It didn’t take long before our preparation was complete. I watched in silence as each of my companions equipped themselves with their respective weapons, Sirius with his long spear and Octus tucked his black blade in his waist. Darren wasn’t that proficient with swords but he still carried a small blade among other things. Although I didn’t have much to prepare except for the blade that Octus had given me at the start of our journey.

Using a sword wasn’t something I was the most proficient but I’d somehow managed to get a grasp of it by imitating the others. By now there were a few scratches and dents in the sword as someone had repeatedly stuck it with a sharp nail on its surface but it was going to just fine. Once I imbued the blade with a bondor, a protective layer would be created over it and save it from any further damage.

Once they were done Sirius and Darren headed out first, commencing the first part of our plan. Initially, they were going to decrease the distance so that Darren could locate the Hydra’s core. After all that would be the pillar to our success. After that, they will attack the beast and it will be the signal for Octus and I to move.

It was a well-made plan but for some reason, there was an odd feeling that was bothering me. I didn’t pay it any hid at first but slowly it started to become more and more unsettling—that maybe there was a possibility of failure. And that maybe I might die. It wouldn’t be something unnatural for something like that to happen. We were going to fight against a monster which was stronger than any other foe we had fought till now.

But I had three veteran fighters along with me, I reasoned with myself.

I was the least experienced among them and I doubted how much help I could provide but at the end of the day my life was mine and I alone was responsible for it. It would be foolish to expect them to come to save my life whenever I was in danger.

Pulling me out of my thoughts my partner in crime, Octus called me from ahead. “What are you doing zareth?!” he frowned, “Sirius and Darren have already left. We need to hurry!”

“Yeah coming!” I said, pacing toward him.

He had a map resting over his hand which he neatly folded and handed to me. I raised my brow, asking what he was doing.

“Just hold it for a moment,” he said.

Taking the withered parchment I felt the tattered edges of its hard paper. It was anything but fancy—with most of the details being hand drawn with crude engravings that made it slightly harder for me to discern between which was what. There wasn’t any color involved instead most of it was just black and white. When I tried reading its content, I was able to find similarities between what Darren had mentioned prior and the various shapes of the map.

He had been constantly nagging both Octus and me about the path that we had to take. At first, I was quite intent on listening on—for neither was I experienced in traversing through forest nor was Darren going to tag along with us, but then slowly I realized that Darren was an absolute perfectionist when it came to his job, especially pathfinding. It was so severe that Octus abandoned me out of nowhere, leaving me behind with Darren’s nitpicking.

I sure wasn’t forgetting that stuff even in my dead bed. Hah.

Octus lined up his slightly disheveled hair, pulling it back with gentle force, and then skillfully tied it with a small rubber band. Despite being in a forest he had been the most diligent in taking care of his looks of all. Well, he was pretty good-looking to begin with.

Once he was satisfied, he looked at me.“This is going to be a great experience for you zareth.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked, not sure which part he was talking about.

“Well not everyone gets the lucky or maybe the unlucky opportunity to fight against a full-blown Mezah ranked monster. Not that everybody desires that. Most of the mystics would prefer to live their life in peace than to learn and experience more about their powers.” he said, “Hell, I can’t even understand those bastards.”

I didn’t think that was weird. Perhaps that was the most logical and normal thing to do. Why would someone intentionally endanger their life? It’s just that Octus was the weird one.

Maybe I wasn’t that normal either, I humored silently.

He said, “Anyways it’s going to be an invaluable lesson for a half-mystitc like you!” He slammed my back with enough force that I stumbled forward.

“Maybe I will awaken soon enough?” I mumbled but Octus managed to hear me.

“Yeah keep dreaming!” Octus snorted.

We didn’t talk much after that and instead focused on moving toward our destination. Our movements were swift and efficient, careful not to make any noise. Both Octus and I knew that our opponent was shrouded by a layer of mystery—what its powers and weaknesses might be was completely outside our knowledge. And the little that Sirius learned through the ancient texts was nowhere near to ensuring an easy victory for us. In such a condition the best response was to be as careful as possible.

When I looked up at the sky or whatever little of it was visible through the trees, branches, and leaves, I found a little glimmer of the evening sun passing through them. And the shadows allowed us to hide ourselves from the hydra’s sight.

The farther we went the more the pressure in the air became, an invisible hand crept its way to my heart—wrapping itself around and tightening its vicious grip. My breath turned heavier as a small burst of pain erupted from my chest, making my movements glitch. I looked at Octus in a grimace and found him to be in a similar condition but the next moment his pale face turned visibly better.

My eyes widened in shock and confusion but Octus explained it.

“The hydra is corrupting the ambient bondor around it. You have to counter it with our own,” he started and an idea slowly started to take form in my mind. “Channel the bondor throughout your body. Don’t force it. Instead, focus on guiding it like wind trapped in a vessel—and that vessel is your own body.”

We came to a stop and I closed my eyes while leaning against a random tree. I preferred having all my focus reserved for what I was about to do instead of dividing it into two parts. As I pulled my focus inwards into my own body, the flesh and structure of which became roughly visible to my mind’s eye. The feeling was a little less subtle than before—present but distant. I couldn’t tell exactly where the bondor was or how it flowed through the channels inside, but I could define the part of the body. I focused on guiding it along as Octus said.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“The vessel is strong but can still break if much force is applied from within. Let it be gentle. The wind has direction but no will—but the bondor has both direction and will. It’s the will of the owner. It will bend however you wish for it to,” Octus’s calm voice brushed past my ear.

Soon the effect was noticeable. Opening my eyes, I realized that my body was way lighter than before. I threw a couple of punches in the air but didn’t find any increase in speed or strength as I’d hoped.

“Hah! Just because you feel lighter doesn’t mean you will also get stronger,” Octus mocked. “It’s nothing but a perceived feeling. If you weight your shoulder all the time, it’s natural to feel lighter when it’s taken off.”

It would be a lie to say that I wasn’t disappointed but it was still better than nothing. With a sigh, I picked up my sword.

“Let’s go-” Octus was cut short with a massive blast ahead of us.

Both of us snapped our heads toward the direction of the sound and watched as something big was flung up in the air and then crash-landed somehow ahead of us. We exchanged a quick look between us.

“Were we late?” I mumbled.

“Alright,” Octus said tucking his sword. “Use your skyburst. I will follow behind.”

I gave him a nod and dashed forward. The range of my skyburst wasn’t enough to cover the entirety of the distance that was left. And it would be a waste to use both of my skyburst and exhaust myself before the fight even started. So it was important for me to close the distance.

When it was enough, I propelled myself to the end of the forest line, where the trees had stopped growing—opening a large field of space in between filled with green and blue grasses. As my world shifted and details started to form within my periphery, the pressure in the air once again intensified despite the rotating bondor inside my body.

I rolled down on the ground, coming to a stop behind a tree. I huffed in a quick breath before getting up on my feet.

In the middle of the space laid the proud body of the hydra that we had been planning to ambush, and the only difference between what was in front of me now and the hydra that I’d seen before was a gaping hole in one of its head—a large lump of bloody flesh falling. Black blood streamed down along with it.

The three of the other heads screeched in pain and anger as the air shook violently, responding to it. The three unharmed heads extended forward, diving down to where I assumed Sirius and Darren were. Dirt and mud were sent flying all over the place as the head curled back.

I flickered open my soul’s eye—a name that I found suitable for the otherworldly vision that they gave me, and then I watched as my surroundings lit up.

My enhanced senses picked up a subtle detail of bondor fluctuating above the hydra as gushes of wind blew from there. First, it was a small burst of wind that felt rather fresh to the touch but soon the intensity increased so much that I had to dig my feet inwards to not have my body flung aside.

The air turned colder, sending shivers down my spine and I saw dozens—no hundreds of crystals manifesting in the air. White mist streamed down as Ice crystals rotated in the air generating bouts of wind.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw Octus arriving as well.

The angered beast sent hundreds of ice projectiles hurling at where my two companions were; both of them being hidden from my sight behind the hydra. Loud booming noise filled the air as the projectiles crashed against the incorporeal blades that Sirius formed with his intent, small pieces of broken shards imploded all around causing violent disruptions of bondor in the air.

It did not take long before the barrage of attacks came to a silent halt just as the mist took in a darker shade. It slowly rose, revealing the wounded hydra’s head. The large hole was no longer there instead it was like the head hadn’t been wounded at all.

“Instant regeneration?” Octus mumbled.

Despite the disbelief, a part of me knew that Octus’s words had to be right. The creature before us was capable of regenerating at such speed that Darren’s healing arts paled in comparison. No, it would be unfair to even compare the both of them together.

As I was taking in the sight of the newly regenerated hydra’s head with a baffled expression, I felt bondor fluctuations again as another spear started manifesting above the hydra. This time it was bigger, larger, and stronger. Sirius was using his incorporeal blade technique to its fullest, I thought. And some kind of hope rose within me that maybe it would be able to finish off the hydra for good.

The beast slammed its tail into the ground and screeched loudly almost as if it was inviting Sirius to throw whatever he could.

With a choked breath, I watched as the giant spear was sent hurling forward with so speed that my eyes barely caught hold of it, the bondor surrounding it so large that my eyes bulged.

The spear easily pierced through two of the hydra’s heads and flew back, crushing against trees. It snapped a large tree out of its roots, tossing it aside. The earth beneath me shook violently as the hydra after losing two of its head rocked backwards because of the impact. Its guttural scream filled the air.

“Fuck it!” Octus cursed and dashed forward.

Lowering his blade he jumped up as his legs bulged with strength. His sword lit up with his blue majestic flame as he stared down at the hydra. But before Octus could come down with his attack, an ice crystal flew toward him with speed that he wasn’t able to counter. It pierced his arm, making him lose his flames.

Shit!

I pressed my feet into the ground and skybursted forward. My world once again shifted into a rainbow of colors and then the next moment I found myself behind the hydra’s head. Imbuing my sword with bondor, I sliced through it or so I intended to do. But I wasn’t able to. My sword did not cut through the shells like I had hoped but instead was stopped by it.

I felt an ominous presence on my left, an eerie feeling made it seem like bugs and insects were crawling across my skin. My breath grew shallow and from the corner of my eyes, I saw dozens of golden-shaded eyes glaring at me. The creature's jaw was wide, revealing needle-like teeth that jutted out, and an unsettling hissing sound emanated from its gaping maw.

In the next moment, my heightened senses detected an something approaching toward me with tremendous speed. My instincts kicked in, and I instinctively raised both arms, bracing for the incoming attack. And it did.

Something soft—almost flesh like struck me, causing the bones in my arms to shatter as my body was sent flying backward, crashing forcefully against a nearby tree.

I let out a grasp as the air was knocked out of my lungs, followed by violent fits of coughs with blood.

I felt a seething pain erupt from both of my arms as a scream was torn from my throat. The voice didn’t feel like it was mine but the pain couldn’t be any more real. It was unlike anything I had felt in my entire life.

Tears rolled down my eyes as my voice slowly dwindled down because of my broken vocal cord. With my heavy breath, I felt both of my arms hanging limply on my sides, broken and unusable. Even a slight moment sent hellish pain and I felt my mind blank out each time.

Amidst the pain, I strained to make sense of my surroundings or what little of it that I could make out from my blurred vision. Squinting my eyes, I saw the bondor move toward something—or someone? Focusing further I pieced together the identity.

Octus. Dead?

No, not dead, but severely injured. His bondor signature had faded significantly, a lot different from his usual self. However, he was going to survive.

I turned my gaze to the right and spotted the damned Hydra. It stared at me, with Darren behind it. Darren had his sword stuck in the ground, struggling to stay upright. His signature was weak, and his body appeared colorless. Something was amiss. Why wasn't Hydra attacking them?

Could it be...?

I coughed again, another burst of pain engulfing me, momentarily cutting me of my soul vision. It seemed Darren had somehow created a barrier to hide both himself and Sirius from Hydra's view. I let my body slump backward, closing my eyes.

Sirius was injured too.

Even with my eyes shut, I could sense Hydra drawing nearer to me. With its enemies defeated, I was its sole target. It was going to kill me, I realized. The revelation sent shivers through me.

Fear?

Was I truly afraid to die? But I had already experienced death once. Would it hurt to die again? Did it even hurt the first time? I couldn’t remember. To begin with did I die back on earth? I’d assumed that was the case. Maybe somewhat hoped that was the case.

Damn. Even my second life would end with regrets. How ironic...

My world grew darker by the moment, and it became increasingly difficult to open my eyes again. It wasn’t like I had any desire to see the monstrous creature again.

I couldn't pinpoint when it happened, but something struck me.

Sharp. Cold. Menacing.

A scream pierced the air. Someone was in excruciating pain.

Mine?

Regret?

Oh, I was dying.

Well, I hoped that Sirius, Darren, and Octus somehow managed to survive. Even if their motives were selfish, they had in fact helped me even if for a little.