Chapter 26:

Cort stood back as he watched the falling trees, his ragged breath contrasting his calm eyes.

"Here it comes," he said as he felt movement from under the trees.

BOOM!

What seemed like an explosion sent the logs flying. Some even broke apart, sending splinters everywhere.

Cort shielded his eyes as the wind ruffled his hair.

From beneath the rubble, a shirtless man stood strong. The countless little cuts that adorned the entire length of his body looked painful, yet he seemed not to care.

Casually stretching his arms, the man looked towards Cort. "Done with your break?" He asked.

Cort's smile was visible due to the mask's broken bottom. "Actually, I'm gonna need a few minutes"

"Too bad," Ratson replied, gripping his sword.

'Danger!' Cort's mind screamed as the world once again slowed. His sharp eyes reflected the image of Ratson's blade moving at incredible speeds.

Logically he knew that Ratson was too far away to directly strike him with the sword, yet he still felt it necessary to run. And so for the second time tonight, Cort found himself pushing against his limits.

Unfortunately…

A sharp pain caught Cort's arm on his way down to dodge, but that was just a taste of what was to come. The force of the blow was so intense, he was blown back a distance away from the group of trees.

His body skidded to a stop as it upheaved the ground on its way. Forcefully battling unconsciousness, he sat up with difficulty.

He then watched, mouth agape, as every single tree began to fall. The clean mark that separated each one, was a testament to the destructive damage of the attack.

Searing pain peeled his eyes away, and when he saw the wretched state of his arm he began to wonder how he was still alive.

The cut had reached his bones and was a step away from completely severing his limb.

"Just what was that," the nonsensical nature of the attack reminded him of how special Himmel actually was.

"Interesting… it seems like that young man has just grasped the beginnings of Aura manipulation," A casual voice suddenly sounded to his side and Cort's head spun as if on a swivel.

At some point during the fight, Old man Carson must have appeared.

"Aura?" But Cort was more preoccupied with what the spirit had said.

"Yes, you can think of it as a warrior's concentrated will. Like Magic, it relies on Origin to function. Unlike Magic, it has none of the intricacies, no spells, no nature transformations, no beauty, just brute force. Magicians cooperate and manipulate Origin, Aura users just use an enormous amount of willpower to forcefully bend it into shape. Of course, that is not to say all warriors use it in such an unrefined manner, but still…"

Cort nodded his head as he remembered reading about it in a book. Aura, considered to be the checkpoint of all warriors. Those who manage to master the art would have a chance at becoming a top-tier warrior, while those who don’t will forever be fodder.

“Luckily for you though it seems he just began the process of awakening it, which means he probably can’t do anything super complex. For now, it seems the only thing he has up his sleeves is augmentation,” The old man continued cooly.

“Augmentation?”

“Yes, while it sounds complicated it boils down to simply increasing the range of his attacks. And while it is useful, it does have some drawbacks. For one the attacks grow weaker with distance; for another, it is an extremely inefficient use of aura meaning he can’t keep this up for much longer.”

Cort digested all of the information while he hurriedly covered his limp arm with Arachis’ silk as a make-shift bandage.

“Old man…” He finally said.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks”

His arm finally bandaged, he dashed towards Ratson at breakneck speeds.

‘Oho’ Old man Carson thought ‘He is faster than before.’

Ratson, finally noticing Cort’s approaching figure, winded his arm back, before releasing another Aura filled slash.

Cort’s nimble figure twisted around the attack as it continued to push forwards. While he could not see the attack itself due to his incompatibility with Origin, he was still able to approximate its location.

It was at this moment that Cort realized how much he had changed. He could finally feel it, the increased speed. It was like his body was previously shackled to a heavy boulder, but now he was free.

Relishing his increased strength, he side-stepped another attack and used his last working hand to pull out more throwing knives from his bag.

Ratson grit his teeth as he felt three objects dig into his arm. Though shallow, the wounds still annoyed him. Like flies that were too fast to catch, he felt frustrated by their mere presence.

Blood rushed to his head and he began to attack more fiercely and recklessly.

The corners of Cort’s mouth raised as he moved about between attacks, his one good hand moving busily as well. Tying a throwing knife to the strings that wrapped around his arm, he was finally ready.

Cort stepped into melee range against Ratson.

His head and eyes began to hurt due to over-taxing them, but he did not stop.

Ratson, realizing range was futile, started concentrating his aura, increasing the damage dealt by his blade. He did not know why the prey decided to confront him up close but that suited him just fine.

The following minute was one filled with frantic tension as the newly sped up Cort desperately dodged each one of Ratson’s attack by a hair. Like a small boat caught in the middle of a raging storm, the masked man’s figure hectically moved about almost cap-sizing on multiple occasions.

Ratson was also in a bad position as he suffered numerous small attacks. For every heavy swing he gave, his foe would counter by causing a small gash with his strings. Worse yet was the fact that most of the strings were laced with venom. Ratson did not really pay attention to this at first as it did not affect him much, but as time marched on, he began to grow more tired.

Finally, with a desperate swing and miss, his sword plunged into the earth and he felt the prey draw close to deal another attack. But unbeknownst to Cort, Ratson’s eyes flashed with delight as he saw this. With a fierce and unexpected kick, he pushed Cort away, gaining some distance.

Looking to close the deal, he roused his Aura and raised his arm to slash his sword. But before the attack could come to fruition, he felt sudden and intense pain on his wrist. Looking over, he saw a throwing knife sticking out of his flesh. Moreover, venom dripped from the knife.

Clicking his tongue he couldn’t help but remark. “I don’t know what your game is, little prey. You should have realized it already, this venom is nothing to me. It may have worked on Hunter, but I assure you, I’m no Hunter.” Gripping the knife’s hilt, he moved to pull it out.

“I know you aren't," Cort retorted "Here's the funny thing about Arachis’ venom...” His eerily cheery voice sounded out.

Ratson’s eyes squinted as he stared at the rock the prey pulled out of his bag. ‘Ignition stones?’

“It's flammable,” Cort said as he struck the rock against a wire he was holding. He hurriedly let go of the thread as it immediately caught on fire.

Ratson was baffled by these actions, or at least that was until he saw the fire dart towards him mid-air. “What the…” It was then that he noticed the wire that was attached to the knife stuck in his wrist.

“No!” He yelled in surprise as he attempted to yank the knife out, but it was too late.

Almost immediately, his wound combusted in flames, but that was not the end. A chain reaction occurred as every single wound inflicted by the venomous wire caught on fire. Soon, his entire body burned as if he were a candle’s wick.

His pain-filled screech echoed around his surroundings.

“It’s beautiful… but how are you going to finish him off? That bag of yours looks empty.” The old man said as he watched the fire burn.

“Even if I had more weapons, it’d be useless. He will still be stronger than I after he puts the fire out.” Cort said between pants.

“Then what was even the point of it?”

“To anger him.”

“Anger him?”

“Yes. After all, we wouldn’t want him to quit half-way through,” Cort said as he gave a devilish smile.

“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?”

…………………………………………

Ratson stood from his lying position, his charred pants now covered in dirt. He had been rolling on the ground for a good minute before the infernal flames were put out.

But despite the fading of his body’s flames, the one that existed in his heart only grew in magnitude.

Gnashing his teeth, he let out a guttural roar which sent the nearby animals fleeing. His eyes, once keen and excited, now glowed with fury and madness.

This fury was only exacerbated by the fact that his prey had once again eluded him. The thought of retreat flashed through his mind but he buried it deep. After the humiliation he had just experienced, nothing short of the screams of his prey would soothe him.

“Fuck it, no more holding back!”

Suddenly, the ring on his finger began to glow faintly.

“I’ll find you... Wherever you are.” His eyes now glowed with the same faint light.

Along his way, he left the bodies of severed beasts to rot.

…………………………………………

“What are we looking for again?” The old man asked as he watched Cort dig with his bare hand and a knife.

“I underestimated this world. I thought I would be fine, but the truth is far from that.” Cort stopped digging as he felt the hard surface of a wooden case.

“I guess, I still need these,” Struggling to perform the actions with one hand, he pried the case open.

“Oh, that is-”

A furious roar cut the old man’s words off.

“He’s here,” Cort said with widened eyes as he turned his body to the side, protecting the case.

A blade slash augmented with Aura struck him with full force, flinging his body away. A deep gash adorned his back and blood escaped profusely.

Ratson’s mad laughter sounded out. “HAHAHA Yes, squeal! Squeal little rabbit, squeal!” His grating voice sounded out as he finally appeared a distance away. His hand gripped the sword so hard, it bled from the pressure. But with a body full of wounds, such a small thing was truly not worth noting.

Raising his head with difficulty, Cort's calm eyes analyzed his foe. Ratson's gait was unsteady, staggered and blood poured from every wound freely. He looked like a man a nudge away from losing his mind.

Along with such an appearance, his eyes glowed in a strange and unnatural light.

Cort wondered whether the man was using a spell. That being said, exactly how did the man track him down so fast? No matter, he was already too late.

"I'm going to eat you," Ratson said with unnatural calmness. "First I'll prep you. Skin you, bleed you out, then I'll cut your meat into fillets and roast you. Or..." He paused as he placed the tip of his sword against his chin, pretending to ponder over a serious matter. "Maybe I'll just have rabbit stew... HAHAHAH" His mad laughter erupted once more.

Cort raised his eyebrow reflexively, 'Just what is he talking about? Has he finally lost his mind? Too bad. What a sad fate it is...to die as a mad man,' He lamented as he readied his weapon, as he had done countless times before.

"Of course," Ratson rambled on as he meandered toward Cort "You'll be too much to have on my own. I know! I'll share with my team! They'll be happ-"

A loud bang reverberated throughout the forest.

…………………………………………