While he thought he had lost, Kiyan actually impressed three men who watched him all the while he fought.
"See, I told you he would win." Agnar rose his shoulders and had a wide grin on his face.
"I feel sorry for these boys." One-eye sighed watching Kiyan's body slowly disappear into a portal.
Raymond was left speechless for a while. He knew fighting a beast was no easy thing to do, especially a magical one. Not to mention the size of the beast Kiyan had fought with and survived, also its strength. It might have been a basic tier beast, it was one of those that were marked as highly dangerous among others in its tier.
"It is good to know your sons will surpass you one day," Raymond spoke. "I am sure you didn't kill a beast of this magnitude when you were only twelve years old."
"Of course I didn't, they didn't exist." Agnar shrugged. "Also, what parent wouldn't want their children to surpass them?"
"Shall we move on to the next one then?" One-eye asked and they nodded.
********
Raten dodged another attack from what looked like a scaly, hideous ostrich with three heads and one eye on each of them. It continuously shook its bright purple feathers.
"Your heads are so annoying," Raten said with frustration. The three attacked him at different moments from different angles. Their large beaks with oddly sharp teeth would continually try to chomp down at him.
Not giving him time to think of an attack, the beast launched at him again. This time, one of its teeth had grazed his thigh, drawing blood. Raten swung his free hand at its head to slice it off. Just like the other times he had tried, it only caused a small scar.
*HONK!!.. Rolling away, he could see the beast was bleeding from one of its eyes and continually cried out. It then turned its attention back to the one that caused it pain. Slowly, Raten rose to his feet. Luckily, the beast's ravenous teeth hadn't gone deep into his skin so he was not hurt much though it still hurt and he still bled from it.
'It might not be much of a factor now, but I'm sure it will be one if this fight continues. I am not in the mood to engage in a fight with this hideous animal, I just want to leave here. But, that's not an option now, is it?' He said and readied himself.
Just as he was about to go on the attack again, Raten heard fast heavy footsteps approach him. From behind, two more scaly bald birds jumped out of the shrubs and landed in front of him. They looked at the one with an injured eye and then back at Raten with looks that showed the intent to kill.
*HONK! HONK!.. They both roared, it scared the birds that were in the trees causing them all to fly away. Their feathers all purple, in the same pattern as the previous one began to glow and foam began to form in their mouth.
"Great. Now I have to deal with three of these varmints." He muttered with a hint of sarcasm. What he was most bothered about was the loud noise the birds kept making. If it were to attract more creatures, it would be bad for him. He tilted his head a bit and stared at them.
"You decided to take it up a notch, I see. Well, I plan on getting rid of this nuisance quickly, I hope you don't mind if I do the same." He said with his brows furrowed and his lips curved downwards into a frown.
Meanwhile in the cabin..
"Oh, the aggressiveness that comes after he gets injured. This son of yours I feel takes the most after you." Raymond stated with a slight chortle.
"Let's just see how he does. If he ends this quickly, you can send in a few." Agnar said.
"I know Raten's powers. I didn't just give him a beast he can defeat so quickly." Raymond stated. He knew it for a fact Raten would struggle.
Back in the forest, Raten stood face to face against three beasts determined to kill them all, unscathed if he can. One of the birds opened its brown, large cracked beak and spat out a green foamy liquid at him. Moving to the side swiftly he avoided it and stomped his left foot on the grass filled ground, sending multiple streaks of lightning toward the ravenous birds.
The lightning struck two, freezing them in place for a while. While the already bleeding one had made a huge jump backward and then propelled itself forward with its huge feet. A line of purple followed it as it moved at a great speed toward Raten. Seeing it headed his way, Raten raised a brow and swing his blade continually at it.
Following the strikes were multiple lightning bolts that struck at the bird causing it to fall to the ground. "How foolish of you to attack me mid-air when I control lightning!" He rushed forward and was met with quite a surprise. The three birds stood back on their feet and faster than he could react, lightning bolts in the same manner he sent them, shot back at him.
Raten's body was flung back into the bushes as he took multiple shocks head-on. He couldn't move or feel his limbs. Some of them missed him and struck the floor, chucking up some parts of the land.
One-eye took a glance at Agnar to see if he had even the slightest worry on his face. But, his expression remained the same. 'Did he not care for his sons?' He wondered. Raten did not take just one, but multiple shocks of lightning. He was sure that would take out anyone, especially someone of his age and he had three of the beasts to fight or he dies and his father is simply watching on. He had to remind himself their father was not just any man and if he was calm then there was no reason to worry.
"So that's the ability of the birds?" Agnar eventually asked.
"Yes, it is. This is why I asked you if you were sure you wanted him to deal with three at once." Raymond responded. "Shall I leave him with just one?" He asked thinking his friend had changed his mind.
"You shall not. The ability of the birds changes nothing. If he wills not to die, he will get up and fight."
How he says this with little care in his voice surprised both men seated beside him. He might have not been one to care, but in the least, they thought he would show some concern towards his son, but as always, his voice showed no hint of it neither did his face show it. They even wondered how he ever got together with Grace, his late wife.
Back in the forest, Raten did his best to keep his mind awake as he lay in pain. At any moment, the abominable creatures will be upon him and this he knew. He groaned trying to lift his body, which now had large scorch marks around it, off the shrub. Every move he made was excruciatingly painful and extremely slow as he still felt more like a vegetable on the grass.
"These stupid hideous varmints are actually this dangerous. It is so annoying!" He gritted his teeth, pushing his body with all his might off the ground. He could hear the footsteps of the birds approaching and knew he was in a precarious position. "I knew it was a stupid idea to come in here, yet I did. Now, I'm paying for it." He got up to his knees while breathing heavily, thinking of a way to defeat the birds.
"I see now, their ability allows for them to send back an attack. All my strikes so far haven't been returned, so I guess it only applies to magic. Their bodies are infuriatingly resistant. How can I do this without magic?" He struggled to his feet and hid a bit in the bushes to buy him some time to think.
Although this was an opportunity to run away, he wouldn't take it. His unrealized pride and anger after getting almost killed by a measly bird wouldn't let him. Even if it did, his rapid footsteps would alert the creatures and they would chase after him. This could bottle up to having other beasts know of his entrance to their territory.
This did make him think though, why did the beasts all stay here without crossing over? Brushing off the thought, he reminded himself he was ready to not just fight but kill the eyesores in the form of magical beasts and not bother about useless questions. He had an idea which was good timing as one of the birds had seen him.
His body was still heavily affected by the shocks from the attack. Moving his body the best he could to the other side of the tree he hid behind, he only met the other two birds which moved all six of their heads to chomp down at him. He ducked just in time and rolled away.
"I saw him do it multiple times. He said I should focus, right? I'll do just that." He mumbled, ready to try out his plan.
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*Author's tears flowing incessantly..
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