"This..." Ignatius observed the transformation with genuine interest, "looks more like a true tar's fusion."
The rcenary extended his newly ford wings on his arms, each feather glowing with contained power. The transformation was elegant, almost beautiful in its symtry.
"Isn't it?" he smiled, his features now more avian like the director's but maintaining a harmonic balance with his human form.
"Although..." his smile widened, "one of the things my body learned after so many abyssal 'experints' is how to extract... more."
Ignatius barely had ti to react.
The rcenary's golden claws passed grazing his face as he threw himself backward. The Director used his own phoenix claws, blocking the second attack by milliters, golden feathers clashing against golden feathers.
The rcenary feathers began to glow with more intensity. He arched his back as his transformation continued, pushing beyond natural limits. The air itself seed to distort around him as his body reshaped itself.
His arms, locked in a contest of strength with the director, lengthened and broadened, the transformation defying human anatomy.
"Impressive, isn't it?" The rcenary pressed forward, gaining ground in strength against the director. "When you truly accept becoming one with your beast, when you let the transformation reach its end..."
His claws lengthened further, digging into the director's skin, his face deforming slightly as a golden beak erged, reshaping his features into sothing between human and raptor.
"This is an abomination!" Ignatius manifested more power in his feathers which burst into flas. "You're perverting the sacred bond between tar and beast!"
"Perverting it?" The rcenary pushed, his strength now far superior to before. "We're improving it!"
"Don't think," Ignatius counterattacked by wrapping his hands in flas, "that just because you look more like a beast ans it's better."
Their claws fought wind magic against fire magic, creating shockwaves that made nearby trees tremble. Each clash sent sparks of golden energy cascading through the air.
"A true bond is about balance, about maintaining your humanity while channeling your beast's power."
The rcenary laughed while fighting the blaze. "Humanity? What good is humanity when you can be sothing superior?"
Several ters away, the supervisor fought against the abyssal scorpion. The beast was slower without its tar, but its venom made each exchange mortally dangerous, forcing the supervisor to maintain constant vigilance.
"Look at what we've achieved," the rcenary nodded toward his golden wings that were beginning to separate from his arms while continuing to press his attack. "Two beasts, complete transformation, and soon..." his wind power began to gain ground and managed to graze Ignatius's shoulder, "we'll have tars capable of fusing with three."
Ignatius retreated further, feeling the cut on his shoulder. It was superficial, but the fact that it had connected was worrying. "All I see is soone who has forgotten what it ans to be a tar."
The golden flas of his phoenix intensified, creating an aura that made the rcenary step back for the first ti and sealed Ignatius wounds. "A true tar guides their beast, doesn't beco one."
"Empty words from soone limited by obsolete traditions," the rcenary began to gain ground again by generating thrust with his now separate wings. "I'll show you the true power you achieve when you fully embrace the transformation."
The rcenary's golden wings began launching cuts at Ignatius while his own arms, covered in denser feathers, kept his hands trapped. Each wing moved independently, creating a storm of slashing attacks from multiple angles.
"You see?" he smiled while his wings attacked independently. "You talk of nobility, of purity... but your transformation is limited, incomplete."
Ignatius could only manifest his claws and wings on the sa pair of arms. His movents lacked the versatility of his opponent, forced to choose between offense and defense with each motion.
"Look at your form," the rcenary fully extended his 2 extra upper appendages. "So attached to human anatomy... don't you see the irony? You boast of nobility but move further from the truly noble ones."
"What are you talking about?" Ignatius created a mane of flas to block the wind attacks but so still got through, leaving shallow cuts across his defenses.
"The dragons," the rcenary broke through the fire using his wings. "The true lords of beasts. Six appendages, not four. My base hippogriff and this form are closer to divinity than your 'pure' transformation."
The Director was reduced to focusing on his phoenix's regeneration against the avalanche of attacks coming from multiple angles. The rcenary's wings not only gave him superior mobility but functioned as additional limbs in combat, each one capable of launching its own deadly attacks.
anwhile, the supervisor struggled to keep the abyssal scorpion at bay. His silver rank 2 penguin created increasingly thin ice barriers while the silver rank 3 beast systematically destroyed them, each impact weakening the defensive line.
"Maintain the periter!" he shouted to the guards who were fighting to contain the fires caused by the Director's golden flas. Their earth beasts worked frantically, digging trenches and raising barriers to prevent the fire from spreading toward more trees and other parts of the academy.
"Your pure beast is failing," the rcenary pointed toward the supervisor. "Your subordinate will die soon. The rank difference is evident, and abyssal beasts are superior in endurance."
As if to emphasize his words, the scorpion broke through another ice barrier. Its stinger passed dangerously close to the supervisor's face, who barely managed to create a shield in ti.
"Your thods are obsolete, Director, the future belongs to those who are willing to truly evolve."
Ignatius tried to increase the power of his golden flas, but it beca increasingly difficult to maintain regeneration. The rcenary was right, the ability to use his wings and arms independently gave him a significant tactical advantage.
A cry of pain pierced the battlefield. The scorpion had managed to graze the supervisor's arm with its venom. The supervisor froze his arm at the point of impact but...
The ice around the venom began to crystallize, the corrosion spreading rapidly.
"Supervisor!" shouted one of the guards, but they couldn't abandon their position. If the golden fire spread beyond the periter, the entire academy would be in danger.
The scorpion prepared its final blow. The supervisor, partially paralyzed by the venom, could barely maintain a weak ice barrier.
"Kill him already!" The stinger descended like a chitinous lightning bolt.
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