1 Rayden

The forest was calm and silent. Even as Rayden's eyes scanned the thick grass and tall trees, he couldn't spot a single moving thing aside from the occasional tree branch rustling in the light breeze.

Still unable to find anything he moved deeper into the forest. The light that poked through the leaves offered little visibility, but enough to see the color and beauty of the forest. But, in the distance, Rayden noticed an area that was darker than the rest of the forest. In all likelihood, that was where he would find what he was looking for.

After once again confirming there was nothing nearby, Rayden spoke within his mind.

'Illie, let's go.'

His body flashed a bright yellow light, before becoming a soft glow. He pushed off the ground and leaped forward. In the blink of an eye he was already dozens of feet closer to that area.

He leaped again before he was finished landing, barely leaving behind a footprint as he hopped around light as a feather. In a matter of seconds he entered the darker area of the forest.

As he went further, the woods kept getting darker. By the time he stopped, he could barely see the outline of the tree trunks. He continued walking, his steps still light, carefully listening to the silence around him.

'Perfect Vision,' he thought, and moments later, his irises glowed and he could see even better than if it was daytime. There were no shadows, and he could see far off into the distance.

And far off in the distance, he could see movement. Several wolves with dark grey fur and completely blank eyes had noticed him and were running in his direction, seeing him as nothing but a snack. They were shadow wolves, and they were also why he came here.

As they charged forward, he also stepped forward to meet them, grabbing his iron sword from his waist and preparing his mind for combat. As they got closer to each other, two of the seven wolves began rushing ahead of the others, hoping to get more of their snack than the others. When they were only a dozen feet away from him, one leapt forward with its jaws wide open.

'Shining Edge,' he thought, and in response Illie's power flowed through his arms and into his sword. Its edge began gleaming with light and it began feeling lighter in his hands.

Within a split second, he readjusted his grip on his sword, stepped to the right, raised his sword up, and when one of the shadow wolves passed by him, he swung his sword down, cleaving through its neck like it was butter. The other wolf, however, was nowhere to be seen.

'The other one sank into the ground, like some sort of shadow walk skill,' Illie's voice resounded in his mind, letting him know what had happened while he was focused on the now dead wolf.

'This entire place is dark enough it could pop out from anywhere,' he thought, bringing his sword up to his waist, "Meaning it's most likely gonna pop out from behind!"

Rayden spun around to find the other wolf halfway out of the ground, this time raising its claws to wound him rather than going for the kill.

He swung his sword, and moments before the sharp claws reached his face, he cut the wolf in two, leaving its two halves to flop down on the ground as he turned back to the other five.

The five wolves that hadn't gone ahead had now stopped, realizing that he wasn't easy prey.

They waited there, leaving Rayden no choice but to come to them, although he wasn't going to make it easy.

'Glare Rush!' he shouted in his mind. His body turned white and in the blink of an eye, he had crossed the gap between them and was slaying the one in the center, separating them into two.

They leaped back in shock, but quickly recovered and took the opportunity to surround him. All at once, the four wolves rushed towards him.

After a quick analysis of their positions he picked the two closest to each other and spoke to Illie.

'Flash,' he raised his hand and pointed it at them. A blinding light burst out of it for a single moment, before quickly disappearing. It gave the wolves no time to close their eyes, causing them writhe on the ground in pain.

The two behind him winced for a moment, but were fine otherwise. However, that moment was all he need to reach them and cut one down. The other one panicked and tried to run, but in a matter of seconds he caught up and dispatched it just as easily.

The last two had recovered and were now approaching him cautiously. Rayden thought for a moment before clenching his fist, but otherwise not moving an inch.

'Start charging up power,' he thought as the wolves got closer and closer. When they got half a dozen feet from him, they paused as if they were syncing up, before simultaneously leaping at him with their fangs stretching out, becoming bigger and sharper.

At the same time, he raised his hand up and pointed it at them again. They closed their eyes this time, but it didn't matter.

'Photon Burst!' a wave of light exploded from his hand, hitting the wolves point blank and sending them flying. They fell on the ground, bodies weak and dying, their heads nearly melted off. He went and put them out of their misery, leaving him the only breathing thing in the area.

Once he had confirmed that that was the case, he took out a small metal card and selected the glowing quest marker on the interface.

[Shadow Wolves: 7/30]

With his job not over yet, he put his sword back into its sheath, put away the card, and continued his journey through the forest.