A Cruel Encounter - 66
"Hmmm… I think its main diet is mana crystals, sooooo…"
A strong surge of mana suddenly piled into Marc's legs.
Then it burst outward.
Marc lunged forward after the Kyetra.
…
As Marc sprinted after the Kyetra, Bell's gaze briefly shifted toward Juro.
"He let the creature take the crystal on purpose... He had enough time to stop it, but he didn't."
Juro simply smiled as he watched Marc continue sprinting.
…
The Kyetra
The Kyetra is a powerful four-legged creature distinguished by its unusually dense build, thick fur, and abnormally long, muscular tongue. Despite standing at only around 5 feet tall, a mature Kyetra can weigh approximately 320 kilograms, giving it a remarkably heavy body for its height.
Its most distinctive feature is its massive tongue, far thicker and longer than that of an ordinary beast. The Kyetra has developed remarkable control over it, allowing its tongue to extend outward and seize objects, food, or even mana crystals while the creature is moving at full speed. Rather than stopping to retrieve something in its path, a Kyetra can simply snap out its tongue, grab the target, and continue running without significantly reducing its momentum.
The Kyetra's eyes possess an equally unusual adaptation. Each eye can rotate up to 180 degrees, allowing the creature to observe what is happening behind it without needing to turn its head or slow down. This makes the Kyetra exceptionally difficult to surprise and allows it to maintain awareness of its surroundings even while fleeing or pursuing prey.
Its thick fur serves a purpose beyond protection. The dense coat functions as a natural cooling system, helping regulate the tremendous amount of heat generated by the Kyetra's powerful muscles. The creature possesses a specialized form of magic that it can channel through its body and into its fur, causing the coat to rapidly cool. This magical cooling mechanism allows the Kyetra to remain active for long periods despite the enormous heat produced by its high-speed movement.
This adaptation is particularly important because the Kyetra is capable of reaching speeds of approximately 65 miles per hour (105 km/h). At such speeds, its body generates immense amounts of heat, making its magical cooling ability essential rather than merely advantageous.
….
Marc desperately sprinted after the creature, terrified by the thought of the Kyetra eating his crystal.
The Kyetra rolled one of its eyes backward, watching Marc as he chased after it. Even without turning its head, it could clearly see him closing in from behind.
But the difference in speed was enormous.
The Kyetra was simply too fast.
Marc quickly realized that his normal sprinting speed wasn't going to be enough.
"I can't catch it like this..."
Then, while running, he remembered something.
He had seen Juro and Bell use wind to boost their movement before.
Marc's eyes lit up.
"Maybe I can do that too."
Without slowing down, he began flowing mana beneath his shoes. At first, the mana gathered unevenly, but Marc immediately shaped it into bursts of wind that erupted beneath his feet.
The sudden force propelled him forward.
His speed increased significantly.
It was almost as if every step he took carried him the distance of twenty ordinary running steps.
Marc leaned forward and continued chasing the Kyetra, his feet repeatedly releasing bursts of wind beneath him as he raced through the forest.
But even with the boost, he still couldn't catch it.
The Kyetra remained ahead.
Marc gritted his teeth.
"It's still too fast..."
He needed another idea.
While continuing to run, Marc began swirling mana into both of his palms. Instead of releasing the mana immediately, however, he kept it concentrated directly above his hands.
He continued to swirl it.
More and more mana gathered into the small space above his palms as Marc concentrated on keeping it contained.
Then, slowly, he transformed the mana into wind.
But he didn't release it.
He continued concentrating.
The wind began to spin faster and faster above his palms as Marc focused on compressing and controlling it while still sprinting after the Kyetra.
Then suddenly, the Kyetra lifted its tongue, revealing the mana crystal wrapped tightly around it as the tongue slowly descended toward its mouth.
Marc immediately saw his opportunity.
At that brief moment, he released all the swirling wind he had been building up in his palms.
A powerful burst of wind exploded behind him, launching Marc forward.
His speed climbed rapidly.
60 miles per hour.
Then 61.
63...
Marc stretched his hand forward, barely managing to reach the crystal.
But the moment his burst of wind began to fade, he started falling behind again.
"Not yet!"
Marc quickly forced mana into his palm and transformed it into solid rock. He fired it toward the Kyetra, hoping it would hit something.
Luckily, the rock struck one of the creature's joints.
The Kyetra suddenly lost its balance, its speed dropping as its body stumbled forward.
Marc also lost his footing.
Both of them crashed onto the ground, rolling across the dirt as the Kyetra's tongue loosened and released the mana crystal.
Marc quickly pushed himself back up and grabbed his crystal.
The Kyetra rose as well.
For a moment, the two simply stared at each other.
Marc held his mana crystal tightly in his hand.
The Kyetra stared back at him before sticking its tongue out.
Then it turned around and ran away.
Marc watched it disappear before looking down at the crystal in his hand.
He had gotten it back.
He held it tightly against himself before finally lying back down on the ground, panting heavily.
A small chuckle escaped him.
A moment later, Bell and Juro approached from behind, casually walking toward him.
Marc looked up at them with a huge smile and held his mana crystal out proudly.
"I got it back!"
He giggled.
Juro smiled.
"Good one. You managed to get back to that creature."
Marc quickly sat upright and turned toward him, his excitement returning.
"Teacher Juro! That creature was really fast! I could barely even keep up with it!"
Juro placed a hand on Marc's head and ruffled his hair.
"Yeah, but you managed to beat it."
Marc smiled at the praise.
…
After a few minutes, the three continued walking.
This time, however, Marc carefully placed his mana crystal back into his pocket. He kept glancing around as they walked, noticeably more cautious than before.
Bell noticed and smiled.
Marc had clearly learned his lesson.
They continued deeper into the forest until Marc suddenly spotted something in the distance.
"Huh... What's that...?"
He narrowed his eyes, trying to make out what he was seeing.
Then his expression suddenly brightened.
"Wait! It's Greg!"
Marc exclaimed happily.
He was about to run toward him, but Juro immediately placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Huh?"
Marc looked up at him.
Juro looked down at Marc with a soft smile.
"Let's just walk over there."
Marc looked confused by Juro's sudden change in tone.
He glanced toward Bell.
Bell also seemed to agree with Juro.
Marc hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Okay."
The three slowly approached.
As they got closer, they could finally see Greg clearly.
He was kneeling on the ground.
A few tears rested in his eyes.
Marc's excitement slowly faded.
He looked past Greg, toward whatever was lying in front of him.
A horse.
It was lying motionless on the ground.
Marc's steps gradually slowed as he stared at it.
The closer they got, the more he began to understand what he was looking at.
Behind them, Greg heard their footsteps.
He turned around.
His eyes widened when he saw the three of them.
"Bell... Juro... Marc...?"
Greg quickly stood up and wiped the tears from his face.
But his eyes were already slightly red.
"Ah! Friends! What brings you all out here?" Greg said, keeping a soft smile on his face.
Marc looked up at him, already knowing there was sadness hiding behind that smile.
As Greg was about to open his mouth and continue, Marc simply stepped forward and gave him a hug.
The sudden hug left Greg confused for a moment, but that confusion almost instantly faded, replaced by sadness. He slowly hugged Marc back.
Tears lightly gathered in his eyes.
…
After a few minutes, all of them sat down on the ground. Greg first thanked Marc for the hug, though he still seemed a little embarrassed about being caught crying in front of the kids.
"Hehe... I'm kinda embarrassed getting caught crying in front of kids."
Marc quickly shook his head with a smile.
"Crying is good. It helps."
Greg smiled softly at Marc and nodded.
Juro then looked toward Greg's merchant wagon before glancing down at the horse lying on the ground.
"So... what happened?"
Greg looked down.
"Some bandits appeared out of nowhere on the road and tried to rob everything I had. I first tried to negotiate with them by giving them all my gold, but asking them to leave my wagon alone. But instead, they pulled out their bows and knives and pointed them at me.
Greg's hands slowly tightened.
"That was when my horse suddenly neighed and hit one of the bandits. I panicked and tried to turn my horse away, but one of them shot an arrow into my horse's eye, and another slashed its stomach.
"I panicked and wanted to treat the horse, but it continued moving off the road and into the forest. Then, lastly, another arrow was shot into its leg... I don't think the arrow they used was normal, since it pierced through the whole leg... but... but..."
Greg's voice faltered.
He stared at the ground for a moment before continuing.
"But the horse continued running through the forest, while also dodging the trees so my wagon wouldn't get hit. I tried to stop him, to give him some rest and treat his wounds immediately, but..."
His voice trailed off.
"Nooo! Please! Slow down! Please! Shhhhh... I'm here. I'm safe. We're safe. Please, slow down!"
..
"But he continued..."
His eyes grew watery.
"And after a while, he suddenly collapsed. That's how I ended up here."
His hands began to tremble.
"I... I immediately got off and quickly looked for some medicine and bandages. I tried treating him, but... but I was late..."
Silence settled over the group.
Marc sniffled hard, his eyes watering as he clenched his fists.
"How... How cruel..."
Bell looked at Marc before turning his attention back toward Greg.
Then he noticed something.
Greg's pants were ripped around the knee.
Bell stared at the torn fabric for a moment.
"When the horse collapsed, he must have immediately gotten off the wagon."
He could imagine what happened.
Greg had probably fallen while rushing down from the wagon, tearing his pants and hurting his knee in the process.
But he hadn't stopped to think about himself.
He had simply gotten back up and searched for medicine, doing everything he could for the horse.
Bell quietly looked at Greg.