Chapter 7- Strike

Carson continued swinging his sword tireless as the night went on. His arms were shaky as his hands gripped the sword. He swung a few more times before setting the swords down to rest.

He looked up at the sky and saw a wa ding gibbous moon hanging in the sky. Its glow illuminated the forest.

"Mission"

*ding*

Mission: Scout the Emerald Forest

Rank: E

Description: "You have been tasked with scouting the Emerald Forest located in the Windy Plans. You are to scout and report within the given time frame. Refer to the item given for more information.

Time Limit: 10 days (Remaining time: 4D 6hrs)

Reward: 100,000 Zil

Carson's eyes went wide as he read the time left to complete the mission. He quickly jumped up and started walking back to the make shift camp. "We don't have time for this especially if i want to make it back to collect the reward, gotta act fast."

*snap*

He jumped back quickly when he saw a Orange Saber jump down from a nearby tree, its fangs shining in the moonlight. It glared at Carson with immense hunger in its eyes.

Carson readied his sword and circulated his mana as he anticipated the magical beast's attack.

"Hydro Magic: Weapon Enchantment"

His blade suddenly glowed a pale blue as the magic as he took his stance. 'I don't have time for this at all. Hydro Magic: Water Shot!"

He shit forth a blast of water that knocked the beast backwards a bit an rushed towards it. He swung his blade at its neck furiously as it dodged his attacks.

The beast leaped far away as it mana circulated rapidly. It let out a roar as stone pillars shot up form the ground towards Carson. The corporal narrowly dodged as a pillar scraped his leg.

He jumped off a tree towards the beast a he fired a few more Water Shots. The Orange Daber effortless dodged them before he grabbed Carson and slammed his to the ground.

"Ugh fuck that's gonna hurt." Carson spoke through gritted teeth as he held back the snapping magical beast from ripping his face off.

"Hydro Magic: Water Shot"

The beaten corporal shot a large blast of magic right in the center of the Orange Sabers chest as it flew in the air. He took a few moments rest as he stood up narrowly falling and gripped his side.

'Shit guess my injuries are more internal than anything, need to finish this quick.' He looked down at his side and saw blood flowing. He looked to where the Orange Saber had flown and saw a massive collection of orange mana.

Soon the beast emerged from the shadows with its claws and teeth covered in Geo magic. The beast charged towards Carson as he barely stepped out the way.

"Hydro Magic: Healing Shower"

He threw up a large orb of Hydro Magic and it soon burst in the air over him. The wounds were starting to heal as he saw the bleeding stop. "Ok now time to finish this, Hydro Magic: Water Shot"

He shot multiple water spheres at the beast as it dodged. It roared a bit as it shot more Stone Pillars towards the tired fighter. Carson used Water shot to destroy each pillar until the forest was covered with a thick blanket of dust.

"Damn, just what I needed to happen. Now where are you, ya bastard." Carson turned around slowly with his guard up waiting for the beast to strike.

The Orange Saber jumped out and swiped towards Carson's shoulder leaving him with a large gash. The wounded corporal fell to the ground as the beast disappeared in the dust.

"I won't last much longer, who knew fighting a Rank C would be too much for me now. Normally I would have been swept the floor with this thing.

I need to hurry before it attracts any more creatures." Carson stood up as the fogged lessened and he looked around for the Orange Saber, yet it was nowhere to be found.

He waited a few moments before he shot out another Healing shower and his wounds recovered. Most were healed except his shoulder which needed more medical attention than he could provide at the moment.

He assessed his wound as he limped back towards the camp. It took him several moments before he arrived at the camp. He looked and saw Tru and Camelot fast asleep.

'Tch lazy worthless nothings.' Carson spat on the ground before making to way to wards the supply packs where he pulled out a healing potion. He poured it on his wound and watched as it closed up, basically looking brand new.

He sat down to catch his breath for a moment. 'Healing potions help but do nothing for stamina, I've gotta get them up before time runs out, or worse that cat decides to come back."

He mustered to his feet and began channeling his mana. He held out his hand towards both of them.

"Hydro Magic: Water Shot"

Two small blue water orbs splashed right into both Tru's and Camelot's faces jolting them awake. Tru jumped up as he looked around until he saw Carson. Carson's clothing was torn more so than ambush from the wolves.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"It was an Orange Saber, it shouldn't be much of a problem for the moment but we need to leave. My fight with it probably has attracted attention of other magical beasts, not o mention the blood."

The three of them wasted no time to douse the fire and pack up. Carson took out the map as they were sprinting in the thick green darkness.

"Wanderers Fog is about 4 miles away from where we are so it should only take us about 2 hours max to reach it. Once we get there I'll tak-"

"AWOOOOOO!"

Carson's Sentence was cut by the loud howl of the Albino Dire Wolf. They stopped in their tracks as several White Wolves slowly emerged from the green thicket.

"Hey uh, guys don't they seem a bit different than before? Their eyes are purple." Camelot spoke in a quiet voice as he observed the surrounding predators. They're eyes glowed a deep purple contrast to the dark orange from before.

"Yeah I've never seen anything like this even on all my expeditions, scouting mission and even dungeon raids. This is new to me." The blonde man's voice was calm but his body was shaking as he raised his sword towards them.

"Listen you two I'm going to try and create a shield to hold them off, you both take the map and finish this mission. Try to survive and make it back even if I don't. Ok?"

Carson handed them the map as he channeled his mana. Unlike before the mana this time was thick and heavy. He held out his hand as the mana collected in his palm. He shot it out towards the ground.

"Hydro Magic: Water Dome!"

The mana spread out along the ground in before rising up over them creating a large blue dome. The White Wolves furiously clawed and bit away at the dome but it was wasted effort.

*ding*

"Skill acquired: Water Dome(Active) - Rank D"

Water Dome(Active) Rank D: " A large collection of Hydro Magic that works as a shield. Durability is reliant on users rank and mastery level."

Tru and Camelot looked on in awe as the magical beasts bit and swiped until they exhausted their energy. Not long after they altered to back away.

"Look I think it worked! They're leaving!" Camelot jumped up and down in glee as the wolves turned tail but they suddenly stopped.

"Grrrr. Wowoof."

"What the hell are these bastards up too, never seen this kind of behavior." Carson nervously watched the wolves when he saw faint traces of mana being drawn into their body.

Panic filled his face as he grabbed the other two. All of the attackers then opened their mouths and shot out a small gust of Aero Magic towards the Water Dome.

The magic attacks bombarded the dome heavily until cracks formed around it. Carson constantly poured his mana into the defensive spell and repaired the cracks.

"It's not going to hold for long, you both are going to have to leave now! I only have enough mana to maintain the dome currently " Carson gritted his teeth as he opened a small hole for them to crawl through.

Tru exited the hole first and leaped over the wolves who were still furiously attacking the dome. Camelot was about to leave when Carson grabbed his shoulder. He looked at Carson and saw his stamina was almost completed and his face flushed of color.

"Hand…me….the….mana…..potion in the bag. Quickly!" Camelot searched the bag and found a mana potion and threw it Carson. The latter quickly drank it down and stood to his feet. The Water Dome's cracks recovered completely and the attacks barely caused a ripple.

Carson closed his eyes and channeled mana at a large intense rate. His aura rose like a raging fire. "You might want to leave soon, I'm going try and wipe out these wolves and try to buy you both some time."

Camelot nodded and head for the small hole when suddenly a large white figure appeared in front of him. It was the Albino Dire Wolf, though just like the White Wolves its eyes glowed purple along with the saliva dripping form its mouth.

"Hahahah, I was wondering when that big white bastard was going to rear its ugly head. Not sure what happened but to you but did not believe you could get any uglier. Carson grinned manically as he laid eyes on the wolf.

"Hydro Magic: Weapon Enchantment"

Carson's blade was coated in a deep blue from the mana. The large wolf saw this and wasted no time in shooting Wind Shots and Wind Claws towards the blue dome.

The added attacks from the dire wolf caused the cracks to reform at an intense rate. It broke mere moments after the bombardment leaving nothing between the two parties.

Carson chuckled and looked at Camelot with a wild look in his eyes. "Well better hold on tight to something, this could be a bit rough cause I've never done this before."

Camelot had no time to react when the wolves jumped towards them. Carson took his sword and plunged it into the ground before swinging it upwards.

"Hydro Magic: Tidal Wave!"