22 Disruption of the Hunt; Chaos in the Forest
An exchange of bitter smiles between Rentaro and Kyon took place, "Well... You see, Sen~ior Brother Haz, there was a beast at Foundation Establishment Stage 4 that attacked... And it kind of caused a lot of destruction...."
"Foundation Establishment Stage 4? In the second zone of the forest?" Haz inquired without any specified recipient, a dark shade on his face.
Pointing in Kyon's direction, "Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to deal with it without Kyon's help."
"Kyon?" Haz and the group looked towards the little squirrel in bewilderment.
"Hey there, kiddos! Well, uh, that's the lousy beast over there! However, he wasn't much of a beast when I fought him. In fact, it was more of an undead creature, a body without a soul, the work of some sort of necromancy or corpse controlling technique." Kyon replied nobly.
"Necromancy... Corpse controlling technique...." Haz muttered under his breath as he inspected the corpse of the panther, which lay in a puddle of mucky black blood.
The head had been severed cleanly from the torso by Kyon's blade, showing that Kyon possessed unfathomable skill, leaving a strong first impression and ever growing curiosity about Kyon and his origins on the group.
"Haz, there's only one reason for such inexplicable commotion, though I wish my assumption was wrong." Tsyun interrupted Haz's investigation, his words layered with an icy coldness, contrary to his typical silence.
Haz faced Tsyun, "Dammit, you expect its them as well?"
"Not just Tsyun, all of us suspect its them. To think, they've returned once again. We better report back to the village and prepare for any upcoming possibilities." Phu spoke gravely, Ichi and Shin grunting in agreement beside him.
"That would be the best course of action." Haz agreed.
"Alright, kiddos, let's get moving. Back to the village we go! Getting back won't be easy though, as I sense some strong auras approaching. You want the good news or bad news first? Heh, I'll just decide myself! Good news, they don't exceed the third stage of foundation establishment, merely at the peak of the third stage. Bad news, I'm currently at the fifth stage of Foundation Establishment, my energy reserves are empty, and my cultivation is too unstable to draw upon the energy in our surroundings. Thus, I won't be able to help you... Well, I suppose I can give moral support if that's enough?" Kyon wore a smug smile.
"Damn, how can you joke around in a time like this?" Haz questioned, a stern expression on his overcast face.
"Don't worry, there's only six of them in total. You and the other four are at the peak fourth stage of Foundation Establishment, whereas the younger one is at the peak third stage. As the leader, I'm sure you understand what I'm trying to say."
Haz's eyes sparked with enlightenment, "Icrin, Rentaro, and Roy, you three be careful. The five of us can take on one beast each, you three team up together to take the sixth one. As long as nothing unexpected occurs, the situation should be handled smoothly. Afterwards, we'll proceed back to the village."
As if cued to arrive after Haz's words, six "beasts" made their appearances clear in the distance. In the lead was a blood-red and black striped tiger that emanated the strongest aura of bloodthirst among them, followed by a large, brown bird flying slightly above the tiger.
Behind the two frightening creatures were a green boar with sharp tusks protruding out of its mouth, a grey wolf, a ferocious-looking ape, and a red-eyed crocodile.
"I'll take the tiger. Tsyun, I suppose you'll take that bird?" Haz questioned.
"Of course, my archery matches up against it nicely." Tsyun smiled, staring at the bird, or perhaps where it came from, with a cold aura.
"Good. Shin, take that old crocodile. Ichi, take on the wolf. And Phu, you handle the ape. Icrin, Rentaro, Roy, we're leaving the boar to you three. Got it, everyone?" Haz ordered as the beasts rapidly approached.
"Understood!" "On it!" "Got it!"
Various replies sounded out in unison, and the group readied themselves, taking to their own opponents.
"Remember, these are just corpses being manipulated. You can't outright kill them, you'll have to exhaust the energy that's controlling them. Furthermore, they lack the most basic of intelligence and their minds are influenced to do one thing—to kill. Be on constant alert, they won't hesitate to attack you, even if it means they have to give up on evading and taking a brunt of your attacks." A subtle reminder sounded out from Kyon.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Kyon. Safety first everyone, give a shout if your situation isn't looking good. Pride is a worthless sentiment in comparison to all of our lives." Haz spoke, before taking off towards the tiger.
Following his leave, the others approached departed to their own opponents.
Rentaro grouped up with Roy and Icrin, the trio nearing the boar steadily.
"Rentaro, this boar is originally known as the Copper-Tusk Boar. Its tusks are extremely sharp and not to be underestimated. Trust me, they can take an arm if they latch onto you and their tusks can easily pierce through armor. Luckily, its speed and mobility aren't all that special. With my cloning ability, your elemental attacks, and Roy's defense, we can easily win a battle of attrition and attack from all sides. However, the sooner we exhaust its energy, the sooner we can return to the safety of the village and warn the others."
Rentaro nodded, "Icrin, you wanna lead this fight, while Roy and I follow up your attacks?"
"Hmm, I haven't actually fought any sort of beast before, let alone a life and death battle. Then again, I have more experience than you two, so why not. We haven't fought alongside one another before, so just use your best judgement when you follow up with your attacks." Icrin spoke as he readied himself for the approaching boar.
"Hah! Illusion Style—Phantom Triplets!" Icrin's body split into three clones, his main body having already vanished from Rentaro's sight.
"Grah!" The soulless Copper-Tusk Boar charged thoughtlessly towards the clones, its tusks piercing through the first clone as it dissipated, while the other two evaded towards opposite sides with a simple set of actions.
Rather than pursuing the two clones, the boar resumed running, rapidly approaching Rentaro and Roy.
"Roy, I'll leave the defense to you!" Rentaro readied his Grimoire, as he stood behind Roy, his legs shifting slightly in apprehension.
"Of course! Try out my Obsidian-Scaled Armor!" Standing in front, Roy's scales glistened with a dark obsidian-colored coating.
Clang!
The boar's tusks met Roy's scales with a loud clanging sound as if two swords clashed; Roy immediately fell back a couple, whereas the boar rebounded several before ultimately falling to the ground.
"Fire-bolt!" Given the opportunity, Rentaro cast a bolt of fire towards the boar.
The bolt appeared to be fast, yet the boar was already jumping back on its feet, ready to resume its attack which would indirectly allow it to escape from the fire-bolt's target area.
"Hmph, Spectral Chains!" Icrin's voice arose once again, followed by a grey aura surrounding the boar as chains took form. The chains tightened around the boar, ready to plummet towards the ground before piercing straight into the earth, when they suddenly crumbled.
Crik! Chu!
Cough Cough!
Icrin panted heavily, coughing with traces of blood apparent on the corner of his lips. He was experiencing a backlash from his attack failing. He spat, "To think I forgot—it's a reanimated beast. They don't possess souls and my illusions aren't at a level where they can affect such beings for long, huh?"
Despite the backlash, Icrin was quick to react, retreating as his two remaining clones took position in front of him.
Icrin quickly sent one of his remaining clones forward. While it may be an illusion in and of itself, its aura was real. The clone ran towards the boar, keeping it in the line of fire as the fire-bolt landed, setting the boar's fur aflame and releasing a putrid smell.
However, the boar wasn't at the peak of Foundation Establishment Stage 3 for nothing. It stood among the flames, its body increasing in size as it continued forward.
It was apparent that the boar seemed to have used some sort of strength-increasing technique with its body-size suddenly increasing. The beast didn't have a soul, and so such a technique was most likely part of its muscle-memory.
"Icrin, you alright?" Rentaro asked with worry.
Icrin wiped his mouth, "A minor internal wound, nothing big."
Kyon advised from the distance, "Icrin, right? Spectral Chains... A good technique, just an unlucky encounter! Using a mental energy technique on a soulless enemy can slow them down for a split second, though it's up to you to determine whether that split-second is worth an internal injury."
"Hm. I didn't properly analyze the situation, I will keep your advice in mind," Icrin glanced at Kyon, "Thankfully, the boar doesn't have any intelligence or method to put out flames... Using fire to continuously sap off the energy controlling it is probably our best bet."
Rentaro nodded, "Roy, your flames are much stronger than mine, how about you take the offensive?"
"You sure?" Roy asked in anticipation, his eyes like stars as if he imagined a spotlight highlighting him as the star of the show. He thought, 'This time, I won't be the punching bag. It's nothing personal, little boar.'
"If Rentaro's words are true, then I agree. Heck, why not just incinerate this boar into nothing?!" Icrin spoke out bombastically, appearing unfazed by his recent internal wound.
"Hehe, I'll give it my all!" A giddy tone accompanied Roy, as a fan of flames started taking form around him.
Rentaro shook his head logically, "Calm down, incineration is too much of an exaggeration for... our... current—"
Rentaro couldn't finish his sentence before his eyes widened with endless shock, seeing a conglomeration of flames of red, blackish-purple, and whitish-gold having formed in Roy's maw. The purple and gold flames consumed the red, slowly converging at the halfway point, but failing to merge with one another.
Ultimately, a large ball of fire formed, half of which was the element of darkness, the other half light.
[Whoa! Roy, don't add any more energy into that! The flames are too unstable! Rentaro, get Icrin and move, quick! Roy, you better send that damn attack directly at the beast while you're at it!]
"Icrin, we better move! Like—Now!" Rentaro yelled in panic.
"You don't have to tell me!" Icrin shouted back, grabbing Rentaro and taking off far to the side, even his last clone subconsciously running.
Roy growled, "Graw! Here I go! Complete incineration!"
The unstable ball of flames was spat towards the boar, leaving a trail of ash as it burnt away the vegetation in its surroundings. Even the space around the ball of flame seemed to crackle, emitting a shrill screeching sound from the intensity of the conflict between the two opposing flames of darkness and light.
Even the boar without any soul or intelligence seemed to sense something was wrong. It stopped in place, focusing its eyes which were devoid of emotion on the flames which would consume its body before it could react any further.
Kaboom!
A loud explosion filled everyone's eardrums, accompanied by what sounded like the shrill breaking of space itself, with the collision between the flames and the boar.
Kyon almost forgot to breath, before taking in a breath of cold air. With his current lack of energy, he relied on his affinity with wind to disperse the smoke which submerged the surroundings of the explosion.
The sight was a gasping revelation with the entire ground being scorched and ash polluting the previous clean air; breathing alone was difficult as one approached the devastated area.
[Whew. It's too early for you to try mixing elements that oppose one another; you're too inexperienced! Damn, I need to find you two a proper teacher! Always causing me so much worry with your ignorance and rash actions! Luckily, nothing too~bad happened in the resulting explosion.]
As if Wilhelm's scolding wasn't enough, Icrin's screeching followed, "What the heck! Absolutely insane! That's what you two are! It's one thing to be a battle maniac like me, but even I have a line that I wouldn't dare to cross!"
"Huh? We're insane? You gave the go ahead, didn't you?" Rentaro voiced out helplessly.
"Yeah! You told me to incinerate everything, didn't you?" Roy questioned naively.
"The boar! I said, 'incinerate the boar!' Not everything else around it! And stop questioning me with that whole, "didn't you,' as if it's my fault!"
"At least we finished the battle quickly, amirite?" Rentaro jested with a wink.
A flash of cyan appeared, as Kyon took the stage before Icrin's outburst continued, "Haha, Good work—no—great work, kiddos! Flashy, but dangerous, yet very flashy! The other four are about done with their battles, except for the archer. Your battle... Well it surely surprised them, hahaha! Anyways, watching their battles is a good way to gain some experience and insight—it's not like I requested them to take it slow for you guys or anything. Anyways, be quick or you'll miss out."
