V

  Aerial Threat

  Smoke trailed behind my head as I blindly jogged through the storm. I cycled my essence. On the inside, the enchantments in my black and red robe flared. I was thankful for them and the fur linings yet they didn’t stop me from shaking.

  ‘I need to find shelter.’

  The storm blocked most of the sunlight but it must be early in the morning. If I was out here by nightfall, I’d be in trouble. Still, despite the warm welcome, I couldn’t help but smirk.

  I’d seen more of the world in a day than in my entire life.

  Fingers twirled and trailing fire connected. Ashwing shot out and disappeared beneath the white curtain hanging over the world.

  Her presence made my insides boil. With her at my side, I felt stronger than ever before…but the battle with Mother doused icy water over the flames in my bowels. Ashwing alone wouldn’t do much against higher level enemies.

  ‘Could I summon two of her?’

  A gut feeling told me Ashwing wasn’t unique and that I could. I just had to figure out how.

  ‘Must be tied to the cinderwing tree.’

  It was the only thing which made sense. Did I need it to produce another egg? How—

  Ashwing’s cries managed to reach me over the gale. The summon was a constant presence in my mind, like a light at the edge of your vision. That connection between us pulsed. No words made it through the bond, but I could tell the meaning: she’d spotted something.

  Leaving unknown possibilities behind me for now, I crested a hill and looked out over the edge. My elevation was just high enough to make out the valley beneath me. Not much to see besides the tall shadows of lanky trees.

  ‘That’s a start.’

  If I didn’t find anything else, the trees would provide minimal shelter.

  I pointed forwards. Ashwing swooped down to scout ahead. Then I slipped down the slope, using my blade for balance, and entered the frozen forest.

  [Frost Elder. A tree that has fruit in winter.]

  Strips of ice climbed over bark dark as coal. The fruits, which looked like berries, and leaves were entirely blue.

  ‘Looks edible.’

  Not that I was trying my luck. Dying of food poisoning would be an embarrassing way to go out.

  Ashwing cried out.

  I crawled through the underbrush and peeked from beside one of the trees.

  [Woolly Piglet - lvl. 2]

  [Woolly Piglet - lvl. 1]

  A blue sheen shimmered over their tusks as they scavenged the forest floor. The black boars had a thicker set of fur than was normal but barely reached my kneecap. A quick blade strike would take care of them.

  ‘The parents may be around, though.’

  But I needed the experience. I wasn’t alone in this realm and most disciples didn’t enter starting at level one.

  I glanced up. The red blur circling overhead was barely visible.

  ‘There may not be a need to rush in myself.’

  I breathed in deep and my breath trailed in the air. The lvl. 2 boar stayed in the centre of my sight as my hand raised, Ashwing rising even higher into the sky at the silent command. My hand descended like a blade.

  Air tore and broke on the sleek physique of the bird, the red streak shooting forth like a missile. Wings blazed and steam whistled. Golden talons crashed into the back of the piglet’s head, smashing it into the floor. There was a sickening crunch as blood sprayed everywhere. The piglet didn’t get up. Didn’t even cry or struggle.

  My eyes widened as the clearing reverberated with the aftershock of the attack. Everything in the spar happened so fast, but Ashwing’s speed just now was the same as that of her final attack against Mother.

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  ‘So that is the Agility skill. What a crazy amount of force.’

  More important was that I’d finally made the summon use her skill on command. But what about signing was different from saying the skill name? Ashwing understood my words to a degree, right?

  The squeal of the other pig brought me back to reality. Dammit. I forgot to continue the assault.

  I flung my hands. Ashwing let go of the boar corpse and pushed off, barely dodging the charging piglet. She swiped her talons across the boar’s face and back of the head, but near the ground and without her initial velocity, her attacks were a lot less deadly. She managed to latch onto the boar and drilled her beak into its neck. Thick hide kept her from severing the spinal cord.

  And then the boar dashed into the trees.

  ‘Shit.’

  I burst into a run. A mad dash through the forest followed. Ashwing raked her talons across the piglet’s back and bore more holes into it than there were in cheese. But death was the greatest motivator, and the piglet refused to fall.

  Until will was no longer enough.

  “Sweet…heavens…” I heaved, leaned on my knees and wiped my mouth.

  The boar lay collapsed in a heap of dirt and snow. Ashwing dislodged her claws from the corpse.

  Woolly Piglet lvl. 2 x 1 slain. Extra experience gained for killing a higher level enemy. 4 RP earned.

  Woolly Piglet lvl. 1 x 1 slain. EXP has been granted accordingly. 1 RP earned.

  A rush of cold energy shot into my veins that nearly made me moan.

  ‘So that’s what that feels like.’

  The stories truly didn’t do the gain of experience justice.

  I straightened and stretched. With a lazy glance, I watched Ashwing tear pieces of meat from the boar’s flank. After she gouged out the eyes.

  ‘Morbid.’

  But nature.

  The meat entered Ashwing’s stomach, which instantly transformed into more energy. Of the processed essence, a small part crawled back through our bond and into the shard.

  I closed my eyes and imagined the garden. The energy was being fed into the root system of the cinderwing tree. What exactly the tree was doing with the energy wasn’t clear, but it wasn’t hard to wager a guess.

  ‘I need to hunt down higher level monsters.’

  The higher a creature’s level, the more essence their flesh would contain.

  A loud squeal crashed over the trees and Ashwing took to the sky. The cry was nearby but not on our current trajectory.

  I followed her.

  Squeals grew louder as we approached a clearing. There was a fight going on.

  [Woolly Boar - lvl. 4]

  [Woolly Boar - lvl. 4]

  Boars, not piglets, and their size showed it—they were as big as a large dog but filled with muscle. They were also wounded.

  My bond with Ashwing pulsed. She wanted to rush in and finish them off.

  “Wait,” I whispered. Though it was small, there was a chance…

  Blood dripped on the white forest floor from the point of tusks. The boars circled each other, looking for the right angle. One of the beasts, the one most injured, roared, and charged. The other boar had sensed it coming. As fast as it could, it dashed ahead, swerving around the opponent. The wounded boar, unable to stop its momentum, crashed into a tree. One of its tusks got stuck in the trunk. The other boar had kept running and looped around. I winced as the stuck boar got skewered through the side and released a shrill cry that crashed through the tree tops.

  Weapons dislodged and the pig opened its mouths wide. It tore into the weaker boar while it was still alive.

  Now Ashwing cried—why was it stealing her meal?—yet I didn’t give the signal. My breathing grew quiet as I waited.

  If we’re lucky…

  The boar stepped back after swallowing three mouthfuls. Its body trembled, and the air around it whirled as if force pulled it towards the boar. Black fur turned white. The boar the size of a large dog grew even further, leg muscles exploding while a thick mane grew around its face. Rearing its head, the boar screamed.

  [Alpha Woolly Boar - lvl. 4]

  Bingo. An evolved form improved the chances of recovering a beast core from its corpse substantially.

  I glanced at the restless growing Ashwing. She wouldn’t be able to take on this behemoth by herself. That meant it was my turn.

  The boar whirled on me as I entered the clearing. A kernel of frost had spawned in its eyes, which would’ve given me pause had I challenged it alone.

  I freed my blade from its prison. The whistle raised the hackles on the beast. But it didn’t step back. It had just won the battle to become an alpha, how could it let another creature scare it immediately afterwards? It kicked the ground. Around it, the snowfall grew heavier and faster.

  ‘An infant skill. Too bad it won’t help it.’

  Snow and earth flew as the boar bore through the clearing. I held my ground, waited until the last moment, then spun out of the way and slashed at the same time, allowing the boars’s momentum to carve its side open on my blade.

  Only no blood sprayed.

  My lips tutted. ‘Its hide is thick.’ I had too little strength to slice it open.

  Hooves slammed into the snow and whirled around. Perhaps the ugly curve to its mouth was a derogatory smile. I shrugged, pointed to a spot above it, and swiped. It didn’t follow my motion, which was why it was unprepared for Ashwing’s strike. She lacked the pure strength to smash the boar into the ground like she’d done the piglet, but her talons buried into the side of the boar’s skull all the same.

  It didn’t die. But it wobbled in place and fell over. Ashwing and the boar tussled, the bird clawing open its face but taking her own share of wounds. I picked my angle carefully. The blade curved around my summon and pierced through the boar’s chest, splitting its heart.

  Floundering feet went still.

  Alpha Woolly Boar lvl. 4 x 1 slain. Extra experience gained for killing a higher level enemy. 16 RP earned.

  “Nice kill,” I petted Ashwing. “Don’t eat him yet.”

  The cheeky bird stopped just short of digging her beak into the beast for another bite.

  Gripping my longsword near the tip, I peeled back the layers of thick fur and meat, then dug through the open chest cavity with my blade, hoping to hit something solid.

  ‘Oh…!’

  My hand thrust inside the boar’s gut. A spherical stone exited together with the myriad of other disgusting bodily fluids.

  [Beast Core (F) - Common]

  I held the shimmering crystal aloft for Ashwing. She cawed and reached out with her talons.

  “Nu-uh, not yet.”

  While I wasn’t adverse to killing and eating in the same spot, the snowfall wouldn’t allow me to start a fire and cook the beast.

  “Let’s search for shelter.”

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