"What's he doing?" I heard Callias whisper, but with my blood magic, I had enhanced hearing. "Is he scared? I knew he was a baby this whole time."
"Shut up." Samantha told him. "He's probably just planning his attack."
"No, he's scared." I opened my eyes and faced him. Callias was holding a hand over his mouth, holding in a laugh. "Shit." He stood behind Samantha, and I shook my head, and shot myself out of the tunnel.
The blood followed me, and I flew up into the sky, overlooking the horde. In the middle was the AA Class Beast I sensed, but didn't tell them, because I knew Victoria wouldn't allow me to fight alone if there was a powerful beast within the horde.
I created an illusion of myself on the floor of the cavern, and the beast all turned to it. They started to growl and howl as they ran at it, and I started to form a large blood spear. I aimed it directly at the mutant, it didn't matter what type of beast it was. I launched the ten foot blood spear, it might have been a bit overkill, but it didn't matter.
The spear pierced the beast, killing it instantly, then all the Snarlers looked up, and searched for me. The ones close to my illusion quickly figured out it was fake, and then I released my bloodlust and my aura.
I stopped using illusion magic, revealing myself to the Snarlers, they all started to huff and puff even more. I felt my smile grow, as they tried to chuck rocks up at me, but couldn't reach me. I was gliding just above the center of them all, and I got ready to strike.
I felt for the mana inside of the ground underneath the Snarlers, and conjured ice swords, impaling them, killing over fifty of them, then I landed on the ground causing a small explosion that sent the Snarlers nearby flying away from me.
I shot the blood surrounding me in all directions, like an extension of myself, it cut down the twenty closest Snarlers to me, and I swung my blood sword and the head of a Snarler ended up on the ground.
I stood there, surrounded by the four hundred and so Snarlers left, and they all just watched me in awe as the blood I was controlling came back to me. It moved around my body just like it was water, doing anything I wanted, being able to do anything I wanted.
Five Snarlers departed from the crowd and ran at me, before they could even get within ten feet of me, a blade of blood cut them down. I removed their blood and added it into the flow I already had going.
I reached out my left hand, and the blood behind me shot out and gripped the throat of the Snarler I was looking at. I then pulled it to me, and as I did, I swung my sword and killed it. The Snarlers attempted to push past the pressure I was releasing but had trouble moving at their normal speeds.
The horde started to pounce on me, but using my magic, no one could get close to me, I pushed and pulled, ripping out their blood. I also used my "Blood Rain" spell, and had my blood needles rain down on them, killing them in wholes.
I sidestepped a strike, and then swung my blood sword, and it wrapped itself around the Snarler. I pulled the blade, and the blood ripped through the skin of the Snarler with ease. I spun and dodged another attack, and conjured an ice sword out of the ground, it went straight into the bottom jaw of the Snarler.
I slammed my blood sword into the ground, and this caused the blade to liquify, and spread all over the ground. The Snarlers ran over the blood not realizing they sealed their fates, the blood on the ground gripped their legs, and broke them with ease, and when they fell to the ground, I formed the blood into little spears, so they would die.
I rebuilt the sword, and as I did, I jumped into the air using wind magic, and flew over the beasts. My blood rain slicing through them with ease, as I dealt with the other ones. I landed on the ground swinging my sword at the closest Snarler. It was unable to dodge, and my blade cut it in half.
I pushed my hand out and forced the blood out of the Snarler heading my way. A claw came down on me, and my sword wrapped itself around the arm of the beast, then broke its arm. I conjured an ice sword into its chest and turned to the next one.
There were already only three hundred left, I sidestepped an attack, and turned away from the Snarler as I made it gargle on its own blood. I slid my sword into the chest of another, and then shot blood out of the tip of the blade, killing a different Snarler heading my way.
"Come on!" I shouted at the beasts. "Make this interesting for me, please!" I swung my blade, making it extend into the throat of a Snarler, and then spun, and watched as the blade cut through any in range beast.
A Snarler threw a rock at me, and as it got close to me, I formed a wind wall, sending the rock into the air. I pulled my sword back and shot myself at the beast standing in front me. I could see its eyes go wide, as I appeared before him, not realizing I was that fast. My blade entered the skull of the Snarler, and I ducked under a claw heading for the back of my head, and that claw hit the Snarler with my sword in it.
"Ha." I laughed as my sword liquified and then reformed in my hand. I stopped the "Blood Rain" spell, because I wanted to deal with the rest by myself, with just my blood sword and close up blood magic.
I dodged an attack, then dodged another, and both the beasts who attacked me ended up with a sword in their throats as my blood sword acted like a snake of some sort. This was the most fun I've had since slaughtering the Alacryans.
"Grrrrrrr." A Snarler looked at me and growled.
I tilted my head at the beast, and it exploded into little chucks. "Ha." I laughed as the blood splattered my face. I rolled out of the way of a claw, stood up and swung my blood sword, it cut the beast down.
I waved my left hand and multiple ice swords grew out of the ground, impaling beast left and right. I beheaded another, and then slid my sword into one's chest, then shot two water scythes at two more.
"Wait!" I exclaimed to the beast, releasing more of my intent to kill and aura, causing them to freeze. "Alright." Blood spears grew out of the ground killing over half of the ones left, there wasn't a Snarler alive within thirty feet of me now, the blood I controlled was a monstrous amount.
"Ahhh." I heard Callias scream as he came running in, killing a Snarler, then water and earth spells were shot over my head, and at a small portion of the remaining beast. Callias killed another, then ran up to me as I pulled my intent and aura back, so he didn't feel the effects of it. "Nice work, kid."
"Thanks, Cal." I replied as I impaled a Snarler running at us with a large ice lance that shot out of the ground and into its chest. "I could have ended this without you guys, you know."
"Where's the fun in that?" Callias chuckled. "I wanted to get my hands a little dirty in this final fight." Callias's sword was burning with fire, and I nodded my head even though I was having a blast by myself. "Anyways, it's not like you need the practice like the rest of us." He sent me a smile, then turned to the approaching Snarlers.
There were a hundred left, this was going to be over quick, feeling like I didn't have a choice now. I formed arrows with the blood I collected from the hundreds of Snarlers we killed, well I killed.
"Then there's now point in just using up close magic." I told them as I swung my sword and it extended into the shoulder blade of a Snarler, then I ripped the blood out of it. I pointed my hand at the horde, and the blood arrows went flying, ripping through them with ease. Their corpses fell one after another, and I watched as Callias killed a Snarler, then looked up at the arrows in amazement.
"Damn." He said quietly, then went back to work.
This was over, I aimed ten blood arrows at the remaining Snarlers, and let them loose, killing the rest of them. I released the control I had over all the blood in the sky and watched as it fell to the ground. I had the sword made out of blood liquify and enter into a little tube I had Lance Aya get me. It made it so I could use the blood sword technique whenever I wanted, and didn't need to find new blood each time, of course this blood in the tube was Snarler blood.
"Looks like we are done here." Victoria said as Samantha and her walked up to us. "Veer, you okay?"
"Yeah, I didn't get touched." I told her, as I sensed for any more life forms, but there weren't any, only the four of us in here. I released "Blood Oath" and started to speak. "I don't care about the cores, let's just go, unless you guys want them."
"You killed them, so their yours, but if you don't want them, and just want to leave, I'm with you." Callias looked down at the ground. "I want to leave this place." He turned to me. "You don't sense anything else, right? I don't see another tunnel or anything."
"Yeah, this was it." I started to walk back to the exit and towards our teleportation gate. "I'll probably head back to the castle."
"Again?" Samantha said as she ran up to me. "You were just there the other week; can't you stay with us?"
"My parents are gonna want to see me, and we are finished here, so we have to wait to get reassigned anyways." I still had my cloak on, I was going to have to clean it, there was so much blood on it. "I'll join you guys again as soon as we know where we are going."
"Let the kid go." Callias laughed. "He wants to see his mommy and daddy." He nudged me. "Isn't that, right?"
"You know, you're hazing a kid who could kill you without flinching?" I paused for a second then continued. "I'm also a kid, why haze me anyways."
"You are no kid." Victoria looked at me. "You may be the age of a kid, but you aren't one mentally."
"You're no fun." Callias joked. "I hope the next dungeon we are located at, isn't as bad as this one."
"We would be lucky if it was." Victoria told him. "If it is a boring dungeon, that means we are safe."
"I guess." Callias sounded upset by this though. "Well, since we have time, Veer, your brother, Arthur was it, he's supposedly really strong, do you think he is as strong as you?"
I ran both my hands through my ashy brown hair, to move my sweaty hair off my forehead. "I don't know to be honest." We entered into the cavern we were in before. "If I had to guess, at the moment me."
"At the moment?" Samantha said questioningly. "You think he's going to be stronger than you."
"I hope not, if he does, that means I failed." I told her, and all three of my team members looked at me weirdly, that's when I realized what I said.
"Failed what?" Callias asked me as I stepped over a corpse.
A smile crossed my face. "The reason I'm doing all of this." If Arthur and Sylvie end up fighting Cadell and Nico, then I failed in changing things, however, there is a flaw. I obviously don't want anything to happen to them, but if Arthur doesn't get his aether core, I don't think we stand a chance against Agrona or Kezess in a fight.
We wouldn't have to fight Kezess if we win the war I believe, maybe, I don't really know for sure. The issue would be taking out Agrona and his forces, I might get strong enough to take down his stronger pawns, but if multiple Scythes or retainers show up on me, I would be in trouble, unless I'm overestimating them.
"What's that reason?" Samantha snapped me out of my thoughts, I'll have to figure that stuff out later.
"Protecting my family." I answered simply as we stood in front of the teleportation gate. "Let's get out of here." I stepped through the portal and the base appeared in front of me.
"Victoria, are you going to report this to the commander?" Callias asked her as the doors to the base opened, and I was the first to walk in, that's when I felt a domineering aura standing inside the main tent.
I walked up on ahead, and toward the tent, I could feel Victoria walking behind me. I swung the flaps of the tent open, and inside wasn't who I was expecting. "Windsom?"