Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Over the next few days, I convinced myself that the bird was just an illusion. Master Yater's way of either monitoring me, or perhaps playing on my nerves. I even tried to convince myself that the bird wasn't there, but it never disappeared. 'He wouldn't be a master, if I could simply disperse his illusion. Anyway, I should be…', before I could finish that thought, an open area appeared in front of me.

"Huh…? This place, there's loads of tracks and marks here". Not only animal prints but also a few belonging to a Human, or at least something that walked on two legs… With shoes. "These marks are not very recent, but seem to indicate a battle here...", just as I said that, another weird thing appeared in my view. The forest was a bit thinner further north, and there was a cave of some sort. The cave itself wasn't very big, perhaps four or five metres tall and maybe ten metres wide.

'The cave was probably used by animals, the tracks must indicate Humans passing by and fighting against those animals… Since nothing appeared in front of me yet, the cave must be empty', I thought while heading towards it. The cave turned out to be sort of empty. There was nothing alive inside, though a few Human skeletons littered the ground. 'Hmmm… The bones are mostly intact, only a few of them are damaged. The animals would break the bones for sure, since I've seen remnants before… There are the prints as well. I don't know how long it takes for the body to decompose like that, but surely the prints and tracks I saw didn't indicate such a long time. Moreover, all the clothes are gone'.

The whole place was weird. This sight was really unusual for a few reasons. One such reason was lack of similar clearings, past the month or so of my journey. The skeletal figures laying on the ground didn't seem right either. 'There's no need for me to linger here anymore', with that thought in mind, I left the cave and the open area behind.

That would be the end of that, if not for the skeletal remains inside the forest. 'Something's not right here… The amount of skeletal remains exceeds thirty, that is not a small amount. Moreover, they died the same way as those inside the cave'. I had a hard time believing this was done by animals. Most of these skeletal remains were intact, which couldn't be a coincidence.

There was another detail I noticed. The black bird, it was nowhere to be found anymore. The bird always trailed behind me, but not this time. That would make me happy on any other day, instead this made me feel uneasy. 'This place is not safe for sure. I haven't seen or heard any other animals around, and even that bird ceased to follow me. Did master Yater make the bird disappear on purpose? To tell me this isn't the place to be in?... I have to get out of here'. Going north or north-west was out of the question. I had to move south, then perhaps west and go around the dangerous area.

The south seemed like a good direction. There were no skeletal remains on my way, but the forest was eerily quiet. 'No sight of that bird still… I have to go south until normal animals appear. I have no clue what lurks inside this forest, and even master Irwin warned me of strong beasts'. Not even a few meters later, something moved in front of me. "Swoosh! Tsuk", an arrow almost pierced my leg. Fortunately, I was paying attention. "Who's there?!", I questioned.

Instead of an answer, I saw a bare chested person emerging from the forest. 'Who is that guy?'. He had all sorts of markings on his body. Most of them made no sense to me, but the one on his chest looked like a bear. "You Endrosians are really curious. How many do we have to kill, before you give it a rest?", he asked while more of them emerged from the forest. Many questions appeared in my mind, but they were mostly overshadowed by something else. "That black bird… Are you responsible for that bird?", I asked, stunned.

Instead of an answer, they did something no one could ever expect. Swords, axes or bows appeared in their hands. The problem was, they didn't use any spatial items to get their weapons. They literally pulled these weapons out of their arms, no, out of the markings on their arms. "Who are you people?", I asked, while grabbing my sword as well. "You must be really ignorant, Endrosian. Our business is not your concern. The question is, why are you searching for us? What do you know?", the same male replied.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I don't even know who you people are. There's only one thing I'm certain of, I'm not from the Endrosian Empire. Now tell me, who the hell are you people, and what do you want from me?", I argued back. The male seemed intrigued, and confused at the same time. Their weapons remained drawn, but I had no intention of facing them. 'There's at least seven of them, who knows if all of them showed up though. Moreover, they called me Endrosian for a reason... That should mean they are Elysians!', I thought.

One of the females discussed something with the leader of that group, which gave me a chance to confirm my suspicion. "If you are not Endrosians, that must mean you are Elysians, right? Why are you here though? Moreover, what do you want from me?". The female and male stopped talking, "Turns out you know about us then. You don't look like Eterian, who are you really?", the leader asked.

"Mostly Human", "What do you mean 'mostly'?", he asked for clarification. "Exactly what I said. You tracked me for a reason, but I don't care about your reason. I mind my own business and you mind yours. That is my proposition. I go my way, and you go yours. There's no conflict between us, it would be the best idea to keep it that way, right?", I proposed instead.

The man smiled in response, then waved his hand. Four people standing between me and him rushed at me. "I don't care where you come from either. No one shall live to tell the story. You can call it the 'wrong place, wrong time' sort of situation", he said. The four that rushed at me were fast, and strong. After a few exchanges, there was no way I'd win against them. Moreover, they were simply testing me, trying to judge whether there were any techniques to be wary of. Escape was the only solution in this case.

That alone was difficult, if not impossible. The arrows flew at me constantly, fortunately missing my body thanks to the environment. Perhaps the others chasing me directly also helped out in a sense. "Don't let her escape, and stop playing around!", the leader's voice sounded behind me. "Roar!.. Awooo!..", the people chasing me made animal noises for some reason, but the reason became clear when I turned around.

'What the hell are these people?', I questioned my own sanity. They acted, no, they became more like the animals themselves. One of them became like a wolf, and his speed... There was no way to outrun that guy. I managed to jump away, before he arrived and slammed me to the ground. The other guy became more like a bear. His strength wasn't something I could compete with. His punches cracked the ground, producing a lot of dust and noise. The other two also became more like some sort of animals. One became akin to some sort of cat, while the other to a boar.

"Grrr… There's no escape for you Human. Don't waste our time and die already", the wolf-man said. "You people are mad… You breed with animals?", I asked, constantly trying to find a way out. "Roar! Boom!", the bear-like man tried to slam his arm into me. "How dare you! I'll make sure to break all your bones!", he roared. They had me cornered, I had no way of escaping anymore. The two archers didn't even shoot at me, they knew I was pretty much dead.

'What gives! I've done nothing to them, yet they insist on taking me down. What sort of Humans act like that?', I asked myself full of anger. They weren't normal Humans, but I wouldn't judge them. I wouldn't attack them just because they liked animals or something. There was no way out with my skills, but there was one hidden card up my sleeve.

My father gave me that Voltic Orb. He told me to use it when my life was in danger, with no other way out. I could feel my teeth clenching, and my mind being consumed by the anger. What gave them the right to kill me? Who were they to decide?

Just as I reached into my backpack, my luck finally ran out. The bear-like man found an opening, and managed to land a strike. "Bam! Uegh!... Cough… Cough…", the force behind that one strike was enough to make me vomit. Even breathing became difficult. "You might've had a chance to escape, if you were close to the Inner Limits stage. Unfortunately, you were stupid enough to actually thread this forest with such a puny strength. Alright, there's no need to torture her. Just end it already", the leader said.

'Weak? Ganging up on one person with seven, and you call me weak?...', I couldn't control my anger any longer. I refused to control it, that would be the better way to put it. Just as the bear-like man got closer to finish the deed, my Aura erupted.

"Quickly, back off!", someone shouted, but it was too late for the bear-like man. "Swoosh! Roaaaa..ghhhh!", his right arm fell to the ground, before transforming back to that of a normal Human. The other three reacted quickly, but not quickly enough. "Slit.. Pak", the bear-like man's head slid off his neck, then fell to the ground. "Grrr! Bam!", I had no time to evade the wolf-like man. He managed to knock me away a few metres, though I wasn't down just yet. My Aura intensified, pure rage seeped from every part of my body. The world in front of me appeared red and black. The three animal-like figures became slower, affected by my Aura.

"Swoosh… Swoosh…", they were slower, but strong nonetheless. My attacks had barely any effect on them, since the surprise factor was gone. "Swoosh, Tsuk!.. Ungh...". The two women further away shot at me again, but this time their arrows didn't miss. With my leg injured, the cat-like man managed to close in. "Argh!...", I screamed in pain, when he bit me. My hand suddenly moved by itself, grabbing his neck tightly.

The energy gathered inside my arm, becoming more compressed with each passing moment. The cat-like man couldn't escape my grasp, and each second my grip became stronger and stronger. Before his friends intervened, I clenched my hand. "Pluck...Crack!", my fingers dug into the cat-like man's neck, breaking it at the same time.

Though two of them died, the boar-like man got his chance to strike properly. "Bam! Argh!...", I got blasted away, then slammed the ground hard. My right arm was numb, my back hurt a lot and something was broken in my chest area. I didn't have any strength to pick myself up anymore.

My own left hand moved towards my neck. That was the end for me. I'd either die by my own hand, or the others would kill me. 'I don't want to die…'. My parents, friends and all the nice people I met in my life, appeared in my mind. I wanted to live, to meet them again. I wanted to see my parents, and my sibling. 'I can't die here!', the thought made my hand stop. My anger slowly faded away, but the situation didn't change much.

"You are a freak indeed, mostly Human eh? Well, you fought well. I shall kill you myself", the leader said while stopping in front of me. My left hand slowly reached towards my backpack, the Voltic Orb was my only chance. Though painful, I had to grab that orb. '...I'll live, I can't die here… I'll live!'. Just as he transformed into a black sort of bear-man, I finally grabbed the Voltic Orb from my bag. "Cough… Stop… Once I… activate that… we all die", I squeezed out.

"Hahaha, nice try missy, but such tricks will not work at all", he replied while taking a swing. He wanted proof, so he'd get a proof. I poured a tiny amount of energy into the orb, hoping it wouldn't activate fully. The Voltic Orb glowed brightly, then released some electric energy all around us. The reaction was really severe, when taking under consideration the amount of energy I used. Fortunately the orb didn't cause a mayhem, otherwise we would all die. "I… have no reason… to lie… Leave me alone… and you get to live as well… If you… insist, we can all die here", I added.

The leader stopped his attack, then looked at the orb in my hand. "If you… try anything… I'll activate it immediately… Choose…", I tried to convince him. "Interesting… Somehow, my senses tell me to believe you… Fine, we will leave you alone… for now. Remember, we can track you, you can't escape from us. Therefore, there's no need for me to risk it. We can get rid of you one day or another, hehe", he agreed while slowly backing away. Others didn't approach me either, they all backed away without trying anything funny.

'He is right, they can track me very easily. I need to take care of my injuries, and find a way to escape them. The fact that the masters didn't appear when my life was in danger, means I'm all alone right now. They truly told me to survive, no matter what'. I couldn't move much, but I had to find cover. They had bows, and once they reached a safe distance, nothing prevented them from shooting at me. Fortunately, this wasn't a clearing but a forest. There were loads of trees, I could hide behind.