Once I reached the forest, I stopped to get my plan together. One quest was to bring back the fangs and horns of five Red-horned wolves like the ones I beat before. The second was to collect ten Afru fruit, an Afru fruit was a long bright yellow fruit with orange specks. It grows on a towering tree that spouts sticky sap so it is quite hard to collect. The last quest was to collect the claws of a Blue-horned wolf, a close relative to the Red-horned wolves.
"White Bun, do you think you can get the claws of the Blue-Horned wolf while I get the Red-horned wolves? Then we'll meet up to get the fruit," I asked while pushing a large leaf out of my way. "We'll meet up at this exact location, don't get lost,"
"Leave it to me, Miss!" He saluted and jumped off my shoulder, heading in the opposite direction. Left all alone now, I picked up my pace and listened out for any strange rustling in the bushes and kept my eyes peeled for strange movements.
'There is a pack of wolves to the west of you' Al's voice interjected, my thoughts.
"How do you know?"
'Perception. Perception is when you release your magic sense to the outside, depending on your level of understanding you can expand it over the entire Belial forest or sense smaller and smaller things,'
"What magic, sense? Can I learn that too?"
'It's essentially feeling the mana in the outside world and using that information to sense your surroundings. The more elements you resonate with and the more you understand them, the more proficient you can become at using magic sense,'
"Outside world? Isn't that rare? Liz said two people have accomplished it,"
'...Is that stopping you from trying?'
"Fine," I sighed and changed directions to head west. Just like Al said, I soon spotted seven wolves munching on a young wild boar. Their fur was drenched in fresh blood and their teeth ripped off each strand of flesh from the carcass whose ribs protruded into the air. The ribs covered with chunks of red flesh dripping blood drop by drop. I ducked behind a bush, not once letting my eyes wander from their figures. I licked my lips, staining it in a shiny gloss. Just as I was about to pull off my eye patch and explode the wolves with blood manipulation, my hair stood at the back of my neck and my heart raced in my chest. My stomach twisted in my abdomen and I knew for certain something was off.
I snapped my head back and looked around, searching for the source of my unnerving. I stopped my hand from peeling off my novel and smiled. A figure zoomed past a tree, a strand of red hair flying behind them, and I instantly knew I was being followed.
'Are you going to do something about him?' Al questioned.
"No, I won't attack if he doesn't," I ignored the figure and pulled out six sickles, placing them between each finger. I turned my sight back to the feasting pack of wolves. I jumped from my hiding spot, tossing three of the sickles at different wolves. Blood splattered to the floor. The wolves stopped in their tracks. The three wolves pierced between the brows fell to the ground with a thunderous thump. Before the other wolves could regain their composure another three sickles shot from my fingers decisively cutting down three more wolves leaving one standing.
A booming growl erupted from its lungs, shaking the air, but I remained unfazed. It sprinted towards me with heavy footsteps, but just before it could slam its bloody teeth down on my arm I stabbed it with a dagger in its skull. I ripped the dagger out and slammed it back into its skull, a puree of pink brain matter slowly squeezing from the hole in its head. I knelt and dug out all the wolves' fangs and claws and wrapped them in a large leaf before shoving it in my bag.
I stood up and wiped the sweat off my forehead, getting ready to head back to the meeting place White Bun and I decided on. 'Do you know what his goal is'
"No idea, once he doesn't disturb me I'll be fine," I replied with a yawn as I manoeuvred through the thick underbrush.