Generally, people in this realm were ranked into five stages, with each stage becoming more difficult the higher one advances. They were the awakening stage, the bloodline stage, the adept stage, master stage and the transformation/ legendary stage.
Because these names were too long, people usually refered to them according to ranks.
Creatures like Alexia, usually awaken these powers at the age of fifteen and at average they advance two to four years later. At the moment, she had just recently turned sixteen a few months ago. ' Why is he rushing me?'
Her heart pounded, she felt as if something big was about to happen and she was clueless. That thing was the reason she trained harder than everyone else and something told her it was the reason her father held her in high regard. That thought caused her heart to tighten. ' If this involves my life, shouldn't someone tell me?'
Just then he spoke." Alexia, just remember that this is for your own good. Sometimes, some things can neither be changed nor avoided. All we can do is help you prepare for it." His jaw cleched as he turned his gaze to the horizon. " I think you should leave. It's almost night time"
" What does he mean?" Feeling wetness on her cheek, she swiftly wiped away a tear that she didn't know she had shed. She followed his line of sight. The familiar red hue was almost gone, welcoming the darkness. Night time was swiftly approaching. It was time to hunt.
***
In the dark, Alexia moved like a panther, her enchanted black bodysuit and braided ash black hair blended with the night.' Who told me to destroy all my available armour?' Using the tall ebony trees as cover, she moved.
While leaning against a tree, her nails dug into the bark, lost in her thoughts. Alexia was sick of this forest. So the beat thing to do was to speed up her advancement. What better way was there, than hunting down a beast with a higher rank. The higher the beast, the bigger the luxstone. The bigger the luxstone, the more essence she could harvest.
Grinning, she licked her lips. " This is a terrible plan and even worse logic!" Rolling her eyes, she scoffed. " I knew you would say that." " What you are trying to do is suicidal." Her intuition made a compelling argument but she wasn't going to resign herself to fate. " The price of power is always paid in full."
" Time to stalk my prey. The deeper I go, the bigger the prize." Grinning darkly, she rolled to another tree like a shadow. " You want to fight a feral beast. That's a whole rank above you. Are you crazy?" Her intuition seemed to scream, bit she was undeterred.
Alexia braked before she could knock into a tree. " If I can fight martial apex beasts while I'm still in the prime stage that I have a chance of defeating a prime feral beast. Now be quiet." Towards the end, she quietly hissed.
Pulling back her attention, she leaned against a tree. Suddenly, she shivered. The air had become strangely chilly and oppressive. " Demon beast." Alexia trembled slightly, a fierce grin on her face. Taking a deep breath, she smiled. She moved, going in the direction of the chill.Her eyes lit up like two bright suns, enhancing her sight.
Peeping from behind a tree, she studied the scene in front of her. Lying a few meters away from her, was an injured, unguarded demon wolf. It was in the middle of a thick mass of darkness that swirled around it calmly.
' They are really popular here I guess.'
" But as a feral beast, why is it so small? And what in Lugus' name happened to it?" The wolf seemed paralyzed, other than it's eyeballs, it didn't move anything else. The ground shook slightly but Alexia was too focused on the wolf to notice.
" Alexia! Turn around." Her intuition sounded anxious. Taking note of this, Alexia increased her hearing perception. ' I can't hear anything.' That in itself was suspicious. Something must have been hunting the wolf. Where was it?
" You're going to regret this." The sound of gritted teeth echoed in her head. She hesitated. An injured feral beast was in front of her, one slash away from becoming a luxstone. Wasn't it foolishness to abandon such a gift?
" You're a fool of you think it's a gift. Wake up! It's obviously a trap." Shutting out her intuition, she pondered.' Am I really going to let fear stop me from advancing? What's the worst that could happen anyways?' She closed her eyes as if making an important decision.
When she opened them, they were filled with unmistakable resolve. Creeping closer to the still wolf, she put all her senses on full alert, ready to escape if the situation calls for it. Her heart thudded against her ribcage, her hairs standing on end as she drew closer. She gripped her unsheathed sword tightly, maintaining silence.
The ground around the wolf felt different. ' Maybe I'm just nervous.' Standing before the wolf, she lifted up her sword trembling slightly, a tremor passed through the ground. Looking into the eyes of the wolf, she saw fear crystallized in it's eyes. Her heart trembled. Breathing deeply, she decisively brought down her sword on its neck, severing it's head.
Almost immediately, a luxstone appeared beside it. Alexia should have felt relieved, there was no action, violence or needless sacrifice. But her heart still felt uneasy. The darkness was still swirling even after the death of its ' master '.
Tentatively picking up the luxstone, she frowned. ' Why does it look like the one from a martial apex beasts?' " Maybe because it is from one and you're still in danger. Mind you. I'm always right."
The ground beneath her, trembled, and this time she felt it. " Not ominous at all." She said looking everywhere. When suddenly, a huge stinger shot out of the ground from behind her. Acting quickly, Alexia held on to the luxstone while instinctively rolled to the side. She watched as the stinger lodged into the body of the wolf before dragging it underground.
Watching this happen, Alexia could only utter one word. " Crap." At her words, a fierce shriek came from underground, causing the ground to tremble. Without warning, the ground in front of her exploded. Putting the luxstone in her storage bracelet, she used her hand to shield herself from falling debris. Before she could compose herself, her body instinctively rolled to the side again.
* Whoosh*
Turning her head to the side, she saw an onyx stinger embedded where her head had been. Springing to her feet, she saw it being retracted. She took a deep breath, then sighed,' that was seriously too close for comfort.'
Looking up, she came face to face with her assailant. It's giant glossy onyx claws looked as sharp as razors. It's body the size of an elephant, bearing a resemblance to scorched earth. It's long curved tail appeared menacing, ending with an onyx stinger that now glowed an eerie green. " Lugus be damned. What a giant scorpion!"
And that giant scorpion had it's malicious green eyes fixated on her. She could see anger and hunger in those eyes. Gulping, she stuttered. " Mister Scorpion, I didn't mean to steal...your food. Can you like...let me go?" The beast just stared at her before roaring to the sky while snapping it monstrous claws at her.
" I guess that's a no. Too bad." Crouching to the ground, she narrowly avoided a claw to her chest. Feral beasts were known for their strength and speed. Without a proper plan, her only option was to dodge like her life depended on it. " In your case it does."
Performing a backflip, she kicked back an incoming claw before crouching down again. She aimed at the claw from below. But her actions didn't cause it any harm. On the contrary, it distracted her. The other claw grappled her from behind lifting her up.
She was sure that without the enchanted armour, her insides would be meat paste. Or worse still, she would have been split in half by the powerful claws of the feral scorpion.
Struggling in it's grip, she summoned fire in the center of her palms. Slamming them on the claw of the scorpion, she hoped to weaken it somehow. ' Or at least make it cry for it's mother.' That was a fleeting thought because the flames only scorched it slightly. 'At least fire's useful.' Comforting herself, she stared at it's mouth that was drawing close. It's claw like appendages were eager to sink into her flesh.
Wrapping her sword in flames, she timed herself. " Now!" With a shout, she ruthlessly thrust the sword into one of the scorpion's eyes, making sure her faces spread within it's skull.
* ROAR!*
The beast let out a deafening screech as it violently flung her away. Alexia flew through the air. Only coming to a stop when her back slammed against the trunk of a nearby tree. With a crack, the tree broke in two.
*Crack*
She staggered to her feet, only to spit out a mouthful of blood. " Ha! What do you know? A broken rib, that's a first."
*ROAR!*
Watching the rampaging beast, something clicked in her mind. ' Isn't one of uncle's mission to kill a scorpion called Thrakos?'
Her eye twitched," I can't be that unlucky right?" " I reserve my comments." Listening to her intuition, she burst into crazy laughter that mingled with the frenzied roar of Thrakos.
Some curious beasts that wanted to try their luck, fled quickly. The bird's in the crimson trees scattered about unsure where to go. They had just seen a pale ghost with blood stained mouth, crackling. Of course they had to escape before the witch caught them.
As Alexia's laughter faded, chest heaved with ragged breaths. Her eyes narrowed, as she stared right into the eye of the beast. Clenching her sword, she swung it down with a twisted grin.
" My uncle wants your head. I also want revenge. So Thrakos, come and meet your end."
The scorpion stared down at her with it's one good eye, now filled with madness and anger. It let out a roar before charging at her.