TBATE | King Grey

-CHAPTER 7- A will to remember

[2 years later]

Taking soft footsteps across the forest floor, I let my gaze linger on the tree canopies, searching for the presence of the winged creature.

It has been more than two years ever since I was teleported to this magical world. Till now I have only trained my mind and body, learning new techniques and mana manipulation almost every passing hour of my life here. 

Rustling of tree branches towards my right side caught my attention as I took a step back, narrowly dodging a wind swipe aimed at my previous position. Hunting in the forest has been a training I had developed once I got accustomed of using beast cores as a replacement for a mana core.

It helped me to train as well as attain beast cores, two birds with one stone. This constant act of putting myself in danger had helped me in figuring new things about my unique mana pool, since I had nothing on it to go about, expect experiment myself and learn what was possible and what wasn't.

Subtle changes in mana showed me that the creature was somewhere near my proximity, but hidden beneath the covers. An ability, albeit basic one, I had come to learn.

To feel and detect mana around me.

Thanks to the familiarity and insight I have gained from using the beast core. A loud screech snapped me back to reality and soon the earth beneath me started to tremble as several gusts of wind torrents erupted around me.

"Shit!"

I cursed loudly, sprinting away from the approaching gale. The dust and debris around me floated before shooting through the air like a bunch of meteors as they came crashing down at my position.

Focusing inwardly, I let the mana inside my pool coarse through my veins. A sharp chilling sensation ran down my insides as my gaze grew colder. The air around me turned white, cold seeping out of my pores as the ambient mana particles interacted with my own.

Soon, frost started to form on my hands, coating me with a protective layer of ice mana.

Thanks to the mana beast Ice Amaroq, a type of wolf that I had killed earlier, I attained its beast core and thus...it's innate ice powers.

Unsheathing my sword, I let the ice mana coat its tip. Metal churned as the freezing mana particles made a popping sound before setting its surface on a chilling mist. My eyes focused on the subtle sound from the tree branches as I immediately shot up to the tree after putting some mana into my legs.

Constant use of mana via what was once my ki points, have gotten better adept with regulating mana with the same efficiency as I once did Ki. This helped me in better mana manipulation than what most mages in this world could do. Or...that's what Rey had said when he learned about what I have achieved.

Focusing back on the task at hand, I slashed my sword diagonally, its sharp tip crashed against the tree leaves but got pushed to the side as a loud screeching resounded from behind the leaves.

Then, a figure came out of the tree cover. It's white feathers shone like a liquid star burning bright, it's dull gray eyes had a sharp feature to it as they fixed on me.

Wild Hawk: A wind type mana beast.

I recollected the information about the magical creature from the books, as a smile appeared on my face. Excitement rose inside me as I imagined using wind mana soon. With that thought, I moved.

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"Huuuuh" I let out a choked breath, sweat dripping from my forehead and face as I slumped down on the dirt and moss filled forest land. Wild Hawk's prone body laid next to my feet, it's head pierced with a shard of ice and several feathers on its wings, frozen and many broken off.