After running down the street for several minutes to gain pace with the Volnnic, the son and Lavinia agreed to lead it down the upcoming alleyway.
Slowing down from exhaustion, everyone's pace greatly reduced. The Volnnic was no longer capable of gaining speed, only losing it. The son, Fatigued, pushed himself to match the pace of the Beast instead of trying to catch up to it. Only half a dozen meters away from it now. And I followed behind as best I could, trying not to lose sight of the two. Unlike the useless Substitute.
Seriously, why did they choose him of all people?!
With a reverberating sonic wave in front of the Volnnic, the son successfully led it down the alley, heading North, right to Lavinia.
Hot on its tail, the son dashed in, right behind, out of my sight.
Lagging by a few seconds, I ran into the alley after them. The Substitute nowhere to be seen, not even close enough for my array.
Skiting to a halt stood the son in front of me, with Lavinia on the opposite side of the alley. In between them was the Volnnic.
Finally, this damn race can come to an end!
With laboured growls, the Beast's body visibly moved up and down, its breaths heavy. In a show of defence, ten-centimetre-long claws retracted from its paws. Its fangs extending as well.
At least most of its abilities with the Wind Attribute are for running; it shouldn't pose much of a threat when fighting. Plus, it has already expended most of its stamina.
Without waiting for the Beast to attack first, Lavinia released a ball of light into the air. When reaching the height of its arc, it exploded in a show of light. Blinding everyone nearby.
"Damn! Maybe a warning next time?!" I yelled out, blocking my eyes from the newborn sun.
Not wanting to miss the fight, I squinted my eyes and blocked out the light with my hands above my head.
The son, seemingly not distracted by not being able to see, attacked the Beast in place of Lavinia with his eyes closed.
In a directionally concentrated high-pitched blast, the son assaulted the Beast. Causing its ears to bleed.
Oh! I get it. They're removing its two most important senses that it has adapted in order to survive… hearing and sight.
When the angel went to grab the Volnnic, despite not being able to hear or see, it could sense her fluctuating essence behind it.
Jumping to avoid her, it leaped towards the son, bearing its claws. He seemed to have heard it as he stepped out of its way. Allowing its path on a collision course with a new target… me.
Too slow to move out of the way of its razor-sharp claws, I sluggishly threw my arms up in defence, instinctively coating them with as much essence as I could to protect my forearms.
Providing a small amount of resistance, the sharp claws of the beast easily tore through my weak protective layer of Mind essence, cutting down to the bone.
Howling in pain, I clutched my shredded arm, falling onto my back.
The Beast used this opportunity to run past me, out of the alley and into the open street.
Before it could run away free, the Substitute—what was his name again? Appeared from behind the corner, grabbing onto the Beast. Surprised at his sudden emergence, the Beast helplessly fell into his hands.
How did the Beast not sense his approach?
With a quick reaction, much quicker than I would have, the Substitute Condensed a ball of ice around the Beast, too thick for it to slash through. Once it was securely confined, he transformed the ice ball into a barred cage to prevent suffocation.
Holding onto the cage tight, he looked at me sternly. "Kuno, put it to sleep."
Still clutching onto my bleeding arm, I wailed out as many words as I could, "Can't… need to recover… first."
His voice turned dark, his weak Aura suddenly becoming chillingly strong. "If we give you a potion, it will sap you of your remaining essence. Put. It. To. Sleep!"
To injured… and quite frankly scared, I complied. Doing what I could to ignore the pain.
The Volnnic's mental fortitude was strong. Lulling it to sleep was a massive strain on my brain and my essence. By the time it succumbed, most of my essence was gone. My Fatigue came as a wicked headache.
With a wave of vertigo, the persistent throbbing in my head felt like it was going to explode from inside out. Moving in any way brought me closer to throwing up, and thoughts came as scattered blurbs.
Laying on the floor, I was bleeding out, and brain damaged.
Through blurry vision, a man knelt over me. Whether slowly or in slow motion, I wasn't sure. Supporting my head, he brought a cold bottle to my lips.
After chugging the cold, sweet liquid inside, a second wave of pain hit me. Not because of my injury, but because my essence was exhausted even more.
My shredded arm managed to heal to an itchy scab, but my throbbing head only became worse.
My mind, no longer able to withstand the mental strain, I passed out from exhaustion.
…
Rin
Back at the estate, Leo, Lavinia and I slowly walked up to Lord Elgin, Sir Chiron, and Lady Phia.
Leo was carrying the unconscious Kuno, and I was holding onto a cage of ice with a rabid Beast inside. Turns out Kuno's ability to lull something to sleep is as pathetic as his array's range.
With constant scratching at the bars, I continuously condensed more essence to keep them from shattering. The cage threatened to leave my hand from the constant battering of the Volnnic. Keeping it stable by creating a handle for more support.
As we made our way up the front steps of the estate, the look on all three of their faces in grim disappointment I hadn't seen before.
It especially hurt seeing it coming from Lady Phia. Her having been kind to me during my stay here.
If there's one way to put this training… disastrous. In terms of this being a test… we no doubt failed.
Reaching the top of the stairs, I handed over the cage to Lord Elgin. Who then proceeded to melt the cage with a wave of super-charged heat, along with the Beast inside. It didn't even have the chance to scream before smoldering away.
Leo walked up to Sir Chiron, placing Kuno on the ground in front of him. Before saying anything, Sir Chiron bent down and healed his injured arm. Leaving nothing but reddened skin.
Lord Elgin's eyes were stern, twitching with anger. His face contorted with repressed rage. "Do I… even need to explain! What went wrong?!"
The three of us were silent.
"Running through residents' yards. Commotion in the streets. Destruction of property, including some highly expensive wares. Ruckus in a Kingdomreporting association." He added with much emphasis. "Jumping from rooftops… f-flipping a carriage! What sort of clowning antics even leads to such occurrences?!"
Pinching the bridge of his nose, with a loud sigh, Lady Phia brought her arm behind his back. Calmly rubbing the stress away.
I eyed Lord Elgin forgivingly.
Leo was looking at the wall between him and Lady Phia.
And Lavinia was the most disappointed of us all. Looking down at her feet.
The three of us stayed silent some more.
Until the fourth woke up in a jolt. His mind dazed, and eyes crossed, unfocussed. I'm sure he had no idea where he was. Looking like any common drunk I used to see back in the streets of the Lower District.
And to fill the silence, in an uncontained reaction, only a bretch would have. Was an obnoxious, howling, unrestrained laughter. Lasting endlessly long.
Between laughs, he managed to get out four words. "You guys are fun!"
…He's completely lost it…