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“That’s not possible,” Siv baulked

“You know of this skill?” Erin asked.

“All Beast-kin do,” she said. “It’s an Innate Skill once inherent to the Rakars but somewhere down the bloodline, that skill was lost. We don’t know why. Not a single Rakar has it until now…”

“I don’t dispute that but… I can feel the divinity emanating from it just from the word alone.”

“What does that skill do?” Lyra asked.

“It draws power from the first generation of our kind when we were still nothing but feral wild beasts,” Siv answered. “It greatly enhances the stats but we will lose almost all of our sense of reasoning.”

Lyra gulped upon hearing Siv’s explanation. “And what level is he?”

“Thirty-seven,” Erin answered. “And he has Fire Magic at level seven and Spatial Magic at level two. That’s concerning.”

“Well, bollocks. We’re no match for that thing at all. Erin, this honour is all yours, I suppose?”

“Watch out!” Siv screamed and dove out of the way, taking Lyra along with her.

Erin swiftly stepped to the side on her toes and avoided the Aura Shot from the Ox-kin.

“T-thank you…” Lyra said as she was gathering the breaths that she had dispelled from the brief fright she had.

“Is my presence paltry?” the Ox-kin huffed with a deep voice, befitting his stature. He even shook the earth slightly whenever he took a step. “What an odd gathering of a party this is. A human, a Beast-kin, and a Fae working together. I must have been remiss with the current state of the world.”

“Considering you only come out after your companions are dead, I say you have indeed been remiss,” Lyra mocked.

“Lyra, what are you doing?” Siv questioned.

“Insolent human!” the Ox-kin hissed. “It would appear you know nothing of honour.”

“If that means leaving my companion to die without helping, I guess you’re right, I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

The Ox-kin chuckled with a sneer. “To be able to kill the ones who killed my fellow Apostles, I would say it’s an honour but… that would be lying. There’s no honour in vengeance but I sure can find peace and pleasure in it. Now, die!”

The Ox-kin instantly disappeared and reappeared in front of them with its labrys raised. Siv and Lyra gasped but Erin brandished her sword without a hint of faltering in her stance. She twirled her sabre in the motion of gentle waves, parrying the Ox-kin’s blow without causing much collateral to anything at all.

“Warp,” Erin muttered. “A handy spell.”

“Perfect for hunting a wretched and devious Fae like you.”

“I fought them fair and square,” Erin said with her eyes locked with the Ox-kin’s. “If anything, they were the ones who employed underhanded tactics.”

“As they should. Otherwise, it would have been over for them before the fight even started.”

“Take it as you will. I killed them because they are a threat. I take no pleasure in killing but I will kill if I have to. I’ll kill a thousand more of your fellow Apostles if I have to.”

“Spoken like an Outworlder, indeed,” the Ox-kin scoffed and swung his labrys in a wide arc.

Erin flipped into the air and while she was upside down, she shot a Lightning Bolt into the Ox-kin’s face. The spell hit its mark and the Ox-kin stumbled back but it didn’t even graze him. Erin lunged immediately after her feet touched the ground. She thrust but the Ox-kin easily parried her strike. She repented with a roundhouse slash that almost caught the Ox-kin’s elongated face. The Ox-kin slashed upwards but Erin took only a single step back and the slashed missed her entirely. She was only hit by the faint gust the powerful slash brought with it.

“Such impertinence,” the Ox-kin snarled and thrust out his arm, trying to grab Erin but she fended his hand off with an Aura Shot of her own. “Argh!!” he cried as he retracted his arm.

“Siv, Lyra, I won’t insist but I will very much appreciate your aid,” Erin said without glancing away from her opponent.

Lyra grinned. “No need to tell me twice.”

“Your trust, I will not break it, mistress.”

“Jump,” Erin muttered and hopped into the air. Siv and Lyra followed without any hesitation. As they jumped, the Ox-kin blinked right in front of them and swung his labrys that managed to carve the ground with the aftershock.

While in the air, Lyra fired three arrows in quick succession but the Ox-kin caught two of the arrows with his free hand and dodged the last arrow.

“He even knew which one was laced with the acid?” Lyra blurted her disbelief as they landed on the ruined ground.

“Witness the true strength of a true Apostle!” the Ox-kin boasted in a loud voice and summoned a giant ball of flames into his palm that was thrice his size.

Erin threw an Aura Shot to disrupt the conjuration but the Ox-kin roared at the magic projectile thrown by Erin, destroying it with just his voice. Erin clicked her tongue and charged at the Ox-kin instead. Siv followed closely behind with her swords fused and readied into a double-bladed spear. The Ox-kin guffawed and threw the fireball at Lyra before quickly shifting his focus to Siv and Erin.

Of course, Erin did not leave Lyra alone without any means of protection. Shields of magic manifested around Lyra as the fireball crashed into her. A large explosion ensued and swallowed Lyra and the shields. However, Erin had not a tinge of worry on her face as she slashed at the Ox-kin’s leg. Siv followed her mistress’ example and slashed at the other leg.

The Ox-kin groaned as he struggled to dodge their slashes but he could only avoid one. He chose to dodge Erin’s as he deemed to be the greater threat and sacrifice his left leg to Siv’s double-bladed spear. Siv’s slash only cut into his flesh and he smirked complacently at his apparent right choice. However, Erin didn't give up just because she missed her swing. She spun around and sent her tails at him. She cast Arcane Edge over Iron Fang under Mystic Tail Arts and stabbed into the Ox-kin’s leg while he was still being smug about Siv’s meek slash.

The Ox-kin howled in agony and flailed his labrys around. His momentary loss of focus allowed Lyra to shoot an arrow, laced with the acid, at his shoulder. For that fleeting moment. he widened his eyes at Lyra who was completely unscathed by the explosion. The arrow bounced his tough hide but the acid ate right through it. The Ox-kin screamed some more and began lashing his labrys wildly without a shred of prudence.

“Fuck all of you!” the Ox-kin shouted and spewed flames from the palm of his hand. He let the flames run wild around him, anything to keep Erin and Lyra away from inflicting more wounds on him. Although, his outrage ended up consuming him as well as the flames spread without discrimination.

Erin grabbed Siv by the collar and leapt away to safety before the flames could sweep them into the Ox-kin’s outrage.

“Lyra, you’re unharmed,” Siv muttered in surprise.

“Of course, I am. Erin would never imperil my well being, right?”

“That goes without saying…” Erin answered with her voice trailing off.

Lyra’s face slackened in shock. “You didn’t think I was going to survive?”

“I know you will definitely be fine but I wasn’t sure you will be completely unscathed. I didn’t think I had reached that level in my Magic Arts.”

“Thank the Spirits you did.”

“Heathens!!!”

The Ox-kin’s bellow of fury interrupted their moment and they turned their attention to him.

“He’s tenacious,” Siv remarked. “Mistress, will you be able to use Mystic Blade?”

“I prefer not to, Siv. I can’t keep relying on something so unreliable. Besides, we’re not in some immediate peril. He’s around my level. He makes for a good sparring partner.”

“You are truly inconceivable, mistress.”

“Sparring… is that what you’re seeing this as?” Lyra questioned.

“It’s a chance for growth.”

Lyra sighed. “I can’t argue with that. Let’s do this then,” she said and nocked an arrow. “Um… a problem here.”

“What is it?”

“I’m down to my last four arrows.”

“Then make it count. Siv, would you care to join me?”

“Of course, mistress.”

The Ox-kin bellowed once more and this time, the flames were eradicated by the might of his voice. “Enough of your tricks, heathens!”

“Oh, shut up, you roasted beef,” Lyra spat. “You’re the one who cooked yourself in the midst of your blind rage.”

The Ox-kin grimaced and disappeared from their sights.

“Siv!”

“Understood, mistress.”

In unison, they lunged towards Lyra’s way with their weapons at the ready. True to their forethought, the Ox-kin reappeared in front of Lyra with its labrys raised. Before he could swing his axe down, Erin streaked in between them with Lightning Rush and Fleet Foot. The Ox-kin snorted in displeasure but he swung his axe down regardless of Erin’s timely intervention. With lightning coated around Arcane Edge, she parried his blow and riposted with a jab of her sword. As her sword was a sabre, her jab wasn’t too effective but her swordsmanship alone compensated for her sword’s inflexibility. It cut deeply across the Ox-kin’s right arm.

“You wield the sword better than Arcane Arts for a Fae,” the Ox-kin ridiculed as he hopped out of Erin’s blade reach. “An aberrant nature befitting of an Outworlder.”

“My mistress is pleased to hear that,” Siv said from behind him.

The Ox-kin stuttered and turned around with his labrys swinging. Siv dodged low and struck at his belly but he spun to the side and countered with a diagonal slash. Siv twisted her body out of the way and flipped into the air, aiming her next strike at his face. As the Ox-kin moved its labrys to guard Siv’s attack, Erin plunged herself to his flank. The Ox-kin tutted and shifted his guard to block Erin’s blow. Siv’s strike slid off an invisible rippling barrier before her blade even touched his skin.

“What an irritating skill,” Siv muttered as she retreated from her assault.

“Distortion Barrier?” Erin blurted out the Appraisal’s result while locking blades with the Ox-kin.

“So, you have Appraisal,” he snorted. “The longer I am acquainted with you, the more I see you for the truly awful person you are.”

“Why? Because I can see through all your secrets?” Erin laughed. “Ashamed of them, are we?”

“Silence!” he shouted and pulled his labrys out of the blade-lock. His body glowed in red and he unleashed a flurry of attacks on Erin.

Erin moved like the gentleness and pliancy of a breeze over the Ox-kin’s blows. If she couldn’t dodge a blow, she staved him off with a quick cast of Lightning Bolt to his face. She waded through all of his blows and slashed across his waist. A streak of blood trailed on the ground after her swing.

The Ox-kin cried in pain and anger. “How!!??” he screamed.

Erin grinned as she glimpsed at him over her shoulder. “It’s always the same with you people. You’re nothing without your levels and the System though I will praise your tenacity. Take pride in that.”

“Fucking wench of a Fae! You dare insult an Apostle!?”

“I’m an Apostle too, roast beef.”

Before he could retaliate and disappear from her view, Siv came forward and unleashed her flurry of attacks on him before he could use Warp. Although Warp had a rapid conjuration process, it still had a conjuration process. It took time, even if it’s only a second and a single second was enough for Siv to close their distance. With his accumulating injuries, the Ox-kin began to have trouble fending off even Siv’s attacks. Adding on to his bubbling predicament, Lyra interfered with two arrows fired at his eyes. He was forced to deal with the arrows directly but that opened him to Siv’s assault. His left eye ended up being gashed by Siv’s spear. The Ox-kin bit down on his agony and returned the favour to Siv but Erin swooped in and sliced at his arm. His Distortion Barrier held Erin’s slash off but only for a few seconds as the spells layered upon one another on her blade successfully cut through his Spatial Magic.

“Craven!!” the Ox-kin shouted into the air and a loud screech echoed in response. He swung his labrys in a circle out of desperation to create some distance between him and the three women who were becoming his bane. He bent his legs, lowering posture, before launching himself straight into the air with a single jump.

[Experience gained +10% - Level Progression: 75%]

“Oh, splendid.”

The Storm Mamba from before soared to the Ox-kin’s aid and let him land on its back before flying off higher into the sky.

“That fucking coward!” Lyra cursed. “He’s escaping. Are we going to chase him down?”

“Of course,” Erin answered. “An opportunity to nip a problem before it can bloom? I’ll oblige.”

“But how are we going to chase him?”

Siv simpered the moment she saw the faint larking smile on her mistress’ face.

Erin chuckled and pulled Lyra and Siv into her arms. “Brace yourselves,” she said and leapt into the sky like a graceful spring. Instead of a snake, a Dragon flew under them and they landed on the back of Olivia.

“Lady Erynthea, are you unharmed?” Olivia immediately asked.

“She’s fine and so am I and Siv. Thanks for asking,” Lyra answered in a vexed tone.

“Olivia, don’t let those two escape,” Erin said solemnly.

“As you wish, milady.” And Olivia flapped her wings like the roar of storms, thrusting through the air as they gave chase to their prey.

Erinthea - Faerie-kin: Five-Tailed Fox-kin

Level: 36 | Status Affliction: Mild Exhaustion

Might: 22 | Arcane: 44 | Finesse: 39

Magic Arts

Spirit Magic Lv. 10 | Arcane Edge Lv. 6 | Arcane Armor Lv. 10 | Lightning Magic Lv. 10 | Arcane Aegis Lv. 7 | Mystic Tail Arts Lv. 3

Combat Arts

Sword Art Lv. 8 | Fleet Foot Lv. 5 | Brawler Lv. 5

Innate Skills

Appraisal Lv. Ex | Night Vision Lv. Ex | Sixth Sense Lv. Ex | Toxin Resistance Lv. 7 | Lust Deviant Lv. Ex | Mana Harvest Lv. 1 | Lightning Resistance Lv. 1 | Darkness Resistance Lv. 1

Unique Talent

Mystic Blade Lv. Ex | Revenant Lv. Ex

Level Progression: 75%

Remaining Skill Points: 4

Remaining Ability Points: 4