Less than an hour later, Noah was in the Scorched Acres once more. He drew in a deep breath, the familiar scent of ash and dirt filling his nostrils, and let it out slowly. In a strange way, he had started to appreciate the forest.

Not the monkeys, though. Those evil bastards deserve everything that happens to them.

Noah examined the rusted flying sword. Part of him suspected that Bilbur had scammed him with a completely mundane weapon rather than a magical one. It certainly didn’t look magical. It wasn’t worth testing earlier, though. The last thing Noah needed was to fly himself into a wall in front of everyone else.

The Scorched Acres were nice and empty. A perfect place to practice flying around – and if he ran into anything, nobody would be there to see it. Noah placed the sword on the ground and stepped on top of it.

He stood there for a moment. Nothing happened. Gathering a small amount of energy from a Wind Rune, he sent it down through his feet and into the sword. A dull hum emitted from it.

Noah flailed his hands as the sword abruptly jerked up from the ground. His balance was a little more on his forward foot than he’d expected, and the sword leaned forward with him. As soon as the tip pointed toward the ground, the sword lurched forward. It slipped out from beneath his feet and buried itself in the trunk of a tree with a loud crack. He managed to land on his feet, avoiding a painful fall, and glared at the sword.

Well, at least it works.

He stalked up to the tree and wrapped his hands around the sword’s handle, yanking on it with all his might. It ripped free of the tree and he staggered back with a curse. Noah tossed the sword back onto the ground and lowered his center of gravity before activating it again.

This time, he focused on maintaining his balance as evenly as possible. The sword hummed once more and raised a foot into the air. It wobbled beneath Noah’s feet, but didn’t go flying free.

A grin crossed Noah’s face. He let himself lean forward ever so slightly. The sword shuddered beneath him. For an instant, Noah feared it would zip off, but he managed to keep his footing as it shot forward.

His hoot of excitement was short lived. The sword – along with him – crashed into a tree with a loud crunch. Noah fell to the ground, landing hard on his back. He cursed, cradling his nose and rolling to his feet.

He grabbed the sword and ripped it out of the second tree, sending a pointed glare at it before tossing it to the ground and stepping on once again. A now familiar thrum emerged from the blade and it lifted into the air.

Noah leaned forward, this time keeping his eyes ahead of him. The blade shot off, whistling past a tree. He leaned to the side and it jerked to follow his motion – putting him right in the path of another tree. Noah’s eyes widened and he quickly shifted to the other direction, overcorrecting and nearly driving face first into a large, burnt trunk.

He threw himself off the sword. It slammed into the tree and he rolled, rising to his feet beside the tree and the still-quivering blade embedded within it. Noah let out a slow breath and brushed the dirt off his clothes before pulling the sword out.

“Well, at least it’s simple in concept.” Noah tossed the sword back to the ground. “And kind of fun, provided I can stay on the thing for more than a few seconds at a time. Let’s see how high this thing can go.”

***

Several hours and an embarrassing assortment of bruises later, Noah found himself hurtling over the treetops, the wind whipping his hair and a massive grin on his face. He repressed the urge to let out a holler as he tore across the sky, moving so fast that the air stung his eyes.

Noah zipped around in a tight circle, nearly giving himself vertigo as the sword jerked downward and sent him hurtling at the ground. He dove off, rolling to his feet and thrusting his hands into the air like an acrobat.

Noah turned and sauntered back to where the blade protruded from the dirt. He plucked it free and smiled.

“I have no idea what that merchant was talking about. This is too fun. Who would want any other kind of flying sword? You’ve got to be at least twice as fast as the ones that the blokes who rescued me were using.”

I’m talking to my sword. Is that a symptom of insanity? Bah. I don’t care.

Noah set the blade back onto the ground and boarded it. He was far from a master at using it, but he was confident it would suffice for his purposes now. It was time to go deeper into the forest.

He lifted off the ground and shot up at a steep angle, barely keeping his balance during the ascent. Noah leaned forward once he broke past the treetops, righting himself and zipping away.

Treetops flitted beneath Noah, a blur of darkened brown and black. Behind him, he could just barely make out the edges of Arbitage’s silhouette against the horizon. Before him, the Scorched Acres stretched on as far as he could see.

He spent several minutes flying through the air, moving as quickly as he dared without risking falling off the sword. The forest just kept going, showing no signs of reaching an end. He glanced over his shoulder, then started his descent.

If I go too deep, I might run into something far too strong for me to handle. This should be more than far enough.

Noah narrowly missed the jagged branches of a tree as he whistled past the canopy and pulled back, righting himself and hopping off the sword an instant before he crashed. The blade slammed into the trunk of a thin tree, carving straight through it and leaving a furrow in the ground before it came to a stop.

After glancing around to make sure nothing was in the immediate area, Noah walked up to his ride and plucked it from the ground. He was certain that this was the deepest he’d ever been in the forest, but it looked identical to every other part of it.

Noah set off, ready to call on the magic of his Runes at a moment’s notice if any monsters showed themselves.

He didn’t have to wait long.

After just a few minutes of walking, hollering calls in the distance reached Noah’s ears. He quickly adjusted his path toward them, moving as silently as he could while keeping a steady rate.

Through the trees, he spotted a pair of Chuckers in a small clearing. They were focused on each other, gesturing and thumping their chests emphatically in some sort of argument. That was perfectly fine with Noah.

He reached out, connecting to his Ash Rune rather than his Wind. Drawing on all the burnt trees around them, Noah thrust his magic forward. Bark creaked in protest as it was ripped to pieces.

The nearest Chucker spun, its eyes fixing on Noah just before four sharpened black spikes formed in the air and slammed into its chest, ripping holes through it. It shuddered, then crumpled to the ground.

Energy flooded into Noah, but he didn’t let it distract him. He immediately ducked behind a tree, avoiding the attack that he knew would be coming. Sure enough, a large branch whistled past his head like a lance, embedding itself in the dirt behind him.

Noah stepped back out and flicked his fingers, commanding the Ash Rune once more. The spikes that had killed the first Chucker burst into black clouds and tore through the air, surrounding the other monster. They transformed back into a dozen spikes and slammed home, killing the creature before it could finish its scream of rage.

A cold smile crossed over Noah’s face and he released his hold over the magic. The key to fighting Chuckers was making the move right after they attacked, while they were searching for another weapon.

That, or catching them by surprise. Then again, surprise tended to work against most enemies, so Noah wasn’t certain he could count that as a key for any of them.

He stepped out from behind his tree and walked into the clearing to see what had caused the argument between the Chuckers. The corpse of a smaller monkey lay in the center of a clearing, already ripped in half and partially eaten.

Figures.

Noah’s skin prickled. At one point, he would have frozen and tried to figure out what was causing the sensation. Instead, he lunged forward, throwing himself into a roll. The ground behind him shuddered, shaking so hard that he nearly lost his footing as he came back up.

Spinning, Noah brought his magic to bear and came face to face with a black-haired monkey that was just slightly taller than he was. It straightened back up, flexing its fingers and snarling in disappointment. It was the closest to humanoid out of all the other monsters he’d seen so far, and its hair was so close in color to the ashy trees that Noah had completely missed it.

The monkey snarled, revealing several rows of tiny, sharp teeth in its mouth. Paired with a bulbous, pointed nose and thin, half lidded eyes, it looked vaguely goblinoid in nature.

Kind of like a cross between a shark and a monkey. A Shankey. That’s what this is called. Whoever invented this thing has some serious problems.

Noah hopped back, keeping his distance and watching the monster carefully. He was pretty sure that he could have killed it with a sudden Ash attack, but he restrained himself. A new opponent was more than just a kill. It was a training opportunity, and it wasn’t one he was going to waste.

“Come on, then,” Noah said, beckoning to the Shankey. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

The monster snarled, spittle flying from its lips and splattering across the ground. It obliged Noah, charging at him. Noah hopped back and the monster matched his movement, lunging to bite at him.

Noah sent a pulse of wind out from his palms. It slammed into the Shankey and sent it rolling across the ground. The monster flipped to its feet and charged Noah again, not missing a beat.

Fast recovery and good reflexes. Better than anything I’ve fought yet. No apparent ways to do serious damage other than its teeth, though.

Noah sent a blade of wind at the monster’s arm. It twisted, avoiding the spell. It kicked dirt at Noah, forcing him to raise his hand defensively to avoid getting blinded. Noah threw himself back. He heard a loud crack as the Shankey grabbed a tree and ripped it out of the ground with its bare hands, snarling in fury.

Strong. Short temper, too.

“What are you going to do with that?” Noah taunted. “Swing it?”

The Shankey swung it.

It smashed clean through the tree that Noah had expected to block the strike. Noah’s eyes widened and he dropped to the ground. The tree hurtled over his head before crunching into another tree.

Noah rolled to the side and shot back to his feet. By the time he was upright, the Shankey was upon him. It was fast, but it didn’t expect Noah to charge it as well. Its eyes flashed with surprise as Noah lunged, driving his fist into its furry chest.

The punch did little against its thick fur. Noah could have sworn he saw amusement flare in the monster’s face an instant before he unleashed his Vibration Rune. A violent shudder tore through the Shankey’s body, shaking its head so hard that its teeth cracked together.

Noah fired a wind blade into the monster’s neck. It bit deep into the fur, but it failed to cut through. He cursed and set off a blast of wind between himself and the Shankey as it snapped forward, trying to bite his neck.

The wind sent him tumbling back and pushed the Shankey several feet away. Noah sprung back to his feet and called on Ash. Several jagged spikes formed in the ground before him, jutting up into the Shankey’s path as it sprinted at him.

It vaulted over the first, grabbing onto a low-hanging tree branch and swinging for Noah, screeching in victory. Noah recognized the expression on his face. He’d let it show on his a few too many times.

A victorious grin.

Noah flicked his hand. Ash blew up from the spikes, forming into another one directly in the Shankey’s path. It jerked its head back, trying to avoid being impaled, but it was in the air and had no way to dodge.

The spike punched clean through one of its eyes and the monster’s body swung forward, carried by its own momentum. It went limp and hung in the air, suspended by the spike. Noah sent another blade of wind into its throat, leaving a deep cut. He narrowed his eyes and shot one final cut, this time separating its head from its body.

It crashed to the ground. Noah released his Ash magic as well, letting the Shankey’s head thud down beside its body. A rush of energy enveloped Noah. He shuddered. It was far more than any of the other monsters he’d fought, and he could see why.

It was faster and smarter than the other monsters I’ve fought. That must have been a Mauler. I think Slashers are probably stronger, but they don’t seem to know how to use their strength.

I think this is the first time I’ve defeated an enemy without dying to it first, though. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Noah only gave himself a few moments to feel satisfied before he shook himself out of it. He’d died a few too many times from getting too smug. He wasn’t the hunter in this forest. Not yet.

He set off, leaving the blood-splattered clearing behind. The day was still young, and there were more monsters to hunt. He was certain that there was more to the Mauler’s fighting style to learn, and he was determined to discover everything he could before the day was out.