86 Back to Alleucanth (1/2)

”Let's talk.” Said Clay to Elkanor who had kneeled even before she could stop herself. It was as if on instinct that she did so. Clay was not bothered by it anymore and just let her be. It was not right by Clay to kneel to him or even pay him too much respect or show of respect.

”Elkanor. I am leaving this world and you have helped me take care of my son for a year. Seeing as he is unharmed, I shall grant you one reward, within my capabilities of course. Tell me what reward you want, and I will give it to you.” Clay said generously since his mood was quite good.

”Lord! Spare my life and that is all I shall wish for. That is reward enough!” Elkanor dared not even request anything other than her life. It was good if she just got rid of this mysterious being and be left alone. That way, she could pursue whatever she wanted through her power in this world without anyone stopping her.

”Wisdom and folly sometimes go hand in hand. However, I shall not criticize you. Your life is spared; however, I shall give you an opportunity for you to take advantage of when the time comes. Bring this to the Forbidden Chamber a year later and tell the being that rules there to take you in as his personal apprentice. Show him this letter. Do not go to the Forbidden Chamber within less a year from now. That is all. We shall make ourselves scarce.”

Without even saying goodbye, Clay activated the Teleport skill of the Space-Time Magic branch and disappeared into thin air.

***

Alleucanth, 4 years before Clay ascended into a higher being.

The Dungeon that was discovered on one of the faces of the Impassable Mountain Range.

Caltec, Isaac, Jon and Mor where together with Jora and Myles who were the Alchemy and Elementalist apprentices of Clay. They were sent with the 4 of them to be their support in fighting the Hydra that Clay had given them as punishment for mistreating one of their own people, Yorna.

They were left with taking care of the Hydra. This headache that caused them nightmares. Even Jora and Myles were now going to be ridden with nightmares of this expedition from now on.

At the entrance of the dungeon they stood with pale faces and the fear of their Lord engraved in their hearts. Jora and Myles had been better off since they were only ordered to be supporting characters to these personal retainers of the Lord.

”You're lucky you weren't there.” Said Jon to Jora and Myles.

”What was it that you did that made Lord Clay so mad to punish you like this?” Jora asked. He was the best alchemist apprentice which was appointed as the chief apprentice for alchemy by Clay himself. It was a sort of honor for him as well as pressure but more of honor really, since the prestige he had was almost comparable to the 4 retainers that Clay personally chose.

Groan!

”Alright guys, stop messing around and just tell us your plan of action? We need to get back as soon as possible to complete some projects and handle the other students. The 4 of you are being punished whilst us two were put here in this party to be your watch dogs. So, don't forget that our report to Lord Clay would determine whether you live or die. Right?”

Myles smiled at them brightly. Oddly, none of them found that smile beautiful, instead it was dreadful in another sense.

”Fine! We'll proceed with the previous set up, but we must account for the healing ability of this bastard! The Hydra can regenerate its body for as many times as it could and that's its main strength. If that healing ability wasn't there, then we'd be able to beat it without sweat.”

”So, from what I'm hearing from you. You've no idea how to take it down once and for all. And if we charge right through, we'd just be horribly outmatched so basically, we don't have a plan of action, is that it?”

Groan

Another groan coming from the 4 of them. It seems that Myles was right. Jora was nodding in acknowledgement of Myles insight. And added, ”Since, you can't really cause it harm that'd last, how about doing it like this…”

Myles and Jora gave them ideas and doing their roles in supporting the 4 in facing the Hydra.

After their little meeting at the mouth of the dungeon, they started their expedition into the depths of the dungeon to the Hydra's Lair. The Hydra already had a few heads that grew out of their first encounter. This only made this upcoming battle more of a headache. It took them a few hours of travel to get into the Hydra's Lair as usual. When they arrived, the Hydra was yet again, sleeping. As if mocking them in saying that even if it slept and they succeeded in a surprise attack again, it'd make no difference at all.

Jora gave everyone poison immunity pills to support them in facing the Hydra's poison. Although this pill was not as potent as the ones that Clay could produce, it was the best that Jora and his fellow apprentices could produce at their level over the years.

”This pill will help us in facing the Hydra without worrying about its poison for its duration. Remember, this pill's effect only lasts a day. After taking this, you won't be able to take another pill of its kind for 2 days after. We can force it with your bodies' constitution, however, once is the limit I'm giving you.

”Even with your constitution, pill poison would still kill you. The residue that it leaves inside your body will get harder to absorb and taking pills in the future will only give you minimal effect instead of its full effect.” Jora explained thoroughly. Since Clay also warned him about this side-effect to Pill forging as opposed to potion making. If it were potion, the effects would be less, but it won't leave residues inside the body. However, this time, they needed duration more than security. So, Jora opted for the pills.

”I can help you with large spells on the side, but my spells take time to cast as opposed to the smaller scale spells. So, we must coordinate our attacks. Fire just might give this little lizard a fright.” Myles was optimistic, since Clay had appointed him as one of the supports, there must have been a reason why this was so. In fact, Clay made him come with them to recreate the Herculean Myth of Hercules besting the Hydra using fire. Of course, in this world of magic, less bounded by the rules of physics and logic… anything goes, so he just put so and so together to help.

”Of course. However, since it's sleeping anyway, why don't we try your spell first to wake it up?” Mor asked and suggested. However, his idea was shot down immediately by Isaac.

”That Hydra is sensitive to magic energy for sure. If it detects the large amounts of magic energy being collected despite itself, then I'm sure it, waking up is the least of our worries.” Sternly said Isaac.

”Since it's like this, let's just go with Isaac's Blizzard first and then follow up with finisher attacks to chain a combo before it fully wakes up and then finish the combo with Myles' attack. That way, it'd be a new kind of combination attack from us as opposed to repeating our blunder earlier?” Caltec was more optimistic now that Jora and Myles were with them. Although they were still a bit depressed for being scolded by their Lord Clay, it had to be set aside in this time danger.

”I guess we'll go with that. The Hydra's regenerative ability is a pain in the butt, so let's get this over with quickly!”

The Hydra lay on its belly as it slept while most of the extra heads head inside the hole it dug for itself or was originally designed like that, as burrowing a hole in this dungeon is easier said than done. Caltec approached it from the east side while Jon and Mor approached from the north and then Isaac from the west. Jora and Myles stayed close to the entrance. Myles ready to channel his spell after the battle starts.

With all 6 of them in position, Caltec nodded to signal the start of their strategy.

With that signal, Isaac breathed deeply to release a large amount of magic energy in an instant. Even Myles could not do this now and may have to take a lot of time before even putting his feet in the starting levels. Isaac's ability to do this was from his years of experience in the need to release his energy to survive.

Myles was not jealous, he was impressed and challenged. As the first chief apprentice of the Elementalist personally designated by Lord Clay, he had to live up to that level of expectation, real or imaginary it may be for him. Impressive, Myles thought.

Isaac's outburst made the Hydra react however, it was too late when it did as Isaac had already released Blizzard as an attack and enveloped its nest entirely. Jora and Myles were unaffected as they were at the mouth of the nest but Caltec, Jon and Mor were also unhindered by the cold. It would have been a disgrace as Clay's direct subordinates to be frozen to death without any means to protect themselves from it. The three of them covered their bodies with a thin layer of magic energy to serve as skin-like barriers. It protects against the temperature, but gasses still pass through normally, so poison was still something that could harm them in the long run.

”Go!” Isaac yelled. That was the signal to start pounding on the Hydra. With this blizzard, even they could not see clearly, however, the Hydra's body was enormous, it took no effort to locate it.

Caltec attacked first with his strongest technique finisher; Turtle Destruction Wave – Uppercut!

Caltec went into the side of the Hydra's body and unleashed his finisher on it hitting it and even lifting the Hydra out of the ground for more than 10 feet before it started to drop down, pulled by the gravity of Alleucanth.

Roar!

The Hydra's roar resounded, and its hidden heads were also lifted out of the hole and started to swing themselves in defense and counterattack against Caltec.