Chapter 222: Team Aerith
Aerith’s team had been assigned an escort mission. This mission would’ve been fairly easy if it were just an escort. The region they were supposed to escort the person through was a dark jungle full of beasts. That wouldn’t have been much of a problem either. But this jungle was ruled by a Tier 2, Circle of Comprehension Poison Ivy with a whole pack of poison ivies under its command.
That raised the danger level to a very high level. The person they were escorting was unknown. The only thing they knew of was that the person was a lady. That was all.
Aerith could tell that whoever was in the carriage they were protecting was very powerful, so he couldn’t understand why she needed escorts. Well, it wasn’t as if he cared. He just wanted to win this competition and beat Bahamut. That was all that mattered. Even his teammates didn’t matter.
His twin swords were strapped to his back with long ropes dangling from the handles. White cloth was tied around his arms, from his fingers to his elbows. He wore just a pair of trousers, a tank top, and a pair of hard sandals. He moved at the front of the carriage, his stormy eyes sharp as his perception covered the area. This was possible because of one of the elements he’d awakened, Telepathy. Aerith was talented, and very much so. He was one of the few who’d awakened more than one element. His first element was Telepathy, and his second made it even more powerful. It was Beast Summoning.
Surprising right? Unlike Bahamut, who had to tame beasts or have that encounter as he did with Alana and form a contract, Aerith naturally awakened beast summoning. And funny enough, his first beast was a Tier 2, Elemental Core Formation tailed crow, the very same beast he killed in the trial of survival. His summon was also of the same level as him because it was his first. That was the rule of beast summoning. Your first summon, your main beast, would be automatically at the same level as you.
Aerith’s perception extended beyond a kilometer because of these two elements. His telepathy gave him an additional stack of stats in perception. He could almost view things with his mind. Then came his summon that was flying above and scouting from there. The beast was about the size of a golden eagle with a blue crown, stormy grey eyes just like Aerith, and four barbed tails.
At the sides of the carriage were two people, twins, Yuko and Yuka. They were the two wolf twins who’d gone through mutations during the trial of survival. They’d also experienced their ascensions, and it wasn’t even a surprise that they both awakened the ice element. It was obvious from the start.
At the rear were two people: an insanely tall girl with long white hair tied in dreads, and a large guy with bear ears and deep golden eyes. The girl was a human, but of the Amazonian clan, the reason for her stature. The large guy was a beast-kin of the bear tribe.
Together, this team was very powerful. But the challenges of this jungle were yet to begin. They’d already traveled for three days and killed a lot of beasts, but those beasts were just cannon fodder. The real challenge was yet to start.
...
Inside the carriage sat a girl. A black veil covered her face completely, only leaving the tips of her hair visible. The left was black, and the right was white. Her blue eyes glowed slightly as her senses covered the area, but it was so potent that even Aerith failed to notice it.
Beside her, something floated. It was dark and almost without form, but that was just a form the creature had taken. It was a darkness elemental, so it had the shape-shifting ability. It was silent as it watched its master "look around."
"This will be interesting..." She spoke with a small smile under her veil.
"For real?" The elemental asked in surprise.
"I don’t know. It would have been better if Ren were here," the girl answered in a lazy voice.
"Your obsession might get you killed."
"Isn’t that the best death?"
"You are crazy!"
"It’s cute, right? I think he will love it."
"..."
...
CAAAAAAAAWW!!!
"Attack at rear! Bartoc! Freda!" Aerith shouted orders instantly after hearing his summon’s cry. It was a warning cry of an attack. The moment Aerith’s voice rang out, the atmosphere changed instantly. The relaxed rhythm of the escort vanished. Everyone moved. Bartoc stepped forward first. The massive bear-kin planted his foot into the ground with enough force to crack the earth beneath him.
BOOM!
Dust rose around his towering frame while golden-brown energy spread across his arms like flowing stone. The muscles beneath his fur bulged massively as earth elemental energy reinforced his body.
Freda moved next.
CRACKLE!
Blue lightning exploded around her tall form violently, illuminating the dark jungle for a brief moment. Her long white dreads floated upward slightly as sparks danced across her skin.
Then came the beasts. The forest ahead exploded outward.
KRAAAAAASH!
Trees snapped apart as gigantic warthogs burst through the undergrowth like charging boulders. There were over fifteen of them, each nearly the size of a horse, with black-grey hides and massive upward-curving tusks coated in hardened mud and dried blood. Their glowing red eyes radiated madness. They were Tier 1 beasts, but dangerous ones. The ground trembled from the sheer momentum of their charge.
"Left flank!" Yuko shouted instantly.
The wolf twins split apart smoothly, icy mist trailing behind them as they moved to opposite sides of the carriage. Their synchronization was almost perfect.
Aerith’s stormy eyes narrowed.
"Freda, the leader."
"I see it."
Among the charging warthogs was one noticeably larger than the others. Deep scars covered its body, and faint yellow elemental energy pulsed beneath its thick hide. It wasn’t Tier 2 yet, but it was very close. Freda grinned as lightning burst beneath her feet.
BOOOOM!
She vanished. The air exploded as her body became a streak of blue light shooting directly toward the charging beasts. The lead warthog roared and lowered its tusks, but it moved too slowly, especially for a lightning user.
Freda appeared above it and kicked.
CRACK!
Her kick landed directly on its skull with lightning-enhanced force. The beast’s head slammed into the ground violently, creating a crater as electricity spread through its body.
SKRIIIIII!
The warthog shrieked painfully, twitching violently when Bartoc arrived.
"MOVE!"
His massive fist descended like a falling boulder.
BOOOOOOM!
The warthog’s skull exploded into the earth. Blood and mud splattered outward: it was dead in an instant. The remaining beasts became even more frenzied. Several broke away from the front and charged toward the carriage itself.
Yuka raised his hand calmly.
"Ice Wall."
Massive spikes of ice erupted upward from the ground directly before the carriage. Two warthogs smashed into them at full speed.
SPLAT!
One got impaled through the throat instantly, while the other crashed through halfway before becoming stuck. Yuko appeared beside it immediately.
SHING!
His clawed gauntlet sliced cleanly through its neck, and blood sprayed across the frozen spikes. Meanwhile, Aerith still stood at the front calmly. His telepathic perception spread across the battlefield continuously. Every movement, every heartbeat, every attack trajectory... all entered his mind simultaneously.
Behind him, his tailed crow circled above the jungle canopy before suddenly diving downward.
CAAAAAW!
Wind exploded around the beast as its four tails glowed. A compressed blade of air shot downward and cleaved through two charging warthogs instantly. Aerith finally moved.
FWOOOSH!
One sword slid free from behind his back as his body blurred forward. A warthog lunged toward him with enough force to uproot small trees. Aerith sidestepped lightly.
SHIIING!
The beast continued running for three more steps before its body split in half cleanly. Aerith flicked blood from the blade without even looking back. Another beast charged him immediately, its tusks glowing yellow from earth enhancement. Aerith’s stormy eyes glowed faintly as he activated telepathy.
The beast’s movement slowed inside his perception as he saw everything about it: Muscle contractions, weight shift, breathing, and intent. His second blade came free, the ropes attached to the hilts spinning around him fluidly.
SHING! SHING!
Both tusks of the beast flew into the air. The next second...
CRACK!
Aerith’s kick caved the beast’s skull inward. The battle became one-sided after that. Lightning tore through the jungle repeatedly as Freda rampaged through the beasts head-on. Bartoc smashed apart anything that survived her attacks while the twins controlled the battlefield with precise ice manipulation.
Aerith just slaughtered. Within minutes, the jungle became silent again. Dead warthogs littered the ground while blood soaked into the dark earth beneath the trees.
Bartoc exhaled heavily.
"That was easier than expected."
Freda cracked her neck.
"Too easy."
Aerith wiped blood from one of his blades before slowly looking deeper into the jungle. His eyes narrowed slightly, while the tailed crow above gave a low, uneasy cry. Something was watching them.
