Reincarnated As A Lion In Another World-Chapter 311: Marcus

"Do you know what you are?" Sherone asked.

The vulture looked down with those eerie black eyes, tilting his head to the side, slightly puzzled but also amused.

"A vulture," The vulture answered with simplicity.

"What kind of vulture?" Sherone asked, taking a step closer to the tree.

"The special kind," The vulture responded with a deep voice, "What about you, who are you? The real you?"

Sherone sighed, "For now, you can call me Sherone.

It’s good that I can finally meet you," Sherone said.

"Finally? You’ve been looking for me?" The vulture asked.

"Not really, a little bird told me about you and I was hoping to see you if I could see you one of these days," Sherone said.

"Hmm, is this little bird one of the owls that have been watching over you for some time?" The vulture asked.

Sherone looked up to the sky to see that some owls were indeed flying above their current position. One of these owls was a big owl with fiery red feathers.

Sherone shifted his gaze back to the vulture perched on the tree branch, "Maybe." He said.

The vulture shook his body, ruffling his black feathers. His gaze sharpened, "You’ve found me, now what?"

Sherone put on a nonchalant expression on his zebra face, "I don’t know, I’d like to know your name first, I’ve already told you mine,"

The vulture went silent again for some seconds, his thoughts completely unknown to the puppet zebra, "Marcus," The vulture finally said.

"Marcus, that’s a nice name," Sherone said, "you know, I’m just surprised to see someone like you,"

"What do you mean when you say ’like you’? Have you seen someone else like me?" Marcus asked.

Sherone shook his head, "No, and that’s the thing. You are a special kind of vulture, as you said.

The only other person I know to be like you... is me."

Sherone’s words were slowly and seductively dangerous, the way he spoke, the way he drew out his sentences, caused Marcus to subconsciously pay attention to every word he was saying.

When Marcus heard the last sentence, his pitch black eyes narrowed further until it looked like he was about to close them.

"I see," Marcus said, his voice becoming more serious, "Tell me more,"

Sherone took some steps back, "You have to cooperate too. Isn’t that how a conversation should work?

I’ll tell you stuff and you tell me stuff. We could even be friends if you behave well," He said.

Marcus reeled his head back as he let out a soft chuckle. It seems it had been a long time since he experienced such humor. The atmosphere between them which had previously been stale started to seem lighter.

Sherone’s shoulders relaxed and Marcus’s neck bent forward.

"Okay," Marcus said. He suddenly released his talons from the branch and spread his massive wings.

Sherone saw the outstretched wings and couldn’t help but remember the wings of many other birds who had died in the past that he knew of.

Marcus flapped his wings, summoning a small gust of wind as he flew off the branch. He didn’t ascend into the sky, rather, he jumped down.

Sherone stepped back, allowing Marcus to land in front of him. The ground didn’t tremble as Marcus would have expected from such a large bird landing all of a sudden.

It seems like Marcus didn’t really have that much weight.

Shrerone looked down at the vulture, noticing that he was slightly shorter than the zebra. Looking at Marcus closely, Sherone could see more details.

Marcus’s feathers looked like they were formed from a mix of only black out and dark smoke. The black mustache that occasionally left his body was minuscule but Sherone still noticed it.

His pale grey head and neck seemed even paler up close. He looked like he was sick or suffering from an unknown illness. Instead of looking like his skin was naturally pale grey, it looked like it had once been healthy and was now losing color.

He looked dead.

"As I thought," Sherone thought out loud while nodding his head.

"Thought what?" Marcus tilted his head to the side. His eyeballs were not actually all black now that Sherone could see them closer. There was a faint glowing white ring in each of his eyes. Sherone had not seen it before because of the angle the sunlight was coming from but he could see it clearly now.

The white rings seemed to be glowing but not glowing at the same time. They were eerie and gave Marcus a very unsettling vibe.

Staring at Sherone made Sherone feel like Marcus could see through the body he was trying to hide in.

"I thought that you and I were not that different at the base level of existence. You are indeed just like me.

I can feel it," Sherone said.

Around them, the creatures of the herd didn’t dare to come close to them. Any creature that got too close would sense a feeling of imminent death creeping up their minds.

The ten-meter radius around the zebra and the vulture was filled with the aura of death and no ordinary creature with the desire to live wished to get close.

Even the owls and the owl leader that was observing the interaction from above couldn’t help but feel a chill enter their bones.

"You keep on saying that you are like me, or I am like you..." Marcus said, "But you haven’t explained what you meant,"

A mischievous grin appeared on Sherone’s lips, a grin that didn’t fit his zebra image. It was the grin of a hunter, a villain, a tyrant.

Suddenly, a grey light with a golden hue spilled out of Sherone’s eyes. It appeared for a brief second, any longer and Sherone’s weak body would shut down. He wasn’t a lion, a Primordial, a creature affiliated with that kind of power. His body just wasn’t designed to contain such power without shutting down.

Even that brief exposure had caused some feeling of discomfort to appear within Sherone’s guts.

However, that exposed bit of Conquering Essence was enough for Marcus to reveal a trace of surprise.

"What was that?" Marcus asked with shock evident in his tone.

"Conquering Essence, something that came from the real me. You seem to be very perceptive of it, how did it feel?" Sherone asked as his limbs moved. He began to walk around the stunned vulture, assuming the role of an educator and a questionnaire.

"Yes, I felt...aware. Conquering Essence, what exactly are you?" Marcus was now very interested in anything Sherone wanted to say.

"Marcus, you and I are what certain civilizations would call a Primordial," Sherone said, walking past Marcus’s back as the latter stood to digest the information.

"What is a Primordial?" Marcus asked.

"Primordials are...hmm...let’s just say that we are very unique amongst our respective races. There is only one of me in the whole of my race and there is only one of you in the whole vulture race.

Before you, there was another Primordial Vulture, and after you die, there will be another one to replace you.

We are unique as long as we exist, my friend," Sherone said.

"How do you know all this?" Marcus was still skeptical and it was hard to say that he actually believed Sherone’s words immediately.

"Because I have the knowledge. I have been hunted by those who wish to kill me just for existing, yet I still exist."

"Is that why you’re hiding?" Marcus asked while raising what Sherone assumed were his hairless eyebrows.

"I’m not hiding, actually, I’m doing just fine." Sherone walked, completing a full circle around Marcus.

"Why would they hunt you just for existing? Are you sure you didn’t do something?" Marcus said.

Sherone stopped, looking at Marcus with a disappointed look on his face, "For someone affiliated with death, you seem quite naive.

That’s to be expected though, you don’t know the things I know, and probably haven’t seen the things I have seen,"

Marcus didn’t react to Sherone’s words and didn’t take them seriously.

Sherone continued, "Do you think that being special would get you the praise and adoration of your kind?

Of course not? The better you are than the average person, the more hate you will receive from the average person. It’s the way things are.

The only reason they would like you is if they can benefit from your uniqueness. If not, you’re just a reminder of their ordinary lives."

The things Sherone was saying caused Marcus to think deeply about some of the experiences he had with the vultures. Some of those experiences were not exactly nice to remember.

Experiences he had were envy and hatred were shown like a sword unsheathed.

Experiences where his friends seemed to be more interested in what he could do for them than what they could do for him.

These were experiences he had pushed to the back of his mind because they hurt to remember. And now that he was reminded of those experiences, his demeanor changed.

The air became cold and the grass on the ground seemed to be dying. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Unfortunately, Sherone was also exposed to this change and his body began to weaken.

But Sherone didn’t seem offended, he knew that this wasn’t intentional. He even seemed excited as a light of excitement shone in his eyes.

"Yes, what you feel is hatred for the clarity I am giving you!" Sherone said, raising his voice as he stepped closer to Marcus.

"In time, you shall realize that you can only count on specials like you to have your back. As Primordials, to survive this harsh waste of a universe, we must stick together..."