Elydes

Trekking through the Veeryd jungle, Kai began to wonder why he did this to himself. He was covered in sweat and dirt, tired and hungry. The scabbard of his sword hung over his shoulder. Not the most practical, but he was too short to carry it on his belt. This way it would not slam on every tree and bush he passed.

Of course, the butler couldn’t just tell him where a red-tier beast was. No, that would have been too easy and reasonable. He had to blindly walk into the jungle and somehow find the way to track down one.

Unless he encountered something way out of his league, or other similar certain-death scenarios, he was on his own.

Why did I do this to myself? Is a single feat even worth it?

He had already gained a feat by killing a red-tier beast. The logical next step was to defeat one in the orange grade. None of his teachers confirmed it, but neither had they objected, which said enough.

His first fight against the boa had been luck and desperation. This time he hoped to not let things get to that point. He wasn’t so delusional as to think he could defeat an orange-tier beast without a profession nor experience. Fighting against claws and fangs was very different than when he sparred with Elijah, knowing he wasn’t in any danger.

He had almost six years before he turned fourteen, all the time he needed to do this properly. He would gain more experience hunting targets at his level and go from there. Hunting powerful beasts was sure to give him plenty of Life Experience, so it was a win on every front.

I just need to find a damn beast first.

He wanted to race ahead towards the inner parts of Veeryd, where the mana density was higher and so were his chances of finding a target. But the butler made him promise he would take this seriously.

There was a possibility he would encounter an awakened beast that strayed out. It had already happened once. If he ran uncaringly, there was the risk of getting ambushed. In a real-life scenario, he couldn’t rely on the butler to save him. So here he was, trying to silently make his way through the lush vegetation while sweeping his surroundings with Mana Sense.

His body constantly tensed on the lookout for any threat. The peak of his day was when he found and harvested a low red-tier flower growing on a vine. That was several hours ago.

“Elijah,” Kai whispered aloud. He waited a few seconds. The butler was nowhere in sight.

He rolled his eyes. “I know you can hear me, master.”

“Yes, dear disciple? Do you want to give up so soon?” Elijah's cold tone sounded behind him.

Why can’t he appear in front of me for once?

Kai turned to face the man, ignoring the provocation.

“Could you point me in the right direction? I’m just wasting time like this.”

“No.”

“Why not?” Kai hurried to add before the butler had the chance to disappear again. “I want to become a mage, not a hunter. I understand why learning to use a sword might be useful, but why this?”

“Can’t you tell me?”

The irritation mounted at his non-answer, but Kai did his best to maintain a calm tone. “I can think of several, but none of them seem enough to make this worth it.”

“Maybe the answer is several.”

“Could you please share your wisdom just this once?” He never thought he would appeal to the butler's mercy—he never thought he had any. But desperate times called for desperate measures. He was exhausted, dirty and cranky. All he wanted was a shower and a good meal. If words could help him get home hours sooner, he would swallow his pride.

The mocking remark he expected didn’t come.

Elijah sighed. “Do you still intend to travel the continent?”

“…yes?”

“Learning how to survive in the wilderness will increase your chances of survival. A large part of Talthen is untamed and many times more dangerous than this forest. I don’t intend to have you wander aimlessly every time, but knowing how to move in a hostile environment will turn out useful.”

Kai frowned in confusion. “Can’t I just stay away from these types of ‘dangerous places’? I’ve no intention of getting myself killed.”

“Then, why did you decide to walk into this jungle?”

“To see if I can get a feat and some XP.” Kai paused, the wheels turning inside his head. “I imagine the most dangerous areas also offer the greatest rewards…”

“I hope you’ll try to stay away from these places, but sometimes we don’t get a choice. We need to make do with what we have, learn to use our skills and profession in creative ways.”

“Okay, I get your point.” He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t deny his reasoning made sense.

It’s a lesson about survival.

Kai breathed deeply, readying himself to continue his trek.

“Go that way.” Elijah pointed in a random direction and disappeared.

“Thanks.”

Damn, if he continues like this, I’ll have to consider being nicer to him.

The thought sent a shiver down his spine.

Okay, maybe he doesn’t hate me, but he’s still an insufferable jerk most of the time. As the undisputed most mature individual, I’ll take the first step. I just need to get out of this jungle.

Setting out again, Kai followed the butler's direction. Even if he had yet to spot any awakened beasts, the forest was full of life. Birds circled above amidst the green canopies with the occasional monkey lazily observing him from the distance. The jungle floor was less eye-catching but hosted as much life. Plenty of reptiles and small mammals hid among the ferns and shrubbery. Naturally, there was also a good dose of creepy crawlies.

Taking a page out of Moui’s book, he had learned to channel his mana around him to exude a deterring aura. It was far from perfect, and only worked against insects that crawled too close. But if it stopped even one spider from deciding to climb up his leg, it was worth the investment.

Ugh, I hope spiders can’t unlock the Guide.

With Mana Sense it was easy to spot bigger animals. He opted to walk around any snake or unidentified animal lying in wait, but it hampered his speed.

It would have been even nicer if Elijah told me how far I had to travel.

Kai paused, his leg in mid-air about to take another step. Just at the edge of his senses, a bright mana signature shone like a beacon. His heartbeat accelerated, any stray thought was abandoned. He reached over his shoulders to grip the hilt of his sword.

Careful to make the least amount of noise, he crept closer, keeping the trees and vegetation between himself and the creature. He didn’t need his sight, but the beast might.

Kai took the scabbard off his shoulder, slowly drawing his sword from its sheath. Sneaking behind a large tree covered in vines, he did a quick scan of his surroundings. No other threats were within his range. He focused on the awakened beast. To avoid giving any hint of his presence, he stopped channeling his aura around him.

Elijah would not lead him to something he couldn’t fight, but it was better to check anyway. He wouldn’t be shocked if this turned out to be another test.

The mana veins of the beast looked slightly thicker than the ones of the boa, but firmly in red territory. It had been almost a year since his last fight and he had grown too. He was stronger, faster and had a real weapon instead of a large stick. Without even considering he could cast spells.

Confirming he could fight his target, he needed to decide how to approach this. Kai took out his satchel and started planning. It contained several alchemical concoctions. He ignored the variety of healing potions and balms that made up most of his stock. He might have gone overboard with that.

He had already used the scent concealer this morning. It would have been prudent to reapply it, but it was too late for that. He also brought a pest-repellant dust—in case his aura didn’t work. It could double as weak poison, but he had better. Three vials, each marked with a different color on the cork, red, blue and yellow. He wrapped them in a layer of gauze so they wouldn’t clink. They were all high-red poisons, the strongest concoctions he could brew.

Kai hesitated - they could probably sell for half a silver each.

Don’t be an idiot. You can always make more. Which one do I use?

The red poison was the strongest, but it needed to be ingested to be effective. So that was out. The yellow one could work, but it was too slow acting.

I should have thought this through earlier. Blue it is.

Opening the vial, he coated his blade with the transparent liquid. It was a paralytic toxin. It would not kill the beast, but it should slow it down.

He was as ready as he was going to be. Sneaking forward, Kai tried to gather more information on his target. The closer he got, the more details Mana Sense picked up. It was huddled tight in a hole between the roots of a tree. Its bunched-up form hard to distinguish. He was fairly sure it wasn’t a snake.

Thank the spirits.

He paid close attention to its mana flow, looking for any disturbances that might show he had been spotted.

The rustle of the winds covered his steps. Getting closer, it looked like the beast had burrowed between the roots of the tree. Awakened animals usually came to the outer reaches for easy prey. Their dens always remained in the inner parts of Veeryd. He wasn’t going to complain about a little luck. Maybe it was hurt or asleep.

The mana signature rippled. Kai froze. He waited a minute without moving a muscle, it didn’t look like he had been discovered. But its energy flow looked too fidgety for the creature to be sleeping.

Kai circled around the tree, approaching from the opposite side of the burrow. He took a few seconds to gather the elemental motes inside of him. Nature, Water and Earth.

He could use the ground to close the entrance. But if it burrowed in, it could dig itself out or just stay hidden till he lost his patience.

If it refused to come out, there was little he could do, his Earth magic wasn’t strong enough to finish it off. He let go of the brown motes. The burden on his mind lessened. Nature was his strongest element thanks to the skill and Water was his highest affinity.

He could just make some noise and hope it would jump out and fight him, but it was a waste not taking advantage of his position. It would be far more efficient to cast a spell before the fight began when he could solely focus on the task.

Resting his free palm against the hard bark of the tree, Kai smiled.

This is going to work just fine.

Gathering his entire reserve of Nature mana, he took his time visualizing his desires—it wasn’t the time to be frugal. When he was sure he could not do any better, he let go.

The tree groaned, a low rumbling sound. The leaves began shaking from more than just wind, but that was only a collateral effect of his spell.

The mana signature of the beast immediately went into overdrive. It knew something was wrong, but it couldn’t understand what. Kai dashed in front of the burrow, sword in hand. The roots of the tree were writhing. If his spell was successful, that was nothing compared to what was going on inside the den. It must not be pleasant when the walls of your house try to kill you.

If that doesn’t flush it out, I don’t know what will.

A pained screech echoed from inside. A large ball of fur and claws dashed out straight towards him. Awareness warned him in time, Kai adjusted his strike at the last second. He hadn’t expected the beast to literally throw itself at him.

His spell might have worked too well, but he had no intention of going for mutual destruction.

A burst of Empower helped him get out of the way. The steel of his sword met flesh, barely finding any resistance. It was a glancing blow.

The beast looked like some kind of large rodent, the size of an average dog. Blood was dripping down one of its right hind legs. Without a moment of pause, it shot towards him again with rabid eyes. Sharp fangs and claws stretched forward.

This time, Kai was prepared. Directing a surge of mana to Empower, more than it was safe.

Time seemed to slow. His heart thumped in his chest, his muscles bulged. In a few more seconds his body would suffer the consequences, but he didn’t need that long.

He dashed forward, lowering his center of gravity. His sword moved with practiced grace, cutting an arc through the neck of the beast. The momentum of the rodent carried it past him. Its claws dug three thin lines on his leg.

Mana Sense told him the fight was already over. His muscles relaxed, Empower slowly fizzled out. A pool of blood spread below the rodent as its body spasmed its death throes. He checked his leg, the cuts were only superficial wounds.

Kai would have felt a bit bad if the beast hadn’t tried to bring him to the tomb so fiercely.

It never even tried to run. I guess using the poison was overkill.

The fight ended faster than he expected. The paralytic was relatively fast-acting, but it still took about a minute, maybe longer for an awakened animal. Kai walked closer to the fallen beast, piercing its skull to end its suffering.

“I did it.” Kai celebrated for his and Elijah’s sake. He waited a moment, but the butler didn’t show up.

Would it kill him to say good job? You did well, Kai?

Trying not to let it ruin his mood, he examined his kill. Overgrown rat meat wasn’t his favorite, but he had lived too long in Greenside to waste it.

The blood might be useful to concoct magic in—

Awareness screamed at him stronger than he ever experienced. Empower flooded his muscles with no regard for the consequences. His body reacted on instinct. He needed to move. A greater danger than he ever felt loomed over him. His mind was in overdrive, a strong mana signature entered his range without him realizing, heading straight for him from the sky.

With the corner of his eyes, he could see a pair of wicked talons coming for his head. His sword was moving to intercept, but it would not make it in time. Tendons, bones and muscles were tearing, but he was still not fast enough.

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