'Was that a memory or some sort of premonition?' Damon pressed his lips together, struggling to take everything in as light bulbs brightened and burned in his mind. His body felt even stronger after absorbing the strange spiritual energy but it was obvious his injuries hadn't been mended.
He raised a hand and slicked his bangs upwards, sweeping away the salty sweat that drenched his forehead and threatened to enter the cuts across his face.
Then his brows began to crease.
Once again he had grasped at the occult and perceived the things he likely shouldn't have. But he wasn't pleased in the slightest. Whilst he fantasized of such things happening and giving him a chance to leave home, the pain thumping against his mind wasn't one he wished to endure.
"Let's hope this doesn't keep happening. I'm not sure my heart can handle all this.."
Damon breathed a sigh of exasperation as he opened the rustic green pack. He subsequently found the medicine vials that Tomoe had prepared and picked up a glass, gently removing the wooden cork seal.
Then he tilted the glass over his face. The golden liquid inside poured out straightaway, sinking beneath the open pores of his copper skin like water filling a sponge.
After almost twenty seconds, he instinctively lowered his head and examined his chest and shoulder, noticing the stinging pain had subsided. He then brushed his hand against his soft cheeks. At this moment, the cuts on his face had closed.
'Wish I didn't have to use that so soon but at least I still have some left..'
In any case it was unlikely any others would be squandered once he met up with the other visitors. That was assuming the old woman had also given them the same supplies.
In the meantime, Damon's confused mind quickly settled down as he felt recuperated. He stood up and hurriedly put his dried grey gi top back on. Then with practiced ease, he stretched his right arm to lift the pack and rushed into the forest.
Rustle!
Just then the sudden sound of rustling in the bushes behind him quickened his pace. Damon cast a glance over his shoulder, feeling a chill just in time to catch a long shadow wrapped around a tree as it lunged towards him.
'So a beast was lurking nearby huh?'
The beast had diamond-shaped brown patterns on its skin. It looked large enough to completely swallow him and heavy enough to carve the ground as it moved.
Yet he didn't flinch.
Damon immediately extended his blade, coating it in spiritual energy. He casually performed a horizontal slash, splitting the serpent's head in two before slipping by as the two halves and the rest of the creature's coiled body thumped to the ground.
As he continued moving, his enhanced senses stretched wide and the area at the back of his neck began to tingle.
"Tch. This sensation again? Does that mean another beast is close..?" As Damon looked around, he soon noticed nine distinct clumps of spiritual energy scattered ahead in the distance.
At first it was hard to discern what they were as the colours seemed to blend together with the surroundings but as he kept running the mists began to solidify and the bloodlusted within became clear.
'Six beasts maybe... That means the other three must be humans.' He quickly deduced.
They had to be the signatures of the visitors Tomoe had mentioned.
'I can't lose them. They're the only ones who can give me answers.'
Damon pushed harder, his legs burning as he closed the distance. The forest grew denser, the undergrowth thicker, but he didn't slow. He weaved between trees, vaulted over fallen logs, his breath coming in sharp, controlled bursts.
Finally, the ground dropped away before him and his eyes fell on the figures of a middle-aged man and woman standing beside a young boy as they were being encircled by a pack of six dire wolves.
The man had shaggy red hair, a chilly look in his brown eyes, visible through the faceplate and stood tall like a brawny brute. He was head and shoulders above the woman and clad from head to toe in a knightly armour.
But it was evident this man was no royal hand or righteous crusader. No, he was a warrior wearing indigo metal that lacked any sheen. Metal riddled with cracks and dents that dispelled all doubts of the wearer's experience.
The woman, on the other hand, gave off a more refined yet deadly air. She looked striking with blonde hair and matching emerald eyes. So much so you could almost ignore the array of blades sheathed all over her attire.
She wore tight fitting leather pants, marsell ankle boots and a corset paired with a puffy sleeved dark grey blouse fastened down her wrist by metal gauntlets and the brown holster straps buckled around her shoulders, hips and legs.
In Damon's eyes, this was the kind of getup you'd only see in cities or villages further north of Aegis or Koinonia where the cold could offset the rising body heat that came from donning all that leather.
But it was undoubtedly the attire of a killer.
And the wild canines sensed it too. While they were much larger than any Damon had seen wandering near the orphanage during winter, the duo's gazes remained unperturbed, staring into those yellow eyes.
The beasts snarled and growled, baring fangs dripping saliva but their expressions remained unchanged.
The woman was the first to act. She charged at the nearest wolf to her right, wielding a set of twin daggers pulled from her sides. She skillfully carved a deep gash across the wolf's snout before diving back as the man followed up with a swing of his large hammer.
Bang! Bang!
The heavy weapon swept the air as the two blows landed, smashing the wolf's skull and sending another two behind it flying.
Instinctively, Damon crouched and peered through the foliage to observe the situation.
"Those two aren't bad; those attacks had spiritual energy reinforcement." He muttered. Shortly after he said this, his eyes began to wander to the third member of the group who was the least eye-catching. "Is he just as good..?"
The blond boy's appearance seemed gaudy compared to his companions as he was adorned with gold plated shin guards and wrist gauntlets paired with a flat chest plate engraved with the insignia of a black wolf.
His stance was unstable and his arms shook as if it were his first time wielding a blade.
His face had gone pale as he struggled to breathe, using the broad sword defensively to stave off the other three wolves.
'Should I help?' Damon hesitated to help knowing he was an unknown third party. He decided to continue watching for now but his hand remained resting on his weapon.
Knocking the sword to the side, the fourth wolf lunged towards the inexperienced member. Luckily, the dagger wielder rushed to his aid, pushing him behind her as the wolf sank its fangs into her right arm.
Crunch!
The sound of bones breaking came shortly after yet her expression remained unchanged as she drove her other dagger into the wolf's neck.
The large man wielding the hammer quickly moved to shield her, sensing another wolf rushing towards them. He immediately slammed the wolf aside with his armoured shoulder plate.
But this action left the third member unprotected from the rear and open to another wolf's assault.
Seeing the wolf closing in on its prey, Damon sprang into action without hesitation. He reinforced his body and blade with maximum output and leapt down, quickly closing the distance.
Bang!
As his eyes turned crimson, he fell on top of the wolf, the sheer force collapsing the beast's spine. The blade extension was insanely sharp, easily piercing through the beast's skull, creating an explosive crater from the impact with the ground.
Damon stood up and was sprayed with blood as he pulled the blade from the skull.
'I'll never get used to this,' he thought, frowning in disgust.
He retracted his energy from the blade and shifted his gaze from the still twitching body below him. Then he noticed the air had gone still.
The hammer wielder had finished off the last wolf and was currently brandishing his hammer towards him suspiciously.
"Is it too much to get a simple thanks?" Damon asked jokingly.