Verest caught the sword in his right hand, feeling his hand thrum as it devoured his mana. The girl, Isa, was lifted up onto the wall by wind mages. There were eyes on him now. So many emotions, jealousy, fear and even hope.

There was something deep in even his fully human cousins that made them accept them here. Verest could not help but wonder if it was a part of that Countess' plan. If the half-Elves saved this city today, then humans would not forget it. This might be one of the fewer ways they could be accepted. Even as warriors that protected them.

And so, he slashed, pouring his mana into the sword as a huge golden light slashed down on one weird beast. The creature let out a loud sound as the light cleaved it in two. The sword pulled at him, telling him to slash more. And there was indeed reason to. The sword had called the ones hidden in the forest out to deal with him.

The council stepped out, ready to deal with the Master stage beasts, but he shook his head. This sword...it was something special. What level of weapon was this? Back on the Elven continent, he had wielded a Grandmaster grade weapon, a gift from his Master, but this was more powerful than that.

A Grandmaster stage weapon. A supposedly legendary weapon. And this sword was more powerful than that. Verest swiped it in the air casually, trying to get used to its power. The sword lights cleaved through the air, killing Master stage beasts like they were pests.

But there was a problem. The mana consumption was huge. Not too huge for the power it presented, but there did not seem to be an option to reduce it. This was already the lowest amount he could funnel. The sword would not accept less.

Verest shot towards 's the forest, slashing with the sword again to clear the beast in his path. The sword pulled at him, trying to force him to continue fighting. This was not how he fought. A sword of this level having a little consciousness was not surprising.

But he hadn't met any other that was this insistent. The sword was communicating with him. Telling him what it wanted. But what it wanted was something he neither wanted, nor could do.

A continuous fight would have him drain mana too quickly, and it wasn't the way he fought anyway. There was no trance to him, he preferred a calculated barrage. A plan executed with instinct. Not instinct executing plan.

The sword was opposite, demanding that he give himself up to his instinct. The first Adept stage beast stepped through the forest openings, the others following suit, their attention clear. Using their numbers against him.

Verest swirled his mana in the sword, trying to communicate with it. An artifact like this was capable of at least that much. The sword hummed it's reply, dying down as it grudgingly accepted that it wouldn't have its way. And that was its cue.

Verest's sword flashed as he propelled himself at the the first beast, a large treelike creature that he had little doubt used those vines to kill him. The biggest threat to him of the five. A weapon that could restrict him could kill him. The sword flashed cutting through the vines and wounding the tree as a feline beast pawed him from behind.

Verest spat blood as the attack shook his intestines, but quickly dodged away from the falling paws, remembering to slash at the location. The beasts howled as the sword struck them, the three wolves tuning to him in anger. A series of holes emerged from then as crescent shaped rays of light shot towards him.

Dodging them, he asses his enemies. The previous attack had cut away most of the tree's vines, but they were growing back at an astounding rate. Just what he needed. A healing type tree-vine beast. This was the first one he had to deal with. As long as this beast died, the others would be easy enough to deal with.

Verest propelled himself with mana, right at the beast. The feline beast and the three wolves moved to block him, but he was fast. Even for an Adept. The sword stabbed into the beast's thick bark as Verest poured mana into it, hoping the sword could do what he wanted it to.

The sword complied, reluctantly, but it was eager to kill. The sword thirsted for battle like few he had seen before. Not for blood, battle. The two were different things, and he would not wield the former. Even if it was a weapon like this one.

The sword blew up into a huge version of itself as he poured mana into it. And then he slashed upwards. The tree broke in two as he felt attacks land on his back. The feline crushed him onto the ground, breaking his bones. Verest propelled himself up, using his Elven magic to heal himself. There was one thing few people knew. The sword wasn't from his Elven father, no it was something his human mother gave him. Breaking every rule in her clan, she passed on the manual to him before dying.

But that just made him stronger. Not many expected him to have the healing skills of an Elven high-mage. The sword glowed with him, feeling less like a dead weight as the other four beast growled at him.

Now it was time to show these beasts what it meant to fight. What it meant to fight a Swordsman of Neurite. Even if it meant exposing himself to the last Druid of Soleria.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

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Wind howled as the roof of the cavern blew away, taking the three Adept stage sculptures with it. The Emperor's guards rushed at the six Master stage ones, leaving her alone with a chuckling beast.

"How nice. Just as I planned." the beast chuckled, its wings flapping as it looked towards her. Althea clutched her staff, letting mana circle around as she prepared for a fight. The beast did not attack at once, and she did not dare attack it. This was after all, a Journeyman. A special Journeyman from the looks of it.

"I have been planning this for a while now. Dealing with you and your kind." it said, and then it disappeared. Althea barely had a second to react before it was on her, its jaws reaching towards her mouth. The mana turned to wind and propel spells as she pushed the beast away with every bit of strength she had.

The beast held on, pushing her arms back as it's toothy smile inched closer to her face. And then she threw it off, flinging it away as she tried to set it on fire. But her spell would not take. Mana dissociated around the beast, fizzling out without letting her attack. A special beast indeed.

"Do you know what I am?" it asked, it's voice the same as before as if it hadn't just tried to kill her. Althea did not reply, crouching in preparation as the beast circled her, thinking about how to attack.

"I am a Prince of beasts. A legendary creature that-"

Althea took the chance, conjuring three shields on top of the beast as she cast a captorum spell. The beast shook around, its tail swiping the shields away as fire appeared on its body, eating away the vines that had appeared to capture. The magic in the vines tried to resist, fight back, but the fire would not let it remain.

"How rude." it said, actually chiding her.

"I could be less rude if you stopped trying to kill me." Althea replied. A mistake. The beast suddenly shot at her, taking a swipe at her face. Althea raised her hand, causing it to swipe at that instead. The beast retreated out of her range before she could do anything.

Not that she could in the first place. The beast was levels more powerful than her. Not a single attack had caused any damage towards it. The beast seemed immune to her. There was only one way she could have even a chance of levelling.

To survive this, she must breakthrough to Journeyman herself. And there was only one way to do that. Using the artifacts, she had with her to empower her skills and hopefully practice them enough.

Althea circulated her mana through her staff, passing it on to her bracelets, tiara and every other artifact she on. And she was we airing nearly a dozen. The overpreparation was coming in use now.

"Are you finally giving up and using your toys? How crass. The high and mighty druids reduced to using their jewels." the beast actually sounded offended.

Althea prepared for a surprise attack.

"I am merely evening out the competition. After all, aren't you a Journeyman fighting an Apprentice?" she said, ready to face the beast. But this time the beast did not attack.

"A long time ago, your ancestor fought a Grandmaster stage beast emperor at the Adept stage." the beast disappeared, and she got ready for the attack. Magic hummed in unison with her. The tiaras let out mana. The bracelets followed. So did the other artifacts. But the staff remained the same. Supplying mana as it did before. A recharge station more than a weapon.

"The battle was legendary." the beast swiped at her, she dodged. But then something kicked her head behind, causing her to stumble. The tiara fell onto the ground.

"There seemed to be no chance of victory." Another swipe, another dodge. Althea tried to get into a dodging dance, but the beast would not cooperate. The attacks continued hitting her, not deadly, just cutting her little by little. The artifacts too fell one by one.

"But that did not matter to that woman. "

Althea fought back, calling on her mana, releasing fire around her as she let go of her inhibitions. The core hummed with her, vibrating along in resonance with her artifacts. But it refused to breakthrough. Not yet, it seemed to be saying. No, you aren't ready. There is something missing.

"The Druid of Soleria fought the Emperor of beasts right here in this cavern that day. And she won." the beast did not seem troubled by the fire at all.

Althea conjured shields, swiping them around in desperation as she tried to locate the beast. The emperor’s guard had noticed the problem. Anthony pointed towards something, but had his abdomen pierced by a sculpture for his trouble.

Althea took a deep breath, trying, desperately to sense where the beast was. Another attack landed on her, but she ignored the pain and cast propel spell on it. The beast did not even appear. The spell seemed to have no effect. Althea desperately called on her mana, trying to sense it, stop it. But there was a power difference here she could not break.

The core refused to respond to her. There was mana in her but she could not breakthrough. Althea did not understand why. At this point, she was sure there was something missing with her skill. But what was it? If she had time and peace, she might be able to figure it out eventually, but not now. Not while facing this self-proclaimed Prince, supposedly the child of beast emperor.

"The Druid trapped me here." the attacks grew stronger. Althea sagged, not stopping her attacks but knowing that it was unlikely to matter. The bracelets were the only artifact. left on her now. The only thing she could perhaps do was hope the Steward would come to her rescue. At least, Leo would be safe. The Diery family would not die here.

"For a thousand years I was trapped here, barely surviving on mana, hoping that I would one day take revenge."

Althea felt her mind grow numb. The cuts finally showing their effect. The bracelets were pulled from her hands, leaving long cuts that bled faster than any other on her body.

"When I heard there was a finally someone that could cultivate the old manual, I was so happy." the beast's voice was a growl.

"But you." the breast snarled. "Are an embarrassment. An insult to your ancestor." The beast slammed its claws into her abdomen, and its mana burst right into her core, scrambling it. Althea tried to resist it, but it wouldn't work. The beast was too powerful for her.

"What you are, is a fake. A disappointment. That is all you are." the beast slammed her onto the floor, her head falling on the ground.

The core lay silent, not responding to her. There was mana in the air. So much mana that she should have been able to breakthrough easily. But she didn't. The mana would not help. The artifacts would not help. Even her own mind would not help.

In the end the beast was right. In this battle, she had failed.