Cameraman Never Dies

Chapter 15 - 15: A casual stroll in the woods, with monsters as side characters

Judge put away the diary of Victor, the slightly unhinged re

"Come on," Hawthorne taunted, his voice echoing in the wind. "You wanted this, right?"

With a final, sweeping motion, he conjured a gale strong enough to send the last of the beasts flying back into the darkness from which they had come. Sharp air twisting and shredding them, sending blood everywhere as they were blasted back.

Breathing heavily, Hawthorne lowered his sword. The fights till now had drained his catalyst, with almost about a quarter left, and he did not want to fight with the small amount of ether that was left in the catalyst, he knew about the danger the forest possessed, even with the all the ether he possessed, there was still a chance that he could die.

The catalyst in his sword always absorbed some of the surrounding ether, but not enough to keep up with his relentless attacks. Most catalysts were self-sustainable that way, but the cheap ones were usually one-time use.

He leaned against a tree, taking a moment to catch his breath. "Alright, that was… fun," he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. His body was exhausted, and even with the help of the catalyst, he knew he'd pushed himself too far, since he had been fighting all day.

Suddenly, a loud screech pierced through the night, so sharp it made the very trees tremble. Hawthorne's head snapped up toward the sky. He knew that sound.

A giant, monstrous bird—one that could only be described as a Sky Talon, he was sure that was its name, a Catastrophe-level creature—was soaring above him. Its enormous wings cast shadows over the trees, and its screech sent shivers down his spine. The blue moonlight making the creature even more magnificent.

Hawthorne's eyes narrowed as he watched it fly away. That screech wasn't one of victory; it was a scream of retreat. And if a beast of that caliber was fleeing, it could only mean one thing: something—or someone, had scared it off. Who or what kind of monster was capable of doing such a feat?

His hand instinctively went to the hilt of his sword, but he hesitated. His ether was low, and even with a catalyst, he couldn't take on whatever had spooked the Sky Talon in his current state.

"Damn," he muttered under his breath, eyes still locked on the retreating figure of the bird. "I hate taking breaks when things get interesting."

With a sigh, he climbed up a huge tree. Hiding his presence, he leaned back against the tree, forcing himself to relax. He'd investigate the cause of the bird's retreat—but first, he needed to recover. Whatever scared off a Catastrophe-level beast was not something to face when running on empty ether reserve.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment, allowing his body to rest. "Alright, alright. Rest now, investigate later. Just... don't get eaten in your sleep, Hawthorne."

He had reached the proximity of his location, All he needed now was to search the area thoroughly. He glanced at a waterfall a little further away, that was where the bird flew up from, "I should look above the waterfall tomorrow, let's look below the next day." He slowly slipped into sleep, still his guard up.