Tracking

Reyes was no longer in Highrock and was now staring at the starry night sky with his brother laying across from him on a forest floor…

They had gotten a few hours into tracking down Grim, however, they still had a lengthy journey ahead of them even though they were moving at full speed.

They wasted no time in leaving Highrock after he noticed that hidden note. Horus shook hands with the brothers, provided them with information about the surrounding areas, and bid them good fortune with their journey.

Melony would have been with them but luckily they didn't have to worry about her for the moment.

Their progress would have been slowed down significantly had come. When she argued with Horus about tagging along with them, he was grateful that Rachel was able to talk her into staying behind.

'That kid….'

He had to admit, she kind of did grow on him.

The last few hours of nonstop running had tired them both out so they had no choice but to rest.

They were now in a clearing north of Highrock in what he found out was called the Great Forest Borea. The path they were on was said to take them further north to a mountain range called Giantpeak.

Not much was really known about that particular area, even after they asked Horus.

'Ugh how I wish things were more straightforward when dealing with shit like this.'

There weren't even any maps charted for Giantpeak.

Many wild stories also surrounded the place, one of them being that it was full of remains belonging to giant warriors that fought more than 1000 years ago.

'A path of death I must carve within the walls that wish to prey upon me, huh? What the fuck does that even mean?'

Just trying to wrap his head around it spawned a massive headache.

Rubbing his temples helped ease his thoughts enough to get some rest.

...

Back in the HQ, Horus was staring intently at Soul Stealer.

After he had finished conversing with Reyes and Leezy, he noticed something off upon returning to his office. Even though Soul Stealer's case was specifically designed to suppress the blade, it now had a tiny crack in the glass that wasn't there before.

'Did someone….No that isn't possible without me being here.'

His office was swamped with a wide variety of security measures that activated whenever he wasn't physically present. He couldn't have been anyone skilled enough to slip past them, so he ruled that out.

Looking at the weapon, there weren't any physical changes but even with it being sealed in it's special display case, he could sense a denser energy now than what it had before.

'Is this thing somehow growing in power?'

Just as he thought that, the same dense energy he felt just a moment ago completely vanished.

'Yeah…I really need to lock this thing away somewhere more secure as soon as the chance arises.'

…

A loud roar from the distance stirred Reyes out of his slumber.

Looking across from him, his brother was awake and ready with his hand on his sword. Nothing needed to be said between them as they exchanged glances and looked in the direction the roar came from.

Birds that were startled from it could be seen flying high in the sky. By his estimate, Reyes guessed it we only a few meters away just southwest of them.

A few moments passed as the two sat in wait, hands on their swords. Everything around them went so eerily quiet that even a mouse could be heard scurrying across the forest floor.

Suddenly…

Snap!

The sound of tree bark bending and breaking some distance away shattered the silence like glass. Trees could be seen parting like waves, giving way to something massive headed in their direction.

"Let the shit-show begin, eh?"

Leezy cast a quick look at Reyes who replied with a small smirk.

The ground around them began to vibrate softly with the thud of footsteps echoing between the forest trees. As they grew near, the ground began vibrating so hard that one might think they were standing in the middle of a minor earthquake.

At last, the owner of the footsteps came bursting through the tree line and into the clearing the brothers were in.

It was a solid rock golem that was extremely tall. Archaic runes were carved all over its body and In it's grasp, it held the end of a large tree it had tore from the ground.

Skidding to a halt, it slowly turned its faceless head in their direction.

Side by side, the two brandished their weapons in full view of the golem, taunting it. In answer, the golem just slowly drug the huge tree behind it as it cautiously approached. Without so much as a warning it suddenly twitched and threw the huge tree at them, charging forward while the tree flew toward them like a javelin.

The golem's sheer speed surprised Reyes more than it's actions did, but that feeling lasted only for a moment.

Dashing forward, he jumped over the tree while slicing it in half.

Leezy, on the other hand, bulldozed straight through the remaining half of the tree that was still flying toward him.

Fragments of wood and dust swirled through the air.

Looking side to side while soaring through the air, Reyes noticed a silhouette to his left. With barely enough time to spare, he brought his katana up to deflect a haymaker that sent him crashing through the trees.

Leezy only saw his brother get sent flying. The wood dust that hung in the air prevented him from seeing where the attack had came from.

'Mana sense'

He cast a small wave of mana around him to see if he could sense where the golem was, but couldn't sense a thing besides some small animals hiding within the forest.

'What!?'

Below him, he suddenly felt the dirt moving beneath his feet.

Upon looking down, he grit his teeth, noticing a stony hand pushing through the dirt. Jumping up, he tried to avoid it but was too late.

The golem grabbed his leg and pulled him down into the loose dirt, trapping him. At the same time, the golem's fist came bursting out of the ground and caught him hard in the head, sending him flying in the same direction as his brother.

Hanging above him among the trees, Reyes looked down at his brother.

A piece of his helmet was broken off, revealing a portion of his face that was covered in blood. His eyes were closed shut, as if he were in a deep slumber.

'Damn it, this thing is giving us a run for our money. It managed to catch both of us off guard and even knocked Leezy out cold with a single hit. Got to figure something out…'

He tried to rack his brain for possible solutions, but time was of the essence and he knew he probably only had a few seconds to come up with something.

In the clearing, the golem slowly unearthed itself and began heading in the direction it sent it's enemies flying.

…

Far away in a canyon, a middle aged man with a long black headband tied around his head was fighting against multiple opponents with relative ease under the midday rays of the sun. His goatee glistened with sweat while he countered various attacks being thrown at him.

Every move he made was calculated and precise. No matter what his opponents did, they didn't even come close to grazing him.

If he were fighting against regular opponents, they would have succumbed to frustration by now.

These enemies were all incapable of feeling any type of emotion due to their nature so that was of no consequence.

Before long, the man effortlessly rid himself of the assailants that surrounded him and sat atop a small heap of bones nearby while thinking to himself.

'How much longer do I need to wait?'

It had been almost a full month of fighting the same opponents that faithfully spawned every single night. To say the least, he was growing impatient.

'The blood moon should have came by now….'

Looking up at the looming walls of the canyon to the sky above, he sighed.

Deep down he wanted to leave and go back to Highrock, but knew that if he did, the time he had spent here would be for nothing.

'Please ancient gods….provide me what I seek.'

Of course, the only thing that answered his prayer was silence.

In his dissatisfaction, he reached down and took hold of one of the many skulls around him.

'My entire life has been nothing short of hell, yet still it's as though I am being mocked by the very gods who are supposed to redeem me.'

The dissatisfaction he felt quickly turned to anger and without realizing it, he crushed the skull in his hand into a powdery dust.

Grumbling while laying back, he surrendered himself to exhaustion…