Veritas ventured out of the cave, he needed a fresh air, something to distract him from the whispers if it wasn't possible to sleep through the whispers.
Walking down a path of dirt that was from the west of his cave, Veritas ended up near a path of stream that seemed to be leading somewhere further down.
He could hear the stream of water hitting down and hitting something, which he assumed were rocks.
Veritas looked around, and there, near the body of the stream was a deer sipping water.
This was one of the Corrupted Veritas had scouted, watching its movements over the past few days and studying it, following it around the forest and the river.
Veritas had seen it fight, the reason that the deer was seemingly sipping water without care for its safety, turning its back for any Corrupted was simple.
It was a trap for Corrupted foolish enough to ambush it before blasting it away with wind.
But, while it was smart enough to do that...
Veritas first scouted the area, marking the locations of where the deer could possibly run away to and making sure that there were no other Corrupted.
After scouting the area, Veritas watched as the deer continued to carelessly sip from the water, and he decided it was time.
Veritas took a rock and throw it slightly up in the air and felt the weight and texture upon catching it, this should do.
Veritas aimed at the deer's leg, before extending his right arm back and simulate a throw.
Seeing that it was perfect, Veritas finally whipped his arm as his elbow bent and the rock flew at high speed towards the deer, instantly shattering two of its legs.
The deer shrieked in pain, before a gust of wind erupted from its body.
Trees shake, the ground near it cracked and the water blasted away from the river.
Veritas dashed from his hiding spot, running at full speed towards the deer.
The deer noticed its hunter, and it shrieked once again.
A blade of wind shot out towards Veritas, to which he side-stepped and propelled himself.
He reached out, his palm wide open as it neared the neck of the deer.
Unfortunately, the deer blasted a wave of wind that whipped his hand back.
The ground near the deer once again cracked, Veritas winced in pain, his body thrown back as he ragdolled across the ground.
Skidding to a stop, Veritas looked back to the deer and see it glaring at him, invisible energy picking up around the deer.
The wind responded to the deer, forming a barrier around Veritas.
This was the 'second' phase.
While Veritas was sure it wouldn't be able to heal from the injury on its legs, Veritas assumed that it would still be able to run away.
So, with that in mind, Veritas simply picked another rock and put all his strength into throwing another one.
The rock flew at high speed, flying towards the deer as the wind barrier exploded outward, destroying the rock and attacking Veritas.
The gust of wind was sharp, leaving paper cuts on his cloak and his shirt.
The ground near the deer groaned once again, cracks were visible around the area.
One more of that wind blast and it would be the end of the deer.
But... it seem to have realized it, the ground beneath it was unsteady and cracking, one more of its wind blast and the ground would break and leave it falling straight into the river.
The deer looked at Veritas, and he in turn look back at the deer.
'It noticed.'
The both of them stared at each other, Veritas was glancing back to the escape routes.
Now... where would it run away to? What will it do?
Veritas crouched slightly, his legs tense, he was ready to sprint and catch the deer.
But then... the deer did something truly unexpected.
It fell into the water on its own accord.
'?!'
Veritas quickly ran towards the deer, watching as it let the current of water drag it away.
Running on the side, Veritas without much of a thought jumped into the river, landing next to the deer.
A mistake.
Veritas submerged slightly, and before he knew it, a wind blade struck him right on his chest.
'?!'
Blood seeped out of his chest, the cut while wasn't sharp enough to fully dismember his torso, was still deep enough to draw blood.
Veritas screamed in the water, and the water entered his mouth, drowning his screams as pain shot out all over his body.
The deer looked at him weakly and with pity, but not before seeing a hand reaching out and gripping its neck tightly.
It shrieked underwater, trying to blast another wind blast.
Veritas looked at it with bloodshot eyes, his heart beating loudly in his chest as it rose up and down in quick intervals.
Power coursed throughout his body, and his senses seem to be sharpened.
Veritas moved quickly.
A hand reached out and grabbed the upper part of the deer's neck.
Mustering his strength with a fire burning in his body and gritted teeth, Veritas twisted his hand with a grunt.
With it, came a dull crack that stopped the deer's retaliation.
Veritas' watched as the deer's body grew limp, then he reached out to grab onto the wall of the river, his fingers scratching against the rocks as it bled.
Veritas held on, pulling himself onto the rocks while his other hand grabbed the deer's neck.
Emerging from the surface, Veritas threw the deer's body to the ground and rolled into the ground.
Blood seeped out of his injury, and Veritas quickly took off his cloak before wrapping it tight around his body.
Veritas was lucky it wasn't deep enough to slice through the muscles and fat before cutting into his intestines.
The blood still seeped out of his body, coating the cloak with red as Veritas wheezed.
For now, this was sufficient, but to fully recover, he needed a real medical care from a hospital.
Getting help from a Guardian with recovery Path was doable, but they cost a lot. So for Veritas, that wasn't an option.
That aside, Veritas could feel it.
Reaching out, his palm flexed and wind coalesce around his palm.
Veritas point his hand towards the deer, the wind around his palm slowly formed into an arc with a simple thought and imagination.
Then, it shot towards the deer, cutting it in half.
Veritas smiled weakly.
'This is... cool...'
Veritas muttered, groaning in pain before slowly standing up and retightening the cloak around his injury.
Veritas wasn't bestowed the knowledge on how to use this power, so he was merely copying what the deer had shown him.
'This will help with killing the wolf... also, the System...'
The System still had yet to go online, leaving him wondering on when will it happen.
Hopefully it wouldn't take years, otherwise that would really hinder his growth.
'Problems upon problems... what is up with my luck...'
Veritas looked around the area and see that he wasn't far from where he first ambushed the deer.
'Luckily didn't get too far...'
Veritas was about to go back, but from the corner of his eyes, he saw it.
Another deer was emerging from the forest... and it was looking at the corpse of its kin.
Veritas turned to look at it, but his body seared from the stomach as he did so.
The deer looked back at him as wind coalesce around its body.
'...Shit.'