Disclaimer:

“Dialogue”

‘Thoughts’

-Author notes-

Chapter 27: Seth, the hunter apprentice

“Mister! You better climb a tree; you'll never outrun a Shadowcat!” The boy shouted.

‘I doubt it will let me climb a tree either…’ Zephyr thought. ‘I only need to hold on for a moment… my mana regeneration is 2 per minute. That's enough for one cast of the spell.’

The savage beast jumped at him.

His Lightning Reflexes activated, allowing him to perceive things much slower.

This helped him avoid the sharp claw aimed at his face. He jumped to one side and gained some distance.

‘If only I had a weapon…’ He lamented.

Even a sharp stick would have been better than nothing. Something to think about if he survives.

The shadow cat jumped at him again, this time it seemed like it wanted to take a good bite out of him.

He moved at the last moment, avoiding the beast's sharp fangs. While he was at its side, he took the chance to get a good punch on its side.

His 10 points of strength already placed him above the average adult man.

It was not enough to cause any serious harm, but the giant cat still let out some painful noises.

“Status…”

[Status: Zephyr Level 7 Health points: 30/30 Mana points: 07/24]

‘Yes! I can do it now. But I only have one shot… I cannot miss it. Or I may end up becoming this beast's meal.’

The shadow cat became enraged. It ran as fast as it could and pounced at Zephyr with its jaw open and both claws ready to shred him apart.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Zephyr saw the opening. While in the air, the beast could not possibly dodge him. He aimed his palm and took his shot.

“Mister!” The boy shouted, thinking he was about to see his savior turned into a bloody mess.

“Lightning Strike!” Zephyr's magical attack hit the cat on its chest, right beneath its neck as it was about to bite him.

The lightning entered through one end and came out through the other one.

However, the momentum made the beast fall on top of Zephyr and its claws pierced both his shoulders.

“Argh…” Zephyr groaned as he went down.

“Mister!” The boy came running to his side and helped him remove the dead beast from him.

‘I didn't get one of those level ups… so no healing then.’ He still had to figure out how that worked, but at least it was a good thing he did not bet his life on it this time.

“Mister, are you okay?” The boy asked with worry.

“I'm fine… ugh…” The pain in his shoulders was becoming more intense. The claws had penetrated very deep into his flesh.

“Wait, I have some ointment for that.” The boy pulled out a small flask with a green paste inside.

Zephyr was not familiar with that thing, but he did not have any better options, so he pulled down his tunic and let the boy apply that paste on his shoulders.

Still hurt, but at least he felt some relief.

“Thanks… what is that?”

“It's a healing ointment used by Elmeria hunters. Like me!” He puffed his chest with pride.

“You are a hunter?” Zephyr raised an eyebrow.

“An apprentice…” He smiled. “But I will be a hunter one day… or at least I was going to…” The boy looked down.

“What do you… oh, I see.” Now that they were close, he was able to notice it when the boy lifted his gaze.

His eyes were completely green, like the leaves of the trees.

“You are an awakened.” Zephyr realized.

“So are you, right? I've never seen a human with white hair, and your eyes are very clear too…” The boy said.

“So you ran away,” Zephyr concluded. It was rare for awakened humans to make the choice of breaking a Celestial law.

“My grandpa… he told me it was better for me to leave before the others found out. He said that those taken by the Celestials suffer terrible fates… Is that true?”

For a moment, the image of Dalia in the hands of that Beastman came to his mind.

“I don't know…” He said in a somber tone, not wanting to be reminded of that.

“But you escaped from them too!. I'm sure you didn't come from Elmeria. It's a small village, and I know everyone there. You must be from Zloria then.”

“I did come from there, yes,” Zephyr answered. It was true after all, and he didn't feel like telling this boy he just met the full story.

“I never left the surrounding area of Elmeria… say, Mister…”

“Zephyr. Don't call me Mister; I'm not that old…”

“That's an odd name…” The boy said.

“I am an odd person, I suppose…” Odd was probably falling very short at this point.

“My name is Seth, grandson of the great hunter, Serath.” He said with pride.

“Say, Zephyr… where are you traveling to? You're not planning on going to Elmeria, right?”

“You think I'm stupid? Of course not.” Zephyr huffed. “There must be at least one Celestial or two living there.”

“Three, actually. A male Celestial Elf and his two wives.” The boy explained.

“Two wives? I didn't know you could have two.” He never heard of someone with two wives. But then again, Celestials have very different rules from humans.

The boy shrugged. He didn't really understand much about those matters. He just knew what he was told. “In any case… you should never go there. That Celestial is truly dangerous and cruel…”

Zephyr wanted to scoff at the idea. All Celestials he had met so far were dangerous and cruel.

“Then?” The boy asked again.

“I'm going south… far south. Past the Wall.”

Seth's eyes opened widely as he stared at Zephyr with pure astonishment.

“You are going to the Wall?”

Zephyr thought it was a normal reaction. Most people would be shocked if anyone claimed to want to go to the Wall.

This would be considered more than dangerous, but suicide on several fronts.

“Can I go with you?” Seth asked with a bright smile.

Now it was Zephyr's turn to be surprised.