Chapter 3: Following Orders

" What are you doing?"

Vulen turned his head to see the person behind the voice. His face turned pale. His mother, Elnora, was looking at him with a piercing gaze.

" I-I'm ending my life! Don't stop me!" His arms shook, trying his hardest to pierce his heart, but his arm wouldn't budge.

Vulen a gust of air on his neck. Suddenly, Elnora was in front of him. She raised her knee to her chest and struck him faster than he could see. Vulen's body skid across the ground as the sound of broken bones and screams echoed through the forest.

Vulen had no energy to move. No energy to defend himself. He stared into the eyes of the woman hovering over his broken body with a smile full of happiness, hoping she would end his misery.

" You little shit. Trying to take the easy way out and kill yourself, eh?" She chuckled. " I won't allow it. Your suicide reflects on me and ruins my reputation in the tribe." She walked toward Vulen's half-dead corpse and held him by the neck with one hand. "If you want to die so bad, how about training yourself to death? At least it wouldn't make me look too bad. If I find out you killed yourself on purpose, I'll burn your soul. I will make you suffer in your next life too." she said. Elnora dropped him and began to walk off when she stopped at the hoarse voice coming from the broken boy on the ground. " Ok mother. I'll train until I die."

Vulen woke up with no pain at all. The surrounding elves looked at him surprised. How could he have healed that so quickly? Vulen ignored the gazes and made his way to the weapons room located by the tree closets to the chief's extravagant quarters. 

Vulen locked eyes with the brown-haired elf behind the desk. He was the tall elf Alfie, one of the more masculine-looking elves. His long hair had two braids that sat on his chest. His eyes were pale blue to go along with a diamond-shaped head and thin pink lips.

" How are you standing, Vulen? How do you heal so fast? We've all seen it. You survive all these dangerous missions unscathed while your teammates come bloody and beaten. I saw your face and ribs get shattered last night and here you are. Walking fine as if nothing happened. " His voice turned stern as he stared Velun in his eyes. "What's your secret?"

Vulen was also curious about his abnormal healing ability. Whenever he asked Tanyl about it as a child, he just told him that he was special and would become strong. It also ensured that he wouldn't remain a weakling his whole life. Vulen's resilience came from Tanyl's words, but now he was slowly crumbling mentally. He could no longer bury his emotions. The consequences of his weakness had finally gotten to him. His eyes looked dead and his face was emotionless. The boy who took years of abuse and insults with a warm smile is now gone.

Vulen rubbed his temples and sighed. His mental energy was drained.

" I have no secrets. I was never taught mana manipulation either. I'm just here to get a heavy spear and a few buckets."

Alfie analyzed Vulen. He could tell something had changed.

" This village finally broke you, huh." Alfie smiled and continued, " For what it's worth, I never hated you. In fact, I admire your perseverance and persistence. I couldn't imagine being told I was a curse, a stain on the tribe, and still being friendly toward everyone. You never let your weakness stop your thirst for power and recognition. I can only respect it. You can take whatever spear you need. There are buckets out back. I'm sure you know what happens if they aren't returned."

Vulen gave him a defeated smile. " Don't tempt me with a good time."

He took a heavy spear off the wall and headed outside for the buckets. . After filling both buckets with water, he made his way to the edge of the tribe's stronghold, ignoring all the gazes and whispers.

' Today, I start my journey towards death.'

Vulen started his harsh training regiment. He placed the spear in between the handles of each bucket and began to do squats until his legs gave out. He rested and began to practice his spear attacks until his hand bled. After he did some push-ups, sit-ups, and chin-ups by using the spear as a bar. He trained until he threw up, until he couldn't move anymore, and passed out.

The next day he awoke, perfectly fine and trained harder. Day after day he pushed himself to his limits, hoping he would eventually die from exhaustion, but to his frustration, every time the sun came out, his body would heal. He tried starving himself, but every few days, someone would mysteriously give him meat. He knew Elnora had people secretly watching him.

Time passed. It began to snow. He'd been training for months in freezing cold weather with snow up to his hip. Vulen could feel his body get stronger to his dismay. He wanted to die because of his weakness. Now that he was ready to accept his fate, his body began to improve. He really began to believe he was cursed.

As he was completing his squats, a voice caught his attention.

" The seer has returned. Report back to the village."

He emptied the buckets, picked up his spear, and headed to the village.

As he got closer to the village, he saw a group surrounding the seer. The chief was having a conversation with him, but suddenly, the seer turned his gaze towards the approaching Vulen.

You are reading story The Elf Born Under The Red Moon at novel35.com

' I can feel it. He's trying to hide it or he doesn't know he has it.'

" Don't worry about him, Ithil. I'm sorry that the scourge graced the presence of the village's great seer.

Ithil was a black-haired elf with tight black eyes and a stern face. He was well respected regardless of the rumors of him being perverted. Still, women wouldn't fawn over him as he wasn't a strong fighter.

" It's fine, Riggard. I need to talk to him privately anyway. Red boy!" He caught Vulen's attention. " Walk with me."

The two walked away from the group. 

" Answer me truthfully. I will know if you lie. Did somebody teach you anything about mana?"

" No sir. I am the weakest in the village. They only teach mana to those important to the tribe."

" I've heard that you have ridiculous regenerative abilities. How are you the weakest in the tribe?" Vulen still carried the heavy spear and buckets as they strolled.

" No matter how much I try or how much I train, I barely get results. If anyone else had my work ethic or natural gifts, they would be one of the elite tribe members."

" Explain those markings on your skin. They don't look like high or low elves markings. Do you know your parents?"

" I have no idea why I'm different sir. The tribe says that I'm cursed. I also don't know my parents."

Ithil stared at the boy. He couldn't see it, but his senses told him the boy had mana and a lot of it, but he had no proof.

" That'll be all red boy." Ithil walked back into the crowd while Vulen headed back to the weapons shop.

----

" Do you mind telling me what you and the boy talked about? Riggard said.

" I can't, but did you notice anything weird about the boy besides what we already know of?"

" Nothing out of the ordinary with him besides his bad luck. On every mission he went on, he would throw himself in harm's way to let his tribe mates escape or finish the job. When someone usually does that, they die, but he comes back later with no injuries at all. Tanyl also had an abnormal fixation on him since he was a child."

" Wait! Tanyl watched over the boy?"

" Yes. He even begged me not to kick him out of the tribe.'

Ithil looked back at the boy walking in the opposite direction.

' The message I received. The weird feeling I get from that boy. Something is going to change soon.'

You can find story with these keywords: The Elf Born Under The Red Moon, Read The Elf Born Under The Red Moon, The Elf Born Under The Red Moon novel, The Elf Born Under The Red Moon book, The Elf Born Under The Red Moon story, The Elf Born Under The Red Moon full, The Elf Born Under The Red Moon Latest Chapter