This just doesn't make sense.
Initially, I was very worried about Anna and ran off in the direction Mia said she was without hesitation, but as I ran with David, I noticed something very strange.
Our bodies – David's and mine – were no longer as they were before. At least, it wasn't like how it was this morning when we left the house.
Turning to fix my gaze on David, who was a distance away from me navigating through the thick trees in the forest, I mirrored his actions.
Everyone in my family was athletic, so we were physically fitter than most people generally and in the same age group.
However, there was no way David and I were physically fit to the extent that every step we took covered at least five metres each time.
I was unsure if David himself had already noticed this or maybe he knew, and like me, due to the current situation, he was unable to settle down and reason things.
My thoughts were a mess right now, and my emotions were scattered.
One thing was for sure though; I felt fear.
I was scared of why our bodies were like this now.
I feared for my wife and daughter's safety.
I even feared for the unforeseeable future.
What in the world is happening?
As I ran through the forest with David, my already muddy thoughts became even muddier.
The cracks in the sky.
I knew they were the root of all this.
When they appeared, I remembered that everyone's bodies started feeling hot, and even when others stopped, David and I only felt hotter until we could not bear it and passed out, just to find ourselves in our current situation.
How long were we out for?
As I thought of this, I turned to look at the sky and saw that it was already getting pretty dark.
It seemed like not much time had passed.
Calculating the time we left the house till now, I'd say roughly about two hours had passed.
It should be around 6 to 7 PM now. It was getting pretty late.
I hope Anna's okay.
The moment I thought of my wife, I suddenly caught sight of something in front of me.
It was quite a distance away from me, and with all the obstacles of the forest, it should have been hard for me to see it, but I saw it so clearly that it felt like it was right in front of me, as if it were daytime.
I don't know why, but my eyesight seemed to have improved significantly after waking up.
Together with improved eyesight and enhanced physique, I could already narrow down the cause of these changes to the hot sensation I felt when the cracks appeared.
The hot sensation at that time must have done something to me and David that made our physique superhuman.
As I thought of these things, what had caught my attention in front of us made my blood turn cold when I saw it.
I saw a gigantic dog on one side and a human on the other side.
The human on the other side lay on the floor in a position that suggested it was caused by a fall, and that human was my wife.
The gigantic dog, on the other hand, was violently shaking its head, as if it were trying to get something out of it, with unsteady steps.
Now I know why Mia called that thing a monster.
From its appearance alone, there was no better word to use to describe it.
And right now, in front of my eyes, this monstrosity was about to pounce on my wife.
It was at this moment that something clicked within me, and the world around me suddenly changed.
The colourful world I had been seeing transformed into black and white.
Far ahead, I saw the monster dog charging towards my wife. Its outline in my eyes was black, but there was something else I could now see that I hadn't before.
I could somehow see inside the monster dog, and in its chest was something emitting a dim red light.
However, the monster dog wasn't the only thing emitting a red light.
When my line of sight shifted to David, who was also in front of me at a distance and the closest person to the monster dog and Anna between the two of us, I saw that within my son was something also emitting a dim red light.
What is this?
I hadn't even had a chance to react to everything that was happening when I caught sight of something materialising as he stretched his right hand in a gesture as if he were about to throw something.
Although the world was still black and white in my eyes, I didn't need to see colours to identify what was materialising and taking shape beside David.
It was fire shaping into a spear.
A spear made of fire.
A fire spear.
*********
When David found out his mother was in potential danger, he immediately became restless.
David was the closest to his mother, while his sister was closer to his father.
David and Anna shared a strong mother-son relationship and had many things in common, including the colour of their skin.
When David and Malachi came down from the car, David knew it was better for him and his father to search for his mother together.
Still, David couldn't control himself and charged to look for her on his own.
Fortunately, his father was able to catch up with him.
Just as Malachi suspected, David had indeed noticed the change in their bodies.
The incredible speed at which they were moving was hard to ignore, especially for martial practitioners like them.
However, while David had certain thoughts and emotions that aligned with his father's, his primary focus was also on finding his mother.
When David did find her, he finally understood why Mia had described a monster chasing after his mom, and at that very moment, this monstrous creature was about to pounce on her.
Filled with dread and concern for his mother's safety, something within David clicked, and he instinctively stretched out his right hand.
Half a second later, David's irises turned red, and a fiery spear materialised in his hands.