Caius staggered to his feet, sweat clinging onto his forehead…his mana was depleting fast, he knew once he reached a certain threshold, the Enchantment Rune sealing the Elderwood soul would break.
He glanced at Merlin who had a smirk on her face. 'Damn, fire magic doesn't work on her, she can cut it with ease. I can't beat her in close combat, I'm screwed.' He thought as he assessed his current predicament.
His eyes shifted to Kraven and he sweatdropped, throughout all that, the lazy ass dragon had not only managed to sneak away but he was still sleeping like a baby.
"Way to go manifestation of my mana my ass." He seethed.
Caius hated to admit it, but he was running out of options; he could only use Destabilization Magic once more before he completely tapped his reserves.
And he also knew that low level spells would not work on Merlin.
Merlin settled into a relaxed posture as she looked at Caius. "Ready to give up? Your death shall come swiftly."
Caius chuckled. "I didn't take you for a comedian as well…but i am not dying here." his proudful outlook was a facade, that he knew wholeheartedly but he was not about to give her the satisfaction of seeing him in his weakened state.
"Well then!" Merlin vanished from where she was and appeared before Caius.
Her foot swiped the legs of Caius causing him to stumble and fall on his back, before he could raise his head, a tip of the sword she held stopped him.
Merlin's eyes looked into Caius' and she withdrew her weapon before turning to the king.
"Your majesty, he has passed the trial." She declared as she sheathed her weapon.
Carla's face exploded into a smile and she jumped up in joy much to the surprise of her father.
Her savior was not a detriment to her people.
The king nodded. "Well young man, you sure are a unique human reminds me of that Asterion fella!"
Caius sat up and looked at the king. The praise and likeness to his master made his chest swell with pride. "Thank you, your majesty."
After the match with Merlin, Caius was guided to his quarters by the servants as per the king's command—he was shown around the section where he was supposed to be in and the hotsprings for bathing.
At the moment, he was in a peculiar predicament.
Caius looked at the dragon as he held it by the tail, a scowl present on his face. "Furball, every time I get in a dangerous situation you sleep your ass off, I should really kill you."
Kraven faked tears and yelped. I know you can handle it, let me go, besides who handled the thugs!
Kraven had a point, he was the one who handled the bandits when he rescued Carla from them.
"Fine, you got lucky." He threw Kraven on the bed and got up.
He left the room he was assigned to and made his way to the hotsprings, his skin was covered in dirt, grime and sweat. He needed some quality bathing.
He walked into the hotsprings and his eye widened—the room was covered in gold tiles making the room glow, several arcs connected at the ceiling where a golden chandelier hung above and in the center, was a combat, Almost ceramic looking stone with hot waters rushing from the makeshift fountain at the center
Caius smiled and stripped off his clothing, he stepped into the water and submerged hinself, a satisfactory sigh escaping his lips. The cities he visited beforehand all were in a state of poverty, and their baths were only cold water—it felt nice to bathe in hot water, made washing off the sweat and grime be relatively easier.
'After I get the Elderwood soul under control what am I supposed to do? I don't know where the homeland of Kraven is, and I still need to talk with Eirene regarding everything that had happened.'
'This is a pain in the ass.'
He was so engrossed in his own thoughts he didn't even hear the water shift as another person occupied the hotspring alongside him.
"What's on your mind Caius?"
'Huh someone's in here?' Caius thought as he heard a voice call his name. He opened his eye and looked directly into big, wide eyes he knew very well.
He inched back. "Carla! Why are you here?" He asked, his face flushed.
Carla smirked at his reaction and submerged into the water until only her neck and face were visible. "I thought I should come take a bath, after all that's happened, I felt dirty so I wanted to clean myself. I Never really got to thank you properly."
Caius just sheepishly chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Don't worry, I'm sure anyone in my position would've done the same."
"But they would've not."
Caius went quiet a bit after the response—he stared at the downtrodden face of the girl and internally he grimaced. Humans and other races did not see eye-to-eye, made sense as to why she'd say that, humans would rather watch her die than save her.
"In any case. I wanted to talk with the king about something."
Carat's eyes met Caius. "Father? For what purpose."
"Carla." Caius spoke to the girl. "Do you know anything about an Elderwood beast will?"
Carla nodded, as a princess, one of the many topics she had to learn was the beast will…Wills within magical beasts that spawn with tremendous power. "Yes, why do you ask?"
"Because I was cursed with one." His response came swiftly.
Caius stood in front of the elf king and a man with a grey goatee, white hair and blue eyes; besides the man was Merlin with her firm, no nonsense face on.
He felt nervous to even begin.
"Young Caius allow me to extend my gratitude in saving my daughter, as a father I don't know what I would've done if she got harmed." The elf king said slightly bowing his head.
"No need to bow to me your majesty." He said as he waved his hand. "In truth, I came here because Asterion sent me, he said I should look for someone named Gerard, he can help me control the beast will, within me."
The king, Merlin and the old man shared a knowing look between the three of them. The boy was cursed with a beast will?
The old man stepped forward. "I am Gerard, I see that goofball has found himself a pupil, a very powerful one." Gerard chuckled a bit. "I am certain you know there are different types of beast souls correct? What type is yours?
Caius looked Gerard dead in the eye. "Mine? I was cursed by an Elderwood Mana core and I came to tame the beast within."