The Magnos

A loud roar echoed through the thicket of the True Forest. The source of the cry, a large gargantuan beast with spiky brown bristles, jaggered ivory tusks, each a foot long and hardened black hooves, giving it a resemblance to a wild boar. Covering its body were several cuts that seemed to be from a weapon. The monster ran quickly, knocking down trees that blocked its path.

”Come back here! ” A male voice called from behind.

The beast had no intention of heeding this demand. Since it had been a piglet, no other creature in the forest was able to stand up to it. As he grew, so did his power. He quickly moved to the top of the hierarchy. However this strange thing covered in weird skin came from no where and almost killed him.

The creature chasing the beast was a teenage boy with short kinky black hair and hazel eyes. His thick lips were in a quirky smirk despite the tension of the situation. His skin was a creamy brown that made his dimples stand out. He was dressed in dark leather pants, hunting boots and a soft green hooded cloth over his jerkin. Strapped on his back was a quiver filled with bows. One was knocked in his bow as he ran after the beast.

”Come back here! ” He yelled at the hog before firing the arrow.

The projectile flew at blinding speeds, striking the beast before it could even notice. The force made it stumble, a stumble which turned into a tumble, and resulted in a fall. The creature grunted as it stood to its feet. Enough was enough. It had decided to kill this creature even if it was the last thing it did.

The boy smiled on seeing the monsters change of attitude. He quickly drew another bow and aimed at it.

”Come at me. ” He taunted.

Like a bull seeing red, the warth hog like beast charged at the boy. He began to fire arrows at the creature. The hogs tough hide and velocity made the arrows shatter on impact, rendering them ineffective. The beast made a sound of pleasure as it was a moment away from impaling this insufferable thing with it tusks.

The archer simply smiled as the hog drew closer to him. He ran the opposite direction, leading the beast with him. Due to its unintelligible brain, the beast had no idea of what he was doing. He quickly jumped on to a tree in front of him and launched himself off of it, flying of the hog.

With no way to avoid it, the hog crashed into the tree the archer jumped off of and brought it down. It felt three sharp pinches on its rear as the boy fired arrows at its backside. The hog let out a deafening bellow and charged again.

The boy continued to dodge, weave and provoke the beast, leading it to the point where his partner was waiting for him. Unfortunately, his karma for teasing the creature caught up to him as he slipped while trying to get his footing a rock.

Ivory tusks immediately rammed into his stomach, drawing blood from the boys mouth. With the archer still on his tusks, the hog slammed them into the ground and flung him at a tree. His impact with said tree was followed by a sickening cracking of bones. The beast knew no greater joy than what he was experiencing at the moment. In an attempt to savour its kill, the hog trotted slowly to the brutalised archer.

The archer on the other hand laughed at a monsters stupidity. A distinct whistling noise that was barely audible before could now be heard well. The whistling grew louder and louder, causing the hog to look around in search of its source.

”You
e in the impact zone. ” The archer grinned widely with his blood stained teeth.

Suddenly, a shirtless boy around a the same age as the archer or older crashed into the hog. The force of the crash was enough to break the ground beneath it and shift the roots of all the surrounding trees. The hog died on contact.

The boy who landed was tall and slightly muscular, with dark brown skin. He had unusual hair for someone of his race as it was light grey and spiky unlike the archers black and kinky hair. His eyes as well were metallic grey. He work only a pair of leather pants that were hardly long enough as the stopped a few inches below his knees. Aside from that, he wore nothing else.

”Nice one Sola. ” The archer greeted.

The grey haired boy turned to the injured boy and sighed.

”Fólórunsó, how did you let a Gigahog do this to you? You
e supposed to be the fast one. ”

”I slipped. ” He smiled. ”Besides, we both know you
e way faster than me. Thats why I do the diversions and you finish off the targets. ”

”Whatever. ” Sola picked up the hog with a hand and put it on a shoulder. ”Can you stand? ”

Fólórunsó shook his head. The taller boy groaned loudly before picking him up as well and putting on his back. Solas veins began to bulge largely like they were about to burst. As they bulged, strength flowed into him and began to run. His destination was the Guild at Raudis.

This world they live in is known as Pedtro, located in the Yubila Galaxy. Strangely, amongst all the 12 planets in its galaxy, it was the only one without a moon, though some claim there was one in the past. Its lack of a moon did not prevent it from having the most vegetation of all the planets in Yubila. The world is inhabited by a humanoid race who refer to themselves as the Pedtrians. There are also congested with savage beasts of varied strength and size. It was the job of Guilders like Sola and Fólórunsó to get rid of beasts like the Gigahog they just killed when they begin to threaten society, as well as other tasks.

In a few hours, the duo arrived at the Guild of Raudis and submitted the corpse of the Gigahog to the surveyor to examine it.

”Excellent! ” The surveyor said, putting away their tools. ”This is indeed the beast you were required fo kill. Take this to the front desk to receive your payment. ”

They surveyor handed Sola a slip of paper which confirmed the corpse was what they were looking for. Fólórunsó who now wore a plain cotton shirt and some bandages waited for him at the Guilds reception. Once he saw his partner coming, he beckoned on him to come.

”How did it go? ” He asked. Sola showed him the slip.

The two walked to the front desk and handed the slip to a olive skinned girl who had hazel eyes and her brown hair tied into a ponytail. Her name was Alice and she happened to be a friend of the two Guilders.

”Ive been looking for you two. ” Alice said as she took the slip and gathered their money. ”A job came up. ”

”So? ” Sola shrugged. ”Jobs come up all the time. They
e always on the Job Board. ”

”This job is different. The person who dropped it specifically requested for you guys. ”

Fólórunsós heart skipped a beat. ”They asked for the two of us? ”

”Actually just Sola but I told them you guys were a package deal. ” She explained.

The archer was crestfallen but it was no surprise. Before the two started working together, Sola had a reputation as a prodigy Guilder that he would never be able to match.

”Whats the job? ” He asked.

”Just a simple escort misson. Youll have to guide your employer into the wilderness north from here to hunt until they
e satisfied. ”

”You know I hate babysitter jobs. ” Sola frowned.

”Thats what I told them but they said they were willing to pay 5000 Durl for every creature you help them hunt. ” Alice said.

The pairs eyes widened to the size of saucers.

”5000 Durl?! ” Fólórunsó exclaimed.

”Who is the employer? ” Sola inquired. He was eager to find out who would be willing enough to spend that kind of money to meet with him.

”The youngest son of the Immortalis Family. ” Alice replied.

”Why would one of the Immortalis need our help? They literally can die. ” He asked.

”Thats only for those who are 18 and older. The kid is still 14 so he has a stupendous healing factor at best. ”

The Immortalis Family were the noble family whose jurisdiction was the entirety of Raudis. They were known for their red hair, blue eyes and their inability to die by anything except for natural causes. The phenomenon of their semi immortality was still unexplainable, mostly due to the fact that they were a very private group of individuals who guarded their secrets dearly. Only members of the main household which ruled the people of Raudis were well known.

Sola turned to his partner. ”Are we taking this job? ” He asked.

”I don see why not. The profit is too high to pass up and the northern wilderness isn that dangerous. ” Fólórunsó replied. ”Well be rolling in Durl after it! ”

”So Im guessing thats a yes? ” Alice asked. The two nodded. ”Great! Ill let your employer know about your decision and tell you the rendezvous tomorrow. ”

The two walked out of the Guild with both holding a pouch full of Durl.

The following day, the two waited for their employer at the entrance of Raudis. Fólórunsó managed to buy himself a potion to aid his broken bones. They still hurt but he was in a considerably better condition.

”Whats taking this kid? Weve been here for at least 2 hours now! ” Sola complained.

”Relax, with the prospect of how much we could earn, Id wait a year. ” Fólórunsó joked.

”Sorry to keep you waiting. ” A voice said.

The person who spoke was a young boy no older than 14. His Auburn hair was brushed smoothly to the side and his sapphire eyes gleamed brightly. His body was small and flair looking but he was still able to bear the weight of the full plate armour he wore. On the chest plate was a red skull marked on it; the emblem of the Immortalis Family. Beside the boy was an older woman dressed relatively light armour. She had slick black hair styled in a trendy bob with a bang covering one of her green eyes. The parts of her body that wasn covered by armour of clothing had freckles all over them.

”I apologise for he delay. Julieta was helping e with my armour. ” The boy said. ”My name is Jonathan Immortalis. I assume you
e Sola. ”

”Yeah. Now that you
e here we can get started. ” The grey haired boy said.

”Please, lead the way. ” The red head replied.