The magehunter paced around the party, raising their anxiety and guard with each slow step, only the blaze of Yen’s fire form filling the area. The gray shug’s arm blurred without warning, a rocked crashing into the shield Donny managed to raise on reflex, knocking him off course.
Donny didn’t even get a chance to set his stance right as he caught a wisp of the gray shug blitzing in front of him with a speed he had only ever seen from Shin. Aura swirled around the shug’s hand and he struck, shattering the protection like glass, slamming into Donny’s chest unobstructed. His armor caved in and a glean of buffer shone around him before he flung back in a blur, crashing across the ground, shattering the second in the process.
The shug magehunter lurched away from a mana bolt sailing past his head and darted back. He glanced at the armored man completely still where he laid and turned his attention to the other two. Fire blazed around the orange hair and strange vines surrounded the other.
The shug vanished, biting off a malakh’s head and blinked away again out of the air as a fireball passed through. The magehunter stalked around them again patiently. Yen’s flames sputtered and washed away, revealing her normal form and an exhausted face. The gray shug’s eyes widened and he burst towards her, clawed hand reaching out to tear her apart.
A grayish blue line raced between them and spread out into a wall of flames, halting the magehunter in its tracks and then darting back as the fire surged towards him. Inari charged, slashing both swords at the gray shug and finding only air as it dodged every strike cleanly.
The shug assessed the enemy he had been most wary of, and made a clawed palm. And froze in place, paralyzed as the white fox slashed deep into its neck, nearly reaching bone before he blinked away with the swing, clutching its wound with one hand. Inari charged and the magehunter vanished, one hand gripping her shoulders and the other ripping off her head, his expression one of calm rage.
The white fox fell, its body and severed head shattering into light. The shug wasted no time bursting towards the fire throwing human only to lurch back as a spinning axe cut through its path. His eyes turned to the armored man, hand outstretched from a kneel he could barely hold. The man spat out a mouthful of blood as a slight yellow glow surrounded him, originating from the plant human.
Kamala stopped her healing and poured all her mana and focus into a surge of plant and roots in front of the magehunter, growing into a green frenzy from all sides, grasping at the creature. The shug darted around, dodging and slipping through the attacks easily, his attention focused on the plant wielder before turning back to Yen. His speed increased as he shifted through the surge of plants towards her once again, and the weight of death fell upon him.
He jolted towards the woodlands, his expression panicked for the first time as the black haired human burst towards him at a speed he could only match. The gray shug abandoned the fight and fled. The human’s presence there meant he had killed the satori that held its chains. It was an enemy above his greatest, one he had no intention of fighting. One he likely wouldn’t have to. Humans had strong bonds as a pack. He would remain to protect them.
A chill ran down his spine as he turned back, the black haired human chasing behind with baleful intensity behind eerie calm eyes. The shug’s desperation worsened and he blinked away, again and again, until his mana ran dry, over and around obstacles, back in the opposite direction he had been running, racing off as fast as he could go. He would be gone before the human realized his direction.
Another chill struck him and he turned back. Further away the human lagged behind but the gray shug’s fear rose. Through the trees and rocks he ran, as straight as he could run, afraid of the distance closing if he tried to change direction. He glanced back and the human had drawn nearer. Like a inevitable hunter he pursued, the thought of only the kill apparent on his face.
The shug flung back rocks and debris as he went without slowing his stride, launching everything he could that might stave off his hunter, but as the human was closer in his sights with every glance back. He ran, the thought of turning to stand his ground never even humored, only the sole focus of escape held his mind.
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Shin weaved through trees and debris, his focus on nothing else but the monster in front of him. He pursued, inching closer and closer with every passing moment, until finally a direct path opened up. He burst in a straight line slashing down his sword as the shug turned and held up his arm in desperate defense. The sword cut straight through the shug’s thick arm and into its shoulder of dense flesh, and an estoc pierced into its heart.
With a desperate howl, light shattered off the shug as it reached for Shin’s arms and a swift kick knocked the creature into a tree. Shin burst forward and the shug dove to the side, throwing a handful on sand. A buckler shielded his eyes as he burst again, estoc piercing across the shug’s eye and the side of its face as it barely dodged in time. Another slash took his eye and the hack of an axe severed through its mouth. It flailed its remaining arm in an aircutting mighty blow, but Shin spun under it, sending the creature crashing over a cliff with a kick.
The shug slammed and broke through rocks as it failed to slow its fall, one crash sending it drifted away from the side, crashing into the ground. The shug struggled to its feet against a tree, weak from its injuries, as Shin dropped down with delicate precision and walked towards it, his axe changing back to an estoc, his eyes unchanged.
The gray shug kept still in the presence of the predator but its mind raced, his eyes subtly shifting, looking for something, anything that could save him. Shin paused, the purity of fear and intensity of the refusal to die in the eyes of the shug catching his focus. A few moments passed before Shin spoke.
“Do you want to bond?”
The question seemed to catch the shug off guard. Doubt and suspicion clouded the thin screen of hope in his eyes, all suppressed by the fear born from the unwavering certainty in the human’s eyes.
“Liar! Abandoning me!” A voice from his soul shouted.
“I’m not.” Shin spoke out loud, catching the shug’s attention, the shrewd creature quickly realization he was not the target of conversation. The human’s focus had turned partially inwards, yet he did not dare to strike.
“You promised! Liar!” Mara’s tirade was not soothed with a few words.
“I can have more than one bond.”
“No! Deceiving me! Betraying! Don’t abandon me!”
Shin tilted his head and cast Befriend Spirit, giving the shug the option. Moments passed, far more than with Mara or Nor, but eventually a root formed within his soul.
[Shug Magehunter (rare) - Intermediate Lord]
Strength - 545
Agility - 521
Constitution - 373
Vitality - 406
Dexterity - 490
Perception - 397
Force - 194
Spirit - 350
Control - 247
Willpower - 262
Skills:
Blink lvl. 4, Spellbreak lvl. 2, Heavy Slug lvl. 5, Greater Dart lvl. 8, Greater Dodge lvl. 7,
Traits:
Mana Eater (epic), Lesser Weakness Resistance (rare), Lowlight Vision (rare), Lesser Poison Resistance (rare), Lesser Disease Resistance (rare), Lesser Curse Resistance (rare),
“Name?”
“...none.”
“Kong. Heal inside my soul.” Shin told the shug as he unsummoned him. “See, I won’t abandon you.”
“You mustn’t… I will be strong! Beautiful…” Mara pleaded.
It didn’t seem like something he could fix now, and he had a more serious urgency. Shin sped off in the direction of the party, reaching them in short time. All three were alive as he left them. Only Donny had injuries, with Kamala healing him from within her dome of vines. Shin added his own healing on top of hers, with the little mana he had remaining.
“Hey!” Yen yelled. “Your bodyguard fucking abandoned us!”
“Mm. Sorry.”
Yen’s intentions stuttered at the direct apology she wasn’t expecting. She paused for a few moments, unsure of what to do, before settling into an annoyed calm. “We’re not doing anything like this again until we rank up…”
“Yeah.” Shin agreed. He knew he had underestimated the danger of this battle.
Yen looked at him as sighed away most of her annoyance. “Should we even go back to the town, now? If that asshole knew how dangerous this was, he was basically sending us to die.”
“Can’t move.” Shin reminded.
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Won’t?” Shin guessed that was more accurate.
“At least scout ahead to find the next town and assess it. If it is no better than our current one then we will return.” Kamala suggested.
“Have to agree with her, mate.”
Shin paused. With all three saying the same, he took it seriously. After an awkward pause, he leapt up a tree to scout around in all directions then dropped down and sped off. Two hours he ran, avoiding battle and taking the shortest path until finally he came to the edge of a cliff overlooking a burning wreck of a town overrun with dragonkind.