Chapter 67: A Choice, Apparently

"What do I mean? I mean that you all have been feeding that damn snake all this time," Max said with a grim expression as more frogs hopped onto the hill.

"I have been attacked by that snake this whole time. I almost died a million times," Max said as he drank a few gulps of water to recover his Life Force.

"I do not understand," Marlak said.

"What do you not understand, you dumb frog? Look at the snake lying in the pond. It came to eat me, and after that, it was going to eat all of you." Max's frustration grew as Marlak continued talking.

"Yeah, I can see the snake there, but I do not understand your claim about feeding it. We have never had anyone permanently lost during the ritual," Marlak said.

Max, who was putting on his clothes, turned toward Marlak, confused by its statement.

"What are you talking about? The snake told me it had eaten humans before. Even the timeline matched yours's account of bringing other humans here." Max was dumbfounded. Had the snake lied about eating people who took the ritual?

"I do not know what the snake told you, but no one has ever been permanently lost at the Pond of Blessed," Marlak said.

"Then what about this snake? Are you saying it never ate anyone who took the ritual?" Max asked, confused by the claim that nobody had been permanently lost. Had the snake lied just to scare him? However, that did not seem necessary because the snake was too strong. It did not need to make up stories to eat him.

"That is what I do not understand. The ritual was never about battle or strength," Marlak said.

"Then what is it about?" Max asked as he strapped his sword to his hip.

"It is about kindness, empathy, willingness, and courage…"

"Stop it. Just do not utter another word. You are spewing utter garbage about kindness and empathy. I almost lost my life here!" Max pointed angrily at the frog, which was talking about such damn nobility. Who cared about kindness or empathy in this world? Everyone was running toward glory. Whether it came from cruelty or kindness, nobody cared at the end of the day.

"Just tell me, did I succeed in the ritual or not?" Max asked.

"The Elder will decide that," Marlak said.

"Then let us go and finish it," Max said as he gave the pond one last look and walked down the hill.

Max reached the valley and noticed more frogs gathered around the large stone at the center. As soon as he walked among them, murmuring began. Without paying any attention to it, Max walked forward and stood in front of the Elder Frog, which was sitting with its eyes closed.

"I never knew humans were capable of succeeding in the ritual of the Pond of Blessed," the Elder said. As soon as Max came to a stop, the frog opened its eyes.

"So, I have succeeded in the ritual?" Max asked blankly. How could this frog even tell?

"Yes, you did," the Elder Frog said.

"That is great. Then I can leave this place?" Max asked without showing any joy at having completed the ritual successfully.

"Yes, you can, and Marlak will also come with you," the Elder Frog said.

"Nice. Marlak, are you ready?" Max asked.

However, there was no answer from the frog that had been waiting four centuries for this freedom. Turning around, Max looked at Marlak, which stood alongside another group of frogs.

"What? Do you want to leave or not?" Max asked.

"Of course I want to leave," Marlak said. "And these are my family."

Marlak introduced the family of frogs standing around it. Max saw two old-looking frogs and two younger ones who seemed to be Marlak's siblings.

"It is nice to meet everyone," Max said, greeting them for the sake of politeness. "Okay, take your time to say goodbye to your family, and then let us go."

"Human, do not rush," the elder frog said.

"Did you not say there would be consequences for taking the ritual? What kind of consequences were they?" Max asked, looking at the Elder Frog, as irritation rushed to his head.

At the time, he had not asked about them because the frog had guaranteed that there would be no enemies to battle. However, what had happened at the pond had completely contradicted that claim.

"Yes, it is time you learned about the consequences," the Elder Frog said as it looked to its left. where bunch of frogs stood in group.

"Just tell me, since the ritual is already completed. Why hesitate now?" Max asked in confusion. If the Elder had hesitated before the ritual, that would have been understandable, but he had already succeeded. Being reluctant to reveal the consequences now made no sense.

Stolen story; please report.

"The consequence of failing the ritual was that you would be turned into one of us," the Elder Frog said.

"What?" Max was stunned by this revelation. Failing would have turned him into a frog. God damn it. He should have known this beforehand. He had blindly agreed to go through the ritual.

However, a thought suddenly occurred to him regarding the snake.

"Did you know there was a snake living at the so-called Pond of Blessed? And that it was eating everyone who took the ritual?" Max asked quickly. A different thought suddenly came to his mind. What was the true meaning of this ritual? What did the Elder mean when it said they had all been born at that pond?

"Who are you people? Are you really a race of frogs?" Max asked another question.

"You are very clever for a human," the Elder Frog said.

"I do not think you know much about humans, so just give me a straight answer."

Max had heard the same thing earlier from the snake. These creatures would never understand the extremes of human nature, from the highest degree of cruelty to the utmost kindness. Therefore, this bunch of frogs would not understand humans like him.

"Yes, we who live here were not originally from this world. We stumbled upon this place by accident, but we were saved by the Pond of Blessed," the Elder Frog said.

"Saved how?" Max asked. As far as he knew, the pond did nothing but create a barrier and provide energy to the body. Other than that, it did nothing.

"When our ancestors came to this place, they accidentally found the pond. They drank the water and were fascinated by the refreshing magical feeling it gave them, so they decided to live nearby. However, this world was filled with predators far stronger than they were, and they were attacked and eaten. Yet, when they died, their souls did not leave this place. Instead, their souls gathered at the Pond of Blessed, and they were reborn as what we are now," the Elder Frog said.

Max rubbed his face. If the Elder was telling the truth, these frogs had been reborn from the souls of dead beings. The people eaten by the snake during the ritual might have suffered the same fate.

"But did you or did you not know that there was a snake eating the people who took the ritual, and that it was going to eat me as well?" Max asked.

"Yes, I knew, but only part of it. I have long known that something was hunting those who took the ritual, since everyone was reborn as a frog after completing it. However, I did not know it was a snake," the Elder Frog said.

"If you knew something was hunting them, why did you not help them?" Max asked, gritting his teeth as anger flared in his chest.

"Why would I stop someone who could potentially become part of our family?" the Elder Frog replied. "Moreover, it was Marlak's long-standing wish to roam around the other world. Why would I ruin his wish? It is a win-win situation for us."

"Marlak, did you know all of this?" Max asked.

"Do not blame him. He was unaware of the truth; they only thought the pond would turn the participants into frogs if they failed the ritual," the Elder Frog said, revealing how little Marlak actually knew about the matter.

"That being said, look at these people. They are one of us. They are living here happily, and they have no regrets about becoming what they are," the Elder Frog said, pointing toward a group of frogs standing to the side.

"How do you know that? Did they tell you?" Max asked.

"I understand what you are implying: they could lie out of fear of the other people here. Well, the Pond of Blessed is not some cruel pond that turns innocent people into slaves. Rather, it is kind enough to give us a choice. After being reborn from the pond, each of us can choose to return to the life we came from or remain here in our new form, wielding the enormous power the pond grants us. Some have returned to their former lives, while others have chosen to stay. So, if you had died and been reborn as one of us, the pond would have offered you the same choice. I am absolutely sure you would have chosen to stay here," the Elder Frog explained.

"I doubt that." Max did not believe a single word the frog said about the pond. It was definitely an evil pond that tried to trap people inside, allowed predators to eat them, and then trapped their souls to turn them into frogs. If that was not evil, then what was? Furthermore, he did not believe that those reborn as frogs possessed free will. The pond was definitely manipulating them into staying.

"I understand that, but you could give it a try. Do you want to experience the real power bestowed by the Pond of Blessed?" the Elder Frog asked.

Max raised his hand to stop it from talking. This evil frog was trying to manipulate him as well.

"No thanks! Marlak, do you want to come with me or not? You asked and begged me to free you from the seal. I hope you understand that you are now free. Whether you want to come with me or not is your decision. I will give you ten seconds," Max demanded.

Marlak hesitated briefly before answering.

"I want to go with you, of course. Let's go," Marlak said. "Mother, Father, I will leave this place and be free. If I feel I have seen enough, I will return, so you must wait for me. You two, be good kids to Mother and Father." Marlak gave its parents and siblings a final goodbye.

"Elder, thank you for letting me go. I am grateful," Marlak said to the Elder Frog. "I am ready."

"Then, let's go!" Max said. However, he did not know how to leave this place.

"Well, how do we get out of here?" Max asked, looking at the Elder.

"We will go to the Pond of Blessed," the Elder said.

Everyone then started climbing the hill again.

Upon reaching the pond, Max looked around the water. The body of the dead snake was missing. Maybe its soul was used to create another frog? Max thought.

"What should we do now?" he asked.

"Both of you must enter the water, say thanks to the Pond of Blessed, and submerge yourselves. The pond will do the rest," the Elder Frog said.

Without waiting, Max entered the water and stood there, waiting for Marlak to join him. The frog was still finishing its farewells to its family and the others. Max waited for it to finish. Even though he was in a bad mood, he did not know whether the frog would return here after leaving, so he waited.

After taking its time to bid farewell, Marlak finally entered the pond and stood beside Max, facing everyone.

"Are you ready?" Max asked.

"Yes," Marlak said.

Both of them submerged themselves in the water. Max kept his eyes open to see what was happening. But suddenly, darkness engulfed him, and he fell into it. When his vision cleared, he was sitting in a stone room, holding a spoon near his lips. The green water in the spoon had turned black, and he had finally returned to his world.

However, when he looked around, he could not see the frog that was supposed to come with him. He quickly looked at the stone statue sitting on the chair.

Did the ritual fail? Max thought.

However, before he could reach a conclusion, he heard a cracking sound coming from the stone statue. Soon, cracks spread across the statue's surface until pieces of stone fell to the ground. Beneath the broken stone surface stood a frog.

"Are you ready to die?" Max asked, looking at the frog.