Chapter Thirty: Pounce

After assuaging Lacy’s justified concerns with but a gesture, Autberry watched the battlefield unblinkingly. Had the enemy been a human Sapling the dual Sprout would have proudly stood in his way and demanded their surrender. A human would have known better than to challenge an organized coalition, even if their opponents were individually weaker.

The lion was a different story. Any Sapling beast would be a nightmare for their camp to battle, but a predator built for murder especially so because while he and the guards under him would surely execute any foe through combat synergy…the lion was likely to take many lives with it.

Worse, Autberry’s role in this battle would doubtless be painful in some way. The enemy Sapling was not a person and therefore would not be intimidated by his cultivation base, therefore it made more sense to act in reserve and only move in if a surprise attack became available, so he could end the fight in seconds. Autberry did not want to watch his charges die, but he might have to if an opportunity did not present itself. And when an opportunity did open up, he would be the vanguard—the shield. It was his skin that would be most vulnerable at that point. His elemental specialty made being a dual cultivator that much more effective with regards to close combat evasive maneuvers, which might not be enough depending on how powerful this particular Sapling beast was.

Autberry shook his head, only able to sigh. Of course this would have to happen not only on his last year of service but also after he’d discovered a beautiful and impressionable Seed with so much potential.

Practitioner Poko attempted communication with the beast but Autberry knew her efforts would not amount to anything. Intelligent beasts existed, and the lion may well have been one, but that did not mean it could understand their language. Some with the power of the mind could interpret intentions without understanding the words, but such creatures were usually more exotic than simple big cats.

Then Initiate Lacy moved hurriedly to Practitioner Poko’s side, said a few words, and shouted at the lion…whose head locked onto the girl.

Autberry’s eyebrows rose. That…was strange, indeed. The dual Sprout was tempted to extend a channel of wind over to the girl so that he could hear what she was explaining to Practitioner Poko, but doing so would have risked clueing in the lion to his power.

Practitioner Poko pulled Lacy back and away from the very front lines while Hester continued attempting communication, but regardless of whether the lion understood them now, it was clear from its body language that nothing had changed. Proving Autberry correct, the lion soon continued its march forward, forcing the guards to fully prepare their defenses.

Autberry couldn’t sense it because it was all internal or only expressed through their short auras, but the body cultivators channeled blood essence and activated techniques. Lacy lifted as much earth and as many rocks as her fledgling aura could support. Hester prepared a concentration of flames between his hands. Most importantly of all, Elite Physician Dod arranged his assortment of seeds.

If they managed to best the lion, the recruits today would receive a very important lesson about the value of wood elementalists. Many young cultivators made the mistake of underestimating spirit cultivators who only practiced the wood element, thinking that their only contributions to society included healing the injured and temporarily enhancing warriors before battle.

Those services were, of course, invaluable even by themselves. However, they didn’t compare in terms of battlefield influence to crowd control skills trained by wood elementalists who partook in battle directly. Autberry hoped that Lacy had been in enough wood tutoring sessions with Elite Physician Dod to know this, else she was also in for a big surprise.

The healer and battle tactician empowered his allies before casting handfuls of seeds all around, including within the clothes of his allies, none of whom were bothered. Regardless of them being body cultivators who could easily stomach a little itching and chafing, they knew the value of having seeds in their clothes at this time.

Then something strange occurred. The little Lacy, all the way in the back of the front line where her allies could not see her, dropped her earthly ammunition and looked around, startled. What had happened there? Autberry wondered. Had her circumstances only just truly dawned on her? She certainly looked frightened for a moment before she hardened herself.

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A question for later, if they both survived. The lion was upon his allies and, unfortunately, first blood spilled was of theirs. The beast, its claws flashing gold, attempted to pounce directly on Hester, likely smart enough to target the spirit cultivator first for the damage he could output, but the body cultivators around him were well trained. Three Sprouts specializing in defense—Davin, Brooka, and Sherburne—jumped to Hester’s defense while the target himself backed away as quickly as his un-enhanced body allowed. Davin and Sherburne managed to push the beast back at the expense of Brooka’s arm, which flew off in a spray of blood.

Poko, for her part, drew a line of blood from the lion’s ribs, but that clearly did not bother the creature much because it turned to swipe at her with one paw while its other claws made another go at Davin. Both cultivators dodged, but the first exchange definitely fell in the lion’s favor due to Brooka’s considerable damage. Seeing as the cut was so clean her arm could be reattached, but only if they survived.

During the split second the beast was farther than three meters from any humans Hester and Lacy let loose their volleys. Hester’s flames bathed its injured flank, where it was weakest, while Lacy was clever enough to aim her cloud of dirt at the beast’s eyes. She was merely a Seed against a Sapling—two realms above her—so her only value in the battle was as a distraction because any attacks she landed on it would splash like water on a raincoat.

A good distraction, too, because while the beast merely needed to close its eyes in order not to suffer its vision being assaulted, that split moment was all the opening Jarrod needed. An arrow from the roof of a building hundreds of meters away zipped through the air faster than anyone could react and embedded itself a hand width into the beast’s shoulder. Poko took that opening to stab the beast again, but her spear lacked the same power the arrow enjoyed and merely scratched it once more.

Still, that exchange was in their favor, balancing the first. All their forces needed to do was keep their momentum. The lion was powerful, wielding claws that sliced straight through bone and possessing hide so tough a Sprout’s spear barely pierced it, but on top of already being injured, the beast was not as mobile as the warriors with speed techniques. If they could continue as they were—pushing the lion’s pounces back and making room for Jarrod and Hester to attack, preferably without more lost limbs—the fight was theirs. The Seeds had barely even needed to intervene because the Sprouts worked so well together. At this rate, Autberry would not need—

The lion’s aura suddenly grew more oppressive as its tan coat darkened like rusted iron. The smell of blood reached even Autberry, and the recruits surrounding him began shaking and shouting. Why did the beast think it worth the expended blood essence to kill them all? Why did it not just retreat?

When it moved next, mobility was no longer an issue. Poko dodged the tail swipe that would have sent her sprawling, but the defensively-aligned Sprouts in front of it stood no chance. Brooka, knowing she was not as useful missing an arm, tackled Hester out of its next pounce, taking the blow for him. Her two halves splattered the training grounds more as the Seeds rushed in.

An arrow found its way into the beast’s neck—deeper than the last, even—but their foe was incessant. Three Seeds attacked in unison with Hester, Poko, and Sherburne, but that only slowed the lion. Hester bathed its head in flames that seemed to char fur and skin and Poko also embedded her spear in its neck, but that didn’t save the three Seeds, who were now scattered across the grass just as poor Brooka.

Lacy timed her next volley of dirt perfectly so that when the lion lifted its eyelids, which protected against the flames, its vision was clouded again, giving Dod the space he needed to get closer without risking his life.

Had Dod been more diligent in his training and really committed himself to earning power they might have won the battle without any casualties because a spirit Sprout’s aura range would have benefited them so much more, but Autberry tried not to blame the man for enjoying his life and instead be grateful for what power he displayed now.

Dod positioned himself behind Davin, whose job was now to protect him, and unleashed his wood qi. A dozen tree’s worth of roots and trunks erupted rapidly from the ground beneath the lion to ensnare it, giving Poko, Sherburne, Hester, and Jarrod more time to land attacks. Not even two seconds passed before the beast broke its living confines and whipped its forelimb to claw at Sherburne, but that was not where Dod’s contributions ended.

Sherburne lacked the same kind of speed Poko employed but Dod suffered no such limitations and bloomed the seeds in the other man’s clothing. Hundreds of thick roots tore through Sherburne’s robes in the lion’s direction, pushing Sherburne back and out of the claw’s range. The lion committed another two steps and a swipe to catch Sherburne but a second eruption of roots saved the man again.

The beast turned furious eyes toward Dod in the back and expended even more blood essence into a swift leap that sent it rocketing over the Sprouts’ heads and past an arrow that would have skewered its side.

Autberry did not waste even a second thinking before air qi encircled his body, blood essence coursed through his limbs, and he, too, rocketed forward.