Chereads / Spirit Tether / Chapter 19 - Chapter 19: The demise of the merchant part 2

Chapter 19 - Chapter 19: The demise of the merchant part 2

Spirits exist in a variety of shapes and sizes; some have animal-like traits, some are fairy-tale creatures heard only in bedtime stories, and others are a combination of the two. For example, the merchant had been chained to a wild boar demon with black fur and scarlet eyes.

The demonic boar spirit was not a rare spirit to be tied to, but it had its own preferences for who it wanted to tether to. It desired those who desired to be free of their shackles in order to enjoy the delights of the world; some spirit encyclopedias compared them to Incubus or succubus demons.

They were not part of those demonic families that seek joy in the flesh, but the boar seeks delight in causing chaos and disorder for the sake of having fun, as they claim, but you never know with demons.

The merchant's fat bulk had vanished beneath the thick layer of fur and muscle that comes with the metamorphosis. His body was the same height as Vance's, with black tuff of fur and two tusks of white bone emerging from the side of the mouth, with little fangs showing when he opened his mouth.

His hands and feet were now hooves, however the hooves on his hands were humanoid in appearance, whilst the hooves on his feet were a cross between a human and a boar. The merchant clenched his hand and opened it, as if he were a man experiencing this for the first time.

He would occasionally let out an Oink in between words, even if he wasn't saying anything. He stared at the youngster who was still kneeling with a crate left on the wall; his stomach region was scaled with the same scales that were on his hand, and Monare's eyes were dull and dimming from the blue light, his body drenched in blood from Vance's death. Monare drew in a small breath and whispered:

"Hey Tokoloshe, should I grant you exile?"

The Tokoloshe remained quiet for a moment as he responded with a chuckle:

"Is that a joke kid, we all know that you are just savoring the pain you masochist"

Monare chuckled slightly as he answered:

"You know me well"

Monare smiled as he rose up and stared at the Demonic Boar, his eyes brightening with life and vigor.

He briefly touched his stomach with his clawed hand and said:

"Oh, I could swear that I felt a kick for a bit there or I might be crazy due to the pain for moment there"

The merchant oinked and said:

"So you have resistant to pain huh"

"I hopeful I would, but not at the moment"

After saying so, the merchant's eyes revealed hatred and mirth as his drool fell to the floor, hunger in his eyes.

He rushed in with a shoulder bash, determined to accomplish the task of shattering the wall, with Monare as the target. But Monare sluggishly averted the blow while gripping his abdominal region, but that wasn't enough because the Merchant grabbed Monare's foot with his free hand.

He drew him back to end him with the blow to the stomach. The merchant assumed he had knocked out Monare as the room vibrated again from the impact of the house's intense shaking.

To his surprise, the youngster had tanked the blow with his lower and upper body, save for his face, which was covered in scales. He had used his hands to stop the attack. Monare had a nasty smile on his face; he appeared to have liked the attack and was unfazed by it.

The smile immediately caused the merchant to withdraw his attack, but this was a mistake. Monare lunged at the boar demon, swiping at the hand that had bashed him against the wall, his claw digging in and tearing bits of skin.

The merchant growled in pain as he retaliated against Monare with a punch, which he ducked with a lean within the enemy's strike area before retracting his hand for an uppercut that nailed the boar on the jaw.

Merchant's massive frame stuttered as he was pushed back, but he shook off the dizziness as Monare kicked him in the arm, stomach, face, and legs. That sequence of strikes concluded with Monare performing a spinning roundhouse kick to the cheek, which pushed the boar somewhat but not far enough to make him dizzy again.

During such strikes, the merchant was able to block them while awaiting the ultimate move. When the kick hit his cheek, he grabbed Monare's leg with his hoof-like hands, pulling him toward his free hand and grabbing his throat.

As Monare strained to free himself from the demonic boar's clutches, the merchant began to squeeze, gritting his teeth and adding:

"Those moves work on foolish kids like Vance over there, not on Core 3 spirit tethers. I can sense your weakness, but I have yet to discover your Exile's condition, so I will keep humouring you until we do." He oinked again as his pig-like nose began to sniff Monare's exhausted body. His air was running low as the merchant continued to squeeze steadily.

Monare's determination was still there in his eyes; he wanted to kill someone today, and he would. He left the hand that was squeezing the life out of him and rapidly did some hand motions while saying in a low voice that he was stuttering because there wasn't enough air:

"Freeze point"

He sped a spit toward the boar's face, and as the piece of saliva traveled toward the boar's eye, it froze and turned into a sharp pike of spit, similar to an icicle. It flew through the air with incredible speed, piercing the eye and causing the merchant to squeal like the pig he is.

He focused on the pain in his own body rather than the one he was currently inflicting on someone else, grabbing his eye and looking with his health eye at Monare, who was laughing while being strangled.

With even more rage in his eyes, the merchant punched Monare in the face with all of his strength. The impact pushed Monare to strike the crack with sufficient force to totally destroy the wall.

Monare was now plunging down to the alley below, but before he was struck through a wall, he scaled his back, which moved from his hands and torso like quick liquid, protecting his back from the impending collision.

He landed so forcefully on the surface that dust rose from the solid ground. He spit a big amount of blood as his eyes practically whitened, possibly owing to his perseverance and drive to finish the mission he assigned himself. Monare survived the impact.

He gently stood up, using the walls with one hand to soothe his arching back while gritting his teeth in anguish. He scowled and whispered through clinched teeth:

"I need to locate some fluids; my perspiration and blood are both insufficient. It dried out so quickly"

Monare walked slowly, using the wall as support, with his other hand clutching his painful back. However, his advance was hindered when he heard a loud oink followed by a squeak from the merchant.

There he was now, the merchant in his boar demonic form, hatred in one eye, looking at Monare with what appeared to be a smile.

"Forget the fun kid, I will maim as much as you did me"

He instantly jumped toward Monare, his aura getting more ominous as he approached the landing. Nonetheless, in a strange and amusing turn of events, the merchant failed to account for his stature, and he became wedged between the alley's walls, his hands buckled and stuck.

Monare wanted to laugh now, but he didn't have time; instead, he sped through the streets of Onskeard's central region, looking for any traces of liquid. To his luck, he discovered a clay jar left alone outside the door of a house along the alleyway.

Monare smiled, feeling safe and relieved as he took the jug, his back still hurting and a limb on his leg. He poured the water all over his injured body; fortunately, it was nighttime, so the presence of humans was not obvious.

Monare felt a pleasant burst of vitality after emptying the jug, which soon went to his injured sections of his body as his bones were readjusted and agony was wiped away in only seconds.

Monare dashed to the lane, and to his relief, the merchant was still stuck in the tight alley. When Monare's scales and black claws returned to his hands, his eyes turned a vivid blue once more. He uttered:

"Let's begin"

Monare took a running stance as he ran and launched for the boar demon, his claws ready to claw at anything.