The beast ran through the dense moonlit underbrush with its eyes fixed on its prey. It was filled with an insatiable bloodlust, driven by a primal rage. It could only think to kill.

The beasts prey hurled various spell towards it. Fire balls, boulders and condensed torrents of air, all headed towards the beast. Acting on instinct alone it dodged all such attacks with ease.

"WHAT THE F*CK IS HE!" Rachael screamed in horror.

The beast had started to close in on a lanky brown haired boy who was lagging behind the others. The boy could feel the cold biting at his heels.

"STAY BACK!" he yelled while hurling yet another boulder at the boy turned beast.

The beast reflexively launched itself in an effort to evade, landing with both feet planted on the trunk of a tree. It then catapulted from its new position in an instant, landing atop the brown haired boy.

"JEREMY! NO!" Rachael yelled. Knowing she was powerless to help the boy due to her lack of offensive spells. She called out to her friends, "Guys we need to help him!".

"It's too late, it already has him. Did you not see how easily he broke through your trap spell? He's dodging everything we throw at him Rachael! We can't beat him." Edwin responded.

"AHHHHH!" Seconds later a blood curdling scream echoed out.

The beast could be seen bearing down on Jeremy's neck. The boy swung at the beasts sides to no effect. Tears streaming down his cheeks, it was too late for him, the monster then ripped his throat out with a single bite.

"My god we're gonna die! He's a monster!" Edwin thought as the panic started to truly set in. The boy channeled more of his mana to his legs, breaking ahead of his fellow apprentices leaving them behind.

The other apprentices tried with all their might to catch up to Edwin but it was pointless. They were all below him in rank, they couldn't hope to match his speed.

The beast, still atop Jeremy's lifeless corpse saw his prey escaping and once again gave chase. With the beasts superb vision it was an easy feat catching up with his prey in the dark of night.

One by one the screams of the apprentice's rung out into the night. Before long Edwin heard a fourth, high pitch scream pierce his eardrums, . "Rachael, he got Rachael too. He got them all! I have to get out of here, I have to survive. I'll have his head, I swear it on the name of house Andris," the boy proclaimed.

Edwin ran will all his might, checking behind him frequently with extreme concern. Every now and then the boy would hear the cracking of branches, letting him know that the beast wasn't going to give up so easily.

"Aaa-ooooo!" the beasts howl echoed and an icy mist permeated Edwin's surroundings.

He had hoped that being a high D-Rank bordering on breaking through into C-Rank would provide him with a speed advantage over his enemy. He was sorely mistaken.

The beast landed atop a boulder directly in Edwin's path, it shone a devilish grin on its face. In a split-second it leaped at the mage.

"Sh*t!"

Edwin raised his right arm guarding against the beast, the beast in turn latched its maw onto the boy and perforated his forearm. Frost started to glaze the boys arm as the beasts canines dug deeper. The boy gritted his teeth as he started to cast a spell, within seconds a fiery orb filled the boys palm and was unleashed.

*BAM* *yelp*

The beast was sent flying, crashing into a tree and falling to the ground. The beast stood with a searing wound on it's chest that was healing rapidly. Slowly the burnt skin transitioned from being red and torn back into the pale white it once was.

"I have to buy myself some more time, my father must have sensed the mana-cores of the others being snuffed out. He must of! He must come! Otherwise I'm done for!"

The boy then channeled as much mana as he could afford to lose around his body, preparing for an all out sprint. The beast followed readying itself for a secondary strike.

The boy once again summoned his elemental, his last resort, using all his remaining mana in the process.

"Come forth, Sitka!"

The craggy bear-like beast rose from the earth once more. The beast wasn't particularly strong offensively but as with all earth elementals it had exceptional defences.

The elemental let out a roar and the beast followed with a howl, the two then met with a clash. The beast held the elemental by its two leading paws. It seemed to be at an advantage against Sitka and had started to push him back.

While this took place, Edwin stood holding his now limp arm and started to run. He had no time to waste, he needed to place as much distance between himself and the beast as he could, the boy knew it was only a matter of time before Sitka fell.

A few minutes past as the two fought, Sitka stood with pieces of his rocky form missing. With every blow from the beast, Sitka's body was suffering.

The elemental, determined to win, prepared for another charge against the beast. Suddenly Sitka was hit with a devastating blow to his chest that toppled the poor elemental. The beast then stood atop the rocky mass, took hold of one of it's legs and tore it away. It continued with Sitka's other legs before reaching the elementals head and lifting it's heel with intent to strike.

With a hard thud Sitka's head was turned into nothing but rubble, the beast then dropped the elementals leg that it had in hand and prepared to give chase. Then suddenly the beasts nose twinged at a strong head-ache inducing scent of mana. An entity much stronger than itself was approaching at speed.

The beast's mind that had been filled with only bloodlust prior gained clarity, its instincts were telling it to run. It knew it wouldn't survive the coming fight if it stayed.

As if to verify the beasts instincts, a series of words splayed out in front of its eyes.

[PARTIAL TRANSFORMATION HAS TWO MINUTES REMAINING]

The beast begrudgingly turned from its preys path and set off.

--------------

*Wheeze*

Edwin stood with one arm resting atop his knee and the other limp to his side. He couldn't continue any further, he was utterly exhausted and then suddenly hope chimed in.

"There you are my boy!"

A voice emerged from the trees.

Seconds later a large man levitated out of the trees and into Edwin's sight.

"FATHER!" The boy screamed in relief.

The boy ran to his father, who in turn took the boy into his arms.

As the Duke embraced his son he felt something wet and warm graze his skin. He looked down towards where he had felt the sensation only to see his sons arm was completely mangled and covered in what looked to be frostbitten flesh.

"What happened you my dear boy, who did this?"

"One of the slaves father, he...he turned into some kind of beast and attacked us. The others they-they're all dead."

"That rotten slave bastard, I'll have his head!"

The duke then thrust his hand into the air and called for his elemental.

"Come to me, Cere"

In an instant a whirlwind formed and took shape into that of an opaque owl with a wingspan of at least six metres, the creature could have been mistaken for a ghost.

"Take my son to the others, he needs immediate attention. I have a rat to catch."

Cere then gently grasped the boy in its talons and took flight. Leaving rustling trees in its wake.

"Invoco ventum, dirigite me!" The duke chanted.

In an instant a gust of wind pushed through the foliage of the trees in front of him, beckoning him to follow.