I grimaced as the sharp knife effortlessly cut a wound across the bunny's neck. I then hang the bunny out to bleed it properly, then summoned water to wash my hands.
It had been no more than 3 days since I set off on my journey to the Stellar Gates. In that short time, I'd made practically no real strides towards my destination.
The Neutral Zone was said to be a desolate land, with rock hard terrain and barely any trees. So far, all I'd encountered was a savanna. I was currently resting next to a single tree, with a campfire set up.
Before leaving, I prepared myself for the journey to be a tough one, but I wasn't expecting to be attacked by beasts from the very moment I set out. Continuously and with barely any rest, I'd fought so much my muscles hurt and I couldn't even find a chance to sleep.
It took me two days to realise I was being assaulted by the beasts because they could sniff out the food in my pack. In the end, I had to get rid of the food. But thanks to that, I hadn't eaten the entirety of today, till just now when I finally managed to catch a bunny.
Well, I called it a bunny, but it was more of a cross between a meerkat and a serval. It was fast, but not faster than my wind magic. Catching it was no problem for me.
My surroundings were dark and seemingly empty. A cool breeze blew over, but I was kept warm by the campfire's heat. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see through the darkness.
Giving up, I took a gulp of water and leaned back on the tree, staring up into the night sky. The sky was pitch black, not a single star in sight. Strangely enough, there were two moons in the sky. One was a full moon, much larger than the other one – a crescent moon.
While traveling I noticed that the larger moon never disappeared, even during the day, while the other acted like a regular moon.
According to Belfry's memories, this has always been how the night sky was. No stars in the sky, but a single oddly lit moon and a regular moon. Both moons were said to have been created by The Woman on the Moon for different purposes.
The large moon serves as her domain, where she watches over the night and all who sleep under it. The shifting moon serves as a lantern that guides the souls of those in slumber to the land of dreams and back when the sun rises. She was said to be second only to the First Mother in terms of kindness and gentleness.
It went without saying that I thought all of that was crap.
There was only one true God and he was not so kind. He was a truly cruel being who loved to watch his creations suffer.
As soon as the bleeding was done, I began skinning the bunny. My vision blurred a bit as I worked my way through the carcass. I was fortunate the knife from the blacksmith's was so sharp or this would have been excruciatingly long.
In no time, I was done skinning and eviscerating the bunny, then washed it with some water, before finally roasting it on the stick. A sweet-smelling aroma wafted through the air, carried by the cool evening breeze.
There was a low growl and although I was hungry, it definitely didn't come from me. Still, I rotated the bunny. I probably wouldn't get a better chance to do this if not now.
The bright orange light of the fire I set up, plus the smell of a roasting bunny were possibly the largest beacons to any hungry beast out there. I had no choice though. If I didn't do this now, I would probably die sooner or later from starvation.
As I turned the stick, the growls grew in number while closing the distance. They stalked closer, possibly unaware of the fact that I knew they were there.
Or rather, they were aware. This was simply them intimidating me. They wanted me to leave the food or get eaten alongside it. But I wasn't going to leave it. I needed to eat as well.
As if finally understanding my silent resolve, the beasts abandoned all form of stealth and unanimously charged at me. The next thing they all saw though, was the ground disappearing beneath their feet and the world sharking violently.
The last thing they would ever see, were the spikes at the bottom of the massive pit trap I'd made, as they pierced through their bodies.
I abandoned the roasting meat as I excitedly went over to the massive trap. All five wolves were there, some were twitching and convulsing in pain from the multiple wounds through their body.
"Not so nice when you're the prey, huh?", I mocked. I formed a finger gun then shot multiple rock pikes right into their craniums, hoping to effectively kill them. I didn't even plan on eating them, they were much larger than me.
"You little shits think its funny to bully a kid for two days, huh?", I grumbled.
Five adult wolves had been relentlessly chasing a 10 year old kid. I was barely a decent meal for a single one of them, so why the hell had they been so relentless in attacking me in particular for 3 days straight?
They were the first ones to attack and ever since, the ones creatures to even attack me. At first, I thought it was just because I was in their territory, but after the third time, I suspected there was something else afoot.
After making sure they were all dead, I elevated one of the wolves with earth magic. My vision blurred once more, except it was a bit more intense this time. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes.
Then I looked at the wolves. They were smaller than the average wolf, but in exchange they had… unique features. Two massive canines that stuck out of their mouth, a short tail that was barely visible and two massive, elongated horns on their foreheads.
'Why the hell would wolves need these kinds of features?', I wondered as I walked around them.
I tried to think back to my initial encounter with them to see if there was anything that could clue me in on what was happening here.
'Huh… now that I think about it, weren't there more of you guys?', I wondered.
There were definitely more of them. I didn't get the time to count them all, but there were at least a dozen wolves. At the time, I never pondered why there were a dozen wolves trying to kill a little child, but I was starting to get an idea.
Their attempt to kill me was beyond simple persistence. It was desperation. They were hungry, they were starving. So why weren't they hunting other creatures?
I grimaced as a dark thought entered my mind.
It was because they couldn't hunt other creatures. They were at the bottom of the food chain. They were prey and were running from something. They already lost members to whatever they were running from.
And the fact that they were here meant whatever was chasing them was also close by. I was in even bigger danger than I thought this entire time. I was wasting time plotting a trap for simple prey, when the real danger was nearby.
A horrid howl echoed in the vast darkness of the savanna. The howl sounded different from regular ones. It was pained, yet carried this weirdly terrifying aura to it. There was something unnatural about the howl. Like scratching on a chalkboard and scraping metal.
I cringed as I followed the sound to its source. In the horizon, at least over 500 metres, there was something large. Two eerie jade green flames stared at me in the darkness. I immediately quenched the campfire to get a better look at it.
The creature was massive. It resembled a wolf.
"Actually, that's the most normal looking animal I've seen since coming here."
As if to mock me, the wolf's neck twitched uncontrollably and violently. Like a glitching program. It got up on its hind legs as its body morphed, losing all fat and fur. All that remained was a skeletal – humanoid figure with massive claws for hands and seeping green glowing ooze.
"Crap.", I silently cursed.
The creature howled once more, but it didn't need to do that for me to already be running. I grabbed my bag and sped off in the opposite direction. I ran as fast as my little tired legs could carry me, but I knew the creature was faster.
Its horrid unnatural howl reverberated loudly in my ears as it ran towards me. My breath was uneven. The muscles in my legs screamed for rest, but I wouldn't give them that yet. My sweat was carried away by the wind as I ran without care for my surroundings.
I had no idea what to do or where to go. All around me was just grassland. There was no forest to possibly hide in and make plans. This was an open field where I'd have to face it head on. And I didn't like the odds of a 10 year old against that beast.
Still, my eyes scanned my environments, looking for something – anything, really. My vision blurred once more. Actually, no it wasn't blurry. There was just this unnatural blurry wall before me. But I didn't hesitate as I kept running head first towards it.
A hand popped out from behind the blurry wall. There were no words, but I could tell it was screaming for me to grab it. Taking a quick glance behind me, I noticed the beast was almost on me.
It completely ignored the wolf corpses as it ran at full speed for me. It was like a speeding car, trying to run me over.
But I was close to the hand. Just one a few more seconds and I'd be there. Unlike me, the beast didn't need a few more seconds. It needed only one to be right on top of me.
The ground didn't even shake under its steps. It was fast and light. I could feel one of its claws swiping down, aimed right at my skull, but I managed to dive to the left, barely avoiding death. I didn't have time to think about any of that.
I was high off of adrenaline. My body moved on its own, sprinting towards the outstretched arm. I jumped, but I wouldn't make it in time. Mana spread to my legs as a combination of wind and fire magic collided, creating a violent explosion that propelled me faster.
However, a seething pain spread through my leg as something sharp sunk to my left leg. It effortlessly ripped through my leg, creating a gashing wound, but it wasn't enough to stop my flight.
I grabbed the hand and was yanked into the blurry wall.