Novus narrowly avoided the enormous eagle’s sharp beak. But then, a wild gale pushed Novus off balance and into a roll against the rock wall.

“Recall!”

“Finally! Stay put!”

Shing!

Novus rebalanced and attempted to cut at the approaching talon with his black-hued sword.

Clang!

Unfortunately, the sound of steel clashing against steel rang out, and Novus was pushed back again by the power behind the enormous eagle’s running claw strike. Along Novus' sword, the black hue slightly wavered as it had against Edna's strikes.

Novus confirmed the giant eagle’s status window in the brief clash.

 

 

To any current player with naturally low magic and elemental resistances, any monster capable of magic gained another level of lethality. This was why Favur could reign as a local tyrant for so long and why Cain was so cautious and envious of Novus’ magical ability.

Alto’s magic capability didn’t help Novus’ odds of winning this battle. Between the limited space of the cave and the inability to fight in the air, Novus was left with few movement options.

Shing! Slash!

However, leaving the cave and climbing down was too dangerous, and the only other option was suicide by beak.

Novus tumbled across the back of Alto and made a slash against the layered feathers. Thankfully, Mino’s Condensation skill managed to ingrain enough soul power into the blade, and the sword met the flesh underneath.

Screech!

The painful feeling of a sword digging into flesh caused Alto to cry out, and the piercing sound wave disorientated Novus, who was clinging for dear life atop Alto’s back.

The rampaging eagle comically flung Novus around like a ragdoll as one tried to get the other off, and the other held on for their life. Finally, in a particularly vicious shake of Alto’s body, Novus felt his grip tear a few feathers off, and he flew into the air.

Thud!

A light thud and roll ensured Novus wasn’t in a disadvantageous position from Alto’s beak. However, Novus soon realized Alto’s attack wasn’t a short-range attack. Alto’s crop swelled suspiciously large, and, on instinct, Novus lowered his body and tried to roll out of the way towards the underneath of the overgrown bird. Just as Novus cleared the way, a condensed beam of wind mana shot from Alto’s mouth and into the mist outside the cave.

Fierce gales threatened to storm Novus’ body out of the cave, but thanks to hurriedly rechanneling Mino’s power, Novus could insert his sword into the cave's rocky floor as a grapple.

The dumb bird knows how to breathe wind. Thankfully, it doesn't know how to manipulate it.

Novus thought to himself as he noticed the weary look that Alto showed before attempting to peck Novus to death.

“Scee—!”

However, the peck was cut short as Novus’ sword nearly dug into Alto’s eye. Unfortunately for Novus, Alto closed their eyelid and avoided a lethal disabling attack at the very last moment.

Tch.

Novus’ near-critical attack dealt minor damage, but it wasn’t nearly the damage he wanted. His feet quickly shifted as he side-swiped the area where a slashing talon came for him.

Slash!

Enough with this minor damage!

Novus growled to himself but then stuffed down the feelings in exchange for a battle-ready calm.

The feathers negate nearly half of the damage. That’s also with Mino’s soul power as a sharp buffer.

Pew…

Come on, Mino, you can do it. If the health is whittled down, you can eat as much as you want here.

Mino’s previously dull thoughts turned excited as the black hue on the sword darkened.

…

The battle continued with numerous daunting moments as Novus evaded Alto’s blitzing attacks. Although Novus couldn’t always dodge, the attacks that did land weren’t lethal. However, they were far from the minor scratches slowly piling up on Alto's feathers.

…

As the battle waged on, Novus felt his focus becoming fine-tuned and his attacks sharper with each slash. Without noticing, the black hue running alongside his sword was slowly stabilizing, unable to be shaken by Alto's attacks any longer.

…

Novus cut with his sword towards the arcs of enraged wind mana flying towards him. Like Cain’s grey mana arcs, the mana-filled blades were absorbed to empower the soul link between Novus and Mino. As a result, the black hue around the sword started to show signs of protruding from the blade and lengthening past its regular width.

…

Cuts were adding up on Alto’s body as Novus’ sword became the equivalent of a torture device for the Mountain Eagle King. Finally, in an attack that caused Novus to spit out blood, one of Alto’s eyes was horizontally split open.

…

Screech!

A frustrated but now slightly fearful cry echoed inside the cave. As it descended from its initial berserk state, Alto gradually began to realize the creep of death lingering around it. Its intelligence wasn't anything to brag about, but even the bird could tell it wasn't winning the battle this way.

With a gusting charge, Novus hurriedly dodged to the side and looked in a daze as he realized Alto was continuing towards the cave’s opening.

“Rotten bird!”

Novus desperately ran after the bird to catch its tail feathers. Thankfully, the eagle was weakened enough for Novus to catch up before it flew out from the entrance.

As Alto charged out of the cave, so did Novus, who had leapt and landed on Alto’s back.

Screech!

Commanding its presence across the sky, Alto proudly extended its wings as it shifted against the wind. Unfortunately for Alto, a grounding stab into its flesh alerted it to Novus' persistence.

Novus fought against the pushing winds that nearly vaulted him off. In a quick motion, he was forced to pull out spare swords to act as injuring handholds. Novus found that the spare swords worked best impaled inside the spaces between the enormous eagle’s feathers.

SCREECH!!!

The screeching cry temporarily cancelled Mino’s powers, but Novus fought hard to get them back faster than before. The ambient mana inside the mist became Novus’ best friend as he greedily absorbed any in the rushing winds that threatened to pull him from Alto’s back.

Of course, Alto wouldn’t make it so easy.

The eagle’s aerial moves were reminiscent of highly trained pilots as it dropped suddenly and then twisted and spiralled in the air. Twists and turns constantly made Novus fight to maintain his balance. However, Novus was like a lousy flea that refused to leave. Unless, of course, he was physically pushed off.

Screech!

A terrible feeling suddenly warned Novus.

Amid the wind gusts, Novus spotted Alto circling back to the sheer cliffs near its original cave. Novus’ eyes would have widened if not for the violent wind as he noticed Alto twist for a beeline straight against the rock wall.

Novus pictured the image of smashing Alto’s back against the rock wall and him being ground into meat cakes.

This dumb bird is insane!

Novus’ mind thought at unimaginable speeds as he searched for a one-way ticket away from this suicide trip. And his chance was a quick one. Novus spotted it one moment and released his spare sword the next moment.

With a wide leap, His foot caught the ledge first, and from there, Novus’ body managed to tumble into the cave entrance.

Ack!

When Novus’ back hit the wall, he finally stopped moving and saw his health bar fall to dangerously low percentages. However, Novus’ adrenaline-pumped body wouldn’t let him rest as he immediately rolled back into the cave to avoid a sharp claw tearing into the wall.

Crack! Shatter!

The rock wall held no chance against Alto's talon as it sliced through like soft dirt against a shovel. Novus’ feet slipped as he scrambled and heard two voices warn him of further danger.

Pew! Watch out!

As Novus looked up to the cave opening, he could see the dive-bombing figure of Alto headed straight for him. Its crop had noticeably swelled and was about to reveal a turbulent ray of wind mana that would completely obliterate Novus’ body alongside the brunt force of Alto slamming into Novus.

With this attack, Novus would be killed. And yet, how could Novus give in like that?