Wolves

The wolves charged, scattered, rather than as a pack.

Some of the vibrant beasts were smaller and faster than others and would reach the bottom of the hill first.

Sona smiled, still holding his sword, and the heart in his shrouded grip. It was exactly what he wanted.

Rather than having to fight off a large group, he could deal with the wolves one by one.

He just had to make sure that he finished them each in one strike.

The first wolf was red as blood, the size of a regular dog. Its teeth were snarled as it growled, spittle drooling from its jaws.

Its friend was close behind, but the beast jumped, jaws open and teeth aimed to bite into Sona's chest.

He didn't even need to use his ability. The attack was easy to predict.

Sona raised his sword clumsily, as the beast jumped into it. The blade points sunk into its chest and pushed through its flesh before protruding out of its back.

Pink blood spilt from its wound and onto Sona's body, and he flung the wolf from the blade and prepared for his next opponent.

Seeing its friend die so easily, this beast hesitated. It seemed that the wolves had brains.

But still, with his enhanced senses, Sona felt like he was able to move faster than them. It was as though he remained a step ahead of the wolves at all times.

The beast dove forward, aiming a bite for his leg.

Sona stepped backwards, allowing its jaws to clamp down onto empty air. Then, pointing his sword downwards, he brought its blade point down into the beast's skull and pierced clean through.

He felt it break through bone. His muscles made it so that it was hardly a task to do.

That left eight wolves, and now seeing his skills, they seemed afraid, cowering in place and eyeing down Sona.

"Come on then, you cowards!" He shouted instinctively, not caring whether they understood him or not. "Come and have a bite!"

A wolf jumped at him, teeth aimed at the neck. Sona raised his shrouded arm and allowed the beast to bite into it, but as it did, the strike was brought back to the beginning of its motion.

In a split second, the wolf found itself back on the ground, before it had even started to jump.

It's strike had been erased.

Sona lunged forward and thrust his sword into the beast's mouth, killing it in an instant.

He had expected to find himself out of breath, but to his surprise, he wasn't.

Instead, he wanted more.

However, one glance at the rest of the pack told him that they felt otherwise.

It was the first time that they had come across powers like Sona's. His arm meant that any strike of theirs could become null and void.

Even wolves were smart enough to realise that this was an unwinnable battle for them. And so, they turned tail and ran off into the hills.

Standing around the corpses, Sona let out a deep breath. His sword was bloody, and he felt that his Starcore was slowly being drained of its energy.

But most importantly, he was alive.

This is the first time I've taken a life. Even If it was just a bunch of wolves...

Suddenly, Sona noticed something stir within the system of his mind.

Focusing on it, the information of his Starpath opened up to him, and there was a clear change.

STARCORE PROGRESS: 20%

His progress towards his next rank had increased by ten percent!

Not only that but as he turned his attention away from the Starpath, he noticed something forming in front of him.

At first, it looked like a pole of dark essence which began to stretch its way up into the void above.

But after it had finished forming, its shape was clear.

It was a ladder.

Defeating a Colour had granted him access to leave the abyss. It was a requirement of the strange location which lay below Elaleom.

Sona looked at the fallen wolves around him, wondering if he should carve out their hearts as well, but he remembered what Oscel had told him.

The large heart of the werewolf would be enough to sustain their world for a long time, and it would also allow the hunters to start hunting regular Colours again.

All would return as it once was.

And so, sheathing his blade to his waist and keeping a tight clutch around the heart, Sona continued to climb through the ladder until he reached the void and ascended back into the city of Elaleom.

———

As Sona walked through the black-and-white city, he noticed the streets were quieter than before.

The darkness had truly begun to take its toll on the city's people. Their hopes had all run out, and many had accepted their deaths.

Sona guessed that he had been in the abyss for a week, and was unaware that time did not flow at the same rate in the real world.

He only hoped that his home village was not suffering the same fate as Elaleom.

Just wait... I am coming.

After a long walk, he finally reached the temple. Its design was beautiful, and it spiralled up into the dark sky above.

Sona stepped inside, entering the large hall from which he had awakened.

And there, once again, he found Oscel, standing at the bottom of the stairs which lead to the Mouth Of Fruition.

As the old man gained sight of Sona, his eyes went wide, and his jaw slowly dropped.

Moments later, a tear fell onto his cheek. He looked down at the state of Sona, as well as the heart he had held in his hand, and pulled the young man into a tight hug.

"Oh boy..." Oscel sobbed onto Sona's shoulder. "You've done it! You have saved our city from damnation."