As I walked through the forest, I thought about the information that filled my mind upon contact with the blue glowing runes, but I mostly thought about two things: One, is my flaw. The second was my Akashic title. Mostly my flaw, though.
While the Akashic title is a rare thing, and can be useful if you know it, the flaw was a crucial thing to figure out; it's a matter of life and death. So I had to try my hardest to figure it out by focusing on the runes along my back, which was easier said than done, since I had to keep moving through the cold onyx forest, and saty on guard since a fateful encounter with a creature could happen at any moment, it would eventually happen.
Still, I want to postpone the encounter as much as I can.
I moved through the forest, my speed steady, my concentration mostly on navigating the forest, but a little part of it was on trying to figure out anything about my flaw. After a while of wandering through the onyx trees, I eventually figured out one thing.
"It has something to do with my art."
It was both simple and important.
I was glad I figured this much out. But, at the same time, I was now stripped of my art, well, at least until I figured out the whole effect of the flaw.
But fate had other plans. Because, in the next moment, I spotted something from the corner of my eyes charging at me, full speed.
The grip on my sword tightened, and I started unsheathing it, but I didn't get to unsheath it fully, and I was struck by four claws. Thankfully, the sharp claws connected with the unsheathed part of the sword, so neither I nor the scabbard received any heavy damage.
The scabbard fell on the ground, and I was sent flying, crashing straight into one of the onyx trees.
I didn't want to get up after the crash with the tree, but I knew that whatever attacked me wasn't done attacking. I got up and looked in the direction in which I was standing a second ago. I saw a fully white panther charging at me, but unlike any type of panther, this one had four tails and four eyes.
The creature attacked with its claws. This time, since I saw it coming, I moved from the attack and, with the unnamed silver blade I was holding in my right hand, tried stabbing the fucker in the right side of his neck. The blade almost connected, but the creature moved out of the way in the last second and attacked with its claws once again.
The attack was too fast for me to even hope to dodge or even block. The claws connected with my torso, leaving four claw mark wounds behind.
As soon as the blow connected, I was drowned in pain. At that moment, I knew I didn't have a chance at beating the fucker without my art. While I still haven't figured out what my flaw is, and what my art is, a hundred percent, I was going to die. So I might as well try to live; if there is a chance I could survive the encounter, I'll take it.
The sword given to me by the academy was of the common rank, and from the looks of it, the creature was of the monster rank, and common weapons cannot harm monsters. I mean, they can, but not that much.
Finally deciding on using the art, I commanded the ether in my body to flow from my core, towards the runes engraved along my spine, the moment I touched the runes on my core.
Instantly, a thick cloud of mist flooded the area, swallowing me and the panther-like creature. In the cloud of mist, I felt stronger, faster. The blade of my sword felt sharper. Most surprisingly, though, was the fact that I could see just fine, I could even feel each movement inside the mist, I felt wired like a new sense.
Blood flowed from the wounds on my torso, but I did pay them any attention at all. Instead, the only thing I paid attention to was how I was going to kill the fucker.
I noticed that despite the sudden appearance of the mist, the panther was still hungry for blood, but I didn't blame it; I was even hungrier for bloodshed.
The monster charged at me and I charged at it, it tried attacking with its claws once again, but I was expecting that so I doged, but I didn't go unscased, and one of the claws connected with my left shoulder, I paid it no mind and with my enhanced body, and sword thanks for the viel of mist, I jumbped landing on the back of the creature.
The creature was only slightly larger than a normal panther, so it wasn't that hard. The panther tried to get me off it, but I held on to its fur with my left hand, and with my right hand, which I held the sword in, with a grin splitting my face, I stabbed the sword into the back of its skull.
The sword was only a common one, so I struggled for a bit, but thanks to the help of the mist, the blade penetrated the skull and stabbed the panther's mind, killing it instantly.
The carcass of the dead panther fell on the ground, taking me with it.
[Monster Eliminated: Ivory Panther.] A voice whispered into my ears.
The panther was dead, but my desire to kill wasn't. I got up and laughed out of delight at the thought of me killing another thing.
I looked around, chose a direction, and with my enhanced speed started moving, running, the mist moving with me. I was hoping to find the next victim fast.
I didn't get that far before I indeed found the next victim. The victim wasn't a creature, but a human, a female human. The girl looked to be the same age as me, had shoulder-length black hair, slightly pale skin, and crimson red eyes.
Her eyes met mine, and she stopped, but I didn't. I didn't care if she was a human or a creature. A victim is a victim.
My grip on the sword tightened, and I charged towards the girl. The mist moved with me and swallowed her. I could now feel her every move. I ran closer and struck her with the blade aimed at her neck. The girl sensed something was wrong and summoned a silver spear, the same model provided by the academy, and blocked the blade in time.
I was about to continue my attack, but instead, the mist faded, my body started falling, and my vision was drowned in black.