Cecilia grimaced in pain as she pulled out her hand from the bear’s chest. Even when protected by her Aspect, her hand still hurt like it was being chewed on by Bone Eating Ants. And for obvious reasons, it was even more swollen than before. The bear’s skin… it was too thick. If not for using Three Resonance Burst Style, she might never even have pierced through its defences. And even when she did break its defences, the price she had to pay was not small.
However, she did not regret her actions. On the contrary, despite the pain she was feeling, as she watched the bear let out a dying howl, before falling on its back, she could not stop herself from grinning. Just as she believed in Alnea, Alnea also believed in her. So, it was only natural for her to do everything in her prowess to prove to him that he was not wrong. Even if that meant breaking her hand.
“Are you alright?” Alnea said, rushing straight towards Cecilia, and taking her swollen hand in his, while forcing the waves of Oren to stop making their Nightmare Calls. After all, the bear was already dead. “Does it hurt?”
“…Such a wound is nothing for a Serpian.”
“Alright, great Serpian Lady. Can I heal your hand now?”
Not caring whether she agreed with him or not, Alnea covered her swollen wrists with his hands, and reached towards the Origin Sea.
“Hiding in the breath of all things alive…”
“Seeking the warmth of her evergreen shine…”
“I beseech the seeds hidden in the Origin…”
“To bequeath unto my hands the Green Touch of Life.”
A green glow, soft, and warm, with a sense of security, and peace, covered his hands, and in consequence, Cecilia’s wrist, providing it with pure nectar of Life. No, not pure nectar, but just a poor copy of it, formed from infusing Oren with Seeds of Life, and compressing it to the point of forcing it in the form of liquid. But it was enough. As the green liquid flowed from his hand, and dripped onto Cecilia’s swollen wrist, it visibly eased the swelling, and even returned her wrist to its usual colour.
“That’s all I can do for now,” Alnea said, withdrawing his hand, just as the green glow finally faded away. “How is it? Does it still hurt?”
“…Not much,” Cecilia said, rotating her wrist, and repeatedly clenching, and unclenching her fist. “Having someone with a Healing Arcana on the team is really convenient.”
“…It would be best if you would not get injured in the first place.”
“Injuries in a fight of life, and death are unavoidable,” Yuri said, as she walked up next to them. “Especially when your enemy is much stronger than you.”
“…An advanced phase Oren Beast,” Alnea mumbled, glancing at the bear lying on the ground. Its death had forced it out of its invisible state, revealing a shrivelled up bear, that looked half a size smaller than the one they had been fighting. Even in death, the beast was not able to escape from paying the price for using a self mutilating Innate Ability. Incarnation of Darkness…
“We did it!” Cecilia said, throwing her hands in the air, as the excitement finally dawned on them. “We fought, and killed an advanced phase Oren Beast as a true team!”
“…Remember to not put too much pressure on your wrist,” Alnea said, subduing his excitement into the depths of his Heart. It was not the time, or place, to express his emotions. Thankfully, he had learned a couple of Martial Styles to hide his true expressions. “If you don’t want to break it once again, that is.”
“…Tsk. Spoilsport.”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Alnea is right,” Yuri said, tearing her eyes off from the bear’s body. “We can celebrate later. Staying here, in our current state, is too dangerous. We may be able to take on a couple of intermediate phase Oren Beasts, but if we encounter advanced phase Oren Beasts, then things will become troublesome.”
“…What are going to do with the bear?”
“…It has been contaminated by Darkness. Only proper Oren Chefs can deal with it now. If we try to cook it by ourselves, our end may be even more miserable than the bear’s.”
“…Fine, let’s just go back then.”
Once they came to a decision, they did not waste time loitering around in an advanced phase Oren Beast’s territory. Alnea had exhausted too much of his Spirit Power though. And so had Cecilia. High Grade Martial Styles… They were not so easy to use. Especially ones that could help Wanderers to jump an entire Stage to kill their enemy. He did not know what price Cecilia had to pay, but from how she did not volunteer to lead the way herself, he assumed that it must be something serious enough to incapacitate her for a while.
Fortunately, Yuri still had quite a bit of her strength left. She did use Eyes of Death, and Dark Resonance, but compared to her large reserves of Spirit Power, two Intermediate Stage Arcanas were not worth mentioning. It was not that she did not wish use more of her strength during the fight. But if she had truly gone all out against the Dark Earth Bear, then neither Alnea, nor Cecilia, would have had a chance to make a move. Though they had begun fighting Oren Beasts as a true team, they still had quite some way to go if they wished to be on par with Yuri.
Under Yuri’s lead, they avoided most of the Oren Beasts, except a Dark Wind Wolf, and an Ice Winged Snake. Back at the cave, they divided their labour once again, and quickly dealt with their meal, before submersing themselves back into their training. A Cycle of Spirit Forging. A trip to the Origin Sea. Practising Martial Styles. And singing a song with his sword. A song that only he, and his enemies could hear…
Ending his day with meditation, and another unsuccessful attempt of fighting off his dreams, Alnea welcomed a new day with another song of his sword, before they finally set out to search for an Oren Beast once again. An advanced stage Oren Beast. Though they had already marked most of the areas in the canyon, they could never be too careful. What if the Oren Beast they had marked as being in the advanced phase reached the peak phase? Or what if it was driven away by a stronger Oren Beast?
Just a slight mistake in intelligence could be the difference between life and death for Wanderers. Especially when they were fighting enemies beyond their Stage. And in the months that they had spent together, Alnea had proven himself to be a worthy scout. At the very least, he never made any mistakes when leading the way. So, once again, the task of finding the Oren Beast was left to him.
“Twin tailed Python Tiger,” Alnea said, observing the Oren Beast in distance. “Roughly three metres in long, and two and a half metres tall. The pythons on its tail are about one metre long. And none of its teeth are long enough to hang out of its mouth. Most importantly, its stripes have yet to develop its iconic fire patterns. It is definitely just in its advanced phase.”
“…Are you ready then?”
“…I am,” Alnea said, gripping the purplish black hilt of the sword tied to his waist, rubbing his thumb over the blood red jewel embedded on the hilt. “Leave it to me.”
“…If only my wrist was not hurt…”
“It still would have been my turn,” Alnea said. “You had your way with the bear. Now, let me play with the tiger.”
“…Don’t be too smug. Who knows, you might break your hands too.”
“…Are you warning me, or cursing me?” Alnea mumbled, before turning towards Yuri. “I will leave my back to you.”
“…You don’t have to say it,” Yuri said. “I have always got your back.”
Replying his friend with a grin, Alnea closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, exciting his Aspects one by one, while preparing a few of his Arcanas. And when he was ready, he opened his eyes, and looked towards the tiger once again.
“One…”
It was lying on the ground, resting its head on its paws. It even looked like it was sleeping, and was completely defenceless. The snakes resting on its back though, blind as they were, were aware of everything in its surroundings. From the ants crawling in the small crevices in the ground, to the winds blowing through the tiger’s fur, nothing could escape their tongues. Not even the sounds that Alnea, and the girls were making.
“Two…”
Raising their heads, they looked into the distance where the sounds were coming from. They could not understand what those sound meant, but they knew that the sounds belonged to other beasts. To the ignorant beings, who dared to cross into their territory. The sounds belonged to their prey. Hissing in hunger, anger, and anticipation, the snakes let out strange sounds. Moments later, the tiger opened its eyes, and looked in the direction of its prey.
“Three!”