The forest was cold at night, with a wind blowing through the trees.
Yet, a bird was still steadily flying. In the dark forest, the bird seemed surrounded by a hazy light. The distant gunshot noises couldn't reach the depths of these woods.
Jason followed the bird through the forest with light footsteps. As if sensing something, all the snakes and venomous insects in the grass quietly crawled away as Jason walked past. Even the beasts that prowled the night didn't dare to approach him.
The forest was their territory, but now, they had no choice but to retreat. This stemmed from their innate sensitivity to their natural enemies. They sensed the threat and voluntarily withdrew from the area.
At the end of the forest was a lake, one of the larger ones in Texas. In the darkness, one couldn't see the extent of the lake, even the insects in the grass were silent.
The bird flew to the center of the lake and then stopped. A figure stepped from the shore, stepping on the water surface without sinking, even his shoes stayed dry. He moved easily across the lake. If one could see, they would notice his robes fluttering, like a celestial being in the water.
Jason stopped where the bird was. With a slight movement of his finger, a small sword glowing with phosphorescence materialized above his finger. The small sword hovered in the air, its radiant aura becoming stronger with the increasing wind. It was different, growing like it was flourishing in the wind. After the gust, it was no different from a regular longsword, its radiance even brighter, illuminating Jason's face.
Suddenly, after a whirlwind, a massive wave seemed to emerge from nowhere. The lake water beneath Jason's feet plunged, forming a huge vortex. Jason easily moved several steps back to avoid the vortex center. He stood aside, watching the vortex grow larger.
"Buzz—"
A sound like a tremor resonated from the floating sword, which suddenly grew larger again, looking like a giant sword. Now almost twice the height of a person, it hovered in the air. The sword's tip no longer pointed to the sky but formed an arc towards the vortex.
Suddenly, a huge stream of water erupted from the vortex, heading towards Jason at a high speed. Jason dodged easily, and the floating sword plunged into the vortex.
Like lightning, a phosphorescent flash. The vortex in the lake suddenly disappeared. However, the lake didn't calm down. Instead, it seemed like something was stirring from beneath, causing the water to churn and waves to rise and fall like sea waves.
A ripple appeared on the lake surface, a sword wound that seemed to split the entire lake. Following that, a phosphorescent light shot up from the lake into the sky, quickly disappearing.
The lake returned to tranquility. A stench of blood emanated from the lake, and a massive shadow slowly emerged from the water. As the thing surfaced, Jason beckoned, and the phosphorescent light that had shot into the sky returned to his hand.
Jason looked at the monstrous thing that had surfaced from the lake, which then flipped over, revealing its white belly.
But it was still. It was dead.
From the time Jason started until he killed the creature in the lake, a significant amount of time had passed. Looking at the sky, he noticed it was almost dawn, so he turned and left the lake at a leisurely pace.
However, halfway back, he suddenly heard a strange noise, as if it came from the lake. Although it was very faint, it didn't escape his ears. He furrowed his brows, muttered "Damn!" and turned around to run back towards the lake.
The lake had returned to calm, and the strange noise had disappeared. However, Jason pointed his finger towards the front, and a beam of luminous light shot into the dark sky. It disappeared into the darkness, then there was a dull thud as something fell.
Jason took a step and landed on the lakeshore, quickly rushing forward. The luminous sword had vanished from his hand, but he reached the place where the dull thud was heard.
He stepped on a carpet of fallen leaves. Something indeed had fallen on the ground. Jason picked it up, and even without light, he could see it clearly.
It was a piece of black skin. Rather than calling it skin, it seemed more appropriate to describe it as a piece of something akin to skin, completely covered in scales. On its surface, fresh blood was smeared. Jason touched it with his finger; the blood was thick, almost not like a liquid at all.
He casually wiped the bit of blood on his fingers onto a nearby leaf. Immediately, the leaf emitted a pungent smoke and quickly withered. The large tree connected to the leaf also started to wither gradually, eventually emitting a creaky sound as if it broke.
This was blood with a potent corrosive property and was extremely toxic.
Jason threw the scale-like skin onto the ground and flicked a strand of light toward it. Instantly, the skin began to burn and quickly turned into a pile of ashes. These things were a menace left here; he feared malicious people might exploit them. Something so corrosive and toxic would be a ticking bomb in anyone's hands.
"What a waste!" Jason shook his head and turned to leave.
By this time, the sky was beginning to lighten.
Jason retraced his steps back home. He didn't linger on his way, and while the forest was still dark, the sky was slightly bright outside the woods. Once he reached home, he casually turned on the TV and grabbed a can of drink, then sat down on the couch.
There wasn't any interesting news on TV. After randomly flipping through a few channels, Jason turned it off. He took a shower and prepared some food for himself. After all these years, he still kept his meals simple.
He fried two eggs, poured a glass of milk, and sat down at the dining table. As he slowly ate one of the eggs, he heard a knock on the door. He went to check and saw it was Joseph, so he nodded and let him in.
"They've been looking for you all night!" Joseph said to Jason as he walked in, "Actually, everything you said was right. Last night, this place was practically a battlefield…"
"I know," Jason replied with a slight smile. He turned back to the dining table and continued eating, motioning for Joseph to take a seat on the couch, "It was expected. The drawing on your hand is gone!"
"Yes, it was truly magical!" Joseph lit up when talking about this. He eagerly recounted the events of last night to Jason, "If it weren't for the sword in your drawing, I think... the townsfolk and I would have been done for…"
Jason just shook his head and laughed, "No, two slipped away. I hope they can be found before it gets dark today."