"Humans are kind of heavy," Kaedros muttered as he held her limp form in his arms. Her spear slipped from her hand and landed with a dull clunk.
He glanced at her face, peaceful, eyes shut, breath steady. For once, her expression was calm. No tension. No flicking gaze scanning for threats. No nervous twitch in her jaw.
"Must be the life she lived before," he murmured. "Like a rat."
He knelt and laid her down, pressing two fingers to her neck, listening for the rhythm of her pulse, then to her chest, smooth, even breaths. She was fine.
Kaedros stood over her, quiet for a moment.
"...Time to hunt," Kaedros said under his breath. If he was going to stay ahead, he couldn’t afford to remain the weak.
He needed more mana to advance himself. And knocking Taria out had been the ideal way to do with distractions.
He sniffed the air. Scents flooded in, wild moss, dry earth...then something sharp and burnt, like scorched leaves soaked in acid.
Kaedros took off at a sprint, moving like shadow through the wilderness. Branches swayed above, roots twisted below, but he avoided them all with the grace of a predator born to run.
He reached it in minutes.
An ancient tree towered before him, its bark wrinkled with age, the roots thick as his torso. At its base gaped a wide hollow, black as night and smooth with centuries.
"I can smell you," he said coolly, eyes glowing faint gold.
From within the hollow came the scent again, green flame and bitter sap.
Forest beasts, part wood, part flesh. Solitary, territorial, and universally avoided by most creatures. Not because they were strong, but because they were annoying to kill and worthless to eat. More bark than meat. Too much effort, with very little return reward.
But Kaedros wasn’t after meat.
This one was guarding a nest. He could smell its offspring, small, weak things. Perfect. But the aura of the mother spread around the area, warning off others. It was peak rank two as well.
Kaedros clenched his hand, forming a simple ball of light. Before, his ball would have spilled over with golden light but now, it was a mixture of red, black and gold.
And the heat that came with it made the surroundings heat up.
Kaedros frowned at it. "Light of Annihilation."
Then he shrugged. What does it matter? It was his power.
He shrunk the ball until it was very small, barely enough to hurt anything then he flickered his finger.
The ball whooshed through the air, burst in the mouth of the hollow, then faded.
A long green snout pushed through the darkness, followed by glowing emerald eyes. A guttural growl rolled through the forest, like boulders grinding together.
The Wolbane emerged, tall as a horse, built like a twisted tree. Vines wrapped around gnarled limbs, its joints looked like ancient knots. Teeth like bark-encrusted daggers, eyes deep-set and furious.
It bared its teeth and snarled, body positioning protectively in front of the hollow.
Kaedros narrowed his eyes and wiith a burst of speed, he charged. The Wolbane reacted instantly, claws raised and ready. Kaedros didn’t flinch.
Instead, he did the oldest, most dishonorable trick in the book.
He kicked a cloud of dirt into its face.
The Wolbane reeled back in confusion, its growl stalling mid-throat.
Kaedros didn’t waste a second.
Fire blazed in his right hand, he punched forward with a crackling blast that slammed into the monster’s chest like a flaming battering ram.
The creature staggered, crashing into the tree behind it. Its claws lashed out wildly, but Kaedros had already dashed back.
He winced at his hand, charred, bone visible, but it didn’t matter. His regeneration was already healing it and in five breath, he was healed.
"This is definable more impressive than my Sun."
"Let’s see how far I can push it."
He began building a technique in his mind, layer upon layer of condensed flame. He held it in his right hand as if he was holding fire, something he wasn’t able to do with his Sun power.
A wall of fire, mixing with blinding light and twisting shadows erupted from his palm, a roaring wave that devoured the air and howled across the clearing.
He didn’t even hear the Wolbane scream.
Kaedros exhaled slowly as mana, far more than all the Scabbers he killed could ever provide flowed into him in a rush.
The grove was silent again.
Kaedros raised his head, his eyes was entirely golden again, his skin rippled and scales appeared on his face. "Time to cultivate Mana. All those monsters, please wait a bit more for me."
He dissappeared into the forest with a new burst of speed and soon, monsters cries began to raise into the air.
Taria was still unconscious when Kaedros returned, her breathing steady, her body undisturbed. She slept peacefully, her face calm for once.
"I forgot to put a ward here," Kaedros said, glancing around. "If any monsters had wandered by..."
He stepped closer to wake her but paused, watching her sleep.
"...Maybe I should let her rest. She’s been training hard all week. It’ll be bad if she died from working instead of monster attack."
The sun was low now, casting long shadows that barely pierced the heavy canopy. He picked her up and began to search for where to camp.
Kaedros searched in silence until he found a small, sheltered clearing. He laid Taria down on a soft bed of leaves.
Then he created a barrier of light around them.
"That should do it," he murmured.
With that, Kaedros vanished into the woods.
He returned soon after, her spear slick with blood and a limp creature clutched by the scruff. It was a fat, tree-climbing rodent, brown-furred and built for camouflage. Easy prey.
He dropped a few dry logs beside the clearing, then turned toward the distant trickle of running water. Luck favored him, a clear stream ran nearby to clean it.
He already ate to his fill nearby but a snack won’t be bad.
He growled under his breath and returned to the clearing. After stacking the logs into a pyramid, he ignited them with a small spark spell. The fire crackled to life, and soon the smell of roasting meat filled the forest.
Kaedros’ stomach growled. The fat sizzled, dripping onto the flames, and the air turned thick with smoke and scent.
’..in a way...human cooking isn’t that bad..’
A groggy voice broke the quiet.