The wind screeched and the trees shook around the beasts. As the storms in nature, the eye was the calmest here as well. I could see the mana swirling and twisting around as it carried the wind in a tumultuous manner. I noticed the bigger beast was not actually controlling the mana around it, but rather moving it out of pure instinct. While I was running towards Sirius, he was also running towards me. It only took a few moments for us to reach each other.

“We need to get out of here!” I screamed at the top of my voice but it still fell short of the noise of the raging wind. I held Sirius’ hand and pulled him along with me as we started running. We moved past trees as the leaves fell in clusters. The trees were shaking, as if angry at us for bringing this tragedy upon them. We were running as fast as we could when we heard a mournful howl behind us. The ground beneath us shook for a moment before everything went silent. The wind had stopped raging and the trees relaxed from their justified fury.

Chill.

Shivers ran down my spine as this unusual situation unfolded. I glanced back and that's when I noticed that the wounded beast was standing alone at the back. While the other beast, who used to be bigger in size, was getting smaller by the moment. Its size was shrinking rapidly, too fast for it to be real. I increased my speed and Sirius followed suit.

Swish.

I glanced back again and I saw the shrunken beast moving at a speed too fast to imagine. It seemed to be phasing in and out of existence as it disappeared and appeared back a little closer to us than before. The speed of the beast gave me goosebumps as I determined that it was impossible for us to get away. However, I still kept running. I knew that it was near to impossible for both of us to beat it, at least without me disclosing that I can use mana. And so we ran as I explained my plan to Sirius. I would glance back from moment to moment to determine the distance remaining between the beast and us. I knew I had to get in a surprise attack before we could even hope to stand against it to fight. And if we were lucky, I could get a clean hit on the first try itself. Well, there was no way I was going to use mana as I was sure that shitty old man was watching this from a distance.

I glanced back again. The beast had gotten fairly close to us and it would only take it a few moments, at best, to reach us. I waited until the very last moment. As soon as I saw the beast lunge at us, I pushed Sirius to the side and jumped forward. I jerked my body to turn in mid air as I brandished my spear with my right hand. I left my left hand free to tackle any variables. The beast had gotten extremely close to me but my spear was faster than the beast. The spear was on the path to stab the throat of the beast, through the open jaw that threatened to rip me apart. However, at the very last moment, the beast twisted its neck to avoid contact with the spear. It wasn’t able to avoid it completely, but most of the damage was mitigated. The spear had cut through its mouth’s skin, which was now dangling to the side. The beast was successful in avoiding my attack and I was successful in avoiding its jaw.

The beast’s body collided with mine in mid air, and we proceeded to fall down. I had put the staff of my spear in the beast’s mouth horizontally as I struggled to pierce one of its eyes with my left thumb. While in the air, I grabbed the beast, which was now comparable to me in size, and pushed it downward. Its jaw was still biting down my spear as it struggled to bite my head. We met the ground with a thud. My fall had been cushioned by the beast beneath me. I imagined that I had heard a cracking sound when we fell, and became happy that it must have broken a few bones at the very least. I got up, still clutching my spear and proceeded to kick the head of the beast. It let go of my spear and struggled to get up as well.

As soon as my spear got free, I tried to stab the beast with it. Unfortunately though, it had gotten up in the meantime and managed to create some distance between us. It was vigilant now, not thinking of me as a prey but as a dangerous enemy. I focused as I wielded my spear in front of me.

The beast kicked the ground and disappeared from my sight. This speed was extremely dangerous. The beast didn’t even make any sound as it appeared behind me. However, I was already ready for its attack because my instincts had kicked in. I ducked, and brandished my spear upwards. The beast’s claw and the spear clashed, but the one who lost was my body. The force behind the attacks was extremely different. Even if I was the better fighter and had better chances to win, the beast was physically stronger than me.

I jumped back and created some distance. I was waiting. Waiting for Sirius to do what I had asked him to, as the beast and I looked into each other’s eyes and stood there. We were looking for a chance to jump in and finish the opponent. That's when I heard it, the howl of the other beast.

Looks like he succeeded.

I smiled as I waited. The beast in front of me turned its head around as soon as it heard the howl of its mate. I breathed in deeply, put strength into my hands and rotated my body to throw the spear. The spear flew silently just before reaching the beast and I welcomed the scene that my eyes saw. The spear had successfully stabbed in the neck of the beast. The beast flopped down with the spear still stuck inside. I sighed as I relaxed and sat down. I breathed a sigh of relief as I waited for Sirius to come back. I was quite fascinated by how the beast had sucked in the mana and shrunk in size to increase its speed to an abnormal level. I was happy that I had killed a beast as dangerous as this without even using any mana. ‘This training might not be that difficult.’ I thought.

That’s when my expression changed.

I noticed mana leaving the beast’s body as if it had opened a dam. The wind had also started to turn torrent gradually. I looked at the beast that was struggling to get up, and I stood up immediately. The beast was still alive. Sweat trickled down my neck as I saw the beast getting bigger in size. My spear was still stuck in its neck.

So I stood there, weaponless and waiting for Sirius. I clenched and unclenched my fists as I got ready to fight again. I closed my eyes to calm myself. I took a deep breath, got in a fighting stance and opened my eyes.

As I opened my eyes, what greeted me was a scene that made me stop breathing for a moment. The wind had died down completely and the surroundings had become eerily quiet again. The trees were standing tall as if nothing had ever happened. My spear flew through the sky and stabbed the ground in front of me. I turned my eyes from my spear to the beast in front of me. The beast’s body was gargantuan again. It had reached the size that I had seen it in for the first time and yet....

Thud.

The only sound that greeted my ears was the soft sound of the beast’s head hitting the ground. And atop the massive beast, stood an old man who was wiping the blood from his hands. He was standing on the back of the beast that now stood headless. His eyes peered from behind the glasses as he tilted his head down a little. He was still wearing the same genial smile he always had.

“Good job, both of you. Let us go cook some food now.”