Chapter 33:

Cort easily ended the wolf’s life with a thorough slash through the neck. The rest of the pack hurriedly attempted to flee and he had no desire to catch them. Flicking the blood off his blade he looked to his side.

Rine roared the name of his only spell and a decent-sized ball of fire shot its way to its victim. The wolf howled pitifully as the attack drilled at its side, burning its flesh.

‘It’s gotten better, that’s for sure,’ Cort thought as he watched. It seemed Rine was growing stronger.

The main purpose of this trip was to ascertain the young man’s fighting capabilities as, in order to properly coordinate their movements, they had to understand each other’s strengths.

‘But as I thought, wolves won’t prove much of a challenge to us.'

'Fortunately, it seems like that will no longer be an issue.’ He smiled faintly as he felt the ground vibrate.

…………………………………………

Rine wiped away his sweat and smugly assessed the results of his battle. He could now manage against the previously difficult to deal with wolves; he could still remember the first time he saw them several weeks ago, back then even after giving it his all he couldn’t defeat a single one but now…

Satisfied with his performance, he turned to his side to speak to Cort.

What he found instead was the body of a decapitated wolf; no other marks were present on the beast’s body meaning its death was a rather swift one. Oddly enough though, he saw no sign of the man who killed the beast.

“Cort?” He called out in confusion but heard no reply.

‘Just what is he up to-’ Rine was about to ask himself before he snapped his head to the front.

He remained still for a couple of seconds before frantically retreating, luckily he did not trip in his haste.

Out of the plants’ coverage, a hulking figure burst forth. Its vicious roar and seemingly earth-shattering footsteps sent shivers down Rine’s spine.

“Earthen Fur Bear…” This beast sported formidable defense and impressive size. Unlike most of the animals in Phentar’s Forest, it did not specialize in speed hence the name. Sturdy as the earth. At full sprint the beast was similar to a charging carriage; furthermore, not even carriages would face the beast head-on.

Scanning his surroundings, he could find no clue of where Cort could be. Faced with no other options, Rine immediately turned around and began running away.

The bear gave chase but luckily for the young magician, he still had a slight edge on speed.

‘But this won’t work.’ He thought as he recalled the bear’s freakish stamina.

Rine was nowhere close to the physical prowess of a warrior; his speed was not impressive, and he did not last long while running. This coupled with the bear’s ability to track prey over long distances meant that fleeing was not a valid option.

“{Fireball}!”

He fired a spell at the bear who shifted slightly to the side, successfully dodging it.

‘Shit!’ He thought as he restarted his chant.

“{Fireball},” He said beneath his breath as he forcefully held on to another spell. His burning hand would make it easier for the bear to track him, but he did not care. Just as he neared completion of the second spell, he released the first.

“{Fireball}” The bear heard the human speak as it leisurely dodged the spell-like before, but soon its eyes widened at the sight of another ball of fire just inches away from its face.

BOOM!

Rine smiled triumphantly as he saw his attack connect. ‘Dodge that ya filthy beas-’ But before he could continue gloating, the smoke cleared only to reveal a barely injured beast with an angered expression. If that wasn’t enough the bear roared mightily before suddenly increasing its speed.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

The young magician pushed his body to its limits as he ran for his life, alas.

The bear grunted as it slashed toward Rine.

Feeling the threat behind him, he desperately evaded to the side, rolling on the forest floor.

Searing pain assaulted him and it came from the backside of his shoulder, luckily the beast had only managed to nick him slightly.

‘I can’t stop!’ Rine thought as he quickly began running again. Thankfully the beast had returned to its normal running speed.

‘Thank Aria!’ He thought with relief. It seemed like it could only increase its speed in bursts.

But still, all his efforts merely brought him back to step one.

Grasping at straws, he began to call out to the only person he could rely on.

“Cort! Help me! Cort!” He pleaded but no reply came. Now desperate, he began to lose hope.

‘Should I try attacking again?’ He asked himself ‘No, it’ll just evade it, or take it head-on. I need something stronger.’ He thought of his latest attack. ‘Maybe that will work….But I need time to set it up besides…’ He doubted whether the attack would be truly effective.

Just as he was hesitating, he heard the sound of a coursing river. ‘A chance!’ He thought excitedly.

…………………………………………

“{Fireball}!”

The bear prepared itself to dodge once more as it heard the human screech. It knew now that the first attack was merely a decoy, but instead of dodging the second, it sped up hoping to receive the weak attack and surprise the human in one go.

But contrary to its expectations, the first attack wasn’t aimed at it.

The bear saw the human suddenly turn around with a faint smile. It instinctively slowed down even though it seemed like had no reason to do so as the human’s outstretched arm was pointed towards the ground.

This confused the bear.

Suddenly a roaring ball of fire shot out of the human’s palm and dug into the earth below them. A large amount of dust and crushed rock spread out, temporarily taking its sight away.

When the dust settled, the human had suddenly disappeared, but what was worse was the fact that his scent was fainter as well.

…………………………………………

Rine emerged from the water and took in a deep breath.

Allowing the water current to carry him away, he somehow gained some distance from the bear. Not letting this chance go to waste, he immediately began casting.

He closed his eyes and focused intently on gathering as much origin as he could; he had to make it count. While rerunning the plan over and over again, he made sure to heighten his sense of hearing.

He smiled wryly as he heard the sound of the bear approaching.

“{Fireball}” He muttered faintly as a decently sized ball of flames appeared. This spell was slightly larger than the normal spells he held back, thus he struggled to keep it in check. His hand burned at a faster rate than ever before and the pain was unbearable. But he soldiered through.

“I won’t lose.” He promised himself as he neared the completion of the second spell.

‘And just on time too’ His wan smile showed signs of exhaustion.

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It was close, the bear could smell it. Oddly enough, the human reeked of burning flesh, but it paid the matter no mind. Soon, it would feast.

As it neared the location it rushed forward, once more increasing its speed. Though it could not maintain the speed for long, it was enough for the current purpose.

Bursting through some shrubs it finally caught sight of the human.

However what greeted him was not the panicking face of a scared child, but rather a ball of immense heat revolving around a much larger sphere.

“{Fireball}! Solar Bomb!”

The swirling masses dashed toward the bear at break-neck speeds.

Knowing it could not dodge this attack, the bear hunkered down and prepared to take it head-on.

An explosion larger than any previous attack sounded out and the surrounding trees shook heavily.

Pain.

Immense pain racked the bear’s consciousness as it felt its fur sizzle and flesh burn. Roaring wildly, it thrashed about in an attempt to put the fire out, but it stumbled and lost its balance. The damage was heavier than expected.

Just as the bear tried to regain its balance it felt the sudden impact of a shoulder hitting its side.

The young boy reappeared and, for some inexplicable reason, he decided to bash himself against the bear’s body. Miraculously the boy managed to move it a couple of meters away, but soon the infuriated bear tried to swipe at the human with its paw. It was then that it heard it. The sound of a flowing river and the quiet muttering of a young child.

“{Fireball}”

…………………………………………

Rine was sent flying backward as the spell separated the two.

He crashed heavily onto the ground and came skidding to a halt. Faintly, he could hear the sound of splashing water in the distance.

He wearily raised his head to look and smiled at the disappearance of the bear. If his plan succeeded, it was currently being dragged away by the water’s current. Rine doubted whether it was dead, but he was sure it was damaged.

‘Speaking of damage.’ He grunted as he brought his burnt hand closer to his face. ‘It’s growing number…’ Rine never feared any serious injury due to the miracle-like effect of the old man’s medicine.

Though it was a pain to make, he couldn’t find fault with its effects.

Despite this, he was dimly aware that if he continued down this path, he would probably do irreparable damage to himself. He couldn’t even guess what effects repeatedly burning your own hand would bring.

‘I wonder what the medicine tastes like’ his thoughts took a bizarre turn as he promptly ignored his mixed feelings.

Actually, he never considered ingesting the damn thing before. He helped Cort make it countless times now and every time, the formation process grossed him out. He remembered vomiting away his dinner on multiple occasions.

A sudden and aggressive roar snapped him out of his thoughts. Looking over to where the bear had fallen, he saw a massive paw strike the earth.

Its claws dug into the soil, and the bear started pulling itself upwards.

‘Well, shit…’ Rine thought as he saw the bear’s enraged face peeking from the water.

However just as Rine began exhaustedly casting once more, he noticed an arrow in the sky.

“That’s!” He exclaimed.

“Arrgh!!” The bear howled in pain as the arrow dug itself into its eye with frightening accuracy.

In a fit of rage, the bear began thrashing and frantically attempted to pull itself out of the water but it was too late.

A sword swiftly descended upon its skull, and the beast’s now lifeless body drifted along with the water’s current.

“Cort, y-you-” Instead of relief Rine felt anger at Cort’s sudden appearance.

‘Where were you? you bastard’ He wanted to say, but he found himself unable to.

Emotionlessly the black-haired youth made his way over to Rine who grew uneasy.

‘What are you doing?’ He thought as he began to chant his spell.

It seemed like Cort noticed this, however, and he vanished from his spot instantly.

‘Fast!’ Rine’s eyes couldn’t keep up and a feeling of terror overcame him.

“Wai-” But before he could continue, a fist colliding against his chin knocked him out cold.

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Alcaster tidied his robes in front of the full-length mirror in his room.

Only instead of the smooth and elegant motions he normally employed, his hands now shook slightly and he seemed to be fidgeting. He was nervous, terribly so.

Having just broken through to the Eighth Origin grade otherwise known as middle core refinement, he was given the honor of being recruited by one of the elite generals of Verlau.

It seems like he was brought on as a replacement for a magician who went missing during an assignment. Though he knew little of the details, he did find it odd how a magician of the ninth grade could disappear in a place like The wind palace’s lands.

‘Well, no matter.’ He cleared his heads of these thoughts. ‘I’ll know in a little bit anyway.’

A knock sounded from his door.

“Mister Alcaster, the general will see you now,” A pleasant voice stated from the other side.

Opening the door, Alcaster saw a beautiful young woman dressed in the clothing of a maid. The uniform’s exceedingly soft fabric clung closely to the woman’s body, leaving little to the imagination.

“Ahem, yes thank you for the notice, you are dismissed.” Despite her ravishing appearance, he dared not be rude. Not only was this woman an official employee of the general, but she was also a powerful magician of the sixth grade.

Of course, Alcaster was stronger than she was by a long shot, but that did not mean he could do as he pleased. After all, This was not the barbaric lands of Stark, this was Verlau.

“Yes. Excuse me then,” The maid said as she gracefully began to walk away.

Watching her leave for slightly longer than what was appropriate, Alcaster finally made his way towards the meeting room.

After a short distance walk, he came upon a sturdy-looking door.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked.

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