Sekai Break

The candlelight flickered rendering shadows across the room. With every flicker shadows danced entangled with the swaying of the flame. The wax had melted halfway with its flame burning more faintly just like the limiters that held the tension in the room.

Dym stood at the apex of the table, looking at the frustrated cold faces of those before him.

" There have been changes to our mission . " Dym said.

" What! " Liora shot up saying.

" Liora please try to stay calm. " Dym said looking at the fuming girl.

" Acting up won't change the current status of the mission. " Dym reprimanded.

" Fine . " she said with a hint of revolt in her tone as she dropped to her seat slouching.

" Utterly childish . " Elren said from his seat at the left corner of the table.

" Okay now that everyone is settled I'll go on. "

" First of all the changes in the mission is because our prior mission is already complete. "

" Huh ? When ? How? " Sen asked dumbfounded.

" So we can go home ? " Liora asked enthusiastically.

Dym glanced at his two inexperienced and undisciplined team members . The surprise in Sen's eyes and the overall excitement from Liora left him questioning.

" How did I end up with these two. "

" These two are really amateurs. Can't even listen to a briefing without talking back. " Elren said, feeling the cold glance from his sister, Ery.

" How about you two keep quiet and I'll tell you. " Dym said his nerves already flaring from the interrupts.

He sighed and continued.

" It was back in the forest when I started noticing some odd things from the shriekers. " he said his words drifting him back to the forest canopy.

<>

It was after the attack by the five shriekers. To his side two of them lay dead their blood being soaked into the forest floor. The last one was jumping branch to branch its speed increasing with every pounce.

Then it shot from a tree behind Dym as it launched for his neck.

Its maw snapped with the sound from its colliding teeth echoing across the canopy as it bit on plain air.

Its prey, Dym, was faster and now had clean shot for its wide and open underbelly.

Seconds later the shrieker lay unconscious next to a tree with thin smoke rising from its underbelly.

Dym sighed as he gazed at the three unconscious beast that lay before him.

" I wonder how they are doing. " he thought hearing some shrieking coming from the direction Sen and Liora were in.

" I'm sure they can handle them. " he said turning to the direction the beast came from.

" Now let's find out why these things are doing so deep in the forest. "

In a distance Dym could hear the sound of water crashing into rocks. He picked up his pace and a while later he stood before a gashing river.

" This is odd. " he said as he gazed at the ecological anomaly that met his eyes.

Around him dead bodies of some forest creatures lay lifeless on the ground. The vegetation seemed to stop abruptly as it approached the river banks. It faded into a withered brown color a huge contrast from the lush green of the forest.

He moved closer cautiously intrigued by the now more clear sound from the river.

" Why is the river fizzing. " he thought stepping closer to inspect.

Along the river bed closest to the river lay animal carcasses. But as they dropped closer to the river they started to decay faster than the parts on land.

" What's going on here ? " he asked surprised. He picked a chunk of carcass meat he threw it into the river.

On contact the river began to bubble. The fizzing sound increased as the chunk faded as it sunk into the river.

In moments all that was of the chunk had decayed into the river and carried with the stream.

At the other side of the banks Dym could sense more creature— more shriekers, eyeing him as he crouched on the river bank.

" So this whole area is contaminated. " he said as he looked at his now scorching hands. He slowly pulled up the top of his robe covering his mouth and nose.

" And so is the air , huh. "

His eyes swayed across the banks of the river . Carcasses that slept along them, their lives taken by their natural want for water.

" Judging by the number this must have begun several months ago. " he thought.

He slowly got up and started walking back into the forest. He sighed, at the back of his head already noticing this was not the D tier mission Trojn had led him to belive.

" Well I better take care of this poisoning first. "

He said his figure disappearing into the forest.

<>

" Oh that's the river I saw when I was up in the trees. " Sen said as Dym concluded.

" So that the reason why the Shrieking weasel came all the way to Laptove. To find clean water. " Sen asked .

" Tsk ! Another reason why I wonder why these oblivious children were sent to help us. " Elren mockingly answered Sen.

" If you knew anything about these forest you'd know that shriekers are nocturnal eaters. They spend the day seeking food and take it back to their caves to eat at night. So the stray shrieker that ended up next to your two was searching for food. "

" Wait you don't mean?! " Liora said a slight shiver in her tongue.

" Yes . It was hunting. " Dym said .

" Damn it !"

" Those bastards have started to develop a taste for humans. "Will cursed slamming his hand onto his seat's arm.

" With the decline of animals in the forest the shriekers seem to have changed diets to humans to meet their sustenance. "

Suddenly the atmosphere in the room dropped . The tension from before started to fade as the unsettling realization dawn on Sen and Liora.

" In the past few months , villagers started disappearing when they ventured into the forest . Some who were lucky come back to the village with bite marks and a few scratches…" Ery said in a light tone.

" But in most cases they come back with river poisoning. " she added.

" Are they okay ? " Sen asked hesitantly trying not to pry any healed wounds.

" Tch ! " Elren said under his breath.

" I tried my best to heal them but none of the village victims manage to survive … " she said with little sniffling audible in her voice.

" village victims, huh? You mean… "

" Yeah . The only victim I've treated and has recovered is sir Dym. " she said a tear drop streaming down her cheeks.

Silence reigned supreme as the weight of the revelation sunk into Liora and Sen. Their eyes , puzzled and remorseful barely gazed past the table. The gentle breeze outside whooshed across the village trees rustling their leaves in the melody of the nocturnal birds that sang perched in their trees as the two came into terms with their reality.

Dym looked at the sad faces of Sen and Liora. It was evident the news had taken its toll on their minds now even hesitant to talk.

" Sen , Liora . I think you two now understand the weight of this mission now. "

" Mm. " they both said with a slight nod.

"But if the river is contaminated and even being close to it will poison us how will we even get the chance to help . "

" That's where the village guard comes in." Dym said ushering to the Elder Lin.

Elder Lin walked closer to the table. She had been standing close to a fire place observing the table as they discussed.

" Yes the river poisoning is a hurdle but once a week the poisoning is erased by the condensation point halo rings. "

" Halo rings ?! " Sen asked puzzled at the term.

" Geez I can't believe you don't even know that. "Elren remarked disappointedly swaying his head.

" As you know there are two mysterious phenomena that occur in our world . Miasma events and Condensation points. Both are mysteries to man and have been since the start of this kingdom. " The Elder responded to Sen.

" The few studies on them have shown that each is layered into rings or zones. For Miasma events those rings are called Decay rings while for Condensation points they are called Halo Rings. "

" I know that as much but I don't get how they'll erase the poisoning."

" Based on the already observed past events they usually have their own unique effects and attributes associated with them. " Elder Lin answered .

" The condensation point near Laptove particularly favors rejuvenation of life with its healing properties. And so once a week the surrounding areas of Laptove are showered by its healing properties . "

" Five days from now these will phenomena will happen. "

" And five days from now is when we will execute the mission. "