C28- The Plaguehorn (2)

Seeing the monster they wanted to hunt this close to them so suddenly, the duo had only one course of action they took.

"Noah, run!"

"You don't have to tell me!"

The two got as far away from the monster as they could, since they weren't prepared to fight it yet.

"Why did we walk towards that thing without even taking our coats off?"

"I don't know, man. I forgot from excitement. I am glad that thing was sleeping."

"Well, not anymore. Quick, take this... and this."

Corvin went through his small pouch and picked two pills for Noah.

"Oh right, the pills. What are you giving me?"

"Uhm, mental enhancer and painkiller. So that you can play that violin without passing out for half a day."

"... Right, and you? Are we really going to fight that thing? Wouldn't it be better if we called my father here or something?"

"Master is probably already back at Demice, that would take too much time. You aren't even the one who is actually going to fight that thing. How are you going to 'bring empires down' if you chicken out here?"

"Ugh. Hand me my violin. I will play you a nice battle song."

"Here. Take the pills now, it will take about ten minutes for it to take full effect, so be on your guard."

"Right."

The two placed the pills in their mouths and swallowed them with some cold water.

"Well, at least she made them fruit flavoured."

"Ugeh! One of mine wasn't."

"They aren't that cheap, she must have run out of flavour material. Or maybe she just wanted to treat you specially?"

"Now is not the time for jokes Noah. Ugh..."

"Well, I am just trying to help you not puke. I will also help you complain when you go back."

"Just look out for the monster and we will be fine, okay?"

--Ten minutes later--

Corvin felt his blood pumping with more vigour than usual.

"They kicked in, come on, let's get going."

"Why didn't it attack us, it is awake, isn't it?"

"Well... Don't jinx it, just hope it felt comfortable with the fire warming the place up and fell asleep again. We are hiding in the forest, you know. It must have gotten bored."

"Do monsters even do that?"

"No... Whatever, let's get going. Ready your violin."

"Okay."

Noah placed his violin on his shoulder and Corvin grabbed the hilt of his sword and they started walking towards the village again. Stronger because of Amy's pills this time.

With the occasional crackling from the burning wood nearby, the two walked towards where the monster was. Silently they walked towards the lair the monster made itself, from bones of it's prey.

"Ugh... It's horrible."

"Shh... It is sleepi-"

Just as Corvin was going to say it, the monster opened it's eyes again and stared at the two.

"Didn't you tell me not to jinx it? Oh my-"

"Noah, shut up, go back and start playing, will you?"

"Sigh, Okay."

Noah's violin started to play. The melodies started calm, a calmness that felt like it was bringing something big and fierce after it. The monster got up once again, Corvin and the Plaguehorn stared at eachother. The flames coming out of it's horns got bigger and the Plaguehorn started swinging it's tail towards Corvin.

Swish~

Corvin jumped high and smiled slightly. He jumped much higher than a normal person because of the pills.

"I have seen this already, come with something else!"

Just as he said that, the monster swung it's paw upwards. As Noah's magic started to show it's effects, and with the enhancement of Amy's pills, Corvin didn't try to dodge the attack. Instead, he pushed himself backwards with magic, and he stabbed his sword while falling down. The sword sliced through the monsters arm before getting stuck at the bones. The monster swung it's arm downwards to crush Corvin who was clinging to it's arms to get the sword out.

Before he was crushed on the ground, Corvin managed to free his sword from the monsters arm and used his magic to get away from it. He couldn't hold his sword properly, so it fell from his hands, but he used his magic to bring it back to himself.

"You have tough bones, dont you?", he said, while clearing his sweat from his forehead.

The monster stood on it's hind legs and then jumped towards Corvin. Corvin threw himself forwards with magic and tried to get behind the monster. The monster suddenly curled itself while in air, and with this momentum, tried to whip Corvin with it's tail.

Whip! Crack!

The ground beneath the tail had a long scar that ended in front of Corvin, who managed to get out of it's range. But now, the monster was between him and Noah.

"Noah! Escape!"

As Noah realized what was happening, his hands started to tremble a bit while playing the violin. Corvin leaped towards him with great speed. Seeing this, Noah's grip got stronger on the violin and he started playing faster. 

Swish~ Clank!

Corvin blocked the paw that was coming towards Noah. He was almost too late, and in fact, the paw chipped the tip of his sword a little bit. But because it wasn't the edge but the tip, Corvin ignored the damage.

"Kh! You are one heavy rat, aren't you?", said Corvin, biting his lower lip.

"KKGGGHHAAAA!!"

Corvin used magic and every muscle in his body at the same time, and started to push back the monster.

"AAARRRGGHH!!"

The monsters foot lifted off the ground and it flew backwards. Corvin felt like his whole body was getting stabbed by many needles, but the mental resistance pill stopped him from collapsing.

"Haah~ Haah~ Get up, rat. I need to beat you up more!"

Corvin started to run towards the monster, and the monster started to run towards him. Noah's music got to it's fastest part, making Corvin the fastest he can be. As Corvin and the monster got closer, Corvin lifted his sword up. He jumped high, aiming for the back of it's neck. He was so fast because of his use of magic that even the monster found it challenging to track his movements. Corvin got ready to swing his sword, and when the correct time came, he swung his arms as fast as he could, like a guillotine blade falling down.

Swish~ Clank!

But, the monster blocked it with it's skinless head. The monster swung it's head upwards and threw Corvin into the air.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Shatter!

Corvin's sword started cracking and turned into many small shards while flying up with him. Corvin lifted his hand towards the shattered sword. And forced his mind to use magic.

'Magic is an extension of ones mind. I need to imagine it clearly, and use anything that will help me cast my magic. Anything to help me cast it...'

While feeling like he was in slow motion, he started casting his magic towards the sword shards. He imagined the shards flying towards the monster and focusd on the shards. He tried to guess the amount and weight of the shards. He tried to simulate what and how those shards would fly towards the monster.

"Take this sword shover!"

While accidentally shouting something he wishes no one heard, the shards shot towards the monster at supersonic speeds. The rough calculations in his head, combined with the clear mental image of what he wanted, was hard to achieve, but helped his magic to be powerful.

Boom Boom Boom Boom

So powerful in fact, that most the shards went throught the monster and got out from the other side and scarred the ground. But also, his attack had significant recoil on him because of the reaction force that he couldn't get rid of for higher speeds. Corvin flew backwards because of his attack and fell next to Noah while looking at the monster. In the spine of the monster, a piece of skin and muscles were removed, showing a clear crack in the bones. A weakness, they could exploit.