The Forest

When Dayn awoke, he felt as if he had slept for many years, his mind was crystal clear, his body felt light, and he sensed newfound power flowing through him. When he sat up and looked around, he found that it was nighttime and lit the candle next to him. The faint glow of the candle revealed his mother sitting next to him in a chair fast asleep.

'She must have been worried.', he thought with a caring smile on his face.

He slowly swept his legs out from underneath the covers and placed them softly onto the floor.

'Strange,' he thought, 'I definitely became taller. I wonder how long I was unconscious.'

During his time unconscious his body had adapted to the core inside of him, reinforcing his entire body, as well as accelerating his growth, making him grow around 5 inches, where he now reached 4' 9".

He then quietly left the room, grabbing his spear along the way, wanting to test out the changes to his body. As he stepped outside he was met with a cold wind that would have made anyone shiver. Dayn however felt incredibly warm, even in his short-sleeve shirt and thin pants.

It was also a full moon night, giving him enough light to see.

'Amazing.', he thought, 'I can sense everything around me. I can even pick out each individual piece of grass.'

A smile crossed his face as he walked a good distance away from his house nearing the forest border. When he was far enough away, he stopped and took a deep breath in before settling into the stance that he used before.

Time seemed to slow.

He breathed out.

Nothing but the spear in his hands existed to him at that moment.

He thrust his spear forward and stepped ahead with his right foot.

The air in front of him was pierced.

Woosh

'Not bad', he thought.

This next strike however would be different.

He once again focused.

He settled back into his stance breathing in at the same time.

Exhale. He channeled the Mana from his core.

He willed it to spread throughout his body.

Time slowed even more.

The lines on his spear glowed a faint white light.

He once again thrust forward.

A silent thrust.

WOOSH

BOOM

His spear once again pierced the air.

A sonic boom resounded around him.

Air was pushed back.

Dayn stood there in a daze.

After a long pause, he came back to his senses.

He wanted to make sure what he just did was not a fluke.

The spear glowed.

Once more.

WOOSH

BOOM

"..."

Silence.

Only after could the rustling of the grass could be heard.

The cold wind brushed against his body, however, he could not feel it.

Adrenaline ran through his body.

He was excited.

He looked off in the distance and saw the border of the forest.

After spending many years here, he knew that entering the forest was forbidden. He knew that inside were powerful monsters that could kill him in one blow.

He had wanted to go inside the forest for quite some time. He wanted to fight something. He wanted to see how strong he was in this world.

He began to head towards the forest, picking up speed along the way. As he ran he tried channeling mana into his movements. He became a blur and reached the border in just a few seconds.

He paused at the edge wondering if he should really go in.

'I know eventually I will go in to hunt anyways, I might as well go now.', he thought, trying to convince himself.

He then walked into the forest, tuning his senses to the surrounding area. He walked carefully, looking and listening for any type of danger.

He then tried channeling manal into his eyes.

Suddenly the dark world of the forest lit up around him. Everything around him was soaked in moonlight, leaving no shadow untouched.

'It's beautiful,' he thought.

He began to walk deeper into the forest observing what was around him.

1 minute turned into 10 and eventually, he found himself at the edge of a small clearing.

Dayn stopped. His hair stood on edge. His instincts screamed danger.

Across from him stood a gray wolf. The wolf was smaller than Dayn on all fours, but if it stood on its hind legs it would tower over him.

The wolf's nose twitched. Its eyes locked onto Dayn.

It let out a low growl, as if giving Dayn a warning to back away.

His adrenaline once again began to pump. Even with the impending sense of danger in front of him, he could not help but smile.

He slowly walked into the clearing, as if to tell the wolf that he would not be leaving.

The wolf slowly raised its head and met Dayn's eyes.

It was then that Dayn realized that this wolf was not normal.

In fact, he could even sense mana coming from the wolf.

'It can use mana?', he thought incredulously.

The wolf used its natural instinct to channel mana into its body.

Dayn settled into a defensive stance, channeling mana his body as well.

"Come.", Dayn said, beckoning the wolf.

The wolf seemed to understand his words, and suddenly leapt forward aiming its maw at Dayn's neck.

He took his spear in both hands and raised it to match the wolf's mouth. He then pushed the spear's shaft in between its jaws. The wolf tried to bite down on the Alchamite spear to pull it away but immediately stopped as it realized it could not pierce the metal.

In the midst of the wolf's momentary confusion, Dayn retreated several steps.

'It's fast! Not to mention powerful!'

If not for his current heightened senses, he would have never been able to stop its attack.

The wolf approached Dayn more cautiously this time, knowing the weapon he had was dangerous.

"Come.", Dayn said again.

Once again the Wolf attacked.