He was dying and he could tell. His strength slowly waned as he struggled to rush through the forest, barely sensing the path with his Medial Staff flickering under the dead of the night. He was right; his instincts had warned him that something was wrong. He shouldn't have trusted his new team members. They were too good to be true.

He crossed through the forest as fast as he could, aiming for the major road that cut through the lone woods leading to up to his current home, The Institution of the Cathedral of Light. He had a sister there waiting for him to come back, waiting for him to revive their family name.

Exhausted, he leaned on his staff for a moment, collecting his breath while hiding behind one of the many trees that grew within the forest. A dark sky spread far above him, with none of the stars lighting up his way ahead as the silver-backed wolves followed in close pursuit. Every time he found some respite, they were still able to track him down almost as if he was as visible to them as a beacon in the dark.

With a pale face, a thought suddenly crossed his mind. Checking himself in a fluster, his white robes caked with blood and sweat, a lingering trace of a peculiar scent rose to his nose and he knew he had been deceived right from the start. His fervent desire to make a name for himself, and earn his living was effectively used against him. Someone had sent those malicious adventurers to set a trap for him, perfectly under the guise of the Qualification Mission all so they could fell him down silently without raising the ire of the Institution of Cathedral of Light.

After all he was a just an Outer Disciple, a low ranking priest amongst the dozen that clustered the Outer Sector within the cathedral walls. Occasionally the deaths of such disciples were heard and news spread but that was almost all there was to it.

His anger flared as he vividly recalled the faces of the ones who planned his downfall. By now he was sure there were mercenaries in a guise of adventurers and if he wasn't mistaken they must have already reported his assumed death by now and the Cathedral will swallow up that lie without question.

He heard the wolves catching up to him, their growls spreading through the silent forest like a discordant of death. He was deeply mistaken to have thought that he could survive the woods with his low repertoire of spells. The spells he had barely mastered were severely limited compared to other mortal ranked priests as all he could do was to kill a few of the hunting wolves with his psyche, not having even enough mana to cast the Tier 1 spells in his possession.

But he was a priest of light and he wasn't going down without a fight. Since it was in the middle of the night he had no hope of crossing path with someone to save him in time. He gazed at the starless sky and silently sighed. He shouldn't have taken a rest at all. He felt as if he could no longer carry his own body anymore, a fact further proven by the blood profusely bleeding out of his slashed chest despite his doomed efforts to cover the wound, trying to stem the flow.

He remembered his stalwart but lonely mum, and the big risk she took for him and his sister to attend the Awakening Ceremony. He recalled the struggle they went through and the surprise they received when it was revealed they both had the potential to become mages. Such discovery was just the shred of hope they needed against the darkness that threatened to engulf their lives.

But what he truly desired, with all his heart as he laid there dying, was for his sister to find someone trustworthy to take care of her. He absolutely cherished her but it was with profound sadness that he was forced to admit his current demise was also his doing. His stubborn desire to make a mark, and the silent pride he carried pushed him to undertake extreme measures all for the sake of proving himself useful against her sister's shining halo. But instead all it did was to make him woefully unprepared for the real trials of life. He loved her sister and he would have done anything for her but…he couldn't help to feel useless especially when he was constantly being mocked for how his talent fared worse compared to her.

The beasts swiftly arrived. It was a wild pack of silver barebacked wolves. What differentiated them from other beasts were the distinct patches of the lustrous silver fur that lined their backbones. Their fur glimmered under the scant light as they quickly advanced. Their overall strength fared less than that of Tier 1 Demonic beasts but what they lacked in might they made it up with their swiftness as the pack numbered more than five, their menacing eyes glinting in the dark.

He might have been betrayed and plotted against but he won't falter. Stubbornly he raised his elegant staff into the air which suddenly shone with such intensity that it lighted up the forest, scaring the beasts and halting their advance. The bright light kept them at bay as he looked up to clear starless sky above, closed his eyes and prayed. He appealed to any of the old gods that once existed that his sister survives her training at the Cathedral and finds a worthy person to accompany her. He already lost all hope of living and the most he could do was to summon the last bit of strength he possessed to make sure he pulled the vile beasts down with him.

Almost on cue the restless wolves lunged at him, their lean figures silently streaking through the air with their sharp teeth wide open. At the same instant, Lukas who had his eyes closed suddenly opened them, before he shouted the spell he had prepared with all of his remaining mana, his resounding voice carrying through the forest like thunder.

"SOLAR FLARE!!!!"

BOOM!

An explosion of sound and blood occurred under the usual silent night. Whines, growls and laughter borne out of sheer madness and desperation sundered the air, destroying the peace the Lone woods were famous for. The bright light emanating from his staff flared into brilliance strong enough to sear through the lunging wolves, eviscerating their bodies in midair into mass of blood and flesh. But it didn't stop there. The bright spell rose into the sky, lighting up the woods like an incandescent sun, ascending higher and higher from the ground before it broke through the canopy, basking the forest under its pervasive radiance.

Drained and weary Lukas stared, stunned as the spell he had shaped rose higher and higher from the ground. He had never imagined that the beginner spell Solar Flare possessed such might especially now that he was on the brink of life and death. His eyes witnessed the carnage he wrought and for a second, he fervently wished all those who had ever cursed Mortal priests were useless in a combat could see the results of his desperate attempt.

But the spell which should have dispersed by now, instead lighted up his surroundings like day light. Under its light, he saw countless red eyes glimmering within the woods that seemed to account for the presence of more wolves that he could have ever imagined.

Despair flooded his weak heart as he finally realized. The very first group of wolves was sent as scouts, baits or sacrifices. They were sent to drain him of his strength, limit their causalities and in the process make him an easy prey for them.

He helplessly smiled. He was bested through and through. Firstly by his supposed compatriots who betrayed him easily and now by the cunning wolves who seek to devour him. He knew this could only happen when a pack of wolves sired a Tier 1 Beast, The Wolf King. A powerful conniving creature still ruled by instincts with just enough shred of intelligence to push him into a hopeless situation.

He closed his eyes fully accepting the fact that he truly tried. He gave his all and it was all he could do. The wolves surrounding him sensed his surrender and lunged at him decisively, biting and tearing apart his robe. His book of spells and his Medial staff were scattered beside him as vividly red blood splashed across, staining the perpetual white with a visibly shining red. They were fully feasting on his broken body before the strangest thing happened.

DONG!!!

It was a like a ringing of heavens, the sound reverberating through the woods, instilling fear into the wolves and every single creature within countless miles. The wolves froze, growling under the breath while The Wolf King, hidden amongst the pack raised its head to the ascending spell which by now seemed as if it split the sky in two. Then the once starless night suddenly exploded with a thousand stars appearing like fireflies all over the sky until one particular light descended towards the ground like a shooting star.

The falling star streaked across the heavens in flash until it abruptly collided with the hovering spell in a heartbeat. Before the wolves could collect themselves, the rising spell burst with an intense brilliance before shooting back to the now dead and broken caster with such a force that it was almost as if a meteor had crashed from the sky.

With a bang, a thousand meters around the body was cleared in a second. But this time there was no whining, no screams and growls. All the trees, leaves and bushes were burnt away into ashes. In a blink of an eye, all living things were silently disintegrated into nothingness. It was almost as if they were melted under the star light, the only proof of their existence being a few flecks of dust in what was now a barren patch of land in an otherwise green forest.

But most of all the once shining body, the one marked for death and mauled by the wolves was nowhere to be seen. The body and its belongings, including its Medial staff and the book of spells all vanished without a trace leaving a patch of dry and desolate ground as the only proof of what kind of a mystical supernatural event took place.