"Normal Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Voice Change"

"Flashback"

3rd Person POV

Time: Midnight

Location: Vale, ???

It was currently midnight at a dark forest where soulless creatures known as Grimm roamed the lands. An owl flew above the forest before landing on a branch as if they observed the area. The sound of footsteps could be heard closing in the creature's location, suddenly a long sword comes from the shadows of the forest and impales a Beowolf right in its head, killing it instantly.

This grabs their attention as from the shadows a figure slowly walks into view. What stood there was a boy wearing a cloak with the hood up so that it covered most of his head. In the boy's left hand was another long sword which matches the same one thrown at the Beowolf.

A Beowolf then charges at the boy with its claw raised up, prepared to slash it upon him. But before it did it's arm was cut off from its body which made it roar in pain before it was kicked into another Beowolf and stabbed by the boy's sword through the chest. Pressing the trigger on his sword it blasted both of the creatures off his weapon before slowly making his way to the Grimm's body which still had the sword impaled into it. He grabbed his sword from the deceased's body and pulled it out as he saw there were still more of them to eliminate.

He then dashed forward as a Beowolf did the same towards him, it quickly swiped its claw down at him which made him lean his body to the side to avoid it. Towards the same claw that was swiped at him he cut off the arm of the beast, making it roar in pain before he used his other sword to cut off its head. It fell to the floor before turning into black smoke. Turning his head he saw an incoming attack from another Beowolf which made him bring up his sword to block it which sent him back a bit. Before he could retaliate against the beast he suddenly felt a hit against his back, as another Beowolf had appeared and attacked him.

Callum: "Ack!"

This made him fall forward as the Beowolf that he blocked earlier grabbed him by the neck and slammed him down onto the ground. This made him let go of his weapons as they bounced away from his reach.

Callum: "Damn...!"

Both of them looked down at him with murderous intent as he tried to peel off the Beowolfs hand from his throat, his purple aura slightly flickered as it remained there. Callums eyes darted around as he stretched both arms out as his arms slightly glowed purple for a moment before multiple purple owls emerged from his arms which pushed both Beowolves off of him. Quickly he pushed himself up as the owls surrounded him in a protective barrier.

While rubbing his neck he looked around as he saw three more Beowolves appearing from the shadows. His eyes darted around slowly at the enemies around him as his heavy breathing slowly calmed down. Performing a beckoning sign with his fingers a few owls returned back into his body which seemed to have given him some energy. The rest of the owls formed rings around him as they continued flying at a rapid pace. Two then leaped forward at him before he expended the rings around him just enough so that it pushed them away from him, leaving them open for an attack.

Seeing the opening he then rushed forward and swung both swords upwards, cutting the two in half as the remaining one growled at him. Towards the last one he flicked his finger towards it as the ring around him rapidly spun over to it, quickly trapping it as the ring held it still. Walking over to the trapped Beowolf it growled and struggled in the bind it's in, even once in front of it and the creature snapping at him, he remained calm before raising both of his arms with his swords ready and quickly slashed them downward which made the beast stop its movement.

Slowly he sheathed his blades and turned away from the beast before walking away from it where the Beowolf then began to slide apart into three sections with the owls removing themselves from the ring and returning to his arms. The Beowolf suddenly bursts into black smoke before the rest of it even touches the ground fully. Finally done with this batch he breathed heavily for but a moment before rubbing his neck gently, reaching up to the back of his head he gripped his hood before slowly pulling it down, revealing his head fully. What was most noticeable was his dark purple hair that flowed in the wind, a small amount of light stubbles that covered his lower chin, and crimson eyes which had dark bags under them.

Reaching into his satchel he takes out a tattered looking map, which was rolled up, and opened it as he looked over it.

Callum: "Just a bit further it seems."

Keeping the map in hand he looked up into the air as one of his owls flew North, he smiled a bit before walking in that direction.

(Timeskip brought to you by Beowolves running around in circles chasing each others tails)

Arriving at the ruins of what appears to be a temple the boy examined the area in curiosity, looking down at the map before back up at the ruins.

Callum: "Huh, must be the place i guess."

He proceeds to walk to the ruins to see what it looks like inside, but before he gets the chance a loud roar catches his attention.

Callum: "Wha-

A massive claw appeared right behind him as it made its way to hit the boy, which barely gave him enough time to react, as he turned around and brought up the map he held on instinct to somehow block the attack. But it didn't as the claws quickly slashed through the map easily, and the force of the attack sent him right into a tree as his back hit it.

Callum: 'ACK! The hell was that?'

Looking down at his hands he saw the now ripped up map in his hands, letting go of the remains of the map he let out an annoyed sigh and reached over to his weapons handle on his left hip.

Callum: "The old man is gonna be really mad at me when he learns of this."

Pulling up the weapon, which is still attached to the sheath, he aimed it forward as it began to shift into Gun Mode, carefully watching as the beast that had attacked him showed itself.

Its large stature moves out of the shadow as a loud growl is heard, its body resembled that of a Beowolf, but seemed more evolved than the others since its white armor appeared more hardened, longer claws, and it has signs of past battles around its entire body. Its glowing eyes stared at him as it only growled louder, Callum eyes narrowed slightly as he gripped his weapon tightly.

Callum: "Great, just great."

He quickly reached into his satchel and took out a cartridge which had a stone emblem imbued on the side of it and loaded it into the bottom of his weapon.

Callum: "Now, be a good boy and die."

Quickly Callum rushed forward at the Alpha as it swiped at him, causing him to slide under the attack and shot his rounds at the Alpha, which turned out to disperse stones into its skin, doing some damage but mostly irritating the Alpha as Callum quickly stood back up before it turns towards him. It rushed forward and raised one of its arms into the air before slamming it downward but luckily Callum rolled out of the way of the attack and continued firing at its legs making it growl in annoyance as it continued to swipe its claws at him. He did his best to evade the many strikes but was backhanded into a tree which made him grunt in pain a bit which made his aura flicker a bit. He clipped his firearm back onto his hip as the sheathes of the weapons detached and pulled out the twin swords from them.

Rushing in, Callum jumped into the air with his blades up and slammed them downward as the Alpha used its arm spikes to block the incoming attack which ended up shattering them. He slid onto the ground and lunged forward to attack once again as the Alpha performed multiple swipe attacks with its claws. Using his swords he blocked some of them but one of its attacks landed on his left arm which made him lose his grip on that sword as it was launched a few feet behind him, stabbing into the ground.

Callum: 'Damn...'

He tightly held his remaining sword and quickly jumped over the Alpha Beowolf as it tried to lunge at him. Not wanting to prolong this battle any further he pulled back his sword and slashed it upwards making a huge scar on the Alpha. It roared in pain as Callum used its body and kicked himself off of it and landed right next to his other sword before picking it up and holding them both in a reverse grip.

He rushed forward and slashed both blades upwards as the Alpha tried to use its left arm to block it but instead its arm was cut right off making it roar in pain before jumping far away and letting out a loud howl. Right as that happened many Beowolves appeared from the forest and surrounded Callum, who kept his breathing in check. He quickly held his swords normally before pointing one of them towards the pack of Beowolves.

Callum: "Come you damn mutts!"

All of the Beowolves charged at him as he quickly leaped into the air, evading the strikes, before slamming both of his swords into the ground as his arms glowed slightly which made a small burst of owls appear, pushing them away from him. Reaching into his satchel, Callum then took out a pair of fire dust crystals and inserted it into the handles of his swords, making them have a red glow as the blades suddenly ignited. He rushed at the small pack and began to slice right through each and every one of them with much ease.

When some tried to retreat he held out his right arm toward them before an mass of owls burst from his hand and flew to the beasts, surrounding them to keep them still long enough for him to rush in and impale two of them by the blades and ignited them into ash as they cried out in pain.

As soon as the fire dust ran out he placed a water dust crystal into one of his sword handles and slashed it forward as it formed a wave of water which caught many Grimm in it. After that he took out an Ice Dust crystal and threw it at the wave of water, which once landed the water froze with the Grimm it contained still in it. With a powerful throw he launched his swords at the frozen water cyclone which shattered like glass, killing the Grimms that were in it. He ran past the shattered remains of Grimm to grab his swords and headed towards the Alpha.

Callum: 'Let's finish this.'

It tried to snap at him with its jaws but he quickly moved out of the way and went behind the beast before jumping into the air, slashing his swords against the back of its head, knocking it down to the floor and landing right in front of it. Before it could attempt to attack with its right arm, Callum held out both of his arms towards the beast and another set of owls burst from his hands as they kept the Alpha pinned to the ground.

He backed up a bit before rushing forward and used a quick burst of owls to shoot him up into the air as he raised his arms into the air, the tips of his blades aimed right at its head before falling down at it, slamming his blades into its skull as a loud shattering sound came from its head. The armor of it flew off its head upon impact as the Alpha was no longer moving. The last thing that was heard from it was a small cry before its corpse slowly started to turn into smoke along with the rest of the dead Beowolves in the area.

Callum: "Finally..."

He tried to take another step but his body ached in pain as he used his swords to support him up. After a few seconds he let go of his swords and outstretched one of his arms as the owls he used during the fight flew back into his outstretched arm. After they returned he let out a breath of relief and regained some of his strength. Grabbing his weapons he put them back into his sheathes before walking forward.

Callum: "So tired, just check this place out and then leave..."

He slowly walked forward tiredly, his breathing slowly calming as he entered the temple. Callum examined the structure of it and saw that bandits probably camped here for some time, evidenced by the remains of a campsite in the corners of the room, but there were also some 'other' remains of whoever stayed here.

Callum: 'Guess the Beowolves didn't like their company.'

Reaching the middle of the room where an intact pedestal stood, he placed his hand against it as if trying to find something.

Callum: "Now where could it- ah there."

His fingers hovered over an engraving of a crown and lightly pushed it which seemed to have activated some kind of mechanism as the pedestal sunk into the ground and revealed a set of stairs that leads further down.

Callum: "Wonder where this leads."

Right before going down there he reached down to his waist and took out a lantern from his belt. He reached into his satchel with his other hand and took out small fire dust crystals and crushed it before setting it into the lantern making it light up. He takes in a bit of air and breathes out before he starts making his way down the stairs.

(Timeskip brought to you by Callum sitting next to a campfire cooking some Beowolf meat over the fire)

Finally at the bottom of the steps Callum had entered some kind of room, but it was too dark to tell what kind of room it was even with the lantern in his hand.

Callum: "Need some more light in here, hope I still have some on me."

He took out a light yellow dust crystal from his satchel and loaded it inside of his sword before bringing it up a bit as it began to shine as it lit up a large area. From the layout of the room it appeared to be some kind of library, or at least it was at some point.

Amazed at the sight he walked up to one of the walls of burnt books and carefully took out one before walking towards a slab of stone, which must've fallen from the ceiling long ago, and sat on it. Although it wasn't quite comfortable he began reading the book, or trying to make out what's left of it.

(Timeskip brought to you by Callum looking around in the library making sure he was alone before taking a long sniff from a new book before placing it back down)

Callum was seen walking back up the set of stairs and once he reached the top he looked around a bit before seeing the same crown emblem on the floor and pressed it, making the pedestal rise up once again and covering the stairs. He then began exiting the temple and once finally outside he saw it was still dark outside.

Callum: "How long was I in there?"

He didn't know how long he was in there for but the sound of his stomach grumbling was a clear indicator of him needing to find civilization. Putting a hand over his stomach he pondered on where he should eat right now, if he was near any village or town. Raising up an arm a single owl flew from his hand and flew into the air before disappearing above the tall trees. A few seconds later his owl returned to him and landed on his shoulder before hooting into his ear.

Callum: "Huh- Guess I'm here already, finally."

Walking forward a bit he then stumbles upon the skeletal remains of the Alpha Beowolf.

Callum: "Couldn't hurt to add to my collection."

Kneeling down he reached towards the skull and gripped one of the fangs before pulling it out of place while also grabbing a large piece of broken armor from its head.

Callum: "Off to Vale now and that'll check off another Kingdom I've been to."

With that he made his way in the direction of the city, where his journey may take an interesting turn for either the best or worst. This is only the beginning of what's to come, what happens next, we'll have to see.

End of Chapter