The Beast of Legend (1)

Crap.

This wasn't good. At this rate, getting rid of Spiravit would prove much more difficult... but that isn't all. This could spell disaster for the entire plan I had created.

The assignments I gave to my faction's members all centered around the old man. He was the one in control of the Wooden Spy Fruit, and the others that were using his Fruit. He was the information gatherer.

The information would then be transported to whoever needed it via Onvima. He had a very special Magic Art, one that he actually created himself, and what made it so unique was that it depicted every main idea behind Fruits: attack, defense, movement, storage, investigation, and healing. This made him a bit of an all-rounder, minus better movement and healing, and worse defense and attack. Either way, he was still a big help for miscellaneous needs. That's why I would make him feel tempted to stay in my faction, outside of fearing repercussions after this was over. Fear can make men move, but greed makes men move themselves.

But that was never the less. The point was that every person in my faction had their own layout in my plan, but the two most important were Onvima and the old man. The person I assigned to make sure that no students got in my way when I gave the signal was Hasrem. I chose her because it would be easier for her to convince students to turn back. But here I was with Iusus and Capcis showing up right in front of me. Something happened. And the worst part is that I have no means to figure it out. I was starting to feel an annoyance from the monopoly that the Fortune Nine Sect had over investigative Fruits.

Since I had no way of telling what was going on right now, my only option, unfortunately, was to play it by ear. For now, I have to focus on the problems in front of me and then figure out the other problems later because at least then I'll have some information to move my plan around with.

As for Iusus and Capcis, they weren't very high on my danger list right now. If I flash some dovishness her way, she'll believe anything I say as long as it has a little reason behind it. Iusus on the other hand would be harder to deal with, mostly because of that look in her eyes. Something about her had changed, but I wasn't able to tell what it was just yet. I'll have to probe her a little to find out.

Spiravit though... he was someone I would just have to worry about later. It would be irresponsible to let him live any longer, but I didn't have much of an option. I considered trying to frame him as a devil and convince the girls to help me kill him, but it wouldn't work out well. First of all, even though I might be able to convince Capcis because she trusts me, Iusus would remain skeptical at best, and at worst she would try to end my life.

Secondly, and most importantly, something was wrong with the chain of my strategy and I had no clue what it was. It could just be that Hasrem was busy dealing with a different problem child and that I happened to get unlucky, but there was also a chance something happened to Onvima, and worst of all, something might have happened to the old man. He was the one at the forefront of the entire operation, so if his job suddenly became void, then the only result would be chaos. That was why I assigned the position to him; he is the strongest 1st half Coal Class Cultivator in the sect.

But if he was out of commission somehow, then that would mean I don't have control over what the audience watching this match sees, and that could be deadly. If I suddenly started accusing Spiravit of being a Devil in front of the entire sect, an actual investigation would spawn from it, and that sort of investigation would not have to be postponed until the correct people showed up. It would be done immediately and then I would be exposed as a fraud. Game over.

In short, I had no choice but to pray nothing had gone too awry and that I could fake Spiravit's demise to be a result of the 2nd half Coal Class Wild Beast. The good thing about this though was that as long as I pretended to accept Spiravit's submission and that he'll get what he wants from me, then he'll follow my every order. That also means that no matter what lie I choose to use, he'll be forced to go along with it.

I turned to Iusus, acknowledging her presence before turning back to Spiravit, who still had his head down, and then deactivated my Fruit. The deactivation of a Fruit while it's in the middle of being activated would cause a backlash, the fatality of which was decided by the Fruit's Class. A Stone Class Fruit wasn't too bad, but it still wasn't pretty. 

As the Fruit was denied from finishing its process, the built-up power turned inside of me, and my lungs were poked full of holes. The blood that entered my lungs spurred my body to cough until the blood exited my lungs, and I made sure to put my hand in front of my face to catch the blood that exited. Before the next coughing fit began, I used a healing Fruit I got from Hasrem to heal the injury.

I brought my hand down, and the blood fell with it exposing my injury to Iusus and Capcis. Iusus didn't say a word, instead only silently observing the situation, but Capcis almost immediately ran over to me while exclaiming, "Are you alright Quis? What happened?"

Before she got any closer though, I put my hand up, gesturing her not to get closer. Once she realized something important was happening, she began to back off, leaving me and Spiravit alone. I knelt down and quickly whispered to him, "Play along." I then said, much louder this time, "You're strong Spiravit, I'll give you that. But you just aren't strong enough. Now, give me all of your points before I force you out of this competition."

Spiravit slowly raised his beaten-up face and then spat blood into my face, "Never."

I just calmly wiped the blood off of my face and said to Spiravit, "So be it then. Just remember, Convir said that the supervisors would only get involved if you are on the brink of death... there are many ways for me to make sure that doesn't happen."

My words were obviously a threat, but I wasn't worried about that changing anyone's view of me. People already knew me to be a vicious person as both Quis and Igmor. Once those words had enough time to sink in, but I didn't get any response from Spiravit, I grabbed him by the collar and raised him. I reached into my robe, grabbed an item, and then threw both the item and Spiravit into the air. Both of them went up above the tree line, but the only one to come down was Spiravit.

Just before he hit the ground though, I kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying into a nearby tree. The tree he hit was the same as before which is why the tree cracked a little upon his impact. After hanging for a moment, he slowly slid down the tree, but before he could hit the bottom, I pinned his stomach to the tree with my leg, "You really should have just given me the points."

After saying that, I grappled him by the head and threw him behind me, causing his back to slam against the ground. Before he was able to react any further, I grabbed his hair and lifted him until his feet touched the ground. With my left hand holding him up by the hair, I used my right one to treat him like a practice dummy. I punched him over and over again before finally stopping when his face was deformed enough. He dropped to the ground, and I looked around a bit before finding Iusus and Capcis who had watched the entire thing. Iusus just looked at Spiravit passingly, perhaps even with a glare of schadenfreude, and Capcis was staring at the ground like she didn't want to see what was happening.

I walked toward them and gave a bit of an awkward smile while saying, "Sorry you had to see that."

Once I said those words, as if she had been abandoned in the desert for days and found an oasis, Capcis looked right at me and smiled slightly. I returned her smile and then looked at Iusus. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I can't really blame you for that. If given the chance, I would do the same in a heartbeat... But you should finish the job before we start talking."

As she said that, her eyes centered on something behind me. I turned around to see what she was looking at and found that Spiravit was standing. He was swaying a little bit, but he still looked at me with the same furious glare. He opened his mouth and simply said, "I'm not done yet."

In response to this, I gave a pitiful sigh and walked up to him. I stood right before his beaten body and asked him, "Why don't you just give up? What is so valuable that you keep going despite it being futile? Pride? Self-worth?"

As if I just said the most hilarious thing I could have, Spiravit began to laugh out loud like a madman, "HAAHAAHAHAHA! Of course, you wouldn't get it Quis! Yes, I will admit that pride is something I want! I admit that my self-worth does originate from my level of strength! But that isn't even close to why I keep going... I have people that I need to live up to Quis. I have to make my parents see that I'm not just a sniffling brat like I used to be. I need my grandma to finally accept me. I have to prove to the entire sect that I can hold the torch of leadership... I have to prove to myself that I'm different than I used to be. I no longer fight for myself Quis... but for others!"

Silence.

There was not a single word spoken nor a single action taken even after his words had long left everyone's ears. I looked to my right at Capcis. She was looking at Spiravit with not only pity in her eyes but sympathy as well. I looked to my left, at Iusus. She was looking at Spiravit as well, but her look was different. Her eyes were conflicting between wanting to push herself to do something and wanting to do nothing.

I see, so that's what changed about her. If it were before, she would be looking at this situation with blank and bored eyes, but right now she wasn't doing that anymore. That could only mean that she's gained the ability to see past her own self. She can now look at others and think: "What are they going through right now?" This can be taken two different ways. The logical way, which decides to use it to their advantage, or the emotional way, which decides to make the person feel better. But she was still new to this concept, so it was harder for her to take action, no matter which way she went.

Of course, I knew better than these two. All of what he spoke were lies. The ugly truth was that he still fought for his own benefit, he was just acting like he changed because no one wants to help a person who only thinks for themself. He was already starting to try and build himself a new reputation.

I opened my mouth and said to him, "Spiravit-"

Suddenly, my neck snapped 90 degrees. I have my Genesis Sight on at all times just in case, despite it's low range. The reason why I was freaking out was because something crazily powerful just entered its meager range. My eyes centered in on the origin, but all I saw was this tiny red lizard who was walking toward us. But the amount of Genesis Essence it held could only belong to a 2nd half Coal Class Wild Beast... and not a weak one either.

My head suddenly turning paired with my wide open eyes caused Iusus to ask me, "What's going on with you Quis?"

But I didn't answer her question, and instead, I kept my eyes glued to the lizard. It leisurely moved around for a couple of seconds, seemingly doing nothing, until the Genesis Essence around it spiked.

Iusus was losing her patience and yelled out to me, "Seriously! What's wrong with you Quis?!"

I just turned around and grabbed Capcis along with Iusus, locking them to either side of my body. Capcis was extremely overwhelmed, so she didn't put up any kind of resistance, but Iusus moved wildly back and forth before screaming at me, "Let me go you asshole!!"

I just shook my head, "I can't do that Iusus! It would be the same as letting you die!"

Iusus was confused at my words for a moment, but before she could voice her confusion, a giant explosion bloomed behind us. The resulting shockwave caused me to be brutally lifted into the air and then get a good taste of dirt along with losing my grip on the girls. I turned around as fast as I could to see the result of the explosion, but even I wasn't expecting what crossed my eyes."

But before I could react to seeing such a thing, Iusus and Capcis yelled out loud at the same time, "What the hell is that thing?!?", "Is that a Wild Beast?!?"

Deep within the crater's fiery and ash-ridden depths, a colossal red reptile loomed, easily dwarfing The Bamboo Bear. Its rugged hide was adorned with scales that appeared as though they could rival the impenetrable Ice Wall, yet possessed an edge sharper than any blade The Sword Sovereign could wield.

Jagged spikes protruded menacingly from its body, with the most formidable arrayed along its spine. The creature's tail, coiled like a serpent, bristled with so many spikes that it resembled a gigantic mace. Its arms were similarly adorned with sharp spikes, running from shoulder to wrist, while its claws stretched almost as long as its fingers.

The creature's head presented an amalgamation of dragon and lizard features, boasting teeth that crept along its closed jaws. Its eyes emitted an eerie, ever-shifting glow, alternating between shades of red and orange, intensifying its menacing aura within the heart of the volcanic crater.

It unleashed a deafening roar, a sound more thunderous than anything I'd ever encountered. Its jaw unhinged to a degree that defied my expectations, revealing a cavernous interior. But instead of a conventional tongue or gums, a seething pool of lava lay within, cascading from its gaping maw like molten drool. The resounding echo of its mighty roar rippled through the heart of the jungle, accompanied by a fiery spray of the magma it contained.

I swallowed the build-up of saliva in my mouth as I watched the beast in amazement and slowly said, "It's a Salamander."