Another day of walking through the forest and hunting for some low-level monsters. I think to myself as I slice through a slime hitting its core, and instantly killing it.
"So boring."
It's been nearly thirty minutes since we split up but I still haven't found any goblins.
"Just some weak slimes."
I swing my sword toward the ground to get the slime residue off.
"I should probably pick up the pace."
Such a mundane task. I've come across goblins before when I would go off and train alone but this is the first time I'm hunting them with Father and Isamu.
I felt up to the task when father first suggested I go with him for this little quest, but I didn't expect Isamu to want to tag along too. Truth be told, hostile monsters scare him.
Father and I are aware of this fact, but Isamu was insistent on coming with us.
Can't blame him for fearing them, goblins are vicious, and they can scare anyone when dealing with large numbers of them.
I didn't think he would stay after the suggestion to split up, but after he received the barrier crystal from Father I don't think there's anything to worry about.
...
A disgusting stench began to envelop the area.
"Ugh. Something died nearby."
Just then a bush a couple of feet in front of me moved.
"Hm?"
I stopped running to investigate what was moving in the bushes.
"Another low-level monster I assume."
I unsheath my sword and move around the bush.
Upon seeing the source of the sound I stopped.
A goblin, both legs broken and it was covered in blood, lay on the ground desperately crawling leaving a trail of blood behind it.
"What the hell happened to you?"
Finally noticing my presence the goblin stopped and lifted its head to look at me.
A look of fear and desperation met my eyes.
I stared at this helpless, pathetic-looking monster and proceeded to stab its heart through the back.
"Wonder what happened? Did another adventurer beat us to the punch?"
I bent down and turned the corpse over to its side.
"Or maybe not..."
Deep claw marks stretched across its chest and abdomen.
I let go letting the corpse flop back to the ground.
"This was created by another monster, likely a beast, but which one?"
I look toward the trail of blood the goblin left behind.
"Let's find out."
...
As I was walking further along the blood trail I had to cover my mouth as the dead smell kept getting worse.
Damn, it reeks. There's an opening in the trees ahead, the source of this awful stench must be there. It crawled pretty far considering its wounds, I've been walking for almost a hundred yards now.
I reached into my pack for the crystal father gave me and walked through the trees to an unpleasant sight.
So many mutilated goblins. Walking through puddles of blood and flesh I inspected some of the corpses to find the same size claw marks as the one from before.
"These goblins weren't eaten, just ripped apart and left to rot."
It's not uncommon for monsters to attack each other, so this situation didn't surprise me. Except...
"These paw prints are far larger than any beast that resides in this area."
"This massacre looks to have only been caused by one beast, I'm unsure of which beast it could be, but they are strong."
Just then a flock of birds flying over me caught my attention, followed shortly by a roar from the distance.
"That... came from the south..."
"Isamu..."
Without hesitation, I sprinted as fast as I could toward Isamu's direction, going past even more goblin corpses on the way.
Whatever this is I don't think Isamu can handle it, I'll go and make sure he's ok.
As I was running I could see water in the distance flying over the trees in the southwest.
Isamu must be running. I quickly switched courses.
Why didn't he activate his crystal? I wanted to check on him beforehand but I better activate mine right now.
I pour my mana into the crystal and it illuminates in my hand.
Ok, Father should be here soon. I put the crystal back into my pack right after.
...
I still don't get it, the highest-level beasts we have in this area are only C-Rank but they aren't very big, and while goblins are also C-rank, even beasts can struggle with dealing with them if they have high numbers.
Did we just go far enough that we're in a different area now?
Just then a faint sound of something crashing in the distance reached my ears.
Doesn't matter, I just need to make it to Isamu.
Faster. I push myself just a little more whizzing through the forest even making the leaves and the bushes move.
...
A black figure begins to come into view through the trees
Is that the beast? that thing is huge.
The beast seemed to be walking toward something with an intense look in its eyes.
I look over and there he is covered in blood...
Isamu.
The beast was now just a foot away from him.
Shit...
...
Still moving at the same speed and unsheathing my sword, I leaped through the opening and soared just over its head.
It let out an agitated roar and backed away from Isamu.
I sliced its eye flying by and landed in a nearby tree.
I could've completely sliced off its head, but it might've fallen on Isamu if I did that.
It spun around in circles trying to find me.
But I see how the goblins were slaughtered now. That beast is a Sabered Black Tiger.
They rank around B+. What is it doing here?
It continued turning around searching for me, whilst letting out a fearsome snarl.
I don't see another glowing crystal nearby, I guess he did lose it.
Whatever, it doesn't matter now. Isamu is bleeding out, I need to be fast.
I obscurely point the palm of my hand across the opening to the other trees and use my earth magic to shift the ground causing the bushes to move.
The tiger quickly spun around and let out another snarl.
Now. I leaped from the tree once again flying over the black tiger
I took another swing at it landing a nonintentional cut.
I flew past and landed on the ground a few yards away.
It lets out another roar and turns toward me, staring me down with its dreadful red eyes.
Damn it, It moved its head at the last second. I wanted to slice the other eye, but chopped its ear off instead.
I hear Isamu whisper my name, I glance at him and then back to the black tiger.
"Good, you're alive. Stay still and keep your breathing steady, Isamu."
I take out the glowing red crystal and toss it onto his lap.
"Father will be here shortly."
He faintly whispers his gratitude to me.
"...By the way, what happened to your barrier crystal?"
...
No answer, he's unconscious.
I could've finished off this oversized cat had my attack landed where I wanted it to, but now I'm in its line of sight and it has my scent... No matter.
The ground suddenly started moving and shaking violently causing the tiger to struggle keeping its balance.
A dome made of rock formed around the tiger trapping it in darkness.
Now just wait there a second.
I dashed toward Isamu and searched through his pack.
He lost his barrier crystal too. I looked around the ground near him, until the tiger suddenly burst out from my dome.
I let out a sigh. Even if I could, I can't fight it head to head with a sword and kill it in time and tend to Isamu's wounds.
...
Unless.
...
I fire an unsuspecting ground spike straight toward the tiger, but it managed to still dodge it.
Just as I figured, as big as it is its reflexes will be tough to get around.
I let out a few more back-to-back ground spikes to try and pierce the tiger.
This is just like when I would have to try and trap Father with magic, for my training.
...
My mana continued draining as I kept launching failed ground spikes.
This beast is agile, probably just as fast as Father too.
But even so... I've managed to still catch him a few times.
"And unlike Father, I don't need to hold back on you."
I let out another ground spike to move the tiger to a better position for me and trapped it inside another dome made of rock.
The tiger lets out a muffled roar and the dome begins to shake as it tried to escape.
"I'm about to turn you into a kebab."
Dark tentacle-like tendons shot from the ground
"Alright, there are around 20. That should do."
Getting everything ready, the dome continued shaking with cracks appearing on the surface.
"Just hold on, you damn cat."
I lift my hand gesturing the tendons to point toward the dome.
"Skewer."
In less than a second, every tendon sharpened and impaled the dome, and silence followed right after.
...
"Alright, now back to Isamu." I sighed.
A low growling can be heard from the dome.
"You're quite stubborn, aren't you?"
The dome suddenly bursts and out comes the severely injured black tiger taking a final leap at me.
I stood still looking into the piercing red eyes of this beast that wants to end my life.
I could kill you and make sure you stay dead...But I'm only a decoy this time.
A swift image of someone flies in front of my eyes in a fraction of a second.
...
The now decapitated black tiger falls to the ground with a loud thud.
Sure took you long enough... Father
...
I quickly went to Isamu's side and tended to his wounds.
"He still has a pulse." I inform Father.
"That's good." He says in a monotone voice.
I proceeded to patch his wounds the best I can. With neither of us having any sort of healing magic we couldn't heal the wounds, we needed to get him to Mother.
I looked over at father and he stood there with frustration in his eyes, I could tell that he was angry at himself.
C'mon Father, I know you're disappointed since your decision brought us here, but keep yourself together.
"I stopped the bleeding but he may have a concussion, his left arm is broken and I'm sure some of his ribs are too."
Father continued standing there silently.
"We need to get him to Mother, I'll keep him steady by holding him with my dark magic."
"Okay."
Without further ado, We made our way home as quickly as possible.
...
When we got home, Mother quickly got down to healing Isamu.
After close to an hour she closed his wounds and repaired his bones the best she can.
As for the concussion, she healed the brain damage as much as her healing can let her. However, healing magic can't heal someone's psyche so we could only hope he'll be okay mentally when he wakes up.
After she finally stabilized Isamu, Father continuously asked if he'll be okay and she had to keep reassuring him.
After looking at Isamu for a while, and knowing that he was fine now, Father walked out of the room about to break down.
He walked out of the house and punched a nearby tree till his knuckles bled and then emitting fire from his fist, he broke the tree in one swing.
after tiring himself out he dropped to his knees. Tears welled up in his eyes and dropped to the soil.
"I- I'm so s- sorry, Isamu." He said as his voice began to break.
"Leave him be, Touma." Mother informed me
"Okay."
"Now tell me..."
I turned toward her as she looked at me with eyes that were far more serious than how she looked before.
"What happened?" She asked.
I spent the next hour explaining what occurred on our hunt.
...
The next day.
Isamu finally woke up, Father and Mother hugged him for what felt like an hour.
Afterward, we made a trip to Aria so Isamu can get checked by the doctors there.
The doctors informed us that Isamu is in good condition physically, and throughout the day, Isamu didn't seem to have any trouble thinking, understanding, talking, etc. So it was concluded his mind managed to stay intact.
Father continuously apologized to Isamu whenever they were alone together.
...
We finally arrived back home, and Father hugged Isamu and apologized one more time.
Isamu spoke "It's okay, Father. It was my choice, you didn't twist my arm and force me to go, so I don't blame you, so please stop apologizing."
That was enough to stop Father from apologizing again.
Father and Mother were glad to see that Isamu was back and healthy. However, I couldn't help but feel like something was eating away at him.
...
I was back in my room, looking out my window and gazing at the horizon, breathing the fresh air.
"...I almost lost a brother again."