«Why the hell are we running?» The cat asked.
Though it wasn’t doing much or any running at all, instead, it was comfortably sitting on Adrian’s head.
He, on the other hand, was the one calmly through the snowy forest with no change in his expression.
Hearing the Noctis’ question, he asked, "would you rather we fight it instead?"
ROAR!!
As if to remind the two that it was still behind them, a loud roar that shook the entire forest was heard just after his words.
«I thought you said you wanted to hunt it?» Noctis asked again as they continued running forward.
"I am," Adrian answered, only for him to suddenly be enveloped by shadows and the moment they dispersed, he was gone.
BOOM!!
Just moments after he disappeared, something massive slammed into the exact spot he had been standing earlier.
Snow and frozen earth exploded outward as two enormous horns carved deep craters into the ground, the impact sending tremors through the forest floor.
A few meters away, the shadows gathered again before Adrian stepped out from them as if emerging from a doorway.
Not a single trace of panic appeared on his face.
On top of his head, Noctis swayed slightly from the sudden displacement before regaining balance.
«You know,» the cat muttered dryly, «most people warn their passengers before suddenly teleporting.»
Adrian ignored the complaint and turned his gaze toward the creature that had just attacked.
The snow cloud cleared up as the massive beast slowly lifted its head from the crater it had created.
It looked like a ram, but only if one ignored its monstrous proportions.
Standing nearly twice Adrian’s height, the creature’s body was covered in thick, snow-white wool that seemed harder than steel.
Two gigantic crystal like spiraling horns curved around its skull, each one large enough to crush a boulder.
Cold mist escaped from its nostrils as its glowing blue eyes locked onto Adrian with so much anger, almost as if he had provoked it.
Which he had.
Now you might be wondering why he was in a forest or even what he had done to piss off this Ram.
***
[A few hours earlier]
"Mmm..." Adrian groaned as he slowly opened his eyes.
His grey eyes slowly opened, greeted by a cloudy sky and the towering tips of the trees above.
Wait trees?
«Are you finally awake?»
Adrian finally noticed the weight on his chest and looked down, only to find Noctis comfortably resting there, its silver eyes looking at him.
He also noticed that he was laying on a snow filled ground, and his temperature was quickly dropping.
But that didn’t cause him to panic as there was a simple fix for it, all he had to do freely circulate his mana through his body.
Adrian slowly pushed himself up, brushing the snow off his coat as his eyes scanned the surrounding area.
Tall pine trees stretched in every direction, their branches were heavy with snow and the cloudy sky above cast a dull gray light across the silent forest.
"Where are we?" He asked, all he remembered from the previous day was jotting down some important notes, recovering a bit more of his mana and going back to sleep.
So how the hell had he suddenly woken up in a snowy forest.
Unless....
«I have no idea,» Noctis answered, «the old man just walked into your room this morning and took you in a carriage with him, only to drop you halfway.»
"I see," Adrian nodded, as he placed a hand on his chin, "then this should be another test, maybe to find my way back to the main estate."
«.....»
«You truly are mentally unstable,» the cats suddenly said after a moment of silence, «after all, no normal person would be this calm in a situation such as this.»
"..."
Adrian started at it with a blank expression, but chose not to respond, instead, he poured more mana into his glasses, that was still on his face.
The forest suddenly lit up with different colors of mana, but he filtered it all out as he was only in search of a specific mana.
"Found you," he muttered.
Given Sebastian’s personality, Adrian expected there to be some sort of marker left behind, and sure enough, there was.
Sebastian had deliberately left behind his mana signature, certain that Adrian would discover it with his magic tool....which he had.
But that didn’t mean that this was going to be any easier. Given the fact that this was still a test, he was certain that this was a beast filled forest.
Which meant he would probably be fighting a couple before getting to the main estate.
Now, although Sebastian gave him no time limit, he’d rather be done with this quickly and get to Renelle’s side.
And he had just a little over five days before the royal ball.
Adrian adjusted the glasses slightly as the glanced at the trail of mana drifted between the trees again.
It moved lazily through the forest like a ribbon carried by the wind, subtle but clear enough for him to follow.
He began walking.
Snow crunched beneath his boots as he moved deeper into the forest, his eyes occasionally moving toward the mana trail to make sure he was still on the right path.
For a while, neither of them spoke, when suddenly, Adrian stopped.
Noctis lifted its head and asked, «what now?»
Adrian placed a hand lightly over his stomach, "...I’m hungry."
The cat was a little surprised at his words.
«...That’s it?»
"I haven’t had breakfast yet," he added, "I’ll need to hunt something."
«You couldn’t wait until we got back to the estate?»
"No," he replied as he started scanning the environment around him.
The cat sighed.
«Of course not.»
Like spirits, beasts had a unique mana trail that was present around their environments and that was exactly what Adrian searched for.
A few minutes later, he stopped behind a thick tree trunk, ahead of him was a small clearing.
And in the middle of it were three small ram-like creatures, each the size of a sheep.
"I just hope they’re edible."