Overwhelmed

In the middle of a dirt road, a young man wearing purple black clothes enjoys the scenic route as he takes his time dawdling around. Wanting to make sure he goes the right way, he takes out a piece of paper with doodles on it. His sigh emits frustration. "Such a powerful guy and he can't even draw a simple map!"

He thinks back to when he caught up to Nox after he left Rodena Town. His nerves are still tensing from the encounter. After Roi saying he wants to join his team, Nox told him to meet up after a few days at an Abandoned Village and gave him a map he drew on the spot. Roi looked and shock made his veins pop. By the time he turned towards Nox, he already left.

Even though Roi has an impeccable sense of direction, he finds it hard to figure out the rushed doodles on the paper. There's a long road drawn on it. A circle that illustrates their position and an [X] to where is the destination. It doesn't mention any landmarks or even information of use to him.

Frustrated, he throws the map on the ground and steps on it. He later picks it up and stores it in his clothes. His pleasant walk grows sour every time he thinks of Nox. Veins bulge on his neck and forehead.

In the meantime, Nox encountered an unknown threat. While in hiding, he comes up with an idea of attack to pick them off one by one, starting with those on the roofs. While having all eyes on him on the ground, the beast takes care of the others with its fast movements and innate ability to drain mana from living organisms.

While Nox stalls, Umbra makes an appearance that throws them off, but they are still more than he can handle. While the group of people is busy searching for the blurry black figure with red eyes, Nox makes his escape by using his shadow spell.

[10 EXP Gained]

He blends with the shadows and moves inside a nearby house. The burly man notices his timely escape and gives chase. He stops in front of the house. He takes his time to look around, trying to catch something out of place.

Nox sees him from inside the house through the cracked wooden wall. 'The most dangerous one, caught up!'

Someone from his group calls out. "Leader! We've identified the enemy, Sir!"

His thunderous voice makes the already worn house tremble. "What is it?"

As soon as the leader moves away from the house, Nox exhales a long sigh, feeling the relief of not being discovered. He slides down on the floor with his back against the wall, while breathing out the excess air in his lungs.

He takes a few seconds to regain his composure. In a crouching position, he reaches the door. The old thing creaks, and Nox tries his best to open it, carefully as to not attract any attention.

Once he's out, he goes around the house to observe the situation.

"We have it surrounded, Sir!"

"It-It's a Mana Hound!"

Umbra growls and shows his teeth, frightening the people surrounding it, but they don't give way. Instead, they point their swords at him. Some even wave their weapons, hoping to strike him.

Their Leader enters the circle and makes his way to the front. "These things hunt in packs. Be careful!"

Another from the group shouts. "I don't think there are more around, Sir!"

"An Omega then? We should consider ourselves lucky then. These things are vicious. It should fetch a good price. Restrain it!"

In one voice, they answer. "Yes, Leader!"

They move in closer to Umbra, whose eyes glow red. The black fur, like an endless veil of darkness, strikes fear in the hearts of the men surrounding it. The standing hair makes them think twice of the moves they make. A cornered beast doesn't care for anything but survival.

Umbra's growling sends shivers down their spines. The sharp teeth can rip a person in half if they are not careful.

"\Ice Shards/"

The sudden shout disrupts their focus in this dangerous situation. They turn around and see the young man from earlier with glowing purple eyes staring at them and his palm aiming in their direction.

The temperature drops at a rapid pace and fog rises to obscure the vision. A thick mist where only a few roofs are visible claims the village, almost in its entirety. Umbra takes advantage of this opportunity and jumps out of the group, encircling him.

[10 EXP Gained]

[10 EXP Gained]

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[Level up!]

[10 EXP Gained]

Their swords clang amidst the chaos as they hit each other while they try to turn and check around them. Before they realize what's happening, a rain of needle-like icicles impales them, with the force knocking them back.It doesn't do much physical damage upon impact, but the surprise attack and chilly sensation invading their bodies interrupts their rationality.

[10 EXP Gained]

[10 EXP Gained]

Some shout and groan, whereas the more trained, deflect the incoming ice attacks with their swords. Many cries come out of the chilly cloud that encompasses the area, since the visibility is nil and Umbra's howls come from all directions.

[10 EXP Gained]

[10 EXP Gained]

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[Mana Hound Reached Level 2]

[Bestiary Points Gained!]

The notification echoing in his head, forces a smile on the young man's face. 'Nice!'

Not even Nox can see where the Mana Hound is at. He simply tries his best not to hit him. When he's satisfied with the results of his spell, he steps back and waits for the mist to clear.

Little by little, it dissipates and immobile figures become more distinct in front of the young man. He sits in a cross-legged position while looking at the now exhausted group of enemies.

Some of them are bleeding on the ground. The more experienced are a little fatigued but still standing. The same holds true for their leader, who appears to be in an entirely different league than the rest of them.

Visibility is almost back to normal. The group, being able to see, relaxes their nerves, but unlike what one might think, they are more vigilant now than they were before.

At first, they look around until their eyes meet Nox's. They bring their swords forward and walk towards him calmly. As soon as they left their comrades behind, Umbra jumped in and drained them of their mana. Those at the back took notice and informed the front. "Hey, the Mana Hound is feeding off our comrades!"

[10 EXP Gained]

[10 EXP Gained]

[10 EXP Gained]

The burly man walking in the front clenches his fists. "Let them! It's the price they paid for being weak!"

Nox sits calmly and looks at them. As they got closer, the muscular leader walks in front of him. He unsheathes his sword and points it towards Nox. "You had your chance to escape. Why did you attack us?"

The young man looks at him, confused. His eyebrow twitches. "You sure like to talk!"

"What did you say?"

He raises his sword and brings it down in full force at the young man. The descending steel heats the atmosphere, evaporating any lingering coldness. As it crashes to the ground, it cut the figure of Nox in half.

The steel sword's weight creates a crack on the earth it strikes, that expands for several meters. Nox's figure becomes translucent before it disappears completely.

Confused, they look around, searching for the whereabouts of the young man, who's looking at them from the top of a roof. 'I didn't think that would actually work!"

He looks closely at their leader. 'But, if I got hit with that attack just now…'

While the leader raised his sword to hit Nox, the young man waited for when the sword and his hands would block his vision, to take the chance and move as fast as he could to escape. He jumped at that point and landed on the roof.

To his surprise, though, because of the cold conditions of the atmosphere, even though he wasn't there, his mirrored reflection, creating the illusion of Nox sitting.

Enjoying his brief success, Nox failed to notice that someone saw him and informed the others. Umbra's growl snapped him back, but it was too late, since they've already launched an attack at him, bringing the house down.

It wasn't the sturdiest of structures, but it would still require considerable strength to make a house collapse. Wooden beams clang with one another and clouds of dust rise far above the other roofs, concealing the area.

The young man coughs all the way till he finds himself out and in front of the group of people who now have him surrounded. The burly man waved his sword cutting through the air, dissipating any remnants of the frigid atmosphere. "You can't cheat yourself away now!"

Nox chuckled. He has bruises and blood drips from his eyebrow. He keeps one eye closed while looking at the back of the group. "Cough! What took you so long?"