Chapter 54: Awaited Rematch

Nora heard Loh’s horn sound off in the distance, signaling the beginning of the mock battle. She glanced at Clypeus, “What now?”

“Both of you follow me,” Clypeus said confidently.

“Understood,” Kegrog, the orc, responded.

Clypeus led them into the grove with assured steps. “Do you remember what Loh said about the grove?”

“She’ll kill us if we burn the trees?” Kegrog said.

“Not that part, none of us are chromatic orange anyway,” Clypeus shook his head.

“The grove was created by green magi?” Nora said.

“Yes, and to this day the green magi of the academy take care of this grove,” Clypeus said.

“That means-” Kegrog said.

“You’re a chromatic green,” Nora interrupted. “You’ve taken care of the grove?”

“Plenty of times. I’ve taken the time to learn its structure, where the trees are most dense, where there are open spaces, and most importantly the ideal places for an ambush,” Clypeus said.

“Ambush? We’re not going to search for the enemy?” Kegrog asked, confused.

“There’s no reason to search. We already have an enemy coming to us, arguably the most dangerous one,” Clypeus said.

“Which team?” Nora asked.

“Not a team, a single person.”

“Who?”

“Stryg?” Kegrog asked.

The orc still felt cold shivers run down his spine every time he remembered that first day of Duels class. How Stryg had drained his life force almost to the point of death. Then the goblin had actually tried to slice his throat. Had Loh not stopped Stryg at the last moment, Kegrog would be dead.

“Exactly,” Clypeus nodded. “He was staring at me during Loh’s explanation. I don’t doubt he’s coming after me and therefore our team.”

“But, how would he even find us? He’s not a chromatic green. He doesn’t know this grove,” Nora wrinkled her nose.

Clypeus nodded, “That may be true, but rumor has it Stryg is from Vulture Woods. After seeing the look he had on his face when he stared at the grove, I’m inclined to believe it. Do you think someone who grew up in the most dangerous forest in the Realm doesn’t know how to make his way through a simple grove like this?”

Kegrog and Nora said nothing.

“What makes it worse is that Stryg is a manifold mage like me,” Clypeus continued, “He’s also trained to fight, like me. But, unlike me, Stryg is merciless in a fight. He only holds back because he has to, not because he wants to. Unfortunately, Loh basically took off any restraints for this exam. So, Stryg can do anything he wants, bar killing somebody, and that makes him very, very dangerous.”

Nora gripped her quarterstaff tightly, “S-so, what do we do? He’s just a goblin, but I rather not fight him if we can avoid it.”

Clypeus shook his head, “That’s where you’re wrong. Stryg may look like a goblin, but he’s a hybrid. I’m not sure what his other half may be, but he’s clearly faster than me, a vampire. Don’t underestimate him because of what he looks like. We can’t avoid fighting him, I don’t doubt he’s already looking for us right now. In which case we’ll set up a trap and defeat him in one fell swoop.”

“What about the rest of his team? Callum Veres is skilled with a sword,” Kegrog said.

“And yet Loh refused to give him one,” Clypeus pointed out. “Either way we don’t have to worry about that. Stryg has never worked with people in class, he’s a loner. I highly doubt he’s working with others for this exam.”

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Kegrog asked.

“That depends,” Clypeus paused in his steps and looked at both his teammates. “Do you trust me?”

“To the very end,” Nora smiled.

Clypeus returned the smile.

“Do I have much of a choice?” Kegrog asked with a grimace.

“That’s the spirit,” Clypeus grinned. “You’ll be bait.”

“What? Why?” Kegrog furrowed his brow.

“Because you’re a bright red hulking mass of muscle. There really is no better target,” Clypeus shrugged.

“Uh-huh, uh-huh,” Nora nodded sagely.

“I don’t like this plan,” Kegrog frowned.

“Don’t worry, I may not have my swords but I still have my wits,” Clypeus stretched. “First, I need to block our scents.”

He closed his eyes and focused. The yellow mana within his heart flowed through his veins and into the tips of his fingers. He could feel the air respond to the energy. A calm gust of wind surrounded Nora and Clypeus.

“Next, our footprints,” he said.

He placed his hands on the grass and focused on the ground around. Green mana surged into the palm of his hands. The pressed dirt wafted upwards, erasing any signs of their footprints.

“It really is nice being a manifold mage,” Nora sighed in wonder.

~~~

Stryg ran through the trees with ease. He had been looking for Clypeus for a while now with no luck. He combed the area one last time. He stopped in his tracks. It was only a whiff, but he had finally caught the scent of that orc Kegrog, which meant the rest of his team couldn’t be too far behind. He ran towards the scent.

Stryg slowed down when the scent got stronger. He climbed up a nearby tree with ease and jumped to the next with nimble movements. The grove’s trees were far smaller than the enormous ones in Vulture Woods, but they could still easily hold his weight. He jumped from one tree to the next with quiet footsteps.

Stryg could hear Kegrog a few dozen feet away.. The orc was walking through the woods, whispering out the names of his companions. Stryg looked around for any sign of the other two, but there were none. Had they left Kegrog alone? Or had Kegrog just gotten lost. It didn’t matter; he would dispatch the orc quickly and move on to his main target.

Kegrog was the tallest of the 1st years and his body was covered in muscles. Stryg would have a difficult time fighting him in hand-to-hand combat. He needed to end this quickly. He hopped to a tree near the orc and waited for him to walk by. When Kegrog stepped right below him Stryg jumped out of the tree and with all the strength he could muster, kicked the orc right in the temple. Kegrog tumbled to the ground with a thud.

Stryg rolled to his feet as he touched the ground. He got up and made his way to the dazed orc. Stryg’s ear twitched. He ducked right as a stone whistled past his head. Clypeus jumped out of a nearby bush, clearing the entire distance between them with a single leap. Stryg’s eyes widened, he had never seen someone jump that far. The vampire smashed into Stryg. They both fell to the ground in a tumble.

Clypeus pummeled him with rapid jabs, aiming at his head. Stryg tried covering his head from the blows. He had been here before, during his first and only night challenge. The goblin Gathi had pinned him to the ground and pummeled him into defeat. But, Stryg wasn’t the same goblin anymore.

He stopped covering his face, Clypeus’ fist smashed into his jaw. Stryg ignored the pain, his hand caught the next incoming fist. Clypeus used his free hand to punch Stryg in the face, hoping to knock him out as soon as possible. He landed another punch before Stryg caught his remaining hand. Their arms quivered as they each wrestled for control. The vampire bellowed with strain. Stryg’s arms stilled, he tilted his head, pupils wide.

“You’re weak.” Stryg squeezed with all his strength.

Clypeus screamed as his knuckles cracked beneath Stryg’s hands. The goblin’s claws dug into his flesh. A quarterstaff thrust past Clypeus’ shoulder and went for Stryg’s neck. He swerved his head away and kicked the vampire off him. Stryg scrambled to his feet.

“Took you long enough,” Clypeus sighed in relief.

“Sorry, I couldn’t keep up with your spell jump,” Nora said. She stood behind Clypeus, a quarterstaff in her hands.

Spell jump? Stryg glanced at Clypeus’ exposed skin. There were no black veins nor bronze skin, ruling out any orange agility or brown vigor spells. What color had he used? Stryg couldn’t recall what colors the vampire mage was. He lamented not going out of his way to learn the chromatic colors of his classmates. He had ignored them for the most part, choosing not to involve himself as much as possible.

Stryg was regretting the whole thing. Had he studied them, as a hunter would his prey, he might have seen this coming. He hadn’t seen a single footprint, smelled any foreign scent. But had he just paid more attention perhaps he may have caught a sign. This whole thing hadn’t been a coincidence. This was an ambush. Whether it was for him or another, Stryg wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he had fallen into the trap like an animal.

Clypeus rubbed his hands. They were quickly growing numb despite the horrid pain. He could barely move his fingers. Had it not been for yellow durability spells slowing his movement, he would have cast one earlier. Now he regretted his decision. Stryg had gotten the better of him. He had completely underestimated the hybrid.

Clypeus had expected Stryg to rush Kegrog from the side or maybe the back, but never from above. He had knocked Kegrog down with a single hit. Clypeus had tried attacking Stryg with a green stone spell, sending a rock flying at his head, but the goblin had somehow managed to dodge it.

Never one to give up, Clypeus had cast a wind spell to propel him forward as he jumped and tackled Stryg. The goal was to strike his head, either knocking him out or causing enough pain to prevent Stryg from casting spells, but Stryg had surpassed his expectations yet again. The damn goblin was unbelievably strong. Stronger than even Kegrog he reckoned.

Clypeus tried flexing his hand open but failed. This wouldn’t be easy. He caught the sight of Kegrog stirring behind Stryg. They needed to buy time. Stryg hissed at the vampire and human, his claws raised for battle.

“Bellum help us now,” Clypeus whispered a prayer to the goddess of war. He raised his hands, “Nora, just as I taught you.”

“Understood,” Nora said from behind.

Clypeus hoped to the gods that all these private training lessons with Nora hadn’t been in vain. No, he shook his head, he couldn’t think that way. “I trust you Nora.”

“To the very end,” Nora replied.

“This isn’t Tauri’s mock combat,” Stryg said. “I won’t hold back.”

Clypeus took a deep breath and posed a fighting stance, “I am Clypeus of House Gale. I am the shield of the Veres. Be it monster or man, here I stand proud and I shall not falter.”

“And I’m Nora of House Azol. Don’t mess with us!” She peeped.

Stryg recognized the meaning behind their words, it was a formal challenge. “I am Stryg, exile of the Blood Fang tribe. I have survived the undead, lamias, and a dragon. I will survive you.”

“Dragon?” Nora frowned.

Stryg didn’t wait any longer, he dashed forward. Clypeus forced his entire will to imagine his body as armor. His yellow mana reacted. A faint yellow outline of scales shimmered onto his skin. Stryg jumped in the air with a roundhouse kick at the vampire’s chest. Clypeus blocked with his arms. The force of the blow knocked him back several feet. Nora shoved her quarterstaff from behind the vampire, but Stryg dropped and swung in a low kick, knocking Clypeus to the ground.

The vampire cursed, this is why he disliked using the durability spell form. His reactions became too slow. Clypeus braced himself for Stryg’s attack, but Stryg ignored him completely. Stryg jumped over him and went after Nora. She screamed in fright as the goblin rushed her. She swung her quarterstaff at him, but he caught it with a deft hand and yanked it from her hands.

“Oh,” Nora mouthed.

Stryg slammed the quarterstaff into her gut. She wheezed for breath and fell to her knees. Stryg whipped the quarterstaff with all the force he could muster at her head. Clypeus jumped in between. The staff cracked in two as it smashed into his shoulder. Clypeus’ faint scales shattered all around his bruised shoulder. Stryg didn’t hesitate, he grabbed what was left of the quarterstaff and stabbed the jagged end at Clypeus’ face.

Two bronze arms wrapped around Stryg from the back. Kegrog yanked him back and squeezed him tight. The orc was using a vigor spell to strengthen his arms.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Kegrog yelled.

“Motherfucker!” Stryg shouted.

Kegrog’s eyes widened as his arms began to budge. Despite using brown magic to enhance his strength, Stryg was actually pushing back.

“Hold him tight!” Clypeus went for Stryg’s necklace.

Stryg beat his legs with fervent speed, kicking any attempt Clypeus made.

Clypeus glanced around. He picked up both broken halves of the quarterstaff. His hand could barely move, but they could still hold a grip. The broken quarterstaff pieces weren’t his gladii but they’d have to do. He took a deep breath and released his durability spell, the yellow scales shimmering out of existence. He advanced on Stryg, blocking the goblin’s feet with trained parries.

Stryg could feel his bones creak as the orc tried to crush him. This wasn’t going to go like last time. Stryg grit his teeth at the pain and focused his will. Grey mana flooded through him. He didn’t need to worry about trying to absorb lifeforce into his body, all he needed to do was drain the stamina away from the orc.

Kegrog groaned in pain as his body’s energy was sapped away. His bronze arms were weakening, but he didn’t let go. Stryg struggled to keep his focus while dealing with the pain and battling Clypeus with his legs. A pebble smacked into Stryg’s nose, disrupting his concentration. He could feel himself losing the spell, it began to backfire. Stryg’s body began to weaken as his own stamina was drained instead and released.

Nora stood up with shaky legs. One hand held her gut, the other another pebble. She grinned. Clypeus smacked Stryg’s legs away. With his makeshift sword he swung at Stryg’s necklace.

A scream pierced the air. Clypeus tumbled to the grass as a small figure rammed into his side. Kegrog turned in time to see a branch smack into his face. He yelled in pain and dropped Stryg. The goblin scuttled backwards.

“It took a while to find you. I’m glad we made it on time,” Callum grinned. He rested the branch on his shoulder.

Kithina rolled away from Clypeus and stood up, “Stryg, you dumbass!”