Seal of Light - Enlightened

Chapter 4: III : Stranger in Paradise

Returning to the present state...

Mat slightly opened his eyes as he felt the pressure of the water pulling him further to the bottom of the

sea. He tried not to panic as he remains in a full body numb state.

Must move these hands…

Must try harder…

or else I will helplessly die drowning…

Finally, a nerve from his right hand somehow responded to his will, his right hand twitched a little.

Slowly, he was able to curl his fingers one after the other, and then he was able to control his full right

arm. He then tried to move the rest of his body parts and tried to swim up, looking at the light that was

being reflected from the far surface above.

After a few strokes, he lost all his regained strength exhausting all the remaining air left in him. His

body started to fall down again.

With his eyes half closed, an image covered the light above him. Someone grabbed his hand, and

veins of light traveled from the helper's hand to his, like an instill energy.

Mat was pulled up to the surface as he then grasped for air with a slight panic of keeping himself

floating.

Swimming and crawling up to the shore, grasping for more air, he laid on his back for a while until he

was able to sit up and pull himself back together. He lightly pats his head trying to bring out the water

that came into his ear.

He looked around and saw that it was an unfamiliar terrain. This was not the beach where Good Eve's

Mansion was.

Realizing that he came from an explosion that threw him to the water, he checked his body for any

wounds or injuries, surprisingly, there was none, not even a slight scratch.

Mat stood up and looked around. He was amazed and stunned by this exhibit of paradise like view and

atmosphere, but no one seems to be around.

“This is too good to be true. It’s like paradise, what a beautiful place this is?” He said from his point of

view, he could see that this place looks like a small island, with its crescent shaped beach line and land novelbin

formation. He took off his shirt and pants and squeezed them to dry.

Is this heaven?

Am I dead?

Wait... someone helped me a while ago, he could still be around here somewhere. Maybe I can ask

him where I am.

He wore back his pants and then kept waving his shirt in the air to have it dry quickly. He trekked the

higher ground to look for help.

“Wow, look at the density of this forest, this place is so green, and there is barely a path walk or path

way to follow.” He said as he found his way deeper to the forest.

After a few minutes of wandering around, he saw a huge pillar of black energy from afar beaming up to

the sky, and it looks like it is located not far from where he is. He decided to trail the location of it, but

before he even lifted his first step, he felt a slight rumble on the ground.

Was that an earthquake?

He holds still on his position, trying to feel if there will be another movement from the ground. He knelt

down and placed his right hand on the ground where his palm can feel the moist and healthy soil.

Then there was another series of shaking, and it was a bit stronger and a bit longer than the first one,

but what took Mat's attention was this unidentified creature slowly moving towards him as if it was

sizing him or inspecting for any threat.

"What is that creature supposed to be?" Mat thought as he looked back against the other creature. It

looks like a giant shadow hound. Its body was like a flowing black smoke and it has these red round

eyes.

“This feeling… by looking at this creature, and this place… it is like a familiar scene for me, like I've

been here before, like I have encountered creatures like this before… it is like a dejavu.”

The beast growled and bended back as it prepared to make a run towards Mat.

Mat slowly walked backward as he started to choose the direction where he should run if this creature

starts to chase him. He shook his head, still in disbelief of what was happening.

What is going on here? Where should I go now?

The shadow creature slowly begins to move forward to Mat, gaining a slow increase in speed, it was

able to close the gap quickly as Mat tries to run away from it.

Mat knows this is now a life at risk situation and he must hurry before this creature catches him.

Mat warded off the branches and leaves as he ran further deep into the woods. Mat stopped and

bended as he held to his knees and caught some deep breath. He hid himself in this huge mass of

shrub while still catching his breath.

“I think that creature is not going to stop following me. Maybe it is a territorial beast and I am stepping

in his territory? Or maybe it is just as lost as me and turned on its survival instincts. Anyway, I don’t

want to end up as a meal for this beast. Got to keep moving…”

A loud growl came from behind, and with a swift motion, sharp claws were about to tear his body apart

but Mat was able to maneuver around and evaded the sneaky attack.

“Whew! That was really clo…”

But before he got to finish his thought, Mat, once again, rolled forward and stood up quickly in a fighting

stance facing the huge shadow hound creature that just attempted another attack on him.

The shadow hound scrapes its claws to the ground. Preparing for the final attack, it took a mighty leap

towards Mat, he knew he could not escape this time, he braised himself, and He picked-up a sharp

wooden branch and kept it near his chest with its sharp point facing away from him. “I don’t fear you.

You are not the first supernatural creature that I have encountered.”

The sharp branch that Mat was holding pierced through the body of the shadow hound, but t doesn’t

seem to hurt the creature at all, Mat almost evaded but the tip of the creature’s claw ripped to the skin

of his left arm.

Mat cried in pain as he press his left arm to prevent blood loss. While trying to escape, he tripped and

fell tumbling to the ground. He was still trying to crawl away from the direction of the shadow creature.

And then an instant gush of wind came upon. A much younger man appeared in front of him, facing the

same direction looking at the attacking shadow hound. In a split second, small crystal lights appeared

around the newcomer's clenched fist. It whirled and formed a big mass of light. And just before the

shadow creature reached them, the new guy threw the whirling light and blasted its target into black

vapors. It was like a flash bang grenade thrown at the enemy.

Mat was left in awe with what just happened. His eyes tried to move a few times from the black vapors

in the air then back to the young man who hasn't revealed his identity to him.

"What was that?" Mat said with a shaky voice and his finger pointing up to the air as he watched the

young man land safely after the blast.

That monk-like suit looks familiar, and those hand and feet cover made of cloth wrap, is it possible? Is

this…