“No, No! Left! Yes, left!”
“Now, head straight and keep running. Slowly.”
“Yes… Just like that.” Damien sat atop Fenrir, giving commands to the wolf as it slowly sped through the snaking paths of the forest. “Who’s a good wolf?” He asked, running Fenrir’s furry head as they ventured deeper.
Their destination? Unknown.
Damien felt like taking a stroll through the forest and with a very high ranking Grade Five mana beast by his side, he had almost nothing to worry about.
And since today marked another year of life for him, he was in a really good mood. He felt like nothing could go wrong.
Whatever Grade Five mana beast he encountered were as good as dead within three minutes and of he encountered more than one, he had a back up beast to summon to even the odds.
The only thing he had to worry about was either encountering multiple Grade Five mana beasts or meeting an even higher one like a Grade Four. However, since he was yet to encounter one in all his time here, it was also safe to assume that they were very rare.
Damien was enjoying his ride through the forest when he suddenly spotted a creature standing in the distance.
Fenrir also noticed it and stopped advancing altogether. It began to growl gently as it stared at the mana beast still a few dozen miles away. Damien’s sight paled in comparison to the wolf and so he could only see the general outline of the creature standing in the distance.
It had the shape of a horse.
“Activate (Sensory Link) and connect me to Fenrir.”
Damien requested and in the next second, his sight went off and then came back on.
This time, he could see clearer and further. Not only did his sight become sharper. Every of the five major senses in his body felt sharper and clearer. It was especially so for the sense of smell since he was sharing senses with a wolf after all.
As he focused on the sense of sight, staring into the distance, Damien noticed it. The creature standing far into the distance. It was indeed a horse.
A pure white horse with a flowing mane and tail, with a pair of large, majestic wings sprouting from its back. Damien noticed the wings on the creature and had to blink to confirm he was seeing things. A horse with wings?
He knew what kind of creature it was and immediately cancelled the (Sensory Link) skill currently activated.
“Whatever you do, do not lose track of that Pegasus.” Damien commanded Fenrir.
A Pegasus. It was a feature of legends known to be a horse with wings. Believed to be deeply connected to the Divine Realm where the Gods dwelt, a Pegasus was often seen as a sign of a god’s presence and blessings.
And now that same creature was just a few dozen meters away from him.
Obeying the command of its summoner, Fenrir began taking slow measured steps toward the beast but for some reason, Damien could feel Fenrir’s reluctance to get closer to it after walking for over thirty metres.
“Is something wrong?” Damien whispered to his wolf.
Grrrr…
All he got as a response was a guttural growl from the wolf that felt like Fenrir was trying to warn him.
Damien was surprised as he hadn’t seen Fenrir this cautious of anything they’d ever encountered since he first summoned it.
Finally, Fenrir’s next step landed on a dried up twig which snapped immediately.
The head of the Pegasus snapped in their direction and immediately it spotted them, it bolted.
“After it!” Damien commanded his wolf.
Roaaaar!!
Fenrir rebelled but Damien gave a second command. “After it!”
Damien’s second command seemed to trigger the wolf and it roared once again, speeding through the forest at a scary pace. It went after the Pegasus without holding back and Damien had to hold on to Fenrir tightly to avoid being thrown off the wolf’s back.
The Pegasus was fast, almost too fast but slowly, Fenrir closed the distance as it continued to increase his speed under Damien’s command.
The legendary horse didn’t seem to quite care that it was being chased and continued to run, snaking through the forest with such ease that Damien almost thought it was messing with them.
Fenrir managed to keep up and as it roared one last time to warn Damien, the Pegasus suddenly stopped and then opened its wings. It neighed majestically and then took offinto the sky, out of their sight.
Damien and Fenrir stopped in the list of the forest confused about how they’d lost the creature that was right in front of their eyes. Damien rode Fenrir to where he’d last spotted the horse and as he looked around, he found a weapon partially covered by the overgrown grasses.
“Huh?” Damien was confused as he immediately recognised the weapon. It was a sword and not just any sword but the same one he’d been left with by his uncle, Osbourne during his first day here.
Damien jumped down from Fenrir and slowly walked toward the weapon. As he approached, he was sure to keep his senses alert for any sudden attack or ambush but all through, he sensed nothing.
Then he bent down and picked up, recognising it truly as the same blade he’d lost on the first night he arrived here.
He looked up at the sky and a smile crept into his face. It seemed like today was really his lucky day.
“Can I call this a birthday present?” Damien muttered to himself as he hadn’t expected to receive such a weapon on his birthday.
“Yeah. I think that works.” He nodded and as he turned to leave and return back to Fenrir he felt a heavy weight descend on him.
The pressure was so heavy that he couldn’t move an inch. He moved his eyes and noticed his wolf had also been rendered immobile. ‘What the hell?’
Damien knew the only things capable of suppressing them with its pressure were either more powerful beasts or demons and so he had to ask himself. ‘Why now? What is a Grade Four mana beast doing here?’
Just then, he heard the same neigh sound he’d heard before the Pegasus took off and Damien forced his head to turn toward the sound despite the pressure holding him in place.
Behold, a few metres from him stood the Legendary Horse he’d been chasing. The Pegasus in all its glory as a Grade Four mana beast and Damien remembered Fenrir’s earlier rebellious acts. ‘Was this what you were trying to warn me about?’