A few minutes ago…

"Good grief. Where are those kids?" Consus sits outside one of the shops in Frits. "I searched this whole place but I couldn't find them. I didn't pass them when I ran here. Where could they be?"

At a different table, a couple of girls are drinking tea.

"Did you see the latest episode of 8th Lane? Maria finally opened her café!"

"Are you still watching that soap? Wild Roses is so much better. Bobby even made an appearance!"

"I don't care about that- gasp!" The one girl's eyes widen. Her hand trembles as she drops some tea onto herself.

"Are you okay?!" asks the friend.

"I'm fine. Sheesh. I spilt my tea." The other girl pats herself down. "I must've accidentally had my gift activated without realising. I felt some energy influx. Now I'm wet..."

"Oh? Probably some animals on heat."

"Yeah."

"Apologies…"

The girls' eyes stare at the man bothering them, Consus.

"Sorry to bother you two."

They stare at the Guild leader and then look at each other while drinking tea.

"He smells."

"Badly."

"Like sweat."

"And manure."

Consus rubs the back of his head and nervously laughs.

"S-Sorry. I'll leave you both now. I want to ask about that energy influx you felt?"

"He eavesdropped?"

"He's weird"

"Red-rank."

"Red-rank."

Consus keeps laughing, "Hehehe… If you can just give me the direction I'd be very thankful."

The girl who spilt her tea lifts her finger.

"Thank you very much." Consus bows and runs in that direction. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

Consus grips his bamboo staff tightly. "I'm glad I rushed over."

"RAAAAAR!" Bone-monster forces his arm down. Its fin-like spine slides over the bamboo to Consus' hand. He rotates the staff as the monster's arm slides off.

Bone-monster stumbles forward away from him.

"Are you okay, Easton?"

"Yeah… I'm not dead."

Consus smiles. "That's one way to look at it." He looks at Kiran. "He seems okay then too, based on Easton's viewpoint."

He glances at the others on the floor. "5 alive, and Israr seems injured. Based on the clothes, those 5 were with him… before he turned into that. I shouldn't untie them."

Consus nods. "All right. My top priority is to protect the newborns." He positions himself in a horse stance – his bamboo staff points to Bone-monster.

It breathes deeply through its nose. Smoke escapes with each breath. It steps around. With each step it takes, Consus takes a step as well. They circle each other. Bone-monster doesn't have pupils anymore, but Consus senses his gaze.

"I must ensure I can defend both Kiran and Easton. I can tell it's fixated on those two."

Bone-monster starts to run. Consus matches and meets it halfway. Bamboo and bone clash. Smack after smack. Bamboo and bone hit each other constantly as Consus spins his staff, defending against each of Bone-monster's strikes. Bone-monster swings over and over. Not one shot breaks Consus' defence.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Easton watches in awe. "It's not as fast as the sparring match, but the speed is still insane. He's so elegant with that staff… it's like he's putting on a show."

"RAAARGH!" roars Bone-monster. It ejects the spines from its forearms and grows new ones. Bone-monster looks at its newly grown bones and grins.

The spines it ejected scatter around. Some of them fly to Kiran and Easton. Consus spins and throws his staff. It twirls through the air deflecting the spines away from the newborns. The staff returns to Consus like a boomerang.

A few spines head straight to the tied-up redhead. "I'm dead!"

Israr jumps before her and blocks all the shots. "MMRGH!"

Consus waves. "Hey, Israr! I apologise for not blocking those. I have to focus on the kids. Are you okay? You don't look the best."

Israr struggles with the spines inside his body. He smiles and gives a thumbs-up. "Don't worry ab-about me. I-I'm fine."

"Understood! I see Sharmeija members are still strong!" Consus blocks the double-arm attack aimed at his head from Bone-monster. "Can't you see I'm having a conversation? Humanity's scheming nature remains, even when your mind's lost." They resume the battle.

Israr stares at Consus' fight. "He blocked that attack so quickly while talking to me…"

The redhead trembles behind Israr as the fight continues. "W-Why?"

"Why w-what?" asks Israr with a hoarse voice.

"Why would you do that?"

"I-It's a Sharmeija Member's – COUGH – job to protect…"

Consus eyes Bone-monster as he assaults with his bamboo staff. "Its bones are sturdier. Is it because it regrew them? Do they get stronger?"

"GRAAA!" Bone-monster shoots the bone spines from its forearms to Consus.

"So you've learnt how to do that properly now? That quickly?" says Consus as he deflects all the incoming projectiles. "How intriguing." Consus smirks. This makes Bone-monster rage.

"BHAAAA!" Bone-monster charges at Consus on all fours. The bone spines on its back make it look like a porcupine. Bone-monster rolls into a ball and keeps charging.

Consus swings his staff back and smacks the ball. It travels in the air. Bone-monster emerges out of the ball and swings his forearm down. "RAAAHH!"

Consus defends.

SNAP!

Bone-monster breaks through the top part of the bamboo, slicing it away. Its bone fin travels further and cuts Consus' cheek.

Consus touches his cheek and looks at the blood. His eyes become darker. His voice is deeper. "Now you've done it."

A mug slams on a bar counter. "Another round!" yells Marie-Jane.

"I see – hiccup – that you haven't changed a bit, Marie!" says Teua when he places down his mug. "Still beating me in drinking, even after all these years! What do they have at Harmony?"

Marie-Jane leans close to Teua, "Let me tell you a secret. You can make alcohol out of potatoes. I always keep a stash."

"Ah, no wonder you're fine with it!" Teua laughs as both their mugs fill with beer. "Cheers!"

Their mugs slam against each other as they drink. Tasha walks away after she fills their mugs. "Captain Teua is spilling too much… I can't believe I must take over his duties for the rest of the day… the drunk."

"Hey Marie, remember when you, Anani and Maxwell re-organised Cashel's clothes?"

"Ahaha! He hated it. Ebbot made us run over 100 kilometres that afternoon."

"Good times. I was always jealous of you all."

"Well, you still made it as Captain. A director of Sharmeija! You should be proud. Ebbot will be too!"

The 2 sit in silence for a bit.

Teua breaks the silence, "I'm glad I was able to see you and Consus again."

"Speaking of that numbskull, I heard you had him spar."

"Yeah, against the girl over there."

"Ah, poor girl."

"It was good for her. Consus also seemed to enjoy it."

"Well obviously," Marie-Jane lies in her arms. "Consus doesn't fight. He hates it. He likes having fun. But when he does get serious…" She plays with her long strawberry-blonde hair. "There's a reason we travelled together. I feel sorry for any opponent that faces Consus when he's serious."

Consus stabs the longer half of the bamboo into the ground. "Regrow."

His staff grows up. The bamboo creeks as it rises taller than him.

"BWAAA!" Bone-monster sprints and pulls its arm back. It strikes.

The front bone on Bone-monster's right forearm flies past its face. The bone cuts its cheek.

"That's payback." Consus leers at Bone-monster. His staff points to its face.

"RAAAAWWWRR!" Bone-monster swings its arms rapidly. Consus swats away each fin on its arm as it strikes. Over and over.

It keeps re-growing its bones. Each is stronger than the last, but one after the other breaks as Consus swings his bamboo staff against it.

This goes on for a while.

"R-Raa?" Bone-monster steps back, sweat dripping off its face. Its bones are not growing back.

"What's the matter?" Consus twirls his bamboo staff. "Is your instinct finally kicking in?" He points the staff to Bone-monster.

"My turn."

Consus thrusts the staff in Bone-monster's face before spinning it to hit the monster's cheek. Consus assaults Bone-monster as his staff clubs continuously. The large monster stumbles on its feet after every strike. It has bruises all over.

Consus presses his staff in the ground. He jumps with one foot over the other on the bamboo. He grabs the top and bounces with his one foot into the air. Spinning, he pulls the bamboo staff up and slams it hard on Bone-monsters head.

The thud echoes as Bone-monster falls on the ground.

Consus turns and goes to Easton. He hunches down, smiling. "Let me see your wound. It looks deep."

Easton flinches when Consus touches his right shoulder. Easton looks at him. "Why did you hold back?"

"Oh? You could tell?"

"Well, you make it obvious."

"Quite perceptive Easton. I didn't want to kill a human. I'm not comfortable with it. So I just had to wait a bit."

"Huh? Wait? What do you mean?"

As Easton questions, he notices Bone-monster struggle up.

"CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWW!!!!" a deafening screech escapes its mouth. It claws at its face. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Easton can't take his eyes off it. "Why is my body feeling like... I have to watch out for that. Like avoiding it is the only thing that matters…"

"Look down please, Easton. I don't want you to see the next part," says Consus. It's said in the calmest voice Easton has ever heard.

"Right…" Easton looks down as Consus embraces him.

Bone-monster charges at Consus.

Consus lifts his index and middle finger.

"Seed Growth Manipulation."

Multiple bamboo starts growing on the ground at a rapid pace. All maturing immediately. The bamboo stabs Bone-monster's body. Flesh rips. Blood spatters.

"GRAAAAA!!!!" screams Bone-monster in pain.

"Bamboo Booby-trap."

A final bamboo grows from right under Bone-monster's head. It pierces the skull and blood slides down the bamboo. Bone-monster's body lies still, trapped in a bamboo jungle gym.