The boar-like creature charged with startling speed. Vale summoned his weapon, but before he could even lift it, Dain—eager to test his new artifact—lunged forward. His axe struck the beast with a chilling burst of frost, the impact powerful enough to send the creature tumbling over the edge of the narrow path and down the steep slope.
The group watched in silence as the monster plummeted into the fog-shrouded abyss.
"Tsk. I didn't even get to test it properly," Dain muttered, shaking his head in disappointment as he stared after it.
"Most people would be happy to finish it that quickly," Vale remarked, raising an eyebrow at the student's erratic enthusiasm. Then he shook the thought away. "Let's get moving."
With no clear direction, the group chose the path that curved upward. Their goal was to find the source of the light they had seen, and heading down would only take them further from it.
