Chapter 71 - Deadly Beasts (1)

"N-no!" shouted Arcem as he looked at Arya with a terrified expression. "Shhh, you're okay. This will only hurt a lot," replied Arya, pulling out the dagger ready to strike.

"Light bless us with your might. Fix -" Arcem tried chanting before his neck was torn off. Arya quickly turned around and jumped back a few spaces barely avoiding the strike of a black figure as he turned the dagger in his hand from a stabbing position to a slicing position, with such proficiency that one would think he had been using a knife all his life.

"How come I didn't hear it?" thought Arya as he realized the reason Arcem was looking at him with such a terrified expression, even though he had not yet seen the dagger. He wasn't looking at him but at the beast behind him.

The black figure looked more humanoid than the one Arya had met previously. This one seemed to blend into the darkness making it hard to make out its features properly. The only thing Arya could see were its bloody red teeth and red eyes that gleamed in the moonlight.

The beast seemed to be smiling at Arya like it was having a blast.

"Magic will be useless against it if I give it a chance to catch up to me." thought Arya as the beast disappeared from his vision and reappeared behind him in a flash.

"Fuck." screamed Arya as he rotated his knife quickly to try and block the incoming attack but didn't reach there in time. The beast had slashed his back so deep that blood was spurting out, he was lucky enough that his dagger was able to stop it from going even deeper.

Arya ignored the pain and jumped back several steps using his lean 5-year-old body to its maximum capabilities.

"What the fuck is that speed?" thought Arya as he chanted an ice spell to stop the bleeding. The ice spell of course increased the pain he was feeling, making it harder for him to concentrate on casting more spells, but it was better than nothing.

"Stupid Arcem. How can you claim to be such a high class mage but get caught off guard like this?" thought Arya as he realized the dangerous situation he was in. Of course Arcem couldn't be blamed. The beast was hardly visible even when you knew it was there, and it didn't seem to emit a presence as even Arya's animal-like instincts couldn't sense it.

Mages were good in fights where they could see their enemies, however there was a limit to what a mage could do if they were caught off guard.

"Child of water heed my c-" Arya tried chanting before the humanoid beast disappeared again. This time Arya anticipated the attack and jumped forward, turning mid-air to block the incoming attack. This attack seemed to be two times stronger than the previous one, sending Arya flying high into the air.

Arya took advantage of the momentum he had gained from the beast's strke and chanted in the air. "Child of water heed my call. Bring about a chill to freeze my foes."

A beam of ice shot out of Arya's hands, freezing one of the beast's legs. The ice wouldn't hold for long of course, but Arya wasn't worried.

Just as he had finished casting that spell he chanted once again as he landed on the ground. "Child of water heed my call. Bring about a chill to freeze my foes."

In that spilt second, the ground between him and the beast was covered in a thin layer of ice. He quickly ran on the ice while the beast was still confused about what was holding its foot, using the reduced friction of the ice to speed up.

As he was about to reach the beast, it saw him and slashed out horizontally aiming to slice Arya's head off. Arya ducked and slid between the beast's legs, slicing its knees as he slid past causing it to fall down.

The ground right after the beast wasn't turned to ice so Arya quickly stopped himself and leaped into the air, aiming to stab the beast in the head.

The beast was too slow to react in time as it was still confused with the previous attack. Arya managed to stab it in the head and chanted once again. "Child of water heed my call. Bring about a chill to freeze my foes.". The dagger was then covered in a layer of ice that extended into the beast's head, effectively freezing it from the inside.

As the beast stopped moving, Arya pulled out his blade and fell to his knees in exhaustion. "That was easy." laughed Arya as he felt his mana reserves reach the bottom.

He had used many spells successively and his body wasn't used to this strain. And his mana core was still too immature to handle such a sudden depletion of mana.

As Arya turned around to look at what Arcem's corpse had on it, the beast stood up behind him. Arya turned around to see the beast easily break out of the layer of ice on its feet. The beast seemed to be bigger, it was now 2.5m tall, making Arya look puny next to it. The grin on its face seemed even wider than before.

"How-" Arya was about to say before the beast dissappeared. Arya tried turning around to block it but it was too late. The beast sliced a deep vertical cut on Arya's back, causing even more blood than before to spurt out, even causing the old wound to open up.

The beast's speed seemed to have increased as well. Arya knew very well that the beast could've ended his life with that strike, but it seemed to be playing with him.

The beast approached him with its wide smile, seemingly mocking his futile struggle to survive.

"F*ck you." said Arya in between heavy breathes. He was already exhausted, and his injuries wouldn't allow him to concentrate enough to cast another spell.. Heck he was already struggling to stay conscious as is.