51 Odyssey Part 4 (2/2)

'The bear. . . I must. . .Get . . . away.'

Ezra thought of running away but instead of running. Ezra charged toward the bear holding the dagger.

'It seems that I can't run away, my body won't let me.'

”GRRAAAAAGH!!!” Ezra roared to release the seemingly pent-up rage.

Ezra ran swiftly and charged faster.

'If I can't stop raging at empty space then I'll just direct it to the bear!'

Ezra was nearing the bear.

'What? I feel a little clear headed now, my anger is still there but manageable. Hmm, 45kmp/h?'

Ezra jumped sideways as the bears swiped left. Then it roared the bear seemed to be abnormally agitated as well.

'Run! I need to run again,'

'Ugh, my mind is going blank all over again, seems that this rage must be directed at something, this is gonna be troublesome.'

Ezra directed his wrath at the bear again, this time he planned to kill it. The bear roared as it charged at Ezra once again.

Ezra jumped on top of it and stabbed it again as it howled in pain. It tried to roll over to sweep Ezra.

'It's a good thing this thing can only charge and sweep and its attacks are predictable' thought Ezra as he regained some sense from his bloodthirst.

The bear kept on charging and repeating the attacks. Ezra kept on doing the same thing jumping on its back and taking advantage of the enormous disparity in dexterity.

After a while of repeating the attacks, the bear was covered in stab wounds.

'This bear is just too tough. How much damage can it take?'

However, Ezra noticed the bear's movement slowed considerably.

'If this bear dies, I won't have anything to direct my fury toward and I'd probably become feral. Think, what do I do? I need to get out of this forest somehow or at least find a safe haven, but the opening is five hours away and my control over my body is erratic.' Ezra was panting now as the control of his body and fighting the bear took a toll, he estimated that about he had used up around half of his magic already.

Ezra dodged the sluggish bear attack once again.

'What if I run while I'm still mad at the bear?'

'No that doesn't work. It's like I can't be both mad at the bear and flee at the same time. Maybe there is something magical in the surrounding area that promotes bloodlust? But why do the knights not seem to be affected? Wait! That Pillar with runes might be the solution. That's my only chance, for now, I must go to it. But how?'

After five more attacks from Ezra, the bear stopped moving but Ezra once again was consumed by the outlandish rage that was numbing his senses.

'What if I direct my anger to those knights? Will that work?'

Ezra's attempt was successful, his wrath directed towards.

'Urgh hating something without knowing why.'

Ezra's senses were limited but he could at least think while he was raging and running to the pillar, he attempted to look up and saw that the canopy did not give any more dim light. It was night time already.

Approaching the 100 meters of the pillar, with great effort, he regained total sanity as his attempts at controlling his anger was successful thus he moved stealthily. He realized that he was still using a substantial amount of mana, his mana ebbed away at a frightening speed but it grew less and less as he moved closer to the pillar.

Around 30 meters Ezra decided to climb up a tree. Finally, he was around 10 meters above the circle. He rested on a sturdy branch above the pillar with runes.

'Wow, I have only around a third of my magic. This is risky. I shouldn't have come, I thought I could already venture with my abilities, I guess I became too cocky maybe this has something to do with Reitz's genes? Although I am conscious of what I do there are still some things in my body I cannot fully control so it seems, or is it if only when I notice it then I can control it? This needs to be an experiment for another day.

'I guess I'll go back to Bren tomorrow' Ezra yawned.

'I'll have to rest here. I guess I'll drive some magic to my skin and my ears while I sleep, this will help me perceive any dangers as I sleep. Hopefully, I recover a considerable amount of magic for my journey tomorrow. For now, I must eat,' Ezra thought as he opened his backpack and took out the dried meat, he took a bite

Ezra closed his eyes as he leaned on his backpack sleeping beneath the canopy of the forest.