บท 32: sword ability
Hearing Ariana's surprised voice made Garmond more curious as to why the blade was reacting in such a way.
"What is it?" He shifted his attention to Ariana, with his eyes still fixed on the large panther.
"You might actually win the beast" she said with a sigh, one that showed how relieved she was.
"Why do you say so?"
"Hmmm, I wouldn't want to spoil the fun, how about you check and see for yourself" she said, with a calm voice. Leaving Garmond etched with curiosity.
But with the beast he had on his neck now, he didn't have time to be asking questions, or trying to get informations.
"Match the flow of mana with your breathing" he revised the words that Chris had told him, taking a deep breath.
The mana spread through his body, filling every fibre of his body with the otherworldly energy.
"Now I can feel a bit safer" he said as his eyes narrowed, with a ferocious glint in them. He had used mana to reinforce his body. Just in case.
His muscles tensed as he held up his blade with his two hands.
Seeing it's prey had readied itself, the panther dived in.
'It's fast!' Garmond thought.
The beast had completely disappeared from sight!
Even the shadow had turned into a blur!
Sensing the dreaded presence behind him, Garmond's hairs stood tall.
He furrowed his eyes in concentration and met the claws with his sword.
A loud bang was heard, a sound similar to a bullet hitting hard on a metallic surface.
Garmond was blown back a meter but wasn't really harmed, as he stabbed his sword into the ground, gaining enough balance to stop his feet.
'This beast is strong' Garmond's brows furrowed. If the hit had gotten him, he'd be a slice of fresh meat.
It was even stronger than the wolf from the forest. This one was on a whole different level.
Thankfully, this wasn't the same Garmond from before. After learning the use of mana and knowing the intricacies in the usage of the sword. The Garmond here, wasn't far from the Garmond of the old.
He might even be better!
'If not for my perceptive abilities, this beast would've thorn me to shreds' He thought, pulling his sword out if the ground, readying himself for another round.
"Hmph"
Garmond raised a brow, 'Did that beast just scoff at me?' He could've sworn that he'd heard a sound.
"This beast has intelligence, it's not like the others. These are the rarest form of beast." Ariana said, a hint of worry reappearing in her voice.
The beat dived at Garmond again.
If he was to describe the speed, then it would be so ast that he couldn't even see it!
'I can barely hold on' Garmond thought, gritting his teeth. He was desperately parrying the onslaught of attacks from the beast, one hit and it was sure to be over.
'I just need to make one cut' Garmond thought. As the beast appeared in sight again with it's sharp claw coming down on his shoulders. Garmond smirked.
'I can do it now!' It was a gamble, but all he needed was to draw out even the tiniest bit of blood. With that, even at the speed the beast was using, he'd definitely be able to pinpoint where it was!
He ignored the claw that was aiming for his shoulders, shifting all his mana there, for reinforcement. Then with a swift vertical slash, he aimed right for the hind limb of the beast.
"Human, you underestimate my senses" the beast spoke again, with clear disdain in it's voice. In a swift motion, it twisted its body mid-air, changing the point of its attack to Garmond's gut.
"A feint?!" Garmond failed to notice the beast sinister plans.
Garmond tried to pull back, completely ignoring his idea from before.
'My mana is focused on my shoulder, I won't be able to pull it down to my gut on time!' Garmonds mind was racing. Mana control was an arduous task both fornthe mind and body.
He was yet to attain perfect control, as such he was left completely open!
'If I'm going down I'm going down with you.' Garmond's thrirst for blood had grown. With his eyes narrowed into slits, he pulled forward, thrusting his sword right at the beast underbelly.
The pungent stench of blood filled the air. As the earth was painted in red.
Garmond's gut was torn open, blood gushing out like a stream. The beast could be seen quite a large distance away, but it didn't look to be unscathed.
Garmond had made a deep cut right in the belly, but it wasn't as threatening as the injury it had inflicted on him.
Then a feeling washed over Garmond, with the consistent buzzing of the sword.
It felt like was touching something fundamental, it was a similar feeling to absorbing mana. But, no! This was completely different.
The strange power was rampaging through every part of his body, filling him up with energy.
"Did I just heal?" His whole body felt rejuvenated.
The sword shone with a bright golden color, sending out a powerful wave making allll the beast in the area scurry away in fear.
The sword became longer, a bit over a meter long, placing it among the longer swords. It was as straight as a nail and thin.
Yet, it had two symmetrical edges, separating it from the eastern longswords like the katana.
"You have unlocked, the first ability of the Golden sword" Ariana's voice had changed. Its quality seemed almost divine. It was powerful and resonant, yet silky and soothing. A sound that made you want to trust it. And this time he wasn't hearing it from his head.
She was by his side!
Not physically though. She appeared in a state that left Garmond slightly confused.
She looked like a ghost! Yet that wasn't enough to hide her divine features.
"Then it seems I'm in luck" Garmond's said with a stern voice, his eye's shining with an otherworldly hue. His purple iris now painted in gold.
He felt the power surging through him, and it came with a wide beastly instinct.
As he shifted his gaze to the beast, it felt a shiver run down its spine. His knife-cutting gaze, made it seem as though a sword was already at its throat.
'That's strange, why is he giving me such a feeling. And how did his level spike up so suddenly' the beast thought, unable to fathom such strange phenomenon.
Yes, Garmond had broken through the threshold! Now he was no longer an Adept host but had broken into the realm of a sentinel!
The pressure that Garmond was emitting was no longer one of a normal human warrior, his aura had changed drastically into that of a predator, hunting down on its prey.
Despite it's opponents strange increase in strength, the beast remained resilient. Such an opportunity could never pass it by.
'If I cannot kill this human, then I won't have anything to eat today and ..' the beast gritted it's teeth, it had suddenly remembered its young cub. It couldn't let its young cub die.
'I still have my speed as an advantage' it thought. And with great momentum it dashed from the ground, lunging towards Garmond.
"Such insolence" Garmond coldly muttered, the words escaped his lips, slightly shocking him as well.
'was that me?'
But, he didn't have time to ponder on that.
His eyes was fixed on the panther beast that was still mid-air, it's claws outstretched.
A moment back, Garmond wasn't able to keep up with the speed, but now? The beast looked terribly slow.
"Divine slash" he said with a calm breath. The air suddenly felt tranquil, all sound seemed to disappear.
As he let out the breath from his mouth, his hands moved with a sleek motion. It felt as natural as his own breath.
A vertical slash was sent out with a loud bang. It carried a powerful wave, sweeping some trees off the ground. The air itself rippled as the slash went through with seemingly no sound at all.
The slash tore through everything that blocked its path! And with a clean hit, it tore through the beast.
It wasn't a normal slash, this slash was a mana filled slash.
The raw mana spread across the beast body, destroying every organ instantly. In mere seconds the lively beast was left in a pool of its own blood.
The body had more broken bones than one still intact. The ribs jutting out of it and some of its innards leaking out.
The head was split in two equal halves. It died with an expression of shock, surprise and disbelief on its face.
Who knew one slash was what would determine its fate.
The bright golden light in Garmond's eyes died out as he took a moment to observe the massive destruction that his attack had caused.
The bizarre occurrence left him bewildered.
"This was definitely not what I expected" He said.
"This is the clear difference between an adept and a sentinel. Congratulations on leveling up!' Ariana's voice tinged with excitement.
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