World Awakening: The Legendary Player-Chapter 90: Fear

"Yeah, I’m awake," Nox said. He rattled the chains on his wrists. "No thanks to these things. A little heavy for my taste."

Fena’s cold expression did not change. "Do not play games with me, human. I am not in the mood." She walked closer, her steps making no sound. She stopped just out of his reach.

"I will ask you one more time," she said, her voice low and dangerous. "How did you know about the Great Root? Who are you working for? Is it Gorok?"

’This again?’ He thought, a bored look on his face. ’She’s really stuck on this Gorok guy.’

He just shrugged his shoulders, the movement making the chains clank. "I already told you. I just felt it. Your big tree is sick. It’s rotting from the inside." He looked her right in the eyes. "The real question is, what are you going to do about it? Or are you just going to let your whole village die?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Insolence," she hissed. "A child like you cannot ’feel’ the lifeblood of the forest. You are lying."

She moved faster than he expected. Her hand shot out and grabbed his jaw, her grip like cold iron. She forced his head up to look at her.

"Tell me the truth, or I will crush your skull and pull the answer from your pathetic soul myself."

He didn’t flinch. He just met her angry gaze with his own cold one. "Go ahead and try, old woman."

Mela took a step forward. "Mother, please!"

Fena ignored her daughter. Her grip on his jaw tightened. But as she did, Nox raised his right hand to grab her wrist, to push her away.

And that’s when she saw it.

On the back of his hand, there was a new mark that had not been there before. It was a complex tattoo, inked in a black so deep it seemed to absorb the light of the room. It was the image of a dragon’s eye, its pupil a vertical slit of pure darkness.

Fena froze. Her grip on his jaw went slack. She wasn’t looking at his face anymore. Her entire attention was fixed on the mark on his hand. A faint pressure, an overwhelming power, seemed to radiate from the tattoo. It was a power so immense that it made the mana inside her own body feel small and insignificant.

’What... what is that brand?’ she thought, her mind going completely blank with shock. ’The sheer weight of that presence... It’s impossible. It can’t be.’

She let go of his jaw and stumbled back a step, her eyes wide. The cold authority she had held just a moment ago was gone, replaced by a look of pure, disbelieving awe.

Nox just watched her reaction. He lowered his hand, a small, knowing smirk on his face. ’Heh. So she can feel it.’

"Mother? What is it?" Mela asked, seeing the look on her mother’s face. She looked at Nox’s hand and saw the tattoo, but she couldn’t understand its meaning. She just knew it had shaken her mother to the core.

Fena didn’t answer. She just stared at him, her gaze moving from the mark on his hand to his eyes, as if seeing him for the first time. The human whelp she had seen as an insignificant pest was something else entirely. Something far more dangerous, and far more important.

"Where," she began, her voice was no longer cold. It was quiet, and it trembled just a little. "Where did you get that mark?"

Nox leaned his head back against the wall. He held up his hand, admiring the dragon’s eye as if it were a new piece of jewelry.

"A new acquaintance," he said, his voice casual. "She thought I was interesting. Gave me a little gift."

’A gift?’ She thought. Her heart was beating fast now. ’A gift from a being with that level of power? Who is this boy?’ She had thought he was a tool of Gorok, a minor annoyance. She had been so wrong. Gorok was a child playing with mud compared to the power represented by that brand.

The contract with the dragon was a leash, but it was also a shield. And Fena was smart enough to see the shield.

She looked at Nox, at the heavy, mana-suppressing chains on his wrists, and then back at the brand on his hand. She felt a sudden, cold sweat on her skin. ’Chains... We put chains on a being watched by... by That.’

The implications were terrifying.

"Mela," she said, her voice still quiet but now full of a new, sharp urgency. "Take off his chains."

Mela just stared at her, confused. "Mother? But he—"

"Now," she commanded. Her voice was sharp, making Mela flinched. She hurried to obey, fumbling with the keys at her belt. She unlocked the heavy shackles on Nox’s wrists. They fell to the floor with a loud clang.

He rubbed his wrists, stretching his fingers. He didn’t say anything. He just watched Fena, a small, triumphant smile on his face. The power dynamic in the small, dark room had just completely flipped.

And they all knew it.

"There, that’s better," he said, rubbing his wrists. He looked at Fena, who was still staring at him with a look of awe and fear. "Now, like I said before. You need to chill out."

Mela flinched at his informal tone, but Fena didn’t seem to notice. Her mind was still trying to process the immense power she felt from the brand on his hand.

"I’m not going to do anything bad," he continued, his voice calm. "I’m not here to burn down your treehouse or whatever it is you’re scared of." He took a step forward, and Fena instinctively took a step back.

He stopped. "I just want to know about this force," he said.

Her eyes widened slightly. "What force?"

"The one that’s killing your Great Root," he clarified, his smirk disappearing. "This corruption you’re so worried about. I want to know everything. What it is, where it came from, and what it’s doing to your forest."

The question surprised her. She had been so focused on him being a threat that she hadn’t considered he might be interested in their problem for another reason. The pieces started to connect in her mind in a new, terrifying way. The boy’s mysterious appearance, his impossible knowledge of the Rot, and now, the brand of a cosmic being on his hand.

’Is this a test?’ she thought, her blood running cold. ’Did his patron send him here to see how we would handle this crisis? Did we just fail by throwing him in chains?’ The thought made her feel sick.

"Why?" she asked, her voice was much softer now, almost respectful. "Why do you want to know about the Rot? What interest could a human possibly have in the affairs of our people?"

He just looked at her, his expression unreadable. He had her right where he wanted her. She was scared, and she was ready to talk. He didn’t need to give her a real reason.

"I have my own reasons," he said, his voice flat and final. "That’s all you need to know."

She nodded slowly, accepting his answer without any more questions. She could not afford to question a being who carried such a mark. "Very well," she said. "I will tell you what we know."

She turned to Mela, who was still standing by the door, looking completely lost. "Leave us, daughter. What we are about to discuss is not for your ears."

Mela looked from her mother to Nox, her expression full of confusion and worry. But she didn’t argue. She just bowed her head.

"Yes, Mother."

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