L | GROWTH
Uthra runs through the veins of every living creature.
Kael tried to breathe in deeply and concentrate. The constant bashing and taunting did not help at all, but he was used to working under pressure. The door was almost completely broken off, and if Kael didn't hurry, he would be cornered like a rat trapped in a snake's coil.
He silently thanked the angels that he had stuffed his stamp in his pocket and pulled out the heavy thing. Sending uthra into the stamp prematurely, Kael activated it and seared it onto the fire sigil already embedded on the blade. The handle vibrated in Kael's hand as the stamp transferred the insignia into the empty space.
As soon as Kael lifted the stamp, the door crashed open, and tentacles shot inside like wild ribbons flowing in the wind. It would only be a matter of time before they would locate him, so Kael didn't waste another second to surge his uthra through the scythe and blow open the wall next to him.
"Where are you, boy? Get out here or I'll personally come and get you!"
He jumped through, feeling splinters scraping against his calf, and rolled on the dirt. The blighter coiled its tentacles around to follow Kael, but this only served to entangle it. Using this to his advantage, Kael jumped out of range and whirled the scythe forward, sending a flurry of flames right into the blighter.
The creature screeched as its limbs tore apart and faded away. Only now, it was free. Kael cursed at his miss once again. Though the control he had over the flames were not as stable as he would have liked, the weapon he used at least felt much more natural—the extension of his limbs that he couldn't yet achieve with a sword.
The blighter regenerated its tentacles and threw a massive attack at Kael. The boy careened to the side and slashed the tentacles off before running towards the beast to send a raining storm of fire on the creature.
"Ah, are you fighting back?" Laughing, the phantom skirted off the blighter and stood under the shade. "Be my guest! This is far more exciting than the Weapons Choosing Test."
Kael didn't have time to respond as he rained a flurry of attacks on his target. The blighter used its tentacles to shield itself. One glossy snake shot out, and Kael parried it with his scythe, using fire to burn its hold on his weapon. He paused, watching the blighter pulse and grow. His eyes widened.
"What on Hearth is that?" he said, backing away. Blighters didn't grow. They didn't have enough intelligence to shield themselves from attacks.
When the blighter moved forward, Kael saw the patch of dead grass from where it had stood. Understanding dawned on him, and he wished he'd paid closer attention in class when Nox went over blighters and phantoms. Maybe then, he'd figure out how the rarest of blighters got into the school grounds.
The phantom laughed and confirmed Kael's observations. "Don't you know? It's one of my favourites. A phagocytic blighter! It can suck uthra out of any living thing around it to get bigger. 'Cept me, of course, since I'm it's master. You better be careful."
Kael closed his eyes at the reel of information. It was the very type that killed his mother and Kala. Rage overtook him.
The blighter squelched in response, sending more tentacles to Kael; he could only jump back. The moment any of those tentacles encircled him, he knew exactly what would happen, and he wasn't keen on meeting the same fate as his twin.
He held out the scythe and focused on understanding every aspect of it. He let his uthra surging through it, feeling every grain, every intricate design, before the energy burst into the blade, where it activated the sigil and engulfed the scythe in intense fire.
"That's more like it," Kael said as the adrenaline and familiarity of the weapon boosted his confidence. "Bring it on, you life-sucker."
The blighter made a jarring screech — a mix between an animalistic, guttural growl and a ghost's horrified wail — as it crawled across the ground to get its thick, snake-like tentacles to Kael. It grew gradually with each patch of grass it usurped, but as it built its tank, its arms became stubby and short.
Kael scuffed his feet on the dirt as he swept them to a more balanced stance. Hefting his weight to one foot to launch himself, Kael shot forward with his burning weapon and put his strength behind it as he took a swipe at the throbbing bulk of glistening, malleable flesh. His blade cut into it, and it let out an otherworldly shriek, vibrating the air around him.
Sweat trickled down Kael's cheek as he forced an insurmountable surge of energy into the weapon until the intense inferno exploded into a conflagration. Still, the blighter refused to yield, and it managed to slap Kael away with a thick, stubby tentacle. The scythe clattered to the ground, and Kael groaned in pain when his back hit a tree. He looked down to see a blooming stain eating away at his garments and instinctively threw off his jacket.
He scowled. "That was my favourite jacket, you ass-sniffing piece of excrement!"
Surely Lana would have him wearing her atrociously knitted sweater for at least a month if she heard him say that. Kael cringed at the thought, not missing the itchy material against his neck or the crudely stitched words that spelled out Lana's Boy.
It was no time to reminisce about ugly sweaters, however, as the blighter chased the boy with new vigour, sporting an angry scorched gash deep in what would be an equivalent to its forehead.
Kael managed to slide behind the tree before the creature's tentacles got to him. He somehow circled around until he could run in the direction of his discarded scythe. He slid on the dirt and used his momentum to scoop the weapon in his hands before springing up and parrying an attack.
This was dragging on for too long, and Kael knew he wouldn't be able to fend it off for much longer. Running on pure adrenaline, Kael ignited his flames once more and faced the slimy beast. It took a moment for it to turn around and fling another arm at him.
Kael was out of its reach, and he took this time to observe his surroundings with rapid glances. The phantom had fallen silent, passively watching his every move, but Kael couldn't focus on him yet.
Make sure to take in all of the environment. The vantage points, the points you must avoid, blind spots.
Then, Kael had a crazy idea. It was risky, but it had worked once before. He let the fire die out and clipped the scythe on his back by using his belt before shooting to the nearest tree and climbing it.
The blighter moved forward, its tentacles slapping at the bark just below him. Kael clenched his teeth, trying not to cry out in horror when he felt the cold wind slapping at his calves as a tentacle came dangerously close to touching him.
The scythe began to slide down his belt, and it took all of Kael's willpower to not panic when the blighter grazed his weapon. He pulled himself atop a branch and struggled to pull his weapon out. His target was below him now, but this time, it knew he was up there.
Taking a deep breath, Kael gave the scythe a quick swing to remind his muscles of its function. Then, as he leaped off the branch and drew his scythe above his head for maximum damage, he used more uthra than he ever had to drive a brilliant, flaming incisor into the goop of the inky, damned creature. The blinding light drowned away the creature's blood-curdling shriek, and the blighter burst into a whisper of shadows.
Gasping for breath, Kael stood, legs shaking and wobbly from exertion. Now, he had one target left.
"I'm impressed," the phantom said, uncrossing his legs and pushing off from the tree he leaned on. "Not many kids can get rid of blighters like that. But now, you've killed my pet, and I'm not happy."
Kael knew he didn't stand a chance against the phantom, but he widened his stance and readied himself to attack.
Where are all the adults? he thought, following the phantom's every movement. He waited for his opponent to take out a weapon, so the sudden light that burned against his side sent him flying into the ground.
His ears rung, and for a moment, he couldn't hear anything except for a loud high-pitched whistle. Then, it passed, and it was as if the world crashed down on his senses. His scythe clattered to the ground, out of reach, and the phantom began his slow trek to his victim.
"Pity. I thought it would be a fun fight," he said, his fingers rounded upwards as if he was holding the ball of light escaping his palm.
Of course! Kael could have kicked himself for his stupidity. The phantom had obviously etched his sigil onto his skin, which was why he hadn't even needed a weapon to attack. How could he have forgotten that?
The phantom's robes swished behind him like a cape, and it was then that Kael could clearly see the man's features. He was remarkably young with long black hair and scruffy adolescent stubble. He wore large brass goggles over his eyes, the tinted glass glinting ominously under the sunlight.
"Shut up," Kael grunted out. "I'm not giving up." He forced himself up, ignoring the searing pain on his side. He reached for his scythe, but the phantom hooked it over his boot and kicked it several meters off.
"What was that?" he said, laughing. "I couldn't quite hear you over my victory."
Kael's eyes flickered between his scythe and the light escaping the phantom's hand. If he could just reach his weapon...
"Fine then. Get this over with. Show me what you've got!" Kael knew he was likely digging his own grave, but he had to figure out a way to distract the phantom either until someone came to help him or until he could figure out a way to get to his scythe.
The phantom scowled. "Your disrespect gets on my nerves. Now that I've had enough fun, I suppose it's time to get rid of you." He pulled his arm back and threw a hot ball of light at Kael. It was the moment Kael was waiting for. He jumped and rolled towards the scythe, grabbing it before landing on his feet.
Running purely on instinct, Kael twirled the scythe between his hands and slashed at the phantom with hot gold fire igniting the blade.
Caught by surprise, the phantom screamed in pain, and a mass of dark, corrupt aura so intense that it shuddered Kael's body escaped his wound and dispersed into the environment with no rhinestone available to contain it.
Kael drew back his scythe for a deathblow, but hesitated. The phantom was barely older than Kael. Maybe there was a more passive way to take him down. A way that wouldn't kill the human shell the phantom wore.
The phantom, seizing the opportunity, kicked him towards a tree.
"You'll pay for that!" he hissed, covering his slashed forearm with his free hand. Dark blood seeped out with wisps of corruption hissing like steam.
"Will he now?" a familiar voice cut through their conversation. Relief washed over Kael when he saw Nox step out from behind the trees.
"Nox!" Kael called out, feeling safe just from the caster's presence.
"Heya, kid. You better step back now."
The phantom cursed. "You!"
"Have we met?" Genuine confusion sounded in Nox's tone. "Ah, hold on a minute..." He cupped his chin in thought, then clapped his hands when it came to him. "Oh, yeah. You're Cerrix, the missing kid. Didn't think you'd survive this long under Triena's grasp."
The phantom laughed, shoulders shaking. "Cerrix has been dead since the day he disappeared."
Nox, unfazed, withdrew his pocket watch from his hoodie and twirled the chain around his fingers. "I can see that. You're not the same Cerrix I used to know." He clicked his tongue. "It's unfortunate. You were a good kid. And now, I have to take care of all the mess you made. Do you know how long it's gonna take? I don't like people who take away my free time."
Enraged, the phantom began to throw balls of light towards the caster. Nox was remarkably quick, easily weaving through every attack and still throwing taunting jibes at the opponent. Kael noticed, however, that even though Nox avoided the phantom's attacks with ease, he did not advance an attack.
Kael wondered what his mentor was doing. Why didn't he just attack the phantom and be done with it? Maybe he could take the phantom in and purify him. Kael stepped back, and his head spun from the crash of adrenaline. He didn't have the energy to do anything anymore.
He leaned against a tree and watched. Nox and the phantom continued their fight, but it was only when Nox swung his watch the moment he dodged an attack that Kael saw what he had been doing during the entire fight. A shadow fell from the watch like black liquid, pooling into the ground and spreading until it reached the phantom's own shadow, and it was then that Kael realised that Nox wasn't attacking to keep the phantom in place, like Kael had done to the blighter at the arena.
The phantom, still shaking with fury, hadn't noticed a thing. His attacks ceased when he noticed they were only draining his energy and doing nothing to bring him closer to beating Nox.
"Quit buzzing around like a fly and fight, you coward!" he snarled.
"Tired?" Nox grinned, twirling his pocket watch. "Well, it's been ice chatting with ya, but I'm getting bored. Why don't you cool off in the shade for a bit? And since you're quite the special snowflake, I'm sure there's an isolated area just for you in the underworld. Don't get cold feet now. You're frozen." Nox snapped his fingers. "And, sleep."
"What are you — ?" Before he could finish, the phantom found himself stuck to the ground, Nox's shadow holding his own in place. His eyes widened, and a shot rang out from somewhere beyond the trees before a sharp bullet of ice slashed through the phantom abdomen. Three more shots rang in succession, and three more icy bullets found their marks on Cerrix's body.
Kael's stomach churned at the sight. Blood filled with dark aura seeped to the dirt, staining the ground black. Nox approached the phantom, who was on the ground with his hands hovering above his largest wound, unable to touch it from the pain.
"Goodnight, Cerrix," Nox said, stopping in front of the phantom.
"I'm not finished," Cerrix snarled, his voice distorting into an impossibly deeper frequency. "I'll be back, and you'll be the first I come after when I do!"
He struggled to keep himself together, then reached up and knocked off his goggles to reveal startling green eyes. He gazed up at Nox with a twisted grin.
"He's gone now," he strained, his voice suddenly sounding like that of a young man. "Thank you."
With that final cryptic farewell, Cerrix's body dissipated and a dark aura rushed into Nox's open pocket watch.
"See ya later, kid," he said softly. After what seemed to be a moment of silence, he snapped it closed, rubbed it against his hoodie, and replaced it into his pocket.
Nox turned his attention to Kael. "You okay there?"
Kael nodded tiredly with his eyes closed. For some reason, Cerrix's death affected him much more than the phantom he'd seen at Paraiba. Likely, he thought, because he had almost killed the phantom himself. "Why'd you kill him? You could have cured him..."
"Nah, not me. Maya." Nox sighed. "And...It's complicated. When a human's corrupted, they lose their virtues. What she killed wasn't human anymore. He was the embodiment of Wrath. Past stage three, there's no hope for purification. Keeping them alive will only bring blights to everything around them."
"Is everyone all right?" Maya emerged from the foliage, her sniper in hand.
Nox gave her a thumbs up. "Nice shot, sniper."
Kael sighed as the voices of his mentors faded away. His eyes refused to open, and the knowledge of his safety was enough for him to fall asleep against the tree.
"You know, you really shouldn't have let that blighter go here," a gentle voice said, though there was a clear underlying tone of superiority and disdain. "You just made our job harder, and I have to mourn the loss of my baby. And now that Cerrix is dead, we need a replacement. What a bother."
A young man shrugged, leaning against the wall with a scoff. "It's Cerrix's fault for trying to get the blighter to swallow the kid who saw him. Besides, it's not my fault your men were useless. If they had more control on our specimen, this wouldn't have happened." He pointed at two men kneeling before them with ropes tied tightly around their torso.
They quivered in fear, not daring to look at their captors. The woman sighed, crossing her arms across her impressive bosom and strutting to the men on the ground. She lifted her mask, gently letting it rest on a puff of curly, caramel hair. Her blue-gray eyes flickered with what could have been anger or pure contempt.
"Have my little pets been bad?" she asked, though whom she addressed wasn't clear. "I hope it isn't true. It would be a pity to discard of them when they were such useful fools. Isn't that right, Derrith?" She shifted her powerful gaze to the second man. "Lunder?"
They whimpered, unable to say a word. Their self-appointed master would punish them greatly if they opposed her, so they could only nod in desperation.
She sighed, putting a hand atop her breasts as if she was heartbroken. "But something like this just isn't acceptable." She feigned sorrow, stamping the back of her other hand on her forehead. "Such pitiful waste of perfectly good souls. Ajax, do me a favour and dispose of them for me."
With a slight smile, she twirled, letting her luscious wavy hair swing over her shoulder blades. What had once been an alluring sight stamped abject terror into the men, and it was painfully obvious that they wouldn't last the day.
"Please!" Derrith wailed against his better judgement. Lunder nudged him harshly with a shoulder, eyes wide with fear at what his companion had done. But Derrith had reached his breaking point, and he continued to beg. "Spare us! It wasn't our fault! The blighter burst through the net, and we couldn't do anything without getting blighted ourselves."
Ajax snorted pulling his sherwood cap down. "Look at them. They're begging for their lives. And you want me to dispose of them. Don't leave the dirty work to me just because I'm younger than you. I'm not your errand boy."
"Oh, what a pain," the woman's tone seemed to drop an octave. She sent a piercing look at the men on the ground. "I'm tired of these pets. And we all know the best thing to do when something is unwanted is to put them out of their misery."
She pulled her mask down to hide her eyes and once again advanced towards the men with purposeful steps. She touched her finger with a tenderness they knew she never had, and activated a ring.
"Spare us!" Lunder said, abandoning his submissive silence. "Please, we'll do whatever you want."
Her smile held no warmth. "Don't you see, boys? You already have. And besides..." In a blink of an eye, she whipped her hand towards Lunder. He had just enough time to see a long metal rod running with crimson liquid before his body went limp with gurgling spasms. "There's nothing more you can do."
Before Derrith could even begin to beg, the rod once again shot out from her ring and tunneled through his vocal chords, splattering blood on the dirt behind him as it exited on the other side.
"How cruel of you," Ajax said, pushing off from the wall.
The woman shrugged, her hair falling down her bare shoulders. "And Ajax," she turned to the young man and shot out the same rod that killed the men. Ajax didn't even flinch as it punctured into the wall right next to his head. She smiled. "Be more respectful next time. You're nothing but a boy. At least for now."
"Whatever you say, Ca—" Ajax ducked as the rod swiped sideways where his head had just been.
"It'd do you good if you call me by my proper name."
Ajax returned a laugh, grabbing at his hat to make sure it didn't fall off. "Whatever you say, Lyliath."
"Good boy."
"So," Ajax said, sweeping his cape back. "What do we do now? That blighter's wasted. It's going to take a while to get another one. Plus we need someone else to take Cerrix's place."
Lyliath sighed and retracted her deadly metal rod until it lay innocently on her finger. "We seem to have no choice. We'll have to go back to the Dead Forest and find another one. Now that my pets are dead, I suppose I have to do it myself. What a bother. Take care of the bodies for me, will you, Ajax? I have to catch another precious baby of mine. As for Cerrix...well, I'm sure the old man will find someone. There are plenty of candidates, after all."
Ajax scowled but didn't refuse. "Fine. But make it quick. I'm running out of time."
Lyliath shook her head in exasperation. "How long?"
"I'd say about twenty minutes. Give or take."
Lyliath delicately pinched the bridge of her nose — which really didn't do much considering the thick plaster of the masquerade mask she had on. "Hmm. Just take care of the bodies. It looks like the rest will have to wait until a later time. You should hurry now."
Ajax watched Lyliath jump on her bird and fly away. It was a good thing everyone was gathered at the other side of the academy or they'd surely notice her. She disappeared beyond the high wall, probably finding a suitable place to land before she was seen.
Sighing, Ajax approached the bodies of the men. He kicked Lunder's boots, and more blood seemed to spurt out from the movement. Ajax scowled. "Even in death you're disgusting." He checked his watch. "Well, I guess I better get started."
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A/N
Hey, hey! Sorry for the late update. I've had quite a busy weekend.
I tried something quite different in this chapter by giving you a little insight on the villains, but not too much info. >:)
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's a little longer than usual, so hopefully that makes up for the late upload.
Be sure to vote and comment!
Bye!
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