In the forest to the north of Abros, a party of three rookie adventurers were running for their lives. As they ran as fast as they could, the sound of trees being toppled and crushed could be heard behind them. The female mage yelled in panic and frustration, “Why on the goddess’s green earth did you not listen to me Leo! You knew going further into the forest was more than we could handle!”

“Yeah, yeah, I was wrong and stupid, but could we save the lecturing for after we make it out of here, Vala!?” Leo shouted, more focused on living than a lecture.

The third party member, a male rogue, gritted his teeth and exclaimed, “It’s a nice thought, making out of here alive and all, but can we really escape something like that!?”

Finally catching up to the party, a massive mana bear tore through the trees as it roared fiercely. It swiped at the Vala, but the rogue managed to pull her out of the way as the slash tore through the foliage. Vala had lost all coherent thought as her fear took over after seeing such a display. The rogue grabbed both of Vala’s shoulders and jostled her as he hurriedly shouted, “Hey, we are not out of this yet! Get up Vala!”

Getting a hold of herself, Vala shakingly responded, “R-right, thanks for that Sorin.”

Sorin chuckled, “You can thank me later by treating me to a meal. Now, let’s go help our muscle headed warrior out!”

As the two of them got to their feet, Leo continued running around the bear trying to divert its attention. Dodging the massive animal attacks was proving to be extraordinarily challenging, more so than he ever thought possible. “Damn!,” Leo thought to himself as he tried to keep from tripping while he dodged, “This is insane! What are we supposed to do here? It’s taking everything I have to narrowly dodge these attacks. Sooner or later, I’m going to slip up. The question is, how long can I hold out?”

Vala frantically screamed, “Leo, watch out!”

Instantly stopping his thoughts, Leo glanced to his left as he saw the bear wind up for a massive swipe. Lacking time to move with his weapon, Leo tossed his sword towards the bear and jumped to the ground. He landed right as the bear's hand whiffed over him, shattering his sword and the surrounding trees. Rolling onto his back, Leo looked up at the bear that stared back down at him. As Leo began to give up, knives flew through the air, piercing the bear’s chest, diverting its attention. “That’s right you over-sized rug, over here!” Sorin shouted as he brandished his main dagger in his left hand and throwing knives in his right.

Leo regained some semblance of hope and rolled away from the bear before jumping to his feet. “There is no way I am letting Instructor Baz’s training be for nothing!” Leo exclaimed as he grabbed the hilt of his now shattered sword.

The blade was shattered, Though the remaining jagged metal was more than enough for his plan. As the mana bear turned its back on Leo to face Sorin and Vala, Leo let out a roar and charged the bear from behind. Baz had told him that in times of panic or fear, to roar as loud as he could and find strength within it. And that is what he did, as he got right on top of the bear, Leo jumped on its back and drove what was left of the blade into its back before being thrown off.

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As he fell, he heard Vala chanting command words as Sorin covered her, “Sear. Ignition. Bolt.”

As she spoke, fire began to engulf and fluctuate around the tip of her staff. As she fired the bolt of fire Vala shouted, “Taste the results of my training with Master Aislin!”

The bolt made a small shockwave of fire around the staff as it soared towards the bear. Leo landed on the ground and instantly lunged away, making as much room as possible between him and the beast. The bolt connected with the bear causing a fiery explosion that engulfed the bear.

“Did we get him?” Sorin questioned.

Vala and Leo both yelled, “Don’t say that you idiot!”

Sure enough, the mana bear shook its body and dispelled the fire. At this point Sorin was out of throwing knives, Vala was out of a reliable amount of mana, and Leo was exhausted and without a weapon. Leo lamented the fact that his own actions were about to lead to both of his friends’ deaths. The mana bear stood on its hind legs to finish off Vala and Sorin, the sound of another creature rang out from the forest.

The party looked around the forest, terrified at the sound. Even the mana bear had ceased its attack. Sorin chuckled as he stuttered, “I-I don’t suppose either o-of you know w-what that was?”

Both Vala and Leo remained silent as they shook their heads. The faint beating of wings gradually grew louder and louder. Before long the shadow of a massive creature flew right over the trio and bear. All of the remaining life drained from Leo as he began sweating and muttered, “A-a wyvern? N-no a dragon? But why here?”

“Hey, what are you muttering over there?” Sorin shouted.

Leo, still reeling from shock, replied loud enough for Sorin to hear, “I-its a dragon, though it’s not big enough to be an adult.”

Sorin instantly fell to his knees as he now muttered in disbelief, “A dragon? What the hell is this, a cruel joke?”

As Sorin and Leo sat in disbelief, Vala heard the sound of someone running through the forest from where they had come from. “What the hell? Was someone actually deeper into the forest than us? But who?” Vala thought to herself, completely confused.

Unfortunately for the group, the mana bear was done with being sidetracked and began its final attack to finish off Sorin and Vala. As the beast wound up, someone launched from the brush behind it, the sound of metal sliding against metal before the bear's arm was cleaved from its body. As it fell, a cloaked man landed in front of the two before sparks of electricity crackled around him and he vanished. As Vala looked for where he went, she saw him airborne above the bear as he shouted the commands, “Converge! Amp! Surge!”

The blade seemingly mounted on the man's wrist began to crackle and surge with lightning as he plunged it into the mana bear's skull. As the blade entered, the bear cried out in pain while electricity erupted from its body, causing multiple patches of fur and skin to be scorched off. As the electricity dissipated, the man removed the blade from its head and landed as the bear's now lifeless corpse collapsed. As blood dripped from the blade, it seemed to suddenly disappear into the man’s wrist. The dragon had wrapped around above them and began to shrink itself. Once small enough, it wrapped itself around the man’s neck and dozed off.

Leo and Sorin sat absolutely dumbfounded just staring at the man. Vala, being the only one not currently verbally challenged, asked, “Excuse me, but who are you sir?”

The man turned to face Vala as he removed his hood to reveal long blonde hair that had clearly not been properly cut in some time. His green eyes shimmered in the sunlight as he gave a warm smile and responded, “My name Is Zycor, the pleasure is mine.”