Becoming Legend

Chapter 21: Raged

Ned saw no more of the Goblin-orc, fortifying his belief that the Hybrid had no animosity in them. Nightfall embraced them when they exited the cave where the hidden Passage Array laid. Bamboo looking grass danced against the gust of the wind. At the foot, mushrooms flickered in the distance, giving light to the bugs looking for a spot to rest.

"Ned, thank you," Toni, looking delighted and vulnerable, acknowledged Ned's effort for saving her.

Exhausted and thankful, the four walked under the streak of moonlight. Passing different vegetation on their way to a rock to rest.

"It's nothing, it's my duty as a knight to protect my partners."

Previously, back at the mining chamber, Ned rescued Toni against the Hybrid by stabbing his hand and giving him his blood. Ned knew that giving the Hybrid a part of his blood, he will become stronger, but the process will momentarily immobilize the Goblin-orc. With that, Ned found a way to release Toni against the grip of the monster.

Worried about the outcome, Toni asked Ned about his hand. Maybe she could, somehow, ease the wound. A stab, no more than an inch, revealed itself to Toni. Worried, she ripped a part of her old clothes and wrapped Ned's wound.

[Notice. Nanites were redirected to heal the wounds.]

[2 hours 3 minutes and 55 seconds remaining to complete healing.]

These nanites really come in handy huh, Ned mused.

"You don't know healing Spells?" curious, Ned asked Toni.

"Uh," nodding her head and looking down, Toni was embarrassed that she doesn't know any healing spells. "I'm sorry, if only I have light magic, I could have healed you and... Xi."

"Impossible," Xi gazed at Toni, while he leans against the stone with Coco in his hands, "learning another type of magic would be very difficult for you," he added, "plus, your magic is already a rare type, you must be some kind of..." He paused, "Ahhh, I forgot. My mentor once told me about this Unique kind of mages."

"Gifted," Ned answered.

"Ah, yes! Gifted, the one with a very rare element, my mentor told me that Gifteds don't need to study their magic, they just... come out naturally." twitching his face, Xi moved side to side to find a proper place for his wound to rest, "but I'll be fine, don't worry, this is just a little scratch, also this wound will be my mark of manliness."

Meow!

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"Well, Coco's not in favor about you being manly," Ned looked at Xi and they all laughed.

"Ned, before, I told you to leave me, but you didn't, why?" now with a serious tone of voice, Xi asked.

"I want to go farther."

"What do you mean?"

"If I want to go fast, I'll go alone, but if I want to go far, we go together."

With those words, Xi forgot that he wanted to become manly, his eyes turn red, and beads of tears dropped.

"Too much for being manly?"Ned asked then the four started to laugh. Again.

This time, they heaved a sigh of relief. For a minute or two, the four rested. But with only a day left, the group must gather points to pass the first goal of the Selection.

"Ned, you said you're a Knight?" Xi asked.

"Well, not really, for me to become an official Knight, I need to pass the Selection, go to an academy, register myself as a Fighter Profession, and slowly rank my way up to become a knight."

"And Toni, you`re a Gifted, why`d you want to go to an academy?"

"Well...uhmm...I can't control my magic, so...so I need to find someone who can teach me...control my magic," aside from Ned, her brother, and Lady Zoreena, Toni was stuttering when talking to people she just met.

"And the academy is the fastest way to find one, I get it," Xi said, "well, we all have one thing in common, to pass."

Ned furrowed. "63 points," he put his hand on Xi's shoulder, "you stay here with Toni I'll go find meat to eat then we'll increase our points."

In the woods, Ned borrowed Xi's bow with a handful of arrows. He was looking for monsters to hunt for their meat and core. Not far from the team, Ned found a monster that resembled a dear, sipping a portion of water in a small pond. "Adult Corca," he mumbled. Nocking his bow, the arrow was released and went straight to the Corca's neck. It fell down, lifeless.

Cutting the Corca's meat and core, Ned felt that someone was watching him. He instinctively jumped away from the dead creature and saw that an ax was hurled coming his way. He evaded sideways and the ax hit nothing but mud.

"Greg! What are you doing? You could have killed him." Ned heard a tight voice coming from a lady.

Not far from where Ned landed, three people showed themselves. Two men, half-naked, Ned saw them before, "Greg and Grant," he mumbled. The other was a lady, curly chestnut hair, ponytailed to look neat, thin high arc brows, and sharp pointy nose but her eyes were fierce as a tiger.

"Shut up! Know your place Naa'ri!" Grant grunted.

"You shut up Grant!" The lady whom they called Naa'ri rebuked, "you don't own me!"

The three stopped near the Corca's dead body, Greg pulled the arrow off the Corca's neck and glared at Ned. "My, what do we have here! A stray cat without his master."

"That's my game," Ned said, gripping his Butterfly ready for anything.

"We've been tracking this for a while now." The lady said, "since you're alone, how about we share? I'm Naa'ri by the way."

"Ned," one thing Ned learned from his past life was to avoid unnecessary conflict. If he can try to talk them out, he would. "I'm okay with sharing, but we're a group of four," he added, "well, three not counting the cat."

With a wrapping made of fur running on her nape. At her back, attached a green bow and an arrow that perfectly matched her odd hunter clothes. Naa'ri's eyes showed a hint of excitement when she heard Ned said Cat. "Cat?" She whispered.

"Uhhuh," Ned nodded, but remained alert, what's with her? He wondered.

"Enough! I remember you kid!" Greg cried. "Your Master! Well...met our master! And, they talk! And you knew what happened next!"

Did he just call me a kid? "Embarrassed? That my Master slapped your Master?" Ned paced backward, and slowly.

"I said enough!" Raising the ax he picked on the ground, Greg jumped towards Ned.

Ned parried and evaded the ax slashed on him. Even against the two of them, Ned managed to evade their attacks effortlessly.

Naa'ri was surprised to see that Ned, could match the two.

"Naa'ri! What are you doing?" Greg shouted.

"Nothing! why?"

"Help us!"

Ned slashed midair hitting Grant's ax.

"No!that's not my fight! Besides, I want to see his cat!"

Ned was smiling. But he never mocked his opponents. He was smiling because he was amazed by his body's growth. Even with the two of them, Ned can easily evade all their attacks. They're too slow Ned can predict all their movements. Left, right, then left. They're slow. Ned thought. Time to finish this, I'll just knock them out.

Ned raised his sword, he jumped backward, charged his legs. Then he vanished. Not with the skill, but he vanished cause the two couldn't keep up with him.

Ned was about to knock Greg when he heard a deafening boom from where his team was resting. An explosion, followed by a roar. The explosion was powerful that the shockwaves reached them. No. "No!" Ned cried. Sheathing his sword, he ran towards the explosion.

"Wait!" Naa'ri wanted to stop Ned. "Don't go there!"

Ned reached the rock where Toni, Xi, and Coco had been resting. But they were nowhere to be found. Rocks, debris, trees, all scattered. Not far from him, he heard another roar. This time, it was near the cave.

Ned dashed towards the roar, his glance rested for a moment to where the mouth of the cave once was. No cave, no trees, not even grass, and no Toni and the rest. No, no, come on, where are you. Ned took a deep breath thinking of Toni, Coco, and Xi. Another roar was heard, it was closer to where Ned was.

Mud, dark, and damp, a swamp, Ned murmured. The stench of dead carcasses probed Ned's sense of smell. But it was nothing compared to what he saw. A barrier of ice was shielding Xi and Coco against a monster. It was Tony's.

Ned saw the monster to be familiar, muddy green skin, stripes of orange covered its body reaching his face hiding under the beam of the moon. He's now bigger, madder, and scarier.

The Hybrid slashed Tony's ice barrier using its sword enveloped with fire. Crack after crack, the barrier was holding, and Toni was drench in sweat. "Toni," Ned wanted to shout, but something in his throat blocking his voice, it was fear. Ned was scared. Scared not of the Hybrid. But scared to lose people he cared. Scared that he remained weak. "Toni!" At the top of his lungs, he howled. "Toni!".

[Ned. Calm down. Focus.]

[Subject Tony's barrier will not hold for long. Focus. Calm down and evaluate.]

Indeed Tony's barrier was strong but it won't hold for long. With a distance of almost fifty meters, Ned stretched his bow, wind blowing, hands trembling, and target hiding under the shaft of the moon. He released the arrow. It swooshed right to the Hybrid's shoulder.

The Hybrid didn't even flinch, instead, he pulled the arrow off his shoulder. His crimson red eyes gazed at Ned. He smiled. Like he was waiting for Ned. The Hybrid dashed towards Ned. Be it mud, damp, or rock the Hybrid does not care at all. He saw his prey, and his prey is all that matter. It was Ned.

"Ned! Run!" Toni cried. "Just...run!"

"Run! Ned!" Xi shouted, he cared for Ned. "He's after you!"

"Please run Ned!" Tears dripped off Tony's eyes. "He's different, he's not the Hybrid anymore, he's... a Lord!" Toni cried out of fear.

"I won't run again! I won't leave you. I'd rather die than to leave you!" Ned raged, he brandished the Butterfly.

"ICE! Overclock!"