On the Hunt II

"Filthy human! How dare you kill my spouse?!" the Byk spoke.

Leon and Lith's mouths widened in shock. Even Tista and Trion, hiding above, were taken aback.

"Wow, you talk! I didn't know bears could talk," Leon said with shining eyes, causing his siblings to facepalm. It was Leon's old habit; whenever he found something interesting, his enthusiasm would take over.

"Lowly maggot! I'm not a bear! I'm Irtu, the new king of the woods, and she was my queen, Gerda."

"And I am Leon, the new king of the village beyond the woods," Leon crossed his arms and replied.

Lith: "...."

Solus: "..."

Luna: "...."

Tista: "...."

Trion: "...."

"Very well, let's have a fight between kings," Irtu roared, and Leon nodded.

"Gae Bulg," Leon said as a dark red spear full of barbs materialized in his hands.

Taking the spear, Leon used magic infusion, channeling air magic into it, and threw it at Irtu. The spear zoomed at lightning speed, quickly reaching Irtu's chest. Irtu's pupils dilated, but he spat out a dark ball that collided with the spear, nullifying it. 

"Hurr, hurr, hurr. Did you really think you were the only one who mastered dark magic, maggot? Now die!"

It jumped high, Lith eyes shone as he thought it cant dodge mid air as he began to chant spells. 

Irtu jumped forward, and before Lith could take advantage of its inability to dodge in mid-air, four rock formations abruptly erupted from the ground right where Irtu's paws were going to land. Using the momentum, Irtu was able to jump forward once more, his speed further increased by the rock formations' boost.

In less than a second, Lith was robbed of his opportunity to counterattack as Irtu turned into a one-ton bullet.

Thinking quickly, Leon activated his Life and Death sword's defensive ability, creating a barrier of dark energy around him. The barrier absorbed most of the impact, but the force still sent Leon skidding back several meters.

"Leon!" Lith shouted, resuming his chant once more. He began chanting a powerful spell, drawing upon the elemental energies around him.

Irtu, seeing this, prepared to charge again, but Leon wasn't done. Despite the impact, he stood his ground and invoked another technique.

"Second Moon: Lunar Veil," Leon intoned. A shimmering veil of moonlight enveloped him, enhancing his agility and reflexes. With this, he dodged Irtu's next charge with ease, countering with a series of rapid slashes that left dark trails in the air.

Irtu growled in frustration, but before he could react, Lith's spell was ready.

"Elemental Fury!" Lith shouted. His hands glowed with a brilliant light as he unleashed a torrent of fire, earth, and lightning at Irtu. The combined elements struck the Byk with devastating force, causing him to roar in pain.

Staggering from the assault, Irtu tried to retaliate with another dark magic attack, but Leon was already in position. With a final, powerful swing of his Life and Death sword, Leon cleaved through the Byk's defenses, striking him down.

And then, without giving it any chance, Leon drove the Life and Death sword into Irtu's eye and activated Lifesteal. The Byk withered at visible speed, leaving nothing but a husk that broke under a light breeze.

[51 years of lifespan obtained]

As Irtu collapsed, the forest fell silent.

Leon wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to his siblings. "Let's head back. We've had enough excitement for one day."

But he stopped as his body began to temble, a pain assaulted him as he felt his core began to breakthrough next stage.

He had no choice but to offer no resistance, making it as fast and painless as possible.

Soon, black ooze started being excreted from all his pores and orifices. Leon's eyes and throat were burning from the nasty feeling the impurities inflicted on their way out.

Leon felt like a river of bile was coming out of his body.

When it finally ended, he was kneeling, hands on the ground. A huge puddle of the tar-like substance was below him, tainting the air with its putrid smell.

"Congratulations on evolving your mana core to deep cyan!" Luna voice was full of joy.

"You also should have lost at least a kilogram or two (2.2 or 4.4 pounds), judging from how much impurities you expelled this time. I can already feel the quality of your mana flow improving. My meals have never been so tasty!"

" now you can chalenge the next floor" She said happily.

"Deep cyan?!" Leon coughed up some impurities that got stuck in his throat.

Lith, and others came near him as Lith waves his hand and purging tar like puddle under him.

They patts him on the back as Leon stood up, " are you alright? " 

Leon nodded and said " Yeah, it normal to be this painful" He said and checked his body as he clenched his hands. 

Feeling the newfound strength he felt better and happy" I feel better way better" He said excited. 

Lith and others shook their head at his childish grin.. Until a profound sense of danger assaulted their sense. 

They hurriedly sprang back and readies their weapons as they looked at the new comer. 

A big bad looking wolf with red shades all over his grey wolfy body. 

Sniffing thier stress, vigilance and fear, the Ry spoke up.

"Fear not, Scourge, I mean no harm. On the contrary, I have come to give you my thanks. It was my duty stopping Irtu and Gerda, but you managed to precede me."

It threw a magnificent deer he was carrying on its back at Lith's feet. Both the skin and the antlers were in perfect conditions, aside from a single bite mark on the neck, where it had been cleanly broken.

"I noticed you humans prefer them like this, since after eating the meat you can exchange the rest for those things you call 'money'."

Lith was still suspicious while Leon stepped forward. "What is Scourge, by the way?"

Seeing his carefree demeanor, Lith frowned, but contrary to his expectation, the Ry calmly sat and said, "You killed Irtu and now you inherit its lands and title."

Leon nodded and asked, "What is your title then?"

"The Protector. My role is to keep both humans and unruly magic beasts at bay."

Seeing him so carefree talking with the big wolf, everyone felt worried while Leon didn't think much of it as he knew this Ry was one of the kindest characters in the whole Supreme Magus.

"You are a weird kid. Many humans either fear or try to kill us when they see us talk, yet you don't seem slightly repulsed talking with me." Even Rye found it weird seeing Leon talking with him.

Leon chuckled in response and said, "If you had any ill intention, you could have killed us all when we weren't paying attention."

Rye shook his head and stood up, turning his back toward them. "Just be sure to patrol your land and kill harmful things if they spawn in your land," he said as he got ready to dash back to the forest.

"Wait!" Leon said, and Rye turned back and asked,

"What is it, Scourge?"

He glanced back and saw Leon walking towards him. Rye looked at him vigilantly, ready to strike the moment he sensed anything amiss.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Can I examine you? I just want to see how you are different from us," Leon asked, lifting his hand.

"Don't you have Irtu's body?" Ry asked.

"It's dead, and you are alive. There are bound to be things that are different," Leon said.

Ry nodded, and then he put his head in Leon's hand.

Leon smiled and then closed his eyes as he used Life Vision on him.

"He is not awakened," Leon mumbled, and then Leon put his hand away. Rye asked, "Is that all you need?"

"Can you show me your way of using magic?" Leon asked.

Rye nodded and then used the fire and wind magic he was attuned with.

"It's similar to True Magic, but you are not awakened," Leon mumbled.

"What about other elements?" Leon asked, while the others curiously watched his interaction with Ry from some distance.

"I can only use two elements," Rye replied.

Leon nodded and then said to him, "By the way, do you know you only have 15 years left to live?"

Rye raised his head as he glanced at Leon with a surprised expression. "I can sense I don't have much time to live, but not even I could tell how exactly."

"Hmm, I may be wrong, but it is near that amount," Leon said.

Rye shook his head and replied, "So be it. Anyway, I have already lived long enough."

"Really? Don't you want to evolve further?" Leon asked.

Rye now looked directly into Leon's eyes and asked, "Just tell me what you want, cub. Going roundabout will just waste both of our time."

Leon smiled awkwardly as his plan was busted, while Tista and the others' ears perked up as they heard this. Now they were too interested in knowing what Leon's plan was.

"My goal is simple. I want a guardian beast for my family."

"And you, Protector, suit the role best. But at your current stage, even weak siblings could fight you together and kill you. So I am planning to evolve you further, and in return, you just have to protect my family," Leon said.

Rye looked at him, amazed. "That's it?"

"Don't you fear I could harm your family after evolving?" he asked while releasing a bloodthirsty aura of a true predator.

Sensing the aura, Lith, Tista, and Trion raised their weapons, while Leon calmly faced the aura and replied, "If you were truly a bloodthirsty beast, your title wouldn't have been Protector."

Rye took back his aura and sighed. "Okay, you win, cub. Just tell me what to do. After all, even I find the idea of evolution tempting."

Leon nodded and then said he would return tomorrow, as it was already getting late today.

Rye nodded and then asked if he could also bring his kin too, to which Leon nodded and said, "If they could take an oath, then I will help them too."