Chapter 44: Nest

His movements were swift and accurate. Allen had reached a euphoric feeling after seeing the dark beasts tremble in his presence.

Four beasts with red glowing eyes were lowering their stances in his presence. They were lightly whimpering after the boy released his killing intent. His dark aura that was pulsating all throughout his body.

All he had to remember was to finish the quest. The beasts were also silent form their fight so far. There were occasional growls, but he couldn't pinpoint what exact creature they were.

He raised his dagger and ran towards the beasts with his signature move. His body was close to the ground while his hand was right in front of him, ready to strike.

When he got to one of the beasts, he slammed both his feet on the ground and slashed his dagger up. The swift movement of the line from the blade trailed in the air like an afterimage, making Allen smirk.

There was yet a notification to be received. The beast he just killed wasn't the panther. He looked around to see the three beasts ready to lunge at him.

His passive skill kicked in and he easily dodged all the attack that came his way. He was stepping left and right, all attempts of the beasts were being evaded. Allen was proud of himself.

His feet– no, his entire body felt so light. It was as if his limbs were the weight of feathers but his muscles were lean as a bull. He barely felt his footsteps, but he could feel the sharp air whenever he moves.

Never in his life he would have thought he could become like this. From a whimpy boy who could barely run, to someone who was fast and strong.

After a couple of minutes of just avoiding the attacks, Allen decided to end it. He secured two critical slashes on each of the beasts, one on the head and one on the chest.

The glowing of his dagger was seen through the darkness. He was grinning at himself after remembering how beautiful the afterimages of the light were in high speed. He also realized that even when he's still at Level 14, he was able to keep up with several Rare grade beasts at once.

"Maybe it was because of the Snake," Allen thought. He chuckled at himself and looked around.

Then, his world stopped.

The forest floor that should be littered with blood was clean. The four bodies of the beasts he just slain should be lying lifeless on the ground, drenched with their own blood.

"What?" Allen asked out loud. He started to hear whispers in his head. They were different voices and all of them were saying incoherent words. The flooding of the voices were making him dizzy.

"What's happening?!" Allen yelled, and the voices stopped. He sighed in relief after he felt safer.

That was, until his eyes cleared and he found himself knocked up in the air. Allen shook his head and the memories played in his head.

What happened just now, was just all in his imagination. The beasts didn't actually tremble, they were attacking him. It was all so surprising and shocking that he was having a hard time comprehending everything.

"W-What…" Allen trailed off. He saw one of the beasts pounce at him. It slammed both its front paws on Allen's shoulders, making him crash his back to the ground that made him spat blood. "Blergh!"

Three beasts howled as the moonlight pierced through the thick wooden leaves. Its light showered over the forest floor, showing four gray wolves surrounding Allen.

He was now wondering why the quest said to kill a panther when all the beasts here were wolves. The thought was baffling him so much that he hadn't realized that one of the wolves had bit his leg.

The boy screamed in pain. The fangs of the beast was digging through his flesh, making him feel an almost unbearable pain. The wolf shook his head as he continued to bite through the boy's flesh.

"Stop!" Allen pleaded. "Please stop! It hurts. It hurts!"

Out of nowhere, a giant figure appeared. The creature rushed straight to the wolves while Allen slowly lose consciousness. It was bad. He was passing out due to the loss of blood.

While lying on the ground, the boy raised his hand in the air as if he was going to reach the skies. The light of the moon was slowly vanishing as the darkness consumed him little by little.

It was his death, he could feel it. All his efforts was coming to an end and he had no other choice but to accept it.

"I'm still too far away after all."

–

Chirp. Chirp. Chirp.

Allen awoke from the soft singing of the birds. He opened his eyes and found himself in a bed of grass that was placed on the large roots of a large tree.

Green grass and multicolored flowers were twirled and was formed into a nest. It was placed on the roots of a giant tree right by a hollow part that it looked like it was a shelter.

He looked around, eyebrows meeting as he examined the unfamiliar place. It was a bright area of the forest and there seem to be no sign of any strong creatures.

A sign that an area lacked Rare grades was the sound of smaller and weaker beasts. When there were birds chirping peacefully, most likely there would be no predator that would hunt them.

But how he went from the dark forests with the wolves and into this nest was a huge question. He could swear that he was going to die not long after one of the wolves bit his leg. It was practically chomping it off, one more bite and it would come off.

He decided to thank the person who brought him there. Allen owed his life to that person.

"Glad you're awake."

Allen snapped his head to where the voice came from, right behind him. He looked at the person and his eyes widened after he saw the familiar bulky man.

"Bernard?"