“Is something wrong?” Noel asked as she saw Owari looking over all of the letters which were strewn around the coffee table. He had a serious look on his face.
“It seems I was right. Something big is about to happen.” He handed one of the letters over and explained what he had found from all of them.
“This seems really bad.” Noel was shocked. It seemed Owari’s actions had a really big impact.
“When anyone with as much sway as me moves it will obviously cause big changes. However I was merely the first domino to tip. The rest had already been laid out ahead of time and fell over together. It seemed there was a lot of tension there already. I think my allies used my request as an excuse to start everything. The tension was too much to bear for everyone so they needed something to tip the scales. Once they realized they could use my connections to band together the various groups solidified their positions and made their move.” Owari explained.
“So you were used?” Noel’s eyes sharpened.
“In a way. I was merely the excuse. In the end we can’t abandon our allies even if they use us. I also used them after all and now I owe favors to them. None of the other factions will want me, my position is already clear.” Owari said casually.
“You don’t seem too worried about this.” Noel was surprised.
“That’s because there is nothing I can do. I’m still too weak to make any big decisions. I can only act within my level of power. My sway may be great but my strength is not.” Owari had nothing to worry about because he wasn’t seen as a threat. His potential was great, but if everything was over before he reached his full potential then it didn’t matter.
“I see.” Noel nodded.
The two no longer talked about this and time passed again. Owari received and sent out more letters. When he got tired of that he grabbed Noel and Erica. “Time to go get you a tamed beast. I found the perfect one.” Owari said and then started to lead them through the forest.
“How long will it take to get there?” Noel wondered.
“On foot? A few days. You have the week off right?” Owari asked to be sure.
“Yeah I do. There better be something good to fight by the end of this.” She pouted.
“There should be.” Owari just laughed.
After a few days of travel they made it to their destination. Owari looked around and found what he was looking for. It was a set of reptilian footprints the size of a car wheel. Owari tracked them back to the beast’s lair as he described the beast in question. “It’s a crystal scale lizard. Despite its name it isn’t a crystal affinity beast. It has the light affinity.”
“What is it like?” Erica asked curiously.
“It has translucent colored scales that refract light that makes it look like rainbows. It uses its scales to gather light rays and its light affinity to focus it into attacks. It’s very fast so watch out for that.” Owari warned her.
It was around this time that they reached the place in question. There was a small cave that was carved into a small cliff face. Erica left from hiding and stopped suppressing her aura. She had a lot of talent for holding back her aura and despite being only gold rank could make herself seem like an iron rank.
When she released her aura the lizard came out from its shelter carefully. It eyed up Erica, not looking down on her one bit. She pulled out her sword and prepared to fight. The two had a staredown for a short while before each moved simultaneously. Erica swung her sword sending out a serpent of water, while the lizard jumped to the side as it prepared to rush forward.
Unexpectedly the water serpent shifted direction at the last second and struck the lizard, the teeth of the water serpent were unable to pierce its scales, but the force of the attack sent it back a few steps. As it tried to recover Erica rushed forward at full speed reaching the lizard in a mere moment. Then as she swung her blade it was coated in water and as it struck the lizard the water smashed it like a wave sending it reeling back even more.
The lizard concentrated and the light suddenly dimmed around it. Then a ball of light appeared in its mouth as it fired off a ball of light. However Erica had sidestepped it before the attack had even been fired off. She was quite good at reading her opponents. The ball of light flew past her harmlessly as she closed in for another attack.
This time as she swung a wave of water circled around her before striking against the lizard like a tidal wave, smashing it off balance even further. Then she did the same thing but from the other side smashing it again. Then she rushed it and swung her water coated blade knocking its head to the side. Even though she couldn’t cut it, she could knock it around and show it who was the boss.
This went on for another few minutes until Erica finally branded it with her mark. It easily submitted, having no other choice really. It couldn’t get a single attack in and its head was lolling as it teetered on consciousness and unconsciousness. Erica happily ran over to Noel and Owari with a wide smile on her face.
“I did it!” She said excitedly.
“Yes you did.” Noel gave her a hug and pet her hair. “She’s so adorable.”
“Yeah yeah. How strong is its affinity?” Owari asked. He had long gotten used to Noel’s antics.
“It should be enough.” Erica had calmed down already, it helped that Noel was hugging her making her feel weird.
“That’s good.” Owari nodded. It was time for them to head back. After all, Noel had to work soon. Unfortunately she didn’t get the fight she wanted, but she was still oddly satisfied with how things went.
Once they got back Owari didn’t spend much time there. He immediately set out with Hebi. The hydra was close to an evolution and he wanted to go out and relax without thinking of all this complicated stuff. As he brought Hebi along he looked for high gold-ranked beasts. Eventually he found a few, it was a small gathering of apes the size of a dump truck with the earth affinity. There were three of them. Owari decided to take two while Hebi took one. Owari wanted to fight using only martial arts.
Hebi started his fight first, he was far too proud to ask for help so as soon as he saw the enemy he attacked. Of course seeing his master move in to help was reassuring. Hebi started by raising a wall between his target and Owari’s. Then it spewed out black mist from its dark affinity head. As always the hydra preferred fighting in the dark. As soon as it entered the mist it was in its element. It slithered around shooting water and wind bullets at it.
The ape enhanced its body and bided its time trying to locate Hebi or find a pattern to its attacks. However Owari trained the serpent well and it staggered its attacks in such a way as to make it impossible for the less intelligent and skilled ape to figure it out. In the end it threw a fit and smashed its hands into the ground causing the ground to fracture and break apart. The force was even enough to dispel the black mist. However the ape would find this was a mistake.
Hebi didn’t like having its mist dispelled. It blinked all ten of its eyes in surprise. Then it opened its wind, water, and earth mouths. It breathed out a whirlwind of wind, then a burst of water which got sucked into the wind forming a vortex, finally it shot out a cloud of dust which got sucked into the vortex turning it into a muddy whirlpool which shot off at high speeds. That isn’t even mentioning that the vortex was as wide as a building.
The ape had no chance to dodge as the blast of mud smashed into it sending it flying back through a few trees. Following that whirlpool was a number of water and wind bullets that accurately pierced the apes arms and legs causing it to lose strength. Then Hebi slowly approached the ape and swung its metal affinity tail at it firing off a blade of silver light and decapitating it.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
On Owari’s side things were going somewhat smoothly, but not completely. Having made the decision to only use normal martial arts made the fight incredibly tough. But it was his only way of improving himself. After all it wasn’t like platinum ranks were lying around for him to face off against. Instead he decided to improve his basic abilities until he couldn’t do so anymore.
When Hebi rushed to attack its enemy, Owari pushed off the ground towards his. He rapidly approached, his speed reaching heights greater than ever before. A boom rang out as he broke the sound barrier with his body alone. He appeared in front of one of the apes in an instant and swung his sword at its throat. The ape tilted its head and body barely causing the blade to only nick it. Then it used an uppercut to try and strike Owari who was mid-air.
Owari threw his body forward along with his momentum, spinning mid-air barely dodging the punch. Then he used steel fang to cut the ape’s forearm causing blood to spray out. The ape roared with pain, but Owari ignored it and carefully fell to the ground, taking care to not let himself be caught off balance.
The second ape rushed him and tried to punch down on him, however Owari dodged to the side as the ape’s fist smashed into the ground kicking up debris. Then he kicked the ground again before spinning and landing sideways on a tree trunk. Then he kicked off of it with full strength. The force of his kick snapped the tree in half, and his speed was half again as fast as it had been during his first rush.
He rushed past the ape while using moth wing strike at full power. He absorbed the force and wind of his charge making the wind blade larger. As he swung his sword he left a massive and deep gash on the apes side, you could even see its ribs. The ape practically screeched. However this is where Owari’s advantage leaves him.
The first ape ripped a tree out of the ground and threw it like a javelin at Owari. As he dodged that the second ape ripped up another tree and swung it like a club at Owari. They learned their lesson about attacking directly with their bodies. Owari rolled out of the way of that attack only to find the other ape had jumped in the air and swung down a tree in a vertical motion trying to use its weight to smash Owari.
Owari jumped to the side and barely managed to dodge the strike. Again though he was unable to get a breath as the next attack came from the other ape. It swung its tree at him trying to bat him away. Owari managed to swing his sword blocking most of the force of the attack, but he was still sent flying, smashing through a tree. Owari rolled on the ground a few times before reorienting himself. He chuckled, he was pretty much fine, but it was hard to gain an advantage without mystic or spirit arts.
Owari rushed at them, using his full speed and moth wing strike to try and decapitate one of the apes. However it swung its tree at Owari forcing him to strike prematurely. The blade easily sliced the tree, however Owari wasn’t done. He was still flying towards the ape so he pulled his blade back and stabbed it through the shocked ape's eye. After that he used steel fang to slice through the side of its head. Then he kicked off of it just in time for the other ape to smash its friends face with the tree it was holding.
As its head snapped back the weakened skull from Owari’s cut smashed open and the ape died instantly. When the living ape realized it had killed its ally it roared in rage. Then it started smashing the ground sending earth spikes up around it indiscriminately. Because there was no pattern Owari was having trouble dodging. The ape eventually turned the spikes into needles which were much more dangerous, though whether it did this consciously or if it was trying to save mana, Owari had no idea.
Owari dodged continuously, finding no opening to attack as he tried his best to stay safe. He may have a sturdy body but he was weak to cuts and stabs. His body was slowly covered in cuts, and he even got stabbed from behind. Luckily it was shallow as he dodged in time, but any deeper and he would have had to activate his regeneration spirit art.
He continued to look for an opening. It was hard to dodge without the use of mana, but he could manage. Suddenly as he was weaving through the needles he moved forward. He easily sidestepped all of the needles as he approached. Then he suddenly kicked off the ground and like a cannonball he flew towards the ape. The ape was shocked, however it had no time to think as Owari smoothly flew past it, using steel fang to split its neck and severing its artery.
The ape clutched its throat before collapsing on the ground and bleeding out. Owari activated his regeneration spirit art and could visibly see his wounds sealing up. Within 10 minutes he was back in good shape at the cost of a tenth of his mana. He also noticed that the wounds had left more scars. Probably because the healing process simply enhances the natural healing process and doesn’t directly seal the wound. He shrugged, he already had so many cuts that it would be hard to notice anyway.
Hebi ate the three apes happily while Owari laid below a tree relaxing. His mind was completely empty of all thought. There was just him, Hebi, and the forest here. None of that complicated stuff that he had been dealing with recently. He took a deep breath and then fell asleep, taking a quick nap. When he woke up Hebi had already eaten its fill and Owari stood up with a chuckle. Hebi was close to evolving. He just needed a little more.
The two of them hunted a bit more before going back. Hebi was ready to evolve by the end of the day so they were done. Owari didn’t want to over hunt the area so he didn’t do any more hunting. The next day he decided to take out Garm. Unlike with Hebi he and Garm were fast enough to pierce deep into the forest and hunt there where most people wouldn’t tread.
Owari decided to make a game of it. He ran ahead and Garm had to track him down and try to keep up. The wolf and its master ran through the woods, one leading and the other following. When Owari finally stopped the hellhound also stopped by his side and sat down. Owari pet it and looked around. He sensed a few gold rank auras in the area, some of which were high gold.
Like Hebi, Garm was close to evolving. It seemed he still had some ancestral blood in him other than the hellhound, and it was clearly a step above the hellhound. He just hoped it wasn’t a cerberus. He already had one multi-headed beast. Based on the fact that it was better than a hellhound however there were only a few options.
Owari didn’t bother to think too deeply. He’d find out when it evolved, for now it was hunting time. The two stalked their prey, slowly looking for the right opponent to face off against. Eventually they found a large bear the size of a house. From what Owari could tell, it had the light affinity which was rare for a bear. On top of that it looked to be on the cusp of evolving based on the power in its large body. Light gave it speed and it relied on its body for power.
Owari gave thee signal to Garm giving it the go-ahead. Unlike its master it didn’t go out to face its foe directly. Instead it used its dark affinity to obscure itself within the shadows of the forest and slowly circled the bear looking for a weak spot. Unlike its supposed hunter of a master, it was a true hunter in the traditional sense. Owari was more like a warrior or soldier than a hunter.
Garm circled around and around for nearly 10 minutes before making its move. It suddenly rushed the bear just as it was lulling to sleep. It obviously had its guard down being in its own territory. When Garm rushed out suddenly it became startled and swiped a claw haphazardly at Garm. However for the speedy Garm it would be impossible to hit him with such a clumsy attack.
Garm ducked under the claw and jumped up after passing under it, shutting his jaws around the bear's throat and whipping its head back and forth. The bear reached up and dug its claws into Garm before pulling him off and throwing him back. Garm deftly turned mid-air and landed on his feet. After that he rushed back in at light speed.
The bear swung its claws as they shined white swiping at the same speed as Garm was running. The wolf and bear’s claws collided sending out black and white flashes of mana. However due to his built-up speed Garm was able to push the bear back. As the bear stumbled Garm rushed forward again and bit the bear’s leg. Then before the bear could retaliate Garm let go and jumped back. He had learned his lesson last time.
Garm rushed in once again, this time he flew past it using his claws to slash the bear. The bear seemed to be unable to react properly. Despite having the light affinity it clearly wasn’t used to lightspeed combat. You have to rely on your intuition to fight at lightspeed, whether it be you who is moving at lightspeed or your opponent. Clearly this bear had never used its light affinity to boost its speed. This was far different from Garm who Owari would play with by running around at light speed. It acted as training for both of them.
Now that Garm knew his enemies weakness he would never let it go. He quickly rushed past the bear using lightspeed attacks to strike it here and there. He couldn’t land a fatal blow though, every time he went for the kill the bear would instinctively defend itself. In order to give it no chance to adjust to the increase in speed Garm was forced to take the bear down slowly.
The bear did its best to fight back. It swung madly in the air with light-infused claws, but the nimble Garm easily ducked and weaved around such attacks. It even charged up a beam of light and swept it around the clearing slicing up trees and the ground, however Garm dodged that as well. It was clear Garm was no ordinary high gold rank beast. He wasn’t quite platinum level, but he was unmatched among gold ranks. Even Hebi would have had trouble fighting such a fast beast, though due to his practice with Owari he could manage to keep himself safe should he choose to focus on defence.
Garm easily continued to toy with his enemy, trying to find even the slightest nick in its defence. Suddenly it sensed something was wrong and backed off. The next moment a large ray of light dropped down around the bear incinerating the ground. Looking up Owari saw the sky had dimmed slightly showing the absence of light. He smiled calmly, he was quite amused by this bear. It had allowed itself to take damage to buy time for one ultimate attack. Unfortunately for it Garm was sensitive to danger. He had trained against someone like Owari who was so impossibly stronger than it so it knew very well the feeling of death and danger.
The bear was breathing heavily as it stood at the center of the crater on a pedestal. Obviously it had left itself out of the ray’s path. The bear blinked in disbelief at Garm who was safe and sound. It teetered in place and collapsed in a heap. Owari thought for a bit and rushed over to it. He quickly branded it temporarily and communicated with it. He was interested in this clever bear. When he communicated he unfortunately found it was too hostile to him. He shook his head and split its neck.
“What a shame. It would have made for a good enemy after letting it evolve a bit.” Owari shrugged, it seemed to have a grudge against humans in general so he had no more interest in it. It likely learned that last move from watching how humans fought.
Owari and Garm went back home after Garm filled his stomach and finished his requirements to evolve. When they got back Owari left it in torpor with Hebi and made his way over to Feng. It had been a while since Feng had been out with Owari. It had finally finished toughening its hide and was currently evolving to grow more dense with muscles. It was working towards a small but durable build that can tank through hits and survive. It was very fitting for it since it had the mud affinity which was a very endurance-focused affinity.
The two went as far as they could in a few days. Owari missed the day of black sun this year, but he wasn’t particularly interested in fireworks. Noel understood where he was coming from. He had a lot of stress on his shoulders lately and going out with his beasts was his way of relieving that stress. It was far more helpful than walking around in crowded streets filled with people cheering or children laughing. She didn’t go out either, instead she and Rebecca had a girl's day in with Erica, meanwhile Lance worked overtime through the holiday as he had a lot on his plate recently.
Owari and Feng went around hunting a bit, but mostly Owari had Feng relax by swimming through the rivers. The salamander always enjoyed swimming in a new location. Owari thought about taking him to the Lake, but for now this was fine. The two of them enjoyed their time as Feng ate his fill and Owari relaxed to the noises of the forest. It was during this time that they came upon an interesting scene. As they were returning Owari sensed a number of auras off in one direction.
Five humans and three beasts were chasing after a human and a beast. Owari’s detection range and accuracy were massive now. He could sense anything within half a kilometer and could sense accurately up to 100 meters. Past that the accuracy dwindled, but 100 meters was enough to sense this event. Normally he tuned out anything further than 100 meters due to the degradation.
Owari left Feng behind and went to check out the commotion. He was curious more than anything. He was bored and there wasn’t much left to do. When he arrived he saw five men and their beasts chasing a young lady riding a large blue tiger. Owari recognized the tiger as being a mithral tiger. Despite the name it isn’t impressive by his standards. It was a mid silver beast with a mutant metal affinity that focused on defence instead of the overwhelming attack power metal usually has. In fact one could say it was weaker than metal, but the defence it gave could easily be used to replace earth affinity techniques.
The men were all chasing the girl seriously and the girl was running with all her strength in a panic. Owari observed the going ons without stepping in. He didn’t know who was in the right and who was in the wrong yet. Unfortunately the men were too focused on chasing and didn’t speak. Eventually they cornered her against a cliff wall and slowly closed in on her. This was when they spoke.