Levi bit his lip. He was really worrying about the Round Table now. He still felt the summon at the back of his mind, so either it was still ongoing, or it was just a lingering sensation that would dissipate the moment he tried to enter.

He really hoped his previous assumption was correct; that time moved differently there.

They returned a couple hours later. Of course, Bram was following him, they’d have most likely gone in another direction altogether. With the dark, it was impossible to make heads or tails of where they were going. There were no landmarks to guide him; they were literally walking in the dark.

When Levi asked how exactly the detective was able to guide himself through the forest, his answer was a simple one: experience. Levi thought it was because of a skill, like other hunters had.

Levi spotted the clearing of their camp, finally able to understand where they were. Bram’s huge forearm swept in front of him, stopping him. His face was etched with a seriousness that Levi had only seen before at the cave of Beron.

Realising the situation, Levi silently brandished his kukri. Are we being hunted? He thought, lowering his body a little out of preparation. He bent his knees, ready to leap at a moment's notice. His mana container itched.

A piercing white light flashed within the camp, blinding Levi completely. Levi furiously blinked his eyes in a futile attempt to regain his vision.

“Bram–” Levi shouted, his hands waving around.

“Stay still, Levi,” Bram said calmly. “Keep your eyes shut. Vision will return–”

“Get him!” A command sounded out from Levi’s flank.

All Levi could hear were the sounds of fighting. Bram’s fists exploded against his targets, eliciting pained shouts and yells. But it didn’t last long. Bram stopped fighting.

“The trap is successful,” One of the attackers said. “Keep it tight, we’ll get the boy.”

Levi’s body jostled. Someone had picked him up. His heart smashed against his chest.

Was this how he was going to die?

Slowly, Levi’s vision was returning to normal. Through the white haze engulfing his vision, he looked up, and saw a gruff man wearing a beast's fur over his chest. Levi recognised him. He was Rakor.

Taking a deep breath, Levi willed the mana in his container, and urged it to fire out into a raging blaze. The fire caught Rakor, engulfing the man in a moment. A pained scream squeezed out of his throat. He let go of Levi and he fell to the floor, rolling to a stop. Rakor’s muscles bulged and the fire was erased.

Levi leapt to his feet, kukri aimed at the beastly man.

What the hell is that skill? Levi thought as he planned his escape. But there was nowhere to run. In front of him, was a hunter that had lived his life in the woods. His only chance of living was buying time for Bram, and judging by the distant sounds of fights, Bram had escaped the trap he was placed in.

“What do you want?” Levi asked cautiously.

“Your relic,” he said. Levi tensed. How the hell did he know about that? “Or gold, or Ingredients.”

“What?” Levi was taken aback. Was this a damned robbery?

“I don’t have time for this,” Rakor spat. “My people need to eat. We need to escape this life. Forgive me.”

Rakor darted right for Levi.

“Wait stop–” Levi commanded, channelling most of his mana into his Inciting words. Rakor’s eyes hazed over, but his forward momentum was far too quick. Like a primal beast, he was already bound for his prey.

More than anything, Levi wanted him to stop. Levi instinctively closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see what happened next.

Rakor landed 1 metre away from Levi, only to stand on a well timed trap. An explosion rocked the earth and consumed Rakor. Levi expected the worst. He knew how strong that attack was. Eyes snapping open, Rakor was flung at least 4 metres to the side. He was missing a leg. The harsh smell of burnt flesh wafted through the pine trees.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“You–” Rakor looked at Levi in a daze, wrath flashed behind his eyes.

“I tried warning you,” Levi said, his blood boiling. Anger crept up. “But you didn’t listen.”

Rakor looked at his missing leg, then back to Levi. Levi felt a power emerge from the man, his muscles contracted, and condensed. He could hear it; like popping bubble wrap.

Like a wild beast, Rakor pounced at Levi. Levi was ready. He shot a lance of fire at the man as it pierced his flesh; but didn’t get further than that. At the same time, Levi dodged, flinging his body as fast as he could to the side.

“I’ll kill you–” Rakor scrambled to his remaining foot, and charged. Levi tried dodging, but it was too late. Rakor was too close.

Levi crossed his arms in guard, and summoned his golden carapace. His armour appeared only for a second before Rakor’s fist crushed into him. Crack. Levi was sent hurtling back, smashing against a nearby tree. The golden armour on his arms shattered, blood streamed from the cracks.

Sucking in a sharp breath of air, Levi suddenly found himself unable to breath. Unable to speak, Levi fired another arrow of fire at Rakor, but he dodged it. Levi fired another, this time it struck his chest. But it was evident that whatever skill Rakor was using, was able to resist his fire.

Instead, Levi quickly summoned his fire control and swept it across the land. The entire forest and grassland was caught in a blaze. Clothes turning to cinders and ash, Levi hid within the crackling fire as Rakor raged within in an attempt to find him.

In the blink of an eye, the curtain of flames was swept open. Rakor’s fist was an inch from blasting Levi’s face. He could see the man’s face; hazed over in wrath and desperation. He had lost himself.

Time slowed.

Why did he so desperately want his money, his relic? Levi didn’t know of the man’s personal problems, all Levi knew was that he had to survive. To experience this new world and all it had to offer. He had friends, hopes, and dreams now.

As Rakor’s fist threatened to explode Levi’s head open like a watermelon, all Levi heard was the harsh beating of his own heart; like a percussion drum slamming down repeatedly.

He had power.

A flash of inspiration blossomed with his mind. There had to be a weakness. THere was only one way to find out.

Levi’s eyes moved to the flames surrounding him. He felt the trace mana within, still connected to him somehow, in one way or another. He reconnected to the tendrils of flame acting like a wildfire, no mind of their own. But as Levi connected to them, they listened to his command.

Like a knight's javelin, the flame wall lanced upward without any notice straight up at Rakor’s soft chin. Levi didn’t know if it was protected, but he found out in the next second.

The flame spike tore through his flesh, entered the roof of his mouth, and continued further until a lifeless haze took over the anger within the man’s eyes.

Meeting his gaze, Levi watched as Rakor fell lifelessly to the floor. Bram arrived the next second, gazing at the corpse surrounded in blazing flames.

You have defeated: Rakor Smithe (Level 42)

| You have Levelled up: 31->33

| You have 4 unspent Stat points.

Levi felt a cold crawl over his shoulder despite being in the centre of a fiery storm. The system’s words seemed more frigid than ever before, although Levi guessed that it was just his imagination.

“I–” Levi stuttered. He took a deep breath, gathering his chaotic thoughts. “He was going to kill me. What do we do?”

“First,” Bram calmly explained, “cancel the fire. Can you do it?”

If Bram had asked him before today, then there was no way he could do it. But now that he felt the trace amounts of mana hidden within the fire, he willed the blaze to extinguish. It was just like cutting off the oxygen to the fire supply. In a short few seconds, the fire dwindled until it fully went out. Apart from the embers laying in the ash on the floor, darkness reigned supreme once more.

Bram activated his krag light. Purple light illuminated them both.

“About Rakor,” Levi said, but he was cut off by Bram.

“Forget him,” he replied with concern. “Are you okay?”

Levi nodded. “It… doesn’t feel like I did anything wrong. Is that bad?” He looked at Bram.

“No, it’s not bad, Levi. People deal with death differently. It affects some others, some may be crippled with the sensation of taking a life. Some, especially when it’s self defence, don’t feel anything. It’s okay not to feel anything, Levi. I was the same the first time.”

“The first time?”

“Come, let’s head back first.”

***

Bram told Levi to wait at the entrance of the forest while he gathered the camp. Levi especially wanted his lantern back. While waiting, he couldn’t help but look inward.

He truly felt nothing about taking Rakor’s life. Was it in fact because it was all out of self defence? He thought back to the cave in Beron… He definitely felt pain then. He even had nightmares. Was it the lingering soul of Kale haunting him, or was it the fact that, in some ways, she was still his mother?

Levi sighed.

The bush rustled beyond the tree line. Levi flinched. He calmed down the instant Bram broke out of the darkness.

“Let’s get back into town,” Bram said, Levi nodded.

Walking back through the gargantuan black walls, Levi looked at Bram. “You said you had taken a life? Was it in the military?”

Bram shook his head. “I took the life of my step father.”

“What?” Levi asked, shocked.