Weeks have passed and the trip to meet Grey's grandfather is only a day away. He was excited since he never met his grandfather before and he doesn't even know anything about him other than the fact that he's a strong wizard during his prime. Looking forward to meeting him and many other peoples from that village, Grey couldn't help but smile and hum in excitement.
"Hmmm, I wonder how strong that old man is?... Probably around my dad?" He whispered, as he wandered through the dangerous path near Viridian forest.
The Viridian forest, the forest that rest not too close from the border line between the green continent and the monster continent where magical beasts resides. This forest has an abundant number of low-rank monsters that are easy to hunt. These creatures possesses a mana core that has many purposes, mostly for enchantment and for creating magical artifacts.
'Mom and dad was so worked up that they packed our things earlier today.' He smirked from the thought. "I'm honestly surprise that they even allowed me to hunt alone this time around." He walked slowly as he cautiously looked around him, not letting his guard down.
The sun is still peeking from the horizon when Grey left the house. His mom mentioned that his uncle is a craftsman that specializes in creating artifacts and weapons. That's why even if it's dangerous, he ran to the forest carrying a regular dagger to hunt a rare magical beast.
'Being a 27 years old in a body of a kid is somehow convenient. My parents will allow me to do some dangerous activity without even hesitating.' Grey smirked and giggled, before walking towards the deeper part of the forest where grass no longer grows.
The sunlight barely even reaches this part of the forest because of the towering trees around the place. A strong cold wind blows from the east causing the tree branches to dance and its leaves to fall. The surroundings is filled with unusual silence that causes Grey some goosebumps.
'It's strange, monsters should be around this area.' Grey's cautiously glanced around him, nothing out of ordinary. 'Should I head back after all–' His thoughts were interrupted when his senses picked up a small sudden movement in the air. 'What the—' He once again looked around him before almost instantly jumping to his right by instinct as he sensed danger.
"SWOSH!"
A violent wind brushed through his skin before he noticed a shallow cut on his left cheek. He also felt the presence of a blood thirsty beast. He assumed that the attacker is probably a monster with sharp claws. But after looking around, he couldn't see a damn thing from that dim-lighted forest. Although he can sense the danger, he knew for himself that his premature body doesn't have a great reaction time to keep up with a monster of this high caliber.
'It's probably a Shadow panther...' Grey calmly analyzed the surrounding. 'It must be the reason why there's no other prey around this area. With my current state I could kill it, but first... I need to get out of its reach.' He thought before releasing mana from his right palm and slammed it onto the ground.
"You're not the one I'm looking for, but I'll be happy to play with you."
In an instant, the ground around him ignited with yellow flames, forming a protective zone around him. This fire spell was one of the spells that he learned this past few week and he couldn't help but try it out.
"Grrrrrrrrr..."
With a growling sounds, the sneaky attacker finally revealed itself, walking out of the shadows. An unexpectedly large black cat, gritting it's teeth with furious purple eyes appeared in front of Grey, outside the flame circle. It feels like the monster is going to devour him just by staring at it.
"Finally leaving you shadows huh?" Grey quickly drew his dagger and held it with his right hand. "Did you actually figured out that you can't reach me because my shadow disappeared because of all that flame?" Grey let his own instinct to take over. His cold blue eyes are staring at the beast with blank expression.
Grey was aware how dangerous this monster is. He read many books about this magical creature and how it can completely annihilate an entire party in a blink of an eye. The reason for it's sneakiness is not it's speed alone but it's special ability to move through the shadow without getting detected by normal search spells, and senses.
"I can't believe I have to fight a monster this terrifying." Grey smirked before charging towards the monster, stepping out of the fire ring and preparing to swing the dagger he was holding.
However, his push using his small feet simply wasn't enough to close the distance in an instant. "Crap!!" Before he could even reach the fierce cat, the monster already made it move and jumped above him. 'It's going to... devour me.' His eyes panicked when the panther opened it mouth behind his head.
This action drew a grin across Grey's face, "Heh... Just kidding", He readjusted his footing and pivoted his body a hundred and eighty degrees.
Zaaap!
Suddenly, several yellow bolts of lighting enveloped his body, causing the Shadow panther to move away through the shadows and hide behind the trees. The spell Grey was using is the 'Lightning cloak' that increase his reaction speed and provides extra defense. The spell that he learned after reading "The theory of storms and thunders".
"You think I'll just dive into a fight without any plan in mind." Grey pointed his index finger at the monster and fire a bolt of lightning from his fingertip. "I think I'm getting better at using lightning magic." He said with a blissful smile while constantly striking the beast in front of him.
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The shadow panther avoided the attack by simply slipping through a shadow and moving far away behind Grey. It looks more annoyed than before, probably because he failed to eliminate his target the second time.
Grey was also agitated of how limited his range was. He couldn't even reach the five meter distance between him and to monster. "Fuck, lightning magic is really hard to control."
After regaining its courage, the beast once again jumped straight towards him with its sharp nails ready to claw him.
Grey cautiously reacted by stepping back but before he could even prepare his next move, the monster vanished in the shadows.
'Damn it, that ability is really annoying.' He glanced around him before moving away from the tree's shadow where he was stepping in. The monster suddenly appeared in that dark area with a furious eyes. It looks so annoyed.
"Is that it?" Grey provoked the monster.
"Grrraaa!" It suddenly rushed towards him without any hesitation.
Grey swiftly evaded with his lightning speed and responded with a low swing of his dagger. A low swing that was swiftly evaded by the monster.
Grey felt the sudden weakening of his power, "Aww, crap... my mana is running out." He slightly reduced the bolt of lightning he was emitting. His power is limited because he still haven't filled his mana pool recently. He haven't been meditating ever since he had awakened and his mana pool is still barely filled with magic currently.
After noticing that Grey's power has weakened, the fierce black cat suddenly displayed its sharp teeth as if smiling and its mouth is drooling in excitement.
'I have to quickly get rid of this thing.' Grey concluded, moving back a bit to regain his stance while the monster patiently waits for his mana to run out.
With the 'Lightning cloak' still active, his reaction speed maybe increased. However, his mana will definitely drain faster than usual because of continuous consumption. Moreover, his premature body cannot handle the spell for too long. He knows he had to finish this faster.
With all this in mind, Grey came into one conclusion. 'I have to... one shot this beast.' He thought before a technique from one of those books that his parents' lent him popped up in his mind, bringing a nostalgic feeling that wrote a grin on his fearless face.
Grey got into the stance, his left feet on the rear, while his dominant right hand was in front, holding the dagger parallel to his left hand that was touching the tip of the blade. The position alone is terrifying enough for the shadow panther, its instinct is telling the beast to run away but its feet is almost frozen in place to even move.
"That's right don't move." Grey confidently grinned while speaking. 'I'm not even sure if I could do it. But if I mix it with lightning magic, I should be able to pull it off... somehow!' Grey gritted his teeth before inhaling as much air as his lungs could take.
The beast growled, "Grrrraaaa!". After experiencing too much pressure, the Shadow panther aimlessly run and jumped towards Grey, mouth opened.
Grey calmly pinpointed all of its weak spots and choose the most exposed one as he started channel wind magic into the dagger. In one sharp exhale, he transferred all his weight to his front leg and pushed using his rear foot causing his body to instantly close the distance between him and the beast. With all carried momentum and the wind magic imbued to the tip of the blade, he horizontally swung the dagger aimed at the monster's gaping mouth, slicing from it's throat until its entire body split in half causing all its blood and organs to splatter onto the ground.
Grey firmly planted his foot onto the ground, deactivating the lightning cloak as he collapsed on his rear. "I can't believe I managed to pulled it off... Hah... Hah..." He almost laughed at himself while panting. "But more importantly, that spell is called 'Severing Wind'."
He sat on the ground for a few seconds before getting back on his feet. Grey turned his head to the monster corpse and saw the purple aura coming from the dead beast. 'It's probably the core.' He concluded, walking towards the corpse.
"Let's see..." Grey inserted his hand into the upper body of the corpse and searched for its core. He withdrew his hand after grabbing the spherical object inside the dead body. 'So this is a Shadow panther's beast core?'
Grey's eyes are fixedly staring with amazement at the purple orb that fit nicely inside his closed hand. 'The power inside this core is indeed strong.' He thought before putting the the orb inside the small pocket of his pants. 'However, this is not what I needed.' He sighed and started walking ahead.
"Well, anyway... I need to keep moving. That ruckus earlier might attract many monsters." He uttered before releasing a pulse of wind into the surroundings.
Grey activated his newly learned spell, the 'Air pulse' that is usable for searching the surroundings by sending a pulse of mana into the air and then returning the pulse to analyze the surroundings. Although the range is limited to fifty meters for now, this spell is pretty helpful for dangerous situations like this.
"Hmmm..." Grey suddenly stopped and started tapping the ground with his boots.
Upon receiving the returned pulses, Grey quickly got the position of every living creatures in the fifty meter radius around him. Not too far away from his left, a few small monsters are stationed; in his faraway front, average-sized monsters are positioned above, probably in the trees; finally a few steps to his left, the monster he was searching for.
"The rain toad?" The image of the beast that he saw from the book suddenly appeared in his head. Although he couldn't compare the appearance since 'Air pulse' can't see the exact face of living creatures but only the size and structure, he was sure that this gigantic beast is the one he was looking for.
Grey eagerly grinned and said, "Heh, finally... I'm coming to get this beast core, no matter what." before hurriedly heading to the direction of the beast.
A few steps from where he was, Grey can already see the blue head of this large toad peeking out above the trees. "Well, I expected it to be large..." He stared unamused by the sight in front of him, "... but not this huge!" He screamed, looking up at the head of the giant frog.
Grey continued walking a few steps and finally found it's body, "It's really huge for something that doesn't attack people." He chuckled in amazement, putting his palm on his face before letting out a sharp sigh.
"Stay still froggy..." He lifted his right hand, palm open, fingers slightly bent and started releasing mana. "... This won't hurt much." Grey ignited a small flame and formed a fireball as large as his fist. He aimed it at the roads chest, "This should be enough.", he grinned, before firing the flame ball at the target.
Bullseye!
In one shot, the rain toad's organs were destroyed before falling on its back as blood gushed from it's open chest, tainting the ground red.
"Heh!" Grey grinned before jumping onto the top of the giant frog. "Now then..." He severed the toad's flesh using his dagger to clear out some unnecessary organs. He then dived inside its gigantic inner body and reached for it's core.
"So, this is the infamous, blue core of the rain toad?" He smiled as he held a blue orb as large as his head on his hands. 'It's heavy... I can feel it's magic.' He stared in amazement before jumping out of the monster's body.
"Well, I guess it's time to head home." Grey whispered before walking straight towards the path that leads to his house, carrying the large blue core on his right hand.