**2 days before the hunt**
Akio knew if he wanted to survive he would have to learn about the forest, the creatures, the plant life and most importantly its food chain. If the forest was filled with monsters like the one he saw when he first got there then he needed to do his best to avoid them.
"I can't believe this bull shit. I didn't ask to come here and I didn't mean to kill that goblin dude! If I ever find Himari again I'm going to throw her over a cliff!" Akio said in anger while walking deeper into the forest.
Akio kept walking and marking areas in his mind. He did this for a couple hours until he got a chilling feeling that he was being watched. He jumped up on a strong looking tree branch and started jumping from tree to tree with haste. He kept feeling a weird sensation that can only be described as a "Predator's glare" or more accurately the feeling of being hunted. He kept jumping for a couple minutes but couldn't shake the feeling so he decided to jump down and deal with the issue head on.
"I know you're watching me you creep, show yourself!" Akio yelled attempting to sound tough.
"Well well demon boy it seems like your sensory skills aren't half bad." A voice said from the shadows.
Out of the shadows came a wolf man with black fur, red eyes and sharp teeth. While focusing on the creature Akio noticed an eery, dark aura around it which he'd never seen before. He began gripping is chest, it felt as if his heart was about to pop out of it. He wanted to run but he was paralyzed with fear. The wolf man began sniffing in Akio's direction.
"Oh goodie, The beautiful scent of fear is strong on you. I don't give you wrong though, I am a member of the shadow wolf tribe, blessed by the demon prince Fenriz of the Shadows." The wolf man said with pride.
"What the hell is this crazy thing talking about?" Akio thought as he began panicking even more.
"Your heart beat is annoying, calm it down or I'll rip it out of you." He said with a deadly stare.
After a few deep breathes he calmed down a bit and felt as if he could move again. The wolf man smiled at him and began to introduce him.
"My name is Roland of the shadow wolves, my tribe picked up a scent resembling that of a higher demon tainted with a human odor so they sent me to check it out." He said calmly.
"So that's what I am? A demon? Is that why I killed that goblin?" Akio thought with a confused look on his face.
"I'm guessing you're a half breed but to what faction do you belong too?" Roland asked.
"Ummm, faction?" Akio replied lifting an eyebrow.
"You know, what demon lord do you belong to?" He asked Akio impatiently.
"I don't know what you're talking about and how do you even know I'm a demon?" Akio asked.
"Well other then the demon blood that I smell in you, there is a pentagram on your chest showing that you've been transported here from the underworld." Roland replied.
"So that's what that is." Akio thought.
"Well since you seem to have no clue about which demon lord you belong to, I guess I can just kill you here and be done with it." Roland said as his face went back to that of a savage killer.
In that moment Akio had a flash back. He remembered the moments before waking up in the forest. The room filled with darkness and the man with the glowing red eyes. Roland extended his nails and rushed at Akio with intentions to kill.
"SANGUIS OF TARTARUS!" Akio yelled at the top of his lungs.
*Roland stopped his attack with his nails less then an inch away from Akio's face*
"What did you just say?" Roland asked with a shocked expression.
"I said Sanguis of Tartarus." Akio replied.
"That's impossible! Lord Tartarus has never found someone worthy enough to send to Maho before and I doubt he'd send a wimpy kid like you!" Roland yelled angrily.
"I swear that's what the red eyed man said his name was in the dark room!" Akio pleaded.
"Is he talking about the north side of the underworld? The Dark realm? Lord Tartarus is the emperor of that realm but I still can't believe he'd send an ignorant weakling to this world." Roland thought.
"If you are what you say your are then show me your magic! Children of a demon lord must have the same unique magic nature as their creator. Tartarus has the unique irregular magic nature known as blood magic, which is easily seen by red eyes when the magic is activated." Roland said.
"What the hell is a magic nature?!" Akio said with great confusion.
"ARE YOU SERIOUSLY THAT IGNORANT? HOW DARE YOU CLAIM THE NAME TARTARUS AND BE THIS DUMB!" Roland yelled beyond irritated.
"I just got here man cut me some slack!" Akio replied.
Roland began to explain. Magic is split into two different groups, these two groups are known as themes. The first theme is known as the nature theme, comprised of the five main elements: Fire, water, earth, air and lightning. In rare cases when someone has a strong affinity for two or more elements, these elements can be combined to create new magic spells. Anyone that uses the nature theme receives their mana from nature. The second theme is the irregular theme. Magic only falls under the irregular theme when the spells aren't that of the elements or aren't a mix of the elements. Irregular magic is supplied by divine beings such as dragons, gods, angels, demon lords and other higher demons.
"Was that explanation good enough for your tiny brain?" Roland asked.
"Yea I got the gist of it I think." Akio replied.
"Now show me your blood magic or you die right here kid." Roland said impatiently.
"I understand how magic works now but you can't expect me to know how to do it!" Akio said trying to reason with the furry wolfman.
"Then I'll help you." Roland said with an eery smile.
"wha-?"
Roland grabbed akio by the neck and looked him dead in the eyes.
"If you don't want to be choked to death I'd recommend activating your magic kid!" Roland said.
"I can't believe I'm going to die like this, a 16 year old orphan killed by a wolf man. Well mom and dad I'll be seeing you guys soon." Akio thought as he slipped into unconsciousness.
"You are no longer the child of Naomi and Asahi Takahashi. You are mines! Now wake up and show your enemies the power of BLOOD!" A familiar dark voice said.
Akio woke up, grabbed an arrow out of his quiver and stabbed Roland's shoulder. Roland then dropped him and jumped backwards to create some distance. Akio landed on his knees with his head down.
"If you're not going to show me your magic then I'd suggest dying on the sp-"
Akio lifted his head, along with a face of pure rage and desperation were eyes the color of blood. The veins began popping out of the sides of his eye sockets stretching back to his hairline.
"So it's true." Roland said as he pulled out the arrow and bowed.
"I apologize for my previous action young lord, please accept my apology." He said with his head down.
"Raise your head Roland." Akio said in a calm tone.
"You will repay me for your insolence by helping me with a little goblin problem I have." Akio said with a serious expression.
"What kind of problem?" Roland asked as he got back on his feet.
"In roughly 2 days I will be hunted by an entire tribe of goblins. Seeing that you're a strong looking creature yourself maybe you and your clan can help me resolve the issue." Akio said.
"As much as I'd love to be of service to a higher demon such as yourself, me and my tribe have a treaty with the goblins in this forest." Roland replied.
Akio sighed with a look of disappointment.
"Why form a treaty with those jerks?" He asked with his arms crossed and his lips pushed out.
"Well even though we are superior to them in combat, they are far superior to us in numbers. There are roughly 8 goblin tribes surrounding the forest, each tribe housing about 70 goblins. The shadow wolf tribe has about 40 members at the moment due to a civil war we're still recovering from. So as you can see we can't start fighting unnecessary battles" Roland replied.
"So basically, I'm dead." Akio said as he started to panic again.
"Why are they chasing you anyway?" Roland asked out of curiosity.
"I kinda killed this goblin guy by accident and his girlfriend or whatever declared that her entire tribe was going to hunt me." Akio explained.
"But they wouldn't practice a blood for blood hunt unless- Did this goblin you killed have weird red lines on his forehead?" Roland asked.
"Umm yea what about 'em?" He replied.
"How many red lines did his forehead have?" Roland asked.
"Three I believe." Akio replied.
"Yea you're dead." Roland said with a straight face.
"WHAT?" Akio replied as he started to panic once again.
"How did you manage to cause trouble with the most savage goblin tribe in the forest? Matter of fact, how do you accidentally kill something?" Roland asked.
"It's complicated and I don't feel like explaining it." Akio replied.
"Whatever you say young lord. Since Tartarus is the leader of the north quadrant and the territory of Fenriz lies in that quadrant, I am obligated to help you to the best of my abilities." Roland said as he bowed once again.
"Alright if you can't help me fight then you can at least help me map out the area and lay down traps." Akio said.
"I can do more than help with traps." Roland said with a smile as he stood back up on his feet.
"What do you mean?" Akio asked.
"You'll see." Roland said as he retracted his claws into his fingers.