.
The roar traversed Aric's being, and he suddenly had goosebumps all over his body, His legs stiffened and he felt like he's four limbs were chained to the ground by the sturdiest of seals, unable to move a single step.
He was able to regain his composure in a couple of breaths and looked out of the window looking for the source of the roar.
" Just it's roar… yet so overbearing !! " Aric rushed to the window and not too far from the clinic he saw a giant skeleton, eight meters in height running around the school grounds and destroying everything it came by.
The skeleton didn't have even the slightest of flesh or skin, yet was moving around just fine, it's eyes were a mass of black mist and in the core of its chest was a beating red gem like heart.
" It's loose ! the Odokoru[1] is loose !" A scream resounded from behind the monster, a group of armed guards were pursuing the beast, but we're not making much progress, they didn't seem to possess the power to subdue it at all and were keeping an ample distance from it.
" Sigh " Leonard, now standing by the window with Aric, couldn't help but sigh, his eyes sizing up the monster running towards them.
" How incompetent! " Leonard reached for his lower back and pulled a small whip woven in a knot, he took a deep breath and climbed onto the window frame.
" A whip ? " Aric was surprised, It was a very uncommon weapon among paladins, and the whip was more of an inquisitor's tool, than a weapon at all, but it wasn't unheard of as a killing tool either.
Seeing Leonard do as such, Aric suddenly realized what was happening and he couldn't help but gasp in excitement, he was about to see a true expert in action right in front of him.
" Step back, Aric " Leonard said these words and his aura slowly unleashed into the surroundings and the temperature decreased rapidly and frost started coating the floor of the room.
His eyes turned a degree colder and more blue than they originally were, and his white coat fluttered in the air giving him a sense of heroic charm.
Feeling Leonard's aura, the Odokuro turned around and looked him right in the eyes, it then issued another sharp roar and started sprinting towards him with full force.
_ ROAR
Aric felt his bone freeze and he stumbled back from the shock, seeing this huge monster making his way towards them, it really left a person short of breath, but Leonard seemed unfazed and when the monster was about a hundred meters far, he leaned forward and taped gently at the window frame and shot like a bullet at it.
The Odokoru saw this and clenched its fist and threw a punch at Leonard's approaching figure, and contrary to its size, the punch it launched was as fast as lightning as it made its way towards Leonard.
Leonard Appeared so unfazed it was like he was dealing with a stray dog rather than an eight meter high Monster, he glided through the air, and when the punch reached him, He made a flip midair , and using his foot, he tapped the punched away.
The action itself seemed so light and weightless, yet when it met the skeletons's hundred pound arm, it appeared like it was slammed with a mountain bringing the beast all the way to its knees.
Leonard took hold of this moment and with a strike from his hand, the fifteen feet whip in his arm whizzed through the air and tied around the skeleton's neck.
" Kneel ! " he tugged with a powerful force at the beast's neck , and it's whole body was brought down with an unimaginable force to the ground , It slammed face first to the dirt and a huge cloud of dust rose in the air.
Leonard then fell gracefully into the beast's stiff bonely back, he saw the beast struggle and start pushing itself to stand up again, and he couldn't help but sigh.
" Why don't you stay down for God's sake " Leonard sighed, he then flicked the whip four times, at the Odokoru's four limbs, in each point of contact with the whip, a small symbol appeared on the beast's body.
Leonard then brought his hand together and issued " seal !"
As the world escaped his mouth, the four symbols started glowing with a deep blue hue, and ice began forming around them and tying the beast tight to the ground.
The Odokuro kept struggling to escape and resisting, yet the more it did the more the ice spread to cover it further and pin it down more, this kept on going for a minute or so, until the beast was unable to move a bone, then the hunters came and started shackling it down.
Leonard looked one of the guards in the eyes and asked, " how did this happen ?"
The guard, panting heavily recounted between his breaths " Well the seal put on it's core suddenly weared off when we unlocked the chains off it in the beast's wearhouse, in a fit of panic, the caretaker didn't care to close the gate while running for his life and… well the rest as followed " the guard explained the events that led here one by one.
The beast itself was part of the recruitment trail , it was an Odokuro of the giant type, as a 3rd class beast equivalent to an essence manifestation paladin, it'd be absurd to tell the students to fight it.
Yet being of the dark elemental type, it had a special characteristic that would be of immense help in testing a student's will, and that was it's suppressive aura.
Using certain runes and techniques the Odokuro was going to be suppressed and put to use to assess the students' will and how they deal with fear.
It wasn't a test meant to disqualify the students, in fact entry to the academy only followed the talent cube test , the rest was only to determine what classes, courses and programs best suit each apprentice.
It was a great academic system, and the paladins graduating the ancestral paladin's legacies school are usually considered a league higher than the rest of the common paladin and they tend to march much further down the path of a paladin due to the strong foundation the academy leaves them with.
Leonard looked the guards one final time before he turned around and returned back to his office after issuing a couple of orders , he leaped back through the window on the second floor with ease and saw the dumbfounded and amazed look on Aric's face and he couldn't help but smile.
" How was that for a show ?" Leonard said smugly while sitting back at his desk, looking at Aric who was still standing there with sparkling eyes .
...…..
1- Odokuro :
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gashadokuro