Chapter 25 - Hunting trip (Part 3)

Exhaling slowly to heighten his internal focus he pushed his sensory abilities to its maximum. Injecting a strand of energy to his eyes, ears and nose, he could feel the world slowing down, as if time itself bowed to Aiden's request, slowing its pace.

With his heightened senses, he could see the four remaining wolves in the air launched towards him with a vicious growl visible on their faces. Still in his battle-ready pose, he flexed his calf, and as they got close enough to him, he stomped and launched himself to the air.

While these events felt like it took a few seconds, -in reality-, only a fraction of a second has passed. Aiden's body simply vanished from the trajectory of the 4 wolves, who in turn, crashed into each other.

Meanwhile Aiden was several meters in the air, with the gravity slowing his ascend, and slowly turning it into a descend. Aiden readied himself, basically launching himself down from the air, as his clawed hands were opened, ready to rip apart the beasts that were unfortunate enough to fall under his descending grasp.

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From a small distance, Granny and Lily were watching the fight with astonished gazes.

"Woah, brother is so fast. Did you see that Granny? He just *WOOSH* and now the 4 meanies hit themselves, and now he is up in the air so high!" coming back from her reverie Lily immediately cheered for her brother.

"That is true dear. Aiden suddenly got incredibly fast. His power is simply terrifying. I don't expect this battle to go on for much longer. Come, let's make our way towards those frightened deers, and help them!"

"Haaaai!"

With that, the duo slowly went around the combat area, getting closer to the 4 deers that were still grouped together, watching the events playing out in front of them.

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"Get ready! This is the end for you all!" As Aiden clashed against the 4 remaining wolves, it only took a few seconds for the noises to die down. What remained were torn flesh and fur covered in dark red blood and intestines all around. In the middle of them, stood a figure covered in the same mixture as he was gasping for air.

'I might have got a bit too into it…' Looking around, he frowned. He enjoyed the gruesome battle more than he would like to admit. The damage his claws were capable of was incredible. Not to mention that strange state he got himself into.. When he focused and empowered his senses, suddenly everything became much clearer.

'So I could actually use my energy to increase my senses as well, not just my muscles. Basically, I can empower anything myself with the correct amount and usage of energy, right?' He asked the question to his system.

[Yes Aiden. Energy flows through you, you can direct its flow to all around you, focusing on specific areas, increasing any attribute. Just keep in mind that it taxes your reserves, and you can't keep up this 'Empowered' state for too long. Also the more organs you empower, the more energy you will require. ]

'I see… Hmm…' Deep in thought, he looked at himself, just noticing how disgusting he probably smelled and looked. 'Oh I should find a place to clean myself.. Or maybe ask them, 'what I should be doing now.' Seeing the duo coming out of the cover of the foliage, he waved and walked towards them, who were making their way towards the deers.

Lily saw his brother's wave, and immediately walked towards him. However, after a few steps she halted her steps, and had to cover her nose, to mask the nasty smell coming her way.

"Ewwww.. Stop there brother, you smell nasty! Wait until Granny finishes with the deers, and she will help you." With a frowning face she ran back towards Granny, leaving Aiden grumbling alone.

From the corner of her mouth a small smile creeped up, however at this moment she was focusing on the small frightened group.

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"Much better, you don't smell so nasty now! Brother, you were so awesome back there! How you defeated those, and how fast you got, I couldn't even see you!"

As the stench and blood were cleaned up by Granny using some unknown magic, Lily closed the distance and started retelling the events of the battle she witnessed.

"Aiden dear, how are you feeling? Do you want to go on, or should we return? We got enough meat, but if you would like to go on, we could go on for a bit more." Granny started. Although she was worried, she wanted him to make the decision and not make it for him.

Thinking for a bit, he looked back at Granny, and with his usually expressionless face, he answered.

"I think I could go on a bit more, but it would be safer to just return, I got enough experience from today. We will come back another time, right?"

Nodding her head, Granny replied while smiling.

"Of course my dear. We need a steady supply of meat if we want to keep you fed." Then magically pulling out a small basket out of the depth of her rags, she continued. "Let's have a small picnic if we are already out here, what do you all say? The sun is so nice, and we have enough time to return after having our lunch."

With both of them agreeing, the trio soon spread the cloth, and started setting up for lunch. Lily was humming a song that was unfamiliar to Aiden, and with his eyes closed he was simply enjoying the atmosphere, while having his Dark Sense run at maximum efficiency.

After a few moments, his eyes snapped open, and looked at Granny with a serious expression. Noticing his gaze, she nodded, and only asked curtly.

"How many?"

Looked to the north and then all around them to the foliage, and the cover of the trees, he briefly counted the red dots there closing in on their position.

"10. There's also a larger life signature coming from the north, I would guess that will be the leader of the pack."

Closing her eyes, Granny's hands arced in a strange manner, forming golden, glowing runic symbols in the air, that was unfamiliar to Aiden. He focused his gaze, analyzing the symbols that were formed. At the end, as the symbol's forms finalized, Aiden heard the familiar sound of the notification in the system.

[Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information… 10%]

As the formation of the symbols finished, Granny whispered something under her breath, as a film of energy formed around them from the air.

"This barrier will hold them off for a while, but not forever. Aiden our only chance to get out of this alive would be to kill them. Me and Lily can help you from range, but you will have to face them head on. I don't have much, but take this it should help you restore some of the energy you used earlier."

She pulled out a strand of meat from the depth of her rags, once again stunning Aiden at how magical her clothes looked like. Seeing his gaze, she smiled but reprimanded him.

"We do not have time for such thoughts now! Take this meat, it should be enough to restore hopefully enough, so we could overcome this." Then turning to Lily, she gave a few more words.

"Lily, this time you have to help and protect your brother. Here's your bow and some arrows, assist him the best way you can."

Nodding her head in determination, she took the bow and arrows, without questioning how she pulled it out of her rags once again seemingly from thin air.

"Leave it to me Granny! I will make sure to protect brother so no nasties will hurt him!"

Aiden was still looking at the piece of meat that he got from Granny, with more and more questions filling his head. This piece of meat was actually from that fish that he hunted in the river! It was the most nutritious, energy filled source he tasted so far. Enya's voice pulled him out of his stunned reverie, and as he was once again, reprimanded, but this time in his mind, he took the whole meat and swallowed it down without chewing much.

This time, he did not eat it for the taste, but to make sure he has enough energy to maintain his battle form. He needed every ounce of energy he had left and had to make sure he could overcome this trial. He can't let anything bad come to his new family.

[Also, remember Aiden, if nothing else works, you still have 1 more usage of the Blessing you got. However, be prepared, if you use it, you will be transformed back to your Slime form, while you absorb the target, and you will probably be knocked unconscious afterwards. Only use it as a last resort.]

Nodding his head, as he felt the energy refilling his tanks, he got ready and his arms once again, transformed.

Slowly afterwards, pairs of glowing eyes could be seen popping up all around them, and a huge black furred wolf slowly emerged. It only had 1 functioning eyes, torn ears, and a cruel and vicious gaze. It looked at the thin membrane of energy that shielded the prey, and nodding his head, it gave command to begin the assault.