Zejar Forest

With one hand tightly gripping his sword and the other held out, Sharen moved through the trees, hiding at times and rushing forward at other times. The cold air of Zejar forest rustled the leaves of the slightly tall trees, making his already moist skin stiffen.

He ignored the minor discomfort and focused on the most important issue—his thumping heart that could be heard from a mile away. His eyes moved swiftly over the tree trunks and he noticed it. The long, sharp claw marks that bored into most of the trees. Carefully, he jumped over a fallen tree and landed with a soft thud, careful not to alert anything that might be hidden in the thick forest.

His head rang but this time—unlike the rest—he didn't find it jarring. He had gotten used to having that voice in his head and the sea of words and items that popped out of nowhere with a thought.

**A Haklaran is detected. Prepare for offensive attack and grade of power level**

'How many?' Sharen thought, sniffing the air. Even without the system's warning, he could smell the creature from where he stood.

**One but powerful. Estimated age is at 3**

'That should be easy enough for us right?' Sharen thought, forcing his focus to split between the information in his head and the real world in front of him. The system, however, didn't reply.

Sharen sighed and meandered his way forward. With a careful swing, he hacked away a tree branch that stuck out, obscuring his way. He waited, looking for more signs of claws or fallen trees yet none could be found. Had he lost the trail? That was mostly impossible. Haklarans were the easiest to find and if he'd lost this one, he'd be the worst hunter alive.

A sharp, shrill cry pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned sharply, letting his sword flare with bright yellow incandescent light, the blade bright yet cold against his palm. The sharp cry came again and this time, even more desperate. Sharen made a preliminary judgement that it was human.

'Is it another hunter?'

He crept forward, taking slow steps. After rounding a few more trees, he stopped. Zejar forest was a very large and thick forest and even he couldn't see past the bundle of trees ahead. He leaned back, then thought, 'System, enhanced vision.'

A slight buzz in his head came then was replaced with the words and voice. **One minute of enhanced vision will cost 5 magical points**

Sharen ignored the notification and rushed forward when the voice screamed again. He had worked hard to save up the magical points and he found that spending even that small on something as mundane as enhanced vision would be pointless. 'Cancel exchange.'

**Exchange cancelled**

Leaves whipped against his face and body, the fresh droplets of water on the leaves pouring on his clothes. His mind raced as he rushed forward. He arrived at the clearing, raising his sword as he stood in a battle pose—or at least what he thought was a battle pose.

His eyes landed on the creature. It was huge but, then, all Haklarans were huge. This particular Haklaran resembled a snake with a large bull-like head. The three horns on its head stood out like glowing gems, the tips coloured yellow.

It had brownish yellow fur all over its snaking figure and bony spikes ran down its spine. At its tail lay a young woman, arms raised to shield her head as she screamed. She didn't look like a hunter, Sharen thought.

'System,' Sharen thought, his eyes moving from the creature to the woman. 'Refill magical energy.'

**Full energy will cost 100 magical points**

'Do it!'

His head buzzed and then a surge of energy filled his body and his eyes burned yellow. He raised his hand, aiming at the Haklaran, and chanted the spells that floated through his head as if he was reading it on a scroll at the time.

A swirling light formed in the air, pulsing with energy as it took form. Sharen shot it out, propelling it at the creature with his full strength. The yellow orb crashed against the Haklaran, slamming its hulking figure several metres away. It tumbled and rolled, uprooting a few more trees.

The moment the thumping of falling trees ended, Sharen weaved another spell. Two fallen tree trunks floated up, slamming at the creature from opposite sides, squashing it under the force of Sharen's magical control. Then lightning bolts erupted from his palm, streaking towards the creature.

Sharen stumbled a bit, feeling his magical energy draining away. He cursed under his breath then turned to the fear stricken woman who had made no attempts to escape. She sat there, staring at him with wide eyes and stupefied face.

"Get out of here!" Sharen swung his sword, pushing her towards the thicker part of the forest with a wave of magical energy. She fell but scrambled away.

By the time Sharen turned back, the creature was already up, bearing the burn marks he had inflicted on it. It bared it fangs, letting its sharp teeth and slippery tongue whip out. Yellow slime sputtered from its mouth.

Sharen jumped. Even with the warning that the system gave him, he couldn't avoid the hit. The tail of the massive Haklaran slammed him to the ground, making him cough a few times. He felt a few broken ribs but he was unperturbed—he was after all a yellow cored mage and could heal himself.

He cast a healing spell on himself while avoiding another hit. 'System, refill my energy.'

The burst of energy boosted his confidence as well. Sharen crouched, whipping his sword and letting it flare to its brightest yellow. He jumped just as the monster slammed down with its horned head. Sharen landed then swung his sword, letting it produce yellow arcs of light.

The arcs of light crashed against the horns but they barely dented the sturdy horns. The creature growled and spun again, sending its tail at Sharen. He quickly chanted a few spells and watched as the water condensed in front of him, forming a massive ice shard. He sent the conjured ice shard towards the Haklaran then he too rushed forward.

The creature reacted just as he'd imagined—it was imaginable given its age—and took the ice shard head on. The ice shard shattered, sending ice fragments scattering and spraying all over the place. Its skin and indeed most skins of Haklarans were very difficult to penetrate. Difficult yet not impossible and especially not for his magic infused blade!

'System, double magic output!' he thought, then doubled down, sliding across the belly of the creature, letting his sword rip through its skin and into its body. Yellow, sticky fluids spurted out as he slid by, carving out a deep gash in the creatures body.

The beast roared and flayed its tail, beating and slamming as its life fled from it. Even a Haklaran couldn't survive such a wound. The creature fell, whipping up dust and dirt. Its final attempt at survival uprooted more trees.

Sharen spun around, ramming his incandescent sword into its head and ripping it apart. The creature fell dead, spewing yellowish fluid. Sharen was left panting, his energy had been drained.

Standing above the creature, he felt a slight anger towards it. They were a cause of destruction and he considered himself a cleanser. Samak village was only two days journey away and this creature was mostly going to target it. He bowed his head as a sign of mock honour to whatever was spawning the creatures.

He severed the head with his sword and waited. It took a bit longer but it came nonetheless. The creature began to leak yellow liquid that was thicker than the rest. The liquid condensed and then turned into an orange sized solid crystal. He grabbed the crystal, admiring its brilliance. Putting it away, he turned his attention to his inner mind.

'System, updates.'

**You have 2800 magical points left; you have gained a total of 100 magical points for slaying a beast aged 3. Your core is one fourth through the yellow**

Sharen nodded. "Not bad. Let's get back to Samak."