That voice has stuck in my head for the last few days. I analyzed all the apparitions and could conclude that it was benign. For the hour, at least. But the doubts of who or what she was continued. From the beginning, it was clear that I should seek power, and that regardless of my lifestyle, I should train. Because my life was on the line, that guy would come back sooner or later. Bruno's wand became one of the tools I was most attached to, the spell stored in its center could save my life. So I needed more, anything useful to replace the absence of magic.

I slid my right leg over the dirt, raised my left forearm and waited for the kick to reach me. The sole of the wooden foot hit my block full force, and then he spun in the air, driving his other leg straight into my face. I used evasive fighting mode to take a step back with every blow I landed. For most of the training, I got away with damage. Dodging, blocking, and directing attacks was simpler, as if my body could naturally do that. Gerould stopped the puppets' movements with his staff, and at the same moment the strong breeze came over us all. Keeping my focus on training prevented me from seeing the dark clouds that approached. The crops swayed to the rhythm of the howling wind. I looked at my dirty and deplorable state and rethought all the progress, automatically a smile formed on my face when I saw the scribbled earth. My mentor's voice pulled me out of my world.

“It's a fighting style to be admired, yes. But don't you think it's too indented? Attacks are always missing from your workouts." I lifted the hair that started to show at the top of my left vision and turned to him, it was funny to see two queen's guards converted to combat teachers.

"Yes I know that. I've been beaten since I got into this business, so I think using the defensive and evasive style has given me confidence. My mission is the night, this has also taken away my focus."

"Right" replied Gerould with a sigh. "I have something that might help you. Ataz helped me remember this utensil."

"Did I help? I remembered him!"

“We're not sure who remembered. Take it, boy." Gerould hurled a bright white potion, and I caught it with both hands. “This will circulate mana around the outside of your body temporarily.

"Amazing." I said, admiring the bottle. "Must have been the eye in the face."

“Take it as an investment from us, I know you'll grow strong someday."

Trees everywhere, no sign of the aforementioned clearing. If it weren't for the glowing ladybugs, we would definitely leave here. I looked at Kaled on the branch of a huge tree and was determined to try to climb. I unsheathed the dagger and plunged it into the trunk, then jumped, braced my legs on the trunk and began to climb. However, I felt my collar being pulled and I fell to the ground. When I looked up, I caught Cirlan's look of disappointment on me.

“You know, going up there is not a good idea for you. Keep looking at the ladybugs, the more there are, the closer we are to the class eight material. I opened my mouth to speak, but the captain cut me off. "And that means that the risk of dying here is also high, you will stay close to me and Cacele."

I looked at Cacele and pouted, but she looked away and whistled. Kaled landed, making me stagger. The group continued higher. A few squeals and sounds of slaughter made me quicken my pace, that was the big problem with going into the forest at night. I made sure Gerould's potion and Bruno's wand were in my bag, losing them was out of the question.

"What level are you?"

"Oh, did the child learn to level now?"

“I am a wannabe Diluculus." Cirlan said casually as he used his spell to brush aside the bushes.

"I'm an excellent Bright Archer! Our dear locator, Kaledinho, is the same as me." Cacele nudged his friend with her elbow.

"What about the two members who never came on missions again?"

“They would be very useful here, as a Null counts as minus one."

“At least I did a solo mission."

At that instant, Kaled turned with clenched teeth and raised his fist, but nearby screeches saved me from this thrashing. A few quadrupedal creatures emerged from the bushes. They growled and slowly got closer. The coloring of his thick coats of fur was black, his canines were huge, his muscles larger than usual, and his eyes… red. Abnormality. Holy shit.

Kaled buried his fist in the skull of one of them. He pressed until the head hit the ground, creating a small hole with the now dead body. Cirlan clasped her hands and three red shields appeared around her, and Cacele stood between them two poised with her bow for anyone who approached. Afraid of my offensive position, I drew my dagger and took slow steps back. We entered combat. I believed I was at a disadvantage, the sharp claws scratched my weapon to the point where small cracks appeared. When I slipped in the mud and my pecs ripped open, I gritted my teeth and thought about how the pain of another scar would feel, but an arrow went through his head, knocking his brains to the ground as he took two steps before he fell.

"Attention, Lumi." Cacele said, and I nodded in agreement.

I turned, gripped the hilt of the dagger and screamed in my attack. The blade went far from piercing a heart, it was held… by a masked guy. The shaking of my body made me lose possession of the dagger, and to finish it off he kicked me. I crashed against the tree, the creatures surrounded me. They were quite big when they stood up. Again, I found myself unable, they would skin me at any time. However, I was saved. A hail of green arrows drove them back, and my mate's hand was outstretched for me.

“We have problems. Can you fight?”

If he was the guy, or at least had some connection with him, I needed to fight. The creatures made a circle that covered any possible escape route we could use, which for some reason brought a smile to my face. They were all at least seven feet tall when they stood upright, their claws scratching the metal, and they were definitely abnormal. Coincidence… I was stressed and wanted to react, but I was shaking at the thought of someone being behind it. Who could control and evolve monsters and send them to me? It's because I? His mistake, if there is one, was provoking me.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"You know… Fighting is all I want most." I took my friend's hand firmly and stood up, soon we took each other's guard.

“They both went after the guy in the mask, he ran off with the stuff we needed to get."

“I assume the horde stayed with us.

"I thought you hadn't noticed. I can use my energy arrows like swords, so we can get some gap and escape these Hiasters." The many Hiasters came closer and laughed, using all four paws again. "These freaks think with humans....? That scares me…"

Cacele concentrated yellow energy into her right hand, but I gently held her arm.

"You with your arrows can sweep them alone, right?"

“Yes, but I need a striker… Wait."

“I will step forward to my dagger and fight." I said and ran.

The first claw came from above. I rolled forward, and the impact of his ground attack sent dirt flying everywhere. Wasting no time, I dodged a bite that almost took my left leg, and then jumped to the side, avoiding an attack that came at my back. The dagger was five paces away from me, and Cacele was still pulling the bow. Trust me, she was trying even with the Hiasters on top of her. I said I was going to be the striker, and I will be.

A Hiaster came to attack me frontally, its sharp claws were together, as if it wanted to open a hole in my belly. I ran towards it, braced my hands on the long claws and, with a backflip, slashed through the creature from above. Her blow pierced his friend's stomach, which sent all of his entrails to the ground. Blood was gushing everywhere, and his furious gaze found me. Man… he was tall. I glanced at Cacele. Her clothes were torn, she had several cuts on her body and was panting. It was now.

The Hiaster spread its arms. I crouched. A cut. Blood covered my body. I smiled happily as I heard the huge monster fall behind me after having its stomach ripped open by my blade. My hair stuck to my forehead from the blood, my clothes got heavier and I felt like stepping into a shallow lake. I was nervous, and I knew it. The cold in my stomach, tingling in my hands, the trembling of my knees... Maybe I had gone crazy, because, in the same intensity, a calm inhabited me, and the smile wanted to stay on my face.

"What it was? Are you shy?" I spoke quietly, keeping my tone low.

The herd advanced furiously towards me. Perfect, now she was going to end their race, nobody was holding Cacele. I blocked the first claw that reached me, dodged the second and, before being hit by the third, an arrow burst through her entire body. The floor was covered with still pulsating organs and a river of blood, abnormal or not, they would die. Taking advantage of the gap, I stuck my weapon in the neck of one of them and climbed on his head.

I kept the duel away from her, while being aided by very powerful arrows. Dodging these huge creatures felt natural, I focused on the cuts on their joints, and when I was about to take a critical hit, they covered me. I pulled away, I was panting. I noticed that my clothes also tore. Several cuts, light and deep, were made on my body. But compared to the scar, they were irrelevant. Only three left. I held the dagger and pointed the blade out, I wanted to test something.

Cacele approached and hit the big guy with three arrows. The second was going to attack her from behind, but she covered her arm with a light yellow aura and repelled it without touching it. What was it? Cacela used a circular motion and ripped the two's heads off with his own arm covered in magic.

"Jaws dropping over something as simple as that, sweetie? I thought you wanted to hunt a minotaur."

A rumble came from the north of the forest. We looked at each other and nodded, it was time to go. We ran through some bushes and fluorescent green flowers until we reached a small clearing, where Cirlan and Kaled were facing the man in the mask.

My knees hit the floor. I got tired? Right now?

"Wow, no magic! I heard about you."

“Are you all right?” Kaled spoke, the blood flowing from his forehead made me more alert to the enemy.

“I could ask the same." replied Cacele.

“We know you don't want the crystals, but we'll take you to the guild, wanted number three." commented the leader.

From the two's reaction, it seemed like they didn't know about it either.

"Before you take my head, I want to talk to that shit over there, the one with no power."

"Damn you." I took Gerould's potion and ran.

I felt so much lighter. My vision was taken over by a whiter hue, my body had been covered in mana and I felt like I had more strength. A borrowed force, it was noticeable. I heard them scream but I ignored it. The red eyes widened. He raised his arms to use magic, but it was too late, I was already close enough to hit him. All the hate, anguish and pain would be taken out. Keeping my gaze on his, I lifted my arm, which, though light, felt much heavier. I planted my right foot on the ground and threw my left arm towards that damn mask.

A stronger beat in my chest. My heart squeezed. I dropped to my knees, and all the magic in my body drained away, as if the surroundings were its true owner. I groaned in pain, took my hands to the region that agonized me and my whole body gave way. Blood oozed from my mouth, and soon vomiting erupted. A hum came and went as I tried to compose myself and stared at the enemy's black boots.

"Lumi!" Cirlan shouted, he sounded desperate.

I raised the dagger, but he held it, covered it with a black aura and broke off a part of it, throwing it to the ground next.

"No!" It was a gift! Damn it!

He squeezed my neck, lifted me until my feet were off the ground, and pointed black tentacles at my chest.

“I can leave him here, missing a leg or two, and you allow me to escape."

“You will not harm him." Cacele exclaimed and pointed the bow.

A tentacle rented a chunk out of my arm. I screamed in agony, shifted to try to forget the pain, but realized it was impossible as tears flooded my vision. Cacele's gaze carried regret, it broke me. They were arguing, though I could hear the least. Those tentacles… Some kind of magic? I tried to imagine several good scenarios to forget what happened, and an idea came up with my failure.

I kicked him in the neck. The tentacles disappeared, and he knelt with his hand to his throat and gasped desperately for air. I landed close. I saw a blur arrive and pierce his belly, taking part of his entrails, then Cirlan used the magic spear to hang him in the air. Kaled was less patient. He took the masked man's leg off with a slash. Seeing him beg forgiveness and scream non-stop was satisfying. Blood flowed, the bone could be seen. Kaled jumped up and broke it in two. His body split open, each part falling to one side, while some bones and organs were caught in Cirlan's spear; the heart was pumping in his gunpoint, taking all the attention from the remains of the body in the moonlight.

I thought it was over, that everything was fine, until something the size of the tree appeared. I've seen it in books, I've seen it in nightmares, but I never thought I'd see one in person. Cirlan, Kaled, and Cacele wore grim faces, as if horror had taken over their minds. He was big, he had gray skin full of healed cuts, sharp teeth, a single dragon-like eye, sharp curved claws… I shivered identically to the minotaur's day. No, he was worse. The air smelled of slaughter, more so than the Hyasters and the masked one. He smiled, his eyes boring into mine. The shaking increased to the point where I remained static.

A yellow beam slammed into his abdomen. It was Cacele's arrow. When the smoke cleared, I could see that no damage had been done. Kaled covered his wrists and legs in gray magical armor, and Cacele imbued each arrow with an insane amount of magic. Arrows, punches, fire. Nothing could penetrate that skin. The monster raised its arm slowly, and we all knew who it was going to target. Blocking it was impossible. I watched his arm rise, a red aura formed on his biceps. Nothing has changed, has it? Again I depended on others for a living. I would be a burden if I stayed here.

The red aura rose on his forearms like a snake. He moved his arm like the slashing sword in a warrior's hand, and a kind of light red slash came towards me. My heart was pounding so hard, and the adrenaline was so high, my eyes refused to close. My leader stepped in front of me, his red book was glowing. A cut. Blood. Smoke.

My leader's arm went to heaven. He stopped the bleeding with a green spell. Cacele and Kaled were screaming incessantly, but suddenly silence came to me. Cirlan turned her back on the monster, knelt down and took my hand.

“This is no time to cry, Collector, you're on a mission." His tone was calm, reassuring. “You know he wants you, which is why I order you to run and get help."

“No, Cirlan, please." I said, but the crying was unstoppable. “I don't want you to die for me, let me fight."

“For anyone who wants to challenge a minotaur, you're a whiner."

He grabbed my shoulder and turned me onto my back. I felt a bitter, horrible taste in my mouth as the grief in my chest became more and more lethal. The final straw to shake my entire psychological structure were his last words, and then he pushed me away with a touch of magic.

"I believe in you."