Discordant Note | TBATE

Chapter 4: Pest Control

Toren Daen

I wound up my left arm as the mana beasts approached, a rock a bit bigger than a ping-pong ball clenched in my hand. I threw the rock at the rightmost creature, adding a burst of telekinesis as it left my hand. The projectile whizzed audibly as it approached its target. The monsters tried to move out of the way the moment I began to throw, but my projectile was too fast. It impacted against my target's back leg, the sound of bone cracking audible even from where I was.

The remaining monsters wasted no time rushing me as their friend's leg crumpled, slightly impeded by the creek as they splashed through. Mana rushed from my core to strengthen my body, but it was slow. I was forced to backpedal for a few seconds before the warmth finally spread to the rest of my body. Just in time, too: both of the monsters jumped at me from the front, trailing water behind them.

I swiped the air with my good arm, the crest on my back powering the action. My telekinesis pushed against the creature on my left midair with a burst of white mana, slamming it into its companion. They crashed together in a tangle of limbs and screeching snarls.

The rat-lizards tumbled into the creek haphazardly. They weren't hurt, really, just incredibly pissed off. They scrambled in the creek, kicking up water as they flailed to disengage. But they were wide open. Quickly retrieving a handful of rocks from my pouch, I threw them at the downed creatures with another burst of telekinesis. The spray pelted the two with a barrage of dull thumps, punching a dozen holes into the creatures. The creek began to run red as the two died, spasming and twitching with weak screeches.

Served them right. My anger was rising, vindictive pleasure bubbling in me as my enemies died. My pulse pounded in my ears; my breathing faster than normal as victory approached.

I turned back to the final monster, which was trying to piteously pull itself back into the forest on three legs, dragging a mangled hind leg behind it.

I watched the rat-lizard try and struggle away, emitting loud screech-snarls as it went. It was somewhere between a pig squealing and the snarl of a dog. But even I could recognize the terror the beast felt as I slowly followed after it.

My anger drained as I watched, replaced with pity and self-disgust. I shouldn't take joy in ending these mana beast's lives. This thing felt terror just as much as any animal I knew from Earth. And it knew it was going to die.

I silenced the thing with a well-placed stone to the head, giving it a quick death. Even if I let the rat-lizard go, it would be easy pickings for whatever other predator roamed these woods. They relied on their leaps and bounds to clear distance, but I had shattered its back leg. Its death was inevitable, whether that be to bleeding out or some other predator.

But my victory tasted like ashes in my mouth. I had never killed anything before coming to this world, and to go so quickly from terrified to vindictive unnerved me. I knew I needed to kill to survive in Alacrya, and I knew I would likely continue to kill. It was the nature of mages in this world: they were weapons first and foremost.

And now that I knew the patterns of these creatures? They were easy pickings for me, as long as I kept them at a distance and had a supply of pebbles.

I tracked north once more, noting the position of the creek in case I needed to track back for water. My steps were less cautious, now. I felt a great deal more confident in my steps now that I had overcome the greatest threat I had yet witnessed.

Feeling a bit bolder, I strengthened my limbs with mana once again. From experience, I knew that mana granted not just enhanced strength but also greater reflexes. I hoped I could put these to use now.

I peered up at the trees towering above me, casting shadows onto the forest floor as they blocked the sunlight with autumn leaves. I didn't recognize what kind of tree these were, but they were far taller than the average tree on Earth. The closest branch was some ten feet above me, well out of my reach.