Lyren recalled when he saved Julia and it was somehow similar. Well he did not technically save her as he was also sent flying...
He came back to the present and realized that he did not have the speed to quickly react but he instantly recalled his flames.
He did not bother with arrays and he quickly formed a fireball which he threw at the hyena which was caught off guard as a black patch was formed when its fur was burned.
It shrieked and turned at Lyren. It red eyes turned redder and it quickly turned and charged at him. Lyren gauged the speed and he was quick to evade.
He rolled sideways and stood up as quickly as he could and the hyena stopped five meters away and took split seconds to turn. Lyren turned to Claire and shouted.
"You should leave now! I will keep encountering stronger beasts and I will not be able to save you again. It's relatively safe with many hunters around.
"You will make it," Lyren sent her off and he focused on the enemy at hand. Her survival was up to her from then on.
Claire listened and she understood. He was right and she was pushing her luck too much. She found his confidence somehow amusing as he was already thinking of facing beasts stronger than the one at hand.
This was enough to discourage her and also convince her and she did not hesitate as she left. The hyena gave her a glance that sent er chills and she ended up running.
A tear falling as she was useless.
Lyren listened to her fading footsteps and the hyena standing before him seemed to glare. He took the chance to attack as he ran towards the hyena and it too charged at him.
They collided instantly and if someone was to see him having a head on battle with it, it was impossible to tell what their reaction would be.
The sword slashed downwards and the hyena seemed to have some experience as it perfectly timed Lyren's sword and bit it.
Lyren tried to pull it but the grip was tight and he had to let go as the hyena was already swiping its right claw. If that hit him, he was going to be done for.
He somersaulted backwards surprising himself as the claw swiped at the empty air.
Lyren stopped two meters away as he watched the hyena try to bite the sword and break it. It appeared it was habitual but it was not its day as it shook its head and threw the sword away, unable to break it.
Lyren was disarmed and the hyena had the upper hand. The two stared at each other before they charged again.
The hyena this time jumped and Lyren was caught off guard and he had to evade sideways but he was slightly slow as he was evading.
The same claw he had been evading scratched at his chest leaving three shallow gashes and tearing his t-shirt.
He finally escaped but blood started dripping and pain assaulted him. He narrowed his eyes realizing he was being careless.
The sword was so far away almost twenty meters away and to make matters worse, it had cut into a tree. There was no way he was beating the hyena in terms of speed and he had to fight barehanded and focus on what he had.
He stood up just in time as the hyena turned towards him. He quickly created a fireball and attacked the hyena which evaded.
Lyren gritted his teeth because it was not easy at all. He lost in everything and the hyena had better reaction, speed and agility than him.
These were thing he was going to have to work on.
He ran sideways with the opening he had gotten but the hyena caught up and he turned once more and threw a fireball which the hyena evaded easily.
He could see menace written in its eyes and he felt it getting on his nerves. He threw successful fire balls and they were all evaded. He was also heading in the opposite direction from the sword.
Lyren quickly closed his eyes and opened the mind's eye and drew an amplification array before him.
He had obviously read more on arrays and he realized he could attack directly using created arrays but using his own energy.
He created two more arrays and he could feel exhaustion creeping on him.
Three arrays all half a meter wide floated in the air and surrounded the hyena. Lyren's stretched hand was the controller and the golden core glowed brighter and changed to a deep red.
The hyena was confused about what these floating round lights were but it was about to find out as something seemed to emerge from the cores almost like an inflammation.
When the limit was exceeded, the inflamed part tore up and what came out was so fast that the hyena could not keep up. They were small fire arrows that hit the hyena from three direction as it was left unable to move.
The attacks were well timed to hit a specific part and the hyena's coat was cut through like it was butter and painful cries left the hyena as it seemed to shed tears.
One of the arrows had torn through its stomach and it had invaded its innards. The pain of internal organs burning made it fall sideways and start rolling as it was unable to even wail anymore.
The other three arrows were not an exception and the combined damage did not spare a single of its organs.
The hyena died with its body intact, eyes wide open and popping out and its mouth was open and its teeth biting on its tongue.
One could have thought it was smiling in the way it had its teeth arranged and apart from biting its tongue, it might have been easier to assume that it had died peacefully.
Lyren dispersed the three arrays and he felt a chill. That was an amplification array in action and he could not help but wonder how powerful it was.
Of course, to kill a seventh stage beast with only three strikes was clear proof that it was powerful.
He did not think that there was anything of important in it as he had destroyed its inner organs.
He went and pulled his sword from the tree bark and sheathed it.
He then went deeper in search for better opponents and on his way, he swallowed a pill and he got into more fights and in many of them, he used the same formular until he realized he was destroying even the core.
That was when he started using the sword.
Beasts started avoiding him in the same level as he carried some intent to kill and it was not until the following day that he found another opponent.
He spent his night on top of a tree and he had reflected on arrays and he could tell his mental energy improved. Unbeknownst to him, a storm was brewing.
***
All hunters had a meeting later at dusk at the edge of the forest and majority of them had a complaint.
"Which of you has been killing beasts and burning the internal organs?" A hunter asked.
"I have been meaning to ask too. Someone actually thinks that it is cool to play with hunters like that...
"Wait until we identify who it is and he shall pay!"
"All those who use fire element will have to be investigated!"
They were all mad. Many had seen intact beast corpses and they had thought that they were lucky someone had left behind a steal but they were being pranked.
Their anticipation was thwarted when they opened the beasts and realized it had no inner organs. From the burning, they could tell even the core was burned.
Stage seven beasts even as corpses were very useful but corpses alone without inner organs were almost useless with the fur and meat which were relatively cheaper being what they found.
Some had tasted the meat and it had the burnt taste. Who was going to buy it?
One could understand their rage because the culprit should have burned the entire beast instead. To make matters worse, many beasts had been killed and more had even retreated.
The day was unproductive but the culprit was on top of a tree reading on arrays oblivious of the turmoil he had caused.