It was a mid-summer day, and Chase felt his skin rip open from a terribly crafted blade.
He would have cursed, but if he did then Zephyr was sure to scold him for saying the god's names in vein.
He had learned a lot from his mentor in the recent couple months, including plenty of information of the religions of Vallmora, and just how in depth the hierarchy of the gods truly was.
The never ending grin on each of the goblin's faces was starting to get really annoying, causes Chase's fire to grow more chaotic.
"Tone it down..."
Zephyr growled in his ears, from somewhere that the boy could not see.
Chase tightened his grip on Hero's Fang, and dashed behind a large overgrown tree.
"I- I can't keep this up for much longer..."
He panted, trying to catch his breath for a moment, that was until an arrow pierced the trunk of the tree, and one of the goblins let out a terrible chuckle.
"THEY ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY!"
He screamed, as he lowered himself into a sprint toward the bright green skinned humanoid creature jumping around with a crossbow.
Chase slid underneath an arrow as it shot, and then propelled himself above the goblin, ripping down on it with a savage onslaught of attacks.
Blood from both him and the creature splattered across The Dark Forest's mossy grass, as he lobbed the creature's head off with what was not even remotely close to a clean cut.
Then as the creature thudded onto the ground, he turned his gaze toward the second goblin, and Axis Twitched directly in front of the monster.
With a wrathful thrust, he impaled the creature's eye with his sword.
Then he turned to the third goblin that had already began to run, and shot himself toward it, grabbed at its ankle bringing it down onto the ground with him.
Ripping the topaz dagger free from the sheath on his waist, he slit the throat of the thrashing goblin before it gather itself.
"Is there a point to all of this?"
He growled at his master, wiping blood off his face.
"Not really."
Zephyr said in that annoying wise elder voice that he would use when he tried to be sarcastic.
"Kidding..."
He said after a few moments of silence, then the man appeared from one of the shadows behind the tree where Chase had nearly gotten an arrow impaled in his side moments ago.
He had two huge horns curling over the top of his long ivory hair, and crimson eyes that would scare the hell out of anyone that gazed into them.
He had ebony armor with crimson lining, making him look like some sort of ancient war god.
"You wish to kill a Paladin yes? Then you must train vigorously, with little to no rest. I only had you build a base so that you could learn some basic craftsmanship. And remember what our deal was?"
Chase groaned, and threw his head back like a child.
"Yes! I cannot leave the forest until I reach ten eight star output... But how I am I supposed to know when that is... IF THIS DAMN VOX DOESN'T WORK HALF THE TIME!"
He whined and whined, and yet Zephyr just stood there waiting for the boy to finish with his complaints.
"Maybe I'd advise not buying one from a black market then..."
Chase scowled at his teacher, and mother's queen's guard.
"I don't have time for all of this. How long has it been?"
Zephyr looked up at the sun and tilted his head slightly.
"About two or three months."
Chase put his hands on his face and made struggling groans, still angry with how things had turned out this bad.
He was only at four star output according to his vox, yet he had somehow slain a ten star output monstrosity of a warrior.
"There are far too many factors in even the simplest of duels... No one can predict the outcome of a fight unless it was prematurely decided by a greater force... No one could have known for sure that you would have beaten Sazir in a duel... I myself..."
"You what? Thought I'd die?"
Chase scowled.
"Incorrect... You carry very powerful blood, with great potential. Sazir used an ability that should have been an easy killing blow against anyone else; however, you carry the seals that Lilith placed on you at birth, which thankfully protects you from mental, divine, and time related abilities. So I had no doubt that as long as Sazir risked underestimating you then you would eventually overcome him in a battle of attrition."
Chase let himself collapse to the ground, and sat for a moment.
"How do I get rid of the seals?"
Zephyr looked at him as if he had just asked how perform a spell to commit mass genocide.
"That's just it, are you crazy?!"
Chase had forgotten that Zephyr can read his thoughts.
"Stop doing that... Why can't I break the seals."
Zephyr sat down in the grass, and began to meditate, motioning with his clawed hand for Chase to do the same.
"Hello?"
"Shhhh!"
Chase did as he said, and began to meditate, trying to envision his energy flowing through a stream of infinite veins within his body.
"Listen to the hum."
Zephyr demanded.
Chase had no choice but to try and listen, which he did his best at, but couldn't hear as much as his own thoughts.
Zephyr sighed.
"If you break the seals, I have no doubt that your body would destroy itself and an entire chunk of the continent with it... Lilith's lineage is not one to take lightly... She is a Primordial after all."
"So when can I?"
He asked impatiently, slightly remembering when Onyx had said that he was still trying to reach his full potential after spending years of training his father's lineage.
"Not for many many years, maybe not even in this lifetime... But you will, after all... Someone has to take her place eventually."
But Chase did not want to become a king of anything, he had found this out after that day when he had been thrown into the forest by Rider. With no one at his side he had to tread back into the place where he had truly been born.
The Dark Forest was his home now, and he just had to accept it as such.