When I hear the scream coming, I didn't deal further. It was coming from one of the houses that I had been nearby,  and they're ready as they've already been warned of the attack.

Opening the door of the house I saw a very gruesome scene. The boy was being crushed between the strong arms of the beast, that's right it had arms. The beast seemed like a unholy fusion between a wolf, a troll and something else ugly.

It had more than two meters in height and the head was like a wolf, the fangs on the upper lips breaking out of the mouth. The belly was big like it can house a big dog and had fat around all the body.

The arms, too, are full of fat and fur in intervals, but was a very hideous creature that's for sure.

The boy didn't died already but I can see that the light is almost fading from his eyes, I can't let it happen thought. I know that I want to be a mage but I know that my actual stats are focused in physical fights, maybe in the future I can fight as a full time mage but for now I'll continue in close combat while leveling Apprentice Magician.

Thus, the first thing I did wasn't throwing a fire ball, it was to combine [Punishment], [Powerful Blow] and [Weapon Enhancement] to unleash a devastating blow to the beast. 

I used Nameless Sword's Long Reach to hit the beast on the back, but that wasn't what happened. The beast released the boy in time and used the clawed feet to move away before I reached it.

The beast looked at me for a moment, probably analyzing my worth as prey and I used this chance to use [People Analysis].

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Elf; Female; 19

Shapeshifter 49

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The result was very different from my expectations though. Actually this hideous beast isn't a beast for see, but a elven young woman. Even more shocking was the level difference between we and her, she was in a level that I didn't expect to find here in this nowhere village.

The shock truly must have been enormous, enough to show on my face because I swear I saw a smirk in its face.

My movements stopped fro a moment but the Luna didn't had the same skill, so she still thinks we're fighting a beast. Without waiting for my orders Luna charged ahead with her Iron Scimitar and used some skill that enhanced her attack, also I had used [Weapon Enhancement] in her equipment during our preparation time.

She must had thought that I was waiting for her to take the lead as I should technically be our mage, but in fact I was shocked with the elf's strength. 

While I was shocked and Luna was trying to attack the girl, she must had decided that it wasn't worth anymore and decided to go away. Yes, that's right. She simply transformed in a bird and flew through the window.

I can't simply let her go away and not even discover what is her objective in coming here, someone this powerful won't be coming to the village just to play around.

"Luna!Can you track her?" I ask her.

"Yes, Master. I can few it. But the smell is disappearing very fast, somehow." She seemed confused by the fading of the track but she was still focused on feeling it.

"Then let's run. We need to find her." I said, already getting out of the house.

On our way out we found many other armed villagers coming our way, probably because they heard the beast howl. 

"How is he?"Asked one random villager, probably related to the young somehow.

"He is alive but the beast had hurt him. If he continues like that he may come to perish, someone must take care of him." I said while still running behind Luna, she was doing her best to track the thing even without a skill for it. I mustn't let her efforts waste away.

We then started a sprint through the whole village following the scents let out by the mysterious shapeshifter. Soon we reached a forest nearby the village, the one described by Luko beforehand.

When we reached this place a peculiar feeling started to spread through my chest, like a foreboding. Like something inside me telling me that the things won't be the same after entering here.

I shook my head and ordered, "Continue tracking." And she followed my instructions, even if with her tail unmoving.

We had to pass by many bush labyrinths and get lost many times inside the forest, we eventually found ourselves back to our pursuit but it wasn't without getting tired. 

Something weird that we had to notice was that the forest is completely silent, there wasn't a beast roar, a insect buzzing nor the chirping of birds. Everything is silent to the best it could, the only sound is the wind blowing through the trees.

After half hour walking through the forest, we finally found our target, or at least something close. 

What we truly found was a cave, a dark and creepy cave.

"Are you sure that it's this place? It seems too much a bad place to live but the perfect place for a hideout and this is exactly what I think we're searching.

"I'm sure, this place have the same scent of that hideous beast, my nose won't fail me right now!" Affirmed her, with much more enthusiasm than I thought appropriate for the occasion.

"Then let's enter." I said and stepped out to start exploring the cave.

It wasn't hard, not like the forest.

Outside the scents could be mixed with many others wild things, this together with the extraordinary properties of the scent made much harder to grasp it in the forest, 

Inside here, while she could sense many other animal scents, all of them flowed to the same direction. Supposedly this direction is our objective, the thing we're supposed to investigate.

We're just walking casually through the cave when I saw a light source, we started approaching the light when I suddenly heard a voice.

"This place is soooooo boooring! Why do we need to do what that mutt!? If he wants to do things he should do them himself! We don't have the obligation to do what he wants. Big Brother should never made that deal with him!" 

The voice was high pitched voice, like a little girl. She was whining about many things, specifically many things about a 'mutt'. Maybe that's a pejorative form to call a Bestia? 

"Stop whining. You only had to play around for a few days, I did all the hard work." Said another voice, this time deeper and more masculine, scolding the young one.

"Play around? Do you think that it was easy to make that villagers go on a wild goose chase in the forest? It was very hard!" Returned the girl.

"Anyway, you can stop whining already.  My skill's cooldown is almost over, soon we'll be able to get back." Said the man.

"But while we're here, why don't you go play with the little mice over there?" Said the man, and my body froze.

He apparently could detect us.

I hope that he was just bluffing, if not we could have gotten ourselves in a situation much worse than I had expected. I used [Slave Link] and told Luna to stay immobile, maybe he's truly bluffing.

"Why are you two waiting? Came out. If you can entertain her during my skill cooldown maybe we can let you two alive." I think that's where our chances to leave here alive just decline by almost hundred percent.

Without any other choice, I took Luna by the hand and decided to follow along with what they told me. I don't have that many options after all 

When I saw the two they're exactly what I was expecting to see, a young elven girl and a horned young man, probably devil. I didn't guessed their races but there's not difference.

When I saw the two my vision became glazed for a second, something more primitive inside me was telling me that I should run, run and never came back. My rational side thought otherwise, it said that if I run here my life will be instantly forfeited.

I decided to hear my rational side.

There are two people, a cute elven girl and a horned young man that think it's a Devil.

The girl was barely dressed in clothes, the only thing covering her body are small belts covering her crotch and tiny boobs. She looked at us with a predatory grin that shouldn't be on the face of someone so small.

The young man was the complete opposite, he was very well dressed, maybe he's a noble? He wasn't focused on us, in fact I think that he's completely indifferent to us.

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Elf; Female; 19

Shapeshifter 49

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Devil; Male; 22

Space Mage 48

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Their levels scared me, truly scared me. Even if I don't know how much their classes gave as bonus, the raw level already means many stats bonus.

"Well, well,well,well,well, what do we have here? Wasn't these the duo that found me out in the village? Haven't you two understood the gap between us at that time? I thought it was easy to see but I guess not so much." Said the little girl glancing us with a cheshire grin while approaching us.

"You two heard the game right? You'll need to entertain her for the next ten minutes. If you stand alive after that time, I'll ensure you that she we won't kill you." Said the Devil young man, looking completely bored and indifferent to our life and death.

And this was when I understood that coming here might not be my brightest idea.

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Skill Explanation:

Water Reading

This skill give the user a sense in the water currents, it also allows the user to sense underwater movements.

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Sorry for not posting this one yesterday, I had a very strong headache and had it hard getting up from bed.

I'm better now though.