The situation with Alaric’s clone had changed drastically, so much so that it was no longer necessary to use that Dance of the Leopard. Stealth was no longer possible.

  Unlike before, when Alaric’s clone had done well to remain unseen and kill demons before they knew who they were dealing with, everything black was now attacking the trio with the hungry zeal to snuff out their lives.

  The clone’s scuffle with the centipede had attracted some attention.

  Alaric’s clone stood up to assess the situation before going completely still. Hadn’t he forgotten something very important? The clone looked down at the black mass of legs and chitin coiled around him. His heart sank… The centipede was no longer trying to squeeze him to death.

  ‘Wait… I’m alive!’ the realisation his harder than a boulder thrown from the clouds, ‘I’m not dead!’

  [ This is what over-confidence gets you. ] Alia sighed in the clone’s head.

  The white figure wiggled against the centipede’s body, which no longer held him so firmly. As he fought the urge to cringe at the feeling of having several jointed legs all over his body, he squeezed himself out of the centipede’s grip while answering the guardian.

  [ I know. I know… On the bright side though, I didn’t die. He tried.

  [ Unacceptable. From now on, you’re shadowing LionHeart. ]

  LionHeart, or Leon, who’d just brought his sword down on the last demon in the group that had turned to attack them, turned to the white clone and regarded him with a complicated expression, “That was reckless. Aren’t you supposed to be a copy of Alaric?”

  “I am.”

  “How are you so reckless? Alaric isn’t.”

  “I am NOT the exact copy of Alaric. I think for myself and do as I please. The only parts of Alaric that define me are those he cannot do without, and just so you know,” the clone leaned in closer, “Alaric is also reckless. This whole mission is reckless.”

  LionHeart pursed his lips, then clicked his tongue in defiance.

  “You also talk too much. Alaric doesn’t speak half as much as you do,” the man responded, “Keep up.”

  And with that, LionHeart turned and broke into a jog that would continue to accelerate into a high-speed sprint. The clone blinked… ‘Just like that?’

  [ MOVE. ]

  [ Okay. Okay… ] the clone started with a jog, running forward only for a question to suddenly strike him… ‘Wait, aren’t I injured?’

  He looked himself over and found no holes, cuts or bruises of any kind on his body.

  [ Huh? Took you long enough. The guardian scoffed, [ Long story short. You’re like rubber. Easy to mend. This time you did it without even realising it. You’re like the perfect punching bag. ]

  [ I am no one’s punching bag! Why are you like this? ] The clone yelled, [ You know what? Don’t answer that. How did you know I would heal? ]

  [ I’ve been watching. You don’t think I expected you to make it out of here unscathed? ]

  [ Wait… you didn’t know. ]

  [ Nope. ]

  The clone paled, [ I COULD HAVE DIED. ]

  [ You didn’t seem that bothered by death ] Alia chuckled in response, [ And besides, if things got too bad, I was going to bring you back into the In-Between. No need to get so worked up. ]

  The white clone squeezed his lips into a thin line and forged on. The wooden sword in his hand lit up in flame, ready to cut down any other demon that dared to challenge him. He needed something to pommel all this energy into.

  Fortunately for him, there were plenty of those around. His wooden blade had claimed the lives of many, if demons even had lives. He just had to do it again.

  ‘Have demons always been this easy to kill?’ he wondered.

  [ Not one bit shaken by near-death experience ] Alia said while taking notes.

  [ Alia! ]

  [ Relax, rookie. You just don’t get tired like normal humans do. From what I’ve seen anyway. What weakness do you even have? ] Alia mumbled the last part more to herself.

  [ You could try knocking out Alaric. That would cause something. ] The clone replied to her thought.

  It’s not like it was something he hadn’t pondered either. Just like Alaric, this clone was curious about the true extent of his abilities. While he wasn’t as strong as Alaric, he was fundamentally different in the way his body operated. It was almost like he was alive… yet not at the same time.

  It was wrong to say that the rules which applied to humans applied to Alaric’s clone.

  A moment later, they caught up with the tail of the travelling horde of demons. Compared to the demon stampede back in the Purified Zone, these were few… and yet, something turned the clone’s stomach.

  The white clone shot to the other side of the LionHeart’s guardian, only to see the beast disappear right in front of him. Several paces ahead, the White Lion appeared on top of what looked like a dog with two heads, its large maw clamping down on the dog’s neck with enough force to break its neck and rip out a chunk of gunky black meat.

  Before the clone could tell what was happening, the guardian was gone yet again, vanishing in a thin cloud of white smoke.

  Silence filled his mind before…

  ‘Wait… ASLAN CAN TELEPORT?’

  ………………………

  Alaric was familiar with the concept of the chain of command. Different actions could be performed by different people when permitted by those above them… and this didn’t only apply to armies.

  It applied to families, too. The orphans back in the Five Hills knew what they could and couldn’t do. They couldn’t leave their hill without Sister Marla’s permission or the older kid’s supervision.

  And this wasn’t because they were forced to obey the chain of command but because the older orphans taught them the rules and at the end of the day, they all wanted to make life easier for Sister Marla, their caretaker.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  She was the closest thing they all had to a mother, and they all loved her for it.

  It was because of this kind of upbringing that Alaric didn’t interfere with team planning unless his opinion was asked or the idea in his head sounded better in his current understanding of things, like the decoy strategy he realised everyone had been avoiding at the meeting back in Melbourne.

  This time, however, Alaric made an exception.

  He was low in the chain of command, and he honestly wasn’t looking to assume control of the situation. It wasn’t like he was experienced in hunting demons.

  He only had his instincts and wits to go by and even then, he didn’t know if it was enough. He’d never dealt with armoured enemies before either, so he was at a loss, not to mention his guardian was being cryptic again.

  His aether hummed, his imagination spiralled and his body moved before he could think when he saw the black armoured rolling cannonballs of demons descending on Sariah and the lava bear.

  All he could think of was protecting them. How that was achieved was left to his magic to figure out.

  His will was tyrannical and overbearing as he commanded the magic to see his desires through. The world turned cold, and space seemed to shiver under the pressure of his command. This kind of casting required a lot of aether, of which Alaric had plenty.

  Shock rippled through the carriage as everyone watched explosions of ice and wind erupt right under the demons and above the guardians in a convoluted mess, throwing the demons high into the air without as much as a warning. His friends were left unscathed, as though a barrier had protected them from the explosion.

  The shockwaves roared through the woods and Alaric dropped to one knee, panting… and angry. Despite all that, the demons hit the ground rolling in random directions only to tilt and turn, rolling back towards the carriage like a pair of deathwheels.

  The Serpent and lava bear had dashed out of the way at that point and yet, no solution presented itself to Alaric except for an inkling of what his guardian had said to him.

  ‘No such thing as indestructible! Tch! How would I go about crushing a demon of this kind…’ Alaric’s brows furrowed, ‘…crushing.’

  Who in the world killed armoured bugs with a blade?

  The boy gasped, ‘Of course… Crush, not cut!’

  “A hammer…” he said out loud.

  A chuckle filled the tense atmosphere of the carriage, “The boy’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

  Alaric ignored Byron’s voice and turned to Maple, “Do you still have it in you to cast a… ‘heavy’ spell?”

  The woman gripped her staff, shook her head and knowingly turned her gaze at Bumi, “I like the way you’re thinking, Alaric… but ice might not be the best at playing the part of a hammer.”

  Alaric was putting two and two together when Sariah landed in the carriage, her guardian vanishing from this plane. “Bumi,” she called.

  “Yeah, I’m on it,” the man said, walking up to Alaric and holding out his hands, “Maple, Alaric… You did well. I’ll take it from here.”

  Alaric furrowed his eyebrows before opening his eyes wide with realisation… ‘Of course. Why didn’t I think of that?’

  [ You had too many options and failed to optimise. ] His guardian passively pointed out.

  The ground shuddered and quaked, and the air seemed heavier as Bumi unleashed the full power of his Inborn Ability.

  Alaric only watched the man summon his control over the earth in awe.

  The road behind the carriage turned muddy and the demons slowed, rolling a lot faster to cover short distances. Alaric could tell this was just to buy time for Bumi to summon even more earth.

  At the same time, pillars of earth rose from the ground and shot into the air, coalescing into a boulder that kept growing larger and larger until it was at least three times larger than one of the rolling demons.

  At this point, Bumi’s hands were shaking a ton and sweat covered his brows.

  “Impressive! You’ve gotten better. You still suck but that’s impressive… That should do it… if you get your aim right that is… I doubt that though… You’re shaking like a squirrel in ice,” Byron commented every two seconds.

  Bumi’s teeth were gritted so hard Alaric thought they would shatter. He reckoned this only got harder with Byron running pessimistic commentary. ‘What’s that man’s problem?’

  [ Ignore him. Help Bumi… ]

  Alaric stood beside Bumi and raised his hands.

  “What are you doing, boy?” Bumi growled through gritted teeth.

  “Helping… You need to focus more on aiming so let me take some of the weight off,” Alaric replied indifferently.

  ‘I invoke the name of the Constellation of Earth: Tecton, Nourisher of Life,’ Alaric’s mind rumbled in the old tongue as his magic took on a fundamental shift.

  He held out his hand, reaching for the boulder in the air and offered support. Bumi’s face softened and he looked at the boy at his side with a complicated expression. He didn’t say anything… but Alaric could already feel his suspicion growing. At this point, everyone was suspicious of him.

  A mage who applied for the role of Vanguard. It didn’t make sense… and yet, Alaric was sure his skills as a mage were basic.

  The boy kept his eyes on the boulder and said, “It should be easier to aim now.”

  Bumi nodded, “Thank you.”

  Alaric’s mind went silent. His guardian butted in, [ Huh! So he does have manners. ]

  Moments later, the boulder came crashing down onto the muddy road, crushing one of the demons with a sickening crunch. The ground shuddered and everyone remained silent as they watched the boulder a little longer, almost sure the beast would get up.

  It didn’t.

  With one of those demons down, the mood in the carriage improved just a bit.

  One down… one more to go.

  The other demon shot forward even faster, forcing Bumi to focus on pushing it back with more mud.

  Byron laughed loudly, “You don’t look too good, Bumi. One boulder plus you needed help aiming… Is this really how much stronger you’ve gotten since I left the guild? I’m disappointed.”

  “Shut up, you piece of crap!” Bumi yelled at the man, “What have you done to help?”

  “Oh, but you’re mistaken. I’m not a part of this party. I merely came as Lady Lucy’s bodyguard. What happens to the rest of you is none of my concern. I had high hopes for all of you but now I’m just disappointed.

  All that bravado for nothing. The Alistair boy even seems more interesting with all that aether he’s packing. You sure you don’t want to be a Mage, boy?”

  Bumi stayed at the back of the carriage, maintaining his control of the earth. The only thing standing between the demon and the carriage was him. When the demon accelerated with the intention of catching up to the carriage, he shifted the ground, pushing it back, sometimes encasing it entirely in earth before it broke out and lunged forward.

  Trying to crush the demon while keeping it at bay took its toll on Bumi and Alaric focused on helping in any way he could. He raised pillars in the demon’s way and slowed its progress along with Bumi’s own strategies so the man could focus more on forming the large boulder in the air.

  “I see you’ve gotten an even more rotten personality since you left the guild. I’m glad you left. I don’t have to work with the likes of you ever again. Just watch as I end this,” Bumi responded, turning to Alaric with a nod.

  Alaric nodded and helped him in raising the next boulder to bring down the second demon.

  Byron wasn’t done though. The man’s annoying chuckle filled the air once more, making Maple roll her eyes with frustration while Scarlett kept her neutral expression of disinterest.

  “It seems you’ve grown deaf, Bumi so I’ll spell it out for you. Didn’t you hear what the boy said earlier? We are under attack by many demons. Not one… Not two… Many. You’ve wasted more than half of your aether on these mere distractions. Quite the wasteful adventurer you’ve turned out to be.”

  Alaric furrowed his brows. “I don’t follow.”

  Bumi turned to the boy with wide eyes as though to ask, ‘What the hell are you doing boy? Shut up.’

  It was Byron’s turn to act confused. The man’s tone gained a bit of venom, not like it hadn’t been venomous towards Bumi, “Are you dense or something, boy? You said there were many demons. These are two. That doesn’t qualify as many.”

  “I know what I said… but you make it sound like we’re all fighting these two demons. Why would we do something so foolish?” Alaric replied curiously, “That wouldn’t make any sense.”

  Scarlett, Maple and Sariah found themselves laughing quietly. Even Lucy seemed a little giggly with this conversation. It was only then that Byron thought to look around in search for the other guardians.

  The phoenix, lava bear and flying lion were nowhere to be seen. “When?”

  “A while ago… Most of us have no way of keeping up with the carriage, so LionHeart and the guardians volunteered to deal with the demons in the woods. Haven’t you been hearing the explosions?” Sariah asked innocently.

  “Explosions?” Byron paled.

  A few seconds passed before…

  *BOOM* the very air shivered in response to the source of the calamitous sound.

  *BOOM BOOM BOOM* the sound came again with varying intensity, shaking the very earth.

  Scarlett stifled her laughter and kept her eyes on the battle Alaric and Bumi were taking care of while Sariah laughed more openly.

  Alaric couldn’t keep himself from smiling. It was nice to see Byron shut up for once.

  “Alistair, how’s the battle in the woods going?” Sariah asked, mid-laughter.

  “Better than it is out here. The demons there are less… armoured, so they are much easier to deal with,” Alaric responded, “Most of them are being subdued though. I don’t know how long it takes for demons to get revived.”

  Sariah shrugged, “Can be anywhere between a few hours to a few weeks. Depends on the damage they are dealt and the overall power of the demon.”

  A moment later, though, Alaric’s face went ashen white… “Scratch that! Bumi, we have to end this. We’ll be having company soon.”