I dodged under the next two strikes and then came the overhead blow. Only once had I allowed a hammer-blow like that to land, and I’d immediately come to regret it. Never again would I allow that to land, so instead of over-committing to a dodge, though, I stepped even closer to Redael and grabbed his wrist with my left hand and knifed my right towards his exposed armpit. He stopped his descending fist and pulled both elbows back. I tried to push forward and disregard his late defense, but he didn’t allow me to make real contact, my claws only scoring a shallow scrape along his ribs as my fingers were smashed pitilessly between his arm and side.

With a gasp of pain, I pulled my right arm back, and after one jerk and a twinge of discomfort in my right shoulder, I freed myself, but the momentum was gone. Redael pressed in closer and stronger on me, the flurry of his blows coming strong and continuously until, as I attempted to block one of his attacks, I fell for a feint and he grabbed my head and pushed it down. I began to lose my balance, and before I could recover, Redael’s closed fist smashed into my jaw. I saw an explosion of light, as I’d come to expect, and I stumbled to the side as I blindly tried to cover myself. He, as always, made sure to rain a couple more blows onto various parts of my body, sending me wheezing and stumbling away, but I made sure to keep my feet as I found myself leaning against a wall.

Knowing what was coming, I blinked the blurriness from my vision just in time to see Redael’s balled fist coming for my snout. In my clarity, I dodged to the side and heard Redael’s fist smash into the packed earth wall, and I uppercutted with my left arm, finally dealing a solid blow to Redael’s throat. Immediately, he gasped in surprised pain, and I stood stunned for a brief moment, amazed that I’d been able to land a true blow on the Swarm Alpha. We both came back to ourselves at the same moment, but I was no longer merely sparring Redael.

He opened his hands, his claws seeming to glint to my perception, and he sliced forward. I dodged once, twice, and again, not wanting to let him disembowel me, and as I stayed focused on his knife-like hands, his tail took me by surprise and smashed against the side of my knee. My leg immediately buckled and as I went down, Redael pressed in. I saw his hand, tipped with his long, sharp claws descend towards my chest, and I knew I was about to die or at least be maimed. At the last second, he diverted his strike to smash into the ground just beside my head.

We both stayed there, panting and my heart veritably exploding with tension until Redael pulled himself back. He nodded at me, his breath wheezing through his teeth and swelling throat. I scrambled to my feet once he was out of arm’s reach and stayed in a ready position. Without blinking, I continued to watch the Alpha as he took deep breaths through his nose. He closed his eyes for a moment, then, with a nod to himself, he looked at me.

“Now, we’re done.”

I wanted to ask if he meant just for today, but I could feel that he meant forever. I couldn’t help myself as I asked, “Why? You’ve taught me this much, now I can actually engage with you and learn more!” I fought to control my voice, to keep myself from whining. I needed this, to learn how to fight, to develop my instincts to protect me. To learn how to–

“Because any more practice is just teaching you to kill me. From now on, I don’t teach you to fight. Find Wisterl if you want to learn from someone.” He began to turn away, then looked back at me. “Good fight.” For the first, and maybe last time, Redael complimented me as he returned to his quarters. I could smell a faint whiff of blood on his breath, maybe from a cut in his mouth when I’d struck him.

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For the first time, I’d connected with an actual attack against Redael. I could face him, one on one, to some extent. I’d experienced my sixth growth period two days before, so I still had four more. I was this close to being an equal, but if I didn’t learn how to fight Redael with the intent to kill, I couldn’t be confident in surviving the attempt. I looked at my Stats, wondering how much more they would grow by the time I reached adulthood.

[-Constitution: 41+2=43

-Strength: 48+2=50

-Agility: 51+2=53

-Intelligence: 41+2=43

-Magic: 34+2=36

…

Sonilphon: 49/50

Evolutionary Possibilities

-Adult Sonic Magicblood Alpha: Survive 60 days. Progress: 38/60

-Young Sonic Magicblood Brood Alpha Khatif. Requirements: Evolution of Bloodlust Skill to Combatant’s Bloodlust, Evolution of Sonilphon, Brood Alpha race (Completed).]

More than just my size and Stats, though, I was learning better how to control my body and listen to when my instincts were correct. But, regardless of if I was feeling unstable enough to challenge Wisterl, I nearly skipped back to my territory as I looked at the Sonilphon counter. I had been right, just seven days were what I’d needed to finally progress to where I could evolve the organ. I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I couldn’t hold myself back from stepping immediately to my quarters, even ignoring Vefir waiting to heal me however necessary.

I strode up to my quarters and began to drain my sonilphon. I continued to try to streamline the usage of my sonic claws, or whatever it would end up being called, and I wondered if with the incoming evolution I would be able to finally cross the thus far impenetrable barrier to [Skill] acquisition. Regardless, it wouldn’t and couldn’t hurt to continue my practice before my magic organ finally evolved. Now, I had gotten to the point where, with my full focus and maybe a minute’s concentration, I could trigger both hands to their oscillating state. No longer did I idly dig out the walls, instead, I practiced moving like I was in a fight, trying to keep the magic flowing evenly as I moved in an exaggeratedly slow and deliberate motion.

I could move at about half speed while keeping up the sonic magic’s flow, but that was immensely taxing and even a little distraction could serve to completely halt the channelling and cause it to fail. Hence, I continued to practice, and tried to move the magic in a continuous smooth motion from my sonilphon’s reserves, through my chest and arms to my hands. The movements, so deliberate and controlled, almost felt meditative as I felt my sonilphon pass below halfway full.

Embracing the flow of my attempt to learn how to move and continue using this magic, I closed my eyes. Feeling the magic pass through me, the vibrations and energy feeling more and more mine, like it was always a part of me. With this type of magic, it truly came from myself, different from a Calling. The flow of my own magic draining was… cathartic, somehow, like a comfortable yet beneficial workout.

I was shaken from my pensive state when my sonilphon ran dry. I felt something change within me, and then, a warm flash that continued to heat up until it was nearly painful within my chest. Regardless of the discomfort, I looked at the flashing [System] notification and grinned.

[Evolutionary requirements of Sonilphon complete.]