Time has a way of spinning our world in a certain direction. It can define who we are and where we are going. But time also has a way of destroying everything around us. It can turn the best into the worst and the worst into the best.
***
The brothers quickly crossed the teleportation gate, and after a few minutes of walking side by side, they finally came to the forest where Haste had killed the zone boss.
"So, why did you want to go hunting together?" Haste asked his hand on his sword pommel, ready to unsheathe his blade the moment he will see a monster.
"I just wanted to spend time with my little brother. And since I knew that you would have gone hunting after school, I just thought it would have been a good idea to tag along. Two birds with one stone."
"What about your training? Won't you participate in the interschool competition?"
"Where did you hear that there was a competition?" Jil asked, a little shocked.
"Someone who tried to use me told me about it."
"What a ba*tard," A vein almost popped out from his forehead.
"So? Won't coming with me hinder your progress?"
"Not really. Even though I'm strong among the third-year students, I'm not the best. So even if I try my hardest and train like a madman, I probably won't be able to go there."
"Really? How is it possible?" This time, it was Haste who was shocked. For him, the power that his brother Jil has is one of the strongest power he could possibly think of. Those who mastered animancy could control the living, the life force of people, life itself, and different life form that existed. Of course, it was only possible at a much higher level than Jil was now, but still. Not to add that the being who had blessed him only increase the strength of his power.
"Did you think that I was quasi-invincible?" Jil chuckled as Haste nodded. "Pfft, haha you're funny. But unfortunately, my power isn't the only thing I need to work on. There's no point in you knowing what I'm talking about since you are still too low level, but you will understand in due time. Not to add that I still need to improve my power. And since it will take time, it could wait a little bit. Spending time with you is more important to me right now." He smiled.
Seeing it, Haste's heart warmed a little. He began to believe that his brother was genuine about what he had said yesterday.
'There's something wrong. I can't shrug away this feeling that I'm playing in the palm of his hands,' Haste thought, smiling back. 'I'll see how it will go. But I should still be careful. Appearances are deceptive, after all. And the fact that he doesn't want to tell me what he needs to improve only adds fuel to the fire.'
As he thought that, he suddenly heard a growl coming from behind a tree. He immediately unsheathed his blade and waited for a second to see what type of monster was behind the tree. He couldn't charge blindly, after all, so he waited.
Jil went to the side and waited. He was there to observe his little brother. So he wouldn't move a finger.
Since the forest was quite dense, there was a lot of tree surrounding Haste. And he took not of that since he could use them if something bad happen.
'I hope this isn't a group of monsters and just a lone mon-..' Haste suddenly stop in his thought when he saw four black dogs coming from behind trees. 'Why did I think that? I just jinxed myself,' He cursed at himself and went into stance.
Even though now his level was higher than the black dogs in front of him, he was alone whereas they were four. He couldn't underestimate them because it would only lead him to death. So he was cautious.
One of the four dogs charged toward him while the other ran around to encircle Haste from all sides.
Since the dog went straight to him, he wasn't protected by anything. So Haste took this to his advantage and use his time manipulation to surprise the monster with his speed before slashing his sword toward his neck.
Everything happened so quickly that Haste once again almost crashed into a tree, while the dog's head was decapitated in mid-air.
[You killed a black dog]
[+9 EXP]
The three other dogs were all taken aback by the sudden loss of their companion, thus disturbing their formation. They all rushed toward Haste to avenge their dead friend, only to see the former run and hide his presence behind the multiple big trees that were present.
The dog couldn't smell him because the area was filled with a blood scent. The blood coming from their lost friend angering them even more.
One of the dogs ran toward where Haste headed earlier, only to be stabbed in the stomach the moment he crossed one of the big trees, dying on the spot.
Since two of their comrade had fallen, the two dogs left were cautious of Haste, so they move extremely slowly toward him. They took one little step at a time.
Since two enemies were easier than four, and since they were extremely cautious, Haste decided to be the predator this time.
He increased his speed, and in just a few seconds, he covered the dozen of meters that were separating him from the monsters.
One of them didn't have the time to defend himself and got stabbed in the heart, while the other one knew something like this would happen by instinct and was already in mid-air, trying to bite Haste's head.
The latter saw this coming from the last monster standing and ducked down, before slashing horizontally, thus cutting his back leg.
When the dog landed on the ground, he slide on it for a few meters before being stopped by Haste who pierced his brain with his sword.
Seeing all of that, Jil was quite surprised, to say the least. 'How in the world can he be that fluid when he was still a trash yesterday?' He thought with a smile on his face. 'And his increase in speed. I'm sure it's not just a spell that does that. It must be a special spell. Did he receive a blessing? Is it a spell that the being who blessed him gave to him for his first present?'
Jil had a lot of questions on his mind. He still couldn't understand how Haste could become so skilled in just a few hours. He had seen his fight yesterday with the giant black dog, and in normal circumstances, Haste would have pissed in his pants. And yet, he managed to kill him, and now, he was quite skillful at moving around and using the field to his advantage.
Jil's eyes could tell easily that his movements were sloppy, he had a lot of experience in fighting compared to him, after all. But coupled with Haste's brain that seems to know how to use the field around him to his advantage against a group of monsters, it didn't matter as much as he was in a plain field.
'It must be because he leveled up a lot after killing the boss. I don't see how he could have won against a group otherwise."