A FEW HOURS AGO
JACOB NIGHTINGALE POV:
I sprint off into the dense forest looking for mana beasts to hunt, preferably boar...maybe a bull or maybe If Iuck is on my side, some chickeeeen. As I start to sprint faster, maneuvering past the trees like it's nothing, I suddenly sense a few beasts on my left, probably a few kilometers away.
I then rush to the scene and in no time arrive to see a huge grizzly against a boar, I immediately activate my Rhythmic Appraisal. The hell, Judging by the mana core levels the boar is definitely stronger in this fight. I watch the boar giving the grizzly what could only be described as "the business".
It's in these situations that I wonder who's the predator and who's the prey. The grizzly having received enough punishment, attempts a last ditch swipe with it's claws, It misses, the boar taking advantage of the opening, strikes the bear with great force, piercing the bear's torso with it's tusks.
Well that's done with, As soon I get up to leave, the boar notices my presence. Now, I don't understand what part of me getting up is provocative but the boar immediately attacks and how do I respond, well....I one shot it so, I guess we now know the apex between us 3.
But I can't overdo it, unlike in the spirit realm, It's difficult to single out and absorb aether due to the sheer abundance of mana in the atmosphere. What does that mean? I have to rely mostly on my physical capabilities when fighting, without using the multiplier technique.
Unlike most of my sage arts, the multiplier technique's sole requirement is the use of external aether. Which is kind of a bummer since it has literally been my go to for every situation I find myself in. I guess I'll have to follow Ivy's advice in filtering out more impurities which will gain me quicker access to the surrounding aether and improve my strength even further.
Man, now that I think about it, it is kinda counter productive that I trained in utilizing aether, in a place rich with aether, only to return to a place that isn't. But I guess training there wasn't all bad, I mean my natural abilities were greatly improved and I was also able to filter out half of the impurities I absorbed along with aether.
On the upside, thanks to this mana abundant atmosphere, I'll be able to utilize elemental burst and Overburst far more efficiently with the aid of my sword.
"Looks like our dinner has been decide for us." I pick up the boar and go on a hunting spree for more boars. Since I didn't want to mistakenly destroy animal habitats, I had to greatly reduce my speed. After a few minutes of tracking I found two more boars. I then tracked another one which was perhaps 150km away. If I was to move at my top speed I would reach there in about a second. Sadly, I didn't, as moving that fast would definitely cause damage in an area as compacted as this.
At the speed I had chosen to move at, It took me about 30 minutes to reach the boar, which was fast asleep. After arriving there I didn't feel like killing it as it was peacefully asleep, So I left. I then decided that I should learning on how to conserve my energy, so instead of running I opted to walk back to Selene, she's gonna be so mad. So there I am walking, carrying 3 fresh boars, definitely not going to attract any predators.
I then reach what I assume to be the main road, judging by the countless carriage tracks and hoove prints. I then detect Selene's mana and head over to her direction, she's a bit far way, so if I run it will take 6 to 7 seconds to reach her but....I'll think I'll walk so it's cool.
Time passes by and it seems to be a clear night sky with no cloud in sight. I then gaze at the moon and smile to myself as I remember the stories my mother told me everytime under the moonlight.
As I'm walking my nose picks up a foul stench, As I continue on, the smell gets even stronger, until I eventually find it's source in the form of a completely destroyed village, with corpses lying everywhere. I look at the buildings which are still standing in spite of the wreckage and are black probably due to being... burnt?
Oh no. Why didn't I remember this? the night before yesterday I had seen a village attacked by people that had a really pale skin colour almost ghostly in fact.
As I look around I see the corpses of young children and elderly alike. The sight of this makes me a bit queasy. But who would do something so horrific, as to ruthlessly massacre these people. What have they done to deserve such cruelty? What of the innocent kids that have most likely done no wrong.
Whenever I think of those pale skinned people. I'm instantly reminded of him. my first ever enemy, Kalen. Suspicious of this quick conclusion of mine, I activate my Rhythmic Appraisal and see residues of mana, though they have different densities, they are of a similar composition to that of Kalen's mana signature.
Upon this realization I drop the boars' corpses on the ground and I'm about to move in to find the survivors, if they are any, when suddenly Selene arrives.
"Hey Jacob what's taking so....long?" She asks as she then obviously notices the grotesque scenery that stands before us.
"What....happened here?" Selene's question then forces me to relive those short moments when I had seen these people getting killed and I mot being able to do anything about it.
As these scenes repeat in my mind, I clench my fist as I feel a burning rage burst forth from deep within my soul.
"Vampires." I answer slowly in a whisper which Selene must have heard as she begins to question me once more.
"Really? did you see them?"
"Yeah." I answer quickly and enter what remains of this village.
I search for any survivors in the village. Selene noticing what I'm doing follows suit and searches the village with me. It takes a while but I finally detect a spark of mana flow.
I rush to the source and discover two little girls and a boy who's an inch taller than them, all seemingly below the age of 7.
As the kids notice me, they back away, obviously wary of me.
"St-stay back." The little boy warns as he points at me with a knife in his hand while shielding the two girls.
Noticing their fear, I try to defuse the situation but discarding all my built up anger and mustering up the most positive smile I could give at the moment, which resulted in me giving the kids an awkwardly forced smile.
The kids step back, with one of the girls holding their head, possibly due to my lame attempt at easing their worries.
Selene having taken notice of my situation, arrives. She then pats my shoulder, giving me a look that says "I got this."
"Okay you little brats, come with us right now or I'll eat you for dinner." This statement has a great effect on the kids, and by great I mean it causes one of the kids fo cry, just great.
"Shut up, Selene."
"Sorry man, I'm just hungry."
"You know what? Just go away, I'll handle this."
"Okay man, sheesh." Selene walks away, most likely heading to the boars' location.
I then look at the kids and give them a smile, a much more sincere one this time.
"I promise you, my friend and I, mean you no harm. We're just trying to help." I approach them slowly so as not to agitate them.
"You're just here to finish us off aren't you?" the boy accuses, whilst pointing at me with a knife.
"I'm just as angry as you are, to find the ones responsible for all of this....death." I approach them once again.
Without stopping "I assure you I'll make it my personal mission to find the ones responsible for all of this and make them pay dearly, is that okay with you?" I approach even closer as my words seemed to have negated the hostility in the boy.
I then reach for his hand and lower it.
"What's your name, kid?"
".....Nick."
"Well, Nick, my name is Jacob. And what about you two."
The girls realizing I won't harm them answer my question "Abby." says the little who has a brown braid. "Maya." says the other girl who's hair is shoulder length.
"I assure you, I will find the ones responsible make them pay, but for now let's go eat, you guys like boar meat?" The girls' eyes practically sparkle at the mention of food. Poor things, they must be starving.
I take the kids outside the village and find Selene who was hundreds of meters away with 3 leaves for plates, with boar on stake while being grilled over a fire. As the boar is being grilled, Selene is busy feasting on another boar.
"How did you roast that boar so quick?"
"There's something called magic, but I guess you of all people wouldn't know that, manaless boy." Wow, low blow.
"Well at least I, don't have lizard breath, so there." I reply, still a bit stung by that manaless jab.
"What!? I don't have lizard breath."
"I'm going to check if there are any more survivors, make sure the kids eat until they are satisfied, and above all, don't scare them away with your venomous words and lizard breath."
"I don't have....." Selene's words drown out as I leave. I then take another look back at the kids and see them looking at Selene warily probably due to what she said earlier or maybe when I made a joke about her being a dragon and saying she has lizard breath. Judging by how Nick is covering his nose, laughing, and the girls slightly giggling while Selene is seemingly trying to convince all of them it's just a joke, I'd bet on the latter.
I then venture outside the village to find any more survivors, with no luck. As I'm searching I suddenly get an insane urge to dodge to the left. Unable to resist the urge, I comply.
As soon as I dodge, I see a brown furry arm with long claws jabbing at where I was standing. As I then tilt my head to see the owner of the arm. I see a muscular wolf standing on it's hind legs probably 7 feet tall staring at me with it's golden brown eyes.
It snarls then pounces at me. I sidestep it and then kick it on its side. the kick causes it to crash into a tree, leaving a noticeable dent. It then rushes at me with greater speed but I still easily dodge. As it approaches once more I punch it's abdomen, creating some distance between us, as it crashes into a tree once more.
It comes back once more, you'd think it learned it's lesson by now. The wolf does a double swipe with it's arms, causing me to duck underneath, I then rise quickly with my back facing it, drape it's right arm on my right shoulder and effortlessly toss the wolf. The impact shatters the ground beneath.
As feral as it was, it wailed in pain which kind of made me feel like I was bullying it, kind of, I then proceeded to punch the wolf in the face with great force knocking out one of it's tooth.
It then leaps up taking me by surprise and hits me with a mighty swipe of it's claws. Sadly, the attack has no effect on me, which makes me question why I dodged it's previous attacks in the first place. Oh well, better safe than sorry.
I then punch it once more and as always it crashes into a tree. The wolf gets up with A bit of difficulty, perhaps due to the damage sustained from my attacks. It then howls and in a few moments, In response to its howl, I hear several howls. A few moments later I see several other werewolves rushing in, all looking the same except for The biggest one which has black fur and blue eyes, probably 8 feet tall.
"Just great." I say to myself as I ready myself for the next fight.