"where are they? Where are the pups?!" Swift screamed with an unnecessarily loud voice and an expression which made him look no different from a madened dog.
From the way he structured his question, it was quite obvious just who he referred to as 'pups'. He was talking about the other three.
Levi looked confused for a little while as he did not expect Swift to find him before John, much less his apparent anger and his vague question.
'pups....could he be referring to..' Levi thought as he stood up from where he sat on the tall grass. He eyes veered towards Swift's location and then around him as he was obviously searching for something.
'the others...they are not with him. I doubt Swift would be so careless as to leave those other two on their own when that beast us still roaming around.'
'but if they are not with him, then where could they be. Maybe back at the den, unlikely. If they were, then his question would not make sense. Then that could only mean.....' Levi thought as he aptly drew a conclusion, after less than a second of scrutinizing deductions.
'cr*p.'
"I asked a question!" Swift roared out. He did not seem to be very patient as his green irises now contained a tinge of bloodlusted red. Levi noticed this, and realizing that his well being was at risk, he though hard on how he could pacify the already angered wolf.
"Ok. Firstly, let us all calm down." Levi uttered. Immediately afterwards though, he realized his own fuck up.
'idiot. How can you be telling someone like that to calm down. Do you have a death wish or something?!.' Grim made known his thoughts pertaining to Levi's quite stupid response. Levi was already aware of this fact though.
'i am screwed.' he aptly deduced his own fate.
As if on cue, Swift began making known his own irritation.
"Calm down? My brothers are lost, possibly dead, and you are telling me to calm down?!" Swift yelled.
'oh sh*t, he's mad.' Levi thought.
'you think.' Grim responded.
"I told you. I told you f*cking humans to not be the cause of any of my members' Demise, yet did you listen?! No, you most certainly did not!" Swift roared in utter rage. Levi attempted to interject in this short pause, but his calming voice was drowned by the immense anger that seethed from Swift's every being.
"You know, now that I think about it, it's all my fault. Again, I let my guard down around you humans, and again something bad happens. I should have never allowed you to enter the den, I should have killed you that time. When you were lying on my back, half unconscious!!"
His words conjured a look of surprise and realization on Levi's face as he recalled his first encounter with the wolf pack. He had been rescued by one of them. At the time, he had not deemed it important to discern the identity of his very first benefactor.
At least, if he was on good terms with the wolf, then maybe he would have been more listening to his words. But even if he did, would fostering a good relationship with Swift really help his current situation?
Deducing that Levi was not responsible for the disappearance of the missing wolves was quite easy if one actually thought about it. Swift seemed to be purposely doing this out of frustration for not having anyone to point an accusing finger at.
The human known as Levi was the next best choice.
On the off chance the situation could have been avoided, was establishing and maintaining a good relationship with Swift even possible in the first place? Considering Swift's malice towards humans in general, forging a healthy relationship with him would have been a steep mountain to climb.
'ugh, focus Levi. You don't have time for wishful thinking. It is already in the past, forget about that and focus on the present.' Levi thought. He was a very realistic person.
'ok, so what are the chances of him attacking me? I can hold my own now, but that would most likely be the worst possible outcome.' Levi posed a question.
'judging from merely his expressions and speech, on a scale of one to ten, the chances of him engaging you are about 70% give or take. This figure is not a hundred percent accurate and is still subject to increment. Decrement is unlikely though.' Grim surmised.
These quick and insightful thought conversations with Grim were proving to be an invaluable ability to Levi as Grim shared his practical and realistic nature.
"I made a mistake. A mistake which I should have never made. I will correct my errors and atone right here and now!" Swift yelled out as his internal Mana beagn to react with the ambient wind mana, birthing magical fluctuations.
"Air step." Swift muttered, and in a speed that seemed to shame the limits of sound, Swift rushed forward. Charging into Levi and sending him crashing towards a nearby tree. His reactions, which had not yet been enhanced by aether skin, were too poor. And even though his physique had greatly improved since before he arrived at the woods, the mere suddeness, speed and strength on the attack had left him defenseless.
*Thud*
A loud thud was heard as Levi got the air knocked straight out of his lungs. His eyes and mouth widened as a bit of spittle escaped his widely gaped mouth.
The unexpected attack and the spiteful collision with the hard bark of the tree caused Levi to heave intensely.
"Cough.. cough." He could not control himself as he held his throat, not tightly, and released a few dry coughs.
Swift did not stop there as he charged forward once again. This time, he focused on force instead of speed using the wind fusion spell.
Fusion magic. A category of magic which involved one imbueing certain elements of magic( both true and deviant) into one's body, in turn strengthening it and granting it the properties of the imbued element. It had three stages, each one more difficult and powerful than the last.
It was the spell which changed the way people thought about mages. As fusion magic developed, people began to understand that being a magus did not simply involve spamming deadly spells from a distance. A person who had good knowledge of a certain weapon as well as fusion magic could still be called a mage. As long as they made use of Mana, they were a mage.
"Sh*t." Levi muttered between coughs as he watched Swift charge straight at him. Wind Mana circled around his claws as he activated the second stage of fusion magic.
"Wind claw." Swift said out as he charged forward.
Fusion magic was actually inspired by Mana beasts as they could more easily fuse magic into their bodies. For a human, you would have to have at least above average talents to even learn the first stage of fusion magic, which was by itself a third tier spell.
When Swift entered sufficient range, he swiped his claws at the Levi who still had his back pinned against the tree.
*Slash*
Practically hurling his entire upper body to the left side, Levi narrowly dodged the claw attack. Managing to escape with but a shallow cut on his right cheek.
Swift's attack missed Levi by a very small margin, and ended up slicing through the bark of the unfortunate tree. Digging a good five inches deep and destroying a significant few of it's inner components.
Levi created more distance by rolling away, but Swift was definitely not about to let him get off easily as he charged again at the fleeing boy. Levi tried to stand up. Pulling his body up, he was balanced on his right knee and left ankle. That was when he caught a glimpse of an incoming hurricane wolf, claws and fangs mercilessly bared.
In an action which was purely instinctual and lucky, Levi threw himself in for a dive to the right. He succeeded in dodging the attack, but not before crashing face first into the hard ground, and having a good amount of dirt finding it's way through his lips and into his mouth.
"Ptoo." Levi spat out the sand in his mouth out on instinct. An action he soon regretted as once again, a four legged figure came crashing towards him once again. Only this time, there was no way to dodge.
Swift pounced on Levi, with his maw wide open as he attempted to rip the dude's head off of his body. Sacrificing his arms, Levi stuck his right elbow into Swift's mouth while using his left hand to desperately drag down his teeth, preventing him from closing his jaw.
'damn it, no time to even activate aether skin, this did not happen back at training.' Levi thought as he fought to prevent the wolf from putting an unceremonious end to his right arm.
He was starting to realize the difference between a good hearted training ng session and an actual combat situation. The battlefield was an ever changing place, where even the slightest and most overlooked aspect could end up being the determining factor.
Levi probably could have subdued Swift if this was a normal fight, but the conditions were a bit different as a Swift blinded by rage could not be expected to fight normally.
"Rrrrrg." Levi struggled to keep the beast's jaw open. He did not know for how long he would keep this up, but he had decided to abandon those thoughts and focus on surviving for the moment.
Blood dripped from his arm as Swift's razor sharp teeth slowly sank into his flesh. Levi, who had already experienced much worse pain, had little difficulties in ignoring the pain. It was all about mindset.
As the strength in Levi's muscles rapidly depleted, Swift's fangs dug deeper into Levi's flesh, birthing much sharper pain. It was getting to the extent that Levi had to bite down on his lip, to prevent himself from doing something silly.
More time passed by and the pain steadily increased. Levi's mind was now on edge as the reality of him losing an arm was fast approaching. He somehow maintained his calm, but he was done doing nothing as his eyeballs moves around in search of an opening.
The muscles in Swift's jaw slowly contracted as he bit down on Levi's elbow, completely focused on the action. It was at that moment that Levi noticed one very large opening at Swift's rib area.
The beast had left it wide open during his ongoing endeavour to impair the boy.
Summoning all the strength in his lower limb, Levi sent a powerful knee straight to the center of the exposed area, mercilessly jamming into Swift's ribcage.
A small 'crack' sound was heard as the attack was extremely effective as Swift fell off from his dominant position and began to release pained whimpers.
Levi wasted no time as he immediately assumed a standing posture, and activated the aether technique; Aether skin. As the deep blue aura rose from Levi's body and coated the surface of his skin, he felt an increase in power.
"What?" Levi accidentally blurted out. Apparently, the increment in his physical attributes had been significantly more than before. His physicals had now been multiplied by exactly three fold!
'My output increased....but I have not done anything yet....' Levi wondered why his technique had suddenly improved even though he had not actually done anything...or so he thought.
'wrong. Knowing your fear is the first step towards conquering or containing it.' Grim responded.
Levi understood and he wanted to get more adjusted to his newfound strength, but alas, fate did not will it as Swift slowly dragged himself back up. A single drop of blood stained the white fur underneath his mouth as he gazed at Levi maliciously. His murderous intent had seemingly doubled.
The two now stared dead on at each other. The malevolent glare of Swift's clashed with Levi's. A firm resolve which would not hesitate to tear the other apart if need be was evident in the eyes of the latter.
He was on good terms with Raja, Ara and Tio, and he genuinely liked them. But he would not allow that liking lead him to his death. Swift may have saved him at the beginning, but that card had already been used up and the slightly mutilated figure of Levi's right arm bore witness to this fact.
The two beings were utterly focused on each other, and as a result of that fact they had actually failed to notice the silent hiss that sounded from somewhere nearby.
Hidden in the cover of the bushes were a group of treacherous predators, who would have normally been considered prey by the wolves. They slowly bid their time and sharpened their fangs, waiting with a seemingly boundless patience. They were awaiting the right moment.....to strike!
"Hiss..."
A/N:
Promise fulfilled! Second chapter of the day has arrived!!