Moland and Quer ran out of the training hall, panting and sweating. They had won their spar against Olev, but they were already too late to attend the training for the Alberd family shadows.
"We should go," Moland said. "We're already late for training."
Quer nodded in agreement. The two of them ran towards the basement of the building, where they kept the teleportation relic given to every shadow of the Alberd family. They quickly found the relic and used it to teleport to the shadows' training grounds.
When they arrived, they saw that the other shadows had already gathered there. The other shadows had gathered in the centre of the field, all of them staring at them with angry expressions.
"You're late," said one of the shadows.
"We apologise," Moland said. "We won't be late again."
"Stop making excuses, you two," said the oldest of the shadows. "You should know that those who are late must be punished."
"But-" said Quer.
"There is no buts about it," said the oldest shadow.
Moland and Quer looked at each other, terrified. They knew that they would be severely punished for their tardiness.
"What's the punishment?" asked Moland.
"You must kill the mutant animals alone," said the old man. "Normally, this is a task done by four people, but since you have been late, you must do it alone."
Moland and Quer were shocked. Animal mutants were extremely powerful and dangerous creatures, and they weren't sure if they could defeat them alone.
"But that's impossible," Quer said. "We can't defeat it alone."
"That's not my problem," said the shadow. "This is your punishment, and you must accept it."
Moland and Quer had no choice but to accept their punishment. They took a deep breath and walked towards the mutant animal's cage.
Mutant animals referred to individual animals that had undergone changes or mutations to their genetic material.
Genetic mutations are changes that can cause differences in the physical traits or characteristics of the organism.
Some mutations can cause positive or negative changes in an animal's traits, and in some cases, these mutations can change an animal's traits completely. Like the once beautiful rabbit, transformed into a deadly predator with sharp teeth and powerful claws that can tear its prey apart in an instant.
Now they were now told to deal with such creatures. Moland and Quer made their way to the place where the mutant was being held.
The room where the mutant was being held looked just like a giant cage. In the centre of the cage was a mutant who was chained up all over his body. The mutant looked like a bull or perhaps it was once a bull, and now Quer and Moland would face such a creature as their punishment.
The bull mutant was twice as big and monstrous as a normal bull, with skin hard as steel and horns sharp as swords. Moland and Quer knew that they were in great danger, but they had no choice but to go forward.
The chains restraining the mutant bull were slowly coming off one by one, which meant that their punishment had already begun. The animal looked very angry and wanted to go on a rampage.
Moland and Quer knew that the more chains that came off the bull, the less chance they had of winning. They ran straight to the mutant bull, and they began to fight.
Moland and Quer ran towards the mutant bull, each carrying their weapons. Moland carried a long sword made of hard metal, while Quer carried a bow and arrow made of wood and feathers.
They both knew that they had to attack the mutant bull before the chains restraining it all came loose. They also knew that they had to avoid its sharp horns and tough hide.
"We must hurry!" shouted Moland.
"I know!" replied Quer.
Moland tried to stab the bull mutant in the neck, but his blade only bounced off its thick hide. The bull mutant let out a roar of pain and anger, then swung its head at Moland.
"Aw!" Moland quickly dodged, but the bull mutant's horns managed to injure his arm. Fresh blood oozed from the wound, making Moland whimper in pain.
"Are you okay?" asked Quer, worried.
"I'm fine," said Moland, trying to stay strong.
Quer saw that his friend was injured, and immediately shot his arrow at the bull mutant's eye. She hoped that the eyes were the creature's weak point.
Quer's arrow hit its mark, making the bull mutant scream in pain and shake its head. His left eye was pierced by the arrow, leaving him unable to see clearly.
"Well done!" praised Moland.
"Come on, let's attack again!" called Quer.
They both seized this opportunity to attack again. They both ran at the bull mutant from his right side, which he could not see.
Moland tried to cut off the bull mutant's front leg with his sword, while Quer tried to shoot another arrow towards its right eye.
However, the bull mutant was not so easily defeated. Although it could not see clearly, it could still sense their movements with its other senses.
He heard the sound of Moland and Quer's footsteps, and immediately swung his horns at them. It also smelled the scent of blood from Moland's wound, and gritted its large teeth.
"Look out!" shouted Quer, when he saw the mutant bull's horns approaching them.
Moland and Quer tried to dodge, but it was too late.
The bull mutant's horns managed to pierce Moland's chest, sending him flying into the air. Blood splashed from his body, making the ground around him turn red.
"Moland!" screamed Quer, terrified.
Quer saw his friend badly injured before his eyes, then felt fear and anger. He let out a hysterical scream, then fired his last arrow at the bull mutant's right eye.
The arrow also managed to hit the mark, leaving the bull mutant completely blind. It could no longer see anything, only feeling tremendous pain in both eyes.
Quer hoped that he could kill the bull mutant with his arrow, but he was wrong. The mutant bull was still alive, albeit blind.
It could still hear Quer's voice crying and screaming. He could still smell the scent of blood from Moland and Quer's bodies. He could still feel his burning anger and vengeance.
He began to rage in a more brutal way. He broke free from the remaining chains and started running towards Quer's voice.
Quer saw the bull mutant approaching him quickly, and felt desperate. He knew that he had no chance of survival.
He could only pray to God, then close his eyes and wait for his death to come.
The mutant bull reached Quer, and gored him hard. Its horns pierced through Quer's body, leaving him severely injured.
Quer felt unbearable pain, then fainted. He fell to the ground, exhausted and badly injured.
The bull mutant let out a triumphant roar, then raised his head into the air. He felt satisfied that he had killed the two shadows that had tried to disturb him.
Little did he know that he would soon die, too. He didn't know that Quer's arrow through his eye had contained a deadly poison.
He only felt a worsening pain in both eyes, then began to feel weak and dizzy. He fell to the ground, then stopped breathing.
They had managed to defeat the mutant animal, but they had paid a heavy price. They were both severely injured.
Quer was still breathing, but he was dying. He did not realise that he had successfully killed the mutant bull.
He only dreamed about his friend Moland, who had been severely injured to save him. He could only hope that Moland would not die
After seeing the bull mutant completely dead, the other shadows immediately entered the battleground and checked on Moland and Quer.
"Are they still alive" asked the oldest shadowy figure.
"Yes, they are fortunately still alive" replied the shadow that checked on them.
Hearing that, the old shadow immediately told the other shadows to take them to the infirmary, "You guys, take them to the infirmary, quickly!" Said the old figure.
"Yes sir!" They said loudly.
The four shadowy men immediately picked them up and ran them to the infirmary so that Moland and Quer could get immediate treatment.
"I shouldn't have given this punishment" The old figure felt guilty for punishing them too severely.
"You don't need to blame yourself sir, because they should also have known that any delay will definitely get punished" said the female shadow figure standing next to him.
"Shut up, you. It's all my fault, I didn't think they could fight this long and even defeat that mutant," said the old shadowy figure. "I thought they would give up immediately after getting a few wounds."
The battle was indeed longer and fiercer than the old shadowy figure expected, and Moland and Quer should have given up after receiving several fatal wounds. However, they did not give up. They continued to fight, and eventually they managed to defeat the animal mutants.
'Those two are really something' thought the old shadowy figure.
The old shadowy figure stood where Moland and Quer were fighting, he saw a lot of blood and friction between them and the mutant bull. The condition of the battleground was very messy and there were the bodies of the bull mutants lying on the battleground.
"All of you, start cleaning up this place," said the old shadowy figure. "And take care of this mutant corpse as well."
The other shadows immediately obeyed his orders. They began to clean up the blood and dirt, and carried the bull mutant's corpse to the disposal site.