Matthew tightened his grip on his spear as he marched deeper into the forest. He sensed something within the maze of trees. He didn't exactly know what or where it was. Whatever it was made the hair on the back of his neck prick upward.
But he'd been walking half an hour, and nothing. Not so much as the chirp of bird. He'd even flinched a time or two when he would occasionally step on a fallen branch.
But then, after flinching-and getting annoyed at doing so- he looked down at the branch he'd split in half.
Then he kneeled down in the dirt. Tracks. Deer tracks. At least he assumed it was a deer- at least something similar. He had never been apt in hunting actual animals. In fact, he was more familiar with the various magic beasts than the actual species that littered the earth.
He began following the tracks, doing his best to not kick up any dirt to obscure any tracks he came across.
Another half an hour, and he began to notice small subtle hints of life in the forest. A scratched spot of bark on a tree. An empty nest within the branches of a tree.
Another half hour, and he heard the singular chirp of a bird somewhere within the endless canopy of tree above him.
The odd feeling around him gradually grew as another half hour passed and he finally reached something other than endless trees.
A pond. In fact, a rather tranquil pond. The water was crystalline as it reflected the fractals of sunlight that pierced the leaves of the trees. A ring of small stones lined the perimeter of the pond.
He stepped to the edge of the pond and nudged a stone in with his foot. He watched as the stone sunk into the pond and caused a ripple through the still, glistening water.
Matthew watched as the ripples bounded off the edges of the pond and off eachother to cause several small waves to rise from the pond. The sunlight reflected off the water in several rays around him, briefly lighting up sections of the trees.
Suddenly, his senses sharpened. The hair on his head raised and he immediately got into a fighting stance.
He ducked to the side, spun, and swung his spear in a wide arc behind him.
The head of his spear cleaved cleanly through the body of a small humanoid creature as it flew at him.
The creature let out a high pitched squeal as its two halves fell into the pond.
Two more small humanoid creatures crept from the brush and rushed towards him.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
[Red Cap has entered your Warrior's Presence]
[Red Cap is moderately weaker then you]
[Red Cap's attributes have been reduced by 7]
***
[Red Cap has entered your Warrior's Presence]
[Red Cap is moderately weaker then you]
[Red Cap's attributes have been reduced by 7]
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
They were each no more then 3 feet tall. Their skin was pale and very wrinkly. They had long white hair that was mixed with dirt and mud. Their backs were hunched over, letting the loose red tunics they wore drop over them.
One of the Red Caps leaped forward- higher then it should have been able to with its height. It let out another squeal as Matthew thrust his spear through the chest of the creature.
He then spun his spear, knocking away the small dagger the last creature wielded, before slamming the blade into its skull.
The last creature fell... and there was suddenly silence.
But even so, Matthew still felt something off.
He was in a C-ranked dungeon. Even if the creatures he just killed were the weakest of grunts within C-rank, they shouldn't have went down in a single attack.
He looked at the two windows that had appeared once the Red Caps had gotten close just as they closed. The Red Caps stats had been decreased by a whole 7 levels-worth. He didn't know exactly how much "moderate" was in terms of their strength to his in the grand scheme of things however.
Matthew looked around him in the brush. The once glistening pond was now stained red with the blood of the magic beast he killed.
Then he sensed something. The faintest trace of mana flowing through the air, through the thicket of trees.
A thin wisp of green mana flowed through the brush, so thin Matthew had to strain his eyes to see.
He took one last reassuring glance around himself before following the wisp.
YOU ARE READING
Monarchs of Above and Below (On Hiatus)
ActionNOW AVAILABLE ON ROYAL ROAD @Shogeki15 It's been nearly a decade since gates started opening around the world. First it had started in Korea, but quickly spread throughout the globe. Matthew, an E-Rank hunter in the U.S, has been struggling constant...
