In a room built of stones, with a roof made of sticks and hay, five men were seated around a large wooden table, with a small child in the middle of it.
The oldest of the five, with long white hair, was the first to break the long-standing silence that loomed over the room. "Just to be clear, the frog is actually black. This isn't my age playing tricks on me, correct?"
Fin, one of the youngest of the five, answered, confirming that the old man was not as decrepit as he appeared.
Silence fell once again until the oldest finally spoke again: "We must send an air gopher back to a branch to report and ask for assistance. This situation is simply too important."
Air gophers are ren beasts that can utilize both the air and earth elements; they have the ability to fly and burrow underground. They make excellent messengers and are quite intelligent due to selective breeding.
The old man continued speaking. "All five of us will personally watch over the boy. If anything happens to him, it won't only be your head on the line; it'll be your families' as well. We currently have the town guards outside to control the situation. Most of the population don't know what really happened; many doubt that the frog died of old age as we told them, but I doubt any of them know the truth. Otherwise, there would be a huge commotion."
Fin, the youngest of the five, spoke up: "Does... Does he actually have the 'Death' element?"
Fin is a new and experienced awakener, but even the other three don't know for sure. Hell, even the old man has never encountered a 'Death' user before in his life, let alone seen one awaken. However, he has mingled with countless other awakeners and knows the traits they've described firsthand. The other four knew the potential consequences of being a 'Death' user, but none of them actually thought they would have to deal with one awakening.
They all assumed that Fenrin's core was special and illogical, as a failed awakening would simply expel all of the ren built up in the core throughout the pores of the child's body.
The old man spoke again to confirm the others' doubts. "The Death element is an incredibly powerful and rare element; however, it is unmistakable that the frog turned black after death, which is a clear indicator that the child is a Death user. We all know that the Death element can rapidly decay others, along with many other demonic ways to kill. But it is also an incredible power to have on your side. I expect you all to conceal your anxiousness around the child, as he will likely become an incredibly important person someday."
After saying this, the old man thought, "Or a person who will kill countless others." He shivered at the thought.
Most people's opinions of death users are grim, even though most have never met one in person. This is for good reason, as stories describe beings with the Death element as cold-blooded and ruthless.
After a few hours, Fenrin slowly woke up. His mind was groggy, and only after a bit did he remember the shadowy figure. As the memory surfaced, he leaped up off the table and attempted to run away.
Fin, being the one closest to where Fenrin jumped off the table, shrieked as if he were a teenage girl seeing a cockroach on her arm. "AHHH! Don't kill me, please!"
Fenrin, not even registering what Fin said, immediately ran out of the room and dashed around the giant stone house. It resembled a castle but was much smaller and less extravagant. This was the mayor's house, currently occupied by the awakeners to protect and hide Fenrin.
During this process, Fenrin's mind was erratic and disoriented. "Where am I? Who was that? Safety, I need to find somewhere safe! Unknown territory, dangerous territory! Escape! Escape! Escape!" As Fenrin thought this, he jumped out of a window, placing his arms in front of his face and bundling his legs up to his chest. Despite his incredible instincts, he was cut all over and bleeding from nearly every limb in front. Luckily, no arteries were cut; they were merely flesh wounds. Although Fenrin looked like a demonic child, he was not in grave danger.
Fenrin was not free from escaping, though. Even inside the miniature castle, the five awakeners were trying to catch him in a frenzied state. As they watched Fenrin leap out the window, all five looked as if they were going to pass out.
On the other hand, Fenrin began acting even more frenzied. All the pain from his cuts supplied him with an incredible amount of adrenaline, speeding up his already disoriented mind and making it even more erratic. "Run, run, run! Powerful, very powerful! Need to make it to a safe place! Need to meet... meet parents..."
As Fenrin thought of his parents, his mind finally started to slow down. Due to his decreasing speed, three of the awakeners finally caught up to him. Once they were within range, they manipulated the ground to launch upward and swallow Fenrin's body up to his head.
The oldest, who had captured Fenrin, began to speak. "Calm down, child! We do not intend to harm you; we are here for your best interests!"
Fenrin struggled for a bit to escape from the ground. But how could he? He was a tiny child against an experienced ren user—there was simply no chance from the start.
As his heart rate began to decrease, his adrenaline wore off, and abruptly he fainted again! The three men felt their hearts drop.
The oldest shouted with incredible urgency; the distress was clear in his voice. "Heal him! Use a potion! If he dies, we're all going to die!"
Fin, the youngest of the three, flew over to him and immediately gave him a yellow-colored liquid from a cylindrical vial with wings on its back, made of thick glass.
After a few minutes, Fenrin's wounds disappeared, leaving no scars behind.
The old man spoke in a gasped tone, "Let's return. I will carry the child." As he said this, he hit Fin on the back of his head, smacking him face down onto the ground. "You moron! You almost got all of us killed with your mistake. Are you a child?" Anger was visible on the old man's face, but Fin did not respond and slowly picked himself up.
After a slight pause as Fin stood back on his feet, he said, "I'm sorry; it truly was my mistake." He spoke while looking down, hiding his true expression of anger as he thought to himself, "We were all in the room, you decrepit old man. I may have been the closest, but it's not like the four of you weren't just a few feet away from him."
After returning to the room, they made proper arrangements to ensure Fenrin couldn't run away again. They locked his arms to the table using steel chains; obviously, the five of them weren't going to take any chances again, even if it meant this little guy might hold a grudge against them. A potential future death would be worse than the immediate threat.
One hour later, Fenrin woke up again, no longer in an erratic state but instead slowly opening his eyes. "Where am I? You are all the awakeners, right? Where are my parents?"
The old man introduced himself. "My name is Grim. I am the head awakener. You are currently here because you awakened a special element... the element of Death. I will release your restraints; I'm sure you recall how you ran away just now. I hope you understand why we had to restrain you." He spoke to Fenrin in a very kind tone, one you would expect your own grandfather to use.
There was a pause as Fenrin thought back on his memories. "Who was that person? What is the Death element? That person mentioned it as well... I should probably not mention how that person appeared and time froze. Not like they would believe me anyway."
As Fenrin recalled his memories, his thoughts eventually landed on the Scottish terrier that had randomly appeared. "If I want to know more about who that person is, I need to find that dog. I believe his name was... um? Garymr? No, that's not it... Garmin? Garfield?"
As Fenrin endlessly pondered different names while trying to remember the dog's name, suddenly another voice spoke in his mind. "It's Garmr!"
After a slight pause, Fenrin thought again, "Garfield?" The voice was louder this time: "It's G-A-R-M-R!" The voice emphasized each letter, spelling out its name.
Fenrin continued, "Uh, did I go insane? Did that person make me go insane, or did that even happen in the first place?"
The voice responded after a short pause, "You aren't insane; I am Garmr. Everything that happened when time froze was real."
After pondering for a bit, Fenrin asked, "Who... who would name their son Garmr?"
Garmr immediately began shouting, "Do you not have any respect? I am your grand elder, and I am older than you by almost half a millennium! This name used to be very popular back then. Hmph."
Fenrin, having spaced out for almost five whole minutes, made all the other awakeners' hearts drop once again.
All five of them thought, "Does he hold a grudge? Please, God, I hope not."
Grim spoke once again, "Allow me to take off your restraints now."
Fenrin snapped out of his internal conversation. "Please do take them off."
He spoke with a smile, which immediately lifted a great weight from the shoulders of the five men.
After a few minutes, the restraints were removed from Fenrin. He immediately asked where his parents were.
Grim replied honestly, "Your parents are still inside the town. We cannot allow anyone to leave due to the risk of your awakening being leaked."
Fenrin questioned him right after he finished speaking, "Can you bring me to my parents?"
Grim responded in a sad tone, laced with pity and wearing an expression of "forgive me," "Currently, we cannot bring you to your parents, nor can we bring them to you. This is due to the high risk of you being targeted. We cannot confirm your parents, nor can we risk you leaving to find them; I truly hope you understand."
Fenrin responded a bit meekly, "How long until I can meet with my parents again?"
Grim spoke somberly, "Currently, there is a very powerful awakened coming to escort you. This will likely take a day or two. Until then, we cannot allow you to leave this room. Once he arrives, you can meet your parents."
Fenrin spoke softly, "I... understand..." Disappointment was etched on his face, and the five men immediately felt anxious.
Fin spoke for the first time, "Young master, we will try to make your stay as enjoyable as possible. I know it must be scary to be away from your parents, but this is only temporary. None of us would keep you here if we could help it." Fin spoke in a very patronizing tone, although Grim shot daggers at him; Fin mostly ignored it.
Grim spoke again, not letting Fin have the last word. "We will be watching you during this entire period. There is a bathroom and a bed in this room. This is for your own safety, please understand."
Fenrin nodded and walked over to the bed, falling asleep without even acknowledging the mysterious dog in his head.