Tales of magic: grimoire of transmogrification
Chapter 16
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Arc 2 - "The hunter and the beast"
Chapter 0- "The hunting night.."
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A wise man once said,"In this world, there are no enemies."
The whole point of this book is to mock those fools who think they are wise. Sometimes timeless wisdom is not timeless at all. Neither does it count as wisdom.
So you must understand that I disagree with him.
Indeed, there are enemies lurking in the shadows, enemies among your allies, and enemies where you least expect them to be.
~ An extract from 'Wisdom of the insane' by Philosopher.
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Flashback.
Night of Lisa's death.
27 April, 1886.
Weidson town, Pridon.
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18:41
The rain continued to shower. It was so heavy that no one was seen on that street moving around without an umbrella, except a small teenage girl and a tall man.
The tall man was dressed in a black trenchcoat and was holding whar looked like a wooden stick on his right hand.
'He looks stupid.' She thought as she walked.
"Sword, don't tell me you are here."
The tall man shaked his head.
The girl stopped.
"Quit talking to yourself, mad man! What the heck are you even doing out in the rain?"
The man shaked his head again. His facial expression was unclear.
"I could ask you the same question, without insulting you." He dragged out each word a bit longer, as though he was teaching a toddler. The girl stomped her feet on the wet floor, irritated.
"I'm here because, reasons!"
"Well then, little girl, I am also here because of reasons. And I think my ..."
"What did you just call me!! Apologize right now you piece of shit!" She interrupted.
"What did I say?" The man was frowning.
"You called me a little girl. Don't you have eyes? I'm a full grown woman!" She stretched, trying to look taller. The tall man just laughed.
"Of course you are." The man nodded his head.
'Why do I keep meeting the strangest people? First I met Margaret, Lancaster, now this one?' William thought.
He turned and started walking away, leaving the girl behind. She stomped her way away too.
On the outskirts of Weidson, there were not that many houses. The streets only had two or three houses each. It was quiet too.
The reason behind this scarcity of houses is the Queen's policy. She had decreed that all of the houses around Weidson hill be demolished, for a project that shall soon commence.
The townspeople speculate that it might be infrastructural development in the form of a new railway station.
Lisa middlesworth - the teenage girl- didn't believe it.
After a while, they bumped together again.
"Why are you following me! Creep!"
"I'm just going to the same place as you. There shouldn't be any problems."
"It seems as if you're following me!"
"Where are you going?"
"Not going to say."
"I'm going to the Little mountain."
"....same place." She admitted.
"What are you going to do there? Shouldn't you be going home? Why do you have to get into the rain without an umbrella? You could just go somewhere and wait it away."
"I have to go there, or my life is over!"
"What! There's a threat to your life?"
'He looks genuinely concerned. Maybe he's not so creepy after all.'
Lisa smiled but did not respond.
Will approached her, and then carried her.
"What do you think you are doing!"
"I'll help you get there faster. You're soaked through. If you keep standing in the rain like a fool, you'll catch a cold. Now tell me about the threat, is it a monster?"
Lisa's eyes widened.
"Yes... It's not like I believe in monsters or anything...but whatever I saw in there didn't look human."
"You're terrified, aren't you? Just from thinking about it. It must be a monster then. My name is William. I came here to hunt the monster."
"..m-m-m my name is Lisa. And how did you know there was a monster there?"
"Someone told me. Now, we're almost there, Lisa. Don't worry you'll be safe. Your heart is beating too fast...If there is a monster there, why go there?"
"I left something very important in there, I'll be in trouble if I don't get it back."
"Oh, okay kid, here we are."
The little mountain was as green as always. Lisa pointed towards a cave.
"That's were the monster is. That's were I saw it. Please help me. I think what I left behind is with the monster."
'She's very honest.' William thought.
William took her inside the cave and then dropped her.
"You can hide from the rain here. I'll go over and get my job done. " Then he held the handle of his sword, gripping it tightly.
"Over there! The cave splits into two tunnels. Go to the one in the right! That were the thing is hiding! Get me back my necklace so I can get out of here!"
William shaked his head for the third time that night.
'Do you have to be so noisy, little girl?'
The hunter did not run, he walked briskly towards his target. When he reached the split in the path, he took the right one. He found himself in a large cave room, big and huge.
"Hey girl! Go and hide in the other room. I'll feel better about things if you're right behind me!"
"Ok. But it's not a room, It's called a..."
"Go!!!"
'I know now.'
Lisa walked towards the split.
The moment Lisa turned her back to go to the left path, William turned to look at her. Freaked out, she turned around towards him.
"What's the matter?" She said nervously while walking backwards.
William started towards her, walking slowly. For each step he took towards her, she took a step back.
"Nothing, really. I just want us to drop the act..."
His unsheathed sword scraped the floor as they moved.
Lisa's back touched the hard wall. The room to the left was tight and narrow, it was more like a small passageway, but it led to a dead end.
"....Beast" William said, frowning. Though the expression on the rest of his face was mild, his eyes looked sinister. He looked at her like she wasn't human, like she was some kind of animal.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Hunter's sword lodged itself inside of her stomach, tearing up her shirt.
"Ahhhhh." She screamed out in pain.
William leaned towards her.
"I am Hunter. But you knew that already, didn't you? You lured me here, to the wide spacious cave out far away from any house, so you could kill me, am I right?"
The girl was terrified, her face shifted in fear.
Blood escaped her mouth.
"Answer me!" He yelled at the top of his voice.
She looked tired before, but the moment that statement was uttered, it was as though it hurt her far more than the blade.
".....yes. I am Beast." She whispered, sobbing.
"You're the monster that has killed so many innocent people, slaughtered and devoured them, and continued to grow stronger. You are my greatest enemy, and I've been searching for you since the day I discovered you existed. Ever since I heard of what you had done,and ever since I saw the carnage and agony you caused, I wanted you dead."
"And to think you're nothing but a kid. Disappointing."
Lisa was still quietly sobbing.
"What are you waiting for, monster!"
William pulled his sword away, causing her to wail louder.
Lisa fell on the floor, weak and bleeding away.
She raised her head towards him, and closed her eyes, and then she said something.
"Beast."
The moment those words left her lips, a yellow light emerged from within her heart. Blood poured out of her eyes, nose and mouth, and viens appeared around her head.
Lisa started to grow taller her flesh becoming wider and longer, her skin breaking open and blood pumping out of it. Her eyes bulged out of her face, her teeth and mouth grew bigger.
Her teeth became fangs and her nails became claws.
While this transformation was going on, she was screaming at the top of her voice, enduring the excruciating pain.
And that wasn't all. Her skin- or rather what remained of it - became black and rough. Her neck elongated a bit, and her back arched as though she had a hunch back.
Lisa didn't look human anymore. The bone structure was completely different from a human, it was more like some kind of bear/ wolf.
As she transformed, the force of her body suddenly growing caused the small cavern to start to shake. At a certain height, her body was too big for the cavern. Her body grew into the walls and ceiling of the cave, and continued to grow. Before it did, hunter managed to escape by sprinting out with incredible speed.
Turning around to look at the collapsed rocks and sheathing his sword, William readied his shotgun.
"Get up! I know you're not dead yet!" Hunter screamed to the pile of rocks. He was standing in the split, and with the left cavern collapsed, the rocks from the wall were piled up, crushing the towering figure that was Beast.
'This is my enemy. I don't care if she's a child.'
The Beast emerged from the rocks. It got down on all fours and stared at William with it's red eyes. It salivated.
'If I hesitate, more people will die by it's hands. It's a tragedy, for such a child to go through such pain..but that's why I have to make this quick, so she dies as soon as possible.'
It jumped, crossing two feet in a second, crashing on Hunter instantly.
It started to push Hunter with the sheer force of its upper body.
Pulling the trigger did nothing.
'I'll just toss that away.'
Hunter was whisked away along with the beast, as it sprinted across the cave, scratching it's claws against the walls.
"Spirits of blood, flesh and bone. Scope out the physical ability of my enemy, and grant me the ability to overcome them with strength." ~WORDS OF MAGIC.
"Supreme might."
His body glowed with crimson light for a few seconds. And then his muscles bulged.
His hands stretched out, pressing the thing's chest, he stopped the Beast's advance with his raw physical strength.
But he wasn't strong enough to push it back.
"Ahhhhh!!!!"
The thing screamed, opening it's maw and snapping it at William.
"You want to kill me before you eat me. But now you're changing your mind huh? If you have one, that is. Finish the job, legendary beast."
It opened it's mouth, letting out it's foul smell straight into his face.
'stinking beast.'
As William was being eaten, he managed to dodge the teeth, unsheath his sword, and slash it's tongue.
The huge fangs got close to biting into his head, but with supernatural speed, William jumped out of it's mouth. Landing on his two feet, he pointed his sword at the Beast almost immediately after.
The beast screamed as it tasted it's own blood. In blind rage, it raised it's right claws and attempted to slash Hunter.
Hunter dodged in an instant, allowing the claws to smash into the bottom of the cave.
It continued to smash at him, and Hunter continued to dodge every single time.
"You're not as fast as they say." He said while dodging.
"Or maybe.." he avoided another attack.
".. you're not even trying to hit me!"
Hunter leapt into the air, using his massive sword to cleave out one of Beast's ears.
'The girl.. It's easy to think she is the one behind it all, it makes it easier to kill her, when I know she's evil. But if she is barely in control of herself, how can I be sure? As of now, I See that her soul is desperately fighting her instincts. She's trying as hard as she can, to make this easier for me..'
'...I was never expecting this to be easy, though.'
The moment he landed, the Beast also fell on it's back, writhing in pain.
The force of Beast's collapse, caused the entire hill to shake. It seemed as though it would fall apart.
"I guess I have to leave, then."
Hunter turned his back and ran as fast as he could. It was slower than before.
'The spirits of blood flesh and bone have left me. The runes burnt out, I can't use that spell again in this fight.'
'But I won't need it.'
Beast got up from the collapsing cave, glowing with yellow energy. It simply smashed it's way through with nothing but raw muscle power.
The distance between the two closed up slowly, as Beast caught up with Hunter. Hunter managed to leave the cave, returning to the rain.
"Rrroooarrr!!!"
The Beast roared as it attempted to pounce on hunter. Of course, even without the extra speed, he was able to dodge in time.
"So you are holding back, Beast! That is the singular biggest mistake you have ever made."
Apart from the two of them, there was an old lady with an umbrella walking across the street.
Hunter focused on his enemy.
It was difficult to see in the rain, but Hunter's blue eyes could see the ripples in the water puddles, and the ripples in the ground beneath them. It was all charges with whatever yellow energy the Beast was emitting. Something big was coming.
The Beast stood still for once. Hunter got into a fighting stance, holding his sword with both hands.
'Who needs spells?'
Beast started to transform again. It got even bigger.
'How is it doing that?'
All of a sudden, it vanished.
Following his target, Hunter's eyes darted to the Beast's new location.
The old woman was gone. There was no scream.
Beast's teeth was stained with red blood. Now at 25 ft tall, the Beast bared it's fangs at Hunter, looking down on him from up above.
'It looks as if Lisa's mind has lost. The Beast is completely in control now ...I didn't even see it move..'
'The greatest ability the Beast possesses is not it's speed. It's the fighting instinct. It's body is built for extreme combat, and even If it barely has any intelligence, it knows exactly how well to tear it's prey apart.'
'Very well, then. We may begin.'
Claws as huge as swords impaled Hunter at different parts of his body.
'Not wasting time, huh?'
"Gun."
A loud bang was heard, the moment he completed the statement. And then the Beast's arm was gone. Hunter was a few feet away, lying on the ground.
He swiftly got back up. His wounds were completely closed.
"That was an explosive, not a gun. It's a clever little trick, All Mages have theirs....."
Beast jumped to him again. This time, he managed to put his sword in between the claws and his body.
He stil got sent flying across the street due to the momentum.
William got up again.
"I have a lot more tenacity than you think. You see, I heard you had super regeneration, so I went ahead and got my own."
The beast screamed. It's arm regenerated as well, albeit slower than Hunter.
"Don't worry. I didn't lose my humanity completely. I'm still a human Mage. My body only heals because of a little enchanted item on my body. I won't tell you where though. It'll spoil the fun."
The giant monster leaped towards it's enemy again, this time it used it's fangs. The huge teeth bit into his body. Fot the first time since the battle begun, William grit his teeth in pain. The massive jaw was crushing his shoulders and legs, and the fangs were lodged into his flesh. However, somehow he managed to move deeper into it's mouth.
By the time he entered the tongue, and he wasn't getting hurt, his injuries became history.
'Let's see if your insides heal any faster.'
"Gun."
The force of the explosion sent him flying out of it's mouth, breaking through the teeth and plummeting to the ground. Flipping in midair, he landed on his two feet, wounds closed completely.
'Third time using it. So I could've died three times already. Interesting.'
Beast was in far worse shape. It's body was still healing visibly, but it's chest, neck and head was almost entirely torn to pieces.
The surprising fact was that it was still standing and regenerating after all of that.
"Yes. You win. You're far more tenacious than me."
Hunter grinned as he produced his second gun from his bag. It was the only other weapon he had, other than his knives and sword.
"This is the real hunting gun. It's not a shotgun though. It's of a special make. I call it the force gun. But you can call it whatever you want."
He aimed it, and then he fired.
A blast of white light connected with the Beast's head.
The Beast topped over, falling on it's back and losing it's entire head in the blast.
'You're not a zombie, are you?'
It twitched.
"Damn."
'This might take a while.'
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