Sylvia is walking in front; Rowan follows closely behind, and I am at the rear because of my defensive abilities. We can hear the roars of wildlife all around us.
Rowan has still not found the off button on his mouth. He is chattering away at Sylvia. If before she was simply uninterested, now I see that she is slightly annoyed. She does not show it to him however, she keeps her composure, smiles, and curtly answers whatever he says.
We have been walking for a few hours and we haven't met any of the other teams, or anyone really. Is this another effect of Maestro Lauren's ability? I do not know but I am getting hungry. I finally decide to speak up.
"How long do you think until we get to DaiKar."
"I am not sure, but the mountain peak we have been aiming for has not gotten any closer in the last six hours. And we have been walking straight towards it"
Rowan shares his input.
"That must be that Maestro's doing, she insists on playing with us, she does not know her place!"
"No matter, let's find shelter and rest for a bit. This will give us bit of time think about a plan of action. Alden, Rowan, what do you think of this cave over there?"
"I will follow you anywhere Lady Sylvia!"
"...The cave is okay with me too."
We sit down and I take out a bagel from my coat pocket. This may sound ridiculous, but emergency bagels are a must. I always carry one on me. The one in my possession today is not any bagel either, it comes directly from Aurora. If she does not make it as [enlightened], she will surely be a world-renowned baker.
A pleasant smell fills the inside of the cave. It has been hours, but because of Aurora's expertise, it was as if the bagel was just made. I salivate at the simple sight of it.
As I indulge myself, I feel revitalized. I wish I had brought some sort of garnish such as butter or jam, but the sheer flavor of the bagel itself makes up for it. The others are looking at me with curious eyes.
"Only a peasant would pull out Bagel from his pocket..."
"I know you want a taste Rowan, all your food was in your bag, wasn't it? Lucky for you I brought 3. Ms. FullCastle, would you also be interested?"
"Thank you, Alden, but I think I will be okay"
Rowan does not answer me, however.
"Come on Rowan, I know you want some, don't be shy."
He extends his hand to have me drop the bagel in it but I will not make it that easy for him.
"Do they not teach manners in great family households? Say: 'Please Alden, can I have one of your bagels'"
His face turns beet red, but his stomach growls. He must be starving.
"P-Please Alden, can I have one of your bagels..."
"I can't hear you though?"
"This commoner trash! How dare you make me repeat something so humiliating!"
"Ah, I guess you don't want it then."
The pleasant aroma is bombarding his nostrils. Despite my taunts, Rowan would love nothing more than one of my bagels. He sucks his pride in and repeats himself.
"PLEASE ALDEN, CAN I HAVE ONE OF YOUR BAGELS."
I think I should taunt him a bit more, he has been getting on my nerves ever since the day I met him.
"Let's try Master Alden now, I like the sound of that better."
"YOU!!!"
"Alright, give him the bagel or don't Alden, let's stop this farce now."
Sylvia is already tired of our play. She is right though; we are wasting precious time. It pains me to share one of Aurora's precious creations with someone like Rowan, but he is of more use to me if his stomach is full. I give him the bagel; he does not even thank me for it. Once this is done, Sylvia speaks again.
"Let's compile what we know, we are in a dense forest seemingly full of wild animals. We have not been able to meet with any of the other teams and have not caught sight of any of the wildlife we hear around us. The mountain peak is not getting any closer no matter how much we walk, and we have no more food besides Alden's last bagel. What do you two make of the situation?"
This is a fairly accurate assessment. I share my input.
"I've been thinking about something Maestro Lauren said. 'usage of your [melody] is strictly forbidden once you begin your ascent of the mountain'. It sounds like we are allowed to use it before we ascend."
"So then, there should be a reason for us to use it, is that also what you're thinking Alden?"
"Yeah, and that reason requires us to form teams nonetheless"
Rowan is following our conversation but is having a hard time understanding what we mean.
"What? What in this forest would require 3 [enlightened] to use their abilities?"
As he utters these words a large shadow is cast over Sylvia who is seating closest to the entrance of the cave, it stands on its hind legs and launches a full force attack at her.
"Watch out!"
In the same moment, a circular shield appears above her to protect her from the attack. Thin cracks appear on it.
'It cracked it in only one hit? even my former professor took at least 5 hits to do that...'
Sylvia quickly rises to her feet and puts herself in a battle stance. The enemy blocks the entrance to the cave, escape is not possible. Even if it was, I feel that the moment to use our abilities has shown itself.
"Listen! This is bear is has received the blessings of an [Echo], the plan is simple. Alden, you and I will be in the frontline, you take care of its right paw and me the left, aim for its eyes nose and chin, do not bother hitting its body. The bear is much faster than us, dealing an effective fatal blow will be extremely difficult. That's where you come in Rowan, go invisible and be ready to give out the killing blow at a suitable moment."
"Understood!"
"Got it!"
The [melody] is present in all life, and by this, I really mean all life. In some instances, during the [fracture], animals will encounter [it]. There have even been reports of the same happening to plants. According to experts, there seems to be no age requirement when it comes to non-humans.
Thankfully, this generally does not result in any type of ability. Animals' minds are simpler and thus they cannot understand and play a complex [melody]. What it does, however, is provide a much more straightforward but equally terrifying physical enhancement which may be accompanied by a slight change in appearance. We refer to these animals as having received [Echoes] because what they receive from [it] is only a distant echo of what we benefit from.
The [Echo-blessed] bear in front of us resembles a grizzly bear, except maybe twice as large. Instead of the typical brown hair seen on this type of bear, it wears a deep crimson fur coat. On its front limbs sit impressive claws, each resembling finely sharpened swords. A single hit from those will mean our death.
If a normal bear is 5x stronger than a normal human, an [Echo-blessed] bear is 5x stronger than your average 1st stage enlightened. Comparing him to my hand-to-hand combat professor, if it took him 10 hits to get through my shield, I sense that 2 hits from this bear will shatter it.
It is also far superior in terms of speed and durability. We are at a steep disadvantage, but the battle must start nonetheless.
The plan is put into action, Rowan disappears, me and Sylvia will fend off the bear until he has a chance to finish it off.
Following its initial attack, the bear returns to its quadruped stance and charges at us. I meet it halfway, it attempts to strike but a melody plays in my head and my shield blocks his right paw from tearing through me, that is already the 2nd hit. In spite of my previous assessment, my ability endures, most-likely because this strike was not as powerful as its opening attack.
Whenever I block anything with my ability, because I am not holding the shield, I receive no impact whatsoever. This leaves me with two free hands while the bear's paw is stuck on the surface of my ability.
In a split second, I direct pure flow to both my arms and strike it with a double-fist strike to its neck and nose. It brushes off the pain, sets its right paw down and tries to hit me with its left. If I was alone, this attack would have spelled my end. I cannot escape it and this time it would surely have broken through my shield had I tried to summon it in the bear's path of attack. Good thing I am not alone.
In the same instant, Sylvia rushes in its direction, she moves her leg in an upward motion using much more force than pure flow should allow. Even the [Echo-blessed] bear can't brush this one off and Its attack is knocked away leaving it wide open. Both me and Sylvia take this chance to direct pure flow to our legs and perform a whip kick directly on each of its cheeks, I notice that her attack is stronger and faster than mine. The bear is disoriented, it stands on its hind legs once more and prepares for one of its most devastating attacks. We should dodge here but Sylvia speaks to me.
"Alden! Make a platform for me!"
I immediately know what she plans to do. Without a second's hesitation I prepare a platform for her right in front of the bear, she jumps on it and uses it as a launching pad. Using her arms as springs and making using of the platform to close the distance between her and the [Echo-blessed] bear's face, she performs a beautiful but devastating dropkick aimed right at its cranium.
The bear crashes to the ground, on its back. I waste no time and summon a now pristine aegis above its torso to prevent it from getting back up. I can already feel my shield faltering as the animal is desperately trying to free itself. Sylvia pins its left paw to the floor, and I pin its right paw down. Now all that is left is for Rowan to deliver the final blow.
"Rowan! Now or never!"
The finishing strike never comes. The [Echo-blessed] bear shakes us off and we are sent flying into the walls of the cave. Rowan is nowhere to be seen.