บท 28: Brian's Fury
Beta discovered that the quality of their souls was much higher than his, therefore the technique he's currently executing was helping him grab a part of their strength then adding up and slowly improving his. Beta felt ecstatic and torn like ground meat at the same time. It was a weird feeling but still, he didn't leave the river, he stayed in there until he felt that his soul was about to shatter. The pain was so excruciating that it almost made him go insane. It was a good thing that his determination to be strong enabled him to endure and persevere, no matter how badly he wants to get out. So, even though he couldn't hold on any longer, he somehow managed to make his way to the river bank.
After what he felt like forever, he was finally floating next to the river, feeling like some old patched up clothing. He observed inside him and found out that he had the soulpower of many different souls at this moment. Beta didn't dare to stop guiding his soulpower and continued according to the instructions. He felt the patches of different souls merge with his own soul. It was not a feeling of gaining someone else's strength though. Instead, Beta felt as if his soul was absorbing pure nourishments.
His soulpower got stronger and increased in size. What used to be just a strand of a hair was now a straw. It may still not sound impressive but it was something not many could achieve within the same amount of time. Beta, on the other hand, had to go through this ordeal. His goal was to be stronger than the second years within two or three months, so that he could withstand Leopold's revenge. Of course, that was not the only reason. Leopold was just a small stepping stone for him. If he truly wanted to overlook everyone like an emperor, he would need more than just a small stepping stone. He would need a boulder. But to overcome this, he had to train like a mad man.
As the soul patches assimilated into his own soul, he felt some other changes too. The attunement to the elements the souls used to have, came with them. At first, Beta almost rejoiced of the potential ability of wielding all elements but then something happened. His death element started devouring every single element he got, further strengthening itself into a more potent power.
"So, I can't gain other elements? I see. No wonder there's nothing but death and void here. The element of death simply rots every other element away and steals its power. With void element as the only exception due to its mysterious composition which makes it undetectable by other elements. Actually, that's not too bad. Rather than having many weak elements, I'd rather have two very strong ones.", Beta thought with a bright smile on his face.
Hours later, he was finally finished assimilating everything in his soul. It now had a much higher quality and volume to it. Seeing the great results, he didn't hesitate to train more, not even minding the pain that he had to go through every time he did so.
Beta entered the soul river a few more times before deciding to take a break. He sat up from his bed, shook his limbs, and started practicing Death's Physique. Even though he was going to get new body parts soon, he still had to continue strengthening his current ones. Because, after all, he would need strength in order to gain stronger parts.
He trained like a madman and only took breaks when his body and mind couldn't handle it anymore. It still didn't stop him from repeating the process over and over though, just to increase his powers and abilities. Hours and days passed like it was nothing as he trained on and on. But after some time, Beta decided to stop and then left the house to check how many days he had been training. He asked some passerby and found out that four days had already gone by since he started. He was a bit surprised on how fast the time passed, but in the end, he didn't mind it much for he gained a lot and even have extra time left to do more training. Since, there were still three days left, he planned to enter the soul river a few more times once he got back.
But before he could go back, he was interrupted by someone's voice.
"Hey, Beta! There's a kid at the gates who's searching for you!"
Beta turned around and looked at the source of the voice. It was a middle-aged man with a rough beard. He was one of the academy's gate keepers.
"Who is it?", Beta asked.
"He said his name is Lars. Apparently, he's a friend of Brian."
"Brian's friend? Alright, I'm coming."
Beta followed the guard to the gate and was met with a small boy whose face seemed to be covered in soot and dirt with a hint of tear marks from crying on his way to the academy. The moment he saw Beta, he couldn't hold back anymore.
"Please help Brian! He's in danger!", Lars shouted in an anxious voice.
"What happened to him?", Beta said with a deep frown.
"Brian came to visit us a few weeks ago, bringing us food. When some people tried to steal it, Brian forced them to go away. At the beginning we were relieved, but once these guys noticed that Brian isn't around anymore, they came back to vent their anger out on us. They beat Ethan to death when he told them to go away and that Brian would make them suffer once he comes back. And Gerald, our leader, lost his arm protecting us from them. When Brian visited us again, he asked what happened. Once he learned about the truth, he started running around, searching for them. He set several houses on fire and pissed off these guy's leader... I think they are going to fight soon! Their leader is called Croobie and he's really strong!", Lars said in one breath, making sure not to forget anything.
"Lead the way!"
Beta didn't think twice. His friend was in danger and if he first prepared before going, he would possibly not make it in time. So, he followed Lars into the slums without any delay. Just as he entered, he already noticed the smoke rising up at the horizon.
"Seems like he's already pretty strong.", Beta thought to himself when he saw that scene.
His thoughts, of course, didn't slow him down at all. Instead, the exact opposite happened, as he hurried on even faster.
"You should wait here. I'll send your friends to you in a bit. Don't worry about Brian. Nothing will happen to him.", Beta said in a stern voice before bolting on his own.
Listening to him, Lars found new hope. He looked at Beta's departing figure and felt a peace of mind that he couldn't explain.
"Maybe this is what our boss Brian sees in his boss too…"
As Beta moved closer, he felt the heatwaves hitting his face. At the beginning, it was still a simple warm breeze, but soon, it became a heat that was forcing the residents away. Billowing smoke made people unable to breathe. There were only two persons that still stood there upright, looking at each other. None of them noticed that someone joined them.
"Croobie has burn marks all over his body, but I doubt Brian is that powerful yet. He must have set his house on fire. Brian seems to be quite bruised too. Coupled with the mace Croobie is wearing, I can only assume that he's a martial artist or earth element. For now, I'll hold myself hidden and see how it continues.", Beta muttered in an inaudible voice.
Brian moved his saber in front of himself and approached Croobie slowly.
"Where are they?", Brian said in a raspy voice.
His opponent, whose face couldn't even be recognized properly due to all the burn marks, looked at him angrily and looked down on him.
"You actually think you can force me to say anything? You're weak! If you hadn't burned my house while I was taking a nap, you wouldn't even have been able to do as much as harm me! You are still in the first Beginner Elementalist level! I'm already in the third one! Do you think that difference is just for show?", Croobie said after letting out a snort.
"I don't care! Even if I have to exhaust all my power and potential, I will force you to tell me the whereabouts of those bastards, so that I can murder them!"
Without waiting for an answer, Brian suddenly dashed towards Croobie, eager to finish the fight as he tried to slash him while targeting his limbs. However, Croobie was no pushover, so he easily dodged and attacked Brian fiercely. He swung his mace, aiming for Brian's head. Feeling the looming danger from the approaching attack, Brian bent his body backwards and raised one of his legs at the same time. Then, he kicked as hard as he can, putting all his weight on it. He managed to hit Croobie's chest and threw him off a few meters. But it wasn't enough for Croobie, who quickly stood up again. If he obediently lied down on the ground now, he was definitely going to die.
"Damn! That fire exhausted my body too much! I'm actually having problems fighting against a little brat!", Croobie thought with a wry smile. Usually, he ruled this whole area. But now, some kid burned down his house and even threatened him. And all that was because his subordinates made an unnecessary enemy. "Damn! Damn!" He couldn't stop cursing at his bad luck.
"Your body should hurt all over by now and the smoke should have some effect on you as well.", Brian said with a knowing smile.
"Shut up!", Croobie retorted.
Brian didn't give him any more time and attacked again. Croobie saw the saber flashing in front of him and deflected it with his mace. He then followed up with a with a kick of his own. Brian sidestepped the kick but didn't notice that the mace had already come back at that point. A popping noise sounded. Brian's right shoulder got heavily bruised and dislocated. Before his saber fell down, Brian grabbed it with his left hand, readying himself for more incoming attacks.
"Your main hand is already useless now. Just give up and receive your punishment!", Croobie said in a mocking tone.
"I'm not done yet!"
Brian concentrated all of his soulpower to form an arrow in front of him. It was the first one he had ever made, so it was a bit unstable. But due to his firm resolve, he was able to keep its form. It was a bit bigger than Beta's first arrow and instead of being grey it was a fiery red. The flames emitted a heat that would definitely be able to give some burn damage to someone.
Seeing this whole scene Croobie got more furious.
"You actually dare to use soulpower against me?! Fine! Let us compare in that department then!", Croobie shouted at Brian.
Suddenly, Croobie emitted a brown glow which quickly transformed into an earthen arrow. It was the size of a normal arrow but thicker and more potent in power compared to Brian's. Then they both fired their arrows at the same time.
As expected, Croobie's arrow was much faster as it arrived next to Brian in a very short amount of time. On its way, it even easily dispersed Brian's arrow, continuing in his direction.
"Sigh... So, this is where I will die? I couldn't even repay Beta for saving my life... I really wish I could've spent a few more years with him... The past few weeks that we have been together were the best of my entire life. Goodbye, Beta. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to say it to you personally.", Brian thought while closing his eyes. Not long after, he felt a pain...
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