Dustin Klein

I took my sword out of the wolf's body as my Earth magic disintegrated.

I couldn't stop gasping for air, i was out of breath. But that didn't stop me from showing a smile, and even laughing out loud.

It was a Second-Stage Frenzied Wolf I'd just hunted, all by myself at that.

Frenzied Wolves were fearsome Magical Beasts of the Fire Element. Taking one down was considered a feat, specially if you did it all by yourself.

I was delighted at my own progress.

It was just a couple days ago when my closed door cultivation ended after breaking through to the 3rd Order.

I was out here testing my new powers.

Both my magic and body strength reached a new level, my defense was tougher than ever to penetrate. I was nothing but glad at my advancements.

After fetching the beast's corpse into my storage ring, i took out a water bottle and sat down before starting to gulp it down.

Today was my first time hunting alone, and I have to admit, it's not an easy task.

Sometimes it blows my mind that there are students in the academy doing this all alone everyday.

I formed a Faction with my friends since day one and always hunted in groups, i never had to worry much about my safety cause I knew my teammates were always there to back me up.

After finishing the bottle of water and recovering both some of my stamina and mana, i decided to move deeper into the forest in search of one more Frenzied Wolf.

I stored my shield and sword in my storage ring and jumped from tree to tree.

While the ground was wrought with danger, the only thing threatening my life up here was a few species of Air Element Magical Beasts.

But i didn't have to worry about them, they usually didn't appear within this area.

To my surprise, i found another person as i was travelling.

He was a Knight just like me, and was jumping from tree to tree to, most likely with the same strategy as me in mind.

The person looked familiar.

I would never forget that day, a figure covered in blood from top to bottom dragged a giant Earth Bear's body, evidently much stronger than himself, into the Merit Hall.

Emil Ashdown, the academy's number one trash in history, or so everyone said.

But i didn't believe that.

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There was no way a trash could hunt a beast of that proportion on his own, at least i wasn't confident in doing it.

Additionally, i'd seen the boy around campus before.

He was always busy moving about, not wasting a second of time, always striving to grow stronger.

That kind of dedication, i was familiar with.

He was similar to me in many ways, he reminded me of myself.

None of my friends liked him, specially after what I'd heard happened at the competition a couple days ago.

But i saw him in a favorable light.

Perhaps because I could relate to him, perhaps i admired him for what he was doing.

Either way, i bore no Ill will towards him.

Many times did i think of approaching and befriending him, but couldn't find the right opportunity to do so.

Perhaps this was the time now.

The person noticed my presence, and that I was staring at him.

He turned towards me. After seeing his face, i felt befuddled.

The Emil i saw just a week ago looked nothing like this.

His features looked sharper, and more enhanced. It made him look older, but I thought it suited him.

Plus, he was taller, much taller than before.

He used to reach only to my shoulder, but now he was but a couple inches shorter than me.

I shook my head internally.

This wasn't the same person. He looked far too different, much older.

They radiated the same aura, but it was probably my senses making a mistake.

The two of us ran along in silence, it seemed like we were headed for the same direction.

He was either here to hunt Frenzied Wolves like me, or Kurmushes. Nothing else was beyond this point, nothing that was on our level, that Is.

It was worth mentioning, we were getting dangerously close to the deeper areas, places we were not yet ready to step in.

Regardless, neither of us seemed ready to go home with our hunts still incomplete.

I looked at the boy again as I ran, the look on his face, it looked bleak and lifeless, focused only on the goal ahead of him.

I could tell he was lonely, just like that person, Ashdown.

It made me question whether if they were the same person again.

Thinking to myself, i made a mental note to approach Ashdown when this was over.

If I really wanted to befriend him then there was no point hesitating any further.

Let people say what they want, i wasn't going to stop at their words.

A friend, that person didn't even realize how much he needed one.

Just like me, back in my darkest days.

If I could extend a hand to myself back then, i definitely would have.

Though I may not be able to go back in time, I was able to change things in the present.

And the present me felt like befriending Ashdown was the way to go. From my observations, I could tell he wasn't a bad person, just a bit misunderstood.

Snapping back to reality, i watched as the boy running along me stopped in his tracks and looked at the ground with careful eyes.

Following his line of sight, i saw a patch of leaves, slightly darker in color laid out on the muddy surface of the forest.

It took me a few seconds to process what it indicated.

I'd read about it in my textbook, it was a trap set up by Kurmushes.

I wouldn't have noticed it if it were me, the person's eyes were trained.

Frankly speaking, i was slightly worried about his safety. He was a Second-Order Knight but looked unusually weak.

I was afraid he would get in trouble in the face of danger, but it seemed like my worries were useless. The person knew what he was doing.

After confirming that with my own eyes, I went on my way, my heart resting easy.

The weather was good in the forest today, slightly uplifting my spirit. Ordinarily I'd be whistling a song as I went by, but I couldn't allow myself to be careless at this area of the forest, where dangers laid everywhere.

After travelling just a few dozen meters more, I spotted another Frenzied Wolf passing through the area.

It was alone, and at the second stage too, exactly what I was looking for.

I drew my sword as I watched the wolf, its fur covered in red flames.

"Sefttar."

I muttered the spell under my breath before popping a Defense and and a Fire Resistance Pellet into my mouth.

Next, i jumped down and summoned my shield, drawing the Wolf's attention before engaging in battle.

At the same time, i could hear sounds of a clash not too faraway from me.

My lips curled upwards.

Seems like his battle had started too.