An Army Camp view
An army general
General Austin Jacob reading records of his soldiers.
Suddenly A name on the paper grabbed his Attention.
He reading that document:-
"Hmmm.... Name - captain James Rodricks"
After reading that soldier report.
" Wow...., impressive report.
His eyes saw a sentence.
What , He never failed any mission, that's... really impressive...
Now , I think about it, I really need an apprentice, someone who will inherit - wisdom, strength and skill of mine.
And make my name proud.
After this, that old geezer Roussou can't humiliate me for not making any disciple.
I can turn this young child into Monster.
He has potential to inherit my skill.
Scene :- Hinokami Valley
With a sudden, monstrous burst, the beast charged—not with the sluggish bulk of a giant, but with a terrifying, unnatural speed. Yet, in that fraction of a second, barely enough to draw breath, the squad made their move.
Without hesitation, the entire unit dove. They leapt into the gaping maw of the valley, vanishing into the deep crevasse below just as the beast thundered past, snarling in frustration, its momentum carrying it forward to slam with bone-jarring force against the mountain stone.
Wind screamed around them as they descended. Their bodies twisted mid-air with trained, fluid grace, landing silently onto the thick, ancient branches that stretched out like colossal veins through the valley's heart. Like shadows woven into the forest, they sprinted and glided across bark and leaf, their footfalls hushed, their eyes fixed on the fleeing shapes.
Deep beneath the world above, they resumed their hidden pursuit, eyes fixed on the cloaked group. After hours of relentless movement through the valley's labyrinthine depths, they finally emerged onto a vast, flat plain.
A dense forest stretched before them—silent, deadly, cloaked in towering trees whose canopies devoured the sunlight. Massive roots coiled along the ground like serpents, and the air hung heavy with damp mist.
The squad regrouped, landing lightly on the forest floor, their breaths steady. Hans Luther glanced back toward the valley, his voice calm but urgent. "It's already morning, Captain," he murmured. "And we need to report that beast sighting immediately."
James Rodricks remained silent for a moment, his sharp eyes narrowed, his mind adrift in thought. Jack Dawns, catching the subtle shift in his commander's expression, asked, "What are you thinking, Captain?"
"That monstrous beast…" James's voice was a low growl, laced with a rare tremor. "I've never seen or heard of its like." He shook his head, regaining focus. "No time to dwell. We need to find the group immediately."
Without another word, the squad scattered like shadows, fanning out across the woods with the silent grace of trained assassins. Leaping between roots, darting between trunks, they scoured the ground for any trace.
Suddenly, a voice cut through the silence. "Found them!" Hans signaled from a few meters away. The others swiftly regrouped. At the base of a gnarled tree lay a broken twig, a partial footprint—faint, but undeniably fresh. James's eyes sharpened. "Let's go."
They charged forward, pushing their bodies to their absolute limits. Trees blurred past, a green and shadowed tunnel. Wind tore at their faces. But after an hour, their relentless pace began to falter. Breaths grew heavier, movements slightly slower. James finally raised a clenched fist—a signal. They halted.
"Enough," he commanded, his voice steady despite the exertion. "We switch to normal pace from here."
Jack raised a brow, wiping sweat from his forehead. "We're close?"
James nodded. "Yes. And if they realize we're behind them, they'll attack. We need our full strength when that happens. Regain your stamina. This isn't over yet."
The squad took a moment—catching their breath, sharpening their focus, the forest stretching onward, waiting.
After running a few more miles through the thick, sun-dappled silence of the forest, Captain James Rodricks narrowed his eyes and slowed his pace. "It looks like we've found them," he whispered, raising a hand to signal the squad to halt. "From now on, we can't let them sense we're behind—"
But he couldn't finish.
A wave of sheer dread washed over them, shivering their very souls—an invisible force that sank straight into their bones, cold and ancient, as if something truly monstrous had just materialized beside them. Hans gasped, his voice thin. "W-What is this presence…?" The air thickened, pressing down, and the trees around them groaned as if in pain.
In an instant, James's instincts screamed a singular command. "FALL BACK—NOWWWW!" he roared.
He leapt backward, grabbing Jack and Daniel Dawns by their arms and pulling them with him. The entire squad retreated a few steps, breaths ragged, eyes wide with terror.
And then—
CRAAAACKKK!!!
The forest exploded as a massive, shadowy arm—gnarled and thick as an ancient, corrupted tree—ripped through the woods. Bark splintered, mighty trunks shattered. The sheer pressure of its swing shredded the very air, cleaving it like a blade. It tore through the exact spot where they had stood mere seconds ago.
"What the hell was that?!"
Jack shouted, his heart hammering against his ribs.
"What the hell was that?!"
James, already drawing his blade with a harsh rasp of steel, his eyes locked on the shattered treeline, growled, "That… was no ordinary beast."