*tap* *tap* *tap*
It was early in the morning yet a large group of knights and scouts can be seen moving across the forest. They moved in a formation that would leave no nook nor crannies unturned.
"Be careful team! Once you spotted the evil creature, do not immediately engage and notify the others!"
"Yes, Lead!!!"
On a particular side of the forest, a team was being led by a short busty young knight. She seemed to be the cute and cheerful type of girl.
"Lead! I found a little girl!"
A voice rang on the front. The whole team immediately slowed down and checked.
There, in a hollowed tree, was a small girl cowering in a corner. There was a basket of apples beside her and pieces of it scattered around. Her eyes were full of fear seeing a group of unknown people approach her.
"Hey, come out we won't hurt you."
The scout who found her smiled and reached out, intending to pull her over.
"NOOO!!!"
She shrieked in terror before immediately hugging herself. She visibly trembled as tears escaped her eyes.
The scout was shocked by her sudden scream. He fell on his butt with widen eyes.
"A-am I that scary? Grandma said I'm handsome and lovely..."
Ellie, the short busty young knight, immediately went over. She love kids. She can't help but feel sad seeing the ragged state of the little girl.
She kneeled beside the hollowed tree and gently spoke to her.
"Hey, I'm Ellie. Little girl, look at me. Big sis won't hurt you."
The voice seemed to be incomparably gentle that she slowly raised her head.
Ellie smiled and raised her hand.
"Can you please come out so I can see your beautiful face? Pretty please?"
The little girl looked at her hand and softly said,
"But I'm not beautiful..."
"Who told you? To me, you're the cutest girl I've seen!"
"Really...? But Jacky never told me that I'm cute..."
Ellie was a little surprised at the mention of another name.
"Who's Jacky?"
Hearing them asking about Jack, Sera immediately grew brighter.
"Jacky is the best person in the world!!! He takes care of me, and he protects me, and, and, he gives me food!"
"Really? He seems to be a very nice person!"
Seeing her agree with her, Sera becomes happier. She wasn't scared anymore and even went nearer to hold Ellie's hands.
Ellie was happy that her methods worked.
"My name is Sera. Big sis, you're the only one that believed me. The other kids all said that Jacky is a baddie! And that he's a ruthless person. Although now he might look scary, he is still very gentle! You must believe me!"
"Of course! Big sis believes you. But I wonder where's Jacky? The forest is very dangerous. We also need him to get out of here."
"Don't worry! Jacky must be getting some food. He will be here later."
It only took a few moments before they both got along well enough that Sera willingly let Ellie hold her.
"Ellie, I know you want to get along with her. But we don't have much time! We need to move lest we get left behind."
A seemingly cold and detached young man moved over. Ellie wore a hesitant look on her face as she stared back. He sighed.
"Go back Ellie. I'll hold your position and will temporarily be the leader."
'It's better for you to get back since the enemy this time seems to be dangerous. Don't worry, I'll take the blame for you.'
There was a rare hint of tenderness in his voice. Ellie knew what he meant since he was a close friend.
Everyone knows that the only reason she became the leader was not because of her strength. In fact, she was quite weak compared to others.
It was because of her good leadership skill that allowed the others to coordinate better and utilize their skills more skillfully.
However, ever since they've been improving by leaps and bounds, she slowly seem to grew useless as they gradually became flawless as a team.
She were only allowed to lead the team due to her teammates' insistence.
"But-"
"Ellie! You know yourself that you'll only hold us back. We can do without you. You should be the one to take her back."
Sera seems to get angry seeing Ellie get shouted at.
"Don't bully Big sis Ellie or I will tell Jacky you're a bad person!"
Ron looked at the pouting and frowning small girl in Ellie's arms and felt amused.
"Silly! He's just saying it out of concern. He's not bullying me."
Ellie gently knocked on Sera's head.
"I understand. Please look for Jacky Sera is referring to. Be careful Ron.
Ron nodded before everyone moved out.
"I can't go away! Jacky won't be able to find me!"
"Don't worry! My friends will look for him and bring him back. It's very dangerous on the forest so we need to go back."
"Okay..."
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...
.....
...
It was darkness. Just an endless stretch of darkness.
His consciousness seems to be scattered. Drifting in limbo, as it eventually gathered and he came back to his senses.
Jack felt sore all over his body. He slowly stood up and looked around. It seems he's still beside the river where he lost consciousness.
'I need to find Sera!'
Only one thought remained in his head. He left Sera alone for the whole night. He's worried. Very worried.
He wasted no time and dashed through the forest, even forgetting how sore his body is. He even made use of his enhanced sense of smell yet even after running for a few minutes, he didn't catched a whiff of Sera's scent.
His heart is beating faster more than ever. He can't lose her. He can't lose Sera now that he made her his purpose of living.
Suddenly, he came to a halt. He caught a glimpse of glimmering silver metal in the distance. It seems to be knights riding horses. What's more, they form a line that stretches across the vast forest, leaving him no room to escape. At this point, he will be discovered in no time. He might really never see Sera again.
Thinking quickly, he knows they will see him if he just suddenly bolted away and even if they don't, he'll just be cornered since they seem to be combing the whole forest. It seems that whoever they are, they're definitely a part of a powerful organization. Atleast something he couldn't take on.
His best bet is to hide and pray they don't find him and just pass by.
Looking around quickly, he found a lush tall tree and decided to silently climb it with his claws and hide in one of it's branches full of leaves.
*clop* *clop* *clop*
The knights were in full throttle dashing through the forest with no signs of stopping. Jack held his breath as they get near his tree.
As if they never notice anything, they dashed at the same speed, passing Jack.
'That was close.'
"HALT!!!"
A few meters away from Jack's tree, the knight wearing a helmet with a plume on the back of his head, different from the others ordered everyone to stop.
The other knights where confused at the sudden stop.
The knight that seem to be the leader looked up to the sky behind him.
"It's still morning. I know everyone hasn't eaten yet. Let's rest first. Come here Gabriel."
Although everyone is still confused on why they're suddenly stopped in the middle of an important search, noone questioned their leader and complied. They grab the pouch at the side of their horses and grabbed some dried biscuits inside.
Jack is even more confused. They seem to be looking for something, so why would they suddenly stopped and rest in the middle of the forest? They're even riding horses not running by themselves.
Something isn't right. Jack has a bad feeling about this. Yet, he remained as still as possible.
A guy with holding a bow walked towards the leader. His name is Gabriel.
"Yes Captain?"
"Wan't some biscuits?"
"Huh?"
Gabriel doesn't understand what his leader is up to. However, he still took the biscuits.
"Let me see your bow."
Gabriel handed his bow to his leader. Even given him an arrrow.
"Prudent."
The leader smiled. Slowly nocking the bow with an arrow.
"Feels good. Did you know I'm pretty good with the bow?"
Gabriel didn't even managed to respond when his leader suddenly spun around and released an arrow towards a branch of a tree. Wind whirled around the arrow as the leader enhanced the arrow with wind magic.
The arrow flew through the air at a rapid speed on par with a bullet. Jack didn't managed to react on time as the arrow narrowly missed his head but still ripped his mouth showing his sharp teeth.
"Ah. It seems I'm a little rusty."
The leader said with a calm smile.
Jack felt a chill run down his spine as he see the leader's pitch black eyes staring right back at his.
John Mendelev Alduin, Commander of the First Order of Chivalry.
A B-Class monster.