B2 Chapter 183: Mistakes, pt. 5
byAs Kaius watched the gate to the cage slam open, and the infernus hound step free of its prison, he felt a familiar tingle start in his fingers. His breath quickened, vitalising his body with the sweet air of the training hall as he prepared himself to do battle.
His blade was in hand a moment later. There had been no conscious decision, he just had a need for it, and his body moved.
The infernus hound padded out onto the stone, moving cautiously. As if unsure of the fact it had really been released.
It was a moment of calm, one he would not waste.
Kaius ripped open his resource panel, assessing what he had available.
Resources:
Health – 2450/2450 (13.5/min)
Stamina – 2320/2320 (18.3/min)
Mana – 3170/3190 (21.5/min)
Free Mana – 70/70
Reserved Mana – 3120
A lot—he had a lot available. Thousands of each resource, and twenty-six casts of Stormlash. If they didn’t give Rieker a good showing, it would be fucking shameful.
Ignoring the ever watchful gaze of the guildmaster, standing off to the side with his arms crossed, Kaius assumed command.
“Ianmus. Alpha strike, try to take out one of its legs when you have an opening. Porkchop, with me. Keeping it away from Ianmus is your priority.” he snapped off orders, striding forwards with purpose.
His companions nodded. Mana streamed around Ianmus, moving far more vigorously than it ever had in the past. The mage’s third skill, it had to be.
At the upswell of magical energy, the infernus hound’s head snapped to them. Its hackles rose, and a gravelly call of anger resonated from deep within its chest. Orange glowed from within its throat, the previous thin streams of smoke replaced by gouting jets of flame as the beast readied itself to charge.
“Ready yourselves.” Kaius said softly, settling into his stance as he continued his advance. “It’s coming.”
The hound charged, a baying promise of violence on its lips.
….
Rieker watched the greenhorns with interest as they squared off against the pup he’d found in the outlands the night before.
It had been an interesting night. Ro, with all her usual energy and fire, had burst in—swearing so much that he’d thought they were under attack.
Nope, she’d just found a once in a century genius, and some wayward greater beast, who’d somehow done the impossible.
At first he’d brushed her off. Afterall, he’d seen many so called ‘geniuses’ – all of them had fallen beneath his hammer in the end.
Then she’d told him that they’d killed a level eighty, while they were in their twenties. That had caught his attention. That was definitely not something you saw every day. Or at all. Ever, really.
At the very least, he could see why they pushed so hard.
That leader of theirs especially—Kaius—he had the hunger. Beyond a drive or a want, he needed strength. Oozed that desperate clawing grasp as he latched on to everything that would bring him another step towards the peak.
The greater beast too, though that was much less of a surprise. No doubt the meles had a full legacy, and he must have shared at least some of his knowledge with the boy. Almost certainly an interesting story.
Not that he cared. It wouldn’t be long before whatever brought them here was ancient history.
He cared if they had what it took to reach Adamant.
Leaning against the wall, he watched Kaius bark out his commands. Decent awareness. Decisive. Simple, but effective.
The boy raced forwards, the meles at his side as they charged towards the pup.
Judging by the way the infernus hound’s chest was swelling, they were about to get a face full of fire. How would they deal with that?
Right on cue an enormous gout of orange flames burst from the hound’s throat, a searing wave that barrelled directly towards the racing pair.
Rieker watched with interest as Porkchop plunged his claws into the ground. A wall of jade erupted a moment later, blocking the attack. Flames hit its surface, gouting upwards and to the sides as it was diverted.
With unspoken, and flawless, communication he watched the boy race forwards, hidden in the shadow of the wall as it rocketed towards the source of the flames. Right as it was about to slam into the hound, it noticed the walls approach and cut off its flames with a yelping snap of its jaws—leaping to the side to avoid being sent sprawling.
Had the boy learned beast-speak? Another oddity.
Whatever the reason for their coordination, it seemed to him that the hound’s desperate dodge was exactly the moment that Kaius had been waiting for. The boy dived free of the shadow of the jade and…dropped his offhand from his blade?
Perhaps he would get to see what this whole ‘spellsword’ thing was about. As cute as the boy’s Mask had been, it didn’t stand a chance against the likes of him—something Ro was already hard at work finding a way to correct.
After all, he wasn’t about to waste his hard work and investment on these kids if the passing curiosity of a powerhouse was enough to see them vanish into some dark cell.
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Violent orange sprayed from the boy’s hand in a shower of glittering sparks, halting Rieker’s thoughts dead in their tracks. Narrowing his eyes in interest, he watched as an impossibly dense bolt of storm and lightning mana condensed in Kaius’s hand.
Shock jolted down his back at the spell, raising the hair on the back of his neck.
No channeling, no nothing.
With a fiery light in his eyes, Rieker watched the boy bind the beast—shuddering reverberations and electrical potency frying the hound from the inside out.
Stunned with minor convulsions and pain, the hound froze.




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