"Damn it," Stewart cursed out as he slashed at the head of a bug Bestial. Its body was that of a giant white furred moth that had its long, razor-sharp whips instead of legs. An eye pattern appeared on its wings, and a smile appeared on its underbelly. If you look at it from below, you would see it as a deranged smiley face.
The Bestial quickly hovered away as it followed with several lashes from its whiplike legs. Seeing this, Stewart drew his blade back and jumped away. But behind him was a Bestial that looked like a white haired bear the size of a boulder, with spikes growing from its shoulder.
The bear Bestial slashed at Stewart's back, ready to dice him in half.
"Watch it," Lone said as he appeared next to the bear Bestial and smacked the blunt side of his spear onto the beast's head. The beast was launched a distance away, as Stewart landed safely on the ground.
"You dealt with your side already," Stewart said as he looked back at Lone. Lone was covered in scratches and had some small spikes poking from his back. Yet, he still stood tall with his spear in hand.
"Yeah, but it seems I had the easier ones," Lone said as he spun his spear in his hand, gazing at the bear. The bear in question was slowly standing up, rubbing its head with its paw. A red glare glowed between the gaps of its fingers.
Stewart looked at the bear, "Not really. They are all decent, though the hard one is that moth."
Lone turned around and looked at the flying moth, its six whips fluttering in the air as its massive wings kept beating. Its hollow black eyes looked at the two, but at which one neither knew.
"I can see why you're having troubles. Want to trade?" Lone said as he turned around and walked towards the moth Bestial.
"I would say yes, but are you sure you can handle that thing?" Stewart said as he turned around and walked towards the bear Bestial.
Lone just smiled, "You worrying about me, old man?"
"Old?! I am 26, you damn-" before Stewart could finish, the bear Bestial already descended upon him. Its massive paws moving to crush him to a pulp.
Stewart quickly dashed to the side of the beast and released a flurry of slashes at its legs. Cutting the beast a total of ten times, though the cuts were very shallow. The bear slammed its paws into the ground, then recovered and stood back up. It growled at Stewart as it prepared to lunge at him once again.
Seeing this, Stewart raised his hand and gripped it into a fist.
[Wound Burst]
Suddenly, the cuts on the bear's leg began to bubble and swell like a balloon. Seeing the bear Bestial quickly got on all fours and ran to stop him, having seen what this ability had done to its comrades firsthand. It could not allow him to activate these blood balloons.
"A bit early, but might as well make it count," Stewart muttered as he quickly spread his fingers apart. The blood bubbles popped as the fingers spread.
The bear Bestial roared in pain as it fell and slid across the ground. Before it could even get up, Stewart quickly dashed at in and slashed at its face. But not once nor twice, but a total of five times. These cuts were shallow as well. But each one aimed for a vital area. One on its right eye, one on its throat, one on its nose, one on its left ear, and finally one between its eyes.
[Wound Burst]
The cuts on the bear's face began to balloon again. The bear clawed at its face, trying to stop the rising blood balloon, but it only pushed the blood inside the bubble. It desperately clawed at the bubbles, but its massive, sharp paws could do nothing to it. Seeing this, the bear Bestial quickly got up and was prepared to slam both of its paws down onto Stewart.
"I think that was enough time," Stewart said, and seconds later, the wounds burst. Where bubbles once were at were now just hollow flesh craters. The bear Bestial stood there for only a fraction of a second before falling backwards and
That was his ability. Every cut he made on any living thing, he could activate his ability to make the blood from the wounds expand like a balloon and explode. It was hard to use at first, but after fighting these Bestials, he realized that his cuts didn't need to be deep. As long as it was a wound caused by him, he could use his ability to make a simple papercut into a grievous wound. The downside was that he had to activate it, or he couldn't use his ability on those wounds.
He didn't know the exact time until he couldn't use his ability, but once it was activated, he didn't need to worry about time. He could leave the bubble to swell, causing even greater damage.
Though he still couldn't use it well as Lone. As of now, he needed his hands to guide his ability. Which is why he clenches and unclenches his fingers.
"From Lone said, the longer I leave the bubble, the greater the damage," Stewart said as he glanced at his blade before staring at the bear Bestial, "I guess it is true."
Stewart stared at the bear Bestial for a moment before turning and rushing towards Lone. Though confident that Lone could handle the fight, he could still get hurt, and getting hurt far from the fort in the middle of a Bestial infested forest was not a good choice.
As he ran, he noticed something odd, their fight with the Bestials was loud and chaotic. Yet no other Bestial came to attack them. Which can be seen due to the number of them that they had killed, from the bodies he counted, there could be almost in the tens. Yet that is where another odd thing popped up.
These Bestials were not the same species. All Bestials were originally animals granted and blessed by the Arcana, allowing them to surpass their limits. When this happens, it affects all other animals near them, allowing them to gain Arcana as well. This is why some Bestials form packs or, if they are lucky, tribes. Yet, it is always done with the same species, no matter what.
So why were there bugs, birds, bears, and even snakes among the dead they killed? Usually, they hunt and kill one another for food or to absorb the others' Arcana into their body, never daring to mix with Bestials other than their own species.
"Maybe they just somehow adapted with one another," Stewart thought as he ran past a dead bird, Bestial, who had black feathers and stood like a humanoid. Yet close to that dead beast was a bug-like Bestial with many thin arms and legs, its brown carapace covering its body.
The two beasts were fighting them, that was for certain. But when he and Lone fought them, these two did not fight as though they were with one another for a long time. In fact, the bird Bestial swiped at the bug Bestial when it accidentally backed into it. In retaliation, the bug swatted at the bird's eye and even tore it off. Giving him the chance to slash the bird's throat and Lone to pierce the bug's body.
That wasn't a behavior that old comrades would have. Sure, during the heat of battle, Stewart and his comrades would yell and curse at one another, but that was all. Never striking or even trying to mortally wound one another. Even the hotshot recruits didn't dare act like this in battle.
"Maybe I'm overthinking this," Stewart thought. After all, he was trying to put human understanding into the actions of beasts who only move according to their instincts. Yet, after many hours of fighting with Lone and seeing how that kid acts and thinks during the heat of battle. Maybe he was rubbing off on him, but that nawwing feeling of danger still clung to his heart.
As he got closer to Lone, he could hear the sound of chirping and metal ringing. From the sound alone, he could tell that Lone was winning. That was a good sign, a very good sign.
His foot hit the hard dirt floor before he came to a full stop. Stewart had his eyes wide open as he gazed at Lone, who had managed to pierce his crude spear by smashing the sharp tip into the moth's skull.
But that wasn't what made his eyes go wide. No, far from it. A distance away from Lone stood a Bestial whose body resembled a bug. Its body was covered in a green carapace with black swirls. Its face was smooth with four mandibles and a swirl of white hair flowing from the back of its head. It had four arms: two bulky ones at its shoulders and two long, skinny ones along its ribs. Each arm had three sharp claws for fingers, with knife-like edges along its sides. It walked on two legs that seemed bulky yet very thin.
Right now, the Bestial had the head of something in its hand.
"Marius" Stewart muttered as he looked at the Bestial's hand. The head in the beast's hand was that of Sir Marius, the Wielder, who had accompanied them during the transportation and left them when things went bad.
Somehow hearing Stewart's words, the Bestial looked at him and spoke, "Ah, so you know this fool's name?"