Special training. That was what Yuri called it. Alnea preferred to call it as courting death. And yet, he accepted it without any complaints. After all, he knew the true reason behind his special training. They had even stopped looking for advanced phase Oren Beasts, and travelled back to one of the smaller canyons, just so he could break through as soon as possible. How could he disappoint them then?
“I am ready,” Alnea said, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
“…May Goddess Ilea, and Goddess Faein be with you.”
“…I think even they would give up on me, considering how stupid the thing I am going to do is.”
“…Just do your best. If things get too out of control, then I will come in with Cecilia to rescue you.”
“…No need. If I know that you will be coming to rescue me, then I will not be able to give my best. And if I do not give my everything, then there would be no meaning for this training. So, you don’t have to come. Either I will complete this training, or I will… we will get scolded by master.”
“…Fine,” Yuri said. After a brief moment of silence, she added, “I am beginning on my end.”
“That’s what I have been waiting for anyway.”
Alnea looked around himself. Towards his left, some shrubs, and undergrowth were spread about in between a group of boulders. Not tall enough to hide Oren Beasts, but tall enough to lay countless traps for all who dared to step into their domains. Behind his back, uneven grounds, marred with presence of marshes, hid countless plant type Oren Beasts within the darkness of the canyon. And towards his right, some hundred or so metres away was a stream of water, cutting of his last route of escape.
After all, the stream was one of the countless distributaries of the Night River. It did not look too deep, or cold, but he was not fooled. Even if he did not count the Oren Beasts hiding within its depths, the water itself was as cold as ice. And it had to be at least tens of metres deep. In any other place, the stream would have all the rights to be called as a river itself. In the Night Canyons though…
Wanderers, and their sense of naming, Alnea thought, and shook his head. At least the stream was not named as something ridiculous. He could not say the same about the Martial Styles he had learned. Piercing the Stars, Golden Wheel of Death, Meteor Descent, Thousand Arms, Thousand Thoughts a Moment… and on, and on. There were countless Martial Styles with ridiculous names. And a Thousand Splendid Deaths happened to be one of them.
An Auxiliary Martial Style, specialising in Speed, Agility, and Stamina, the Thousand Splendid Death Style focussed on only one thing, a prolonged battle. And considering the tens of Oren Beasts rushing towards him from his front, that was he needed at the moment. A tough, prolonged battle.
Taking deep breath, Alnea urged his Aspects to come out of their Aspect Wells, and forced them into his veins. Not all of them, of course. Just the five which could enhance his physique, and increase his speed, and agility. Just in case, he also made sure to cover his chest with the white armour. As for the rest, he… left them alone. It was going to be a prolonged battle after all. He could not go around wasting his Spirit Power.
Besides, most of the beasts rushing towards him had just reached their Adolescent Stage. Only a few were in the intermediate phase. Still, he could not be overconfident. He—
With a Baleful Monkey jumping at him from his left, Alnea was forced to abandon his thoughts, and meet the monkey’s claws with his fist. Fuelled by the Thousand Splendid Deaths, of course. Even if the Martial Style did not specialise in strength, as an Intermediate Grade Martial Style, the boost in strength it provided was much more than what a Lowest Grade Martial Style specialising in strength could give. Enough to send the monkey flying back towards—
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Wrapping his wrist with its tails, the monkey pivoted around his wrist, and transferred all its momentum to a downswing, reaching out with its claws to tear into his stomach. Fortunately, the armour on his chest was enough to resist the monkey’s claw for a moment, buying enough time for Alnea to grab the monkey by cuff of its neck with his right hand, and stab into its chest with his left hand.
Baleful Monkeys were too difficult to handle. If given enough time, they could—
Before Alnea could even pull out his hand from the monkey’s chest, two rabbits, with pitch black fur, flanked him from either of his sides. And they were not stupid like the Baleful Monkey to not use their Innate Abilities. With darkness shining in their eyes, the two rabbits vanished into the darkness of the canyon. To the ignorant, it might seem that the rabbits had run away. But he knew better.
Pivoting on his feet to avoid the spike coming to him from his right, Alnea used the monkey in his hand to block the spike from his left. And as he felt the monkey’s blood splashed on his face, he understood how correct his decision was. However, he did not hand the time to praise himself.
Throwing away the half of the monkey’s corpse still left in his hands, he jumped, and flipped towards his back to avoid the second set of attacks from the rabbits. But just avoiding their attacks was not enough. So, he urged the Aspects flowing through his veins to their limits, and spread the senses of his Spirit all around himself. Waiting.
Feeling the fluctuations of Mysteries from his left, Alnea pushed his feet on the ground, and almost jumped towards his right, before he felt similar fluctuations from his right. Cunning rabbits. Without enough time to think about his actions, he could only rely on his instincts, and jumped towards his left, barely avoiding the Dark Spikes. And it was also on instinct that he pulled his sword out of its sheath, and pierced the stars—rabbit.
With a flash of the golden light of his Aspect, blood splashed on the ground, as the rabbit stumbled back in its death. But the rabbit was not alone. He still had to deal with another rabbit… and a pair Swallowtail Ravens. Chirping in madness, as they flew in the darkness of the canyon, they kept throwing blades of wind at him, forcing him to give up on his plan of finishing the two rabbits at once.
The rabbit, however, had no concern for its life. Screeching in madness like the ravens, it rushed towards Alnea, urging all its abilities at once. Dark Spikes, Dark Claws, Dark Fangs, and even Whispers of Darkness, all sorts of attacks came raining down upon him, testing him to his limits. And as if that was not enough, the ravens also joined in on the fun, greeting him with their blades of winds, and Screech of Despair.
Fortunately, psychological attacks barely had any effect on him. As for the physical attacks… At first, Alnea tried dodging the attacks by side stepping them, or jumping the gap between two attacks. When the attacks became too dense though, he was left with no choice but to stab his sword into the ground, and use it as a leverage to jump over most of the attacks raining down upon him. Only a few blades of winds managed to reach him, but even they were blocked by layer of white light covering his chest.
However, he could not just keep on dodging the Oren Beasts. He had to take them down soon, or else, things would become even more difficult. And so, as landed on the hilt of his sword, Alnea pulled out his dagger from his waist, activating its Glyph Arrays while he was at it. And before the raves could launch another wave of attack at him, he launched himself into the air, throwing his dagger at one of the ravens with immaculate aim.
The raven still managed to avoid getting stabbed, but just a nick in its skin was enough. Pressed down by the Glyph Arrays of his dagger, it lost most of its mobility, and almost fell down to the ground. It managed to remain in the air with effort, but its movements were too stiff. It was no wonder then, that when Alnea willed his dagger to fly back, the raven provided no resistance to the dagger stabbing into the back of its head.
Meanwhile, the rabbit, having lost its sanity, rushed at him while covering itself in a layer of darkness. And the moment he landed on the ground, the rabbit threw itself at him, seemingly intent on biting through his neck, only for its neck to get stabbed by his hand. Sure, the darkness covering the rabbit provided resistance against his hands. But with golden, and silverish blue lights of four Aspects covering his hand, mere amalgamation of darkness could not stop his way.
Or his dagger, plunging into the rabbit’s back. In the end, the only beast left was the raven screeching in the sky. And the Dark Devouring Snake that came biting at his leg. Then there were the vines, shooting for his back. And the jets of water, coming from his right. Not to mention the trap he had just walked into. A trap, set up by patches of Red Herring, Blood Sniffing, and Darkness Assimilating Grass, dulling thoughts, and senses, trying to lure him into illusions of darkness…