The golden hippogriff manifested completely outside his body, its 5-meter form filling the chamber.
The abyssal scorpion remained fused with him, its influence evident in the way his body had transformed. The mutations it caused were different from anything she had seen in Yano.
They weren't subtle and stylized like their kingdom's methods, these were more bestial, as if he was becoming the beast rather than merely controlling its power.
'Yino,' she thought while observing the mutation patterns. 'Father told me that only they have perfected fusion with abyssal beasts. He's like those from the attack with Professor Zhao.'
The hippogriff launched forward with impossible speed, its massive form moving with a grace that defied its size. The hydra tried to defend itself, but its movements were already too slow.
In an instant of perfect violence, the griffon's claws cut cleanly through one of the hydra's diamond necks.
The girl held her breath, watching in horrified fascination. A hydra's scales were legendary for their hardness, said to be impenetrable by normal weapons. That this man's beast could slice through them so easily...
The head fell with a dull thud while blood fountained from the severed neck. The hydra roared with its remaining head, a sound of agony and fury that echoed through the chamber.
'It will die soon,' the girl realized.
'What a waste,' she thought while watching the magnificent beast stagger. She herself had been lucky, her own beast was "superior" by current standards. But seeing this understudied creature, its beautiful gleam even in its moment of defeat...
It was time to leave. She had enough information.
If the man was strong enough to kill a two-headed hydra...
The girl began her own ascent, processing what she had witnessed. The headmaster needed to know about this. The presence of someone from Yino with beasts of that level, the hydra, the mentioned egg...
In her last glance at the scene, she saw something that made her blood freeze. The man had slightly turned his head, his eyes focusing for an instant on the spot where she had been observing.
She began blinking backward, using her ability to move between visual anchor points. One blink, then another, each taking her further from the battle.
Her heart pounding. He had noticed her, perhaps not clearly, but he had sensed her presence.
♢♢♢♢
The light filtering through the infirmary window made Ren blink.
His head throbbed, but the effect of the potion they had given him was making the pain fade gradually.
"Finally!" Taro almost jumped from his chair. "Are you okay? I thought you had died!"
"What...?" Ren tried to sit up, but the world spun momentarily.
"Stay still!" Taro gently pushed him back to the bed. "The nurse said mana poisoning is no joke. What were you thinking?"
"Why are you here, the classes...?"
"Did your brain melt? Wei isn't at school today, remember?" Taro resettled in his chair. "And Lin left me here to wait for you to wake up and wait for punishment too... when she found out I helped you escape training."
"Lin already knows about...?"
"Oh, yes," Taro grimaced. "I confessed everything when she started threatening to triple my training and fail me in the battle unit. We were on our way when we saw you being carried out of the cave by the guards. But by then they were already bringing you to the infirmary."
Ren closed his eyes, processing the information. "How angry is she?"
"Let's say when you return to training, you'll wish you had died from poisoning."
"Fantastic…"
"And speaking of that..." Taro leaned forward, "what the hell happened down there? The guards seemed really shaken up."
"It's... complicated."
"Complicated?" Taro raised an eyebrow. "Ren, you were foaming at the mouth. Your veins were glowing brighter than your mushrooms. They CARRIED you RUNNING to the infirmary."
"I need a favor."
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