Ah-well-you know" She fumbles hard.

"Don't worry its natural."

"Hmm." Serena nods and stands up. Karl stares at her back as she disappears.

'Food, huh?' He looks at his hand, it looks malnourished. He leans back on the tree, he blinks once. Twice. Third time, his eyes doesn't open.

"Hey!" Something touches Karl's shoulder. He opens his eyes and sees Serena; she has blood on her hands.

'I fell asleep?'

"Yes?"

"Looks like you were in a deep sleep. I called you few times but you didn't respond."

Karl rubs his eyes as he stands up. "My bad. I am just tired."

Ignoring Karl, Serena tosses a piece of meat to Karl. "This?"

"I caught it. Just roast it for a bit."

'She is nicer than I thought.' Karl throws the meat into the fire.

'But I won't let my guard down again.'

"What are you doing? Do you even know how much time it took to catch that?" Serena snaps and grabs Karl's collar. They both just stare at eachother.

"Ugh! Just take me to that ape so I never see your face again." Serena releases her hand and walks away.

"Sure. Let's do that." Karl picks up the bag and they began their journey. The rain hasn't stopped yet. Serena is in a bad mood as her armour is soaked. Karl on the other hand doesn't seem to care at all.

Fatigue is starting to show affect Karl. Each step is getting heavier for him. Not to mention dark circles and red eyes. Despite this he continues forward, after 30 minutes walking. Karl recognizes a half-cut cliff made by Sian's attack.

'I can't stop now. I am so close.'

Serena tries to initiate conversation a number of times. But only receives silence as a response. It's not like Karl is ignoring her purpose. He is too much focused, each of his senses are dulled due to mental exhaustion. For now, he is just a walking zombie. 15 minutes passes and rain finally subsides.

"Look!" Serena yells, pointing at something. But Karl keeps on walking. Serena clicks her tongue and runs behind Karl.

SMACK! She hits Karl in the head.

"We found it, you idiot." Karl turns back and looks up. There, between the trees he spots a huge skull which is cracked all the place. A ray of hope appears in Karl.

"If the skull is here, the body should be near. Remember we need to find claw or tooth." Serena clarifies.

They continue their search. Just few hundred meters from the skull, Serena stops. This time Karl notices her and turns back. Serena is making a disgusted face while her hand is on her nose.

"You don't smell this?"

"No?"

Apparently, there is a foul smell is coming from ahead. But Karl can't smell it. They continue towards the source of the smell. Finally, Karl smells it too.

'It smells like a dead human.'

Karl puts the bag down and crouches down. He slowly moves forward. In the distance he sees it.

The corpse.

The word corpse might not be the correct word. Because it is moving. In the back, Serena's stomach turns upside down. She turns back to puke.

'What the fuck is that?'

The corpse is on the ground, missing a head and both arms with a bloated stomach which wasn't there when it was alive. Almost all of its organs are outside, intestines and kidneys are lying on the ground. From knees there is only bones till toes.

SLURP!

The stomach is moving, something inside the stomach is moving.

Karl slowly steps back to Serena. "What could be inside it's stomach?"

"No idea. Could be anything. From four fanged serpent to missile ants."

'Missile what?'

"Forget that, where can we get the claw?"

"Probably from it's legs."

"Okay, listen here. You just need to somehow cut the claw and I will pull it back here. Then, we will just run away."

"What? Why am I supposed to go to that thing? Just cut the claw yourself."

"I would love to! But the claws of a three horned ape are too hard for my threads."

Karl thinks for a second. "Tie your thread around me. Pull me back if something goes wrong."

Serena agrees and summons her circle. A thread appears and circles around Karl's waist. He breathes heavily. His sword in his hand. Karl moves towards the legs of the ape.

SLURP! SLURP!

'Are those snakes?' Karl guesses as the stomach moves showing an outline of an snake.