"Well Teressa! At least you don't have to be afraid of being alone anymore! At least.." shouted Arya before he broke into silent tears. After standing there quietly for what felt like an hour, dawn break approached. Arya wiped away his tears and looked forward at the rising sun, he picked up the sword that lay in Gren's hand and began walking, his demeanor like that of a soul with no purpose.
Yet his eyes told a completely different story. There was a raging sea of flames in his eyes, a flame that would not be extinguished until its deed was done. "If this little detour has taught me anything, it's to never trust humans and that I am still weak beyond compare. If I'm going to find a way to get revenge, I need to learn more about how the magic in this world works. I need to find a school of some sort." thought Arya as he disappeared into the forest.
Hiding amongst a group of trees was a man dressed in black attire. "He seems to be emitting a faint mana signature, but it's not even at the level of a one-star mage. There's no way he could be an ice-mage." thought the man as he became a shadowy blur and ran in the opposite direction from where Arya was heading.
***
It took Arya longer than expected to make his way through the forest, although he had crossed the border into the Kingdom of Erandel a few weeks ago it still took him some time to find the first few fringes of human society. Arya had spent 6 long months walking through the forest alone, having to hunt wild animals to satiate his hunger, and at the same time hide from magical beasts looking to satiate their own hunger.
It had been a long time since Arya had laid his eyes on any humans, the last face he had seen was that of his defiled acquaintance, the image of human savagery permanently burned into his mind. Arya had turned five a few two months ago, though he himself didn't realize it. Due to the continual running and hunting done in the forest, his body has become quite fit for a five-year-old.
Humans usually couldn't survive for so long in a wild forest, even as a mage surviving alone was a daunting task that only a few could accomplish. So for Arya who was only four for most of the time and was barely a tier 3 zero-star mage, it was an unbelievable feat, the only reason he survived was his desire for vengeance. He had also used his knowledge of wildlife from earth to help him in situations where his magic proved useless. He had developed a near animal-like instinct and had nearly forgotten the etiquette of human society.
During his travels, there was a time he had gone for so long without food -because most of the animals that lived in the forest were either magical beasts who were too powerful for him to hunt or animals so swift that Arya couldn't hope to catch them with ice magic- that he was forced to steal the prey of a magical beast.
The beast was a Ryen, a wolf-type magical beast similar to the one that had caught him as a baby yet this was its evolved version. It had two horns protruding from its muzzle forming a vertical line. It had snowy white fur with red streaks on its sides showing its affinity for fire magic, it stood 2m tall from foot to head and was about 4.2m long in length.
The Ryen had killed a smaller beast called a Gryvel, a typical magical beast found in most forests with an affinity for air about 1m tall and 1.5m long with brown fur. Arya was exhausted and on the brink of starvation, he knew that if he went any longer without food he would cripple himself and eventually become too weak to hunt for food or even escape from danger.
This wasn't the first time he had met a Ryen on his journey and he knew that they had very keen senses, so all hope of sneaking up on its prey were squandered. Many times Arya would see magical beasts fighting over territory in the forest, and among all the beasts he had encountered the Ryens would always win.
Ryens were more proficient in using magic than Arya was, they seemed to use the method of magic that Arya had used when he first came into this world, however for some reason Arya couldn't use it anymore. He had tried to many times during his journey yet it seemed like he could only control the mana that was inside of his body.
A fight against such a magical beast even with magic as a weapon was senseless suicide, so Arya had to think of another way. "What would an apex predator be afraid of? What could possibly beat something so high on the food chain?" thought Arya as he watched the beast from several meters away. The beast was aware of Arya's presence yet it was too focused on its meal to pay any mind to a small insignificant being.
And that's when Arya's answer roared its challenge. It was another Ryen, this one about 1.9m tall and 4m long, it seemed younger and smaller than the Ryen it was challenging. This Ryen had white fur with light blue streaks on its sides, showing its affinity for air. The air Ryen didn't waste time, while its opponent was still confused by its howl it used air magic to increase its speed and aimed straight for the bigger Ryen's neck.
Yet that wasn't enough, the fire Ryen used fire magic to push its challenger away causing the trees around them to burn to the ground. Many animals that were hiding in the trees began running away in fear that they would get caught in the crossfire. The fire Ryen then hit its paws on the ground causing a wall of fire to move towards the air Ryen at a fast pace. However the air Ryen was faster than its opponent, it used the air around it to increase its speed and jumped into the air just barely making it over the wall of fire.
It was a trap, the fire Ryen was lying in wait, ready to pounce on the air Ryen the moment it landed. Just as the fire Ryen lunged on the falling air Ryen's neck a wind blade struck it in its throat. The air Ryen had shot a wind blade as the fire Ryen was about to tighten its grip, killing the fire Ryen.
However this victory wasn't without cost, the air Ryen had sustained grievous injuries so bad that it could barely walk. Blood spilled from its mouth and it lay down, trying to rest as much as possible before any other animals around it figured out the extent of its injuries.
However it was already too late, a nearby animal had already seen the fight, and had noticed the price the air Ryen had to pay to win it. The animal ran towards the downed air Ryen from a tree several meters away. It shot an ice beam at the already weakened air Ryen, although the magic was too weak to pierce its fur it still dealt some damage. The air Ryen growled in hostility at the oncoming animal yet the animal ignored it's protest and ran straight for its bounty.