The Infinite Bk. 03 Ch. 11

"You've fed me that nonsense from the cradle. I don't need you to tell me I've been chosen by God; I've known that all my life, just like I know we aren't strangers to each other. The king knows as well, and every time he looks at me, I know he just sees your bastard son, an ugly weed in the royal garden whose mother died during delivery. He's kept you around because you're strong and useful, but he never fully believed your story. The knights and the nobles are the same way. You think I haven't heard the whispers and gossip? Every time we're in the same room, it's clear on their faces how they see through the lie you've tried to weave."

Tarnas placed his hand on Seraph's shoulder. "I know, I know it better than you do, how unfair it is. I know your father kept me on the front lines or on far-off missions because he didn't want me anywhere near you, and because you were denied the guidance you need, you've fallen off the true path. I wasn't there to show you the way, but once you join the knighthood, I can change that, and I can prepare you for the future."

"I don't need you; I never needed you. I'm already stronger than most knights, and I'm going to show everyone that it doesn't matter who my father is! Everything before me will be forgotten, and everything after will remain in the shadow of my legacy!"

"You, who claims to only answer to God, still care so much about what other people think while doing nothing to improve their impression of you. The power you wield is not a stepping stone to fame, nor is it an excuse to dismiss condemnation and accountability. It is the world's hope, the key to saving mankind from despair and destruction. The stronger you become, the heavier the burdens you will have to carry, but that is the price we pay to walk the path of the Light."

"You're wrong. Only Lumendori himself can tell me what this power is for, and until that time comes, it is mine to use however I want."

A tense silence followed, broken by the voice of a stranger. "Are you Noah?"

Tarnas and Seraph turned to see a reveler standing at the end of the street, his face hidden with a mask and his sword already bloody.

"What did you just say?" Seraph boomed.

"Are you Cadet Noah or not?" the reveler asked as he approached.

"Don't you dare say that name to me!" the prince replied, now coming alight with a mantle of holy energy.

The reveler came to a stop and cursed in shock, fearful not only of the powerful mana he was witnessing, but the gold-ranked knight the light shined upon. He panicked and tried to flee, but Seraph shot towards him like a meteor. He wielded a mighty sledgehammer, glowing like a miniature sun from the mana being condensed within the heavy iron. The fifty-meter distance was crossed in a few steps at breakneck speed. Seraph got ahead of the man and swung his hammer, striking him in the middle of the chest. There was a flash of light, and the man's torso was flattened like a beer can. His spine and ribcage were crushed into gravel, and his organs were eviscerated. The man, his body barely in one piece, was dead before he even hit the ground.

Seraph looked back at Tarnas, who was glaring with concern. "This power is mine, and that's how I'm going to use it. I'll annihilate anyone who stands in my way, be it Noah or even you."

----------

Aithorn perked up, his pointed ears twitching from the thunderclap of Seraph's attack. He looked out over the sea of buildings and searched for the source. While perched atop the cathedral, his view of Colbrand was absolute, and the crosswind failed to curtail his elven hearing.

"Sir?" asked Alexis, not easing the pull on her bow or looking away from her target. She was staring down the arrow shaft at a reveler, busy looting his slain enemy.

"It's not your concern. Release."

Alexis released the arrow, sending it soaring across the sky and striking the man in the back. "He's down," she said.

"I see your next target moving around in front of the bakery on your left."

Alexis nocked another arrow and took aim. It took her several seconds, but she spotted the bakery and the figure in front of it. "I have the shot."

"Release."

Another arrow was dispensed, and another life ended.

"Next target?"

"On your right, the two fighting beside the horse stable."

Alexis took aim at the larger of the two. "I have the shot."

"Release."

She missed his chest, but got him in the leg. "He's on the ground; he's wounded."

"Finish him."

Alexis coolly drew another arrow and shot it at the grounded reveler, ending his thrashing. At the same time, Aithorn used his own bow to kill the other fighter. Scattered throughout the city, there were flickering lights, like fireflies. They were the lanterns of the knights and cadets, used like hunting vests to distinguish them from the revelers. Anyone moving around without one was considered an enemy.

"Next target?"

"I'm looking."

The evening's tone never drifted from that steeliness. Everything said was short and to the point, with stretches of unbroken silence in between shots. The quiet productivity was paradise.

----------

Gideon stared at the body before him, the slain knight he had been partnered with. His head was gone, its shredded remains dripping from the clawed fingers of his killer, while rivers of blood stretched between the cobblestone bricks in the road. It had been so fast, Gideon and the knight patrolling a street, when a tall, hooded stranger zoomed over and smashed the knight's head open with a swing of his hand, like a tomato splattered with a hammer.

"What's your name?" the figure asked, shaking Gideon from his stupor.

"What?"

"Your name, tell me what it is!"

"You first, mongrel."

The man began to laugh and pulled back his hood, revealing not a human face, but a wolf's, with black fur and gleaming eyes. His clawed hands were layered with the same fur, and the structure of his legs was altered to a digitigrade form, so that he stood on his toes.

"You could tell I'm a beastman, and you still insult me? You got some real backbone, kid. I'm going to enjoy ripping it out of you. Theo, that is my name."

"I'm Gideon, now tell me what do you want."

"I'm looking for a boy named Noah. Tell me where he is, or you'll end up like this poor bastard."

"How would I know where he is? I haven't seen him all night."

"Then you're useless, and unfortunately, I'm not the kind to catch and release. At least if I kill you now, I won't make the same mistake later."

"What do you even want with Noah?"

"Don't worry, your friend will die soon after you."

"Calling him my friend is a little generous, but still, I don't like the idea of a feral dog like you stalking a fellow classmate."

"I bet that big mouth of yours has gotten you in trouble before. Well now, you're going to get killed by a beastman before you ever reach the front lines. The irony will be your only comfort as you bleed out."

Gideon put his lantern down and assumed a combat stance, with his hands and feet alight with mana. Rather than carrying a sword, he had supplemented his defense with powerful arm guards. "I think you'll find that I'm not so easy to kill."

Theo began to laugh, then shot towards Gideon so fast that it was like he was skipping through time. He stood his ground, and his foe zoomed past him while reaching out with his claws. He deflected the attack and tried to counter with a kick to the temple, but the beastman had already moved out of range. Gideon barely managed to reform his stance when a second slash came, this time from behind. He moved forward just enough so that Theo's claws only grazed the back of his chest plate. This time, before he could get out of Gideon's range, he received a mana-enhanced jab to the wrist that left his hand numb.

Theo continued shooting by Gideon, reaching out with his deadly claws like a jouster with his lance. His speed was great enough to leave Gideon in the dust, yet the most he could achieve were some scratches on Gideon's armor, never managing to deliver a real hit. Gideon dodged and deflected every attack as though brushing him off. Theo changed his strategy, attacking straight-on in rapid-fire swings to try and break through Gideon's defenses.

Gideon didn't retreat; he closed in and countered with a storm of his own attacks. The wolf's claws continued scratching up his armor, even drawing blood once or twice, but every time Gideon landed a blow, he could feel his enemy's bones threatening to break and blood vessels bursting. Despite the gap in their physical abilities, he was somehow inflicting more damage.

"I don't know if you're just stubborn or lucky, but it's not going to last!" the beastman snarled.

"You may be faster and stronger than me, but I have plenty of experience fighting people like you," Gideon replied. "Like I said, I'm not easy to kill."

His foe howled in response and held out his hand, producing a field of mana that projected from each claw, like large scythe blades. "Prey Shredder!"

He swung in an uppercut motion, with the mana field ripping up the street and hurling a wave of dirt and cobblestone at Gideon. Gideon tried to jump back out of range, but he was hit with the earthen barrage, and worse, received five cuts across his chest and crossed arms. It was a Beast Art, a different kind of Martial Art. It combined monk enhancements and shamanism into a more powerful form, producing a level of power that Gideon had yet to achieve.

Theo chased after Gideon, continuing to slash over and over like a madman. The mana blades extended his reach and increased his destructive power. Anything he touched was gouged open, and even when Gideon managed to avoid direct attacks, he still received faint injuries, as though getting hit with shrapnel from an explosion. His foe was too fast, and he couldn't stay far enough out of his range or hope to block. The only way to win was to go on the offensive.

When Theo made another charge, Gideon didn't try to close in and instead channeled a torrent of mana into his hand. "Monk Spear!" He ducked under the beastman's swing, losing his helmet in the process, and stabbed him under the ribcage.

The Theo's body, despite being stronger and more durable than his regular human form, could not withstand the blow, and Gideon's hand drilled through his chest with a resulting fountain of blood. Gideon immediately pulled his arm free and jumped into the air with a spin. "Cyclone Impact!"

He delivered a skull-cracking blow to the side of Theo's head, knocking him through the air and sending him crashing into a food stall. Gideon landed on his feet, but almost stumbled. While he had managed to avoid any severe injuries, he had accumulated too many small ones, costing him a lot of blood and leaving him racked with a great deal of pain. Still, compared to the beastman buried in debris, his wounds weren't so bad. His pride, reinvigorated by victory, helped block the pain.

Speaking of pride, he looked over to the slain knight he had been partnered with. He had known him only briefly, and it didn't feel right to just leave his body behind. Gideon held no loyalty to Uther, even loathed it, but as a warrior, dying in service was something he respected. Getting to a healer would have to wait.

'Someone will find us soon. I'll just patch myself up until then.'

Gideon walked over to a nearby bench and reached for a roll of bandages in the pouch on his belt. Before he could find it, instinct sent him leaping to the side and narrowly avoiding death. The smashed food stand exploded like a grenade, with debris sent in all directions. The beastman burst forth, shooting towards Gideon with mana surging from his claws. The bench Gideon had about to sit down on was smashed to pieces, and the building behind it was gouged open like the belly of a hunted deer.

Though Gideon wasn't touched by the five blades, just being adjacent to their destruction hit him with a disorienting wave. He narrowly stuck the landing and managed to remain on his feet, staring at Theo. Half of his skull was deformed from the force of Gideon's earlier kick, with his eye crushed in its socket and his canine snout bent like a straw. Yet that was changing, the bones restructuring themselves. The blood that had been pouring from his chest wound was replaced with foaming pus as new flesh filled the open space.

"What evil is this? You should be dead!" Gideon cursed.

"I should be, yes, but as you can see, I'm harder to kill than you are." He began to laugh with his crooked mouth. "You know, I came so close not to using this. That was a good hit, and I was almost willing to accept my death, but then I realized something. If you were of Uther, you'd use weapons or magic, not rely wholly on hand-to-hand. You're also a beastman, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?"

Gideon tried to keep his nerve, but something deep down warned him of danger. Call it animal instincts or warrior's institution, but something was making his hair stand on end. There, he could see it. The shape of the beastman's face wasn't regenerating properly. It appeared to be taking on a whole new form, with the jagged bones even breaking free of the skin. The crushed eye regenerated beyond its original size and split into two separate orbs.

"So... I couldn't stand the idea of being killed by a traitor. You're protecting Uther's blood like a loyal pet, and I'm spilling it like a true beastman!"

He ripped off his robes, and Gideon spotted something hidden among the black fur, something smooth on Theo's neck. It was alive. He didn't have the chance to stare, as the new monster charged towards him faster than before, snarling with fury. Gideon only dodged by the skin of his teeth, and before he could reform his stance, he was forced to move again. Theo chased him down, leaving Gideon with no time to think. The only thing saving him was that his enemy didn't seem accustomed to his newfound enhancements. He was losing balance and getting his timing off, but that wouldn't last long.

Gideon began channeling power to his hand. Whatever was latched to the beastman's neck, it seemed as good a target as anything else. He turned to Theo and took the first step in his charge. Before his foot even touched the ground, his enemy disappeared, as though vanishing into thin air. So too did Gideon's hand leave his vision, replaced with open space and spraying blood. It took a moment for Gideon to process it, for the pain to set in. He stared at his left arm, now just a stump, and his mind broke like a pane of glass.

'No, this can't be happening. My arm is still here. My eyes are playing tricks on me.'

He kept expecting to blink and see the limb where it belonged, but there was only open air. Finally, he released a scream of anguish and felt his legs buckle. He fell to his knees, racked with pain and gripping what was left of his arm to slow the fatal bleed. Behind him, he heard the crunching of bones and the ripping of flesh. He didn't need to see it to picture Theo devouring his arm, leaving nothing behind to reattach.

"Traitor though you may be, I must commend your courage. Out of respect, I think I'll eat your heart next," the beastman said with a laugh.

'Brave?' The word almost sounded foreign to Gideon. At the moment, he felt only pain and fear. Every instinct he had was telling him to flee, to escape, no matter what method was required. Great feathered wings sprouted from his back without him even willing it, as though they had minds of their own and knew that there was no hope on foot. He didn't even feel himself get up, didn't feel his wings flapping with hysterical strength and lifting him off the ground, and didn't even feel the cool night air as he shot into the sky, away from the wicked beast. All he heard were the taunts.

"Your heart isn't worth eating after all!" Theo howled.

Gideon rose higher and higher into the sky, feeling more like a frightened sparrow than a mighty eagle. With Aithorn running around and all the archers keeping watch, using his wings was the last thing he wanted to do, but losing an arm tended to change one's perspectives. He didn't even know where he was flying; he was primarily focused on trying to cover distance while putting pressure on his wound.

'It's time for me to go home. Master, please forgive my weakness. My days as a warrior are over.' Angry tears budded from his eyes as he cursed himself over and over again. 'Coming to the academy was a big mistake. What have I accomplished here? I couldn't beat Aithorn, Seraph, Noah, or that monster down below. I can beat up some noble brats, but how strong am I really if I can never win the battles that matter? Why bother trying when barely surviving is the best I can hope for?'

He then dared a look down upon the city, and at that moment, his wings stopped, his ascent becoming a glide as he gazed with wide eyes. The clouds had parted, revealing a sea of moonlit buildings. He had witnessed the city like this before, one year ago. He saw it for the last time when he was struck with arrows.

'That's right, that was when I fought Aithorn.' He still remembered it, the feeling of the elf's spear piercing his shoulder. More than that, he remembered standing there before Aithorn, channeling what power he had left for a suicide charge. 'I was so stupid back then, thinking I could defeat someone like him, thinking it was worth it to throw my life away. I should have just escaped when I had the chance. Well, I'm not going to make that mistake again.'

Despite his will, his wings refused to move, and he continued to glide across the evening sky. 'Mistake,' that word kept repeating in his mind as his memories became jumbled, drifting away from Aithorn.

He remembered the evenings when he and the cadets in the barracks would crack jokes. He remembered sharing gripes after brutal training sessions in the bathhouse. He remembered when he and his friends stayed up late drinking and playing cards at the Knight's Sheath. He remembered studying in class and in the library and realizing how little of the world he actually knew. He also remembered all the times he fought Seraph, that moment when he felt himself getting stronger, and how even though he could never truly beat him, he'd walk away while already thinking about the next fight.

'If I ran away from Aithorn... I could never have experienced all that, so was fighting him really a mistake? If I run away now, what else will I miss out on? Even if I survive by running, what life can I live if I don't take the risk to win? That's right, just living isn't good enough for me; it never was. That's the whole reason why I came here, to gain the strength to shape my destiny and make life worth living!'

He felt the pain from his lost arm fade, his mind clear, and his wings come back under his control. Now racing with new strength, his heart propelled him not across the sky, but higher up. He flapped his wings as hard as he could to raise his altitude as much as possible. The thin, frigid air exacerbated the feelings of blood loss, sapping his strength and consciousness, but growing up in the high mountains of northern Vandheim, it was nothing he couldn't handle. He kept rising, the atmosphere thinning and the stars and moon glowing all the brighter, until finally, ice formed on his skin, and the stump of his severed arm froze solid. It was far from proper cauterization, but it would stop the bleeding for a short time.

He took a moment to gather all of his strength, gazed down at the landscape below, and let gravity take over. He dropped out of the sky like a ballistic missile, keeping his body narrow so that he could build up more and more speed. He pierced layer after layer of the atmosphere, the air shooting past him threatening to rip off his armor and tear his frosted skin, but he didn't give quit.