Chapter 17 – Escape 2

On a hill in the inner rim of the forest, a young man sat in a cave in cognia. A white creature sat next to the entrance cautiously as it guarded the young man.

Soon, the young man coughed out some blood as the creature hurriedly went to his side. They were of course, our protagonist.

“Ji!”

“I’m okay.” Redius replied lightly patting on Ji’s head.

He had stayed in the cave for a few days after fleeing from the household groups chasing him. He immediately ate some of the healing pills he had made and after spending the whole time resting, his magic power was nearly completely back.

Most of his wound was healed apart from the deep cut on his chest. It would take a little more time to get that fully healed.

During the past few days, Ji had gone out and handled the food situation with killing monsters and bringing parts back for Redius to cook. Even though knights and magicians were powerful, they still had to eat.

Redius got up as he applied a healing paste on his chest and covering his wound. The tissues were growing back but still needed time. But he couldn’t wait longer. The longer he stayed in one place, the more dangerous.

“ji!” Ji said as he climbed back onto Redius shoulder, happy that he was better. Ji was a smart creature, and through their bond, Redius was able to tell completely what Ji wanted or said.

Redius walked out of the cave as he surveyed his surroundings. He had switched a couple of places during the last few days, but now he was on a mountain. He determined the direction and headed for the outside of the forest, to make his way back into the city. He could only be safe in the magician’s headquarters.

And so he steadily and cautiously made his way to the outer rims of the forest but he didn’t make it far. Everywhere he went, as if surrounding the forest, there were people of the major households. All either searching or resting and standing guard.

Redius clenched his teeth as he tried to think of a solution. He was anxious. There were far too many of them, and in his state, if he fought too much, his wound would reopen. He needed time. Time to heal at least.

At last Redius decided. If he couldn’t go out, he would go in. Further into the forest.

“Risks are what separates the successful, and the nobody.” He recalled his master’s voice in his head.

So, with a flame lit in his eyes, he turned around and headed deeper into the forest. Even one of the initiate level didn’t dare venture in too deep.

With a light blue aura on his feet, he jumped quickly from tree to tree until after a while, he came to a halt. He looked at the forest in front of him seemingly unending, but he could feel the air around him change. He knew that if he took a few more steps, he would be at the epicentre of the forest. It’s dark and mysterious air seem to hang heavily like a blanket of mist on the forest. Redius swallowed hard and continued. It took courage to take that final step into the unknown.

Right now, a far way back, in the middle of the inner rim, people were discussing Redius.

“Where is he? Did we miss him?” A man in green asked.

“Send more people. He has to be hiding around here.” A man ordered with a bandage around his eye. He was the one who was fighting Redius from the Ip family.

“What if… he went into the epicentre?...” The man standing next to him asked.

“Epicentre? Heh…” he laughed cynically. “Only a fool of an initiate would enter the epicentre. Let alone a disciple. He’s powerful, but he’s in over his head. He’ll be as good as dead.”

All three families were discussing about the same possibility, and each denied it. Even they feared what was inside the epicentre.

On the other hand, Redius had finally arrived at the epicentre. His stance ever so cautious, his eyes darting back and forth. He had to expect the unexpected.

“ROWRR!” A deafening roar resounded in the air. Redius head immediately snapped towards the direction of the roar.

Feeling it’s power, he immediately knew that it was of an initiate level. He had had his sense field up, anything within 40 metres he would’ve known. That meant, the monster was further away.

Suddenly, a blur entered his sense field, it was fast. Traversing his sense field in a matter of seconds. When it entered the field, he could finally see it. A light green furred, sabretooth. A beast capable of matching against a 2nd stage initiate knight. The light green signified it was attuned to the air element. That was why it was so quick, making it difficult even for a 2nd stage initiate to fight against.

“Damit!” Redius muttered his breath as he faced the oncoming threat. The beast was too quick to outrun. He must’ve entered into it’s territory. Each high levelled monster had their own territory, the stronger they were, the bigger their territory.

The sabretooth opened its mighty jaw revealing sharp teeth with two massive overbearing one at Redius as he was charging towards him. Within a second its mouth was on Redius, but he was not unprepared.

A massive block of ice appeared right in-between the sabretooth’s mouth as he bit down on it, releasing an agonized scream as he did so. A small icicle protruded from the corner of his mouth.

Redius, within the block had casted a much stronger version of the ice lance, so that when the sabretooth crushed the block, he would bit into the lance too. Only he underestimated the force of the beast as it crushed parts of the lance too reducing it significantly by size.

Redius knew he had no time to waste. The beast was pissed, and a pissed powerful beast is never a good thing. Ji and Redius made a move each in sync with each other.

Fire balls, ice lances and aura attacks came in intervals between the slashes that Ji made, the coordination between the two allowed no room for retaliation.

“ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!” Another massive roar came from it’s mouth and with it, multiple wind blades. Redius had forgotten that initiate level monsters, level F, could summon magic. This caught the two off guard as the dodged and parried the spell. But alas, a few got to them.

Blood spilled down Ji’s fur as the force of the wind blade carried him into mid air. Almost in a second, the sabretooth was on him, its huge fangs bearing down at Ji, surely taking Ji apart with its sharp and powerful jaw.

“NOO!” Redius shouted as he raised his hand as if to reach Ji. Only he was too far away.

Despair flooded Redius eyes, moments flashed before his mind. The first meeting of him and Ji. Training, playing around together. They could only find trust in each other. But that was all about to disappear. His only friend.

Suddenly Redius eyes which were blank with despair were filled with a black mist that covered his entire eye. Within a split second, a darkness fell upon the epicentre of the forest. The other monsters within the epicentre all shivered slightly as they stopped what they were doing and lifted their heads. Each wondering what power could make them so uneasy, furthermore… it instilled fear into their hearts.

Just as the sabretooth was jumping in mid-air, his mouth snapped closed, only to find itself biting into nothing. A look of confusion spread on it’s face as it watched Ji land on the ground and quickly get back into a defensive stance. Blood dripped from Ji, it wasn’t too serious, but just now, he couldn’t escape because he could not manoeuvre in mid-air. Ji turned its head towards the mane of the sabretooth to see a dark tendril from a tree holding tightly onto it. Ji then looked at Redius, concerned as his eyes were pitch black.

As the sabretooth was about to fall back onto the ground, another tendril came from another tree and wrapped itself around it’s torso.

“ROARR!” It struggled against it and sent magic flying towards the tendrils, but in vain as the magic seemingly disappeared upon contact.

Then more and more tendrils erupted, wrapping the beast’s limbs and neck. Till finally he was suspended in mid-air.

Then after a moment of silence, everything changed.

As if out of thin air, needle like smoky spikes shot from the ground piercing the sabretooth. Its scream echoed across the epicentre. But it wasn’t enough to kill him. It’s eyes met with Redius’. Only the sabretooth knew that it wasn’t because it wasn’t powerful enough, it was only because Redius’ didn’t want to kill him. Just yet.

As if answering to it’s realization, one by one other dark spikes came from the ground and penetrated it’s body. The screams were agonizing, it even reached the ears of the household members searching for Redius, causing sweat to pour from their face.

Finally it stopped, their eyes met again, only this time, the sabretooth’s showed fear. Yes. A powerful beast showed fear towards one that was weaker. Because it realized what Redius was doing, it could feel the dark smoky tendrils wrapped around this limps and body pulling. He struggled harder and harder but alas…

A sudden pull and the sky rained down with droplets of blood. The grounds dyed bright red. It was the scene of a massacre.

Ji shook itself but the blood still stained it’s fur. He looked at Redius who was standing, oblivious to the blood on his body, to the blood dripping down his hair and unto his face.

His dark filled eyes with his complexion and the blood slowly dripping from his drenched hair even gave Ji a slight shiver.

He stood, unmoving, like a grim reaper watching over the world. As if life before him, meant nothing.