"Great...not a single coat like this one left in this entire kingdom. That's one-hundred dragon coins down the drain..."

Looking at the tattered state of his beloved coat, left with rips and tears throughout its entirety, Lucas begrudgingly tossed it aside.

He was left only with his beige, high-collared blouse that had sable designs etched across it in the form of roses. Though the undershirt was lavish in its own right, Lucas still felt as if he had been reduced to the fashion state of a peasant.

Tightening the tan belt around his waist, he kept his back close to the oak directly behind him, surrounded by the heavy mist that seemed to follow him. Watching the ominous fog continue to fill in the bowels of the grandiose, verdant forest, an astute pain returned to his head, causing the feminine male to wince.

The sudden spur of pain instinctually brought his hand to the source of the stinging, quickly redrawing his fingers as they briefly met the dampness on the back of his hazel crown. Bringing his digits into view, they were covered with a familiar crimson liquid, clicking his tongue at the sight of it.

This is bad; I don't know how long I've been bleeding out of my head for...I woke up in the grass--I'm already a bit lightheaded--not to mention it's already night, Lucas thought.

Finally opting to do something about the open wound leaking on the back of his head, Lucas used his discarded coat as a bandage; ripping the silky, fancy cloth from the sleeve and tightening it around his skull tightly.

"...They're definitely going to have a laugh when they see me like this. Though...I wouldn't mind hearing such frivolity right about now."

Alone in the mist, Lucas took in a deep breath before pushing forward down the dirt trail that almost had been obscured by overgrowth--further hidden by the plentiful mist that seemed to tag along with the boy.

I shouldn't be very far from Lemasdale now...A shoddy trail like this has to be the work of a local of the town, no doubt, Lucas thought.

The trail led him to an incline; traversing the steep slope before surmounting the tiny hill of verdant grass--finding himself looking down on a small clearing within the forest. It was an intersection of streams; coalescing into a pond--tainted with repugnant scarlet.

It was like a different reality existed just over the slope; the cedar that lined the boundary of the clearing was full of scratch marks, bark drenched in blood and covered in bits of flesh. The grass wasn't spared of this tainting--mangled corpses were strewn across the field, some missing half of their bodies.

What the hell is going on here? Lucas thought.

Covering his nose in an attempt to block out the gag-inducing stench that occupied the hellish section of the forest, he found that the instigators of this mess were still present--seeing figures that should be corpses buried six feet under wandering between the trees; some still feasting upon the spoils of their conquest.

Husks, Lucas concluded.

Somehow, they didn't seem to notice him yet. He took this time of unknown to watch them carefully--figuring out the situation ahead of him.

Four, five...Six. Six husks ahead, Lucas thought.

They were directly in the way of the continuing path; dragging their rotten feet across the soil aimlessly as they sniffed the air.

Focusing the mana that ran through his inner veins, a new wind circled his palm as he kept his gaze locked on the nearest husks before showing himself from his spot of hiding behind the slope.

"Boreas: Condense!"

Yelling out the name of this spell, the husk he targeted turned its attention to him, letting out a high-pitched roar as its jaw stretched wide. Before it could take a step towards the human, the spell that had been cast unleashed a pressure on each side of the husk's head--squashing its crown into flying chunks of rotten flesh.

It requires heavy focus and a clear, still target to get that one off--I won't be so privileged with the others, Lucas thought.

As he suspected, the roar called in the other straggler husks, keeping his position within the center of the deathly field to give him a clear view of all points of entry. A gust blew through the blades of grass-- the work of Lucas concentrating his mana for another assault.

Closer, closer, Lucas thought.

Even as mindless as they seemed to be, the husks seemed to enact some sense of caution--slowly approaching him as they circled his position, watching him carefully. Though, it didn't seem to be an action made out of fear of death--they were waiting for all six husks nearby to be present before finally going on the offense.

Not yet. Closer, Lucas thought.

Keeping his hands ready at his side as a continuous air coiled itself around his form, he waited carefully, marking each step they made towards him as their jaws stretched so far they ripped apart their own flesh.

Now! Lucas concluded.

They all came within distance of him; one further leap would prove to be enough for their fangs to reach him--but he responded in kind before that could become a reality.

"Boreas: Unified Wind!"

From his form, a wave of air perfectly crafted into the shape of a sphere emitted--completely eviscerating the grass which he stood on before reaching his close enemies. As the sphere of vicious wind met with the gray, decrepit bodies of the husks, their forms were mangled further--limbs were crushed into sacks of skin by the immense air pressure before being shredded by the visceral nature of the wind.

Not even the blood squeezed out of them reached Lucas as the wind scattered any approaching substance. Such high potency came with one drawback: range. The reach of the spell ended just two meters away from the position he stood.

"Disgusting…"

Lucas watched as the eviscerated remains of the husks rained down upon the clearing, tainting what was already tainted even further.

Still, if they went down this easily then I shouldn't worry about those two brutes. I'm sure even they can figure out their way to Lemasdale, Lucas thought.

Even if he told himself that, he still held a bit of doubt in his mind. Moving forward once more down the singular path awarded to him, Lucas could feel a palpable dread stand within the air. It wasn't just the steely smell of manifested dread; the air felt colder and damp, breathing came with a bit more difficulty as each step forward required a reservoir of confidence.

I've only heard of it in books, but I've never experienced it firsthand. "Emotion Manifestation Magic"-- something only done by users of dark magic.

Usually, it is seen as useless when used on one individual, but on a group--namely an entire town, it can yield results like this. Conjuring the dread felt by an entire town of people...It acts as a ward to stave off potential nuisances. Is the one behind this mess in Lemasdale? I doubt it, but...I can't ignore the possibility, Lucas thought.

Shrouding his body with windy reinforcement, the tangible dread didn't halt him, but it still had its own effect. His heart raced within his chest, sweat left his pores in a worried hurry, fear and doubt began to set in.

Remember, it's just the workings of magecraft, Lucas reminded himself.

The smell of death became clearer the deeper he traveled down this dirt path; becoming wider with more hints of civilization becoming clearer.

A bridge allowed him to cross a stream flowing through the verdant land, carrying through its rapid waters inanimate bodies. Although he resolved himself to keep his eyes set on the path ahead, the quantity of death became heavy on his shoulders.

Crossing the bridge was immediately responded with the sound of twigs snapping, the foliage being rustled through--breathing, snarling became apparent.

Again? Lucas thought.

He could sense it, but he couldn't see them; there were many of the rotten sentinels hidden within the obscurity of the many trees, watching him with their glazed-over eyes. It was a worrying feeling; he knew that if he were a regular civilian, the husks wouldn't waste a single moment rushing him and tearing him piece by piece--but they knew otherwise.

Are they at the second stage? Lucas pondered.

Preparing for the inevitable collision with the man-eating corpses, Lucas allowed his wind to scale his body, coalescing at his fingertips as his verdant eyes watched the tree line.

It would be much more efficient to take them out with reinforced punches or kicks, but getting in so close, using my own body as a weapon--it's complete suicide. A single bite from one will leave me defeated, Lucas thought.

Raising both arms up in a guard, wind spiraled around his hands as he invited any husks to attempt an assault on him.

It seemed his readiness for battle reached one of these entities; one began sprinting through the foliage--shifting its movements into something unorthodox as it bounced its body from tree to tree like a ravenous beast.