Beastforged Bond Chapter 9b

“Fuck off!” a curse escaped my lips as the deer’s hooves threatened to squash , but I threw myself on the ground again and rolled to the side. Sensing an opportunity, I sliced the beast’s injured leg once more, ramming the silvernit blade as deep as I could.

The Bloodbath Deer must have taken that as a challenge, as it lowered its head to impale with its tiny antlers the mont I tore the blade out of its body. Its head smashed down, and it got too close to my chest as I gathered every ounce of strength in my body to push left. I kicked the beast in the chest and felt its ribs shift, but I could barely push it to the right.

Leaping to my feet, I clutched the silvernit sword with both hands. I was trembling and felt like I was about to lose control of my body, but how could I stop here? How could I give up now that I’d already co this far?

My bond with Aureus flared, and I felt sothing shift. The glutton was doing sothing, yet I couldn’t quite tell what it was. All I could feel was… clarity. Aureus’ presence within grew, and my mind cleared up from one mont to the next. The next thing I knew, I was charging ahead, pumping ether into the silvernit sword. The Bloodbath Deer charged into range, but I didn’t focus on evasion this ti. I lifted my vibrating sword with both hands instead and swung it down as the deer crossed into my reach.

I was taller, heavier, and had a longer range of attack. Plus, I had painstakingly tempered my physique.

With all those advantages, I could have defeated the juvenile Bloodbath Deer, but it was the silvernit sword that decided it all. Filled with my ether, the sword’s durability and sharpness reached a higher level. It even felt faster as I swung it down—fast enough to avoid the juvenile’s antlers and to cut into its skull instead.

I was certain the silvernit sword wouldn’t make it—that the blade would never carve deep enough into the Bloodbath Deer’s skull to kill it, yet the bond consud my hesitation. It filled with unending confidence, allowing to stay strong and to focus my full strength on the attack. I felt sothing leave my throat and realized only later that it was a defiant roar. Then I pressed the blade deeper into the skull. It didn’t split apart, but sothing crumbled—shifted—and made space so that the ether-infused blade could dig deeper.

I t the Bloodbath Deer’s eyes and saw nothing but hatred and hunger. It pushed forward, continuing its ferocious approach to ram its antlers into my shoulder, but all it did was worsen the beast’s situation. It helped my blade cut even deeper until I reached sothing.

Was it the beast’s brain tissue? I couldn’t quite tell at first, but the juvenile Bloodbath Deer’s response was instant. It thrashed around, trying to escape, only to stiffen after a violent bout that didn’t last longer than a few seconds. My arms creaked and felt heavier than ever after the quick exchange with the Bloodbath Deer. Not even one of Daniel’s hellish workout routines was that bad. Even my legs threatened to cave in beneath before the dying beast, but I managed to catch myself.

I ripped the silvernit sword free and thrust it into the beast’s heart, ending its suffering after two long seconds that felt like forever.

As the light in the beast’s eyes faded, so did the adrenaline surging through . My body felt suddenly much heavier, and exhaustion caught up to , but I couldn’t hide my smile. I did it. I had defeated a 2-Star Wild without getting injured. The beast didn’t even scratch once!

Aureus’ happiness struck square in the face, bringing a smile to my lips. The glutton’s emotions were simply too contagious and potent. How was I supposed to feel bad when my Soulkin was over the moon?

“Good job,” Daniel called out from behind, but he looked like he had more to say.

Really? Are you seriously going to lecture now? I cursed at him in my head when I caught a whiff of his hesitation.

There was no need for him to hesitate to lecture . Daniel never cared about my feelings when he talked trash about my fights, so why would he start caring now?

Daniel’s lips parted, but he said nothing. He turned his head and nibbled on his lower lip, looking conflicted.

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What’s wrong with hi—…

Suddenly, Aureus’ presence encompassed my entire being. My mind was wiped clean of any thoughts, and all I could feel was the glutton’s sense of urgency rising within .

I swung around, ignoring the pleas of my worn-out body, to face a taller crimson-furred beast with massive antlers as it erged from a set of bushes nearby. It turned to and looked down at the dead juvenile before looking back at with the hatred only a mother or father could harbor.

Goosebumps covered my entire body as the mature Bloodbath Deer charged ahead. For a mont, I thought Daniel would intervene and kill the beast before it could kill , but I couldn’t rely on that. Daniel hadn’t looked my way, nor had he unsheathed his weapon. He wouldn’t be fast enough.

My danger sense perked up, and I moved as the mature Bloodbath Deer charged — at . But as I took my first step backward, sothing flashed before my eyes, and the Bloodbath Deer towered before a mont later. The beast stared deep into my eyes and lowered its head, ready to charge, only for sothing odd to happen.

My World stirred as a familiar chirp resounded through — through my entire being — and ti around seed to co to a sudden crawl. I could see everything happening with shocking clarity. And rather than feeling fear or anxiety as death inched closer, I felt a sense of power wash through .

An ear-deafening shriek rang out from my chest pocket one mont, and the mature Bloodbath Deer stiffened the next. It froze in its tracks.

While I couldn’t quite tell what was happening, my instincts scread at and urged to act quickly. I drove my feet into the soft soil and shifted gears to propel forward as fast as I could. The mature Bloodbath Deer was still unmoving, but it stirred — threatening to break free from its invisible restraints — just as I reached it, facing the beast head-on.

There was no ti to hesitate — not that I needed it. I was already in full motion before I even fully registered what had to be done, let alone how I knew the Bloodbath Deer would be able to move again at any mont. The sword carved through the air in a beautiful arc and found its target, slicing through its neck.

Not even a quarter of a second later, the beast moved again and smashed into . Warm blood poured everywhere, and I lost hold of my sword as the beast barreled into , throwing to the ground. The Bloodbath Deer followed down, and I was certain its pointed antlers would poke to death.

That never happened. A heavy weight pressed firmly into the ground, yet I didn’t feel the stinging pain of being impaled. The Bloodbath Deer writhed on top of and thrashed around, its head and antlers missing my face several tis by a hair’s breadth. All the while, warm blood poured onto , drenching my clothes until the beast stopped moving.

“Shit. Are you okay, Adam?” Daniel’s voice rang muffled through the air. It was barely a whisper in my ears until he scread. “Fuck, Adam, talk to !!”

I struggled to move and could barely muster a groan before the heavy corpse weighing down was removed. Daniel’s hazy fra appeared above , his eyes scanning from head to toe. He took his ti pulling upright, only to continue his inspection until he was close enough that I could punch him in the face.

“Didn’t you say you would protect ?” I cursed weakly, grimacing at the pain that surged through my fist as I pulled back.

How could soone’s face be this tough? That wasn’t fair.

“I…” Daniel grumbled sothing incomprehensible and turned away once he was sure the Bloodbath Deer’s antlers hadn’t caught .

“Forget it,” I sighed tiredly. “At least you stopped it for a second. Was that your plan, you dickhead? To test my instincts or sothing?”

“I noticed sothing, so I didn’t intervene,” Daniel said, shaking his head as he squatted down in front of . “I did not do anything. In fact, I stayed where I was and didn’t act because the Bloodbath Deer stopped out of nowhere.”

That bastard had the gall to look at all serious, while I was still digesting the fact that his inaction nearly cost my life.

“In the Rulers’ nas, Adam! Do you not understand what just happened?!” Daniel asked in an exaggerated tone, almost excited, but I could only roll my eyes.

“Yeah, I nearly fucking died because I was stupid.”

And you didn’t help , you moron!

“That’s not what I ant, dude!”

“You didn’t protect like you promised,” I repeated.

Daniel groaned but nodded after a mont. “...I could have intervened a mont earlier, but that is beside the point!”

How was my near-death experience beside the point?!

“How did you not notice the older Bloodbath Deer?”

Daniel cursed sothing unintelligible, grabbed my shoulders, and shook violently. “Adam, can you please shut your damn mouth for a mont? Please?!”

I felt like shouting back, but my mouth snapped shut.

“Thanks,” he remarked snarkily, taking a deep breath before asking again. “Do you know what just happened?”

There were many things I wanted to say. However, I could guess what he was talking about, and it was definitely not his inaction.

“Aureus happened,” Daniel said. “That was your Soulkin, wasn’t it?”