Two hours later, The Eastwoods, Outskirts of Vaillance

Drake coalesced a layer of mana under his feet cushioning his landing. He rolled forward and regained his footing, then he continued to run.

"I thought you said it was just 3 Hounds! this is a whole pack!"

Drake shouted. Chasing him were more than a dozen Black Ragehounds, One eyed wolf-like creatures that have invaded the woodland. Their Crystal fangs are prized as Refinement material

Above him, Nord was skipping in the trees, Jumping from branch to branch

"Ahead of you! I see a clearing!" Nord shouted back ignoring Drake's protests

Drake Dashed forward Using the mana sheath on his feet to assist him. he dodged several trees and slid across the clearing

Behind him, Black Ragehounds encircled him, Their large fangs bared at him. The snarls from the one-eyed creatures came together in an unpleasant cacophony.

"Master, Any time now!" Drake plead

a shrill sound erupted through the Trees behind the hounds. it ripped through the bushes and sent the hounds into a Frenzy

Nord jumped down beside drake

"Not done yet huh?! Distract them while I get ready"

Nord said as a series of runes began projecting into his line of sight

Drake, fully aware of what was coming, Charged into the horde. He depressed a button on the Harness he wore under his Tunic and his greatsword materialised in his hands.

Taking care not to enter their range, he swung his sword Augmented with mana. each sweeping slash taking a couple of hounds with it. Each slash slowly depleting his mana reserves.

a particularly feisty hound managed to break his defences and bite down on Drake's arm

"Shit" Drake cursed

"MOVE!" Nord shouted behind him

Drake shook off the Hound, leaving his arm in a mess of blood and bite marks. He willed a surge of mana underneath his feet and used it to leap into the air

Drake used too much power propelled himself two storeys high, He looked down and saw Nord enveloped in a Blue Aura as he raised his sword, like was preparing to impale.

DRIVE FLASH

A shining blue spear of Lightning materialised and disappeared in the blink of an Eye

Nord stood forward from where he originally was and the line of grass behind him was completely charred. More importantly the Ragehounds that were chasing the duo now lay dead, with remnants of the blade of lightning that pierced them still visble.

Drake was mesmerised by the sight and could not catch his balance midair. He fell onto his face from quite a height.

Nord winced as Drake hit the ground with a painful thud, He walked up to him and offered a hand

"Thanks" Drake thanked him and took his hand, Sitting up. His face bruised and left arm bloody

The sudden rumbling of earth startled the both of them, The looked to see a massive Black Ragehound approaching them at a speed which seemed impossible for a creature of such size.

Nord sighed and raised his sword, Aimed at the beast at the beast. This time Black tendrils of Lightning manifested around the blade

Drake saw Nord projecting a different set of runes into his view, the runes filled and then drained of a brilliant blue glow

OVERDRIVE

a Black Bolt of energy Blasted out of his greatsword. it completely engulfed the giant creature and a split second later, What remained was the charred carcass and the Huge Crystal Fangs of the Ragehound. But what was more impressive was the magnitude of collateral damage done to the woods around the carcass. A line of Destroyed woodland stretched quite a distance from where Nord cast his spell

"Overkill?" Nord asked no one

"Overkill" Drake said, still sitting

"Anyways from what I can see we've got quite a haul today! look at all those crystal Fangs!"

"yea" Drake replied, a pained grin on his face

"oh" Nord realised and began to tend to his student's arm

He produced a disinfectant solution, a rag and a green orb from his hip pack.

after cleaning Drake's wounds, He cracked the orb with his fingers. The orb released a wisp of green smoke which Nord skillfully guided along Drake's arm. The Green smoke appeared to accelerate the healing of the wounds as Drake saw the scabs form and then fall off as the wound turned back into skin.

"what was that?"

Drake asked, Delighted

"That was a green resin pill, Evaser Squad's Latest creation, It's a breakable pill that contains one healing spell"

Nord explained

"It accelerates the natural healing of small wounds like this, But the pain won't subside. once the Adrenaline is gone, you're gonna feel it"

Drake Swallowed

“You lost control again didn’t you? I did tell you to moderate your mana flow, until we find the root cause of your explosive discharges, be very careful to use a third of what is normally required for spellcasting”

Drake rubbed his arm, already feeling the pain creeping across it like a fiery itch.

Nord retrieved a small burlap sack from his hip pack

"Now help me gather up these fangs, They're worth a pretty penny you know?"

Nord got up and continued about his business