As the severed body part neared the fissure, it seemed as if it reached out toward the creatures leg, sprouting a dark tentacle. As the two connected, the tentacle continued to grow. Leto released his hand but the leg was still in the air, connected by a dark limb to the fissure. The leg became fully enveloped then it… was gone.
Or rather it wasn't gone, just reduced to small pieces that were near imperceptible by the eye. It was as if it disintegrated.
'Wow. I uh… I'm glad I never got curious enough to touch it. But also… what till happen to a living creature?'
Leto gave the remaining Corpse Gonlin a deranged smile and laughed.
"Come here, buddy. It won't hurt… too much."
The corpse squirmed and tried to resist it's inevitable fate, which was all in vain. Leto crushed the bones in its arms so it couldn't do too much anyway.
Once again, a dark symbiotic tentacle grew from the fissure as the corpse grew close. Leto released the terrified gremlin and it too stayed in the air once grabbed by the all encompassing darkness.
Its screams grew louder and louder as its body was taken over by the ripple, and once it reached its throat and mouth, the screams were stifled and eventually grew quit all together. However, something different happened this time, the darkness seemed to struggle greatly in eliminating the small and insignificant creature. It did kill it and reduce it to small fragments ass the same but it took longer and seemed weaker then with just the leg.
Leto decided he'd spent enough time loitering and decided to go along with his hunting. He was going to fight something he'd only encountered once during his stay in the forest, a creature who seemed like a ghost. He was reluctant to pursue the creature due to fear of not being able to harm it, but now he could use his Aether to subdue it… he hoped he could at least.
It didn't take long to find it since it seemed to be condemned to a single area, never venturing out of a roughly 100 foot wide area.
Because of the creatures nature, Leto abandoned stealth and would use spears instead, a rare occurrence in this forest for him.
He formed his icey sword and used his Soul Aether to further its destructive power. A pale apparition of a human like beast appeared, it was nearly transparent, had fur that was forever dripping ghastly blood from its back, and sharp claws coming from its hands.
In one fast strike, a black line appeared across the air, the ghostly being was consumed the same and due to it already being dead, was absorbed quite quickly and easily.
'That was extremely underwhelming. I would've done that a long time ago if I knew it'd be this easy!'
And so, Leto moved on once again, venturing in a direction he'd rarely been. The reason was due to what made the area its territory, it was a terrifying creature. It wore matte gray armor that was long stained with blood, its four legs each ending in sharp talons that tore the ground apart with each movement, its snout bathed in blood of, and its eyes released an orange glow. Possibly the scariest part was the fact it was never dry, always being bathed in blood with no wound to itself.
The Blood Bear was a true terror inducing existence, Leto had the displeasure of encountering it three years ago and nearly died almost immediately after laying eyes on it. As Leto approached, he decided to try and ambush the beast this time around.
He'd surmised a simple plan. Lure another creature into the Blood Bear's territory and injure it, so the bear would smell the familiar and delicious scent. As the Blood Bear would approach, it would battle the other creature and inevitably kill it, and when it began to feast he would use that chance to descend from above onto the Blood Bear.
Leto began by searching for a worthy creature, it had to be one well within his capability of defeating, but strong enough to make the Blood Bear need to purge it from its territory. He had the perfect candidate in mind.
In fact, he'd beaten one just yesterday, so it wouldn't be too hard to procure such magnificent bait… in theory. All Leto had to do was find one, injure it, and lure it to the bear.
So he spent the next hour attempting to find a Jackal, and he did. It was currently eating the corpse of another harrowing beast who it had felled, so Leto stealthily approached and observed. It was wounded, but they weren't serious and had already healed up, the only giveaway was the fact blood riddled its stomach and back.
As the Jackal fed, completely unaware of its bloody fate, it let out a low, menacing growl to warn any predators in the area. However, one prowling being clad in armor as dark as night was not deterred, in fact, he was elated because the other creatures in the area were retreating.
Leto climbed one of the many trees surrounding the feasting Jackal, careful not to make any noise. He neared its apex and summoned a fearsome sword, a zweihander. He chose this due to its length and long hilt, allowing him to create much more force then most other swords, then created an Aether Manifestation to encase the blade.
In the next moment, a figure as dark as night, a beautiful blue sword, and a mysterious long fissure in reality descended, seemingly coming from the heavens. The beast looked up at the mysterious being but before it could react, its maw was sliced down the middle, severely wounding it.
Leto rolled with his landing to lessen the impact and bolted in the direction of the Blood Bear. The Jackal, infuriated at the small man, gave chase, following Leto to it's inevitable death.