The air parted as a large fist traveled across and slammed into Oscar's buckler. Even with Reis, the Redback Ape's innate power was astronomical, giving testament to its gorilla roots, and forced Oscar back. Oscar groaned as his feet dug deep into the dirt to prevent himself from losing more ground.

"Normal Reis isn't enough." Shock plastered across Oscar's face but not from the ape's power. Oscar knew the Redback Ape was one of the more physically powerful beasts; the part that shocked him most was that his Prinstyct had difficulty locking onto the ape's movements.

Under the view of his Prinstyct, the Redback Ape seemed larger; no, there was a blurry shadow that resembled the Redback Ape enveloping it like a suit of armor. Oscar couldn't detect a hint of intent because this shade obscured any ripples. As the Redback Ape charged and punched furiously at him, Oscar relied on his instincts and sight to match the incoming blows with his Adamasreis.

The Redback Ape stepped backward in confusion as blood splurt out from his knuckles that creaked and groaned. Oscar's 'Shattering Wave' was still in top shape, but his Ein was still shaky. His Ein was erratic and not as clear and flowing as before.

"If I only had some time to adjust to my Ein, it wouldn't be that bad," Oscar complained. "Is this why you dragged me out right after?"

Celestina put on an innocent face with wide emerald eyes.

'Cute.' Oscar could only have this one thought before he quickly dodged as the Redback Ape slammed its two fists down, creating a small crater on the ground. His eyes narrowed as a long breath escaped his lungs. 'Calm down. Analyze what I know about the Redback Ape.'

His mind shifted through the information he gathered from books about various creatures, finding the one about the Redback Ape. The Redback Ape was tough, with incredible durability and physical power, but the real danger was its special technique that it had yet to use. But that wasn't the information Oscar sought, so he calmed further and peered deeper inside his memories.

"That's it!" Oscar exclaimed.

'Flowing Mountain'

Oscar redirected the incredible power of the Redback Ape and slammed his full force into the wrist, forcing the heavy fur-coated arm away. His heart pained slightly, but Oscar paid it no mind as he stared at the obscure shade with his Prinstyct. He had figured out the true identity of the shade.

Celestina watched Oscar continue to fight the Redback Ape and saw the look of realization flash across her fellow book lover. 'So you realized. That thing which keeps messing up your Prinstyct is the beast's eidolon.'

Exalts like Oscar and Celestina were gifted with the Prinstyct to peer into future motions by reading the enemy's intent. Exalt Beasts were incapable of having such a foresight unless it was a characteristic of their species to possess something similar, but that wouldn't be the Prinstyct either. Instead, Exalt Beasts had their eidolon, which formed when they advanced to the Elite Exalt realm.

The eidolon was a manifestation of the Exalt Beast's presence in the distorted world of Prinstyct and foresight. It hid their intent and actions, allowing them to fight evenly against the Exalts with Prinstyct. If not for this mechanism, the Exalt Beasts would never be able to resist Exalts.

'It's like the world always strives for a balance or equilibrium. Hot and cold, water and fire, earth and sky, and Prinstyct and eidolon. It's fascinating how Exalt Beasts have this power while we do not.' Celestina thought as her eyes stayed on Oscar. 'Sorry to spring this on you, but we're running low on time. As a Grade Four, you've done well so far, and you could have done much more with more time, but I have to do this to increase your chances of survival. The faster you can adjust to battles against other Elite Exalts, whether they're people or not, the better.'

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'The Reis and early Prinstyct is a great advantage that helped you win against Charles, but as you said, you can't match up against him now as he shot past you. The only thing I can do is to help you gather experience.' Celestina sighed. The Ashen Grove was too important, and many people would probably die during this ordeal and many more in the aftermath. If she could help Oscar have a single percentage more chance of surviving, she would do so. 'Who would I read books with if you're gone?'

Not knowing Celestina's thoughts, Oscar was absorbed in the battle against the Redback Ape. He continued to hone his Prinstyct and use of Ein against the beast; each exchange of blows made his Ein more smooth and flowed like water. His Prinstyct continued to eye the eidolon, trying to peer through it like seeing through a veil.

"There." Oscar's eyes shined as he saw a faint intent from the Redback Ape's arm. He raised his buckler long before the fist approached and hit right on a certain bloody knuckle. "It's hard, but I can make out some of the intent. If I continue to train my Prinstyct or become stronger, I should be able to see right through the eidolon with no issues."

"ROAR!" The Redback Ape roared in pain as it grabbed its hand. It didn't know why Oscar's movements suddenly became cleaner and swifter. The ape charged its fist with Ein and punched out with all its might.

Oscar was caught off-guard as he couldn't read the intent in time, but a thick layer of steel enveloped his body. With the Elemental Spark of metal residing within his core, Oscar's metal spells, such as 'Steel Scales', had been elevated to greater heights. "I still have to trade in my upgrade tokens to get the grade two versions of these spells."

The clenched fist of the Redback Ape suddenly appeared to split into six hands. One seemed fully corporeal, while the others were blurry and overlapping in some areas, but Oscar understood that all six fists would inflict serious damage.

'Edureisclad'

Oscar coated his entire arms and legs with Adamasreis's defensive technique. The six fists bombarded and plunged right onto his buckler, sending him flying back, crashing into the trees and kicking up a cloud of red dirt. Oscar chuckled as the steel cracked all over his body and scattered into nothingness, but his skin was unmaimed.

"The defense is good, but it hurts like hell. I wonder how strong the defense would be with its grade two counterpart, 'Silver Sheen'?" Oscar broke off the tree he crashed onto and walked up to the rampaging Redback Ape. His Ein surged as his deer anima, now evolved with metal antlers and hooves, appeared.

"Let's try out your new antlers and hooves." Oscar rode atop this deer anima. The deer anima jumped up to evade a swing from the Redback Ape and stomped its hooves on the ape's arm; the hooves, burning with Oscar's Ein and coated with metal, easily cracked a bone.

The Redback Ape snapped and unleashed its six-fist technique multiple times with each swing of its arms. But Oscar's deer anima, empowered by Ein, trotted around and dodged the attacks. For the last one, Oscar willed his deer anima to face the six fists with its antlers.

'Steel Scales'

Oscar's drill was sharper and not as large as earlier, but the metal was more compact. The Ein swelled with the antlers and 'Steel Drill' in between. It looked like the deer anima had a pair of antlers and a horn.

"Take this!" The triforce of the antlers and 'Steel Drill' clashed against the Redback Ape. The sharpness of Oscar's three-pronged attack pierced through the six fists, and his 'Shattering Wave' exploded from inside, wrecking the bones of the hand and bursting blood vessels.

The Redback Ape groaned and tried to retreat, but Oscar leaped with his deer anima, and they finished it off with another three-pronged attack to its back, straight into its heart. Blood spewed out and coated Oscar's drill red as the Redback Ape fell to the floor; its blood melded with the red dirt and grass, becoming indistinguishable from them.

Oscar panted heavily as this battle used quite some Ein. He still lacked control of his Ein despite using 'Ein Awaken' at intervals during the battle. "It'll take some time to get used to this."

"Congratulations." Celestina cheered; her silver hair went up and down. "You took down an Elite Exalt Beast. How does it feel?"

Oscar didn't seem too happy, and he sighed. "I made too many mistakes. My Prinstyct still failed to properly see through much of those last attacks, and I wasted too much Ein."

"That's natural," Celestina said. "Seeing through the eidolon is a tough task. Your Prinstyct is still more advanced than Charles, Frederick, Emily, Serena, and Mary's. They wouldn't be able to catch a single intent right now. Getting the Prinstyct earlier does have its advantages. If it were a battle of pure Prinstyct, you would win against them."

"But Ein, spells, and Anima become the final determinators." Oscar knew not to be arrogant because of his early Prinstyct. He carved the Redback Ape and took out its core. "What now?"

Celestina smiled and looked up at the mountain. "I will take on a Middle Exalt Beast."