Dangerous

Iono swung above the lizard and dashed towards it. This time he was aiming for the neck.

An incredible amount of invisible energy erupted from his body. The energy had a black hue that made it look surreal, it coated both his arms and daggers, making him look ferocious.

Coating his daggers with Prauna would chip away at their durability, but it would make them much sharper than the norm.

His eyes turned red, as bloodlust came pouring out from his body like a tide. The world turned deep red for the lizard and it started shivering uncontrollably. The bloodlust was so thick that, it couldn't even breathe, much less move. It tried to burn Iono alive, but it didn't even manage to open its mouth, much less breathe fire. It felt like space itself had come alive and it was wrapped around its body, trying to strangle it.

Two huge, dark-blue eyes appeared in the sky. Stars and Galaxies could be seen revolving around them. The lizard's eyes widened when it saw them. They were looking down on the lizard arrogantly, making it realize who was the predator and who was the prey.

Fear!

This was true fear!

Not from realising the difference in strength, but from realising the difference in status.

He was just prey, nothing more, nothing else.

Iono rotated the daggers in his hand and using the momentum of his fall, he started spinning. A vortex of slashes appeared around him and pounded towards the lizard. When the attack landed on it, a screechy, metallic noise resounded.

The lizard tried to dodge, attack or even simply move but it was to no avail. The incredible amount of pressure Iono was emitting was making it impossible. It roared in pain and used the last bit of willpower it possessed, to try and resist the attack.

Iono was spinning with his daggers in hand, increasing his speed and power with every rotation. The metallic noise kept getting louder and louder.

Suddenly, the noise reached a maximum and reverberated in the forest. Even Yusef pick it up and he was tens of miles away.

Blood came pouring out in a spinning motion, resembling a crimson tornado. The lizard's head was severed from its body and,

"Thud"

It fell to the ground. Its eyes were wide open, unable to believe it died like that. The blood of the creature rained from above. Iono was stepping on the lizard's body and his unfathomable eyes were glaring at it from above. But something seemed off about them, they seemed to have lost their radiance. The bloodlust he emitted was getting heavier by the second, making the scene look grotesque.

"Why am I shivering", Clarissa thought while hiding in the bush.

The bloody rain stopped, and with it so did the killing intent that covered the clearing. Light returned to Iono's eyes, who shook his head to come back to his senses. He looked at his hands and noticed the amount of blood on them. He wiped the blood on his cheek and noticed that he was surrounded by even more blood.

"F*ck, I almost lost myself to bloodlust. This body is still too weak to contain it. One mistake and I could end up on an indiscriminate killing spree.", he thought.

He used a couple of leather sacks filled with water he had stored in his pouch to clean himself up. After wiping the blood off his body, he looked for the Green Daisy among the bloody grass. He picked it up and slowly walked toward Clarissa.

While walking, his mind wandered to the events that just took place.

"Monsters that have finished Foundation and are in the Core Refinement stages in this forest, can be counted on one hand. A lizard so powerful wouldn't escape either my or my father's senses. This means the beasts in the forest are more powerful than they are supposed to be. First the Huntsman deer and now this Crimson lizard. They are Core refining powerhouses. What are they doing here?

It's different from my memories and it's creeping me out. I need to get stronger, fast!

The invasion that's going to happen in ten years... May be here sooner than expected.

I should find an excuse to-", his train of thought was cut off, by a small girl appearing in front of him.

"Did you get it? Did you get it?", she asked excitedly.

" Of course, I got it what do you take me for?", Iono said puffing out his chest.

"Yay", Clarissa celebrated.

-----------------------

After returning home, they found Anna with glasses on her face, surrounded by paperwork. When she left the kingdom to give birth to Iono, and have a peaceful married life, she gave a promise that when Iono was old enough to wander on his own, she would return to her duties as a princess.

Iono was now almost nine years old and in a couple of years, he would go to the academy. Therefore she thought she would get ahead of her duties, before returning to the kingdom.

"Welcome back, how was it?", she asked while smiling at the two of them. With their height difference, standing next to one another, they looked like brother and sister, with Iono being the oldest. It made Anna laugh inwardly but also once again worry about her son's social life.

"Everything went great, we even found a Green Daisy!", Iono replied.

"Isn't that great Clarissa, now your mom will definitely recover!", she said while patting the little girl's head and smiling.

Clarissa nodded happily and then dragged Anna into the kitchen to brew the medicine. It seems she has gotten a bit more comfortable with them, after everything they did for her.

"Chamomile, Echinacea, Milk thistles, Feverfew and Ginkgo. Adding the Green Daisy would make a perfect tonic." Anna picked the herbs out of Clarissa's basket while naming them.

They made the medicine and Clarissa run home to give it to her mom.

She arrived at a run-down wooden hut and slammed the barely operable door open. You could see signs that the wood was starting to rot.

Inside, on a bed made out of straw, a woman in her twenties was sleeping. She had long, chestnut colour hair, wrapped in a bun, that was dishevelled. Her body was slim and malnutrition assaulted it. It was easy to see that she hadn't eaten properly in a while.

"Mommy... Wake up.", Clarissa whispered.

The slim woman opened her eyes to look at the little girl. After realising who it was, her eyes became full of love.

"Hello, honey... Where were you off to this time? Have you had something to eat? I'm sorry mommy can't cook for you.", she said.

"Don't worry mommy, I'm ok. I went to the forest and gathered some herbs. Here, drink this, it's going to make you feel better.", Clarissa said.

"She must have seen some pretty grass and thought it was medicine. My sweet, little girl. Thank you...", she thought.

She would drink the brew even if it was poison. She knew that Clarissa wasted precious time and energy gathering this for her and so she would not refuse.

Even if it was poison she wouldn't hesitate simply because she knew... She knew her end was near. She knew her body the best and she could feel the cold grasp of death creeping around her neck.

The only regret she had was this little girl that would be left all alone. She didn't want that.

On the other hand, she was simply unable to do anything. She was dragging Clarissa down, she wanted to free her daughter of the burden of taking care of her, as it was not worth it.

"Thank you so much, honey... Mommy loves you so much!", she said as a tear rolled down her cheek and she grabbed the medicine out of Clarissa's hand.

"I love you too, mommy!" she said with a smile."

Clarissa's mom drank the medicine with big gulps, and after finishing it, she returned the wooden cup to Clarissa.

Clarissa's smile was dazzling as she hoped for her mother to feel better as soon as possible. It was at that moment that Clarissa's mom started glowing.

The incredible amount of mana the Green Daisy possessed started turning into nutrition and vitamins that made a colour return to her face as the blood started circulating all over her body, carrying those vitamins. Coupled with the rest of the herbs, it made her sunken, skeleton-like face perk up and return to normal.

They both stared at each other in awe. Both of their gazes were questioning but they were targeted at different people.