"Infighting is forbidden, Samuel." Oscar put up his fists and peeked down at the ravine, eyeing the various caverns. The fires died a while ago, and the caves were smoke-free. An idea slowly formed in his head.
"It doesn't matter. Who would care if all of you are dead?" Samuel signaled his men to move closer. Frederick and Emily responded by summoning their Animas.
"All of this because of some childish quarrel. The house of Carter has fallen deep into the dirt." Frederick insulted Samuel's family and their upbringing.
"What a pathetic man. What about the Pavilion? Do you honestly believe you can deceive them?" Emily gripped her staff anima and took a bold step forward. Her power as a Middle Apprentice Exalt exploded outward, making Samuel's men retreat.
Feeling the power from Emily, Samuel countered with his own Ein. "I can handle that woman. The two of you go after those idiots in the back."
Emily's face grew harsh. She could hold back Samuel while Frederick could last, but she worried about Oscar. He was smart and witty but not too good at fighting with his Grade Four Exolsia.
Oscar tapped Emily on the shoulder, turning her attention to him. "Do you trust me? I have a plan."
Emily stared for a moment and nodded her head. She slowly fell back at Oscar's lead.
Samuel and his men inched forward. Even though they had a slight advantage, it was still their first battle as Exalts. They felt the need to be cautious.
"Now!" Oscar jumped back into the ravine. Emily and Frederick were dumbfounded but jumped after him, getting to the bottom in no time. Oscar noticed Samuel and his men chasing after them. He turned to Emily and Frederick with his plan, "Split into the caves."
"Are you crazy?" Frederick outright rejected Oscar's gamble. "What if Samuel chases after you."
"Higher chance he goes after Emily. He won't risk losing one of his people by ordering a cruel command. He'll lose their loyalty." Oscar shouted in retort. They were running out of time. Ignoring Frederick's words, he rushed out towards one of the caverns.
"Shit!" Frederick and Emily had no choice but split up and go into different caves. In the end, they had to trust Oscar's plan.
"Good." Oscar sighed in relief, seeing his friends follow his plan. This way, each battle would be one-on-one, and being the first ones in the caverns meant they had the advantage of setting up an ambush.
Not to mention, Samuel would be further delayed in relaying orders to his men. Oscar thought about the chances of fighting them in the forest as a group. But without any information on how Samuel's group could coordinate their attacks, he could not risk it.
'This is the best way to handle this. I hope they don't try to smoke us out as we did on the Night Raptor.'
Oscar carefully navigated through the cave to find key spots to lay a trap or ambush.
At the same time, Samuel and his group arrived at the bottom of the ravine. He kicked the ground in frustration.
"Shit!"
Greg, one of Samuel's men, asked, "What should we do, Samuel? Should we group up and hunt one of them?"
"No, that would allow the others to escape and report us to the Blue Ocean Pavilion." Samuel did not want to leave anything to chance. His family would be shamed if he was kicked out or sent to the Abyss Prison. "I'll go after the girl since she's on the same level as me. The two of you split up and chase the other two." Samuel sprinted into the cave Emily escaped into.
Greg rushed to where Oscar retreated. He knew Oscar was only a Grade Four, so it was an easy kill for him. The person leftover looked at Greg expressionlessly as he followed after Frederick.
…….
The cavern was not too deep but had many winding corridors. Tiny water droplets fell from the ceiling, making the air damp and musky. Emily felt sticky as the humid air wrapped her like a towel.
ROAR
"Oscar was right." Emily turned back when she heard the tiger's roar. She stepped off behind several columns of stone, formed by years of erosion, and hid her presence.
Samuel exploded onto the area, breaking down several boulders until he reached a dead end. Behind him, his tiger perked up and pounced toward an orange figure. Emily had attempted a surprise attack, but the tiger intervened and swiped its powerful claws against her staff.
"You underestimate my tiger. It can protect me without needing my command." Samuel watched as his tiger forced Emily back. The two were a short distance from each other. Samuel released his yellow Ein and coordinated with his tiger in a duo attack. "Just give up. You're no match for me. It's two against one. I'll tear you to shreds."
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The orange-haired hunter did not shrink before the menacing pair. She spun her staff with Ein accumulated on its tips. Even if there were two enemies, her staff had enough reach to deter them.
The tiger was the first to come upon her. She guided her staff with the accumulated speed from spinning and the Ein on its tip to meet it. The beast's claws broke off, and she grunted with exertion, forcing the tiger to retreat.
"Huk." Samuel groaned in pain from his tiger's injuries. But, he pushed onward, seeing Emily had exposed her back.
But the staff was a versatile weapon, especially with the control of Ein. With a swift movement, Emily directed the staff toward Samuel.
Samuel felt the incredible power behind her staff. Undeterred, Samuel invoked his spell. His hands glowed brighter as the Ein in his arms extended out to form sharp fang-like shapes, like having two curved lances attached to his arms.
'Grade One Roaring Fangs'
Samuel brought the two fangs from opposite sides to bite down on the staff. Their two sharp ends caught the staff, stopping it in place.
Pain and shock covered Emily's face as she spurted out some blood. The 'Roaring Fangs' were very sharp and cracked her staff anima. Hastily, she tried to pull it to her side, but Samuel had gripped it tightly, not letting go.
"I'll break this damn staff!"
More cracks appeared, causing Emily to cough up some blood. But there was another threat behind her; the tiger had recovered at this point and pounced again. Sensing the impending danger, she bolted to Samuel.
'Are you so dumb to willingly come to my fangs?' Samuel sidestepped and used 'Roaring Fangs' on Emily. The two yellow fangs closed in on Emily.
Emily stomped her feet, and suddenly the ground underneath them shook as a wall of rock formed between her and Samuel. The rock wall was covered and hardened by her orange ein.
"Rock Barrier!"
Samuel's fangs dug into the rock but could not penetrate fully. Emily jumped over the wall and landed a heavy punch on his face.
She wanted to do more damage, but the tiger attacked the 'Rock Barrier' from the other side. Since it was already near crumbling from Samuel's spell, it fell easily from the tiger's blows.
With a swing of her hip, she hammered her freed staff down on the tiger. The tiger held its ground since the staff was not charged like before, but it was forced to defend itself.
Samuel stood up with a bruised cheek and bloody nose. He wiped the blood off and glanced at it fervently in his hand. He clenched his hand to the point it was swelling red.
"You bitch!" He roared.
Emily found the few moments of Samuel's anger delightful as her staff slowly recovered from the damage.
"Who says you're the only one with a spell?" She taunted.
Samuel and his tiger said nothing and continued attacking Emily. Samuel invoked his fangs but was halted by her rock barrier again.
It came to a one-on-one with the tiger again. Emily used her staff against the yellow tiger. Their Animas were evenly matched, causing equal damage to each other.
"Guk" Both Emily and Samuel huffed in pain. They continued to clash repeatedly—fangs against rock and tiger against staff.
Their battle became a stalemate as neither could gain an advantage over the other. The caverns shook from the torrent of their Eins clashing.
Over in the other cavern, Frederick was up against the third member of Samuel's group, Austin. Frederick and his hawk anima were currently poking at Austin but never fully committed because he was especially wary of the dagger anima Austin possessed. He felt one slash from that would end in bad news for his hawk.
"Your hawk is fast, but it doesn't have much offensive power," Austin said.
It was true. The hawk was better for scouting and speed. Frederick could crack Oscar's deer antlers because it was Grade Four and Oscar was not well-versed in his Anima.
Against Austin, the hawk was unable to break through his defenses. The hawk could only annoy him as long as Austin was not lax. Thus, it turned into a melee.
Blow after blow, Frederick was blocked by Austin's dagger or guard. He had to stop multiple times to prevent his fist from meeting the dagger.
'If only I had a weapon.' He cursed out in frustration that his family refused to let him take one. All in the name of making him independent.
Austin did not miss this moment when Frederick's mind was distracted. Swiftly, his dagger slashed through the air toward Frederick.
'Wind Step'
Frederick's feet moved fast to dodge as the wind blew under. Austin's dagger slightly nicked Frederick's sleeve despite the increase in speed.
Hiss
Frederick was shocked to see a part of his clothing had dissolved from where Austin's dagger had cut it. He stared warily at the dagger anima. Frederick tore off the part of his cut sleeve before the melting reached his skin. "A poison spell?"
Austin playfully tossed around his dagger. He did not say anything but charged at Frederick. The best time to strike was now while the enemy was afraid. His black dagger gleamed as it was wrapped in Austin's black ein.
Frederick escaped with his 'Wind Steps', but Austin was experienced and followed his direction. Frederick clung close to the walls as the dagger kept slashing at him, hitting the cavern walls.
'The places where the dagger cut is corroding.' He saw the stone around the inflicted area hiss as it slowly dissolved. "How nasty. You use a corrosive spell."
"Correct, it's the Grade One 'Acid Coat'." When Austin chose a spell, his eyes caught this one since it was best suited for him. He could coat his dagger in acid, increasing his offensive capabilities and deterring any incoming attacks with the threat.
Frederick's eyes narrowed as he coldly asked, "I assume you would be the one to dispose of our bodies?"
"Correct again. It would be quite an effort, but you would have dissolved into nothing little by little." Austin was expressionless as he spoke of such a horrifying action as a menial task.
Anger flooded Frederick's face red. He stopped dodging and took on a stance, intent on beating the hell out of Austin. Frederick loved to fool around and have fun, but this had reached his boiling point.
"Hmph." Austin snorted in a condescending tone. He continued his flurry of strikes.
Frederick dodged it multiple times and closed in. However, Austin was quick and put his dagger in the way to defend himself. Usually, Frederick would have retreated, but his left hand whipped something forward.
It was the sleeve he tore off earlier; the corrosion did not dissolve it completely. Frederick coiled the cloth around the dagger and pulled it to move it out of the way.
Austin hastily tried to slice and melt through the cloth to escape, but Frederick landed a powerful kick on his stomach.
"Urgh." Austin's dagger finally melted out of the sleeve wrap, allowing him freedom. He lurched back in pain and nearly vomited.
Now it was Frederick's turn to attack. He landed a good punch right on the bastard's nose. He could not continue since Austin recovered his stance and held his dagger firmly to block.
"That was your one shot. You don't have that many clothes." Austin was fuming inside with a bloody nose. His anger slowly cracked through his expressionless face.
"Shut up. I'll make sure to smash your face in thoroughly." Frederick declared.