"Hahaha! What talented children!"

"Grandmaster Hermes, the other Night Beast has been dealt with."

"Good! This will be a great opportunity for these children."

"Yes, those two seem to be quite talented. I am excited to train them when they become official Divine Knights."

"They are not who I am interested in. They are." Hermes said as he looked at Carter and Priya, "The girl's eyes have never left you, and the boy keeps glancing between us."

"What?"

"Interesting, right?"

"The boy, I can understand, but the girl..."

"Are you curious?"

"Yes, very much so. Maybe I should look into her more, but it seems you may know something, Grandmaster Hermes."

"Perhaps or maybe not, but I can say she is a clue..."

Hermes couldn't help but smirk as he stared at the two children, who stared back with dull eyes.

"Stay here and watch them; I will deal with the little shrefins hiding and plotting in the village. After that, we will look into the girl; something may be hidden in her past."

***

After learning what the creature was and how to deal with it, Casper decided to chase after the Night Beast, who was trying to escape. He sprinted across the dark forest, determined to catch the creature before it could cause any more harm. Meanwhile, the rest of the group, feeling a mix of fear and relief, gathered together in a tight circle around Carter and Priya, who had sat on the ground dazed and staring off into space around them. Pit looked around nervously, trying to stay alert and ready for whatever might come their way, knowing that with Casper gone, he was the only one capable of defending the rest.

"Pit, what are we going to do?"

"We wait..."

"NO! WHAT ABOUT MY BROTHER!"

"Do you trust your brother so little?"

"What about us, Aster? Your brother is the one that can fight! Worry about us!" Weiss screamed

"That is exactly why he left... Casper is baiting these Night Beasts away so we can escape..." Pit said

"Then let's go! The sooner we get away, the sooner that Casper can too."

"First, we need to wait. If there is another one around us, then we need to defend ourselves until Casper returns. If not, we will find a safe place to stay until someone comes for us."

***

Casper raced through the dense forest neither fast nor slow, just keeping a steady pace, knowing it was best to keep his energy and not get ahead of himself. As he ran, his eyes caught signs of the beast on every tree he passed. Horizontal claw marks at about his waist seemed to be on every tree in a straight line, and from the markings, Casper could guess that the beast was bouncing from tree to tree, trying to escape. For a beast, it was clever. This strategy was something used by well-trained Seedlings, so the fact that a beast was smart enough to do it felt strange, but unluckily for this beast, Casper had already experienced this once before.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

It was a couple of months after he arrived at the orphanage, and he had already gone through a battle with another Knight in Training the month prior. That was his first fight, which wasn't a street brawl but a crushing victory; it made him arrogant. The fight Casper was thinking of was technically his second-ever fight, and it was a brutal defeat. He had no chance against that Knight in Training, something he only realized after waking up a few days after the fight. It was a wake-up call, and he refused to fight for the next six months and focused on training. That was when he met Pit, and Pit explained how he lost but not how to win, telling him that it was best to find out on his own. He trained for the rest of the year, but he never got the chance to test his theories on approaching a fight like this. Now that the opportunity was right in front of him, there was no way he could turn it down.

Chk chk chk

Casper heard the chattering of the creature's mouth seconds before it pounced at him; his first thought was to spin to the sound, but his body reacted faster than his mind and jumped backward, letting the Night Beast glide in front of him before disappearing into the darkness of the forest again.

Chk chk chk

The clattering of the beast mandibles seemed to echo around him, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He turned and swirled between the trees trying to keep the flame between him and the sound while not letting his back stay in the open for long. Time dragged, and seconds felt like years as the haunting sound of the beast laughing bounced around him; it took all he had not to scream at the beast for being a coward, but knowing that as soon as he did, the battle of will between them would be lost, so he just kept his breath steady and mind calm.

A battle of wills, where whoever is the first to strike is the winner, both knowing the other's weakness, one in the light and the other dark. Is there anything better? Casper couldn't help but notice the smile on his face. It had been a while since he had felt this thrill, but just like those days when he was on the streets fending for himself and Aster, he knew it was best to enjoy the feeling after his task was finished.

A sharp pain shot up from the back of his right leg, and the cackle of the beast soon followed. Casper stumbled and winced in pain as he berated himself for letting his mind slip in a situation like this. Tiny motes of green light floated out from the torn fabric, radiating stinging pain pulsed with every beat of his Life Seed, sending more of the motes out of his wound. He tried to put weight on the leg, but every time he tried, a sharp, stinging pain shot out from the wound, causing him to stumble again.

"What did that thing do to my leg?" Casper couldn't help but mutter as he stared at the gloating eyes shining just outside of the light.

"Well, what are you waiting for? You injured me; now what? Are you going to cower away until I die from these wounds?" Casper shouted at the beast, but the only reply was its clatters.

Casper continued to put the fire between him and the beast, but with each passing second, his body grew heavier, and the pain from his leg grew numb. Every time the chitter moved, he would take longer to position himself. The world spun, and his breath was growing heavier. He didn't think he could last much longer.

Chk chk chk

The mocking sound of the beast echoed as Casper fell to a knee. He used his free hand to hold himself steady, pointing the stick toward the sound. He started to wrench his body to push out another breath, but it was getting too difficult to breathe. His fingers dug into the ground as the chittering grew closer, and in his blurry vision, he could see the beast make its way to the edge of the light.

With a light thud, Casper fell, his eyes closed and body unmoving.

Chk chk chk

The beast chittered as it slowly made its way to the body. It paced around in a circle at the edge of the light, slowly making its way closer and closer. When it finally decided that the body could not move any longer, it pounced onto its chest. It used its nose to smell around the body, looking for the Life Seed hidden inside. When it finally found it, the beast opened its mouth, ready for its meal.

The Night Beast screeched as the burning stick was shoved into its mouth, and it struggled to move and twist its head to break free, but Casper was grabbing the back of the beast's head, pulling it closer to himself while shoving the fire deeper down into the beast's mouth.

"Not so smart now, are you? Was it not odd how I was laying you stupid beast!" Casper couldn't help but gloat at his incredible act

Casper wrapped his legs around the beast's body, pulling it closer to his own. The beast, on the other hand, began to scratch and claw, trying to break free. Its tail whipped back and forth, slashing into Casper, releasing more of the paralyzing poison from its tail.

"If I am going to die, then I am taking you with me! I will not let you hurt Aster or anyone else!"

The beast tried to use its mandibles to break the stick, but Casper noticed breaking one of the mandibles with a quick jerk. His elbow slammed into the ground with so much force from the pull that the sound of shattering bones could be heard, but Casper didn't even notice; he was too focused on the beast dying on top of him. With the small growing pillar of green light, Casper knew that this small fight was over. His body relaxed as he noticed the small motes of green light from his wounds flowing into the growing pillar.

"Well, at least with this, Aster will be safe..."