Dom sighs as he moves through the forest located just outside of town.
He glares at the stone he continuously kicks while walking. "I really, really hate that guy." He grumbled to himself as he abandoned the stone to jump across a fallen tree trunk.
His brows furrow in thought.
He stops once he sees a tree with deliciously fresh apples hanging from its slightly damp branches.
"Well, since I can't prove that they cheat, I just have to do it."
He rolls up his sleeves and climbs.
"Besides, proudly facing villains like Matt is what a Great Magic Knight would do."
He pulls himself onto a branch and starts plucking.
"Maybe I'll bring everybody two or three apples just to show how awesome I am." He chuckled as he reached for another fruit, but suddenly stopped, his entire body stiffened.
At that moment, some birds chirp loudly as they suddenly fly out from the trees around.
Dom looks around, with now anxious eyes. Even though he was fine a couple of seconds ago, he couldn't help but notice a certain dangerous chill in the air.
The once soothing forest now seemed eerily quiet, along with an unsettling feeling of being under a predator's watchful eye.
Dom's eyes widen.
This was the last straw.
Dom dumps the apples and starts climbing back down.
"I don't care what they say, I'm not going to die because of some stupid bet."
Halfway down the tree, Dom senses an incoming attack and turns just as a gust of wind slams into him. He shouts as he falls and lands on his back with a thud.
"Ow. Ow. Ow." He grumbled as he sat up, rubbing his already aching back.
Once he hears a familiar, annoying laugh, anger quickly covers Dom's face.
"Come on, Snow white," Matt said as he stopped in front of the still-seated Dom. "I thought Apple picking was your specialty."
His lackeys laugh behind him.
"Seriously?! What's your problem?!" Dom said as he shot to his feet, his fists balled at his sides. "You pick on me. Then you cheat, and now you won't even let me work in peace. What did I ever do to you?"
Matt's mocking smile quickly changes into a mean sneer. "I can't stand you." He steps up to Dom, despite being slightly shorter. "You have no affinity, and you're poor. But everyone likes you. I have everything you don't, and nobody wants to be my friend."
Dom's glare quickly fades. "Seriously? That's what this is about?" He laughs. "You really are a royal dumbass."
Matt clicks his tongue. "That's it. I'm tired of you always running your dirty mouth." Matt said as he held his hands up, creating a gust of wind around his body. "I'll show you what magic really is. Maybe that will shut your mouth once and for all."
Dom instinctively backs away, his eyes noticing the lackeys also preparing their own spells. He grits his teeth and prepares his mind to face the four guys now standing against him.
It takes Dom a second to realize it.
"Sounds like fun. Can I join in?" The cloaked man asked, and the three boys finally turned, their expressions shocked to find someone standing right behind them.
"And who the hell are you?" Matt asked.
The man smiles, his disfigured teeth the only visible feature under his hood. "Just an observer." He said.
As the boys share a confused look, Dom shakily steps back with his eyes still widened.
"Whatever, weirdo," Matt said, his confidence unabated due to his obliviousness. "You just stay away from me, or I'll tell my dad. He's the Chief."
His lackeys nod in agreement, their confidence just as foolish since they fail to even notice the blood stains on the man's cloak.
"I'd love to, but unfortunately, I've not gotten a chance to eat since last night." The man said as he placed a hand on his stomach, which growled loudly. "And to be honest, I've always wondered what young mages taste like." He licks his lips.
The first lackey backs away with a frown on his face. "This guy is giving me the creeps." He said. The other lackey agrees.
Matt's glare deepens as he holds up an arm.
Dom gasps as he sees the mana swirling around Matt's arm. "Don't!" He shouted, but Matt had already made the mistake.
He fires a wind blast into the man. "I said Go away," Matt said confidently, but his expression fell once he noticed that the man was completely unfazed by his spell.
The man takes a step forward, and Matt grits his teeth as he fires a more powerful blast, this time enough to shake the bushes around them. But the man remains completely unfazed, except for his now tattered cloak.
Matt steps back, his expression now terrified of the man's exposed chest, which is covered with tattoos, scars, and dried blood stains.
"Wind magic. Just like me." The man said as he ripped off his damaged cloak, revealing more of his dark skin. He looks directly at Matt, his emerald green eyes now glowing brightly.
"My turn." He suddenly swings his arm out.
Instantly, some drops of blood splash on Dom's face, and his mouth widens once he realizes, along with the others, that Matt is now staring at his left arm... which is now severed at the elbow.
The rest of his arm lands with a thud in front of the first lackey.
Matt drops to his knees and screams in agony as he grips his heavily bleeding wound.
"My hand! My hand!"
Either driven by fear or loyalty, the second lackey conjures a rock from his palm and tries to attack the man, but with another swing of his arm, the boy's attacking hand, along with his head, is sliced clean off with the remaining wind slashing through the trees behind him.
The other boy screams in terror as he watches his friend fall lifelessly.
The attacker then points a finger at him. Between his dead friend, the bleeding Matt, and the attacker, the only thing the boy could do was run.
"Mummy!" He cried out.
But with a smirk, the man swings his finger upwards, sending a sharp gust of wind that vertically slices the boy in two, with both halves dropping to the floor with blood spraying everywhere.
The attacker sighs happily. "It's always nice to watch your prey run." He said before turning back to Matt, still crying his heart out.
"Daddy! It hurts! It hurts!"
The man smiles and takes a step towards Matt, but then stops once he realizes that someone is missing.
"A sneaky one." He said as he turned back to the forest, his eyes sighting some blue mana residue in a nearby bush. "At least one of them knows how to put up a good chase." He chuckled before clicking his tongue once Matt's cries intensified.
With a dismissive wave, Matt's body rips apart, finally silencing him.
Meanwhile, Dom, now hiding behind a large tree several meters away, pants both deeply and rapidly. He could barely hear anything over his pounding heart, and his forehead was drenched in sweat.
His eyes widen. "The wild animal..." He whispers before shaking his head, hoping it'll be enough to drive away the bad memories. "I... I need to go. If I stay, I'll... I'll die."
As Dom gets up, he feels an incoming presence and instinctively dives to the side... just as a large wind slash slices through the hard tree bark.
The severed tree trunk slides off its base and lands with a deafening thud, which rattles the ground and trees around.
Dom stares at the easily felled tree now inches before him, his mind too filled with fear and shock to even notice the long, slanted bleeding cut made on his left cheek.
"I knew you were special." A familiar voice echoes, and Dom gasps as the attacker emerges from the sliced bushes. "You're fast. And you managed to both sense and dodge my attack. Not that I was being serious, but still..."
He stops to lick his hand, which Dom now realizes is covered in blood.
The attacker notices Dom's stare and explains, "I only had time to taste those boys... but I'm disappointed."
He lowers his hand, which drips the excess blood.
"Their mana tastes like poorly cooked fish. But yours... something is telling me that it tastes..." His gaze deepens at Dom, his eyes fixed on Dom's terrified but still mesmerizing blue aura. "... will be nothing like I've ever tasted before." He drools a little, like a beast about to savor its meal.
Dom's eyes water in fear as he shifts away. "I don't want to die."
"I bet that's what the goats and cows always say when they're about to die. But you still kill and eat them in the end, right?" The attacker licks his blood-stained lips, and Dom trembles. "That's just nature, my beautiful prey. The never-ending circle of life."
He suddenly crouches like a beast about to pounce, and Dom gets up, his body geared to run, but the man vanishes with a gust of wind that smashes into Dom's body.
Dom instinctively closes his eyes and raises his arms to guard.
"You can't escape."
Those words came directly from behind, and Dom's eyes open, his body flinching as it senses a hand already reaching for his back.
The attacker groans and jumps to a safe distance, his right hand already burnt to a crisp.
"Who's there?!" He shouted as he glared at the end of the fiery path... where the ball of red-yellow flame dispersed, revealing an unscathed Dom who opens his eyes once he realizes that someone is carrying him.
"You good?" His savior asked with a deep voice, and Dom looked up at the old but still muscular light-skinned man, staring at him. With his height of 7 feet, the sight of them resembled a man holding a baby.
The savior gives Dom another shake, allowing Dom to notice his rose-red glowing eyes.
Still paralyzed by fear, Dom only manages to nod, and the savior smiles at him. "It's alright. I got you." He said as he slowly set Dom down.
"You've got some nerve interrupting my hunt." The attacker said, his expression filled with rage.
"Elon Kruger. The Mage Cannibal." The savior said as he turned around, displaying his black uniform, bearing blue outlines along with a bow and arrow logo on its chest. A symbol that all citizens of the South recognize. "You were being transported to the Capital for your execution... but your suppressor cuffs failed and you escaped."
The attacker, now revealed to be the wanted criminal, Elon, narrows his eyes at the savior's uniform, his green falling on its bold logo.
"A Magic Knight," Elon said before lifting his eyes to glare at the savior. "So who the hell are you supposed to be?"
"An old timer who happens to be around." The savior replied as he walked forward.
Standing behind the savior, Dom's eyes also take note of the long white coat designed with red-yellow flame patterns hanging from the Knight's shoulders.
Dom's eyes then rest on the special symbol in the center of the coat, a black beast with the number 3 boldly written underneath it. Dom's eyes widen in recognition.
"It doesn't matter who you are. You interrupted my hunt, and for that, you'll die. At least..." Elon licks his lips. "... you look like someone with a strong taste."
The Knight lifts his head, his face now pointing at the sky. He closes his eyes. "When I heard you'd escape, I moved as fast as I could."
The Knight clenches his fists.
"But not only had you already devoured your escorts along with two hunters in this town... I also found what seemed to have been three boys some distance from here."
Dom's frown deepens at the recent memory before flinching once he notices the red aura leaking out of the Knight's body.
"Judging by their sizes, I'd say they were about this boy's age. They've probably never even gotten their first girl... " The Knight's fists tighten to the point that blood drips out. "They were slaughtered like animals."
"We are animals," Elon said as he raised his working hand with his palm facing up. "Say all you want, but all I did was abide by the law of nature." He shrugs. "I got hungry, found prey, and hunted them. Nothing more, nothing less."
The Knight stares at Elon, his gaze furious. "Is that how much value a human life holds to you?"
Elon furrows his brows in confusion. "What do you mean? I see human life as the greatest gift by nature." He looks at his blood-stained hand, and a demonic grin forms on his face.
Their meat tastes amazing, their uniquely refined mana adds a certain flavor that is always different from others. It's a truly amazing experience."
A vein protrudes on the Knight's forehead. "The Capital just ordered me to capture you, but after hearing that bullshit," His red eyes glow menacingly. "... I'm personally sending you to hell."