Alnea sighed in relief, as he watched the tiger finally fall still. Just to be sure, he moved towards the beast, and poked it with his sword for a few times. Only when he was certain that the tiger, and its snakes were dead, did he dare to relax a little, and sheath his sword. His actions, however, did not go well with Yuri.
“Are you doubting me?” Yuri said in a dissatisfied tone, reminding Alnea that he was not alone.
“…I was just making sure that it was not feigning death. Although Twin Tailed Python Tigers are known for fighting head on, it is still an Oren Beast after all. When driven to a corner, it can resort to any tricks.”
“That’s that same as doubting me.”
“…I left my back to you in the fight, did I not? And I even created the perfect chance for you to kill the beast by taking my life on the line…”
“But you still doubted me.”
“You…”
“You can be so cute at times,” Yuri said, adding a little chuckle in her voice, as she neared the beast, and squatted down to check its condition. Before Alnea could reply to her though, Cecilia came up to his side, and prodded the tiger with her legs.
“It’s finally dead,” she said. After a few moments of silence, she turned towards Alnea, and added, “I am sorry.”
“…For what?” Alnea said, staring at Cecilia in confusion.
“…For not being able to help.”
“It’s not your fault. Your hand is still not healed yet.”
“…I am not just a Warrior. I am also walking on the path of Arcanists. But all my Arcanas were practically useless against it.”
“That’s because your Arcanas are of only the Initial Stage.”
“And so are yours.”
“…They are a little different. Most of my Arcanas are assistive in nature, and focus on controlling our enemies, while yours focus on yourself—
“That’s the point, isn’t it? Even though we are a team, most of my Arcanas are focussed just on myself…”
“Cecilia—
“I am glad that you are thinking about your paths, and your deficiencies, Cecilia, but can you two reserve your ruminations for after we get back to our camp?” Yuri said, standing back up, and turning towards them. “I used up quite a bit of my Spirit Power this time. And I am sure Alnea is the same. We are in no condition to fight against any other advanced phase Oren Beasts. It would be best if we get out of here as soon as possible.”
“…What about the tiger?” Alnea said, shifting his gaze from Yuri to the beast in front of him. “It is too heavy to carry it whole.”
“Let’s just cut off the few of its best pieces then,” Cecilia added, supressing most of her gloominess back into her Heart. “We cannot miss the chance to eat an advanced phase Oren Beast.”
“…Since we are talking about cutting the tiger… I was truly impressed by your strike back then,” Yuri said, looking at him with amusement. “I did not know that you have advanced so much in the ways of swords.”
“…Will you believe it if I said that even I was surprised by that strike?” Alnea said, smiling wryly, as his eyes darted towards the leg he had cut off. “I felt no different back then, but somehow, the sword that I swung was completely different from my normal swings…”
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“…We will talk about it later,” Yuri said, losing all her playfulness as she heard his words. “Right now, the most important thing is to get to relative safety.”
“…I will get to my work then,” Alnea mumbled, and pulled out his dagger to butcher the tiger, selecting only the best of its pieces. Like its heart, its liver, and the small sack hidden in its throat. Apparently, it was responsible for transforming Oren, and then releasing it as the tiger’s Innate Abilities. Although he did not know how delicious the sack would be, it surely was one of the best pieces in its body. Along with some of the more tender meat, and the snake tails.
After he was done, he carefully packed all the parts in his bag, before Cecilia began leading their way back to their camp. She had the spent the least amount of Spirit Power in the fight, after all. Maybe, she truly did lack sorely in her capacity as an Arcanist. But no one was perfect. And she still had time. Having recognised her shortcomings, it should not take long for her to become a capable Arcanist in her own ways.
That was what they were fighting advanced phase Oren Beasts for anyways. To recognise their shortcomings, and fill them up. To prepare to fight Heterodox Wanderers. To become a true team. And since they were a team, Yuri could not keep standing in the back all the time. Next, it would be her turn to fight the Oren Beasts head on. But before that, they had to fill their stomachs.
Picking up two more intermediate phase Oren Beasts on their way, the relatively light ones, they soon made their way back to their cave. And after a hearty meal, they got back into their routine. Training their Spirits, Wandering the Origin Sea, practising their Martial Styles, and tempering their Hearts. And of course, another unsuccessful attempt of fighting off their dreams.
Three Master Attuners. Alnea Oathkeeper had underestimated his enemies. Both in terms of their strength, and their shamelessness. For three Master Attuners to disregard all their dignity, and launch sneak attacks on someone who was not even a Novice Attuner… They even went so far as to sacrifice ten Adept Attuners, all just to distract him, and make him lower his guard.
However, it was not just him who had underestimated his enemies. The Acolytes of Origin had done the same. They had their chance to kill him, and they wasted it on trying to tease him. On trying to make him despair. Too bad for them, he was already living in despair. Until he found the girl… until he found his salvation, he would never rest. And he would never allow anything to get in his way.
“…Were you people not concerned on how I could take down so many of your Master Attuners?” Alnea Oathkeeper said, using his sword as a support to keep himself standing. “Then let me show you what an Oathkeeper relies on to keep his Oaths…”
Alnea woke up naturally, with his dream not even making so much as a ripple in his Heart. After all, he had seen his namesake fight in much more desperate situations, and still come out on top. If not for the fact that he was trying to save his salvation, then the other Alnea might not even have died against the Acolytes of Origin. And the only thing that kept his namesake strong in even the direst of situations was his determination, and persistence.
So, the moment that he woke up, Alnea picked up his sword, and walked out of the cave. Greeting Yuri in the distance, he went to another corner to keep watch, and began practising his sword. Beginning with ‘Piercing the Star’, he ‘Sundered the Skies’, and brought down ‘Raging Waves from the West’, only to return with ‘Red Floods from the East’. And when the flow of the flood became too strong, he raised the ‘Great Wall of West’, and ‘Calm the Winds’.
And yet, that was just the beginning. On, and on he went, switching from one Martial Style to another, until he could switch no more. Even then, he did not let go of his sword. Because it had not stopped singing. And so, he sung along with his sword. The song of protection, and annihilation. A song, that came from the depths of his Heart. And a song that stopped only when his Heart came to remind him of the time.
Using his Aspect to hide the blush on his face, Alnea rested for a while to recover his Spirit Power, before they went venturing into the darkness once again. This time, with Cecilia leading the way. She proceeded very carefully, stopping every hundred metres or so, to do a thorough check of her surroundings. It looked like she was still brooding about how helpless she had been against the Twin Tailed Python Tiger.
It was not the time for him to cheer her up though. He could not afford to distract her. A decision which proved correct just a quarter of an hour later, when they stumbled upon a peak phase Oren Beast in a territory that they had cleared just a week ago. Not daring to make any sound, they swiftly made their way away from the Oren Beast, before resuming their search.
A Swallowtail Shadow Raven, a Twin Horned Dark Earth Bear, a Dark Devouring Snake, and even a Flame Tongued Serpent. From common Oren Beasts to Oren Beasts so rare that they had seen for the first time, they came across all sorts of beasts. However, it was not until a couple of hours had passed, that they found what they had been looking for. A Firefox in the intermediate phase of its Adolescent Stage.