Femi calmly walked out of the shades of the tree, his mask bathing in the rays of Terramoribus' twin moon, increasing its white and blue color, yet its beauty was still under shadowed by Femi's piercingly calm and calculative red eyes.
He unsheathed Negraazul, its black blade releasing tether energy in the form of blue hue which agitated the three creatures more.
As Femi took a step, the three coyotes covered more distance.
The first coyote jumped towards Femi, stretching its claw out in an attempt to ravage him. Already expecting such movement, Femi took a stance and straightened his sword, letting the claw slide off it. Before its claw completely slid off, Femi stabbed into the coyote's shoulder and slashed down to its thigh, leaving a long cut on its green furred body.
Without stopping his motion Femi twisted his body, kicking the second coyote's head before it could also jump towards him. Knowing the third coyote wouldn't give him enough time to balance and finish the second, Femi ran towards the third coyote immediately his leg regained contact with ground.
He had already visualized the different possibilities that could occur the moment he realized they were approaching him. So far, things weren't off what he had already visualized. What was left now was for the third coyote to also leap towards him and that'll be Femi's first kill.
And it did.
Seeing Femi rapid approach, the third coyote moved like a wild beast it was. Blinded by the rage of Femi injuring its family and its cravings for the tether energy Femi exuded, it left claw marks as it left the ground, ready to use everything in its arsenal to dismember its prey.
Faithful to his expectations, Femi immediately crouched then propelled himself forward, bringing his upper body forward, right beneath the coyote that was still mid-jump. With the distance shortened instantly, Femi could see the belly of the third coyote, the softest part of its body.
Packed with knowledge of the weak points, Femi formulated the best approach to deal with coyotes, and his approach was spot on.
"Bingo," Femi muttered.
Femi thrusted into the coyote's belly, twisted the sword as soon as it stabbed, destroying multiple organs at once.
Femi didn't halt any motion. He immediately retracted his sword and ran towards the nearest tree. Kicking off the tree, Femi increased his speed while turning to face the two remaining coyotes that were behind him.
The second coyote had its vision affected because of Femi's kick. Its blurred vision along with its concussion from the kick affected its movement so it missed Femi who had just ran past it.
Femi's next target was the already injured coyote!
Running at a speed faster than the coyote with concussion could follow, Femi passed it. The injured coyote glared at Femi, with a huge cut at its side, it couldn't move well. Having gone through evolution, its battle intelligence and instincts were enhanced, knowing it's only best form of attack, it stood still, showing its sharp teeth and readying for the next attack.
Underneath the mask, Femi mocked how predictable these beasts were.
Femi diverted from running straight towards the injured coyote, using another tree to add a sudden burst of speed, Femi covered more distance with a few steps.
With a leap, he landed with a crouch right beside the coyote but Femi underestimated the instincts of beasts. Sensing danger, the coyote ignored its body pain and assaulted Femi with all its might immediately he landed beside it.
Because of the damage absorption effect of the battle suit, Femi ignored the minor damage. Not one moment did he stop moving. Femi jumped from his crouching position, moving with the entire weight of his body, he slammed into the coyote while he stabbed into the coyote's injury, ramming into a tree.
The sword stabbed through the coyote's injury, penetrated the body, came out of the other side of the coyote's body and stuck to a tree trunk.
The coyote struggled to break free. Femi ended its pain by slashing his sword down, cutting half of its body in two, letting its organs pour out.
"It's just me and you now," Femi said. He wiped the blood off Negraazul as he stared at the last coyote.
Be it because of its concussion, confusion from how easily its packmate died, or it was just overwhelmed by feeling like a prey, it only moved its head, staring at Femi with eyes of confusion… and fear.
Femi walked towards the coyote; he already knew how he'd kill it. In fact, he had already imagined this scenario the moment he grasped his swordsmanship.
"Hehehehe," Femi laughed as he darted towards it.
His sudden burst of movements startled the coyote. It was about to lunge all it had to Femi as the crystal on its forehead began to glow.
Ignoring the glow, Femi still ran, his speed increasing with each step. On reaching the coyote, Femi changed his course from a straight sprint, kicked a nearby tree to increase his speed, then ran towards the coyote again until he changed course and kicked another tree.
He repeated the process of running straight, changing course and kicking a tree, with each step he takes, his speed increasing.
The coyote was confused. It already had a concussion from Femi's kick. Now, it couldn't catch up to Femi's movements. Right when it got hold of Femi's position, as if knowing he's been found out, Femi moved faster making the coyote increase how fast its eyes grasped him.
As it paid attention to Femi's position, the coyote kept looking around like a pup looking for its tail. It looked pitiful.
"Alright… Bye now." Femi said.
With all the acceleration he built up, Femi finally charged straight. Just a forceful slash powered by his mass and acceleration, Femi cut the head of the coyote.
Standing in a pod of blood, Femi stood as he removed his mask. He exhaled and murmured, "That was worth the anticipation."
Arwan watched everything unfold without moving an inch. Whether it's because he was scared or he just trusted Femi's strength, he didn't know. But what he just watched; it left him in awe.
"That…. That was cool…" Arwan finally found the words he wanted to use.
The trio had also been done with their side moments before Femi killed the first. They watched everything. Femi's swordsmanship, his calculations, his footsteps, everything was good, they knew they shouldn't interfere in his battle.
"Jackpot!" Eva's voice made Gallagher and Ruth realize this truly happened.
A newbie killing beasts – creatures that have undergone 2 stages of evolution – easily. That was a remarkable feat.
"Oii! Is that all?" Femi called out to them.
Everyone gathered closer to Femi, he was currently the star of the moment.
"Femi! You're not so bad yourself!" Gallagher complimented. He had expected Femi to be good for a newbie, but Femi skills beat his expectations. "Where did you learn to use the sword?"
"Ahhh. My old man taught me the basics and I spent the last few years improving my skills." Femi replied.
"I see, I see… Trust you're not hurt anywhere?" Gallagher asked.
"It's my first time really fighting so I underestimated them. My hand is a bit sore, I'll be fine though, asides that I'm a little drained. I guess I still have lots to learn." Femi said, his tone gradually growing serious as he spoke. He had used more stamina than expected, and on top of that, he almost suffered an injury. In Femi's opinion, they were let downs.
"You'll be fine, kid. It's just your first hunt. Don't beat yourself about it too much!" Eva patted Femi as she cheered him up.
Meanwhile, Arwan had already left the mecha, like Ruth, he just watched as Gallagher and surprisingly, Eva, complement Femi. Arwan had mixed thoughts. What premonition did Femi have? Should I have supported Femi? Can I be like Femi? Will I be this weak forever? He questioned internally.
"Silly thoughts. Stop it Arwan! Physical stuff is not your thing, you're the brain in this duo." Arwan repeated while slapping himself.
Arwan finally decided to join the talk, a way to distract himself from his thoughts, "Mr Gallagher, you guys' teamwork was impeccable. I watched and I was amazed. I'm inspired by you guys' trust."
"Ahahaha! They don't call us the Synco Trio for nothing!" Gallagher boasted.
"Synco Trio…. What a weird and oddly familiar name. Hmmm…" Arwan whispered to himself, recalling having heard a similar name.
"That's a cool name!" Femi complimented.
"Don't be so impressed. It's all in the day's work." Gallagher said, his shoulders clearly raised.
"Mr Gallagher…" Ruth tapped Gallagher, signifying time was not waiting for them.
"Let's remove the cores of these creatures, we don't want issues. We'll have to go deeper and seek out any coyote left or the pack leader." Gallagher instructed.
"Huh?" Arwan unintentionally let out, thankfully, no one heard. That was because Femi's voice was louder than his. Arwan finally understood what was wrong. Whatever had clouded his head for the last few hours, he had finally chased it away.
"More hunting? Let's go!" Femi yelled as he followed Gallagher and the others.
Seeing Arwan stay back, Femi first turned to look at him. It also led to the rest paying attention to Arwan.
"Hey? Get into the machine and do your stuff!" Eva yelled, tired of this drag. He was too wimpy and unbeneficial for her liking.
"Ehh…" Arwan's mind raced as he thought of an excuse.
"What?!" Eva hurried
"Ah, well… You see, the mecha has a little issue… Seems like I'll have to tweak it a little bit… I have nothing, seems like I gotta get the tools. Be right back!" Arwan said, taking steps back slowly.
"Hey! Wait!" Before Eva could stop him, Arwan had already left. She glanced at Femi, leaving him to shrug at her.
"Fuck! I should really kill him." Eva murmured as she watched him leave with disgusted eyes.
*****
Arwan activated his comm as he ran. He was trying to contact someone. He finally remembered where he had seen the name "Synco Trio".
The years where there was a surplus of teenage kidnapping, topping the list of suspected people for kidnapping from the Planet Terramoribus was the incomplete yet successful party, The Synco Trio.
"Fuck! Why didn't I do a background check on them. I've been doing it for over 8 years now, this kind of mistake is not like me! Femi… Stay safe for a while! If my guess is right, they wouldn't harm you yet. I hope…" Arwan gritted his teeth as he ran at a tiring speed.