Tat! Tat! Rustle! Tat! Tat!
Rion burst through some bushes as he ran for his life through the Vallen forest not seeing the exposed tree root in front of him which aused him to fall to the ground panting unable to run any longer his body exhausted.
Thud! Hah! Hah!
He crawled towards a tree with the last of his energy before he lay against it as the sound of the Mana Beast's that had been chasing him got closer and closer their growls and howls becoming louder.
GRRRRR! AWOOOO!
Rion tried to move his body but it was no use due to how tired his body was no matter how hard he tried it was too exhausted to respond.
Rion rested his head against the tree and looked skyward "Is this the end of my life already?" Rion said quietly to himself as the Mana Beast's drew closer.
As they did his thoughts wandered back to how he ended up in this dire situation in the first place.
~~~~~
40 minutes earlier
Rion looked over his father's shoulder as they continued to run through the Vallen forest only to see numerous Mana Beast's running after them on the ground, some swang through the trees while other's flew through the sky.
Everywhere Rion looked all he could see were Mana Beast's but he had noticed something odd about the Mana Beast's and that was they all had blood-red eye's which indicated one thing.
This was the telltale sign of the Mana Beast's had gone into a berserk state when a Mana Beast goes berserk it's strength, speed and defence all double making even the weakest of Mana Beast's can become a threat. Usually the berserk state only affected them one at a time in the entire history of Histenia there had never been a single recorded event of this many Mana Beast's going berserk all at the same time in last 500 year's.
Seeing the state the Mana Beast's were in Rion quickly warned his father "Father the Mana Beast's have gone berserk" Rion said letting his father know about the danger behind them.
Nialan's eye's widened slightly when he heard what Rion said before he quickly schooled his expression and looked towards Yutas and Zeldain who both give him a nod of their heads in understanding.
Nialan looked towards Kanro and Lanat "Kanro, Lanat you two get Rion, Leios and Mexin out of here while Yutas, Zeldain and I keep the Mana Beast's occupied long enough for you to escape" Nialan said brokering no argument from Kanro and Lanat.
Kanro and Lanat looked conflicted about whether to follow their father's order or to stay behind and help "Take this so when you have gotten out you'll be able to contact us" Nialan said before handing Kanro a small square blue device.
After Nialan handed Kanro the communication device and saw that they were leaving he, Yutas and Zeldain all turned around and sent out attacks of their elements at the approaching Mana Beast's.
Nialan unleashed a jet of reddish grey fire that had a cold lifeless aura showing Nialan had used his Death element in tandem with his Fire element burning any Mana Beast's unfortunate enough to be caught by the reddish grey flames to turn to ash as he swung his sword that was wrapped in his Lightning element cleaving any Mana Beast's he missed in two.
Yutas used his Earth element to unleash a barrage of spikes from the earth as he used his Nature element to make the roots of the tree's come to life as they lashed at some of the Mana Beast's while restraining some of the other's while using his Poison element to dispose of the Mana Beast's he had trapped.
Zeldain used his Darkness element to release pitch-black arrows that corroded everything they made contact with while using his Wind element to increase their speed as his eye's glowed with a violet light as he used the Mind element causing any of the Mana Beast's that crossed his path to collapse to the floor in pain.
Rion had wanted to stay and help but considering he had no way to fight against such a numerous amount of Mana Beast's he knew that he would only get in the way and reluctantly did as his father asked them.
As explosions and the cries of Mana Beast's resounded from behind them Rion and the other's kept running knowing that despite them being vastly outnumbered their father's still had a much better chance of survival than they did.
The five of them continued running for the next ten minute's "Look we can see the barrier let's hurry up and get out of here so father and the other's can follow us" Kanro said as they continued running towards the barrier in the near distance.
Kanro, Lanat and Mexin led the way making sure not to run too fast allowing Rion and Leios who were not far behind them to keep up with them. Luckily for Rion and the other's they had stayed relatively close to the barrier so it didn't take them long to arrive at the barrier wall.
The reason why Mexin was able to keep up with Kanro and Lanat despite not having awakened his first core was that all Beastmen had the innate ability to shift into Beast's.
Mexin's beast form was the same as his father's Zeldain which was a white Tiger but he had black stripes as he hadn't awakened his first core yet. His father's however was a mix of purplish-black which represented his Darkness element, violet which represented his Mind Element and a light green which represented his Wind Element.
Despite Kanro's, Lanat's and Mexin's efforts to slow down Rion and Leios still fell behind "Lanat you and Mexin should head on through and send a message to father while I stay here to make sure nothing attacks Rion and Leios" Kanro said as he tossed the square device that his father handed before.
Lanat looked like he wanted to argue with his older brother but he knew that it was the best decision and quickly nodded his head before he and Mexin ran through the barrier.
Once Lanat and Mexin were through the barrier Kanro turned around "Hurry up" he shouted to Rion and Leios as an orange flame appeared in his hand ready to attack any Mana Beast's that may appear.
Rion and Leios ran as fast as they could hoping they could reach the barrier before the Mana Beast's caught up to them.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't on their side when they were around 15 feet from the barrier they heard Kanro's voice shout "Look out" before an explosion came from behind them quickly followed by a blast of hot air and multiple howls of pain.
BANG! WOOSH! AWOOOO!
The explosion knocked Rion and Leios off their feet as they had been unprepared for it but despite the pain, it caused he and Leios both quickly got up even though their bodies protested and carried on running.
Rion only gave a quick glance back before he saw the burning bodies of Inga Wolves "Quickly you two that won't stop them for very long!" Kanro shouted causing Rion to quickly regain his focus and carry on running towards the barrier.
After Rion and Leios arrived at the barrier they saw that Kanro was exhausted he had been using his mana to stop the Inga Wolves from getting close to Rion and Leios as they made their way to the barrier.
It took longer than it should have for them to arrive at the barrier and even though Kanro had only been doing this for around 2 minute's the worry that his brother could get hurt made him use more mana than he usually would.
Even though he was exhausted he still made sure that Rion and Leios were okay "Are you two okay?" Kanro asked to which Rion and Leios nodded their head letting him know they were fine.
Kanro was so focused on making sure that Rion and Leios were okay that he didn't notice the Inga Wolf that was approaching him from behind.
Rion was the first to notice the wolf "Kanro look out!" Rion shouted as he pointed behind his brother.
Kanro turned to look just as the Inga Wolf was attacking luckily Kanro was able to fire off a ball of fire with the last of his mana but not without the Inga Wolf scratching him with it's claws.
GRRRR! BANG! AWOOOO!
Rion and the others were too close to the explosion and the resulting force sent all three of them flying Leios and Kanro were sent in the direction of the barrier while Rion was sent in the direction of the forest.
Thud.
Rion rolled along the floor but came to a stop when his back hit a tree the resulting collison knocking the wind out of him "Crap that hurt" Rion said as he recovered from the impact.
Rion didn't have time to get his bearings as he heard the roars and growls of Mana Beast's getting closer so he ran towards the barrier.
When he got there the last remaining bit of hope he had vanished the barrier had sealed itself not allowing anyone in or out of the barrier. Seeing as he had no other option Rion took the only option he had left and ran back into the forest knowing staying here was more dangerous than being in the forest.
~~~~~
Snap!
Rion came out of his thought's when he heard the snap of wood in front of him to see a pack of four Inga Wolves staring at him with hunger in their eye's.
He had managed to kill one of them thanks to his father's training when he accidently stumbled upon a pack of 5 as he was looking for someplace to hide. Seeing their pack member dead before them ended up angering them causing them to give chase.
As soon as he saw this Rion tried to move his body with every fiber of his being but it was no use no matter how hard he tried his body was too exhausted to respond to his desperate bid at surviving.
Realising he couldn't escape Rion rested his head against the tree as he looked skyward "Is this the end of my life already?" Rion said quietly to himself as the Mana Beast's drew closer.
Rion opened his eye's and looked at the Mana Beast's that were slowly making their way towards him 'I guess this really is the end' Rion thought to himself.
Rion lay motionless as the Mana Beast's crept towards him waiting for his painful end.
When the Mana Beast's were only a few feet from him Rion hardened his gaze "No I won't die like this... I refuse to!" Rion said as he stared defiantly at the approaching Mana Beast's
As he looked at them he felt an odd sensation in his body that was both soothing and painful he didn't have any time to immerse himself in them as his body suddenly swelled with energy before two light's burst forth from his body.