Act 1: Blue Ocean Pavilion - Chapter 17: Three versus Three

Act 1: Blue Ocean Pavilion - Chapter 17: Three versus Three

The yellow tiger growled and bared its fangs at Oscar's group, sinking its large claws into the ground and scraping off the dirt. Like its master, Samuel, it stared maliciously toward its prey.

"Infighting is forbidden, Samuel." Oscar put up his fists and peeked down at the ravine, eyeing the various caverns. The fires died a while ago, and the caves were smoke-free. An idea slowly formed in his head.

"It doesn't matter. Who would care if all of you are dead?" Samuel signaled his men to move closer. Frederick and Emily responded by summoning their Animas.

"All of this because of some childish quarrel. The house of Carter has fallen deep into the dirt." Frederick insulted Samuel's family and their upbringing.

"What a pathetic man. What about the Pavilion? Do you honestly believe you can deceive them?" Emily gripped her staff anima and took a bold step forward. Her power as a Middle Apprentice Exalt exploded outward, making Samuel's men retreat.

Feeling the power from Emily, Samuel countered with his own Ein. "I can handle that woman. The two of you go after those idiots in the back."

Emily's face grew harsh. She could hold back Samuel while Frederick could last, but she worried about Oscar. He was smart and witty but not too good at fighting with his Grade Four Exolsia.

Oscar tapped Emily on the shoulder, turning her attention to him. "Do you trust me? I have a plan."

Emily stared for a moment and nodded her head. She slowly fell back at Oscar's lead.

Samuel and his men inched forward. Even though they had a slight advantage, it was still their first battle as Exalts. They felt the need to be cautious.

"Now!" Oscar jumped back into the ravine. Emily and Frederick were dumbfounded but jumped after him, getting to the bottom in no time. Oscar noticed Samuel and his men chasing after them. He turned to Emily and Frederick with his plan, "Split into the caves."

"Are you crazy?" Frederick outright rejected Oscar's gamble. "What if Samuel chases after you."

"Higher chance he goes after Emily. He won't risk losing one of his people by ordering a cruel command. He'll lose their loyalty." Oscar shouted in retort. They were running out of time. Ignoring Frederick's words, he rushed out towards one of the caverns.

"Shit!" Frederick and Emily had no choice but split up and go into different caves. In the end, they had to trust Oscar's plan.

"Good." Oscar sighed in relief, seeing his friends follow his plan. This way, each battle would be one-on-one, and being the first ones in the caverns meant they had the advantage of setting up an ambush.

Not to mention, Samuel would be further delayed in relaying orders to his men. Oscar thought about the chances of fighting them in the forest as a group. But without any information on how Samuel's group could coordinate their attacks, he could not risk it.

'This is the best way to handle this. I hope they don't try to smoke us out as we did on the Night Raptor.'

Oscar carefully navigated through the cave to find key spots to lay a trap or ambush.

At the same time, Samuel and his group arrived at the bottom of the ravine. He kicked the ground in frustration.

"Shit!"

Greg, one of Samuel's men, asked, "What should we do, Samuel? Should we group up and hunt one of them?"

"No, that would allow the others to escape and report us to the Blue Ocean Pavilion." Samuel did not want to leave anything to chance. His family would be shamed if he was kicked out or sent to the Abyss Prison. "I'll go after the girl since she's on the same level as me. The two of you split up and chase the other two." Samuel sprinted into the cave Emily escaped into.

Greg rushed to where Oscar retreated. He knew Oscar was only a Grade Four, so it was an easy kill for him. The person leftover looked at Greg expressionlessly as he followed after Frederick.

.......

The cavern was not too deep but had many winding corridors. Tiny water droplets fell from the ceiling, making the air damp and musky. Emily felt sticky as the humid air wrapped her like a towel.

ROAR

"Oscar was right." Emily turned back when she heard the tiger's roar. She stepped off behind several columns of stone, formed by years of erosion, and hid her presence.

Over in the other cavern, Frederick was up against the third member of Samuel's group, Austin. Frederick and his hawk anima were currently poking at Austin but never fully committed because he was especially wary of the dagger anima Austin possessed. He felt one slash from that would end in bad news for his hawk.

"Your hawk is fast, but it doesn't have much offensive power," Austin said.

It was true. The hawk was better for scouting and speed. Frederick could crack Oscar's deer antlers because it was Grade Four and Oscar was not well-versed in his Anima.

Against Austin, the hawk was unable to break through his defenses. The hawk could only annoy him as long as Austin was not lax. Thus, it turned into a melee.

Blow after blow, Frederick was blocked by Austin's dagger or guard. He had to stop multiple times to prevent his fist from meeting the dagger.

'If only I had a weapon.' He cursed out in frustration that his family refused to let him take one. All in the name of making him independent.

Austin did not miss this moment when Frederick's mind was distracted. Swiftly, his dagger slashed through the air toward Frederick.

'Wind Step'

Frederick's feet moved fast to dodge as the wind blew under. Austin's dagger slightly nicked Frederick's sleeve despite the increase in speed.

Hiss

Frederick was shocked to see a part of his clothing had dissolved from where Austin's dagger had cut it. He stared warily at the dagger anima. Frederick tore off the part of his cut sleeve before the melting reached his skin. "A poison spell?"

Austin playfully tossed around his dagger. He did not say anything but charged at Frederick. The best time to strike was now while the enemy was afraid. His black dagger gleamed as it was wrapped in Austin's black ein.

Frederick escaped with his 'Wind Steps', but Austin was experienced and followed his direction. Frederick clung close to the walls as the dagger kept slashing at him, hitting the cavern walls.

'The places where the dagger cut is corroding.' He saw the stone around the inflicted area hiss as it slowly dissolved. "How nasty. You use a corrosive spell."

"Correct, it's the Grade One 'Acid Coat'." When Austin chose a spell, his eyes caught this one since it was best suited for him. He could coat his dagger in acid, increasing his offensive capabilities and deterring any incoming attacks with the threat.

Frederick's eyes narrowed as he coldly asked, "I assume you would be the one to dispose of our bodies?"

"Correct again. It would be quite an effort, but you would have dissolved into nothing little by little." Austin was expressionless as he spoke of such a horrifying action as a menial task.

Anger flooded Frederick's face red. He stopped dodging and took on a stance, intent on beating the hell out of Austin. Frederick loved to fool around and have fun, but this had reached his boiling point.

"Hmph." Austin snorted in a condescending tone. He continued his flurry of strikes.

Frederick dodged it multiple times and closed in. However, Austin was quick and put his dagger in the way to defend himself. Usually, Frederick would have retreated, but his left hand whipped something forward.

It was the sleeve he tore off earlier; the corrosion did not dissolve it completely. Frederick coiled the cloth around the dagger and pulled it to move it out of the way.

Austin hastily tried to slice and melt through the cloth to escape, but Frederick landed a powerful kick on his stomach.

"Urgh." Austin's dagger finally melted out of the sleeve wrap, allowing him freedom. He lurched back in pain and nearly vomited.

Now it was Frederick's turn to attack. He landed a good punch right on the bastard's nose. He could not continue since Austin recovered his stance and held his dagger firmly to block.

"That was your one shot. You don't have that many clothes." Austin was fuming inside with a bloody nose. His anger slowly cracked through his expressionless face.

"Shut up. I'll make sure to smash your face in thoroughly." Frederick declared.