Second Encounter(part 2)

An old friend made camp in his heart as the joy from before shattered like glass. Suddenly, the air felt heavy and the void in his stomach vast.

It was a dreaded speculation come to life. There was some logic in Caster's action, at least he led himself to believe. He was holding back from engaging in a back-and-forth with the man for obvious reasons so he allowed his mind to make sense of this test. It was within reason that to test his physical prowess Michael had to be pitted against an enemy. In this case, one he was familiar with. Yet wasn't the one in the grassland, why not pit him against that one?

He concluded that Caster judged the disparity in strength was just too much. That then implied that Caster cared for Michael's survival, which was contradictory to the air around them. A silent voice echoed in his head, 'This might all be in your head' but he shrugged it off sensing the rabbit hole that would take him down was not ideal for his current predicament.

The flora here was weird. Unlike the rest of the forest, this particular area seemed almost alive. The grass moved weirdly, swaying and dancing in the fashion of worms. The bush's branches wriggled making Michael feel like he was staring at an optical illusion in nature. It made him feel weird, a nauseating sense of vertigo making the world appear to spin. His heart felt heavy in his heart too, the air even thicker.

It was inevitable, he doubted that Caster would let him run away from the beast without facing it. He was not mentally prepared to face it. All this was sudden, his body was yet to drown in complete fear, his mind refusing to believe this event was happening. He struggled to find a reaction, his mind had to take on a certain bearing; that much he knew, but what mentality was he going to approach this with?

Michael was not a warrior, but from the look of things, Caster was trying to mold him into one. He didn't believe himself capable of that life. Fear was his first response, his mental resilience weak and his physical strength weaker.

Wait- that wasn't right. He was stronger now, no? He saw himself as the same man from his past life, broken and in shambles. yet, was that what he was, what he wanted to be? Was that what he would be now, in this new life? It was a second chance, he had accepted it as such before, yet now he was regressing to his earlier ways.

'I am pathetic', he thought, allowing himself to chuckle under his breath.

His resolve steeled in his heart. The path forward was terrifying, it rocked his nerves just thinking about it. But it was his journey, his will was not important, and his desires were shunned by whoever held the strings. He didn't want to accept that, he wanted to fight against it. To keep fighting, he needed to be alive. This strength he had been afforded was his best chance at survival.

The realization of the imminent threat was profound. It ignited a light in the bleak tunnel and embers of his true desire sparked in the darkness of his heart. It was still embryonic, but this simple resolve gave him light of his purpose.

Cold ate at his skin as the breeze turned chaotic. A doom cloud loomed ahead, the air still with a dark premonition. A cacophony of noises reached his ears. They had made their way deeper into the forest, closer to the turf of the abominable horror that was his prey or predator.

His gaze turned darker as he took in his environment. For a while, since they walked into familiar grounds, there had been a tug at his mind. The feeling became stronger with each step but his mind held. The intrusion into the privacy of his thoughts was held at bay by the defenses of his mind. It was a welcome and relieving benefit of awakening. He still remembered how his mind had been hijacked and bound to calm, restrained from resisting the pull of the beast.

This deep into the forest, the canopy was thick and the forest floor dark and ominous. But nature had a knack for balance, the air had come alive with fireflies. He remembered them, heralds of the danger that loomed ahead.

He gulped heavily his hands trembling and throat turning dry. Despite the steel of his desire to survive, he was still terrified. Trauma resurfaced and the scars of his previous encounter with it. It grew colder still more darker a feeling of dread blanketing the air. Yet Michael pursued the path, he placed one trembling foot in front of the other.

Caster levitated lazily ahead, unbothered by the ominous and dreadful atmosphere. He indulged his tactile fascination; his fingers caressing the local plants that were covered in some sort of slime. On contact, his hands pulsed with darkness that expelled the slime leaving behind the vibrant leaves, untouched and untainted. It was a fascinating site but Michael's thirst for magic was suppressed, his mind focused and sight trained ahead to avoid being caught by surprise.

The ground shuddered once, then it shuddered again. A low rumble shook the earth and the stones danced while the trees danced. Michael froze lowering himself to the ground in a crouch. He waited for the beast to attack. He had sensed it was somewhere ahead, he felt an eerie presence deep in the ground ahead. It's aura dark and sinister.

The world remained still again. Michael didn't move, anticipating the worst. Caster rose higher into the trees.

'Bastard', Micheal cussed at him, his focus never wavering.

He switched his sight to mana sense. It was instinctive and proved useful because up ahead he saw a dark mass of energy somewhere below the grey of the earth. The white of forest life seemed to be devoured by the darkness. It flowed not up, but down into the ground in a torrent. The thing appeared to be feeding off of it, which was terrifying.

Michael was still new to all this and that possibility he had not considered. However before his mind could wander, the darkness began to rise towards the ground, and the ground shuddered and broke sending rocks flying through the air. The forest came alive with the resounding noise as chaos replaced the silence of cold anticipation.

He felt fear grip his heart, it was hard to get rid off yet, yet he understood the gravity of the situation.

"Kill or be killed I guess"