Elijah was walking through the Forbidden Forest with an happy and relaxed expression.
He felt the change the moment he entered it, his body felt lighter, the air had a subtle natural sweet smell that was refreshing.
His Thunderclaw Falcon was flying above his head, it was cawing excited. Even the cobra left his sleeves on its own, slithering through the grass.
Elijah was looking at the detailed map in his hands and nodded, it was well made and pointed out some spots that could be used to travel through the forest without getting lost. He was grateful to the Guildmaster that left it for him inside the space ring.
That wasn't the only thing, he also left some resources for his two beast, he even left a few Elite Grade Arts for him to learn. He wouldn't e able to use Silver Stream unless he was tired of living.
He took them out of his space ring and started to go through them.
He decided to train two Elite Grade Arts.
The Tyrannical Blade Art and the Galewalker Art.
The Tyrannical Blade Art excelled in generating power and killing while the Galewalker Art was somewhat similar to the Ghost Step Art he had already learnt.
Elijah looked for a quiet place to learn them, he wanted to at least reach the Initial Stage before going out to hunt down Demonic Beast.
It didn't take that long until it became dark, he had already found two small caves in which he could sleep in.
Elijah ordered the falcon and cobra to guard him while he was resting. Both beast showed intelligence and somehow managed to take turns to guard the cave. Elijah woke up when sunrays fell on his face.
He took out some water and washed himself, his breakfast was some meat that was stored inside his space ring. He gave his beast some of the things the Guildmaster gave him to eat.
He soon began to train his Martial Arts again with vigor.
Training the Tyrannical Blade Art was challenging, it was an overbearing and merciless Martial Art that put that strained the body and Soul Flux. But the results were very satisfying, his attacks became stronger and stronger. The Galewalker Art was easier for him to master.
It was thanks to his past experience with the Ghost Step Art that made it easier for him.
He didn't want to change his Martial Arts but the situation required it.
Warriors didn't learn many Martial Arts, they focused mostly on two or three Martial Arts and spent most their time improving them.
Elijah started from zero again, he adjusted his mind and focused on his training.
It was afternoon when he finally stopped his training, his whole body was sweating.
He freshened up, changing his clothes.
But Elijah had achieved his goal, reaching the Initial Stage in both arts.
Now it was time to go out and hunt.
Elijah ordered the Thunderclaw Falcon to scout the area for him.
The falcon cawed happily when it soared into the sky, Elijah sat down and focused on the link to the falcon.
His vision changed and he saw the forest from above, he was impressed by the keen eyes from the Thunderclaw Falcon. It wasn't even a week old but its beak and claws were already deadly weapons.
He enjoyed the experience to see through the eyes from the falcon, immersing himself within it.
It didn't take long until the falcon found their first target. It was only a Tier 1 Demonic Boar but Elijah didn't mind it, he wanted to try out his new Martial Arts.
He stood up with the cobra coiling around his arm.
The falcon kept an eye on the boar while Elijah rushed over.
He took out a Silver Rate one meter long, slightly curved black blade out from his space ring.
He hid behind one of the massive trees, observing the boar carefully.
Just when he was ready to strike something unexpected happened.
A huge figure fell down from above landing beside the boar that shrieked in fear.
The huge figure was huge and waved its scythe like arms at a speed that Elijah couldn't follow with his eyes.
The boar was cut into pieces before it could escape, shocking Elijah.
The new beast had two heads with six nimble legs. It heads looked like the head from a wasp, its carapace was shining with metallic light. It was at least 5 meters tall and had two long scythe like arms.
'Jesus Christ! Where did that thing come from?' Thought Elijah. The beast was clearly an insect but it was too huge. A sense of dread spread through his body while looking at that unknown beast, feeding with its two head on the pieces of the boar.
'A Tier 4 Demonic Beast!'
Elijah looked up and felt his scalp grow cold, there were at least 100 such Demonic Beast resting on the tree, they noticed him too when he looked up. Too many pairs of eyes fell on his body.
'RUN!!!' Screamed Elijah inside his mind.
Forget the Galewalker Art he immediately used his Ghost Step Art to flee at full speed.
He looked back and saw how a group of those beast jumped down from the tree, tailing him silently.
They were surprisingly fast for their height, making Elijah curse.
He didn't forget to order the falcon to retreat with him, the cobra hissed agitated inside his sleeve.
His body moved like a ghost through the forest, fleeing from the group of deadly insects that kept hunting him silently.
Elijah felt like crying, 'This place is Hell!'
*ROOOOOOAAAARRRRRR*
A mighty roar penetrated the air.
Elijah gazed back and was taken aback.
A massive 30 meters long and 3 meters tall crocodile like beast appeared from the side, shooting out a wave of hot flames from its mouth.
Some of the insects were burned to crisp by the fire. The massive beast didn't give the survivors any time to react and slammed into the group, with its humongous mouth wide opened.
It crushed those insects like they were a bunch of flies.
Elijah didn't dare to stop and kept fleeing with everything he had.
He only stopped when he felt that he was far away, he fell on his butt, panting hard.
His whole body was sweating, he used his hand to wipe away the sweat from his forehead and noticed that his hands were shaking.
He hadn't experienced that kind of terror before and needed time to calm down.
Elijah mocked himself for underestimating this place, he came here thinking that he would snatch easy kills, devouring plenty of souls and grow stronger without any problem. But this place was way too dangerous. It looked peaceful on the outside but...
Just thinking about those beast send a shiver through his body. Every single one of them could kill him like stepping on a bug.
His eyes became sharper, 'My foolishness could have cost me my live...I need to act with extreme caution from now on!'
Elijah tried to stand up, his legs were still shaking. He realized how weak he really was.
The falcon landed on his shoulder rubbing its head against his cheek.
Elijah caressed it, lost in thoughts.
He looked down at himself and took a deep breath.
The Soul Flux inside his body shook and surged.
The aura around him became very violent.
Both of his beast became scared, his expression was serious and his silver draconic eyes stared intensely into the deeper parts of the Forbidden Forest.
-----------------------------------
"Are you sure?" Asked a rough voice.
A cloaked person was observing the room while sniffing around, "No doubt, they were here but..." Answered the second cloaked person.
The other cloaked person with the rough voice snorted, "But what?"
"I'm not sure something is weird with this place."
"Someone was killed here." Said a third cloaked person who bent down, pointing at a pile of ash on the floor.
Elijah would recognize the room these persons were currently investigating, it was the small hut the Guildmaster had taken him to.
These people had still somehow managed to track them down all the way there.
The person who discovered the ashes stretched out his hands to touch it.
The second person sniffing around suddenly paled and shouted, "DON'T!"
It was too late the other cloaked person had already touched the ashes.
*BOOOOOOOOMMMMM*
An incredible explosion took place, demolishing the whole area.
Huge walls of flames burned on the hill where the hut once stood.
Two cloaked persons walked slowly out from the flames.
They looked at each other with ugly faces.
"What a waste, his bloodline was helpful for tracking down targets." Said the first person with the rough voice.
"It really is a shame, but we still have his older sister. I fear that we lost all trails with this." Spoke the other cloaked person, pointing to his back at the violent flames burning everything down.
"He will not be happy to hear this..." Said the person with rough voice.
"Don't worry, the Sacred Devil will guide us, the target will make a mistake at some point and we will be there then..."
"True!"