Interlude A2.VI

Guarani Adonargui

Guarani sprinted through the deserted streets, his feet pounding against the cracked cobblestones as the wind lashed against his face. The town (Guarani didn’t recall what the others in his squad called it) was abandoned—empty houses, leaning fences, and old wells stood like forgotten monuments to another time—but to Guarani, it was delightful. He breathed in the cool air, the scents of wild grass and crumbling brick mixing into something fresh.

The A-M-Z, or Annexed-Miasma-Zone, as it was called, had been amazing so far. He wondered if all of Olendar was like this. The Olenish were fantastic warriors, and tall, some even taller than him! No wonder why the school had chosen this place for their field trip—er, field mission.

He grinned. Their Field mission—he still preferred to call it a “field trip”—had been a real treat. He’d never been to Olendar before, and if this was any indication, the whole country must be a haven for sightseeing! Sure, the towns were mostly empty, some of them taken over by nature, some overrun by flesh-eating living shadows. But that just meant more interesting places to explore!

“Man, this place is great,” he muttered to himself. Is this what it’s like when people talk about traveling to see the ruins on the Shambalan Continent? Guarani thought so. But he still preferred the town they had passed in earlier in the trip.

Now that had been a sight. Guarani’s thoughts drifted to the pack of giant wolves they’d encountered a few days earlier, having taken over the small town. Towering, muscular creatures with silvery fur, each one the size of a small cart. He’d almost tried to tame one, but Giacinto and the others had been adamant about sticking to the mission—no distractions, Giacinto had said. Still, Guarani couldn’t help but wonder if Professor Safilo would let him bring one back to Wrifton. Maybe one of the smaller ones. After all, it wasn’t like they’d have much trouble fitting it into the Academy’s kennels, right? It was a shame the wolves had already killed off the local Maldrath in the area. Guarani had been itching for a good fight.

His train of thought was interrupted by a sudden buzzing in his right ear, the small stone earring he wore vibrating softly. He’d almost forgotten about the sending stone clipped to his ear lobe, a little enchanted bauble crafted by Giacinto back at the Academy’s Artificery Lab. Giacinto—always so prepared, so focused on details. That’s why they’d voted him squad captain. A man of virtue, just like Guarani himself!

“Guarani, are you there?” Giacinto’s voice came through the earring, slightly muffled as if he were speaking through cloth. His tone was sharp and commanding, which Guarani admired. A leader needed strength, after all.

Guarani grinned, touching the earring with two fingers and channeling a small pulse of aether into the stone. “Brother! What a fine morning it is, don’t you think? The air is so fresh, and these ruins—beautiful, just beautiful! I was thinking about the wolves again. I think I will tame one after all! Maybe one of the smaller ones. What do you think?”

A long pause followed, and Guarani could almost hear Giacinto pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Guarani, focus. We’re on a mission, not a vacation.”

“Focus! Leadership! What manly virtues!”

Giacinto sighed in his ear. “You’re coming up to an intersection. Don’t turn right—the path to the right and straight ahead are both blocked by Maldrath hordes. I’m sending Lien to deal with those. Primary objective is to the left, about four blocks east.”

Overhead, three crows circled above the rooftops. They were larger than normal and even from the streets below, Guarani could see their sky blue, crystalline eyes. Those were Pal’s crows. The Conjurer was probably using them for reconnaissance. It was likely how Giacinto was able to confirm the location of the Maldrath hordes and their primary objective. Guarani was tempted to take a quick detour and handle the lesser Maldrath, but he knew he needed to let Lien handle them. She was talented but lacked self-confidence. Giving her the opportunity to rise to the challenge was the virtuous thing to do. It’s what a real man would do, like Professor Safilo!

And so, Guarani made a sharp left turn, following Giacinto’s instructions. “You’ve got it, brother!”

He stopped, observing the street before him. No sign of their objective. He set off at a sprint again, his powerful legs eating up the distance with ease. Manliness and beauty, he thought. Those were the virtues that guided him. The purity of strength, the grace in every motion—it was his duty to embody both.

As he ran, the wind rushed past. He burned some mana, channeling aether. His senses sharpened. His magic thrummed through him like a second heartbeat, raw power coiled beneath his skin. He’d learned to harness it well during his time at Brightwash. He was the Hand of Virtue!

The town blurred around him as he moved, the ruins mere shadows in his periphery. “You’re getting close,” Giacinto said through the sending stone earring. “Take the left and you should see the target.”

Guarani tapped the sending stone. “Brother, I’m ready to bask in the glory of combat. Let’s do it!”

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Guarani rounded the corner, his heart pounding with anticipation, and immediately spotted their target. The Sin-type Maldrath was a monstrosity, towering over the empty street like something dragged from the depths of a nightmare. Its reptilian form barely fit between the ruined buildings, its vine-covered back bristling with spikes as long as Guarani’s hand. The thing had the squat, bloated look of a toad, with a long, ribbed tail dragging behind it. Its four arms were unsettlingly human, stretched unnaturally long, each ending in razor-sharp claws that flexed and twitched as it shifted its bulk toward him.

“Now this is what I’m talking about,” Guarani muttered, excitement buzzing through him. The Sin’s glowing red throat crackled as it opened its maw, the light growing brighter. He could already hear the sizzling hum of the energy gathering there.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, admiring the creature’s horrifying form with genuine awe. “It’s a shame I’ll have to break you.”

The Sin screeched, its maw splitting wide as it released a volley of crimson energy blasts straight at him. Guarani didn’t flinch. His aura flared, aether surging through his limbs as he burned mana to reinforce his body. He crossed his arms just as the first blast struck, the force of it pushing him back a step. Pain flared up his arms, more than he’d expected, but nothing he couldn’t handle. His sleeves disintegrated, burning away, leaving his arms bare with trails of smoke rising from them—but otherwise, he was unscathed.

So, this is the strength of a Level B-1 Sin.

The Sin paused for only a moment before charging at him, massive legs pounding the cobblestone street.

“Guarani, be ready!” Giacinto’s voice crackled in his ear, bringing Guarani back to the task at hand.

“Always, brother!” Guarani called back, eyes gleaming. He was just about to brace for impact when a sharp projectile whizzed past him, striking the cobblestone just behind the Sin.

Rue!

Guarani’s mind clicked into place as he noticed the projectile had landed directly in the Sin’s shadow. Just as Giacinto planned. Rue was a Forger, whose armament took the form of a large aether rifle. With that armament, she was deadly from extreme distances. Before confronting the Sin, Giacinto had Guarani infuse his aura into one of Rue’s projectiles. Rue’s precision, combined with his aura, had set the trap.

With a grin, Guarani tapped into Yggdrasil.

[Access Granted: Yggdrasil]

[Soulsinger Designation: Guarani Adonargui]

[Class 1: Bonesinger (Type: Giantsblood)]

[Class 2: Evoker (Type: Shadowbiter)]

It was as though everything in the street slowed down to an imperceptible level of movement. He felt the familiar, haptic tingling as he tapped into his Shadowbiter abilities in a fraction of second.

[Spell: Shadow Jump]

In an instant, he was no longer standing in front of the charging monster—he was behind it, slipping through its own shadow like a wraith. He could feel the energy thrumming beneath him, his aura surging through the Sin’s shadow.

His hand sank into the dark silhouette on the ground, and with a pulse of aether, the Sin froze, locked in place. The creature growled, struggling against the invisible bonds, but it was too late.

“Time to dance, brother.”

Guarani flexed his right arm, activating his Bonesinging and feeling his aura flow into his fist. His muscles swelled, his arm growing to an absurd size, veins bulging as his fist became a massive weapon of bone and sinew. His fist was the size of a giant war hammerhead, at least five times the size of his head. He swung it down with a resounding crack, slamming into the Sin’s spine with the force of a battering ram. The beast’s massive form lurched forward, smashing into the street and sending cracks spiderwebbing through the stone.

Not stopping for a moment, Guarani’s left fist grew to match his right, and he unleashed a flurry of powerful jabs into the creature’s back, each blow sending tremors through the earth. The Sin’s bramble-like spikes cracked and shattered under the relentless barrage.

Get it airborne. Clear the path for Rue.

That was the plan, and Guarani wasn’t about to fail his team. That wasn’t what a man of virtue did! With a grunt, he grabbed the struggling Sin by its tail, his massive hands closing around the ribbed appendage. With a single heave, he threw the creature up into the air, following it with a rapid series of punches that kept it suspended above the rooftops. Each strike kept the hulking monster helpless, its bulky form spinning in the air like a ragdoll as Guarani juggled it higher and higher.

“Rue, you’re good to go!” Guarani called into the sending stone, breathless but grinning ear to ear. Victory was in sight.

Until his legs were swept out from beneath him.

The Sin’s tail whipped around in a blur, catching Guarani by the waist and yanking him into the air. He barely had time to register the movement before the beast’s claws dug into his side, tearing through his skin. Blood splattered against the cobblestones below, and pain shot through him, white-hot and furious.

“This . . . this is bad,” Guarani grunted, struggling against the creature’s grip. This did not exemplify the virtues of manliness and beauty. He was entangled with the Maldrath. If he didn’t get free, Rue wouldn’t be able to fire her shot. Her attack had a long charge time and an even longer cooldown. This was their only opportunity.

Focusing through the pain, Guarani shrank his fists and instead channeled his power through his entire body. His frame swelled, muscles expanding, and with a roar, he broke free of the Sin’s claws, sending it reeling backward. His eyes snapped down to the ground where their shared shadow twisted on the cobblestone beneath them.

He activated his Shadowbiter abilities again, slipping out of the Sin’s grasp in a blink. He reappeared on the ground below, just as the massive beast began to fall. Without missing a beat, Guarani slammed his fist into the creature’s shadow.

[Spell: Shadow Stop]

The Sin locked in place mid-air, hovering, suspended above him, thrashing helplessly.

“Rue! Now!” Guarani barked into the sending stone.

A second later, the sky lit up as a beam of light and fire tore through the air, screaming toward the Sin. The energy struck the creature dead center, detonating with a crackling explosion of heat and raw power. The bramble-like spikes on its back shattered like glass, and the Sin’s body stretched, contorting under the force of the blast before erupting into black dust that dissipated into the wind.

The energy beam didn’t stop, continuing to soar into the distance. Eventually, high above the town’s rooftops, the remnants of Rue’s attack exploded in the sky like fireworks, bright against the clear sky.

Guarani stood in the midst of the settling dust, panting heavily. His gaze fell on the shimmering aether core—a crystal the size of his fist—that descended from where the Sin had been suspended in the air. He caught it easily, turning it over in his hand and smiling.

“Professor will be proud of this one,” he muttered.

With the core in hand, Guarani struck a pose, flexing his still-enlarged muscles, one fist raised in victory.

“Manliness and beauty, brother,” he said to no one in particular, basking in the glow of his well-earned triumph.