World Keeper

Chapter 23: The Birth of Power

Wild shrieks rang through the woods, startling the group of five Felyn that had been hiding in the shelter of a hollowed tree. This was a small family, one not lucky enough to have stumbled upon the many cities of the Beastkin yet. Among the family was a mother, father, two sons, and youngest being a small girl. When they heard the sounds of the wild beasts, they knew a disaster was coming. 

Until a few suns ago, they had been safe. The beasts of the land had not been strong enough to offer too much of a fight for them. At that time, they had been travelling with ten members of their family. But, ever since they had been permitted to gain more power, apparently the beasts had as well. The next day, they lost two of their eldest against a pack of giant wolves with spikes of glittering stone coming from their back. 

By now, these five people were all that were left of their family, and once again they heard the call of those ferocious wolves. There was no longer anyone left in the family that had reached the previous apex of power, even the two adults had barely made it halfway before the ‘update’. As such, they knew that this could very well be the end of their family. In a desperate attempt to survive, the five of them ran madly through the forest, jumping between trees and bushes, making sure none of their own fell behind. 

But the more they ran, the closer they heard the howls of the wolves, the cracking of branches as they were hunted. The father, Braksol, gritted his teeth and jumped back away from the family. “Go!” He shouted to the rest of them, moving to place himself between the wolves and the only people he cared for in this world. 

His mate looked back with watery eyes, unwilling to let Braksol sacrifice himself. But, she knew that she had to live on, to care for their two sons, and the daughter she carried in her arms. Closing her eyes tight, she turned to run, apologizing to her mate in her heart for having to leave him. 

Braksol, seeing that his family had obeyed him and left, smiled gently. This was the only way they could survive another day, the only way they could hope to escape the territory of these vicious beasts. As the strongest of them, it was his duty to protect them to his last breath. As his brother had done for them, and their father before him. 

Gathering up his inner energy, Braksol wrapped it around his fists, waiting for the wolves to be visible. Although he was not as powerful as his elder brother or their father, he had learned the Monk class from them. This was his greatest weapon in a fight, and he swore to himself that he would take at least one of those wolves down with him. 

Another series of howls rang through his ears, and he saw as a dozen large wolves jumped from behind a thick tree. These were the beasts he had prepared for. Each one had three glittering spikes of polished stone on their backs, and cold, unfeeling eyes. The moment they saw him, they hesitated. These monsters, the ironback wolves, had met similar encounters during their hunts previously. Each time, they suffered losses, and so they were unwilling to divert their attention. 

Seeing that they had really stopped, Braksol gave a small grin. “Come at me, then!” He yelled, charging towards the nearest wolf. His foot slammed heavily into the ground, carrying him towards his target immediately. Bringing his fist forward, he smashed it into the head of the lead wolf. 

An explosion echoed from his punch, and the wolf fell off to the side. Braksol didn’t know if he had killed the beast, or merely stunned it, but he did not have any time to think about it. Two more of the wolves had charged at him in a fury, and he saw his death quickly approaching. While he might be able to take one on with a surprise attack, he could never have the strength to defeat two at once. 

“Oh, seems I made it just in time.” A familiar voice echoed through the trees. This was a voice Braksol had heard before, but he could not place its origin. He was about to call for the owner of the voice to run before he felt a sudden rush of wind behind him. If not for the fact that the person had bumped his tail, Braksol would not even be entirely sure that someone was there. 

The next moment, the two wolves that had attacked him were sent flying. There was no skill employed that he could see, only raw strength. This mysterious newcomer, a Kitsune with golden hair, calmly stood in front of him, looking at Braksol without any regards for the beasts encircling them. 

“You’ll do.” He said, a slight smile on his face. “But first, let’s take care of the cleanup.” He cast his eyes around him, and Braksol felt a cold sweat forming on his back, an invisible pressure sweeping over him. He watched as a blue mist seemed to pour out of this man’s skin, before he again vanished into thin air. 

Braksol had no time to consider whether the man’s presence had been an illusion or not, because he reappeared nine times. Each time, it was as if he had taken just a single step, and with each step he placed his palm against one of the beasts before vanishing again. Nine steps, nine wolves, and then he was again standing before Braksol, looking at him calmly while the wolves just stared with vacant eyes. 

“Do you want power?” He asked, as the wolves surrounding them suddenly collapsed to the ground. This strength… Braksol had been prepared to sacrifice his life to buy his family just one more day to live, and yet this man had appeared to deal with the wolves in practically the time it takes to blink. Even without the man showing hostility to Braksol, he felt fear. Fear that originated from the very depths of his being, as if he was facing an opponent he could never hope to match. 

“Y-yes.” He heard himself saying, before he could fully think about it, and then hastily spoke up. “But my mate! My kits!” Suddenly, Braksol snapped himself out of his stupor, turning in the direction that his family had run. 

“Ah, they went that way, then?” The Felyn felt a hand grab his shoulder, and then his surroundings began to warp and shift. He saw different trees appearing in front and beside him, and then immediately vanish. A few seconds later, he saw his family, his mate still frantically running while tears flowed down her face. Never before had he been so happy to see her, and he couldn’t help but call out to her. 

“Britta!” Without even worrying about the powerful stranger, he leapt forward. Britta, having heard that, turned back and looked at him with wide, silver eyes. Naturally, she had no idea that the wolves had been defeated, and could only think that he had found a chance to escape back to them. 

“Braksol!” She cried out, tears still streaming from her eyes as she went into his embrace. She rubbed her head against his chin for a moment before coming to her senses. “Hurry, we need to leave! They’ll find us again soon.” She turned to run again, grabbing Braksol’s wrist with her free hand while the other carried their daughter. However, she found that he was not running with her. She tried to pull him, but found him unmoving. “Braksol, what…?” 

“It’s okay, they’re dead. They’re all dead.” She stared vacantly at him, neither one of them able to fully believe the words he had said. It was only at this time that she noticed the golden haired Kitsune standing behind Braksol. 

“Who is he?” She asked, defensively. She unconsciously hid herself behind Braksol’s back, feeling a strange sensation of strength from the newcomer. It was hard to put it to words, like he had been blessed as the holder of some new power. 

However, her mate only smiled, patting her shoulder. “He saved me.” 

It was at this time that the man stepped forward, looking at them all. Braksol’s two sons moved to stand protectively at either side of their mother. It was not uncommon for people of other families to try to force themselves on women they encountered in the wild, and some had attempted to do the same to Britta, before they lost the protection of their larger family. 

“I offered him power. And I make that same offer now. Do you all want power?” His golden eyes looked as if they could see right through them, penetrating to the depths of their soul. “Do you want the power to never fear these monsters?” 

The Felyn couldn’t help but tense at his words, having been told that this man indeed had the power to kill what their entire family could not. However, he continued speaking. “If you accept, I will teach you a new class. One that nobody else in this land has seen before.” 

Britta wasn’t sure why, but she found herself lowering to her knees, her head bowed in submission. To either side of her, her two sons were performing the same movement. Only Braksol seemed to resist this unconscious desire to submit to the stranger. 

Looking back at his family, Braksol turned his gaze towards the golden haired stranger. “We accept.” 

When the two words left his mouth, they felt a greater pressure rise up from this man than before, and their bodies began to tremble. His mouth curved into an almost vicious looking smile, his sharp canines poking out between his lips. “Good. Let’s get started, then.” 

For the rest of the day, this stranger–Dayl, he called himself– instructed the Felyn family on the use of internal energy to teach them the Monk class. He called this energy Ki, and said that they needed to remember that. Once they all had that class, he taught them another. Again, this was a class they had witnessed before, the Mage class. 

At first, they were concerned if he was really going to teach them something new, but too afraid to speak up against him. All they could do was silently lower their heads and accept the ideas he gave them. First, to not rely on the ‘system’ to complete their spells and abilities, and to strive to do so themselves. Dayl told them that this was of utmost importance, otherwise they would never raise in strength. 

It was only three days later, after he had made sure they each knew how to perform as both a Mage and a Monk, before he taught them the promised new class. And it was at this time that they understood why they had been taught as they had. They watched as he gathered Ki in one hand, and Mana in the other, then brought the two together to form a strange blue mist. Dayl called this new energy Chakra, and said that it was the basis for the new class he was teaching them. 

Having been trained specifically for this, it did not take the family of Felyn very long to grasp this new power. Although one of the sons had a backlash from trying to force the energies together, Dayl simply vanished for a brief period, returning with some green slime that he rubbed on the boy’s wounds. The family members watched as the red bar which signified his life, the bar that had almost been emptied in that explosion, slowly refilled itself. 

By the end of the fourth day, all four of the family members had earned the Ninja class. During this time, they had met with no hardship. Any time a monster approached, Dayl would swiftly dispatch it with a single palm strike. But now, he was telling them that it was his time to go. Four days ago, they might wish for nothing more than this monster of a man to leave their family alone, but now they were afraid of what would happen if he did. 

He could only reassure them that they would be fine, as long as they followed his teachings. They had also been instructed to gather other families to share this knowledge with, to ensure that it is passed down. Dayl seemed almost pleased with himself as he gave them one last look, before vanishing from their sight a final time. 

Phew, finally done with that. I sighed in relief, reviewing the messages that had appeared before I left. These four days of training were… well, I guess I would say stressful. I had to be awake at all hours of the day, in order to make sure that no monsters or wild beasts had attacked. Thankfully, this family caught on pretty quick, and I was able to make it in time.