Secret World of Occultists-Chapter 18: Reflecting the Stars

The cold winds grew in intensity as the night grew darker. The frost-covered ground slowly turned black, and the ice grew thicker.

During the day, everything was covered in crimson flames. While at night, the land was enveloped in a layer of black ice.

The ground, the grass, the rocks, and the trees, all of them encased in black ice that reflected the brilliance of the stars shining in the night sky.

Every piece of land on the mountainous terrain was covered in ice—every place except the campsite, that is.

Strangely enough, the flaming torches not only didn't die out, but they also protected the campsite from the anomalous weather of the mountain.

"What do you mean there's a monster lurking in this mountain?!" Luke blurted out in shock and horror, his back drenched in sweat despite the cold weather.

Not only do I have to survive the extreme weather conditions each day, but now you're telling me I also have to look out for some damn monster?!

Are you fucking kidding me?

John Kensigton's words echoed in his mind at that moment, 'And let me be clear, if you die in there, you die here too.'

Fuck!

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The bearded man's eyes widened in fear and he hurriedly brought his finger to his lips, "Shhh! You'll draw the monster here! Be quiet!"

Luke felt like hitting the man!

You bastard! You think these torches won't draw that monster here?!

He took deep breaths to try and calm himself down. By now, he had understood the objective of the trial - take the treasure to the moon at the peak of the mountain.

Suddenly, he looked toward the summit, and the scene there took his breath away.

The silver moon, bigger than anything he'd ever seen, was positioned in such a way that to the onlooker it appeared as if it was residing right at the top of the mountain.

Fuck... nothing in this place makes sense! The moon might really be at the peak, but getting there is becoming more difficult than I'd imagined, he thought to himself.

He gazed at the bearded man and asked what he felt was important and relevant to the trial's objective, "First, tell me about the torches. How many of them do we have? And how long can each burn?"

The man spoke in a solemn tone, "There's one torch for every person, and you do not have to worry about them burning out. They are blessed by the sun. They will burn the entire night and only die down when the sum comes up at dawn."

Luke didn't try to question the man at all. Physics be damned!

"Alright." The youth nodded. "What about the monster you spoke of?"

Just hearing about the monster, the bearded man started to tremble. His eyes involuntarily darted around the campsite, ensuring there wasn't any shadowy figure prowling around.

He then looked at Luke and spoke gravely, "They say this monster has no name, no face, no features at all! Cursed since time immemorial, it roams this mountain, forever hollow! Stripped of identity, a shadow without a self!"

The man paused, the fear in his eyes growing. "They say it devours the identity of others, endlessly searching, desperate to piece itself together! To become whole!"

Hearing the description of that monster, Luke couldn't help but subconsciously gulp. "Devours the identity of others?! What... What happens after the victim loses their identity?"

"They become... hollow."

Suddenly, there was a light commotion in the campsite. The bearded man and Luke fearfully shifted their attention there. Luckily, the source of unrest wasn't the nameless monster.

But it was just as bad.

"Most of our food supply is gone," said one of the older pilgrims. "It was set aflame when that man died today."

"What?!" The bearded, middle-aged man was shocked. Before long, his eyes flashed with desperation. "How much food do we still have left?"

The old man shook his head in distress, "We set out with enough food to last all of us for one whole month, but now... We can maybe stretch it out for a couple of days."

To run out of food in a place such as this was disastrous. They couldn't even scavenge for food on this mountain. During the day, everything was set aflame, and at night, everything was covered in ice.

So, now where were they going to get food?

Luke suddenly saw a few of the pilgrims glance at one another in alarm. Seeing this, he couldn't help but curse inwardly, It just keeps getting worse!

The leader of the group, the bearded middle-aged man, gazed at everyone with complicated emotions. He then said, "Do not fear. We can cross any obstacles as long as our faith is strong."

He then looked at the old man and instructed, "Ration the food conservatively, but make sure everyone gets something to eat."

The man paused, gazing at the silver-haired little girl in utter contempt, "Everyone except that slave."

Luke's insides felt like they were twisting when he saw how badly the little girl was being treated. What made it even worse was that he didn't even do anything about it.

Focus, Luke, focus!

This is not the time to be bothered about such things. For all I know, she's not even a real person! No, none of this is real... I think.

No, that's got to be it. Just focus on the objective and survive... That's all that matters.

Several minutes later, when the food was being served, everyone only got one piece of bun. That too, its size was only a small handful.

Having gone all day without food, eating only after sunset, and with most of their supplies now destroyed, this small piece of bun was their only source of nourishment.

The day had exacted a heavy toll on the pilgrims. As soon as they finished eating their food, they slowly fell asleep one by one.

These people seemed to have immense faith in the torches saving them from the nameless monster.

However, the same couldn't be said about Luke. No matter how hard he tried, he didn't think he'd be able to sleep that night.

You say these torches are blessed by the sun, but wasn't the sun angry at y'all? He thought to himself in apprehension.

He watched all the people begin to sleep one by one as if there was no danger around. Luke's gaze then landed on the silver-haired little girl who was hugging her knees and shivering in the cold.

She wasn't given any food, nor was she given anything warm to wear.

Luke hesitated as his gaze shifted between the bun in his hand and the little girl. All the while, he kept repeating in his heart, She's not real!

She's not real!

She's not real!

Yet, in the end, he couldn't find it in himself to be so heartless. He walked toward the little girl and sat down beside her, exhaling a helpless sigh.

He broke half of his bun and shared it with her. He then gave her the fur blanket that he was going to cover himself with while sleeping.

The girl gazed at him with shock in her eyes, refusing to believe what she was seeing—how she was being treated all of a sudden.

Luke's lips quivered, thinking to himself in sadness, Have you been subjected to such mistreatment that you cannot believe your eyes when someone is being kind to you?

"Go on, take it," he urged, his voice gentle.

Yet, the girl didn't respond. She gazed at him with vigilance.

Seeing this, Luke felt his heart twist into a knot. In the end, he kept her share of the bun on the ground beside her. Then, he began eating his share while gazing at the full moon.

"It's so beautiful," he murmured.

The silver-haired girl intently stared at Luke. Then, she stared at the bun, her mouth starting to water.

"Just eat it already," Luke encouraged her.

The girl gazed at Luke again, her mouth opening and closing several times as if she wanted to say something. In the end, she grabbed the bun and silently ate it.

Luke broke into a smile seeing this. "You like it?"

The girl looked at him and then nodded.

"Good." Luke nodded. "I'll give you some more tomorrow night. You won't have to worry about going to sleep on an empty stomach."

He then passed on the fur blanket to her, and said gently, "Cover yourself with this when you go to sleep."

The little girl meekly stretched out her hand and grabbed the blanket. Then, she put it around herself and her shivering finally ceased a little.

A gust of wind suddenly blew threw the campsite, causing the torches to flicker intensely. The little girl hurriedly crawled toward Luke in panic and sat down beside him, her shivering intensifying.

"Don't worry," Luke tried to comfort her—or himself, for that matter. "It's just the wind. The torches are blessed by the sun. They'll protect us."

The little girl fiercely shook her head, causing Luke to frown. He was about to ask what was wrong when suddenly the girl pointed her finger in a certain direction.

Luke's heart sank and he fearfully looked in the direction she was pointing at, but all he saw was pitch-black nothingness.

"Don't scare me like that!" He glared at the little girl, secretly heaving a sigh of relief.

But the little girl continued to look in that direction with trembling eyes. Then, her lips parted and she finally spoke, her words barely a whisper.

"It's watching us."