Liam calmed his excitement as he focused on what was going on before him. He felt his mana channel before a Lightning Hand, Earth Hand, and an Air Hand formed around him. To his surprise he didn’t channel the Mana type tied to each Hand Type spell. Instead, he had channeled Arcane Mana to summon all three hands at the same time. This was something he hadn’t considered was possible. If he had to be honest he thought he needed to channel the appropriate Mana Type to the appropriate Mana Hand Type spell.

Liam’s thoughts stopped as he focused on what his Battle Zen was doing next. All three Hand Type spells moved to pick up a weapon that rested on the ground before reaching for his dagger with his own hands. The Earth Hand grabbed the meat cleaver, the Lighting Hand grabbed the hatchet, and the Air Hand had gripped the Hammer. The choices made here made Liam confused as he tried to figure out why his auto-piloted body had done this. However, before he could think more on this the skeletal minions were now upon him.

The first minion had a mace up in the air and was swinging it down on him. As the mace came down, Liam watched as his body spun around to his right as his Air Hand swung the hammer upwards to intercept the mace. The collision caused a gust of wind to explode sending both weapons to reverse their directions backwards.

Liam hadn’t noticed it at first, but it looked like his Battle Zen had infused some of the mana of the Hand Type around the weapon. It wasn’t a lot, not like when he had first seen it against the Wave Rider Crab, but it was enough to allow the weapon to have some properties the Hand Type spell had. He still wasn’t at the level of understanding to be able to use that at full force, however, it looked like his Battle Zen was at a level where he could do it just a bit.

With that he was able to understand something else. The amount of pressure from the mace hitting Liam’s hammer made him understand why his Battle Zen mode had chosen to use the Air Hand to wield the hammer. The difference in strength between him and the minion was a lot. It would have been impossible for him to have stopped the attack. If he had used the Earth Hand and infused the small amount of Mana Type from the Hand Type spell, the collusion would have been a total loss for him. Instead the Air Hand had given the hammer a wind-like cushion effect that allowed the hammer to push the mace back. In return it would also send his hammer back, not completely losing the bout.

Liam watched as his body finished spinning around. The spin had brought his Earth Hand carrying the cleaver. Liam noticed the weapon had a smooth rock like surface with the line of the bladed portion having ridged spikes. The skeletal minion didn’t have enough time to block with its mace, but the armor it had on it was enough to stop the weapon dead in its tracks.

The Earth Hand was pulled back to show that while the armor had stopped it from tearing into it, there was still some damage. Small dents were seen where the ridged spikes had hit. They weren’t deep, but there was still enough of a sign that it did something.

Liam felt his ears twitch as a sound entered them. A weird sensation danced across his skin as his Danger Sense flared up. His body suddenly drop as his knees bent, right leg slid across the ground, and his upper body bent low enough for his hands and stomach to almost touch the ground. This was enough for him to dodge a blackish-dark green orb that flew over him and crashed into the skeletal minion.

Liam watched as the minion flew backwards into the few skeletal minions behind it. An acidic rust-like smell filled his nose as he saw the armor begin to melt away. The edges of the hole where the armor was melting had turned to a rust like color and grew as it the rusted parts started to melt even more. He then noticed the bones underneath the armor had started to melt away as well, slowly killing the creature.

Liam felt his body move swiftly as he pushed forward off the ground with his hands and feet, bringing his Hand Type spells with him. He had moved right in time as a dark orb of liquid covered the ground where he once was right before a darkish green lightning bolt crashed down on the liquid.

Liam felt his nose scrunch as a putrid smell filled the air. His gaze was on the area these spells had come from. He felt the muscle in his mouth scowl as he saw the hooded people were finally coming out from the effects of his spells, Discordant Bells of Cacophony. Each of them still looked to have his affliction spells affecting them.

“What the hell is this?” one of the hooded people questioned.

“I don’t know what kind of spell you had used on us earlier, but there shouldn’t be any way possible for someone to use both a Shadow type affliction and a Lunar type affliction at the same time,” the old man stated. He then looked at the woman who was still on her knees spewing profanities at Liam. He was curious as to what she was so anger about and why she was still on her knees but focused back on Liam. “While you are not one of our targets, I feel that you would be a grand material for my research. Never have I met someone with magic I don’t know about and be able to wield both Shadow and Lunar spells without any signs of issues or backlash. I can’t let this chance slip by me.”

Liam could feel the hairs on his body stand as he remained in the pose he was in and…growled? He could feel his entire jaw vibrate as he growled at his enemies. He could feel his skin grow sensitive, his nose separated the putrid scent that filled the air with any other scent that was within a five foot radius of him, his ears twitching…listening for anything he couldn’t see, and his sight…His sight was sharper than normal.

It was locked onto the threats that were staring straight at him from not that far away. He was able to see subtle movements better than before. The slight twitching of their arms and legs, the tension on their cheeks, the movements of their lips. He was watching…watching for any signs of chanting, preparations for dashing, or any signs of threatful movements.

“What the hell is he doing?” one of the hooded figures questioned as they stared at Liam.

“Is he really growling?” another asked. “What is he a beast?”

“You know I think he might be,” one of them said. “I can smell a faint cat-like scent coming from him.”

“That’s right, you beast-kins have a weird way of telling each other apart through scent. Tell us. What kind of beast-kin is he?” the first hooded man asked.

“I just told you he has a faint cat-like smell so it should be obvious what he is,” the hooded beast-kin sarcastically stated. He then looked like he was sniffing and added, “Wait a moment…”

“What is it?” the old man asked.

“That makes sense,” the hooded beast-kin muttered. He was about to say something but stopped as Liam suddenly swung his Air Hand to block a sword from crashing down upon him. The cushioned air that exploded upon contact from his hammer caused everyone to look at him and watch as he used his hands on the ground to spin his body around and sprint through the swarm of skeletal minions.

Liam weaved left and right, as he ran hip height through the minion swarm. His Hand Type spells collided the weapons each gripped to knock each weapon away or moved the trajectory just enough to miss striking him. He kept dodging and weaving in and out, trying to get through the sea of skeletal minions.

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“He’s getting away! Stop him!” the old man shouted.

Liam’s ears twitched as he heard something strange mixing in with the dominating sounds of bones rattling against metal and swords and maces scraping across the ground. He could feel something strange in the air as he tried to move around more bone figured minions. The hairs on his skin slowly started to rise as he moved faster and faster. Then all of a sudden his Danger Sense flared up in the direction he was about to move towards. His reflexes kicked in right as his senses processed what was going on making him stomp his lead foot down to stop his momentum.

As soon as he stopped moving his sight watched a powerful bolt of dark green lightning descend upon a group of skeletal minions. The edge of the lightning blast stopped right before his feet showing how close he was to death as the bones of the skeletal creatures charred, blackened, and then disintegrated into ash as they lost their solid mass and danced away on the wind.

“Don’t kill him! I need him alive!” the old man scolded as he stomped a foot down.

“Easy for you to say!” one of the hooded men yelled back. “How the hell did he dodge that?”

“For now just entrap him!” the old man ordered.

“On it!” the hooded Beast-kin yelled as he started chanting.

Once more, Liam heard something strange mixing in with the other sounds around him as the air started to buzz with a strange reaction. His skin felt the sensation in the air before it suddenly dropped to the ground. He felt a light rumble underneath his feet before his senses rippled throughout his body and made him jump into the air. The moment his feet became airborne, a giant thick petrified root shot up to chase after him.

The direction Liam had jumped towards was one of the skeletal minions. When he reached touching distance, he planted both feet on the armored chest of the minion and used it as a springboard to jump backwards and above the petrified root. Before it could change directions the root slammed into the group of skeletons, causing them to lose their forms and become a jumbled pile of armor and bones.

Liam pushed down on the moving root to get some more air to dodge the next attempt of the root from grabbing him. Liam then watched as his body touched down once more on the root to jump again only this time to dodge a second and third root that had snaked out and around the first petrified root.

After dodging these three roots, Liam’s body landed on the rough white colored plant appendage and ran in the opposite direction of where the tips were. He hadn’t noticed since he was focused on dodging the tips of the roots, but the whole area had become a jumbled mess of bones, armored pieces, and thick petrified looking roots. The base of the roots had grown big enough that he could run down one without any issues. The spots that dipped down, he slid like he was surfing while when he tried to go up, he jumped back and forth between two roots like he was parkouring.

Each action he did allowed him to dodging the tips of the roots that were desperately trying to catch him. Liam hadn’t noticed before, but after looking at the direction he was heading towards, he understood he was using the roots to get him closer to the edge of the clearing and towards the overgrown foliage.

He was getting closer and closer by the second. Jumping, sliding, and dodging. He did his best to contain his excitement as he felt his body push harder and harder to get away. He was almost there. He was so close he could taste it. He felt his knees bend as his body got ready to jump forward and into the tree line.

However, as he went to push he felt his autopilot body stop as he became the one behind the wheel once more. He felt his heightened senses dull and his reflexes became a bit sluggish. He felt himself start to fly through the air, the precise amount of power he had when moving was nowhere to be felt as he flailed towards the overgrown foliage. His sight, the once sharp and perfectly focused perception he had, was back to its normal ways that he was used to.

He desperately fought within himself, pushing for that every inch to get closer and closer to the edge. The boundary line that spoke of escape and freedom from these strong enemies. He was almost there. Almost out of their grasp. He could see the line he needed to cross. He could see his out stretched hand almost touch the tree. A smile slowly grew on his face, that knowing grin that said I did it.

That smile quickly and violently shattered as he felt one of the three petrified roots beginning to wrap around his torso body. Panic swelled as he watched the other two roots begin to create a ball like prison and covered around his entire being turning everything to utter darkness.

He tried to struggle, tried to free himself, but no matter how much power he put behind his twisting and turning, he couldn’t budge free. Instead, it felt like his strength was getting sapped the more he fought. The familiar feeling of the shadows covering his body that his Spirit Weave gave him dissipated as he started to lose concentration and consciousness. He felt his eye lids grow heavy as seconds passed. His struggles died out like a flame beginning to be snuffed out until finally, sleep grasped him tightly.

“Make sure you don’t place him into too deep of asleep or else you’ll put him in a coma,” the old man called out to the hooded Beast-kin.

“Easy for you to say. If I don’t keep that affect in tack he’ll just wake up and try to escape again, “ the hooded Beast-kin replied. “Jesus, what was up with this guy?”

“What do you mean?” one of the hooded individuals asked.

“It felt like he was using something we Beast-kins have called the Field of…,” the Beast-kin started to say until the hooded woman yelled out, “Where the fuck is that guy?!”

Everyone turned to look at her. They could see how red her face had turned from anger. Everyone, but the old man winced as they understood trying to calm her down wasn’t in the cards. When she got this mad there was no stopping her.

“We have him captured in that petrified ball of roots,” the old man replied. “I will be taking back so I can…”

“Release him!” the woman demanded as she looked at the Beast-kin.

The Beast-kin flinched as she stared daggers at him. He looked to the old man for help, hoping he would be able to do something. The old man let out a sigh as he said, “No.”

“What do you mean no?” the woman questioned. “I want you to release that greedy Immoral Vice fuck so I can kill him for stealing my stat levels!”

The old man looked confused as he looked at the Beast-kin and then back at her. “What do you mean by Greedy Immoral Vice? He’s a Beast-kin not a Demon-kin.”

“Like hell he is!” the woman argued. “He used a magic specifically used by only those who worship and are a part of the Greed’s Immoral Vice Ring. He used that bullshit of an ability called Avaricious Potency Absorption!”

Confused even more, the old man asked, “Are you sure about that?”

“Oh I fucking am!” the woman seethed. “One of those greedy fucking golden goblin fuckers used that ability on my once so I know that was what was used on me. It might have caught me off guard at first, but that’s only because it was weak. But after finally realizing what was going on there was no mistaking it!”

The old man looked at the ball of petrified roots and then back at the hooded woman. He was even more curious now about the catch they had gotten. Coming to a decision he hardened himself and said, “Regardless of what he did to you, I won’t be allowing you to kill him tonight. I want him as my research tool so I will be having him as that.”

“The fuck you are!” the woman vehemently protested. “I am going to kill him right now. I don’t care whether you get slain in the process for trying to stop me or not.”

“And I said…,” the old man started to say until a voice suddenly cut him off.

“I don’t think neither of you will be getting your way tonight.” The tone of the voice was clam and collective. It was smooth like honey, but carried a dangerous promise hidden within it.

A sudden pressure fell upon the hooded individuals, making them freeze and tense up. Cold sweat fell down their faces as heat filled their very core. The hairs on their skin straightened as they felt not one, not two, not three or four, but five predatory gazes on them. they each slowly turned to look in the direction the gazes were coming from and saw glowing eyes peering through the overgrown foliage.

A few seconds passed before the predators walked out to give their prey a better look. Their minds raced as they stared at them. They hadn’t heard anything about these people being anywhere near, let alone on, this very island. Had they known about this particularly important bit of information, they wouldn’t have lingered here for as long as they have. Hell they wouldn’t have agreed to come and clean up the mess their fellow colleagues made from getting caught by the Champion of Time.

But all that didn’t matter now. Now, they had two choices. One was to fight and die while the other…the other was to try and flee and hopefully not get killed in the process. The former was the more likely outcome to happen. However…that still didn’t stop them from trying the latter option.