The Forest

Blaze spoke with excitement

"To sprint really fast, focus your mana in your legs, all the way up until your hip"

Leus furrowed his brows

"Heh? Such things are possible?"

"Of course! It was just hard to teach you such things in the house. You'll learn it in a second now."

He continued

"Feel the mana within you. Control it, and direct it all into your lower body."

Leus concentrated and tried to do as he was instructed, and very quickly, he felt his legs fill up with Mana

'Hehe, I feel that I can shatter rocks just by kicking them' He thought with a grin ...

Blaze pointed to the northwest as he continued

"The forest is in this direction. We'll be running for quite a while, so just run forward and I'll adjust my speed according to you"

Leus nodded

"Alright then, let's start!"

After saying that, he exploded forward ... or so he thought

To his surprise, his pace remained the same, no different than before

' ... That's not what I expected'

He turned to Blaze and shouted

"Dad, there's no difference!"

Blaze shouted back

"Just wait for it!"

And Blaze was right!

As the seconds ticked by, Leus’ speed began to climb ...

At first, it was subtle; 10 kilometers per hour, maybe a bit faster. But with each passing minute, his pace quickened, increasing by 3 or 4 kilometers at a time.

His feet barely seemed to touch the ground now as his speed steadily rose.

For five minutes, his speed kept increasing, going up until he hit 25 kilometers per hour. And that’s when things got serious.

Suddenly, the increase wasn’t gradual anymore; it became rapid, surging forward until Leus was tearing through the air at an astonishing 70 kilometers per hour!

'Now that's something!'

'However, it comes with a speedy Mana consumption rate as well ...'

Leus wasn't really worried about the Mana consumption rate; his pool was pretty big

'But it's something to take note of'

Behind him, Blaze was keeping up effortlessly, but his mind was focused on evaluating Leus' abilities

'Not bad ...'

'Pretty good actually!'

Leus started using Boost while running, which increased his speed even more, making Blaze impressed

'This kid always exceeds my expectations' He thought with a smile

'I'm quite certain that he's faster than any Knight I know of'

At this point, Leus was completely immersed in the experience

'It's amazing!'

'I'm so damn FAST!'

The sheer speed was exhilarating!

He had never felt anything like it before!

'It starts so slowly, so it isn't of any use in battles, and I can't use it to escape magical attacks'

'But if I want to run like this ...'

"It's so COOOOOL!!!!!!!"

He enjoyed every moment of running ...

The air hitting his face made him feel exhilarated, while the world around him turned blurry.

His heart pounded furiously in his chest, and his muscles twitched with the effort, however, there was no pain—only pure adrenaline surging through his veins.

It was like his body had been built for this!

Overall, the experience was a thrilling blend of astonishment, exhilaration, and FUN.

He grinned widely, relishing in the moment.

For nearly two hours, Leus and Blaze kept up their rapid pace ...

Eventually, the thick silhouette of trees appeared in the distance, signaling the end of their long run.

Leus gradually slowed until he eventually stopped, and Blaze stopped right behind him.

Blaze took two water bottles out of nowhere and tossed one to Leus

"Drink"

They both gulped down the water ...

"Ahh, cold and refreshing, thanks, Dad"

"My pleasure"

Blaze wiped his mouth and then continued

"Let's start with the first mission ...

The Rhino should be in the southeast of the forest, which means it's in ..."

He scratched his chin thoughtfully before pointing to their left.

"This direction. We'll need to sprint for a while more"

After saying that, the two took off again ...

After about 40 more minutes of running, they reached the eastern edge of the forest, but it was already getting dark ...

Blaze asked

"You don't have problems with the darkness, right, Leus?"

Leus activated Mana Vision

"No, it's as clear as day to me"

As for Blaze, he was able to sense any movement within his domain, so he didn't have problems with the darkness as well.

"That's good"

Blaze looked deeper into the forest as he continued

"Let's go in then. We should see it or hear it soon, just make sure to move as lightly as possible and don't make sounds; if it's sleeping then that'll make our mission easier"

Leus nodded, and they both walked in ...

The forest was vast, and it had tall trees and plants of various colors—red, green, blue, yellow, and purple.

A mesmerizing scene filled Leus' view ...

'All these colors look beautiful'

He turned and looked at the plants around him

'These must be the ingredients gathering missions ask for'

He took note of that and kept going forward.

In the beginning, there were only regular animals around them ...

Deer grazed peacefully, small foxes darted around, and birds of all kinds flitted among the branches.

Leus even spotted a couple of owls hooting softly from their perches as the sky dimmed.

But as they moved deeper into the forest, the atmosphere shifted; the sounds of life around them grew fainter, and the number of animals greatly decreased.

'Things became eerily quiet ...'

Leus wondered

'Is that because it's night or is it because we went deeper, or both?'

He asked Blaze, and Blaze explained

"As we go deeper, the creatures get stronger.

Regular animals stay near the edges, and deeper inside, there are dangerous magical beasts"

He paused for a moment before continuing

"Knight-level missions are usually close to the edges, only dealing with stray Beasts; it's less risky that way.

Still, keep your eyes open; anything can happen."

"I'll be careful"

Leus kept his senses sharp, constantly scanning his surroundings as they went deeper ...

Often, strange-looking magical beasts appeared around him; Birds that seemed to have rocky feathers, Lizards that had their tails quite literally ablaze, and completely blue Rabbits

'All these beasts are small, I'm sure it's easy to kill all of them ...

'I wonder if they're edible tho' He thought with a chuckle

As they continued forward, something caught Leus' eye; a massive hole in one of the thick trees ...

He got closer to it and whispered to Blaze

"This could be from the Rhino's Horn?"

Blaze nodded

"Look for footsteps, such a heavy Beast should leave clues like footsteps or broken tree branches behind"

Leus crouched and inspected the ground, and quickly, he noticed a trail; big footsteps going a little deeper into the forest, tho still on its eastern side.

'Just as the mission said'

His eyes followed the trail

'Locating the Earth Rhino is extremely easy ...'

As they moved along the path, the destruction around them became more evident.

'It didn't try to conceal its existence in any way'

All over the place, there were destroyed trees and dead animals

'This thing was running rampant here'

Leus followed the traces, and Blaze followed Leus, and just two minutes later, Leus' eyes gleamed

'Got you'

He slipped behind a thick tree and inspected the sleeping Rhino that lay ahead ...

In the middle of a small clearing, the Earth Rhino lay sleeping ...

'It's massive'

The Rhino's sheer size almost dwarfed the surrounding fallen trees, of which three lay nearby, clearly victims of its rampaging strength.

Leus studied the beast carefully ...

The first thing that caught his eye was the enormous horn ...

It was around 120 centimeters long, thick and solid.

'It looks unbreakable'

'Guess it's no wonder this beast had wreaked so much havoc around'

Leus' eyes darted to the body ...

'Uh ...'

Its vulnerable areas—stomach, chest, and sides—were all covered with thick, rock-like plates.

'So that's why it's called "Earth" Rhino'

His eyes drifted to the destruction around them, the broken trees and the destroyed underbrush.

' ... And all it did with its body is ramming trees and knocking it down ... Why?'

Leus didn't dwell on that thought for long

'Well, it doesn't matter'

'It's a Beast after all'

Blaze whispered to Leus, interrupting his thoughts

"How will you attack?"

Leus' reply was instant

"Many spears aimed at the body and 3 Hydraulics at the head. I'm going to hit both its eyes and between them"

Blaze nodded

"Make your move" He said as he stepped back ...

Leus took a few steps forward as silently as possible

'The spears will have to penetrate its back to deal any useful damage since it's the only area that's not covered with the rocks'

With that in mind, Leus formulated his strategy ...

'My main attack should be the Hydraulics directed at its skull, and the spears are just an extra'

He took a deep breath and started casting ...

He extended his hand, and in an instant, six sharp spears, each nearly 1.5 meters in length, appeared around him, hovering horizontally in the air.

At the same time, three powerful Hydraulics swirled in front of him.

Everything was ready to strike at full speed ...

Leus' eyes locked onto the Rhino’s skull, and with a final thought, he gave the silent command.

‘Unleash!’