Chapter 17: Chapter 16: A rank beast
She has a talent for this magic,' thought a pleased Eros as he watched a small fountain of water fly out of the card in Cana's hand. "But her magic reserve is too small. Although... she's still a child, this will be fixable in the future."
"Well done, Cana," Lily exclaimed joyfully, clapping her hands. "You really have talent."
The girl blushed at the compliments. "Thank you."
"Keep up the good work, and you'll become the strongest female mage in the future."
"I will try!" Cana's eyes lit up at these words.
"Alright, I can't lag behind either. Plus or minus two weeks, and Gildarts will be back. I'll have to surprise him—and punch him in the face for the whole month and a half!" Eros's devilish smile didn't leave his face, and Lily, seeing it, shuddered and turned sharply to examine the bookshelf.
Having left the guild, he headed to the Eastern Forest as usual. Twenty minutes later, he reached the cave where one five-meter gorilla was supposed to be waiting for him. But the place was eerily silent.
"Strange..." His thoughtful gaze fell on a tree marked with claw scratches. "This monkey definitely didn't have claws. I've never seen anything like this around here before..." Heavy footsteps echoed from the cave, growing louder. "It's definitely not him..."
At that moment, a five-meter body of a hairy creature flew out of the cave, covered in blood.
"Monkeeyyy!" Eros quickly approached the body and examined it. Vulcan was still conscious. He raised his trembling hand and pointed toward the cave. Eros turned in the direction Vulcan indicated and saw a massive creature emerge. It resembled a bear but had three eyes—all fixated on Eros.
"Three-eyed bear," Eros whispered, his fear evident. "An A-rank monster. No, even among A-ranks, it's one of the strongest! What's it doing on the outskirts of the Eastern Forest?"
"RAWWWRRRRR!!!"
"Monkey, can you move?" Over the past month, Eros had grown attached to Vulcan. He had fought the creature countless times and often lost, but Vulcan never finished him off. Their fights were almost like a training ritual.
There were even days when Eros passed out after their fights, and Vulcan took him back to his cave, helping him recover.
"Go away, cub…" Vulcan croaked, trying to rise but collapsing back down.
"Monkey, don't talk nonsense! You know I won't leave you…" From the corner of his eye, Eros noticed the bear approaching. "Damn it!" he hissed and began retreating.
Vulcan was glad to see the boy backing away. During this time, the creature had also grown fond of him. When Vulcan first encountered Eros, he had intended to kill him for trespassing on his territory. However, the terrifyingly powerful figure accompanying Eros deterred him. Realizing that Eros was only there to spar, Vulcan reluctantly agreed.
Their initial fights were brutal. Vulcan would easily defeat Eros, treating him like an insignificant bug. However, after a week, the creature noticed something unusual—the boy was improving. Half of Vulcan's strikes began to miss their mark, and this only spurred him to fight harder.
Another week passed, and Vulcan was stunned to see that only rare hits landed on the child. This new development made him train Eros even more aggressively, worried that the boy would surpass him and kill him.
Then, the worst happened: after a month of grueling battles, the boy defeated him. Vulcan was knocked unconscious. When he awoke, he was inside his cave with his head bandaged in white rags. Eros sat nearby, smiling.
"Come to your senses, Monkey. Tomorrow, I'll return," the boy said cheerfully.
Vulcan was shocked—not only had the cub spared his life, but he had also tended to his injuries.
"Come to your senses?! I have a name! I am not Monkey!" Vulcan bellowed, furious.
"No, you'll always be Monkey," Eros replied nonchalantly, jumping off a rock and heading toward the cave's exit. "Alright, get well soon. I'll be back tomorrow and we'll continue!" He waved without looking back.
Vulcan was left stunned by the boy's audacity. The next day, Eros returned, and their fights resumed. Despite their sparring, Vulcan began to feel something akin to respect for the boy's determination.
One day, Vulcan managed to catch Eros by surprise and defeat him. Usually, when the boy passed out, the terrifying man would come for him. But that day, no one appeared, which confused the creature.
So he took the boy's body and brought it to his cave. Seeing a bump on his head, he took out some thick green paste and smeared it on. Five hours later, Eros came to his senses.
"Oh, thanks for helping," Eros said, trying to get up. Suddenly, he felt dizzy, and as he started to fall, he felt something catch him—a big pink hand. "Thank you," Eros said, smiling, as he sat back down on the floor and closed his eyes.
Vulcan himself was surprised. Why did he help him? Perhaps it was just fear, or maybe something else; he still did not understand. When Eros regained his strength, it was already very dark outside, but he left the cave and headed toward Magnolia. Vulcan silently followed him. He escorted him to the edge of the forest, and when Eros disappeared from sight, he returned to his cave.
The days resumed their usual rhythm. Every day, the cub came to his cave. With each new day, Vulcan realized he was starting to lag behind. Over the past three days, he hadn't been able to land a single hit. Even in strength, they had become equals, which frightened him but also saddened him.
That day, as usual, he was preparing for their battle, but his warm-up was interrupted by footsteps at the cave entrance. At first, Vulcan thought it was that impudent boy again. But hearing a roar, he realized it was something far scarier. And it was staring straight into his cave.
[Back to present]
The power of this creature was on another level. Vulcan had nothing to oppose it. He watched the monster approach and prepared for death, but the expected end never came. Instead, he heard a dull thud.
Opening his eyes, he saw the bear's muzzle turned to the right. Looking in that direction, he saw Eros throwing stones at the monster.
"Come here, you stupid bear! I'll make a fur coat out of your skin, fry your meat, eat it, and then shit on your skeleton!" Eros shouted before turning and running as fast as he could, enraging the bear.
The bear didn't keep him waiting long. Moments later, the titan leaped to the side, accelerating as trees crashed behind him. Eros knew one thing for sure: if he stopped, he would die.
The bear, a monster among monsters, relentlessly chased him. Suddenly, Eros abruptly jumped back, barely dodging a swipe of black claws. He felt the wind from the near miss.
"Caught up, huh? Or should I say overtook?" Eros muttered with a sigh, staring at the bear now fifteen meters away. "And I can't escape, right?"
The bear responded with a roar full of rage.
"I was joking! Don't you understand jokes?" While Eros tried to stall the bear with his words, he scanned his surroundings, searching for something to help in the upcoming battle. The bear had led him to an open clearing thirty meters wide, where there was nothing he could use.
The next moment, Eros saw a massive paw descending toward him.
"You bitch!" he yelled, raising his arm to block. He jumped back, but the paw still grazed him, and the crunch of breaking bones echoed through the clearing. Before he could recover, the bear struck him square in the chest with its other paw.
Eros's small body shot back like a bullet, slamming into a tree. The bear growled contentedly and began to approach him slowly.
"Two hits…" Eros whispered. "That's the difference between B-rank and A-rank mages. No… This bear is a monster—a real monster compared to Karl, who was considered an average A-rank mage." Pain wracked his body, and he could barely move his still-functioning arm. "What did I ever do to you, stupid bear?! I was calmly training here, not bothering anyone, and YOU decided to show up and ruin everything! No, dear. If I die, I'm taking you with me!"
With difficulty, he raised his good arm, closing his eyes to tap into that power again.
Quite some time had passed since he had first accessed it, and Eros had grown much stronger. When the bear was only a meter away from him, it suddenly froze. Its eyes narrowed, and its fur bristled. The bear felt a primal sense of danger radiating from the half-dead boy before it. All its instincts screamed for it to flee. Trusting its survival instincts, the bear began to retreat.
"Too late," Eros said with a bloodied grin, his wild smile complementing his blood-streaked teeth. "DIE!"
A black orb shot from his hand, catching the bear in an instant. The dark energy engulfed the creature, growing rapidly and consuming everything around it.
The sky above the clearing was veiled by a dark, mushroom-like cloud. For a kilometer in every direction, there were no signs of life. Monsters in the area, sensing the surge of wild magical power, fled their territories in terror.
A massive crater formed a meter from Eros's feet. He stared at it, grinning, satisfied that he hadn't drawn more power than he could handle.
"I guess you can call that luck, huh?" he muttered, staring at the sky. "That attack drained the last of my strength. I can't even lift a finger now, let alone walk…" He heard a rustling noise to his right, and fear began to creep into his heart.
"Damn it! Even a regular boar could kill me now, let alone another monster… How's this for bad timing?"
Eros tried to move his hand again, but it wouldn't respond. "Am I really going to die so young? HEY! I'm not ready to die yet!"
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