The Night Canyons were dark, as they always were. And its inhabitants were alert, as they always were. Including Alnea. However, Alnea was alert not to look out for ambushes. Rather, this time, he was the one doing the ambushing. Though letting the Oren Beasts attack him first was good, serving as experience for adapting to all kinds of situations, he should also get some experience of trying to launch ambushes. Or so his master had said.
And so, after he had been successful in creating his Arcana, his master had given a task. To hunt down ten different Adolescent Stage Oren Beasts. And the hunts would count only if he was the one who had initiated the attacks. That is, if he had ambushed the Oren Beasts. Technically, what his master had demanded of him was not too hard. He was often ambushed by the Oren Beasts. Why could he not do that same?
In reality though, ambushing Oren Beasts was tough. Especially those at the Adolescent Stage and above. These Oren Beasts, unlike most of those at the Infant Stage, already had their own territories. Like the Bone Rotting Plants in the canyon that he had been in earlier. To ambush them meant that he had to infiltrate their territory. Territory, which these beasts guarded with their life, using all sorts of alarm, and defence mechanisms, to catch any intruders.
He could, of course, just charge through their territory, and attack the Oren Beasts, but that would not be an ambush. It would be more like a brawl. According to the task his master had given him, he had to ambush the Oren Beasts. He had to catch them off guard. In fact, it would be best if he could finish them with just one attack. Those were some tough requirements to meet.
Requirements, that he took nearly a week in combing through the different inhabitants of the canyon he was in, to just get started with. From what he had seen of the canyon in the past week, it could be divided into seven areas, with each area having one overlord, Oren Beasts at the peak phase of their Adolescent Stage. Those were not Beasts that he could mess with, yet.
Under the overlords, each of the seven areas had roughly about ten or so Oren Beasts at the advanced phase of the Adolescent Stage. One more group of Beasts he could not mess with. Maybe, he would be able to wrestle with them a year or two later. But not yet. At the moment, he was not even sure of winning against the hundreds or so of the Oren Beasts at the intermediate phase of their Adolescent Stage in the canyon. He could give them a fight, and maybe even win against them. But he was not sure. And even if he won against them, it would be a pyrrhic victory. Not worth it.
And so, Alnea was left with no choice but to scour the dark reaches of the canyon, searching for his target, until he finally found one. A Dark Wind Wolf. Although these wolves were strong, they were not as strong as some of the other species as he had seen in the canyon. The suicidal attacks of these Dark Wind Wolves, their Dark Winds, was indeed a little dangerous, and could cause him some problems. But that was only if he let the wolf have the time to launch the attack.
He was going to ambush the wolf, and kill it before it could even have the chance to understand what was happening. Or at least, before it could launch its Dark Winds. And so, as he neared the wolf, munching down on the carcass of some other Oren Beast it had recently hunted, Alnea made sure to make no sounds with his steps, while regulating his breathing to slow down.
This was the first time he was going to fight an Adolescent Stage Oren Beast, so he could not deny that he was nervous. The power of Oren Beasts… he had experienced it many times with his body. And that was when he used to fight Infant Stage Oren Beasts. This was an Adolescent Stage Oren Beast. If he made even a slight mistake, then his master would probably have to save him again… He could not let that happen. He had to learn to handle things on his own. He had to learn to be strong.
Thus, while the wolf was still focussed on its meal, Alnea chose to stop quite a distance away from it, where it could not feel his presence. And with such distance between them, he could not use the senses of his Spirit to observe the wolf. For the first time in a while, he had to rely on his eyes to fight an Oren Beast. But that was enough for what he was about to do. Closing his eyes for a few moments, he reached out to the thread connecting his Spirit to the Origin Sea, and borrowed some Oren from it, and let it flow out of his body.
“Beyond the veil of the Night…”
Fortunately, he had reached the False Rank, so even after Oren left his body, he did not lose control of it. Instead, it was only after Oren had left his body, that he began concentrating on it, and shaped it into the form of an arrow. The next step was inducing a certain kind of strange rhythm within the arrow. Something like the rhythms of oscillating circles, yet it was not exactly like oscillating circles.
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There were other rhythms mixed in it too, soft, and hidden behind a thick layer of circles, but they were there, existing beneath the surface of the oscillating circles…
“Where the world slumbers just past her sight…”
It was only when the undulations in the arrow of darkness, floating in front of him, became stable, and self sufficient, forming a complete cycle of its own, that Alnea finally dared to relax. But not for long. There was still one more thing that he had to do.
Reaching out to his Roots, he made the thread beat with a strange rhythm. A rhythm of normal, ripple like waves, that also contained the rhythms of the waves of rotating boxes, and oscillating circle within itself. The key to connecting with the Mystery he had comprehended, and summoning it.
“I call forth the embers of the darkness…”
Not betraying his expectations, the Mystery answered his summons, and manifested around him. And as usual, was ready to pounce upon him, and drag him into its illusions. However, Alnea was already prepared it. The moment that the Mystery manifested around him, it sensed the presence of the arrow in front of him, and was inadvertently drawn into it, infusing its rhythms with a strange charm.
And just like that, the arrow of Oren stopped being just an arrow, while the rhythms in the arrow stopped being just normal rhythms. Instead, the rhythms became the interpretation of his comprehension of the Mystery, while the arrow itself became his Arcana. The Nightmare Arrow. As a Low Grade Arcana, it was just a weak Arcana that still needed a lot of improvements, but it was enough for what he needed to do, for what he intended to do.
“To drown my enemies in the Nightmare of their madness.”
Taking aim on the Dark Wind Wolf in the distance, still munching on its prey, completely oblivious to what was about to happen to it, Alnea borrowed a little more Oren from the Origin Sea, shaping it into the form of a ball, and attached it at the end of the arrow, before destabilising the ball, and letting it explode. A simple, crude, and one of the most stupid ways of casting his Arcana, better than only stabbing the arrow directly into his enemies with his own hands.
However, he had no other option. To add the autonomous flying option to the Arrow, he would have to comprehend some other Mysteries first, before adding their interpretations to the Arcana. And even if he did comprehend some Mysteries, there was no guarantee that they would have effects which would allow him to fire his arrows in a more efficient manner.
Besides, if he wished to improve his Arcana, other than the blessings of Goddess Ilea, he would also need time. Time, that he did not have much of. He only had less than two years to reach the Advanced Stage of the False Rank. Spending too much time on an Arcana that did not have much of a future was not worth it. Rather, he could use his experiences with the Nightmare Arrow, both the process of creating it, and using it, to improve the Arcanas he would make in the future.
For that though, he needed to observe how his Arcana would fare against the wolf. And so, Alnea watched intently, with all his focus on the arrow, as it flew straight to the Beast. It was only when the arrow had reached just a few metres away from the wolf, that it finally noticed something. Leaving its prey on the ground, it immediately got onto his four legs, and looked around vigilantly.
Unfortunately for the wolf, it was a little too late in its actions, and paid the price for its indulgence by getting pierced by the Nightmare Arrow. In the next moment, as if feeling something pricking into tis side, the wolf instinctively looked toward the place it had been struck. A bluish black arrow of Oren was sticking into its hide. From the face that the wolf was making though, it looked like it was a little confused. Probably because it was expecting some kind of pain.
But it would never feel the pain. Nightmare Arrow was never meant to deal physical pain in the first place. Besides, the arrow was not even real. It was made from Oren, which soon turned into tendrils of dark blue smoke, and light, that seeped into the wolf’s body where it had been struck. Seeing that even the arrow had disappeared, the wolf finally stopped worrying about it, and looked around in vigilance, searching for its attacker. It even let out a few growls of warning. And challenge.
However, in the end, all that the wolf was met with was silence. And soon, it turned silent as well. Looking into the distance, the wolf whimpered a little, before its legs slowly gave out. In a matter of just a few moments, from looking around in vigilance, ready to pounce at its enemy at any moment, the wolf had turned into a lethargic Beast, that curled within itself, as it slept away in the darkness of the canyon. In the darkness of the illusions.
Just to be sure, Alnea crept a little closer to the wolf, not bothering to hide his movements, or sound anymore. Yet the wolf still lay on the ground, silent, and defenceless. It had truly been drawn into an illusion. It would not stay in the illusion for long though. Especially with its solitary nature, it was bound to break through the restraints of the illusion sooner than later. And so, Alnea did not hesitate anymore, and rushed towards the wolf.
Hearing the sounds of his hurried steps, the wolf began stirring, and struggling to wake up. Clearly, it had sensed danger once more, and was trying to break free of the illusion. Unfortunately for the wolf, its reactions were a little too late. By the time it opened its eyes, it was greeted with the sight of a black sword, with silver blade, rushing straight towards its head, with golden lights gathering at its tip, right before it was pierced, and lost all consciousness.