༺ Mages of the Tower (7) ༻
Because of their characteristic breeding speed and omnivorous nature, Fang Boars were one of the Grade 4 demonic beasts that required the most maintenance.
The only reason they weren’t fully eradicated despite being the number one cause of farmland damage was because finding their nests that were usually hidden at various areas of the mountain was by no means an easy task.
But during the breeding season, those that lost in the competition for food tended to leave the mountain in search of things to eat, and defeating them was the role of the guardian academy students.
This year shouldn’t be very different from how it was last year – until just 5 minutes ago, that was the impression that Professor Orgen had been under.
“P, Professor! There are way too many Fang Boars!”
“Everyone. Create a formation around me! Fight together! Protect those around you!”
Professor Orgen used his weapon to bisect the Fang Boars pouncing at his students.
“Is everyone here? Let me call your names out! Student Randolf!”
“Yes! I’m here!”
One by one, he called the names of the 22 students but noticed there were some missing.
“Where’s Student Ren and Student Ron!”
“I, I’m not sure!”
“I saw them down there before!”
It was too far.
Although Professor Orgen had the power to break through the group of Fang Boars by himself, the problem was the kids that would be left behind during the process. It might have been alright if these were 2nd year students, but it was seriously questionable whether the freshmen students that had just entered the Academy would be able to last through by themselves this without panicking or not.
In that case…
“We will slowly make our way there! Mages, stand in the middle, and knights – protect the front and the back! They’re nothing but Grade 4 beasts! Calm yourselves down and we can definitely stand our ground against them!”
He couldn’t discard any of his students. Orgen took the lead while comforting the group of freshmen kids following him from behind.
“F, follow professor!”
“Fang Boars are nothing! Just stab them once and they’ll be dead!”
What was fortunate at the very least was that the freshmen students had decent weapons. Normally, most of the new students tended to use low-grade weapons until they could afford a better one, but thanks to one generous senior, all of them had at least a medium-grade weapon.
Good weapons meant an easier time cutting through the flesh of demonic beasts, and despite the sloppy weapon masteries of the new students, the demons were all cut up to pieces with relative ease.
“Nice! We are getting there…!”
“No you’re… not!”
It was when Orgen was dicing through the Fang Boars with his ax, that cursed arrows started falling towards him.
“Magic…?!”
Orgen deflected the arrows with his ax. He managed to block all the arrows which were only low-grade spells, but his face didn’t look too good due to the appearance of an enemy force.
“Mages…”
By the time he noticed it, gloomy-looking people wearing big robes were surrounding him and the freshmen students.
“Professor! The Fang Boars aren’t attacking the mages!”
“…I knew it. So you were the ones behind this, huh.”
The black mages were surrounding them with hundreds of Fang Boars waiting behind. It was clear where they were from without even needing to ask it.
“Why are the mages of the Tower attacking us? This is clearly a strict violation of the treaty!”
“…”
The mages were completely silent in response, rendering every attempted conversation meaningless.
‘What exactly is their goal?’
Swallowing the unresolvable doubt inside, Professor Orgen tightly held onto his ax.
………
……
…
There were way too many of them.
Boars were on every side. Jumping around left and right, the wolf siblings had already bashed up dozens of boars to death.
“Haak, haa… t, there’s too many…”
“Do you want… water?”
“No. You drink it, Ren.”
Due to overworking themselves because of the constant streak of fights, the siblings had to gasp for breath as they glanced around their surroundings. The entire mountain range was filled with the death throes of pigs and the smell of rotten blood.
“Do you think the professor and the other kids are alright?”
“…Now’s not the time to worry about them.”
The two of them were the ones in the most precarious situation right now.
“This is… weird. The Fang Boars smell off…”
“Right? Same. It feels like my nose is about to rot away.”
Thanks to their superior sense of smell, the wolf siblings were able to sense the smell of rotten flesh from the corpses of the Fang Boars. That was strange, considering how it had only been a few minutes since their death.
“For now… Let’s head down. Let’s run as fast as we can and ask for—”
“We can’t let you do that.”
Suddenly, a group appeared from the woods and stopped the siblings in their path. They were the black mages of the Tower – the disciples of Morushtan including Professor Arkai.
“Y, you are…!”
“Tower of Mages… Why?”
Ren and Ron couldn’t hide their astonishment but meanwhile, Arkai gave a wicked grin as he gazed at the two.
“Huhu. A vampire elder certainly is very valuable… but golden wolves are not much different.”
It all started when Morushtan came across the siblings by chance.
Golden wolves – the byproduct of a miraculous and coincidental process of atavism. They were extremely valuable even when compared to a vampire elder.
According to the original storyline, the siblings were supposed to be following Dun Scaith and therefore, Marie Dunareff was supposed to be the only precious test subject for them to acquire.
But in this iteration, because the Tower of Mages didn’t have either of them, it was therefore by no means strange for them to set their eyes on the young and immature golden wolves, instead of the powerful Unique Grade vampire.
“Follow us obediently. Otherwise, I will tear your limbs out and drag you along the ground.”
Hearing Arkai’s threat, the siblings realized what they were after.
It reminded them of how they were almost sold to the Tower of Mages back when they were young and got caught by one of the gangs.
“Ren.”
“…I know.”
Using beastification, the two of them turned into beasts, readying themselves for the upcoming fight.
“Fools. How dare you filthy beasts try to stand against magic?”
As if they were laughable, Arkai snickered while gesturing to his underlings. With that as the signal, the black mages started taking out some bones from their clothes.
“You will regret opposing the great Professor Arkai.”
A bunch of bones were scattered on the ground and soon, Arkai took out a large skull that appeared like the skull of a wolf.
“Heed the call of your master, you lowly beast.”
Arkai commanded as the bones started gathering into one to form a shape. One by one, the bones came together and fitted themselves in their rightful joints.
That wasn’t the end.
– Kweeeeeekk!
The Fang Boars started to howl and struggle. Despite being dead and raised back to life in the form of an undead, the appearance of the new monster that sucked in all the nearby bones stimulated their innate feelings of fear.
Their instincts screamed out to them, that they would change altogether… if they were to be sucked into that vortex.
– Kueeeeek!
– Kueek! Kuiiiik!
A desperate scream echoed in harmony as their voices started to tremble the entire mountain range, but their struggles were in vain.
The flesh and blood of the Fang Boars were crushed and broken, and added up to become a condensed piece of flesh. And soon, after being sucked in towards the assembly of bones, those chunks of flesh and blood pasted themselves on the bones to make up the flesh of a new organism.
The Black Cult based their studies on black magic. They mocked life, induced artificial union and their ultimate goal was to defy death by repeating that process. There was no such thing as respect for life nor taboos that couldn’t be broken. The thing in front of the eyes of the siblings was the result of that wicked path of magic.
“Grrrrh…”
The organism that was made by the assembly of bones and the flesh of Fang Boars gave off a strange howl.
“U, ugh…”
Seeing the finished form of that creature, the siblings were lost for words. It was because it appeared just like them – to be exact, it looked like their fully beastified form.
“…A werewolf?”
“That is so. This is the strongest undead I have created using the bones and flesh of your species – the best masterpieces I have ever made!”
A werewolf chimera.
A combined monster made not with the bones of a human, but with the bones of a pure-blooded werewolf and the flesh of Fang Boars.
—!!
Along with a horrifying roar, the werewolf chimera charged towards them. The mighty charge as it kicked off the ground was so menacing that the siblings had to throw themselves away in fright.
– Kwang!
It was a narrow miss. The old tree that looked more than a century old was shredded to pieces after one charge from the werewolf, and the debris flew everywhere like a ball hit by a bat.
“What…”
The sheer destructive force of the chimera completely went against their common sense. All they could do was watch the forest be destroyed by the debris of the shattered tree.
“Huhuhu, surprised? It must be too hard for mere animals to comprehend how astounding this is. This is the essence of life magic!”
With a sneer, Arkai ridiculed the dumbfounded siblings and started rambling on about his achievement.
“Muscles are the foundation of strength! The reason those stupid knights have inhumane destructiveness is because the density of their muscles can reach a hundred times the density of normal people!
“That is why I looked into the research to increase the muscle density of an organism! Each muscle tissue might be weaker than that of a stupid knight, but the amount is amplified exponentially as they increase in numbers!
“You beasts will never be able to stand against my perfect chimera…!”
While Arkai was explaining his feat, the siblings whispered to themselves.
“…Ren. What does that mean?”
“…I don’t know either.”
Leaving the incomprehensible explanation behind, it was still undeniable that that werewolf chimera was exceptionally powerful.
“Grrrhaaaaaa…!”
Letting out a deafening roar, the werewolf smashed down with its heavy arm. Ren used her beastified arm to block the attack.
“Uhk…!”
It was heavy. Just like Arkai said, the weight of the werewolf made by combining several dozens of Fang Boars was unbearably heavy.
“Ren!”
The punch thrown by the young wolf boy in an attempt to help his sister was easily blocked by the werewolf.
“Uhk…!”
It felt like he was hitting a piece of rock. Ron was stronger than Korin in terms of physical strength, so he was fairly shocked by the difference in their strength.
“Uaht…?!”
Suddenly, the werewolf pulled Ron in by the hand and as a result, the boy ended up crashing into his sister.
“Uhhk…!”
The mind-numbing shock of the crash dazed them for a second but Ren quickly came to herself and made a quick call.
“B, beastify! Right now!”
Simultaneously, the two of them shifted themselves into the form of golden wolves.
After becoming large wolves, the two of them tried to escape from the grasp of the werewolf. Full beastification like this was the proof of immaturity for demi-humans, but it was helpful right now in that it amplified their strength by severalfold.
The two golden wolves were going to escape just like that but…
“…?!”
By the time they noticed it, the werewolf was already right behind them swinging its arm down. The sharp claws of the monster ripped past Ren’s sides.
[Uhk…!?]
[Ren…!]
Flop! Ren rolled across the ground. Ron tried to run towards his sister, but without letting him do that, the werewolf did a roundhouse kick to Ron on his side.
[Kuhk…!]
He flew off and crashed into an ancient tree, and fell on the ground along with the shattered barks of the tree.
[Haa… haa…!]
The two golden wolves despaired at the might of the werewolf. The werewolf chimera was way ahead of them in both speed and strength. Their chance of victory looked extremely slim and it made them feel like they were before an unbeatable foe.
[Strength isn’t the only factor deciding the victor.]
Right when they were about to give up, a voice echoed in their ears. They remembered the voice of a man, who self-deprecatingly called himself a weak knight who had to face innately powerful foes.
[But I will still beat them in a real fight.]
What they recalled next was his paradoxical declaration as well as explanation, that a fight was different from a Maths equation with had a clear and unchanging answer.
Fight wisely. Consider the weakness, compatibility and psychology of the enemy. Add all of them together to aim at the weaknesses of the enemy.
[Ren…]
[I know.]
That was what they needed right now.
A frontal fight was not what they were supposed to do – they had to identify the weaknesses of their enemy and wait for the right timing.
“About time to end it. Suppress the beasts.”
“Grrrrhaaahh…!”
Heeding Arkai’s command, the werewolf chimera became even more menacing as it jumped at them. The explosive burst of speed that came from its extra-dense muscles allowed the werewolf to pounce rapidly at the siblings, who refused to fight a frontal battle.
They, who had always been fighting by relying on their physical capabilities, started avoiding a bout of strength and focused on dodging for the first time.
‘So fast!’
‘It’s strong!’
A punch shattered each of the trees, and its legs allowed the monster to cover ten meters with one jump in the blink of an eye. Seeing the bestial and instinctive movements of the monster, the siblings realized that this was what they used to fight like.
[Your attacks are too honest and linear. Add in some irregular attacks and feints.]
[Kyaaah…!]
Ren threw herself forward along with a shout. Meanwhile, Ron went and bit the arm of the monster that was trying to smash down at his sister from outside her vision.
– Kajik!
While Ron was holding the arm back, Ren crunched at one of the legs of the monster… at the Achilles tendon of the werewolf.
“Grrrahhh…!”
The werewolf twisted its body with its overwhelming might and flung the two wolves away from its body, but in the mouths of the wolves were chunks of the werewolf’s flesh.
[Ptui…!]
The golden wolves spitted out the flesh from their mouth, as the chimera dashed at the siblings with a limp.
Despite the immense power of its body and despite not feeling any pain, the torn-out pieces of flesh and muscles of the monster still managed to affect its speed.
Stubbornly, the siblings hung onto its weakness.
Ren attacked first, while Ron crunched at its vitals.
Without getting greedy, they attacked the chimera and weakened it slowly but surely. Due to their wise hunt, the werewolf chimera slowly reached its limit.
[This is the end…!]
That was when the perfect opportunity came to them. Right when the wolves were about to jump at the werewolf, who was now full of gaps in defence due to the accumulation of wounds…
[Kuhk…?!]
[Huuk…?!]
The siblings fell at the same time. There was an incomprehensible pain in their stomach, making them feel like their guts were about to be torn to pieces.
“Huhuhu. You stupid animals.”
Leisurely, the black mages started walking to the siblings who threw up a mouthful of black blood in pain.
“What…”
Trampling on Ren’s head, who no longer had the power to maintain her beastification and returned to her normal self, Arkai laughed like a madman.
“The flesh of the chimera was poison itself. Without even knowing that, you really loved chewing on that didn’t you?”
“Get… away from Ren!!”
Ron screamed out in agony, but that only helped stimulate the sadistic nature of Arkai.
“Huhu. Two golden wolves, huh… Master will be glad to see this.”
“Don’t… make me laugh. Your master… will be arrested…”
In response to Ren’s agonized attempt to talk back, Arkai put more weight to his foot and trampled on her head even more.
“You fool. Do you think the paladins of the New Faith will be able to stop Master? He will escape the prison with no problem when he gets the signal from us.”
“Ughh…”
“I will skin you guys alive, and preserve your brains in formaldehyde. All your bones and flesh will be used for the advancement of magic. Kuhahahaha…!”
“Rennn…”
“Cough…!”
Ron crawled across the ground, towards Ren who was still coughing out black blood. His twin sister was in danger – she, his mean yet kind sister, who always prioritized him when she found something to eat in the garbage bins of the slums, was coughing while being trampled by the black mage.
I have to protect her. I must protect her.
[Ren wants to protect Ron, and Ron wants to protect Ren, right?]
[Yes! I will protect Ren!]
The pledge he made before had come out naturally, but it wasn’t something he said with a light heart. He wanted to protect his twin sister who had been with him ever since being born on the same day. She was like the other half of his very existence.
“What…?!”
A black mage that was about to bind him with chains stepped back after seeing golden light suddenly emanating out from Ron.
Beastmen tended to grow physically alongside their mental growth.
Most of them grew through social education where they grew both intellectually and rationally but… it also applied to situations like this where young beasts had no choice but to get stronger to face the harsh trials of life.
Sometimes, becoming an adult was not a choice but a requirement to not falter before the cold and merciless tornado of hardships.
It was a sad way to grow, but was one that was very much required for the current Ron.
“Haah, haah…!”
“R, Ron?”
Suddenly, his muscles and bones started to develop. It was a small change at the level of a boy becoming a young man, but it happened at a rapid speed in real time. Seeing the maturer form of her twin brother who had always been feeble and naive, Ren couldn’t help but feel confused.
“Hoh… What a rare and precious sight. To think I would have the chance to look at the growth of a beastman in real time.”
Arkai was still carefree because his secret weapon was still alive and well.
“Make him kneel. Blow away one of his legs if you must.”
“Grrrh…!”
In response to his command, the werewolf chimera, which had already finished regenerating all of its wounds, started walking up to the young boy.
The sudden growth of the golden wolf was a surprise, but on Arkai’s side was the synthetic monster and essence of black magic. It was by no means weaker than the golden wolf.
The werewolf chimera, which was at least 10 times stronger compared to other adult werewolves, struck the boy at a shocking speed.
– Kung!
“Ron…!”
Ren cried out but her scream soon turned into that of doubt. That change applied to everyone in the area.
“What is going on?”
“Grrrrh…”
The chimera howled, not from the heat of the battle but from confusion. It was because the young wolf, which used to be nothing compared to its might, was grabbing onto its arm and crushing it.
“W, what…!”
It was evident that the monster was being pushed back. Anyone seeing this would say the same thing, and the absurd turn of events made Arkai open his eyes wide in shock.
He just couldn’t understand it, but understandably, the awakening of the royal blood from a miraculous process of atavism, was too old of a glorious past for a human that was barely 50 to understand.
“Die…!”
Ron pulled his arm back like the string of a bow before releasing it at the werewolf. The chimera blocked the simple linear punch, but the sharp claws of the wolf pierced through its hand.
That much was not a big deal, because as an undead, the chimera was immune to pain in the first place. But what happened next was definitely problematic.
“Garrrh?”
Ron’s claws that pierced through the monster’s hand were drawing closer and closer. Despite the werewolf grabbing onto Ron’s hand and trying to push it away from itself, Ron was like an immovable fortress that was impossible to push back.
– Kugigigigik!
Desperately, the werewolf tried to push him back but Ron persistently pushed through. In the end, his claws stabbed through the hand and went all the way in through its neck.
“Grrrk?!”
Before long, the claws sliced apart the monster’s vocal cords, which was then followed by the merciless golden claws decapitating the werewolf.
“Huhh?”
While the black mages were confused by the head of the werewolf suddenly rolling towards them, Ron immediately jumped into the fray.
“Uaahkk…!”
“P, Professor Arkai!”
The rampaging claws of the golden wolf shredded the black mages to pieces. They commanded the undead Fang Boars under their command to march at him, but those failed to buy them even a second.
“Damn it! This accursed beast…!”
It was humiliating.
Creating and controlling that enormous familiar had required him to put in a countless number of spells of obedience and mana, so seeing it lose to a young and immature beast was a great hit to his pride.
“Die…!”
After slicing apart all the black mages around him, Ron was about to sprint towards Ron but…
“Stop! Unless you want your sister to die in agony!”
Pulling Ren up by the hair, Arkai threatened him which forced Ron to halt his feet.
“I don’t know how you managed to overcome the poison, but it seems like a different story for your sister. The venom flowing through the flesh of a chimera is incurable without a specific antidote!”
“You… coward!”
“Huhu. This is what we call human wisdom. How dare a mere beast try to judge me…?!”
Arkai, who had been using Ren as a shield in fear of Ron running in at him, became triumphant after seeing him halt his feet.
“How dare a beast look straight into the eyes of a sage walking down the path of magic? Get on your knees! That is the rightful line of sight between a sage and a beast!”
He shouted, shameless, as if he didn’t find his current actions embarrassing in the slightest. Instead, as if he was embarrassed by the fact that he had been scared of Ron for even a second, he threw his sister on the ground and constantly trampled on her.
“You beast! How dare you! Try to! Fight me!”
“Uhkk…!”
“S, stop!”
Ron had no way of retaliating against the old mage as he continued trampling on his sister who was heavily gasping for breath.
“Stop… Please stop…!”
Although he had overcome the poison with his growth, it was different for his sister. Seeing Ren who was constantly coughing out phlegms mixed with black blood, Ron got down on his knees.
“Please… save my sister.”
“Ron… you idiot…”
Seeing her twin brother who couldn’t give up on him until the very end, Ren powerlessly closed her eyes.
In the end, this was their future. Ever since they had been kidnapped by the gang, Ren had been aware that they were valuable ‘test subjects’. It was because she heard how the gang was trying to sell them to the Tower of Mages.
Expensive beasts – that was how the world perceived them. Whenever they revealed their true identities, their surroundings always tended to look at them with either fear or greed in their eyes so Ren had constantly been wary of everyone.
Her ability to use her innate instincts to tell apart lies was a skill she acquired in order to survive from that environment.
[It’s okay. No one is going to hit you anymore. You guys are safe now.]
Was it after she heard that from him? Perhaps that was when her sharp and vigilant senses of a beast disappeared and ever since then, she had started being relieved and carefree.
‘It’s my fault. I should have been cautious and wary at all times…’
Seeing her brother who had to go on his knees to save her, Ren bit her lips.
She had to stay wary at the very least and yet… the inside of the fence was so warm and comfortable… that she had forgotten how cold and harsh the outside was.
‘I… I can’t lose just like this.’
That was why she thought to herself, that she couldn’t end this failure as a failure. Ren had decided to help him. She wanted to stand on the same battlefield as oraboni.
Wolves; they do not yield to hunters.
Wolves; they always stay as a pack.
– Swish…!
Due to the aftermath of the poison, she couldn’t even turn herself into a beast. Looking at the black mage who had lowered his guard at the powerless and poisoned Ren…
“Uaahhk…!”
She attacked desperately with her sharp fangs. Arkai, who wasn’t expecting a dying beast to suddenly spurt into action, instinctively swung his arm to block his vitals, which let the wolf bite into his arm.
“Uhhkk…? You bastard! Let go…! Kuahkkk…!”
Arkai swung his arm around left and right and flung her away. His skin got ripped off and blood spurted out, but Ren still maintained her fighting spirit.
“Kyaaaa…!”
Letting out a small roar, Ren sprinted forward while raising her claws. Right when she was about to land her attacks on Arkai, a sudden spear of darkness pierced through her belly from the back.
“Kuhuk…!”
The black magic penetrating through her stomach was something fired by one of the black mages behind her.
“RENNN…!”
Ron immediately tried to run up towards his sister who collapsed to the ground, but his body was already sealed in place by magic.
“Y, youuuuu… How dare you!!”
As if humiliated by the sudden surprise attack, Arkai once again started trampling on Ren, who had a spear stabbing through her body. The black mage merciless stepped on her in fury while on the other hand, a beast growled in anger with his eyes stuck on Ren, whose eyes were slowly losing focus.
“I will kill you… All of you. I will definitely kill every one of you…”
Seeing her brother give off a strange aura, Ren noticed that something was going wrong. This wasn’t good. At this rate her brother… Ron was going to change into something else.
Her instincts as a beast warned her, that this was not good.
“Please… help us.”
There was no way her voice was going to reach him. There was no way he was going to hear her. Despite being rational and knowing all too well the limitations of physics…
She clenched her teeth and whispered her wish with all her heart.
“Please save us, oraboni…”
“Hmph…! No matter what you say, there’s no one who’s going to save you bitch… kuak!?”
Suddenly, a human figure flew out of nowhere as a fist ruthlessly punched the old mage.
“Ora…boni?”
The silhouette of a man filled her vision. Seeing his back, Ren couldn’t stop her eyes from turning wet with tears.
“You’re late…”
“Sorry. It’s alright now.”
Korin Lork.
With the eyes of a ferocious beast he glared daggers at Arkai.
Comments