Shiing!
The sound of sharp metal cut through the air.
"Henry! On your right!" Sounded the gruff voice with a sense of urgency.
"Got it," yelled the young man while panting.
What was going on exactly?
Well…
Roaaaar!
About a short distance away from me, my team was engaged in a fierce battle with a massive bear.
Normally, humans wouldn't stand a chance in this situation.
But these aren't normal humans....
"Aiden, I'll distract it! Get behind it," Came from the group leader as he swung his heavy battle axe with inhuman strength towards the fearsome beast.
The bear, not willing to back down from the frontal challenge, swung it's claws against Adam, the team leaders' axe.
Roarrr!
Though that proved to be a mistake as 2 of its nails shattered on impact.
....These humans are "Awakened".
Roaaaar!
It let out another roar, this one shaking the ground beneath us.
'Terrifying…' I thought, while a cold sweat ran down my forehead.
The bear eyes seemed to turn red from anger as it started aggressively attacking the tanned man.
Exaclty as planned.
As the tall man was getting overwhelmed my the sheer might of the forest dweller, it didn't notice the man sneaking up behind it.
Shiing!
Roaaaar!
Blood spurted from the bear's heel as Aiden dagger cut deeply into its tendons.
"Now, all together," Yelled the captain as the group rest of the group sprang into action.
The seasoned swordsman, Leo, aimed for the bear's eyes as Henry, also holding a longsword, aimed at the bear's furred chest.
Roarr!
The 2 powerful blows, caused the already injured bear to stagger back due to the pain.
"Time to end this," yelled Henry as he lifted his sword high in the air.
But this time, his body and sword got surrounded by an ethereal blue glow. The air seemed to feel heavy as the the world's spotlight shined on the young man.
'Aura…'
The young man slashed down the glowing sword with all his might and it went straight through the thick hide, severing its spine with stunning speed.
Hilton art - Drifting Wind
Plop!
All that was left after that attack was cleanly decapitated head of the one eyed bear.
Silence
We all turned to Henry, now bathed in blood.
"Haha, who would have thought we'd have a genius among us! Since when can you use aura kid?" The silence was broken by the team leader, Adam, as he started slapping Henry against his back again.
Henry, having recovered from the tension of battle, started scratching the back of his head while sheathing his bloody sword. "Oh, it wasn't that great. I can only use it for a short moment anyway."
"Don't sell yourself short pal, not even I can use Aura at my 43 years of age!"
'So I was correct for once.'
But I understand his compliment. After all, aura is quite the advanced technique, at least for regular awakened.
'Awakened.'
Humans capable of performing superhuman feats through the use of mana. The majority of people working as Rift hunters are Awakened. They would have to be if they want to take on beasts with this level of might.
Adam's gaze shifted to me
"I gotta say, that was an impressive plan, Crow. I've never killed a Dreadclaw bear that quickly, even with a full team," Adam praised.
"It isn't anything special." I replied.
I wasn't just being humble. What I did truly wasn't that special. All I did was plan.
I've studied every single beast that inhabits the Dreadclaw Forest. I know their weaknesses, strengths, habits and most importantly, the best way to kill them.
Because I'm an unawakened, I can't compete with Rift Beasts on equal footing, especially not something like a Tier 2 Dreadclaw bear.
So I have to contribute in a different way.
Enrage it, distract it and kill it when its at the weakest.
Though even I didn't expect it to go so smoothly.
The reason for that smoothness was…
"Oh, I haven't forgotten about you Aiden," said the grey haired man.
"Jeez, those arms must be powerful for them to fully cut through the thick hide of the bear."
The scrawny man looked at the team leader for a few moments before letting out a thin smile on his sickly pale face.
"It wasn't that big a deal. It was mostly due to the excellent planning of our strategist." He said pointing at me.
I said nothing and fell into thought.
'The heels.'
A major weakness of Dreadclaw bears. Unlike the rest of their body where their fur is thick and difficult to penetrate, the heels are relatively bare in comparison.
But not completely.
Usually, you would still need quite the amount of strength to actually cut through it. Especially with a dagger.
'Was this bear just exceptionally weak or....'
I stop my contemplating as I feel someone's shadow envelop me.
We've been hunting rift beast for quite a while so the sun is starting to rise
"Hey, we're thinking about heading back now, since we've gathered a lot of materials," said Henry.
I take off the bag with beast materials in it. Because I don't do any battle, I carry most of the important stuff that's needed when hunting Rift Beast.
As I'm counting, Henry leans in and whispers, "Hey, don't you think that Aiden is a little....off?"
Feigning indifference I ask, "What do you mean?"
"Well, it's just.. uhm.... I don't really know. I just feel like there's something... wrong with him."
"It doesn't really matter," I replied indifferent. "Even if he was planning something, there's 3 awakened here he would have to deal with."
He frowns for a moment before shaking his head. "Yeah, I guess it doesn't really make sense to be cautious. Sorry for bothering you like this."
He started walking back towards the rest.
"Henry," he suddenly turned around at the rare call of his name. "Keep your guard up."
He stood confused for a moment, before nodding his head with a serious expression.
sigh
I hate dealing with people.
***
"Okay let's head back to the guild." After recovering from the previous battle, we collectively decided to head back to the Rift Hunter's guild.
As we're walking I suddenly notice something off. What is it? I don't know. It's almost as if our surroundings have completely changed but everything looks the same. The rough dirt we were walking on still looks like dirt but feels weird.
The air also feels different. It felt thick and unnatural. My senses are screaming at me that something is wrong but what?
And it seems I wasn't the only one. The rest of the team also seemed feeling it.
"Do you guys also feel like something is out of place," Leo asked cautiously
"Yeah, there's definitely something wrong here. Be on guard," said Adam while readying his war axe.
After making our group small, with me in the center, we cautiously started moving forward.
And slowly, something started to change.
The dark brown trees started to change and melt together. The familiar mix of grass and dirt also started changing. As all this was happening, I realized the scent of pines, earth and grass that I've grown familiar with started to lessen as if it was an aberration.
And before we knew it, we were no longer standing in the Dreadclaw forest.
No more dirt, no more sky and no more trees.
We... we're standing in the middle of a ruin.
How did we get here? We were just walking in the open forest, and now we're suddenly in a worn down ruin?
"What... the hell?" A confused voice cut through my racking brain. Who's it belonged to I don't know. All I know is that this ruin wasn't here a few seconds ago.
"What kind of magic is this!"
"S-should we call for help?
As the group panicked, I stayed calm. Relatively. After realizing we weren't in immediate danger I started observing the surroundings.
We stood in a dimly lit ruin, grey stone walls surrounding us and musty bookshelves lining the chamber. A brown wooden desk stood in the corner with a glowing object on it.
"Crow, do you know what's going on," asked Henry cautiously
"I don't." My words seem to pull down the atmosphere even more.
"We aren't in danger I believe." The reassurance came from Adam.
"This might be situation. It might be similar to the Riftlands," He said, as his voice grew more confident.
Henry quickly replied, "You mean the illusions and mirages that happen in that place?"
"Yes, just like that."
"But wouldn't that mean that there is treasure here?" Questioned the Leo, as he started walking towards the glowing object on the desk.
"Hey, we should stay cautious," warned Adam but it fell on deaf ears as he advanced.
When he reached the desk he grabbed the object.
After holding it up, it seemed to be a pendant made of off a lot of gold. Like enough gold for one to live a lavish life without concerns.
There was a piece of silver in the middle that glowed with a very dim light.
"Hey guys, look at this. It seems like this will fetch a pretty penny," said Leo, seemingly having let go of all caution.
But I barely noticed him.
I was too distracted by the person walking up behind him.
Aiden
His shy demeanor gone.
Replaced by a dark and predatory gaze.
"I'll be taking that," he murmured as a sinister smile spread across his face.
Leo didn't have time to react.
Because by the time he turned around...
All that met him was a black dagger slitting his throat.