Volume 1 - Chapter 1 The Jungle Ghost

In the southwest of LoM, the Tropazion kingdom. A kingdom known for its rich vegetation and peaceful fauna. Its residents are bathed by the sunlight year-round, even in the cold months.

Currently, it's the blazen season and it's hot all over LoM, even more in this kingdom. Every blazen season, it's the Passion Festival all over Tropazion but this year, in a town near the coast, Palmarina, the festival is about to be canceled. As of late, there has been a troublesome creature that has been making its home in the jungle nearby and terrorizing the residents.

A week before the beginning of the Passion Festival, a group of Fantasm Hunters from the neighbouring kingdom, Revoltwing, has been sent to Palmarina to hunt a chaos born that has been living in their local jungle for months now.

A carriage arrived at the gates of the town, and a group of people came out. There were four of them. A guard approaches them and proceeds with his usual duties.

"Welcome to Palmarina, what is your business here today?"

"Really? Can't you tell just by looking at our gear?" Said the man with a light armour.

"Well euhm...I can tell you look like Fantasm Hunters, yes but I still need to do the proce-"

"Don't care! Just let us in already! We are saving your puny town so you can have your stupid festival or whatever"

"That's enough Rednar!"

A man with massive armour made of silver came out of the carriage, blinding everyone's sight. He walks confidently towards the guard and when standing in front of him, you could see that he was blessed with good genetics. He was tall, had beautiful blond hair, his face had no flaw, and a solid squared chin. The guard felt intimidated by his presence.

"M-may I ask again, what is your business here today".

"Excuse my colleague, he is a bit in a bad mood as we didn't get to hunt worthy prey lately. I guess that's the curse for being a B-rank Fantasm Hunter."

Fantasm Hunters, they are the protectors of LoM, fighting against evil creatures called chaos borns. Fantasm Hunters and the Fantasm Hunter guild were created about a century ago when LoM was facing the twelve ultimate apexes of the world. All Hunters strive to gain the title of a Slayer and bring an end to the era of Chaos.

"OH! I beg your pardon, sir! I just remembered! You are Hunters from the Revoltwing kingdom! I've heard about it, please come inside our town"

"Aha! No need to panic, you are just diligent and because of men like you, peace is still present in this town."

The group of Fantasm Hunters went back into their carriage.

"Tch! This better be a strong chaos born if they are sending us all the way down there."

"I heard Tropazion doesn't have the most powerful chaos borns. Let alone the chance of finding a Fantasm Beast. Oh well, at least we get to have fun with exotic women down there."

"Urgh…”said the woman sitting beside him with disgust.

"Don't worry Ferinda, I have enough heart for more than one woman"

The silver-armoured man approached his hand close to her thighs and she quickly drew her sting blade.

"Hands off!"

The man backed off with a sneer on his face. He looks through the window of the carriage thinking about how he could make this trip worth his time.

The group arrived at their private lounge where they will spend the next coming days in the kingdom. As they are about to enter, the silver-armoured man walks toward a billboard with different commissions posted on it. Rednar followed him and observed the billboard as well. All they saw were commissions for fetching materials for the upcoming festival, hunting average chaos borns. Nothing that would be worth their time.

"Keh! Even their commission ain't that impressive! I knew we would be wasting our time!"

"Hmm...this one here..."

One of the posters on the billboard wasn't a commission but a warning poster. The visual was badly drawn, but from the description, it is said a humanoid-looking beast has been seen hunting the fauna and chaos born alike in the jungle. It never attacked the residents of the town.

"Sounds like a local legend. I'm sure it's nothing impressive for a kingdom with the weakest chaos born roaming around"

"Let's keep watch for it."

Rednar takes a step back in shock.

"Wait, you're serious?"

"Look, this hunt we are about to do is going to end faster before a light Elemantalist could ever move so might as well look for something interesting to do...after having fun with the local babes of course!"

Rednar let a sigh but then started laughing

"Alright! Let's go for it. Not like we got better things to do lately. Though Ferinda might not be pleased to do extra work without extra LoiM".

"Don't worry, I will give her a part of my money if I need to. Since we have been promoted to B-rank, there has been no commission that has been worth doing. I don't feel the thrill of the hunt anymore."

***

Early in the morning, in the jungle near the town, one of the residents of the jungle is on the hunt for his breakfast. He found footprints of an animal called a stonapia. They are fresh so they must be close.

He followed the trail of footprints and found one drinking from a pond.

“Let the hunt begin!" Exclaimed the boy.

He crawled in the dense vegetation to get behind the animal without being noticed. The man takes a stance that looks like a feline that is ready to pounce on its prey. He takes a deep breath and lunges toward the stonapia, stabbing its rear with his lance.

The animal lets out a painful scream and attempts to kick the man but he manages to dodge it. The man stepped back and drew two worn out knives. The stonapia in pain had a hard time to stand and wanted to run away. Desperate, it decided to fight back. The horns on its forehead glowed and became bigger. It charged towards the young man but he wasn't scared. With a smile on his face, he takes position to counter attack, lowering his stance. He slides on the ground and cuts through the stomach of the stonapia making the blood and guts of all the animal spill on him and on the floor. The animal collapsed, the meal of the day was secured.

The young man, proud of himself and eager to eat, first washed out the prey's blood in the pond. He scratches his long hair to make sure no remaining blood stays on him. It was important that he stayed clean so other predators wouldn't track him, especially that a particular chaos born that he has been trying to take down for a couple months now. But the beast always managed to run away whenever it was about to lose.

"I should do something about this gorilla or else I won't have any more food for myself.And no more food means I will have to leave the jungle but…I'm not ready for that yet"

The young man gets out of the pond and shakes his body like a dog. He drags his meal with him and disappears in the dense vegetation of the jungle.

***

In the lounge, Ferinda was eating by herself. She enjoys her time alone, especially in a group full of barbaric men. The only reason she sticks with them is because they are quite strong. Especially their leader Quenbar. Her moment of peace came to an end when one of her teammates came down from their bedroom and joined her for breakfast. It was Aris, unlike Rednar and Quenbar, who thirsted for violence and woman, he is all about food and money.

"Morning Fer!" Said Aris while yawning without covering his mouth.

"Morn…'"

Aris sits down and fills his plate with everything available on the table without touching any fruits or vegetables. She is amazed by how he is not dead yet from eating in an unhealthy way but then again he is an Elemantalist. Elemantalist body composition is far stronger than a normal human.

"You know, you could eat a bit more Fer. Getting a bit more plum will make a man look your way more, not me, my heart belongs to food and money."

"My body is fine as it is. The extra fat will just get in my way."

"Hm. Well, see the extra fat is actually helping me, so maybe you just need to adapt your fighting style to your body".

Ferinda recognizes that even though Aris, at first glance, is just a fat man, he can hold himself pretty well in battle in close combat. But still it was not convincing her to start gaining weight. She's been owning her skills and her body for years, so making a sudden change would throw her off.

"By the way, where's Quenbar and Rednar? I haven't seen them since last night."

"Do I even need to answer that?" Ferinda said while giving him a disgusted look.

"Well, each man has their own way to please themselves. For me, it's money and food."

A couple of seconds later, someone came in, and it was Rednar. He could barely stand because of all the alcohol he drank last night. One hand was on his head, he had a severe headache.

"Urgh! I need water..."

He took the jug of water from the table and drank it entirely while making a mess.

"Fiou! That hit the spot!" He said while sitting down. "Oh yeah that's right, Quenbar said to meet him by the Fantasm Hunter guild of this town later today."

"Where is he now?" Aris asked, still eating.

"He said something about doing an investigation. He hopes to find something about the local legend"

Local legend? First time I heard about that, Ferinda told to herself.

"Last night we found a warning poster that caught his attention. So he decided to look more into it."

"This is not part of the com-"

"Don't worry if he even finds something about it, he will compensate you for it. Urgh!" Rednar pinches the bridge of his nose. His headache became stronger.

"Anyway, I'm going to take a nap. See ya this afternoon."

Rednar goes upstairs leaving Ferinda and Aris in the kitchen.

She didn't care about the local legend, but since she was going to get extra compensation for it, she decided to look for information as well.

"I will take a stroll around town, maybe I can learn a bit more about this local legend."

"Ah! You're just like me! If money is involved *burp* you start rolling." Said Aris.

Ferinda ignored his comment and left.

In the merchant alley, everyone's attention was on Quenbar's silver armour. He reached his destination, which was the local tavern. This is the best place to look for information, especially for a local legend. He went to the bar and ordered a glass of their specialty drink, the Cremascifera. A drink made primarily of the fruit of a palm tree with a mix of rum. The texture was thick, and the taste was sweet. Quenbar analyzes the tavern, looking for someone who might have information. The barista comes with his drink, and he puts a coin of silver LoiM near the glass.

"If I wanted information, whom should I go to?"

"The man drinking by himself over there is always up to date with his info, but something tells me he won't have what you are looking for."

The barista was able to tell because of the Hunter badge at the neck of Quenbar, showing his rank and from what kingdom he came from.

"You're right. I want to know more about this thing here." Quenbar slid the warning poster on the bar counter and poked at it with finger.

"Ah, I see, the jungle ghost".

"What can you tell me about it?"

"All the information you want is on the poster but if you are okay with inaccurate or even delusional information I know someone."

"Anything will do"

The barista looks towards the window facing a building with a garden.

"There's this lady in this house. She used to do nature therapy but stopped when she said she saw the jungle ghost attacking a chaos born without using El-ergy"

"Nonsense!"

It is well known that fighting a chaos born without the ability to use El-ergy, no matter how weak or strong the creature is, is impossible to harm it or even kill it. El-ergy is what gives humans the power and the chance to stand against those evil monsters. A human numb to El-ergy in this day and age is pretty much bait for those beings.

"Well, like I said, you can see that man over there if you want, but you won't get much more than what the poster said."

Quenbar was thinking about his options. He could give up pursuing hunting the local legend, after all, he was already getting paid for another commission.

"Talking to the lady is the best option, no doubt about it." Said Ferinda, who just happened to pass by.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you strolling in town. Even in a bar, you can't even hold your alcohol." He said mockingly as he shook his drink in front of his face.

"You and I had the same idea so let's go! No time wasting"

"Eh! You and Aris are the same, if there's money you start rolling"

"Don't compare me to this pig!"

Quenbar finishes his glass of Cremascifera and joins Ferinda.

They arrived at the house that had a garden with a multitude of plants. Quenbar knocks at the door. No response. He knocks again and they hear the voice of a woman.

"Yes! yes! I'm coming."

The door opens and a small woman half the size of Quenbar shows up. She looks like in her mid forties with her hair starting to become grey and a bit of wrinkles on her forehead.

"Wow, I didn't know I had a date with a stud today. How can I help you?"

"Aha! Thank you for the compliment mam and sorry for bothering you on this beautiful hot morning."

"No! no! Please enter! I will give you something to drink"

"No need, we will be quick." Said Ferinda with impatience. "We want to know more about the jungle ghost"

The woman was surprised by the mention of those words and looked away.

"Who sended you?"

"The barista told us we could get some info here even though they are delusional and inaccurate"

"Fer! Sorry mam she has a harsh tongue" Said Quenbar apologetically.

"No she's right...even I'm not sure if what I've seen was real...after all I'm just an old widow who spends her free time talking to plants."

She's massaging her face as if she tried to remodel it to make herself young again. Quenbar pushed a bit more so he could make her talk.

"Me and my teammates hail from the Revoltwing kingdom. We have been originally sent to hunt a chaos born that might endanger your seasonal festival this year but as a responsible Fantasm Hunter, we want to make sure that any threats are rid of. After all, humanity is counting on us to end the era of Chaos."

This was a lie. Ferinda felt goosebumps and disgusted by those words. If it came from an actual noble hunter she would let that slide but coming from Quenbar, no she just wanted to vomit. This man is in the business only for the excitement of the hunt and fame.

"You have strong values, mister..."

"Quenbar mam! But you can call me Quen."

"Mister Quen, well let me tell you what I know about the jungle ghost but take everything with a grain of salt. Like that barista at the bar said, what I saw might have been inaccurate or delusional."

"I'm all ears madam."

***

A year ago

In the depths of the jungle, there was a woman taking her daily walk to do her nature therapy. The jungle is known for its rare case of chaos born attacks and they were weaker than the average, so anyone who had decent control of their El-ergy could manage their escape or fend off those creatures.

The woman arrived at her favorite spot where a lot of tropical flowers bloomed. It was like her private garden. Animals came there to rest and sunbathe. This was the perfect spot for her nature therapy. As usual she puts a blanket on the grass and sits down to meditate with the nature around her. This helped her relax and be in tune with her nature El-ergy. She was no fighter but doing this therapy for years helped her enhance her El-ergy which she uses to grow various plants back in town and make medicinal plants that local Fantasm Hunters have been buying for cheap from her.

She was meditating as usual but she could feel something wasn’t right. The animals started running away from something. She doesn't know what's going on but stops her therapy session and packs her stuff. As she does it she hears a loud roar. A feline beast with dark scales twice her size came out from the dense vegetation. Every step it took was slowly corrupting the plants around it. This was a chaos born and not a local one. The beast was slowly walking around the woman, analyzing her before making its move. The woman on the other hand was too afraid to move, even breathe. It's the first time she faced such a creature at this size. There was no way she could run away from it. One jump would be more than enough for it to pin her down and insert its sharp teeth into her skin. The woman accepted her fate, closing her eyes waiting for her unavoidable death to happen.

"I will join you soon dear..." Said the woman under her breath.

The chaos born seeing that its prey resigned herself jumps towards her.

A couple of seconds had passed and...she was still alive. All she heard was loud noises around her of what she assumed were two predators fighting each other.

As things calmed down, she slowly opened her eyes and the once beautiful garden was destroyed. A corrupted aura was lingering around her. She looked around and saw a figure standing on top of the chaos born. That figure looks human, with long fiery fur covering its back. It had some scars on his arms and and his hand covered with black liquid which appeared to be the chaos born blood. The humanoid beast seems to be rummaging through the corpse. The woman wanted to call it but her fear was holding back any sound her voice could have produced. The creature glanced at her and she collapsed. Before she lost consciousness she saw a face covered by the fiery fur, scars on the cheek and deep blue eyes. Everything went dark.

When she woke up, she found herself in the town clinic on a bed. The doctor told her that they found her at the gate leading to the jungle unconscious. Luckily she wasn't hurt. Maybe someone saved her. She's been wondering if that thing she saw in the tropical flower field was a beast or a human.

***

"I see" Said Ferinda "What happened to the chaos born remains? I mean after the jungle ghost looted its corpse, did the local Fantasm Hunters retrieve it?"

"I don't know what happened after I reported the events. It is beyond my knowledge"

"It's alright madam, at least we got something to work with. Now if you will excuse us we have other matters to attend to. Have a nice day."

"Thank you good sir and be careful! Who knows what the jungle ghost is really capable of..."

They both left and walked towards the merchant alley. Quenbar had a satisfied look on his face that intrigued Ferinda.

"Why are you making such a weird face? It's not like we have solid evidence that what she said was real. Maybe she just hallucinated by smelling some weird tropical plants"

"I don't care about the old hag story if it makes sense. There is one key detail that is important here."

Ferinda was even more confused.

"My gut is telling me that we won't be the only ones hunting the same prey today. Let's go to the Fantasm Hunter guild to meet our client."

It's the afternoon, the temperature is getting hotter. The Flashing Steels were in a room waiting for their client to show up. He was a bit late. Footsteps were getting closer to the door and an old man in his fifties with a pointy beard showed up.

"Sorry for being late, I had a meeting. I assume that you are the Fantasm Hunters from the neighboring kingdom? Welcome to Palmarina! My name is Malrick, the guild headmaster of this town."

"About dang time! Just tell us our target so we can leave already."

"Someone is impatient I see. Well let me tell you this hunt might take you guys a couple days even if you are, if not mistaken, B-rank hunters correct?"

The man is looking for a badge that would make his assumption correct and spotted one around the neck of Quenbar.

"A couple of days? Are we going to have food provided while we hunt?" Asked Aris while he was snacking on some sandwich.

"Our Elemental Guardians have arranged stocks with food and materials that could help your team for the hunt. I said a couple days because your target is a dodgy one."

"What do you mean dodgy?" asked Quenbar

"Well the reason why we asked hunters from a different kingdom is because as you probably know, the Tropazion kingdom is not home to too many powerful chaos borns and so our strongest Fantasm Hunters might be as strong as your average Elemantalist that practice as a hobby which cause a problem for us since the arrival of this creature three months ago. This is the strongest one we ever faced and not only that it has a high level of intelligence. Our hunters have been struggling to keep up with it and always come back injured...or even dead."

Quenbar burst into laughter which caught Malrick and the others attention.

"You have to be kidding! I knew it was a waste of time. With all due respect, Headmaster, but it seems like a commission not worth our time."

"W-what do you mean?"

"You said it yourself, your local hunters are weak. We are B-rank hunters and we hunt dangerous chaos borns for breakfast. No matter how intelligent a beast is, it's still just a beast. We will finish the job by evening and we won't need your equipment or food. Actually make use of that food to make a feast for us when we come back."

Ferinda observed the two men talking and could see that the headmaster was feeling frustrated and wanted to say something but being rude to the one offering a helping hand would lower the chances of them helping the town. If the beast was still there by the time the festival started, it would be canceled.

"I-I don't doubt your team strength sir but even though it is true we are weak...the weakest kingdom of all LoM I can assure you that this is not your typical chaos born".

Quenbar, losing patience, stands and does a gesture with his head telling his teammate that it's time to move. As they leave the room Quenbar approaches Malrick with his hand making a sign to give him the document describing their target.

"I'm expecting a great feast when I come back. Thank you! Oh and also we only need one guide for the jungle. I will admit that we don't know the layout of your territory so this would be the only weakness of our team."

Once alone in the room Malrick slammed the table out of frustration.

"Dang it! If only our hunters were strong enough...hopefully those fools will actually complete the commission."

A couple hours after meeting Malrick, the Flashing Steels were ready in front of the gate leading toward the coastal jungle. Ferinda was analyzing carefully the document about their target. Aside from what they learn from Malrick, it is described that the chaos born is about eight feet tall and could wield earth and chaos El-ergy. It made her realize that the beast had an elemental advantage over her and Quenbar as they are both steel Elemantalist. Steel El-ergy is weak against earth El-ergy. She comes up with a strategy and approaches Quenbar about it.

"Quen, for this hunt it would be best if you and I are in the backlines for this hunt because of the elemental disadvantage. Rednar can use his fire El-ergy aggressively to weaken the beast and Aris would support him closely. Once the chaos born is on its last leg, we can deal the final blow. We will complete the commission faster this way in my opinion."

"Hmm, I guess you are right but wouldn't it just be faster if I just go all out the moment we spot the beast?" Asked Quenbar.

"I mean, yeah but you have to take the elemental advantage into consideration.If what the headmaster desc-"

"Are you doubting my strength?"

Ferinda pauses before answering. She knows when Quenbar asks this question, nothing will go through him. The only way you can make him actually listen to you is to prove to him that you are stronger. She's confident in her abilities but she knows she is nowhere near as strong as him. She gives up her idea and decides to keep the usual formation.

Their guide arrived with a big backpack on his back. There is probably some ration and other useful equipment that might be useful.

The Flashing Steel follows the guide deep in the jungle and so far all they found were the local fauna and some weak chaos borns that even the guide could take care of. No sign of their target and it was about to be the evening. The guide spots a water source and proposes to the hunters to take a short break. Aris sits down comfortably on a rocky stool he made with his earth El-ergy and takes out from his bag a sandwich for his snack and a drink. Meanwhile Rednar was sharpening his sword and Quenbar took a sip from the river. The guide looked at his map and was circling specific areas.

"Now that we are deep in the jungle, we have a chance to find the chaos born in one of the areas that I have circled here.” He said.

Ferinda take a look at the map and realise that there's only three areas circled

"That's it?" Asked Ferinda furrowing her eyebrows.

"Well there might be more but those are the areas where it appeared most of the time."

Taking another look at the map Ferinda realised that those areas were labeled as rocky zones which make sense for a creature that can use earth El-ergy. If it wants to optimize its chance of survival it would favor areas where it could wield its elemental El-ergy in a more efficient way.

"Well I guess this chaos born is smart after all huh..." Said Ferinda

"Smart or stupid it won't change anything! The moment we see it, it is as good as dead!" Said Rednar looking at his reflection through his sword. "I'm ready to go now, I want to kill something, let's go!"

Rednar takes the lead and the guide runs after him before he gets lost. Ferinda let out a desperate sigh and realised that Quenbar had been quiet for a moment. She calls his name and he quickly moves past her without saying a word. Confused, she caught up to him wondering what's going on but gave her the silent treatment. He's probably just thinking about the jungle ghost instead of the actual job he was paid to do.

They arrived at the first rocky area. The first thing they notice is how less dense the vegetation is and how unnatural the rock formation. They could tell by the faint earth El-ergy that was emanating from those pillars. It's like the creature was trying to mark its territory or probably was fighting another chaos born who dared confront him. This was a good sign for the hunters. After exploring the area a little, they decided to leave for the next one.

After walking for half an hour, they reach the second area marked on the map. This time there was a cave clearly made by earth El-ergy. The beast probably made it to shelter itself during rainy days or hide its food from other animals. Rednar decides to go into the cave without making sure that it is safe. With his index he lit a small flame to use as a light source. As he went deeper all he saw was a bunch of crushed bone from different animals and some looked like humans. There was also damage all around the cave showing signs of battle. Seems like the chaos born is not welcomed in the jungle but it fights back to make it its home. Rednar came out reporting his findings which made Quenbar really happy.

"Well, it seems like we might actually have some fun with this job."

"Huh?" Rednar and Ferinda in unison.

"Did you forget about the local legend? The jungle ghost. Maybe they both fighting to establish who's the king of the jungle"

"The jungle ghost?!" Shout the guide."You guys are looking for the jungle ghost? I thought you were hunting the chaos born."

"Relax, mister guide! We are here for your stupid gorilla but we want to have some fun while we are here." Said Rednar.

"Please don't try to find it!"

Quenbar and his teammate were curious. Why would he be against them looking for it?

"Something tells me he knows something we don't or even the locals." Said Ferinda glaring at him

"N-no it's not that I know more about the ghost than anyone else, it's just that I believed that..."

"What? Come on spit out already!" Snapped Rednar

"I think it's keeping the chaos borns at bay..."

Rednar burst into laughter at the nonsense of the guide.

"Why would it protect you? Don't the rumor say he hunts everything in the jungle and there's a chance it might hunt humans"

"No! I-i think...I don't know it's just if it wanted to kill humans I'm sure there will be casu-"

Suddenly, a huge boulder fell from the sky crushing the guide's body, splattering his blood all over the ground. The hunters take out their weapons quickly and get ready for combat.

"Well well, seems like our target found us first!" Said Rednar with a satisfying look.

They are looking around them but can't seem to find the location of the creature. They only hear movement through leaves moving really fast. The vegetation of the jungle is dense enough to hide a creature that big. Suddenly, a sharp rock has been thrown through the leafage towards Ferinda. She manages to dodge it and without wasting a second, she lunges with her sting blade in the bushes. As she crashed through the dense vegetation a huge shadow jumped out. Rednar follows up with a fire El-ergy attack summoning fire daggers that he launches towards the beast. It hit the target successfully but it was not enough to take it down. As the chaos born gorilla landed on the ground protecting itself from any incoming attacks, Quenbar was ready to cut its neck with his silver blades. The beast reacted fast and blocked his attack with both hands that were fully scaled. The beast pushed away Quenbar and proceeded to launch rapid jab attacks. For its size, it was quite fast. It was nothing that Quenbar couldn't keep up with. That was until it stomps the ground and suddenly a piercing rock made of earth El-ergy surge from below him and almost stab his shoulder. Luckily it only destroyed the silver shoulder pad armor. Quenbar quickly jumps back before he gets hit with another surprise elemental attack.

"Wooh! Ok beast! Seems like you know how to fight but I fought way worse than that!"

Quenbar dash towards it without hesitation.

"Aris!" Shouted Quenbar.

"On it!"

Aris uses his earth El-ergy to create a fissure under the feet of the chaos born catching it off guard. It falls but the agile beast manages to grab the edges. Quenbar jumps towards it with his two silver blades in the air.

"AERIAL SILVER CLEAVE!!"

The beast smiles and laughs, hurling rock shards from the depth of the fissure. Quenbar misses his attack and takes a lot of damage. While still in the air the beast launches himself out of the fissure and grabs Quenbar by his arm, throwing him in the depth of the jungle.

"Quenbar!" Shouted Ferinda.

Rednar managed to sneak behind it and stab where there were no scales. The beast tries to get rid of him but Rednar already releases an amount of fire El-ergy that causes an explosion. The gorilla doesn't seem to be fazed by it, quite the opposite, it's laughing at him. Angry for mocking him, he attacks it mindlessly. The massive gorilla was just dodging his attacks and occasionally he would counter jab. Rednar is quick footed so he was able to position himself in ways to not get hit by his opponent's big fist. One clean hit would probably break his bones.

Ferinda joins in and both of them are making coordinated attacks which some of them manage to land but because of the dark scales around its body, their attacks weren't as effective.

They understood that it was no average chaos born. It would probably be ranked as a C-rank or B-rank threat but this wasn't a reason for them to back down.

Aris joins the fight as well. He envelopes its body with earth El-ergy making him become a rolling living boulder, charging towards the chaos born. The beast notices him and slams the ground with both hands creating an earth wall thick enough to protect itself from the incoming attack. Meanwhile, Ferinda and Rednar pursue their relentless attacks, throwing their best elemental technique doing as much damage as possible.

"SHARPENING!!"

This was Quenbar's voice shouting his elemental technique. He suddenly emerges from the depth of the jungle and cross-slash the back of the beast which leaves visible damage and some of the scales get chipped away. His silver armor was all muddy and covered with some black blood. The beast stopped smiling and beat his chest like a drum. Things were getting serious.

Ferinda joins Quenbar's side and proposes her strategy from earlier. He doesn't pay attention to her. All he wants is the head of this gorilla. He charges towards the beast using the same elemental technique which raises the attack power of his physical attack and steel El-ergy. The gorilla summoned boulders that it threw in his direction but Aris, who was still in his rolling boulder form, destroyed those making a clear path for Quenbar. Rednar throws fiery daggers at the feet of the beast and they explode, creating a smoke screen. The beast jumps out of the smoke and ends up having his side slashed by Quenbar's bar silver blade. Ferinda jumps in as well, stabbing the chaos born abdomen multiple times.

They started to make decent damage but something didn't feel right. They could feel something ominous emanating from the beast. Ferinda notices what is going on and alerts everyone.

"Watch out! He's about to-"

Too late, the beast released a wave of chaos El-ergy out of his body which blasted away everyone except Aris who was heavy enough to withstand the blast. He uses this opportunity to get in close combat, gathering around his arms earth El-ergy to make a giant earth fist. Once close enough, he gave the strongest punch attack he could. The beast didn’t flinch. A smile draws up on the beast's face making Aris scared. It grabs the fat man's arms to make sure he's not running away. It winds up its fist with chaos El-ergy gathering in it and punching him the guts. The power behind that punch was strong enough to make him fly away while vomiting blood and all the food he ate.

Aris's body crashes on the ground and the gorilla doesn't wait a second to finish him off. With both of its hands joined together, it made an earth El-ergy hammer mixed with chaos El-ergy. Quenbar quickly blocked the attack, protecting Aris' unconscious body. The attack was strong and heavy, making the ground beneath Quenbar's feet crack. He mustered all his strength to push it back.

The beast opens its mouth and gathers chaos El-ergy within its mouth ready to release it at point blank.

"STEEL WALL!!" He shouted. An elemental technique that increases his overall defense. Ferinda on the sideline was about to witness his teammates getting blown up.

All of a sudden, a blurry silhouette passed by her so fast she didn't even notice. Something jumps in between Quenbar and the chaos born. The uninvited guest gave a powerful kick to the jaw of the gorilla which made it spit out the chaos El-ergy towards the sky. Making a huge purple-ish explosion.

Confused by what was going on, Quenbar looked down and all he saw was a mass of crimson orange fur flowing between him and his opponent. The thing makes eye contact with him and he realizes that it was actually a young man. He had scars on his face and deep blue eyes. Similar to what the lady in Palmarina described as the jungle ghost.

"You're in the way." Said the young man

"What?"

The young man kicks Quenbar out of the battle and destroys the earth hammer of the chaos born with another kick. Knockback, the chaos born let an angry roar and swings its muscled arm. The way it reacted, it seems like its not the first encounter with him. The young man swiftly moves around it and climbs on his back. Once on its shoulders, the boy takes a sting blade and stabs the right eye of the beast.

Ferinda just noticed that one of her blades was missing. The beast was roaring in pain, with one hand covering his stabbed eye and swinging the other one around releasing earth El-ergy in the form of rock shards. The boy ran around dodging the projectiles with no problem and in an instant, he firmly planted his foot on the ground, flexing all his legs muscles giving him enough strength to launch himself at high speed. He uses the borrowed sting blade making a fatal piercing attack on the right oblique of the beast. The dark scales completely shatter on impact. He takes out the weapon and proceeds to stab multiple times the wounds that were already on its abdomen. The chaos born hit the young man making him fly away a couple meters from it and the sting blade shatters in his hand.

He clicks his tongue out of frustration and looks around him searching for something he could use as a weapon. He spots the sword of Rednar and Quenbar's silver blades. Without hesitation, he runs as fast as possible towards the chaos born and slides between his legs.

"Your sword! Give it to me!" Shout the young man to Rednar.

He throws his sword to him and catches it. He then reached for one of Quenbar's silver blades and put it over his shoulder effortlessly. With his new arsenal, the young man charged towards the gorilla with no fear.

The man and the beast exchanged attacks and it was almost one sided. The young man's way of handling the sword and heavy blade at the same time was masterful. He uses the heavy silver blade weight to swing himself around dodging and blocking attacks. Occasionally he would use it to destroy chunks of dark scales. He uses the sword to do faster slashing attacks making the beast bleed over time.

He stabs the remaining eye which makes it panicking and launching rock shards all over the place. Attacking randomly, give the young man the opportunity to finish it off before it ran away. He throws the heavy silver blade in the air and uses the gorilla's chest to jump higher in the air. Grabbing the silver blade, he falls towards the chaos born and cuts its body in two.

Quenbar's blade shattered in the hand of the young man and the gorilla's split body fell. Its blood was spewing out of its body in high quantity making a rain of black blood.

Quenbar is in shock. He has witnessed something he didn't think could be possible. He starts laughing in disbelief.

"W-what's so funny?" asked Ferinda who's creeped out

"Can't you see? We found it! We found the local legend! The jungle ghost!"