Echoes of Hollow

"So, the monsters from the portals aren’t the only things that give points when killed, and... this also applies to animals..?"

Feeling and having emotions don’t necessarily mean caring about what happens to people who have no connection to you, Hye realized at that very moment. Throwing the man’s body into the portal was as easy as simply deleting the system messages that came with his death.

Sitting on the stone, he lifted his head and looked up for a moment. The bluish glow of the moon continued to bathe the treeless circle he was in, and, peering into the darkness created by the trees, various forms of life approached cautiously. Small branches on the ground snapped, leaves rustled, and even though he wasn’t actively trying to, each of these sounds reached his ears vividly, as if everything were happening right before his eyes.

"Last time that child didn’t return to her wolf form even though the moon was still in the sky, so, probably, the same will happen now, right?"

With his head lowered, the ground around him was marked in several places, and instinctively, the creatures surrounding him took a step back. Footsteps were taken within a circle where there had been nothing before and in places where many were hiding. As the black dust spread, the creatures tried to flee immediately. All tried, but only a few actually managed to take even a step away from where they were.

As if a lightning bolt had consumed them completely, a tremor erupted in their bodies, leaving them instinctively paralyzed. Eyes with a dark but bright blue glow dominated the surroundings, making the beasts tremble and force them to huddle on the ground.

"This place doesn’t seem so different from where we lived..., except for these strange creatures, of course."

"Hey, your eyes... they’re blue...!"

"What?! Blue? Oh, yours are too!"

"Seriously?!"

The conversations spread throughout the forest, and aside from the werewolves, no other creature moved an inch from where they were. But, as he listened to all those voices, Hye realized something: they weren’t speaking that same strange language from when they were in the portal but different languages from around the world, the languages he had learned as a child. The responses seemed to be given instinctively, each in the language in which it was asked.

'Is this due to the synchronization from the Void Servant contract? Or does the soul contract do the same..?'

'The soul contract would only allow the owner to acquire the knowledge or sometimes certain abilities of those seen as possessions, but the reverse wouldn’t happen. So yes, this happened because of synchronization.'

'I see..'

"So, this is the world you said you came from?"

Moving through the crowd with a child in his arms, Arche approached Hye along with Lykos and immediately drew everyone’s attention to him. With the side conversations ceasing, all eyes turned to the rock in the center of the circle.

"He doesn’t seem so different."

"This place is just where you’ll live from now on. Look at yourselves for a moment; how could I take you to the city like this?"

They all looked at their bodies, but contrary to what Hye said, nothing seemed strange to their eyes, except, of course, for the fact that everyone’s eyes were now bright dark blue.

Hye sighed.

"In this world, it’s not normal to walk around the way you are."

"How...? On two legs?"

"No, naked. You need to wear something if you want to leave this place."

"Oh..."

"I brought some clothes for you, but..."

Hye’s gaze scanned the surroundings, and feeling his obvious intent, the forest creatures shuddered.

"This will be the new home where you’ll live. Do you really want to share it this way?"

Claws extended, glowing with the slightest touch of moonlight. The intensity of the glow in their eyes increased along with the size of their fangs and the creatures’ trembling.

"Can you take care of the children?"

With Hye’s nod, Arche set Eudora down and gently stroked her hair.

"Mommy will be back soon, okay? Stay here with the others for a while."

"And be careful not to enter portals like this or cross the fence unless some creature escapes. Try to stay within the forest."

The wolves nodded, and with a leap, Arche headed into the trees with them. It didn’t take long for the screams to start echoing all around.

As the creatures spread through the forest, searching for a place to hide and preserve their lives, Hye gathered all the children and, despite the number being much larger than expected, provided clothes for each of them.

It wasn’t long before the screams ceased, and when this happened, the first person to return to the spot where Hye was with the children was Arche, followed by Lykos, and soon after, everyone else.

"So... without claws, fangs, or glowing eyes for now, we’re to stay dressed and help the people who will come here during the construction, right? But what about food? Besides the fruits on some trees, there are no animals in this forest."

"That’s a bit complicated... Are you hungry now?"

The wolves looked at each other, and after a moment, they replied no.

"Good, then I’ll try to think of something and we’ll meet again tomorrow."

Hye stood up and, after walking toward the exit, he stopped and asked:

"Since the houses aren’t ready yet, you’ll have to sleep in the forest for now, or do you prefer that I send you back and bring you again tomorrow?"

The wolves shuddered immediately at the mere possibility of being sent back to where they were before. Seeing this, Hye turned and continued walking; the answer was more than obvious.

"Alright, see you tomorrow then. Try to get used to this place for now."