20 Chapter 20: This forest has a cat problem

Atop the bloody mess was a mass of black fur, against the darkening sky seemed to fade in and out of existence as though illusory. A pair of glowing yellow eyes that shimmered like countless stars, a long black tail swaying lazily as though a snake waiting to pounce.

The group found themselves staring as the system warned, " Moonlit Panther detected."

Annie's eyes sparkled, " It's another kitty!! I can catch this one right?"

Kenny shrugged and responded, " I mean you can go ahead and try, my question is will it listen to you?"

Jayson spoke up at this point, " I say we kill it, collect the corpse, and move on. "

The Moonlit Panther grew agitated, not only was the intimidating entrance it made overlooked, these kids before it were actually talking causally. About capturing it or killing it, never before had it felt such disrespect.

It roared, "You dare speak about capturing or killing me?! The most beautiful and dazzling Sharp Tooth, One of the 10 Divine Claws!! Before I was just going to kill one of you, but now all of you will die here!!

Kenny broke away from the group and approached casually, he looked up with a smile and asked, "Sharp Tooth is it? Are you here by yourself?"

The Moonlit Panther known as Sharp Tooth responded plainly, "Of course not, there are three more of my tribesmen here. Three of us to wreck havoc and one to oversee."

Kenny didn't let up and followed with, "What's your goal?"

Sharp Tooth continued, "We were sent by our tribe leader to find a kid with an odd power, and bring him back dead or alive. Knowing him, preferably dead."

Kenny turned to Faith, "Is that enough information or should I go for more?"

Sharp Tooth was dazed thinking to herself, " Why did I just tell him that? That was strange, he's strange."

Faith shook her head, looking to Annie then Kenny before quietly saying, "Scatter." Her body vanishing leaving a faint trace of flame in the air, Annie frowned clearly wanting to stay behind but didn't linger as her mana circulated. A pair of wasp wings sprouted from her back in a flourish, with a flap Annie vanished leaving only a barely audible buzzing in her wake.

Kenny simply stride away into the forest at what seemed a normal pace, but with a single step he had traveled the distance of thirty, with the second Kenny was no longer in view.

Sharp Tooth regained her senses, realizing only one was left standing before her chuckling, "Seems it's works on other living beings as well, heh that guy is really scary."

Sharp Tooth was startled as she found that she could no longer feel the presence of the other three, they had completely vanished as though they didn't exist. What's more was this child was standing there so casually, as though free from worry. Though the smile he bore seemed warm and compassionate, however it didn't reach his eyes that were void of even the faintest emotion.

Sharp Tooth stared thinking to herself , "This is a child in front of me, yet it feels like I'm facing something more sinister. I should keep my guard up just in case."

Jayson broke the silence, "Here kitty kitty, let me pet your belly. I've got salmon or tuna if you prefer." Lightly clapping his hands in beckoning to Sharp Tooth.

Sharp Tooth instantly forgot about keeping on her guard, rage filling the very center of her being. Such disrespect coming from a child barely old enough to drink, and to say it so casually as though it was a natural thing to do. This further infuriated Sharp Tooth who growled, the muscles in her body flexed as a simple flick of her tail was enough to launch Sharp Tooth at Jayson.

Monstrous power rippled through Sharp Tooth's body as her claws extended, low ranking Adventures, Mages, and Monsters wouldn't dream of trying to meet this attack head on.

Her claws seemed to tear asunder the very fabric of reality as Sharp Tooth attacked, Jayson stood there smiling devilishly seeming to do nothing to defend himself. This set alarms off in Sharp Tooth's head but she didn't care, if he didn't defend she would attack and once it landed he would die. That's all that mattered in this moment for Sharp Tooth.

Jayson's smile intensified as he gently shook his arm, an shadowy object seemed to materialize and extend from nowhere. It collided with Sharp Tooth's claw with greater force, the shock was strong enough to send Sharp Tooth flying into the bloody pile that she has leapt from.

Dazed and covered in blood and various body parts, Sharp Tooth struggled to sit up for a moment flexing the claw that bore the impact. It was numb and the feeling was slowly intensifying, spreading along Sharp Tooth's body. This worried Sharp Tooth as she quickly looked up and nearly cried, Jayson hadn't moved from his position but was now holding a long pole with a curved blade.

It hung above him silently like a waxing crescent moon, a bluish-green light softly emitted from the weapon. As though it was spectral against the darkening forest, the blade humming as Jayson brandished it.

Sharp Tooth shook herself to be freed of loose body parts, standing Sharp Tooth glared, "That glow. . . Ahh, I see. Last time Ive heard that weapon was supposed to belong to a Craig the Noble." As Sharp Tooth stepped away from the pile, her tail subtly wrapped about a stray limb tucking it away from view.

Jayson shrugged, "Well I'm not Craig and I'm certainly not Noble."

Sharp Tooth giggled slyly, "It would appear so, then tell me how'd did you come across Lions Bane and what is that weird object you've got it transformed into?"

As Sharp Tooth finished asking her question Jayson had started moving, the blade dancing through the air like a glowing ribbon. It's movement random yet graceful as though a fast paced dance, Jayson twirled the pole deftly between his fingers making the fast moving blade even harder to see.

Jayson arrived before Sharp Tooth a breath after she spoke, swinging the weapon with enough force to tear apart the very space Sharp Tooth was occupying.

Sharp Tooth grunted and jumped away from the attacking Jayson, "You attack while I'm asking questions, that's rather rude. Here let me show you manners!!"

While Sharp Tooth had just avoided Jayson's attack, his body was left open for a counter. Sharp Tooth wasn't going to be nice and over look a chance to inflict damage, in the space that distances the two Sharp Tooth's claw was hurtling toward Jayson.

As the claw reached out a vast and mystical energy surged, covering Sharp Tooth's claw in a grey light that formed projections of various phases of the moon. Jayson watched with high interest thinking to himself, " It seems they have their own way of using Skills, and this Kitty's using the moon as a reference."

Extending the weapon out toward Sharp Tooth, he gave the pole a light shake causing it to tremble a moment before exploding forward. It was before Sharp Tooth in an instant who had little choice but to meet it head on with her own attack, the claw pushed forward as a projection of a full moon rose before it smashing into the blade.

The resulting shock wave was enough to force Jayson backwards a step, Sharp Tooth received the brunt of the impact and was sent hurtling away. Flying through the bloody pile into a tree behind it, coughing up blood as Sharp Tooth landed in a heap.

Jayson shook the pole causing it to shrink back to its original size, "I suppose it would be nice to let you know what I'm wielding, it's called a Scythe. Forgive me as I just remembered you asked earlier, I was completely preoccupied."

As Sharp Tooth struggled to remove herself from the tree she growled, "What could have had you distracted?" Trying to grab hold onto the trunk Sharp Tooth noticed that she no longer had two claws as before, only her left claw and a stump where her right used to be.

Pain tore through Sharp Tooth's body as purplish-red blood flowed from the stump, and slowly the mild numbness from before was becoming pronounced. Sharp Tooth was at a loss for this situation, they had only clashed twice and she was hurt to this extent. Meanwhile this child who was only equipped with a single magic weapon, one designed to kill Sharp Tooth's race no less was unharmed.

Jayson was still watching as though he enjoyed watching Sharp Tooth struggle, responded plainly, " I was just wondering, if you would land on your feet is all. I was disappointed after discovering the answer."

"I guess there is no point in playing anymore."

After he finished speaking the atmosphere around him seemed to change drastically. The smile he bore faded slowly, the intense look in his eyes settled and were calm.

This new look made Sharp Tooth's heart skip a beat. A new feeling arose in her heart, it crawled over Sharp Tooth's skin making her shudder. It felt as though the gaze of a powerful demonic beast locked onto her, the air seemed heavier as Sharp Tooth's breathing shortened.

This feeling was both strange and familiar, having not felt as such in a very long time brought a look of confusion to Sharp Tooth.

Jayson noticed this instantly and giggled, "The poor kitty doesn't realize she's afraid, well anyone who's about to die would be."

He said this naturally as though it was the correct thing to say, without a hint of arrogance to be found in his voice.