Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Seth p.o.v

It has been a year since I awoke in this forest. During this one year, I have been training myself to become stronger to be able to survive longer in the forest, during my exploration, I have found weird-looking fruits and herbs which I had no idea what it use where or if they were safe to eat but thanks, to Kuro I was able to know if some of the fruits where safe to it and as the rest I kept them safe back at the safe house. One of the interesting things I found is a herb that is brown in color when turned into paste and put on a wound it can speed up the natural healing.

During this time Kuro and I went through a lot of battles which got us even closer with all the life-and-death battles that we had some of them nearly got us killed because of how strong they were and thanks to those battles both Kuro and I were able to either unlocked or in my case create some skills which helped us overcome of fights. This reminds me of a life and death battle we had on our first hunt against the cockatrice.

Flashback.

 Waking up early before the sun arose I picked up a wooden sword which I had craved using my dagger, leaving the caven I began practicing my sword forms till the morning sun arose, ending my training I made my way to the water sources which we found arriving at the bank I freshened up and also took a shower. Arriving back at the shelter I found Kuro awake and stretching before looking at me.

Seth: ready for today's hunt Kuro? 

Kuro: bark

3rd p.o.v 

Walking through the dense forest which echoed with the symphony of rustling leaves and distant calls of creatures roaring either waking up to hunt or creatures dying to a predator, As they delved deeper into the forest, they soon stumbled upon a clearing bathed in an eerie glow at the center they prey. At the center of the clearing stood a large bird, Its body, was covered in feathers that shimmered in a kaleidoscope of colors—deep emerald greens, royal purples, and midnight blues, creating a mesmerizing display as it caught the dappled sunlight filtering through the thick shade. The head of the cockatrice was adorned with a crest of vibrant feathers, Its beak, a deadly weapon, has a razor-sharp edge, and the eyes, though small, gleamed with a sinister intelligence. Its taloned feet, hidden beneath its plumage, hinted at its agility and prowess in the art of evasion. Despite its beauty, it has an air of danger that surrounds the creature, an unspoken warning to all who dare to see it as prey that it is a being to be approached with caution.

Hiding behind the trees Seth conjures a fire spear before throwing it at the cockatrice which signifies the beginning of the battle, noticing the fire spear heading in its direction it dodges it before looking at the direction it came from spreading its feathered wings wide its reptilian gaze locking onto Seth and Kuro it roars at the intrudes who stepped on it territory.

Seth and Kuro steeping out of their hiding place look at the battle-ready cockatrice controls his mana and spreads it around his body to enhance his speed, strength, and defense and also to strengthen his weapons, the cockatrice takes flight into the air as it heads for Seth it lashed out with its talon, aiming to strike with blinding speed while he uses his sword to clash with it, using the dagger in his free hand he coat it with wind magic and slashes at it sensing the incoming danger it dodges the attack Kuro who had used his skill shadow walk, pounced on it as soon as it dodged bitting on the right wing stooping it from taking flight into the air.

Roaring in pain, it crashes into the ground. Standing up with its damaged wing, it looks at them, realizing the threat they posed, and unleashed its special attack—a barrage of feathers shot like deadly arrows. Seth, at first glance looked down at its desperate attack and didn't bother to dodge it. Kuro sensing the danger of the attack ran and pushed Seth out of the attack range but was pierced by one of the feathers on its hind leg and howled in pain as his leg slowly began to be petrified, laughing in glee at its successful attack the cockatrice launches another barrage of it feathers at kuro, Seth reacting quickly appears in front of kuro and cast an earth shield. Looking at Kuro Seth comes up with a plan

Seth: listen to me, kuro. I have a plan to take it down. I will charge forward and cast an earth shield around the place and when I have its full attention focused on me that will be your chance to kill it got it?

Kuro: bark bark (nods head)

Dashing out of the earth shield Seth charges forward toward the cockatrice which launches another barrage of feathers using his sword maneuvered gracefully, avoiding the petrifying onslaught while casting earth shield. The forest became a battleground, of feathers and swords slicing through the air, creating a lethal dance of evasion. Seth closed the distance with a burst of wind magic, coating his sword in fire magic slashed out disrupting the cockatrice's balance. With a swift strike of his sword, he managed to cut off some of the creature's poisonous feathers, rendering them harmless Yet, the battle was far from over the cockatrice, wounded but resilient, retaliated with renewed aggression. Seth dodged its strikes, weaving through them while at the same time casting earth shield when the opportunity presented itself.

 As the battle reached its climax, the cockatrice, weakened and disoriented, unleashed a final desperate attack. It took off into the air utilizing its damaged wing unleashed a barrage of Feathers in the air as it rained down, once it unleashed its final attack it crashed back to the ground due to it damaging its wings even more, Seth who was already running low on mana gritting his teeth while gathered what little he had left and covered his vitals using earth magic and parried the attacks but he still got hit of his right arm, shoulders and left leg biting his lip in pain he stabs his sword into the ground to remain standing.

As the forest fell into silent, the only sound was the labored breaths of Seth panting in exhaustion, Seth looked at the cockatrice, which got up with a bit of difficulty with a look of victory in its eyes as it made its way over to Seth it expected to see the fear in its prey eyes, but it saw non instead it saw him grinning at him madly.

Seth: Kuro now 

Hearing the signal, Kuro utilized its shadow walk skill using the shadows created by the earth shield to jump from one shadow to the next quickly as it jumped out of the shadow behind the cockatrice and landed on its back, coating its claws in wind and shadow magic biting and clawing with a ferocity, roaring in pain it could do nothing as it fell to the ground Seth watched at the light in it eyes faded.

*flashback end*