A Walk In The Forest

The 'Nameless' touched down in an obscure clearing in front of a reasonably sized lake; the hints of storm clouds danced and hung precariously on the horizon as the crew of the airship went about trying to secure the ship. The storm would be over their heads in less than a day, and they all wanted to be prepared so as not to be caught unawares. Asd on the other hand appreciated the reprieve, he had been on the shit for the better part of three days if not more as it somehow got a bit hard to track time when he was mostly sequestered deep within it listening to Boris drone on about a lot of things.

But Asd was beginning to develop a fondness for his new teacher, the old dwarf was probably the second person in his entire life that did not seem to have a contrary agenda to getting close to him, at least short of looking for cheap labor and having Asd reach corners and angles that his dwarfish physique wouldn't let him. There was a chill in the air, Asd could smell the wetness in the wind and the smell of ozone that serves as a Prelude to lightning storms. It was worrying to him though, while everyone thought that this was just going to be a simple storm, he couldn't help the feeling that something else was afoot. But what that could possibly be he wasn't sure.

"Asd what are you up to? I need ye ass up here boy!" Boris's loud voice screamed from the deck of the airship. Asd didn't even pretend as if he heard the dirty dwarf, he took three quick strides and disappeared in between the embrace of the trees, going into the forest to look for a solitary location where he could practice. He couldn't go too far, but at the same time he didn't want to be close either.

After he went past the first two trees, he took off at a steady pace. First it was at a brisk walk, then it became a jog, until he was out rightly running through the forest, his form blitzing past trees, shrubs and startled wildlife, leaving a trail of wind and leaves behind him. He ran with all of his strength for two minutes when he came across a ravine that was almost 50 meters across.

[Master you might want to slow down! That's twice your leaping distance in your base form! MAAASSSTEEEEEERRRRRR]

Asd ran forwards with a grin on his face, putting all of his power on his feet as he pushed off the edge, his form leaping up into the air like a rocket, reaching a height of almost thirty feet, shocking a couple of birds and giant bugs that were flying at a low altitude. Then he gathered all of the mana he could feel in his body, pushing the limits of what he could manipulate and blasted them out the soles of his feet, ripping apart the boots he had on as his speed more than doubled and he reach a colossal height of almost a 100 feet, the wind rushing past his hair, skin and face as for just a fraction of a second he hung in the air, above tree lines as the light of a late afternoon's sun caressed his face. Asd let out a small smile, his heart light and free, enjoying all of the freedom being suspended in the air afforded him.

And then gravity came calling as he came down, heading to the other side of the raving, way past the ledge by about 8 meters. He couldn't help but release a wild whoop as the wind brushing past his body was even stronger, bringing him down to the earth that seemed to call to him with the longing of an old lover… or a mother.

*Boom! *

A cloud of dust and rubble was raised, along with the resounding of a small explosion as Asd did three things. One landed badly to the point he twisted his ankle if not out rightly breaking it, made a loud enough noise that he would have attracted the attention of any predator within his immediate vicinity. And finally raised a cloud of dust that obscured his vision, preventing from noticing the lumbering 5-foot-tall bear on four legs that smashed its head into Asd's chest, blasting his sideward onto the ground until he almost fell off the ledge and into the ravine below.

"Gaia!" Asd wheezed out, his midriff in extreme pain from the unexpected assault.

[On It Master!]

[Spark!] [Create Sand!]

Asd didn't have any proper offensive spells at the moment, but Gaia was smart enough to ingeniously use what he had available. Even though she was an earth element wisp, she had bonded with his mana interface/system, developing the ability to cast the spells of his other elements, and in an even more ingenious way than Asd himself. Gaia manipulated the dust that was still in the air from Asd's colossal landing and had it rotate around the head of the bear, and then proceeded to cast the [Spark] spell in the swirling cloud of dust and sand, sending tiny embers and flecks of star-fire into the conflagration and promptly setting the coarse fur of the bear on fire.

*Roar!!*

The roars of the bear seemed to resound across the entire forest, putting a chill in the heart of Asd and about a hundred other smaller creatures in the forest's ecosystem. But unlike the other animals in this forest, Asd was not prey, he was a predator and when a predator, much less an Apex predator like a Werelion that had no natural enemies was caught in a corner like this, he didn't feel chills or run away from a challenge. He met it head on with more ferocity, rage and anger than most could muster, and so Asd let go, letting the monster that slumbered underneath his skin, shift, fold, and bleed out as teeth gave way to fangs and fingers to claws and hands to paws.

*ROAR!!! *

Even in the midst of its pain, the bear raised its head up, it now knew there was another predator within its current vicinity. But knowing did not mean it was prepared for it as Asd Barreled into the bears massive form. This bear was larger than normal, it was just as large as Asd in his shifted form, if not a little more, but as far strength goes, there was an unfortunate curve to that. this bear was just an animal; it was probably mutated from coming in contact with mana. It was not a monster or a magical beast of any sort, which meant it was just big, but much like vampires, the strength of Weres was downright supernatural. It was something that was attributed to them as a race, and not a factor that could be measured biologically. The strength of vampires and werewolves were supernatural, a mortal against a supernatural was not a fight, it was a slaughter.

Snarls, snapping jaws and well placed claws strikes resounded across the forest as Asd intertwined with the bear crashed through shrubbery and a few trees, snapping them, and accruing tiny bruises and cuts that were healing just as quickly as they were being formed. Asd shifted until he was right above the snapping bear, digging his claws into the bears haunches as he reared his head back and snapped forwards, his massive lion jaws closing in around the back of the bears neck. There was a loud bray and whine from the bear as it froze for just a fraction of a second, in that second Asd knew that the bear was aware it was no longer going to be a part of this world, a part of this reality, death had come calling.

In a manner of speaking he couldn't help but feel a bit of grudging respect for the bear, it… she was a fearsome warrior, and even when she knew she was severely outmatched she still fought until her last breath. So Asd would give her a warrior's death, one she deserved for having the balls to fa e off against him. He grunted and snapped his jaws harder around her neck applying pressure until he heard an audible crack and the bear collapsed to the ground in a heap of dead flesh and fur, red blood rapidly pooling underneath them.

It was a severe battle, and just as the life of the bear faded away, Asd felt a sort of energy coming off the bear and into his body. it was completely similar to what he felt when he had faced Lucian and slain him to become an alpha. At the time Asd thought that it was a onetime thing, but now he could feel the energy in his body, he felt stronger. Whatever it was that had just come out of the body of the bear had left him feeling refreshed, like something had been added to him and his overall physical attributes was increased.

"Well at least we can say that everyone in the camp is going to eat well tonight." Asd turned around with a growl, murder in his red eyes as his white mane was stained with the blood of is slain adversary. It was professor Mona, and she was floating in the air, underneath a platform made of runes and holding a cane, while dressed in a frilly purple dress, along with a bonnet. She looked every bit a noble woman, but he didn't like the fact that she was floating in the air above him, it made Asd feel as if she was looking down on him.

He reversed the change, groaning in pain as he shed fur, while the others receded back into his skin. His bones creaked loudly as they went back to their normal shape and his spine snapped back into place with an audible crack, forcing him to arch his back for a second in discomfort before he was back to normal, naked as the day he was born.

"We should get you some clothes Young Asd, but…. What are you going to do with the young satyrs the bear was protecting, you taken their guardian and nurse mother away from them." Asd looked up in shock as he asked.

"What Satyrs?"