A woman in her early twenties dashed through a dense green forest with haggard breaths. Blonde hair fluttered behind her, dirt and grime covering it's natural shine. The woman's purple eyes momentarily hardened before she abruptly spun around, hand in front of her in a stopping position.
Not a second later a translucent large octagon, reaching an average man's height and width, emitting a white light came hurtling from the forest. The octagon knocked trees out of it's way with ease,leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Upon seeing the blond woman the Octagon only sped up it's already impressive speed.
Narrowing her eyes at the shape the woman steadied herself, preparing for impact. If one looked closely or could sense magic they'd notice a small almost invisible shield protecting her front. It didn't take long for the Octagon to reach its intended target..
The woman winced slightly as the sound of her shield taking the brunt of the shape's impact reached her ears. The noise was loud, and sounded like two blades clashing in combat. It didn't help that it was constantly getting louder and of higher pitch as time went on.
The woman struggled as the clashing of the two magics created a slight wind pressure causing her white and gold trimmed cloak she wore to shift and flutter slightly showing her clothing underneath. She wore a blue dress shirt with small pieces of armor, damaged black pants, and a pair of boots. The woman's beautiful face showed deep concentration as the blond held back the octagon with difficulty.
Slowly moving herself to the side the woman held onto her concentration. After she had moved from the octagons path the woman released her shield with a tired grunt. She watched as the octagon flew deeper into the forest leaving knocked over trees behind it.
The woman inhaled and exhaled deeply. Holding off the octagon had taken a visible toll on the woman, her white smooth skin had turned paler than normal. She had been running within the forest for the last hour, trying and failing to lose her pursuers. This latest attempt to damage or capture her had drained the last of her reserves. She was running on fumes.
However, the woman shook off her tiredness, she could feel the mana of her would be capturers approaching. That octagon told her that they could track her, but the question was how? Nonetheless she couldn't afford to stand idle.
Brushing a stray piece of hair behind one of her pointed ears she set off deeper into the forest.
...….
Demetrius stared blankly at the sun above him, not at all bothered by the direct sunlight hitting his eyes. The blacked haired older brother layed comfortably on a patch of grass within a green forest. A pair of clawed gauntlets resting next to his head.
'It's strange seeing the sun again, and feeling it's warmth.' Demetrius thought as he ran his hands through the blades of grass that surrounded him. His brother doing the same, but with a smile plastered on his face rather than a neutral look.
It had been an hour since the being who called itself "Tri" had unlocked their powers and sent them to this new world of swords and magic. The Brothers already somewhat tested their new abilities, and found them working as the being said they would. Howver they hadn't given their new powers a full run through.
The area they rested in was too small and Demetrius didn't want to damage the forest. He stated that someone could be watching over it. If they were to damage it there could be possible problems. Xavier upon realizing this stutteringly agreed.
Demetrius barely frowned upon thinking of his brother's stuttering. The man needed his confidence back. From what he could remember of his life before the void his brother had a ridiculous amount of charisma, and led a group called the "Meme Lords".For as stupid sounding as this group was, the bits and pieces of memories related to it showed they were not to be toyed with.
But this was a later problem. Right now information was the current one. Tri had given them the bare minimum when it came to the present status of the world. Tri gave them country names, wars going on, some culture, and other miscellaneous things.
Overall it wasn't enough.
' This lack of resources and information needs to be quelled immediately.' Demetrius thought coldly, still staring at the sun.
Suddenly Demetrius snapped out of his thoughts, a slightly curious glint within his eyes as he lowered his gaze at the forest . He had sensed something, and judging by the look his brother gave him Xavier had as well.
'Curious, now what could that be?' Demetrius thought. If it was a person they'd be invaluable. The brothers needed information and they needed it fast. If it wasn't then they'd just ignore it before heading out.
Sitting up Demetrius sent a quick pulse of soul casting into the forest. Almost Immediately he had received an answer to his question. One of his eye brows only raised slightly in curiosity before it went back down.
" Thirty humans and one non-human female, and judging by the slowly dwindling life force of the non-human they must be hunting it." Demetrius said out loud so his brother could hear him.Already Demetrius began to simulate what would happen.
His brother nodded slightly with a certain look on his face that Demetrius could tell was concerne.
" What's concerning you brother?" Demetrius said, stopping his mind and bringing full focus on Xavier.
Xavier looked hesitant to speak, but eventually stuttered out a response.
" I-Im s-sure y-you n-noticed b-but t-the h-human s-souls a-are b-black, w-while t-the n-non--human i-is w-white." Xavier responded timidly.
Tri had informed them that Xavier has a small affinity to the soul because of the void. Not enough to use Soul Casting to its full potential but enough to sense the souls around them and other small abilities.
" You are correct in that assumption. I did in fact notice this detail. However I fail to see why this would be important." The older brother responded calculatingly, causing Xavier to flinch.
Demetrius didn't really care how good these people were. As long as they didn't attack him or his brother he'd careless if an innocent white soul perished. It simply wasn't his problem. He wanted information, but he didn't know where he was in the power scale of this world so he couldn't risk combat yet.
Xavier however was different. While he had lost all of his confidence, his good heart remained. He wasn't overly heroic or anything of the sort, but he wasn't one to stand by as an innocent was killed. Even if it put them in some danger.
Demetrius knew that Xavier would try to convince him to save the innocent soul. Xavier's too good of a person not to. Would he accept? It depended on Xaviers presentation.
Demetrius watched as his brother gathered up some confidence before looking at demetrius straight in the eye.
" H-how about we w-watch from afar, a-and decide i-if we c-can h-help. I-if there t-too powerful we c-can l-leave" Xavier spoke with less stutterers than normal.
Looking up at his little brother Demetrius put a miniscule amount of force behind his stare. It was almost comical how quickly Xavier's confidence broke into a million pieces. Xavier had to look away nervously to avoid sweating profusely.
Demetrius let out an inaudible sigh at his brother's timidness. He really needed to fix that confidence problem.
" Fine then brother. We shall watch from afar. If I believe we may be capable of helping we shall. If not, we will leave the non-human to it's fate." he said as he stood to his full height, grabbing and putting on the clawed gauntlets as he did so.
His brother smiled slightly as he stood as well.
Both brothers now ready turned their gaze towards the forest. Or more accurately the non-human running within.
"I'll take lead, Xavier, you'll watch my flank." Demetrius said, getting a conformational hum from Xavier.
Then almost as both brothers were never there, they disappeared. Leaving the small patch of treeless land barren. Only having the grass and occasional flow to keep it company.