Chapter 028:

“Fuck,” the kid grabbing Moore by the hair screeched as he noticed the magic gathering beneath his feet.

He fumbled pathetically for a bit, unsure of what to do while his friends promptly left his side to escape on their own. Finally, he seemed to remember Zackery and a manic smile spread across his face.

The spell was completed and a particularly large spike of rock suddenly Sprouted from the ground.

“Mike, no!” Zackery wanted to move away but doing so would mean using force against his ‘friend’ which he was desperate not to do, so he could only watch as the spike pierced him through his shoulder with ruthless efficiency. A jolt of pain brought a scream to his throat but he suppressed it; as he had grown accustomed to doing.

Finally confirming that the spell had locked down onto the demon child, the leader of the group, Mike, smiled contently as he jumped out of the way.

“Crazy bastards!” Ed’s eyes exploded in anger as he came to grips with what had just happened.

He had just wanted to give the brats a warning so that they could take Zackery and dodge out of the way of the spell, but instead, he was treated to a fucked up show.

He began to approach Zackery wanting to confirm his condition but before he could do so, he was confronted by the boy Moore called Mike.

“I don’t know who you are but you really should stop interacting with the demon child, it’s for your own good,”

Ed was disgusted with the kid’s fake concern and he moved past him, only to be confronted once again.

Fully ticked off now, the much larger Ed stared the comparatively scrawnier leader down.

Perhaps intimidated by the difference in height, Mike started to take a step back but when he noticed his friends returning to his side, his confidence returned and he tilted his head up to meet Ed’s eyes with a mocking smile.

He even went as far as to spit on the ground as a show of dominance.

Ed was oh so close to ramming his fist down the pretentious fuck’s throat but after taking a couple of seconds to cool his head, he decided that such a festering pile of human trash was not worth breaking his oath of many years for.

“Look. Just let me make sure the runt’s good,” Ed finally squeaked out through clenched teeth.

The leader, satisfied by his victory over the larger youth, laughed in Ed's face.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, it’s just that it’s been a while since I’ve seen someone concerned with the demon child’s health,”

‘Again with the demon child…’ Ed thought to himself as he continued to stare the leader down.

Finally, Miker gave a casual shrug as he stepped to the side, allowing Ed to see Zackery.

He was about to approach the kid and ask about the injury but he was shocked into silence by what he saw.

Moore had managed to peel himself off the spike and just as Ed was about to start worrying about the possibility of him bleeding out, he noticed it. In Zackery’s wound, a thick blob of blood moved with eerie sentience as it actively pulled his wound to a close.

“That looks painful…” Ed remarked.

“I’m sure it is,” Mike said with a nod, looking equally disgusted. “But that brat never makes a noise as it happens. As a matter of fact, he never makes a noise no matter how much pain you inflict on him,”

Anger flashed through Ed’s eyes once again but he suppressed it; he made his way over to the kid.

“You ok?” He asked.

“I’m fine,” Zackery replied with a pale face.

‘Something’s wrong with this kid…’ Ed thought to himself grimly.

Despite what his large stature may lead some to assume, he was not simple of mind and thus he could draw some conclusions regarding the kid’s situation from context clues.

‘The kid has an unnatural power that the citizens of Graveclaws aren’t taking too kindly to. From the way he keeps breathing so weirdly, it seems that agitation triggers the power’s activation, but that’s not all…He seems scared of his power, so it is probably not just regeneration,’

Crouching next to the kid, he intended to ask more questions but was interrupted from doing so by a guttural scream.

“I thought you said, he didn’t feel pain,” Ed asked, addressing the kids behind him.

Unfortunately, they were of no help as they seemed just as confused by Zackery’s outburst.

The cute-looking kid had a warped expression of pain plastered across his face as both hands covered respective ears.

“Zackery! What’s going on?” Ed asked, deeply concerned.

“The noise! It hurts!”

“What noise?”

“That noise, it’s screaming! Aghhhhh” Letting his hands loose from his ears, Zackery turned toward the skies and screamed so loud it grabbed the other students’ attention.

Confused and alarmed glances turned toward him but Ed could not afford to pay them any heed as before him the young Moore was undergoing a horrific transformation.

“Get back!” Ed screamed but evidently, it was too late as Zack had already disappeared.

‘Shit’ Ed thought as his eyes scanned his surroundings in a frantic search.‘What was that?!’

Unfortunately, he did not have to look for long as a pathetic scream clued him in.

Turning toward the noise, Ed grimaced as he caught sight of Mike passed out in a puddle of his own blood with Zackery above him.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

For a fleeting moment, Ed got a good look at the beast. The young Moore was taller now, only it was apparent that the height was painfully abnormal; if pressed to describe it, Ed would say that the boy looked like he was stretched. His limbs were gangly and disproportionately too tall for his body. His canines were sharpened and elongated, feral looking; only visible due to his now inhumane lips which spread so wide, that bloody fissures started spreading.

Despite his sickly appearance, the transformed Zackery radiated a baleful aura that screamed of unusual animalistic strength.

Running a hand through his arm, Ed shivered as goosebumps spread. ‘I-I can’t let that thing touch me!’

“Ruuuuuuunnnnnn!” A student screamed, heralding a mass panic as students fled in all directions.

“Awwwwooooooooo” Zack howled, arching his back as thick black claws penetrated his flesh and grew out of each finger. Blood had dried on his lips, turning them a sickening shade of black and Ed could now see finer details such as the thin web of cracks spreading across the child’s body.

His eyes widened at the realization; the reason he could see such fine detail was because “Zackery” had bolted toward him and was already above him as his body contorted into a wide arc which funneled horrendous power into the clawed hand racing toward Ed’s face.

“Fuck!” Would have been Ed’s last word.

………………………………………………..

Just as Zackery began screaming in pain.

'Well look at that,' Alexander thought in exasperation as he dodged another haymaker. 'Of all things, it is just like my luck to be introduced to this world's guardian. And to top it off, it is still a runt!'

His hand lashed out and grabbed Grim’s collar, pulling the youth toward him.

Grim, who had been inches away from having his head caved in by Crooked Nose, gave Alexander a look of both appreciation and resentment.

"Just finish him off!"

"Patience, young slim,"

'So there are only two of them,' Alexander deduced, 'But something is off; they don't seem to have the same training…' He thought as he continued to monitor the situation over at Ed's side before he was once again forced to dodge a rather large attack passing through.

'Speaking of off, this guy has the stats of a knight, but his technique is way too sloppy…'

"I'll admit, you're pretty good to last up till now, but do you really think you stand a chance against me if all you do is run away?" Crooked Nose said with a snarl, venting his frustration.

"Timothy! Finish him off!" Grim pleaded with a grim look in his eyes.

Alexander tilted his head and smacked his lips. With minimal effort, he caught one of Crooked Nose’s raging fists and pulled so that his arm was fully extended.

He was about to call out to Grim, but the clever bastard already knew what to do as he already had his foot raised high.

“Enjoy!” Grim said as he unleashed an axel kick right onto Crooked Nose’s elbow, snapping his arm in half.

“Aghhhhh you stupid runts!” Crooked Nose screamed as he hurriedly dodged back to recover.

But Grim was not about to let his hard-fought opening slip away, he dashed in, arm swinging back.

Crooked Nose scoffed and was about to counter when his skin broke into goosebumps upon noticing that the other runt was suddenly beside him.

‘Is he finally going to attack?’ Crooked Nose thought, completely focusing on Timothy in preparation.

Unfortunately, he was forcefully reminded of Grim’s existence when his punch drilled itself into his broken arm sending waves of pain across his body.

Grim ignored his foe’s pained grunt as he followed up his punch with another, aimed at the same spot.

‘Fuck, this is going to take a while,’ Alexander thought in exasperation after noticing that Grim was not intending on ending things quickly by the way he wasn’t using his dagger.

Begrudgingly, he also re-entered the scuffle after noticing where Crooked Nose was standing.

‘This should be enough to show my worth,’ Grim thought after dodging under Crooked Nose’s attack. Deciding it was time to finish things, he unsheathed the dagger he had been hiding in his sleeve and smiled when Timothy once more appeared beside Crooked Nose.

Just as his attention was averted, Grim ruthlessly stabbed toward the man’s neck.

But before steel met flesh, Grim’s eyes widened in shock as he finally noticed the sword closing in on his head.

‘A mistake!’ Grim deduced. He had been so focused on Crooked Nose’s good arm that he failed to notice him using the broken one to pick up the sword he had discarded earlier.

‘What do I do?’ Grim’s thoughts turned frantic. ‘I attacked first so my blade is closer, furthermore, his arm is injured so he can’t be putting much power into it. I should survive. Following through with my attack will kill him but the risk of me being fatally wounded is also uncomfortably high. If I abandon my attack, I might be able to dodge, but-’

Before he could think any further he felt a sudden kick to his side.

The attack did no damage but it did push him out of the way of the attack.

‘Timothy…’ Grim thought watching his friend weave in between attacks like a fish in water. Amid the relief washing over him, he also felt a prickle of fear. ‘He pushed me out of the way, meaning he understood Crooked Nose’s intentions from the start. Superb combat prowess and impressive spatial awareness. He is more of a threat than I initially thought,’

“What are you doing on the sidelines!” Timothy yelled, addressing him. “Come finish your fight!”

Grim nodded and was about to enter the fray when a blur of green suddenly intercepted him as it drove its knee into Crooked Nose’s face.

………………………………………………..

Clive Dune's Point of View:

'Just what the hell is going on?!!' Clive thought in a panic as he witnessed the carnage erupting all around him.

When Pricilla accused one of his people of a crime they clearly did not commit, Clive was so close to stepping up, he would have already done so if not for Erika’s intervention.

“Clive, why don’t you just let them sort it out by themselves?’’ She asked, “Besides, your intervention will only complicate things further,’’

He thought for a moment before deciding that she was right, given the fact that the other side’s leader had yet to step up, it was indeed somewhat inappropriate for him to do so.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t seen that prick for a while now,’ He thought of the famed red-headed magician. When comparing status, Clive was a whole level above him, but in terms of influence among the students…

Lost amid his thoughts, he once again began advancing toward one of the roads further into the maze when a sudden but familiar explosion of raw power brought his attention back. Turning around he was horrified to catch sight of Zackery transforming.

“Moore…’’ His expression turned complicated before giving way to fury, ‘Mike, you incompetent fool,’ His Wisker exploded into action as he made to approach.

“Clive!’’ But before he could get going, he was once again stopped by Erika’s shriek. In exasperation, he turned to look at her, but seeing her pale face and shaky hand, he immediately sharpened his focus and looked toward where she was pointing.

A distance away, Timothy was fighting with another student. Given the fact that he was only dodging, it seemed he was having trouble.

Clive bit his lip, thinking things over. In truth, he stood no chance against the transformed Moore. If he saved Timothy…

He recalled the insane look the young man had in his eyes as he smashed his hand against the helmet of Gunther, their vice-captain commander.

It was then that he caught sight of the tears pooling in Erika’s eyes.

There was no longer any decision to be made after that.

Moments later, he was smashing his knee against the plain-looking man's face.

Or at least, that was the plan, but things rarely go so smoothly. His knee was caught and a fist was sent toward his abdomen.

‘How is he so fast?!’ Using his Wisker to the fullest, he turned his body to the side, minimizing the blow before sending out a kick of his own.

Seconds later, they were exchanging blows at breakneck speeds and Clive was left extremely puzzled.

‘It’s like I’m fighting a seasoned knight, no student should be this skilled,’ His eyes were narrowing in suspicion when he spotted Timothy running away.

He grit his teeth in anger as he noticed how nonplussed the brat looked.

‘I’ve been had!’ He screeched to himself as he dodged blows.

‘’Enough!’’ Crooked Nose croaked, speeding up his attacks considerably. Horrifically, he grabbed his deformed arm and squeezed with so much force, it popped into place.

‘How was Timothy fighting this?' Had Clive not been a prince of the mighty Graveclaws kingdom, he might have shed some tears.