Chapter 1: The Traveler

Part 1. 

Perhaps no one wouldn’t know about the infamous forest that encompassed the center of the continent. Away from the realms of men, ravenous monsters roamed relentlessly for prey.

 Night and day they bite and bites away. In the hearts of the forest, large trees thrived to seek the sky, blotting out the light and turning the forest to be dark as night. On top of that, fog lingers over the forest. No one knew how it started, but the elders once said that it was a place where dragons and other colossal monsters dwell.

But no one can prove the claim even to this day.

Because no men manage to return after they entered the misty region of the Vilpora forest.But be it true or not, the threat of the forest is real. 

Perhaps there would be no shortage of men telling the tales of old. And perhaps there would be no shortage of brave souls that would venture into the forest, either to hunt monsters or to confirm the legend itself.

Xen heard the legends from the men of taverns. He heeds their warnings to his heart and steel himself against danger as he set foot in the forest.

he was a traveler, wandering the lands on a pilgrimage to hone his skill and grow, Xen decided to traverse the infamous forest all the way to his next destination, Naynhardth, a country on the other side of the forest.

With the forest, wide as it was, he spent significant time here and adapted to its harsh environments, run in the most inhospitable terrains, and fought his way through the wave of monsters.

It’s been three weeks since then, and he advanced to the depths forest only eligible to a handful of adventurers.

The young man walked under the verdant canopies. Rays of sunlight filtered from above illuminated the mask under the shade of the hood. Strangely enough, this area of the forest in particular provides an even ground with a thin cover of grass. From the foot of the great trees thrived the undergrowths seeking its protection. The trace of the late winter lingered from the chilling breeze flowing through the woods, rustling the leaves from above as the jubilant birds sang praises for the spring. It was peaceful and bright and Xen found it relatively pleasing from the rest.

Though this is still a monster nest. And as to remind him, a deep howl, echoed somewhere from the distance, seemingly shaking the air.

Xen perked up.

“That must be a very large monster.” He muttered.

Judging from the sound, it seemed coming from ahead. A little closer to the right granted he maintained his current direction. There was a high chance he will be spotted by the unknown beast and ended up getting hunted himself. But even then, the young man has no intention to change direction and maintained his lax pace.

Moments later, he recognized the distinct shouts and grunts mixed within the savage roar.“Adventurers…” he muttered. He thought for a moment before shaking his head gently.“It’s best not to interfere… but it wasn't wrong to watch.”

The young man casually jumped up in the tress without much of a jogging start. He landed gently on top of the branches and then started zipping through the trees.

This feat wasn’t something that can be done just by anyone else. But for those that of possession of mystical energy, this one is nothing. Those people that unlocked the prana, the hidden mystical energy that resides within the spiritual body, can do feats that surpassed the limit of humanity. They were known as Exceliant.

Granted with superhuman prowess, they play an active role in the military and are commonly the measure of national strength.

But for those who don’t want to tie themselves to any country and maintain their independence, they have the option to become an adventurer. “There they are… hmm they seem doing pretty well.”

Xen gently landed on a strong branch with a good vantage point. From there, he has a clear vision of the fight below. Just a mere glance at the few exchanges told him that the four adventurers were faring well against the bipedal giant beast.

With a thick and large frame, it stands way over four meters in height. Dark bronze fur shone a dull vibrance but the vicious eyes vividly lit up in dark crimson.

This disastrous monster was widely feared even by the high-ranking adventurers here in the Vilpora forest known as Urzyk.

The Urzyk stood on its short legs. It raised its thick long log-like arm with extended claws and swing it down to the adventurers on its feet, specifically a swordsman and a dwarf.

The two vanguards jumped back in time, avoiding the paws that begrudgingly dug up the ground. The earth beneath their foot shook from the sheer strength. But that wasn't enough to faze the adventurers.

Since they put themselves in a distance, this gave their mage the freedom to unload her spells without putting her vanguards at risk.

The mage raised her staff. A magic circle weave itself and began firing off fireballs. And in the next instant, a series of explosions erupted along with flames that set the Urzyk ablaze.

“RARRGR!!!!”

The beast growled in pain staggering backward. But there wasn’t noticeable damage even after the explosion. The bellowing smoke however obstructed its vision and gave it a little trouble breathing. And that momentary failure of focus, led the adventurer assault to pass its defenses.

“That fireball wasn’t for damage but rather as cover for the vanguards to close the gaps. Very crafty.” Xen said, evaluating the battle like an analyst.

From the distance, the archer let loose her arrows. The distinctive long tapered ear suggests that she was an elf.

The projectiles draw a greenish streak of light as they dig through the beast’s shoulders. The vanguards dashed forth to follow up. The dwarf pounced and lash out his mace. The weapon was reinforced with magic shrouded with ocher filament. It leaves a trail of light as it struck the knee of the Urzyk.

They say their races may seem short, but they were gifted with abnormal strength to compete against creatures much larger than them. This was clearly demonstrated as the massive beast fell to one knee.

From behind, the swordsman dashed off, his swords glowed in bluish radiance as it jumped, slashing on the unprotected back of the beast, which solicited a terrorizing growl.

Unlike those Mages whose prana used to cast spells, those who don’t have talents of magic used their prana to reinforce their physical strength and weapon instead. This is their own way to fight off monsters that were naturally capable of reinforcing their bodies by prana.

 Otherwise, their weapons might just already break from the repeated impact.

The swordsman wasn’t done yet and charged again on its blindside, exploiting the brief window before the beast can hold his ground.

But sometimes, the urzyk will notice their intention.

It flung its arm down before the swordsman can deliver a slash. The swordsman instantly saw the rushing arms and immediately jumped back to safety.

The caution of getting hit by the claws will spell their doom, forcing the swordsman to retreat and wait for the right opportunity.

Urzyk chase him up and hammered down its arms, not letting him get away after it suffered from the wound on its back.

the swordsman jumped off the trail, but the other arms followed him. Perhaps he never anticipates another attack as he froze up.

“He’s dead!”

However, the dwarf pushed him out of the way.

“Or not.”

Xen breathed in relief that his expectation prove him wrong.”

The shield held high shrieked a dull clang. The dwarf took the brunt of the force pushing him a few centimeters as his feet dug into the ground to stop his momentum. He used his mace and braced the shield from behind; working both hands to support the shield. Due to the large weight difference, the dwarf can only block the attacks overhead. If the beast it’s swiped horizontally, that dwarf will be thrown away. Thus limiting his chances to block using his shield.

The Urzyk face contorted in anger as it failed to crush the dwarf beneath the shield. Perhaps its pride was hurt when such a monster like itself possessing a massive size was stopped by a small creature. This time it raised its other arm, in preparation for a swipe. The dwarf was held in place from resisting the force of its arm so this makes him a sitting duck.

the air whistled its claws swept. But before it snuff the life out of the dwarf, a streak of light flashed in the corner of its eyes. It immediately change the course of its hand and raised its face.

A beat later, an arrow pierce its hands with a force enough to touch its forehead. The beast tens up at the prospect of death.

The Urzyk, looked up, glaring at the elf, shooting arrows while jumping through the trees. The urzyk swung its massive arms, breaking the arrows that further heading to its head.the arrows may not have landed on its target, but bought a chance for the swordsman to sneak on its legs and deliver a solid hit. The flesh sliced open splattering blood on the mossy floor.

The beast cred in ear-splitting intensity, the pain must have so severed that it grabbed its wound with the hand that kept the dwarf in place. With the load left overhead, the dwarf immediately moved out of the way as another set of fireballs take its place, plunging the beast even more into the world of pain, despair, and humiliation.

“…That was a clutch save. They’re so good.” Xen, colored impressed as he observe the battle from afar.

“They move in sync with each other, and know the precise time for each of their turn.”

The rear guards kited the bear in, making the vanguards invisible to its eyes. And by the time it recognized their figures, they already land a strike. There was also the elf, sniping the bear from afar which gave an additional cover for the vanguards. And whenever the attacks are too heavy for them to take on, they fall back letting the mage hurl fireballs at the Urzyk to stop its momentum and provide cover. And thus repeat the cycle.

This ingenuous strategy of relentless kiting is pushing the bear to a one-sided beat down with little to no chance to retaliate, let alone hit their target. Another factor to add to the bear's disadvantages was the synergy of the assault and their good coordination. Their attacks were a tad weak to deal a finishing blow due to the thick fur, but they got good teamwork to compensate for their shortcomings.

It was a typical strategy for a party, But the execution is well coordinated.

On the other hand, Urzyk’s movement became much more sluggish as time pass by. Fatigue accumulates with every movement and the impatience of not reducing their number only pushed the bear to expend its remaining strength. Slowly withering the large beast to death.The Bears staggered forward before struggling to stable his balance. It glared menacingly puffing air out of its nose. It roared savagely to the encroaching adventurers. Its opponents however are far from intimidated and it only raised their morale. In the passing seconds, they began to exploit the bear’s predicament as they dashed with the intent to end the fight.

“It’s only a matter of time before the Urzyks will fall… Alright. GG… ”

Just as he said, the Urzyk finally gave in to the unceasing assault and fell. The swordsman jumped on its back and stabbed his sword right in the nape. The beast let out a dying howl before sprawling on the ground lifeless with blood seeping out on its wound-riddled body.As the adventurer confirmed its death, they lowered their weapons and eased themselves.

“That was a good fight… No… that was a hunt.” He silently praised as he clapped his hands muffled by his gloves.

Having this deep in the forest where strong monsters prowled around the clock, it's safe to say that only those veteran adventurers can reach this area. So perhaps it’s no surprise to see that kind of team fight coming from them.

Having seen their fight just remind me how crucial the party is when taking an enemy much stronger than your own… somehow I getting an urge to form a party of my own.

But to scout other members, the person himself must possess a decent amount of strength if he wants to attract the caliber of warriors he desired. After all, no one would choose a weak branch to hold their fates. For that reason, Xen was using this journey as a chance to hone his skill by facing off against monsters. And this only gets harder and harder as he went closer to the misty region.

He left his eyes from the party and stared at his open palms.

“I really need to get stronger.” He whispered under his breath. He closed his hands and pumped himself up.

“Alright! Time to set off to the misty region!”

Xen cast one final glance at the party before he set off. But as he did, he noticed something strange.

The party can’t see it from there their angle, but from Xen position, he saw a creature seemed emerging gently from the wide slit on Urzyk’s side. Its figure was that of a child, more like a goblin. It slinked silently on four limbs, approaching the mage who placed herself near the corpse, probably to inspect. And no one in their party seemed to sense its presence yet even it already encroached closer, sneaking unto the mage.

Here I said I’m not going to interfere!

Xen scoffed as kick the branch and dashed forth. As he was zipping from tree to tree, the unknown creature finally made its move. 

It shrieked as it pounced, kicking the Urzyk’s shoulder to propel itself to the unsuspecting mage. With the sound it made, its presence was known and the mage turned her head in a panic, and so as her companions.

What they saw what a creature with a vicious facade. Its mouth was opened from ear to ear full of razor-sharp teeth. the elongated palms jutted out claws longer as its fingers were swiping down at her.

The adventurers were glued to their spot with horrified faces as they watched the monster close the gap.

An unfortunate disaster, They were just too late to react.

And Judging by his distance, it’s clear that Xen too, will never make it in time. Nevertheless, he brandish his arm, and the air before it wavered with a dark void spilling out a hilt which he immediately snatched.

[Gate]

Xen muttered those words in his head as he plunge the sword forward through the ripped-opened space showing the figure of the monsters suspended in the air. The monster's facade contorted in surprise not expecting a new human to pop out of nowhere. And the expression remains frozen as the swords pierce through its chest. Fountain blood busts out of its back. Its extended arms fell limply as the let out a dying squeal.

Pulling out his swords, the corpse drop to the ground. After a swipe to get rid of the blood, he immediately returned the swords to the dark hole that appeared before him as it was before. It was after that that he faced the lady that was staring at him in a daze.

“Are you alright?”