Alnea rushed towards the tiger, urging his Aspects to surge out of his body, and wrap his legs in golden, and silverish blue lights. His hands, however, he wrapped in a mix of golden, black, and dark blue lights. All of which, he kept pushing into his sword, still resting in its sheath. Not to just add brute strength in his attacks, but in preparation of his Martial Styles. Except for the white light wrapped around his chest, of course.
He had yet to learn any Martial Style of the Armour type, so he could only make a rough use of the related Aspect for the moment. But it was enough. He was not planning on resisting the tiger’s attacks with his body anyways. The white Aspect was just a precaution. As for the rest of his Aspects…
Urging the Aspects wrapped around his legs once again, Alnea changed the rhythms of his steps. He gave up rushing towards the beast in favour of dancing on the winds. And as he neared the tiger, he invited the beast to dance with him.
Dancing Wind Style, an Intermediate Grade Martial Styles, focussing solely on enhancing his Speed, and Agility. It was one of the best Martial Styles in its specialisations, but consequently, also had one of the harshest requirements to use. Not just in terms of what Aspects one had to tame in order use the Martial Style, but also in terms of the terrains that it was suited to be used in.
Only in places of ample wind would the Martial Styles show its true prowess. And only those who dared to dance on the winds, could use it with any semblance of proficiency. Coincidentally, there was never a lack of winds in the Night Canyons. Especially in areas where there were no trees, or boulders to block the winds.
However, the winds were a natural force in the first place. Since they could work in his favour, they could also work in the favour of his enemies. Catching the scent flowing with the wind, even as its tails warned it about the dangers incoming, the tiger swiftly entered an alert state, and stood up, looking into the distance with narrowed eyes. Unlike the snake, it was not blind.
Three preys… One rushing straight at it, and two spreading out, as if trying to encircle it. Except for the one in the distance, glowing in a bluish white light, they did not seem to be too much of a threat. But the tiger had lived long enough to never underestimate its enemies.
Spreading the paws of its forelegs apart by just a few inches, it took a deep breath, and let out a roar. A King’s Roar. A Roar of Dominance. And a Roar of arrogance, predicting the death of its preys. However, the roar was not so simple as just a declaration of war. It was also one of the Innate Abilities of the tiger. The ‘Roar of Malice’.
A very common Innate Ability, one that many Oren Beasts had. Especially those which liked charging at their enemies up front. Like a Twin Tailed Python Tiger. Not even waiting to confirm whether its roar had been effective or not, the moment that the tiger finished roaring, it pushed on its front paws, and launched itself towards the enemy charging towards it, covering nearly thirty to forty metres in just half a dozen strides.
Alnea, on the other hand, bearing the full brunt of the roar, felt as if someone had launched Gravity Shift on him, but was targeting only his Spirit. The world itself swayed around him, as he lost all sight of his enemy. Even his steps were beginning to shake, and tremble. It was only because of his strong will that he managed to stop himself from losing his balance, and tumbling down to the ground. But he was still left defenceless—
Or not. The moment that the tiger was about to pounce upon him, a wall of fog blocked its charge, just as a few black blades, coalesced from darkness, shot towards its neck. Slamming down its paws with enough strength to dig into the ground, the tiger forcefully halted its steps, and dodged the attacks, while Alnea recovered himself. He had, after all, suffered even more devastating blows to his Spirit. A mere roar was nothing. Besides, he was not alone.
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Golden light, mixed with a hint of black, travelled from his sword, and rushed towards his head, relieving much of his stress. Enforcing his sword with more Aspects would surely have increased its prowess, but he had to be stable enough to use his sword in the first place. So, for the first time since he had become a Wanderer, Alnea used the golden black Aspect not as a sword, but as a shield, protecting himself from the tiger’s roar.
Ready for another round with the tiger, he rode on the wind, and passed through the grey wall of fog—through the opening that Yuri made just as he reached the wall— inviting the tiger to a dance once again. And this time, he had no intention of accepting its rejection. Before the tiger could even figure out what was happening, he had already pulled his sword out of its sheath, and sent his sword ‘Crying with the Wind’.
The tiger was still a little distance away from him after all. A normal slash would not have worked. And a normal stab would have been too easy to predict. Only an attack like ‘Crying Wind’, combining the best of the two, could reach it, and break through its defences. If it had been a normal Oren Beast, that is. It was not.
It did not matter if the tiger was still in mid air from dodging Cecilia’s Dark Blades. It was never afraid of such immaterial attacks as the black, golden, and silverish blue lights surging from the tip of its enemy’s sword. With just a thought, it directed one of its tails towards the glowing mass of light, and had it suck it all, only for the second snake to throw it all back at its enemy.
Alnea cursed when he saw his own attacks being directed back at him. ‘Rebound’. Of all the abilities that the Python tails could have, it was one of the most annoying abilities to deal with. But it was not as if the ability did not have any weaknesses. Or else, the tiger would not have dodged the Wall of Corrosion, or Dark Blades.
Determining his next course of action in a split moment, Alnea continued dancing on the winds, urging his sword to do the same. And when the ‘Rebound’ of his attack came back to him, he finally activated one of the Arcanas he had prepared earlier, shifting the core of the gravity acting on his body. It was not a hard task then, for him to leap a little towards his left, and ride the wind around him to escape the mass of golden, black, and silverish blue light.
By then though, the tiger had already regained its balance. And this time, it was much closer to him. Close enough for Alnea to understand just how terrifying the beast was. A giant beast, with muscles bulging out from its entire body, and oppressive air of dominance cultivated from countless life, and death battles, was looking at him with its crazy eyes, as if it could not wait to tear him apart from limb to limb.
…The beast had not looked so large, or terrifying, when he had observed it earlier. However, Alnea was not afraid. Still riding on the winds, he shifted his grip on his sword, and swung it towards the sky, even shifting the core his gravity to add momentum to his swing, as he ‘Raised the Earth’, to meet the downswing of the tiger’s paw, trying to smash him into a pulp.
And when the Earth was pushed back down, he shifted the core of his gravity once again, letting the ground pull him towards the ground. But that was not enough. So, he twisted the grip of his sword to point the blade towards the ground, just as he removed his left hand from the grip, only to slam it back on the hilt, and even more momentum to his ‘Meteor’s Descent’.
But ‘Meteor Descent’ was just the beginning. Using the momentum of his downswing, he shifted the core of his gravity once again, and rode the updraft of the wind to jump over tiger, shifting from ‘Meteor’s Descent’ to ‘Golden Wheel of Death’, aiming the wheel right at the tiger’s back. An attack, which even the snake tails were not capable of blocking. After all, unlike the ‘Crying Wind’, ‘Golden Wheel of Death’ did not launch the Aspects, but kept them stuck at the tip of his blade.
However, the tiger was still an advanced phase Oren Beast. Its paw may have been pushed back by the ‘Rising Earth’, but for Oren Beasts, their entire body was their weapon. Not to mention the numerous Innate Abilities it had. Continuously tracking the strange movements of its prey with its eyes, it used the momentum of its paw being pushed back to tilt a little towards its left, just enough for it to aim its mouth at its prey. Then, all that left for it do was to drown its enemy in its flames.