Divine Beast Ascension

The sword-wielding merchant said nothing in reply. He simply brushed his hand over his chest and resided his sword for the next clash. Though the man’s eyes were somehow blurred behind the mask, the man’s determination was still evident.

“Still want to be seen as a thief? Some guild you’re from,” laughed Oli.

A burst of blue, serene essence began to cascade over the masked merchant. Like a living waterfall, the merchant appeared both calm yet powerful, tranquil yet unstoppable.

‘Careful. He may be an elder.’

‘What?!’ Oli almost shouted out loud in surprise, barely containing his telepathic remarks. ‘Then how–‘

‘He doesn’t seem to be going all out though, only using enough essence to face a low or mid-adept,’ Vloz continued his assessment. ‘I’ll be taking action when the moment is right, but you’ll have to play along. For now, test the man and try to force as much essence out of him as possible.’

.....

The moment Vloz finished speaking was the moment the masked merchant struck again. Lunging forward, the merchant stabbed forward with a raging torrent splashing over his blade. That torrent burst toward Oli and extended the sword’s reach drastically. It narrowly stabbed into Oli, but the brawny young man proved more flexible than anyone had anticipated.

Oli ducked low, evading the initial thrust before exploding out of his deep squat and into an all-out charge. He threw his first hammer to offset the merchant’s follow-up attack and threw a second hammer to do the same.

While the merchant either evaded or swatted away the hammers, he was calm and ready to retaliate without question.

“Now would be a good time to accept the deal,” mentioned the other merchant, smiling underneath his mask. His enthusiastic stare at the injured party members said more than his words.

Shadur shook his head slowly while they all watched Oli confront the powerful merchant.

Just as Oli was closing the distance, the merchant denied Oli’s attacks and prepared another thrust. Oli was wide open and preparing a powerful fist that left him exposed after his hammers were dealt with. This kept both merchants pleased, one happily pressuring the party members on the side and one satisfied that he could bring Oli down. With the next thrust, the merchant prepared to charge back at Oli. His watery blade extended again and charged directly into Oli’s chest, leaving the other party members at a loss of breath.

However, no blood was spilled. Rather than be stabbed through, Oli’s body vanished from sight before being skewered.

Both merchants were startled but the lead merchant was still calm and confident. He suddenly turned around and waved his arm, throwing out water to create blades of ice. Those icy blades were then thrown in the same way a shotgun shell spread upon firing, aimed in a general direction but covering a wider area to keep Oli from easily evading.

Finally, blood spilled as Oli was grazed by one of those icy blades. But Oli was too close for comfort and instantly created another hammer to hurl while in close-range.

This pressured the merchant and forced him to destroy the hammer with his own attack, giving Oli another moment to close the remaining distance and deliver another heavy blow.

“You should take the deal before he’s done. The moment he loses is the moment we’ll be paying you a discounted rate, so I would act fast,” stated the other merchant, acting confidently as he arrogantly looked down at Shadur and the swordsmen with broken arms.

‘Now!’

Hearing the signal, Oli almost sighed in relief as he suddenly jumped backward. He was about to be chased by the merchant but...

ROOOAAR!

Everyone shifted their immediate attention to the nearby tree line, where they could hear the rustle of undergrowth. Suddenly, a large black figure leaped out of thick bushes and tore into the masked merchant’s right shoulder.

“Master!” the merchant still on horseback yelled immediately.

All eyes were now on the large leopard as it then turned and roared back at Oli. Lunging again, the black-furred leopard jumped at Oli, who narrowly avoided being clawed in the leg.

Changing tactics, Oli took off toward his party and grabbed Shadur. “RUN!”

Nothing more needed to be said as Leon and Johan followed Oli at top speed. The merchants did the same, speedily escaping with the aid of their horses as the injured merchant climbed onto his fleeing steed.

“Oliver, is that the–”

“No talking! Only running!” Oli shouted, genuinely running for his life and looking behind him. To his great relief, Oli noticed the merchants dashing away toward the lily fields. “Just run! There’s no time to–”

ROOOAAR!

That roar shook the party’s hearts again, proving that the leopard had chosen them as his prey and not the merchants on horseback. Fear-driven adrenaline pumped through their bodies as the leopard tailed them perfectly. No matter what they did, the leopard was inescapable but never managed to get within striking distance. But they weren’t able to ask questions while they were busy fleeing with everything they had left.

After a while, the leopard would occasionally lunge at the party, narrowly clawing through someone’s skull. It made for the perfect motivation to travel at top-speed for an extended period of time. Before they knew it, the party had been running for more than an hour, but their bodies were realizing that fact before their minds were able to grasp it.

Seeing the other slowing down and feeling his own lungs beginning to struggle, Oli went into action. He turned and tossed Shadur off his back.

“Oli?! What are you–”

Before the others could stop him, Oli had lobbed Shadur into Leon and Johan seconds before charging the leopard behind them. “We can’t run forever!”

Oli’s gorilla-powered punch was whiff as the leopard ducked and bit into Oli’s side. Blood was drawn as Oli was thrown aside by the nearly two-krin leopard. However, a fist landed on the leopard’s skull while Oli was thrown.