A restless amble shuffled through the horde of thralls, and then they charged. Banda lowered himself to engage, but his head jolted up to the several thralls who fell from the peak of the hill above.

  His first instinct to shatter their heads with stones was quickly buried, as they fell with shields protecting them. So he readied his claws. But his instincts flared again, just as the thralls self destructed in a dense azure explosion.

  Banda darted out of the cloudy fringes of the blasts. Such power was far greater than weaklings as these should be able to do, but he remembered seeing it before.

  It was the same ability that Eres’ human had done to the priests when they entered the tower. The only trick of the man called Montu he had thought dangerous.

  “Spirit Explosion!” Eres yelled out, as her Avatar battered away the thralls that swarmed towards her. “Don’t let it hit you!”

  Banda glanced to the Avatar, whose appearance had changed again. Slimmer in design, and its formerly golden armor was now silver. Glittering black cloth like the starry night sky had replaced the fiery red of past.

  Its face was still that of pure azure mana but its intricate helm now covered its eyes, giving it a distant, otherly presence.

  The shield on its left arm had gotten smaller again, with chaotic swirls in place of the firm engraved design before. And in its other hand, it held a thin silver spear. Its long point as thin as a blade of grass, no wider than the shaft.

  Banda pulled his focus away and shot towards the thralls. He killed some and baited the rest into their self destruction, while his eyes caught Eres’ actions at his side.

  Her Avatar thrust its spear at blinding speed, faster than even he could move. The blade pierced deep with ease, and a chaotic force ravaged the wound, mutilating it far further.

  She allowed another thrall to explode on her shield. It staggered back, seemingly no longer possessing the anchoring ability. But in its place, the shield shone bright and exploded back with the same force.

  A pleased smile found Eres’ lips after having tested her Avatar’s new abilities. As well as its greater strength.

  The Avatar’s personal might was similar to that of a sacred grade monster, one tied to her rank. As such, it had benefited even more than she had for her advancement.

  As Banda tore through the horde, Otto ambushed him in Atzol form. He ducked under the crimson edged blade as he lurched closer in range, only to meet the paw of Otto’s tail already curving towards him, as though the bandit had predicted his response.

  But Banda had predicted his too. A runestone had already left his hand, and its impact smacked the tail-paw away. Scorching Iron Claws of molten red took form on Banda’s hands as he channeled the technique with his newly acquired Fire Spirit Root to thrust at Otto’s open side. But the man coiled his other scimitar to block with the flat of his blade.

  Otto lept back as his tail grabbed for a stone to fling at Banda. Banda smashed it apart with his glowing red iron hand, and Otto flickered to his side to strike again under cover of debris. Banda turned with the searing blade, cold focus in his eye as he saw the opening for a kill.

  But his instincts blared, and he burst away as the blade changed course to just barely stab at his face. Banda found himself forced on the backfoot as Otto attacked at his weakness with increasing sharpness.

  Banda was stronger than Otto but not by much, and the half-beastman was more than twice as fast. There was a gap in skill as well that he was not used to being on the poorer end.

  Fighting was as much a part of his life as breathing. Countless beasts had died at his hands. But Otto had clearly fought more humans. Clearly killed more. But most of all, Otto now had Shamura’s ability to read minds. And that gave him too much of an edge.

  Banda stilled his mind, and gave himself to his instincts entirely. Their positions reversed, and Otto was now at a disadvantage against the feral storm. But the Bandit smiled.

  Otto moved with intent, and Banda reacted. Blood splashed from the thin red line drawn on his arm as his consequence. Banda’s murderous intent magnified, as Otto simply swung wide.

  Banda lunged at the bait just as Otto wanted, but flourished his hands to knock away the deceptive thrust that followed. Otto was truly open for the kill now. But among that exchange, a thrall had jumped in close, and it self destructed on Banda.

  The savage crashed across the ground a few times before spinning back to his feet. He had thrown himself away as much as he could but the fringes of the blast had still struck him.

  Mere wisps had given him minor wounds, not just on his body but his spirit as a whole. He could tell with certainty that a clean hit would be fatal.

  His injuries would have much worse were it not for his yang aura Armor. The extraordinary firmness that his new trait gave his aura was the only reason he had gotten off so lightly. There was still much he did not know about it, but there was no time to measure it further.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “I was right to choose you.” Otto spoke as he walked towards him. “What has it been, four months since you started cultivating? Truly favored ones of fate.”

  Banda’s expression lowered into a frown, and Otto laughed.

  “Not fond of the title, hah? Well, I can’t say I have much love for fate either. But…” Otto brought his swords to a stance. “It is better to be favored than not.”

  Like a titan of old, Eres’ Avatar attacked Otto from above. The bandit spun away from the spear with ease. His speed was still greater but he took note of the being’s strength.

  Several silver hands blocked his path as the Avatar struck again. Otto rolled underneath right into Eres’ range.

  She harnessed her mind as aura gathered on her outstretched hand, and she unleashed her Giant Palm Blast tinged with silver Yin.

  Otto’s tail lashed around and struck the blast. Its paw absorbed it all in the blink of an eye and cast it back. Eres’ shield covered her in time, and it too absorbed the blast. The strange markings on the shield shone with a tremble and it fired out a silver blast several times greater.

  A runestone struck Otto’s tail off course, along with his grin, and the bandit had no time to do more than raise his guard as the blast struck him away.

  The explosion was even more destructive than the spell from Ubin’s item, but Otto slide out from the cloud of silver and dust with no more than minor wounds. The blend of dull gold and silver held his Yin-Yang Armor firm.

  “It takes a lot of control to fake your thoughts.” Otto praised. “But you still only hold half.”

  Banda lunged at the opening, and Otto blocked with similar force. Both of their Armors shook, but only Wild’s shattered. He lept away from the keen slash that followed to position himself at Eres’ side.

  “Struggle as much as you can.” Otto encouraged. “There will never be another chance after today.”

  Banda’s eyes narrowed. Otto spoke with arrogance but it was not undeserved. He could not see a true way to win.

  His aura was much firmer now, and Eres’ more destructive. But Otto was a match for both and more. The bandit’s aura clashed equally with his, but the destruction carved his away. It clashed equally with Eres’, but it outlasted hers.

  Banda gave away too much if he fought aware, but he made himself to vulnerable if he closed his mind. The two of them might be able to wear Otto down until he runs out of aura, but it was more likely their own spirits gave out under the strain of their abilities.

  “We can wear him down.” Banda glanced to the side at Eres’ words to see her domineering smile. “What are you scared of?”

  The choice of her words annoyed him, but Banda understood her intent. Running from this fight meant death. No matter the odds, their only path forward was through the enemy.

  Banda burst forward and clashed with Otto. Otto flourished him away and pivoted to the side as Eres’ Avatar struck. He flourished his scimitar to deflect a stone and sidestepped a silver fist that smashed down.

  Banda lunged, but stopped short as he slapped a cloud of dust from the ground. Otto flickered from the cover towards Eres, but her Hundred Hands shielded her from his slash.

  He darted back as the silver spear pierced straight down into the soil, and Banda lunged from the dust. Otto slashed back at him, but Banda caught the blade without touching the crimson edge.

  Drawing on his superior strength, Bands pulled the scimitar away forcing Otto to let it go to dodge the Avatar’s spear. Banda threw the scimitar away as hard of he could but Otto’s tail-paw flickered to catch it by the handle.

  Two hands burst from the ground and grabbed Otto’s ankles. He tried to move but found their strength greater than he expected, and they did not give him a chance to try again.

  The silver spear pierced through his chest as Banda ran his claws through his neck with a lunge. But Banda’s eyes only sharpened further. It did not feel like flesh. It felt like slime and rubbery ooze.

  Otto darted away as his wounds reformed and closed up. Though Banda felt to call them wounds was inaccurate. They had never injured him in the first place. His flesh had simply given way to their attacks as though it were viscous water and then returned to its normal form.

  Their first attempt had failed, but Banda sensed weakness. That ability had taken a lot out of Otto. They pursued and attacked Otto again, hunting both his life and aura. And they were overwhelming him.

  Otto’s expression steeled. His aura drained rapidly and it showed in his movements. He had become sharper and more vicious. The playful finesse was gone, replaced with ruthless resolve. But they were overwhelming him. They were clawing closer to his death.

  A monstrous bellow thundered at them from the side, like that of a bull. And behind it, Dabru charged.

  Otto was first to react. He darted away with all his might, fearful of the minotaur’s attack. But an attack never came. Otto watched as Dabru ignored him entirely to focus on the duo.

  He stood still for a few moments, then softly laughed at the slight. “So I am still nothing compared to them…”

  Dabru sought only to ruin. The higher the value, the more madly he pursued it. And he had not even spared Otto a glance.

  “Fine…” Resolve sharpened his eyes once more. “I can take far more.”

  Eres grit her teeth as a Hundred Hand pulled her away. Her shield bore a large fissure, one cause by a single chop of Dabru’s axe. The changes to her Avatar had given it unique abilities, but it was now a far poorer defense than she had began with.

  And Dabru seemed stronger than before. At the rate their battle was going, she would perish to the beast. Or Banda would die trying to protect her. Or more likely still, Otto would seize the moment to claim them.

  “Use your Bull Form!” She yelled at Banda.

  Banda heard her words among the rampage, but he was reluctant to follow them. She had the ability to pull him out of it with the golden chains, so there was no risk in him blindly attacking her.

  Were they alone against Dabru, he would have done so already. But that mad state, his focus would solely be on the strongest around. And that left her to face Otto alone.

  “I’ll be fine.” Eres spoke with firm resolve. Not that of naive overconfidence, but that of one who saw the clearest path to victory and was determined to walk it.

  Banda slowed to a stop, and Dabru struck his giant gray axe clean down on him. It bellowed out terrible violence on its victim, but the blade of the axe crumbled away as the minotaur raised it again.

  The large white horns of a bull finished growing from Banda’s head, and the ground cracked beneath his feet. Divinity erupted forth as the Savage let out a primal bellow that trembled the land. A promise of violence far greater than any other.