25 Deltan Did What? (1/2)

It was the last day of the imposed training that their Teacher had thrown them into without any warning. Needless to say, Deltan's image in everyone's mind was already thoroughly ruined. Gone was the lofty and arrogant Eldest Prince of their Empire. Instead, noble and commoner alike had seen a side of the Eldest Prince that no one else knew.

In order to spare his pride, however, they had tacitly decided to keep the information themselves. The fawning that some of them had shown on the first day of school had subsided, and they treated Deltan like one of their own now. The gap between commoners and nobles in the class that had seemed like such a wide gulf before had shrunk to practically nothing, and they trusted each other with their lives.

The difference from the first and second day compared to now was such a stark contrast that one would have wondered what had happened within these seven days.

All twenty students had gone through an excruciating and life-changing process within these seven days. It was almost as if they were a whole new person. The stressful ordeal had successfully evolved these students, sparking a qualitative change within them. It had drawn out the hidden potential and talent they hadn't been using, giving new discoveries to each one.

Twenty students relaxed around the campfire of roasting meat, but a part of their mind was always alert and on the lookout for danger even as they chatted and messed around.

”I think the higher tier Magic Beasts taste better,” Deltan mused, chewing on the meat in a deceptively elegant manner. The meat was lean but tender and contained a mouth-watering smell that caused one to swallow their saliva.

Brooke shook his head. ”The lower tier Magic Beast is chewier and tougher. The more you chew, the more the flavour comes out.”

The two exchanged glares. Lucien, Eden and Aciel watched the two of them argue back and forth like a tennis match with amused faces. The two of them were simply like fire and water. They argued like an old married couple. It was almost like they were arguing for the sake of arguing, and the rare times they agreed on something, the other would almost immediately change their mind.

Next to them, sitting on a log, Andrew frowned when he realized what had seemed so strange and unsettling about today. ”Has anyone seen that Sixth Tier Magic Beast today? Team two didn't get chased by it today at all. Isn't that strange?”

The nearby students who heard what he said nodded and agreed. They felt a faint sense of unease creep up on them. When the Magic Beast chased them, they were dying of unease because they didn't know when it would change its mind and start killing them instead of playing with them, but when it didn't turn up, they couldn't feel at ease because they didn't know what it was doing! Truly, humans were a species that felt uneasy about the unknown. The devil you knew was better than the devil you didn't.

Valerie frowned. ”Do you think it's going to appear at the last minute and face off all of us together?”

The students who were listening in started making suggestions of their own. ”Maybe it got tired playing with us day after day? It's probably resting today.”

”I don't think so? How tiring would chasing us be? It's a Sixth Tier Magic Beast. Even all of us aren't enough to face it all at once.”

”Yeah. It most likely got bored because we never tried to fight it?”

Valerie rolled her eyes. ”Do you think none of us tried to fight it? We tried on the second day, but it just cast a disdainful glance at us and left. The magic didn't even scratch it.”

Just as the sky was darkening, all twenty students heard a familiar roar. Instantly, they were up on their feet and ready to run. However, they were too late when the familiar eyes of the Magic Beast locked onto them, freezing them in place with its chilling and bloodthirsty eyes.

”Shit! Run!”

Team Four cast magic at the beast's four limbs simultaneously, trying to buy time for the other fifteen students to run as they drew the Magic Beast's attention.

In a split second, the Sixth Tier Magic Beast changed its tactics as it disdainfully ignored the magic being cast at it. The moment the five different magic spells landed, a flash of surprise surfaced in its eyes as it felt a slight sting for once.

The tiger narrowed its eyes in appreciation and decided to stop its playthings from leaving so soon. For the first time, it released a bit of its magic from its body, the presence of the beast instantly intensified, and the students felt like they couldn't breathe under the suppression of the Magic Beast.

Lucien grit his teeth and struggled to move his limbs, pushing as much magic to the surface of his skin to try and protect himself from the instinctual suppression he felt from the presence of the beast.

The Demonic Winged Tiger casually stepped forward, its eyes landing on a figure. It prowled forward like a predator stalking its prey, only having eyes for Deltan.

Noticing who the beast was staring at, Lucien increased his struggles as he desperately tried to reach out to his teammate, who still seemed frozen in fear. Similarly, Brooke, Eden and Aciel were struggling their hardest as their muscles twitched, trying to break free of the suppression.

”Deltan,” Brooke grit out. ”You fucking idiot, MOVE ALREADY.”

But Deltan was as motionless as ever, staring up at the beast with dazed eyes.

The Sixth Tier Magic Beast narrowed its eyes in pleasure as it neared the prince. It brushed aside all the little humans near the one it knew the longest, bringing its face up close to the prince.

The students were about to scream with the pure worry that was running wild through their body. The Magic Beast had never done this before. It had only chased and not killed anyone, even if it had taken a few swipes. It was almost as if it had been playing with them, but it seemed like it was about to end now.

Everyone struggled against the pressure that was akin to a heavy weight pressing on them to prevent them from moving. They couldn't just stand by and watch as Deltan got killed or worse, devoured. As citizens of the Cosmos Empire, they took pride in the royal family. More than that, they had already considered Deltan a friend.

Lucien bit down hard on his lip, drawing blood. Simultaneously, Aciel, Eden and Brooke inflicted pain on themselves to get themselves to move. Almost as if a dream, the pressure lifted from them.