Chapter 42: The Last Preparations Before the Fight.

An eerie green light bursted out from the cursed blade, sending chills down everyone's spines. "Summon Carcolh," a raspy voice that wasn't Jay's chanted. A glowing green array appeared, as slimy hairy tentacles appeared. Carcolh, a natural enemy of beings who only relied on pure physical strength. The soft flesh of the snail absorbed the impact. The thick slippery slime made other types of physical attacks useless.

Dozens of tentacles wrapped around the ophiotaurus, incapacitating it. Thrashing and struggling, it tried to escape with no avail. Jay jumped off Behemoth's back. Walking up to the crippled beast, Jay reached out with his right hand. "Touch of Undead," a deep raspy voice rang out. The thick leather gloves on Jay's hand instantly turned into dust, revealing a pure white skeletal arm with eerie green lines all over it. "Puncture it," order Jay telepathically. Shape-shifting the bony hand into weird roots that ran rampant in the ophiotaurus's body, the effects of Touch of Undead was immediate. Corroding and withering, the originally red blood and flesh turned into black sludge. The ophiotaurus didn't even get the chance to retaliate, it was turned into a thick black sludge.

[Defeated Ophiotaurus]

[Gained Item: Blessed Innards]

[Leveled up]

[Leveled up]

The level ups used to grant a somewhat decent amount of strength to Jay. But after gaining a portion of his Tamed's power, the power boost was nothing to write home about.

Sheathing the Cursed blade of Muramasa and putting on another pair of leather gloves, Jay was preparing to leave. He saw Jeanne standing there, mouth wide open. "Who are you? How could a Class Red be so strong? How did you gain your power?" asked Jeanne. "Ask Arthur, I'm a friend of his," replied Jay, pointing at the heavily injured and unconscious Arthur. "Thank you," Connor genuinely thanked Jay for saving their lives. "If you used your true power, you would've beaten the beast easily," said Jay, staring at Connor's soul weapon.

[Item: Mantle of Robin Hood

Rank: Heirloom

Category: Weapon/Equipment

Description: The best tools any ranger could ever ask for. With a bow that could deal immense amounts of extra damage to wild animals and bandits and a hood that could basically turn the wearer invisible.

]

"When will I unlock my soul weapon," thought Jay, dreaming about what his soul weapon would be like. "I'm sure your soul weapon will be something powerful," said Connor, looking at Jay. Looking at Jay's shocked face, Connor laughed. "Anyone could read your thoughts when it's so obvious," he laughed. "Are you guys ok?" a booming voice could be heard from high above. Jay looked up and saw a fleet of dazzling golden griffins. A figure that was claded with heavy armour landed heavily with a ground slam. He instantly scanned the surroundings, searching for Arthur. Seeing a heavily wounded Arthur, his eyes instantly revealed a sharp killing intent. "Who damaged him?" said Icarus softly, but with a strong undertone of anger.

He looked around for any suspects, recognizing everyone from Class Gold except for a shady looking teenager. Wearing a tunic but having a whole arm wrapped in cloth, a weird looking blade, and overall a messy and evil vibe. "You?" said Icarus, pointing his blade at Jay. "I'm just a Class Red student collecting herbs for some quick cash. I accidentally wandered into their battle. I saw that they worked together to beat a weird looking monster that had a bull's body and a serpent like lower body," lied Jay. "A ophiotaurus? You guys encountered a ophiotaurus?" asked Icarus, eyes filled with surprise. "Even my knights would have a hard time trying to kill one, and you students beaten it?" asked Icarus, not believing Jay's words. "I saw them beat the beast with my own eyes," said Jay, pointing towards the students from Class Gold. Looking at the black sludge that was once a terrifying monster, Icarus asked, "Where are its innards?" Seeing that all the students had puzzled or blank faces, he determined that the precious innards were also destroyed by the attack.

Icarus looked towards Jeanne for any corrections. "He is telling the truth, I barely managed to lock the bull up temporarily with my ice shackles. Louis then attacked with his weird skill that made a piercing sound. The beast managed to survive the first round of attacks, but we brought it down together," said Jeanne with perfect lying skills. "Bring Arthur back immediately and have the medics treat him right away," ordered Icarus, jumping back onto his griffin. Looking at the griffins, Jay had a weird look on his face. Their eyes were empty, completely void of any emotion or pride, unlike any powerful beast. "Are you fellows ok?" asked Jay telepathically. Unfortunately, he even failed to establish a mind link with the griffins. The fleet of knights and griffins flew off right after they secured Arthur and Louis, who also fell unconscious after the immense mental stress.

"You are a natural," said Jay, staring at Jeanne. "What do you mean by that?" asked Jeanne, puzzled by Jay's remark. "A natural liar, your expression did not even change. Facing such a powerful man, you could still lie easily without breaking a sweat," said Jay. "You do realize that you are the one who made up the lie first right?" said Jeanne, looking at Jay. "I am a noble, we were taught to hide our emotions and manipulate others. I just used what I've learned from my parents," said Jeanne. "When Arthur wakes up, tell him to be careful of demon worshippers. They are slowly infiltrating the academy," said Jay, preparing to leave. Overhearing the conversation, Freddy and Asher chimed in. "What demon worshippers?" they asked simultaneously. "Tomorrow, before the sun sets. Head towards the stadium. Tell your whole class to come," said Jay, deciding to show them the truth directly.

He hopped on Behemoth and rode away before any of them could ask any questions. As he got far enough from the group, a small figure jumped down from the trees. It was Fen, with a large bloody heart in his hands. He handed it to Jay and licked the blood of his hands. Turns out, Jay guessed that the Innards were special because the system decided to give it to him directly instead of letting it turn into black sludge. He secretly passed it to Fen with Telekinesis when he got the notification. He was right. As he appraised the warm, bloody heart, he was amazed.

[Item: Innards of Ophiotaurus

Rank: Treasure

Category: Consumable

Description: A powerful item that could grant the user a useful skill

]

"We are heading back right away," said Jay, heart beating with excitement. Ever since he enrolled in the imperial academy, he had never gained any new skills, this was a awesome find. Wrapping the heart in his last goblin tunic, Jay hopped on Behemoth's back. With a single leap, Fen landed perfectly on Jay's lap. "Go," said Jay, as Behemoth began to head back to their dormitory.

Sitting on the floor next to a desk, Jay stared at the organ. Looking at the heart that was quite the thing to eat, Jay gulped down hard. After taking a deep breath, he took a big bite. At first, he thought that the heart will be tough and chewy, but he was entirely wrong. It magically melted directly after it entered his mouth, and he could feel his body absorbing the rich energy contained inside of heart. After eating the whole thing, he could feel the energy that was coursing through his veins gather.

[You gained the Skill: Tenacious]

[Skill: Tenacious

Description: After taking a fatal attack, the user will completely reverse all damage that was caused by that attack. Has the cooldown of one month.]

One month, considering the effects of the skill, it was quite reasonable, but Jay had expected more from a treasure graded item. Little did he know how much people would kill for this particular skill, it was like having a second life every month! "Hope I won't have to rely on this skill too soon," thought Jay, as he went to bed.