The Dark Element: Balance Of Worlds

A Rough Start

Morning dawn had arisen upon the village. Alex had slowly opened his eyes to a cold morning as he got up from his bed and inspected the surrounding areas throughout his window. He had walked outside and took a deep breath of the chilly air and began to stretch. He started his morning routine with a jog around the village and doing some simple exercises like pushups and sit-ups. Despite being over 200+ years old, he still needs to maintain his physique.

After he had finished, he had gathered his hunting gear and set out to the forest to try and catch some breakfast. As he trudged along the snowy forest, he came to a stop as he hears some bushes rustling in the distance. Alex had used dark mimic and created a crossbow in his hands and slowly sneaked towards the directions of the bush. As he crept closer, it revealed a large animal with long tusks. Alex observed the creature for some time, predicting it's movements and waiting for the opportunity to strike.

"Storm Boar" Alex whispered to himself as he witnessed the boar discharging some electricity to it's surroundings, trying to electrocute some nearby prey. Alex began to think of a way to try and take it down. Considering it's large size and elemental abilities, fighting it head on would be a foolish move. After thinking for a while, Alex climbed up onto a nearby tree to attack it from a distance. He held up his crossbow and aimed it towards the boar's torso, steadying his breath, finger on the trigger. After a few moments, he had taken his first shot towards it, hitting it on the mark. The boar became startled and began to discharge electricity everywhere. Alex kept observing as it kept discharging electricity in a panicked state.

As the crossbow arrow dissolved, Alex's eyes widened as there is no wound on the Storm Boar's body. Alex then remembered

"Crap, I forgot it had a thick layer of fat so that it doesn't electrocute itself with its own element." Alex said in frustration. As Alex was still thinking, the boar had finally caught the sight of him in the tree as it aimed it's tusks at him and fired a few lightning bolts. The bolts had hit the branch Alex was on and he fell onto the ground on his feet. He quickly looked up and saw it charging towards him with an angered look. Alex jumped out of the way in time before it him and had impacted the tree behind him, causing the trunk to snap in half. As the boar was swaying left and right due to the impact, Alex took the time and corrupted the earth beneath him, quickly using it to encase the boar's legs with black earth to restrain it's movements.

Alex slowly approached the trapped animal, igniting dark energy into his hand. As he got closer, the boar discharged as much as electrical energy as possible in an attempt to free itself and possibly paralyze Alex. Alex only gave out a sigh as a few bolts of lightning struck him, however, they began to turn dark as his body flew out sparks of black lightning. The boar squealed in fear as Alex approached it and placed his hand in it's gaping mouth. Without a moment to waste, Alex used the electricity he gathered and shocked the boar from inside its mouth, electrocuting it's entire body. As he was finished, he let go of the earthen restraints he put on the boar as it fell to the ground, twitching.

"Shh..." Alex silenced the animal, as he traced his fingertips along the boar's paralyzed body. Without a moment to waste, he quickly pulled out it's life force as it slowly became lifeless, flopping onto the ground without motion. Alex took a deep breath as he let the energy enter his body and heal any injuries that had been inflicted upon him. As he finished, he looked at his surroundings, seeing if there were any more elemental beasts around as he picked up his freshly caught prey and carried it onto his shoulder. As he walked along the snowy path, he saw what seems to be a large amount of smoke and judging by its direction, Alex became worried as it came from the village.

He ran as fast as he could through the forest while still carrying the boar in his shoulder. When he reached the village, what he saw was horrific, the houses have been set on fire, few dozens of corpses of the villagers laying on the ground, it was a massacre if Alex had seen one. He dropped the boar and ran inside, seeing if there were any survivors. His heart sank as he saw Qori lying on the ground motionless, he ran up to her and held her in his arms as tears fell down on his face. He checked her pulse and breathing and gave out a sigh of relief as she's just unconscious. He quickly picked he up and carried her towards the mead hall which was somehow still intact despite the chaos.