For The Greater Good-World 1: A Corrupted Cove || World//Zero ||

23. The Blackened Raven

Alec was finished for the day, and by the end of the afternoon, he had ten elite boarwolves killed, fifteen toucans slain, and demolished about five or so electric crabs. Cal decided that that was enough for the day, and granted Alec a break.

"I'm going to head back into World 3," his mentor told him, already at the Waystone to teleport back to base. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Alec nodded and waved at him. "Goodbye!"

Cal nodded his farewell and placed his hand on the spiral center of the Waystone, and Alec watched as he was engulfed in orange light and teleported away. After a moment, Alec stood their awkwardly and turned around, thinking about what he could do for the time being. The sun was setting now, so there wasn't much daylight left. He wondered if he should use it killing more electric crabs for the time being, or perhaps getting more experience with the boarwolves. Then he thought of Sean, and wondered what he must've been up to. Thinking of the elementalist, Alec tightened the knot of the purple ribbon around his hand.

As he considered whether or not to return back to town, he then paused in his tracks when he heard the sound of rumbling in the sky, and he looked up to see clouds condensing together, turning the sky dark. That was weird. Just moments ago it was clear. Then a lightning strike hit the earth, startling the boy to back up against the Waystone. It came from the top of the mountain, and Alec stared up at it in slight concern. What was happening?

Just then, someone teleported next to him, surprising him even more. A few more adventurers showed up as well and took no regard to Alec as they rushed up the hill. A little curious as to what all of the commotion was about, Alec unsheathed his sword and followed the crowd up the mountain. Passing the floating blue crystal with haste, Alec and the other adventurers went up a stone staircase taking them up to the point of the hill, and the rumbling of the clouds only grew louder. When they reached the top, Alec saw a restless scene. There were boarwolves and poisonous cobras on the hill, already charging toward adventurers before they could get very far. Though Alec quickly drew his eyes to something bigger in the midst, and that was a giant, blue-pelted boarwolf with golden tusks and horns, howling demands to the surrounding monsters. Alec felt dizzy at the size of it, like he was about to faint. How much bigger could these boarwolves get?

The adventurers around him didn't seem to falter, however, and continued to sprint into the clearing, attacking monsters in their way. They were all approaching the same thing, though, and that was the hybrid dog in the center. One by one, colorful and powerful abilities were going off, quickly causing great damage to it. Meanwhile, Alec just stood on the sidelines, watching it all play out in front of him. Should he go out and fight with the others? The last time he did anything without Cal's supervision, he got in trouble for it. So Alec decided to hold back, and found a tree where he could stand behind. Even though he didn't necessarily want to fight, he couldn't resist watching.

He spectated from a distance as the adventurers fought bravely on that supposed battlefield, using all of their abilities toward the great boarwolf in the middle. Despite the giant's efforts, though, it was constantly getting thrown back by everyone's attacks, and it didn't seem to make a single hit on anybody. Alec was absolutely amazed by this, seeing how much a gathering of people could do.

Then, as he scanned his eyes through the crowd, he spotted someone familiar. It was Symphony! Lingering near a long blonde-haired woman, she sent waves of green magic toward the blue boarwolf, ignoring the wandering smaller enemies around them. Her pet owl, Celeste, was flying around her, also making attacks at the hybrid. Alec observed with meekness, impressed by her agility.

As suddenly as the beast came, though, it soon was destroyed. Like the rest of the creatures, the giant boarwolf turned red and faded away, with everyone who participated in the fight getting a share of its XP. A bright spotlight then came from the sky, clearing the clouds, and it faded away to reveal a chest on the ground. Instantly the adventurers ran toward it, getting their reward for defeating it.