Chapter 24: Finally Meeting Up?
There was once a girl from a fallen noble family, she was smart and pretty. When she found out that she had great affinity with ice magic, she decided that she was going to enroll in the imperial academy, in order to defend her family's name. Her name was Jeanne Card.
Waking up from her deep slumber, Jeanne panicked. She passed out when she was fighting the Beast of Gévaudan. Looking around, she found out that she was in a cave, with a warm fire right next to her. She found her trusty mithril blade lying right beside her. She picked it up, preparing to defend herself. She heard footsteps closing in, so she conjured her mana onto her sword, enchanting it with a chilling enhancement. As the person closed in, she lashed out, aiming at the chest. A clanging sound can be heard as the sword was parried by the man. "Calm down, I'm not here to hurt you," he said. "My name is Arthur." Jeanne discovered that the man was the one who fought amongst her during the battle with the beast.
"I am really sorry for attacking you," said Jeanne as she apologized due to embarrassment. "My name is Jeanne Card, daughter of Viscount Card," said Jeanne, bowing. "No big deal, anyone will be stressed when they wake up in an unknown situation," said Arthur, "Perhaps we should work together during this exam, I lack tremendously in magic attacks," proposed Arthur. "That would be my pleasure," said Jeanne, shaking Arthur's extended hand.
Jay was enjoying himself, eating grilled snails. At first, he was troubled by not having any means to light a fire. But after Malum evolved, conjuring a fireball was an easy task. Jay made a small fire, and by using the snail's shell, he began to grill the snail's meat. After five minutes, the meat looked cooked, the originally grey soft meat firmed upped and turned white. Jay, turning his right hand into a fork, tried a small piece. He almost burned himself, "Needs a little seasoning," he said, as he wolfed down the meat. He finished a quarter of the snail in about an hour. With his full stomach, he ventured out the cave, deciding to find a way to contact Fen. He walked the opposite way from the swamp, which harbored many scary monsters.
Walking north, he found himself in a birch forest. It was already getting dark, with the sounds of the forest getting more and more quiet.
Jay heard a rustle in the nearby bushes. Turning around he conjured a Feather in his hand, throwing it at the bush. Just before the feather reached its target, a thick wall of moss appeared from the ground, wilting as it wrapped around the feather. "Thou should calm down, this guardian of the forest has bought you your pup," said a weird voice.
A humanoid monster walked out from the bushes, it had hair as black as ink. Fen came running from behind the monster, jumping into Fen's embrace. "Dad!" he yelled, as he snuggled close to Jay. "Appraisal," casted Jay.
[Race: Fairy
Lv.?
Rank: Colonel
Blessings: Cernunnos
Name: Ghillie Dhu
Stats: Unknown
Skills: Unknown
Description: The guardian of the forest, keeper of the woods. He will punish anyone who damages the forest. Powerful and noble, leader of the wood's spirits.
]
"I am really sorry for attacking you, guardian of the forest," said Jay, genuinely apologizing. "Thank you for bring me my son," Jay said, bowing in gratitude. Leaves began falling on top of the Ghillie Dhu, it piled up over the fairy. When Jay walked near the pile of leaves, the Ghillie Dhu was no where to be found.
"What happened?" asked Jay. Fen told him about everything, from the goblins to how the fairy magically appeared, to the trees making a path for the Ghillie Dhu. Jay patted his head, "You are a strong child," he said, as he hugged Fen tightly. The duo began to set up camp in the birch forest, Jay building a dirt hut by relying on Earth Magic that Malum provided. "Shall we go hunting?" asked Jay because he heard Fen's stomach grumble. Seeing Fen's wagging tail appearing behind his back, the answer was self evident.
Jay tried out some new skills involving Malum's new evolution and his new spirit magic. He saw a pigeon resting on a branch nearby. "Spirit chain," he casted. Dozens of chains shot out from Jay's hand, heading straight towards the small bird. The green eerie glowing chains passed through the birch trees that were in its' path. As it hit its mark, the pigeon finally reacted. It tried to run away by forcefully taking flight, but the chains holding onto the bird weakened it immensely. The pigeon crashed to the ground, still trying ro escape. Fen leaped towards the grounded pigeon, ending its struggling with a swift slash. Blood spilled everywhere, staining the ground.
Fen started to pluck the feathers off the bird, preparing to roast it over an open flame. Just as he finished the preparations to cook the bird, Fen noticed a slight movement in the bushes. He leaped back, avoiding the attack. An arrow struck the spot he was just standing. A faint click of annoyance could be heard deep inside the bushes. Fen didn't want to enter the bushes in case if there was more than one attacker. He immediately called for Jay's help. Jay, who was setting up a campfire, rushed towards Fen. "Other participants here!" yelled Fen, panicking a little bit. "Calm down!" ordered Jay, searching for the enemies. More arrows came whistling by, evaded by Jay who relied heavily on Wild Instinct. The attackers popped out from the surroundings, completely encircling the duo.
Pulling out his daggers, Fen was prepared for battle. Jay was gauging the prowess of the attackers. Judging by the mana they were emitting, Jay assumed that they were around Soldier Rank. There were four attackers, so Jay deemed the plan of fighting them a viable solution. Dark wings sprouted from Jay's back, intimidating the attackers. They took several steps back, wary of the animosity that was spewing out from the dark feathers. The two sides stared at each other, waiting for someone to initiate the first attack. Jay took the time to further observe the attackers. Judging by the weapons they were wielding, Jay determined that there was one archer, one mage, and two swordsman. The deadlock was broken by the archer, who shot an arrow at Fen. The two swordsmen charged at Fen, hoping to take one out swiftly. "Aim for the archer," Jay telepathically signaled Fen, as he rushed forwards to clash with the two swordsmen. Pillars of earth sprung up from the ground, blocking the swordsmens' path. Jay stood on top of the tallest pillar, looking down on the foolish attackers who dared to disturb him. Dark feathers began to rain down on the two men, mercilessly striking the two. The blindness and confusion caused by the feathers brought fear among the two. They trembled as they collapsed to the ground, unable to think clearly. Noticing that the two vanguards had lost the power to resist, the mage chanted loudly. "Purge!" she casted, as a white light surrounded the two fallen swordsmen. Realizing that they were facing a tough opponent, the two didn't hesitate to unleash everything they could.
Blood filled one of the swordsmen eyes, indicating that he had activated an skill perhaps similar to Berserk. Muscles swelling up with blood, the man leaped towards Jay with inhuman speed. The teenager slashed down with full strength, hoping to do some damage. Unfortunately, the only thing that the blade cut was air. Jay, or Malum to be exact, dodged the attack perfectly, by simply lowering the pillar of earth. The teen quickly adjusted his posture, aiming for another attack. Rushing forwards, he slashed his sword blindly. His partner also joined in on the attack. Jay, who was still wary about the other swordsman's skills, decided to stall for the time being. He raised several earth walls, blocking the two.
While Jay was fighting the two swordsmen, Fen was aiming for the archer's head. Afraid of revealing his true form, Fen was restricting himself quite heavily. He ran in a quite impressive speed for a child, staring at his targets. Although their opponent was a child, the two teenagers didn't let their guard down. When Fen closed in, the mage raised his staff, materializing a transparent wall that was glistening with golden light. "Holy barrier," he chanted. Noticing the barrier, Fen instantly pulled the brakes. He circled the spherical wall, staring at the two like a wolf looking at its prey. Shape-shifting his arms that were covered by his cloak, Fen hacked at the barrier with his dagger. At first, nothing happened, the barrier was still intact, glistening in its glory. But after a couple of hits, small cracks began to appear on the dome. With every slash that Fen did, the cracks began to become more and more visible, and the mage's face became more and more pale. Accepting that the barrier wouldn't hold for much longer, the archer readied an arrow.
After a several hits, the barrier shattered into thousands of pieces, fading away as it crumbled. The mage fell on his knees, trying to catch his breath after spending most of his mana. Noticing that the mage was already unable to battle, Fen immediately rushed towards the archer. Covering the ten meters of ground between the two in a matter of seconds, the archer was forced to block Fen with his bow. Unsurprisingly, the bow snapped in half cleanly. Rolling to the side the archer pulled out his skinning knife. He got into his fighting stance, preparing to meet the monstrous child head on. Wielding a knife unsuitable for combat, and facing a being that has the blood of an apex predator, the odds were clearly not on the archer's side. With a single slash, the archer's knife was sent flying. Fen slashed down, which the archer tried to defend by blocking the attack with his forearm. However, the attack was a feint, Fen kicked the archer on the shin, toppling him over. With a dagger pressed on his neck, the archer was forced to surrender. He activated his ticket, sending him directly back.
Seeing that the archer failed to beat the child, the mage unleash a spell with all his remaining mana. A fireball that was about the same size as a tennis ball flew towards Fen at a speed that was very unimpressive. With a single sidestep, the spell was easily avoided. Seeing that there was no point of him struggling, the mage volunteerly activated his ticket. Finishing his task, Fen turned back to check on Jay. There, he saw that Jay was already done with the two participants. He towered over the two unconscious swordsmen, unleashing a single fireball. The tickets activated automatically, sending the two back. Noticing that Fen was also finished, Jay said, "Two down, one left till we complete this stupid test."