༺ The Good, the Crazy and the Bizarre (3) ༻
“Haa… Haa…”
On the 2nd floor, Ren and Ron deactivated their half-beastify modes while gasping for breath.
“…You can go.”
Amidst the crumbling remains of the broken building on the dusty 2nd floor, a girl wearing nun clothes opened up a path.
Heavenly Yaksha Hua Ran.
She, who was essentially the strongest person out of all the 2nd grade students if not the entire Academy, was an unbreachable fortress of her own. All the motivated students were bashed up and she had not a single wound despite facing squads of freshmen students all at once.
She suddenly stopped the fight when her clothes were ripped for the first time.
“Why…”
“He told me to let everyone go if you touch my clothes.”
“…”
That seemed to be the amount of handicap required to make up for their difference in strength. With a myriad of complex emotions, the freshmen students left behind their fallen peers and continued the climb.
“How many people do we have left?”
“Less than 5 now.”
They were finally going to the last floor. Ren led Ron, who was still gasping for breath, and headed to the final floor.
“Ren. This scent…”
“I know.”
There had been two pathways connecting the 1st and the 2nd floor, but there was only one leading to the 3rd floor. That meant that the keeper of the 3rd floor would be the last gatekeeper of this fortress.
The only source of light in the dark pathway leading up was the Rune Letters engraved on the walls. At the end of the stairway, the two of them found out that there were people waiting for them.
“You’re late, doggies.”
A lady with an ominously red hair and eyes was waiting for them. Her eyes had the color of blazing flames and yet they were as cold as glaciers as she watched the siblings arrive.
“Ohh~. You’re here.”
There was only one more person on the 3rd floor except for Princess Miruam. Korin Lork welcomed the two with the spear resting on his shoulder.
“Now. This is your final stage.”
The eyes of the wild warrior, which were in complete contrast to the cold eyes of the princess, were looking straight through them.
………
……
…
Ren and Ron were werewolves.
They were born much stronger than normal humans, and they weren’t any weaker than knights when it came to strength, speed, or resilience. In fact, they were far superior to normal knights at everything.
The reason why the two orphans had been able to stay alive for over ten years in the slums was not limited to their likable and adorable appearances.
『Catch that thief!』
『Ren! The baldy is coming after us!』
『Run, you idiot!』
Stealing and begging.
The orphans were used to it, but in the end, they were kidnapped by human traffickers for their likable looks. They couldn’t withstand the power of the Full Moon and ended up transforming inside the cage, and after finding out that they were beastmen, the slave dealers had them endure through an even worse treatment.
But looking back now, they realized they were lucky, because it was because of that they could enter the fences of Korin Lork.
『It’s okay. No one is going to hit you anymore. You guys are now safe.』
Korin was a nice person.
He was a thoroughly kind-hearted person who lied for the good of another person, and did his best to help them.
It was after a while that he suggested they enter the Academy. He told them he had a goal; he told them he needed their help and kindly asked for their cooperation.
He wasn’t imposing it on them nor pressuring them to follow his orders. When Ren asked about it, he came out honest.
And that made her happy. She was happy to find out that their benefactor was in need of their help, and was also happy that he was considerate and worried about them.
It didn’t take long for the siblings to decide that they wanted to help him.
『Fine, we can help you with that.』
『Thanks, but you will have to face a lot of danger if you are helping me.』
『I’m okay as long as I can help you, bro!』
『Thanks… In return, I will train you guys.』
True and true.
Ren felt the genuine wish of Korin-oraboni1oraboni is the same as oppa but with more respect for them to stay healthy without getting hurt…
“But this isn’t what I was expecting!!”
The spear stabbed forth again and again. It was so fast and deadly that it would come out in their dreams.
“Hikk…?!”
His spear grazed past her head as blood splattered out from the wound. The spear managed to cut through the resilient skin of a werewolf, and that was incredibly shocking since the spear had gone through a non-lethalizing process already.
Death.
Right – death.
Each and every one of his stabs were that of the Grim Reaper pushing her to the brink of death. The stabs were full of hostility and the desire to rip her to pieces and yet the one wielding the spear had a kind smile on his face.
“U, uahht…!”
“Maintain your balance at all times. Otherwise you’ll die.”
A merciless roundhouse kick landed on Ron’s side as he was about to land on his bum. Ron flew sideways for a bit and thanks to that, he somehow managed to regain his sense of balance.
As a result, he avoided falling down but it was hard to be grateful to Korin for what he did.
“You have good reflexes, but your parries are not so good.”
❰Horizontal Sweep of a Tiger❱
Korin swung the spear sideways. In order to dodge the silver spear, Ren jumped into the air. Right when she thought she dodged the spear, he grabbed onto her ankle.
“Don’t jump without a second plan.”
He flung her away into the walls of the building. A deafening thud echoed across the floor as an immense wave of pain filled Ren’s body starting from her back.
“Kuhk…!”
At the end of her gaze was a familiar voice. He was the fence keeping the siblings safe; a gentle guardian and an incredibly kind-hearted person. His eyes as he stared at the siblings were still as friendly, kind and loving as always.
However, his actions told a completely different story. He was pushing them to their limits, overwhelming them with his killing intent and animosity.
“Is that all you got?”
With a single spear, he was overpowering two Grade 2 werewolf knights.
He was in a totally different league to them as a warrior. The density of his experiences was incomparably higher than theirs, and he had gone through countless battles of life and death.
Until now, he had just been the gentle and friendly boss; a benefactor who saved them and an oraboni who bought them snacks.
He was like the personification of the illusions of the two orphan siblings, about how it would feel to have a dad and an adult to rely on, so the unbending warrior in front of them was frightening and awkwardly unusual.
“You need to be fully beastified. Otherwise this won’t even be considered a fight.”
“B, but that’s…!”
“What; you can’t control it? Or are you saying I might get injured? Stop being arrogant, you greenhorns.”
That was a haughty statement – a declaration that they won’t be a match for him without using everything they had.
“Get used to it. Get used to killing intent; get used to strifes and battles. When you’re in a fight, focus on what’s ahead of you.”
He was teaching them as a leader giving guidance to newbies, not as the nice and gentle brother he usually was.
“Well, your body will get used to it by itself if you get bashed up till you’re close to being dead.”
‘Humans are quite tough you see,’ he added.
“Hmph…!”
Ren started off as the siblings finished morphing themselves into beasts. The young kids became starving dogs that were crazy for blood, with tendencies that they could not control as of yet.
“Grrrhh…!”
Werewolves. Simply put, were human figures with a wolf head and fur covering their body.
However, the siblings looked slightly different.
The beastifying process of demi-humans under the category of beastmen went through several stages. Just like how their bodies grew fast in correlation with their mental growth, beastification also had different effects depending on their growth as an individual.
If it was just half-beastification which would give them wolf claws, the siblings were able to maintain their human figures, but after a full beastification they…
『Ahh~. Seriously. Don’t blame me even if you get hurt.』
『Krrrh… Be careful of my teeth… Krrrhhh… They will hurt…』
They looked like beautiful beasts of gold; mythical creatures from legends that awed those who saw them.
Golden wolves. They were the unique races above all wolves and were the so-called Royal Bloods.
That was the reason why the siblings, Ren and Ron were so special. The bloodline of the Wolf King which had suddenly disappeared from the world was back through atavism
“Guess there’s still a long way to go until you become full werewolves.”
The final stage of beastification was in maintaining a human figure. A beastification that made them look no different from a normal beast could only be evaluated as subpar.
『Ron, attack!』
『Woof!』
In the blink of an eye, the golden beasts pounced at Korin.
****
Inexperienced beastmen usually had difficulty controlling themselves when using beastification.
In that sense, Ren was better off than others at controlling her tendencies. However, there were times when even Ren would have difficulty keeping her beastly instincts at bay – one was when there was a Full Moon in the sky, and two was when she was in full beastification mode.
Full Moon was like the bane of every beastmen so the right call was to stay home whenever possible, but beastification was slightly different.
Even after becoming a four-legged beast, she was still sane. She could communicate just as well as before and did not attack random people.
However, her aggressiveness was amplified several-fold. She could keep her aggressiveness at 0 but not 1 – it was either 0 or 100 and she subconsciously crunched at her enemies like a ferocious beast.
‘Eeek… That’s why I told you it’s dangerous!’
Kicking off the ground, the large wolf pounced at the spearman. There was only power and momentum in the attack, with not even a hint of hesitation.
It was a pure form of violence, and even the naive and innocent Ron was no different from a bloodthirsty beast.
– Flick!
Korin dodged that with relative ease by simply leaning back and parrying the claws with his spear. The wolf let out a furious howl but Korin stayed still, not taking a single step back.
– Krrrrh!
– Kng!
The siblings looked at each other with the spearman in the middle. Like beasts hunting wild prey, they nodded and got to work. There was no need for any verbal communication and Ron kicked off the ground straight after the nod.
Following that was Ren throwing her body at the spearman. It was a strategy of desperation wolves would use when hunting animals that were much bigger than themselves.
The sister threw her body forward as bait, waiting for the brother to land surprise attacks from behind. It was a strategy introduced by the sister, in hopes that her younger brother wouldn’t have to do anything dangerous.
“Too obvious.”
– Bam!
The bladeless end of the spear poked into her neck. Ren had to gasp for breath due to that stab on the throat, but Korin didn’t give her the time to collect herself; he picked her up and tossed her at Ron.
– Woof?!
Ron supported his sister who was suddenly sent flying her way. He became a cushion so that she wouldn’t hurt her body.
『Kuhk, Ren…!』
That was when a merciless kick landed on Ron’s jaws. He couldn’t dodge the kick due to his sister being on top of him.
– Kung!
The ruthless kick made him light-headed to the point he barely had to keep himself conscious.
“Don’t waste the opportunity your team made for you just because of some stupid sense of sympathy. You should have gone through with the attack just then.”
『Eeek…!』
It was incredibly irritating but Ron carried his sister, who was still gasping for breath, with his mouth and jumped back up. His jaws were still in great pain and biting his sister was not easy, but he still decided to look after his sister first.
He then sent a resentful gaze at Korin for being so merciless and ruthless.
“It’s great that you are now being serious towards your enemy, but…”
– Woof!
Ron furiously marched at him. After turning into a beast, Ron couldn’t control his emotions and was like a driverless carriage that was rampaging about like crazy.
“Be angry but rational…”
Demonic Arts of Trap and Stab—
The feeble-looking shaft of the spear deviated the path of the claws all too easily with just a single tap. The claws of the wolf swerved away from the original destination and landed on the poor floor. Meanwhile, the spearman positioned himself behind the wolf’s back.
“And keep your eyes on your target.”
— Scavenging the Grass for the Snake
The bladeless end of the spear pierced his spine.
“K, kuhuk…!?”
The golden wolf fell with a pant. The profound principle of Lan Na Zha that allowed one to parry the attack and follow through with a counterattack was incredibly effective on the beast.
– Hwaaak!
A violent gasp echoed from behind, which allowed Korin to notice the presence of a beast behind him.
“Good. At least the sister is better off than the younger one.”
It was a surprise attack done at exquisite timing, but that was when Korin kicked the bladeless end of the spear which had poked at the spines of the younger one.
『Huht…?』
That sudden and powerful kick flung the spear and made it rotate behind his back. It was an unconventional way to handle the spear that fended off Ren right when she was about to attack him.
❰Spinning Heaven: Second Move – Rotating Demon Spear❱
– Kwaang!
The accelerating spear further continued its rotation even after stopping Ren’s attack and the spear smacked Ren by the jaws.
『Woof…?!』
Ren panicked from that sudden attack to her chin. But without ending it there, Korin pulled her by the neck.
Eight Trigrams, Venerating Palm—
Forming a palm right in front of her, he brought it to her face and unhesitatingly struck her three times on her eyes and her nose.
❰Eight Trigrams: Three Heavenly Palm Strikes❱
“Ku, huk…?!”
The three consecutive palm strikes that encompassed the principles of Eight Trigrams were incredibly powerful, and they made Ren roll across the floor.
“Kuhak…!?”
She couldn’t wake up from the shock, and thus her beastification was forcibly undone, putting her back to her half-beastified state.
“Haa, haak…!”
Ren had trouble breathing. Her chest was in immense pain.
– Vuung!
The sensitive ears of a beast spotted the sound of something speeding through the wind. Upon realizing that that was the sound of a spear, Ren desperately rolled her body across the floor.
– Kwaang!
The silver spear crushed through the ground where Ren had been at until just a moment ago. Ren was appalled at the sharp blade of the spear and his merciless attacks.
“What’s wrong? Why did you stop? Stopping for a second in the middle of a fight is the same as giving your enemy a second to work with.”
“B, but…”
“You can move until your limbs are all broken or you lose your head. Don’t ever stop.”
He was frightening – that wasn’t the oraboni Ren was familiar with. He was being immensely harsh and cold-hearted.
“Ugh…”
Fear was pervading into her mind. She didn’t even have the room to think about fighting back.
『Fine, we can help you with that.』
How arrogant and unprepared must she have sounded when she said that?
The boy, who easily saved numerous demi-humans including themselves, and carried out a bunch of strange things to save the jiangshi girl… Ren had never known just how much determination he must have had when going into every one of those.
Korin slowly walked towards her. The closer he came, the larger the shadow that was cast on the wolf-girl called Ren.
Realizing belatedly just how tall the fences that had been protecting them were, her body started to shiver. One step out of those fences and she was already like this… So how was she even supposed to help him?
“Haa, haa…”
Alas, Korin Lork was right in front of her face as he gazed down straight into her eyes. He, who was completely unscathed despite the fight just then, wasn’t even short of breath.
He raised his spear and Ren didn’t even have the guts to fight back.
– Swish!
“Hikk…!”
Hearing the sound of the spear slashing down at her, Ren closed her eyes tight. Something soon landed on her, but it wasn’t the cold blade of the spear and was instead the warm palm of his hand.
“That should be alright for now.”
His large fingers ran through her golden hair. He tousled her hair as if he was proud of her using the same warm hand as always.
“This is what it means to fight. I hope you understand what it means and resolve yourself for it.”
“Huguk…!”
Ahh… It was finally the same oraboni as always. Ren collected her breath in relief but couldn’t stop the beads of tears that were forming beneath her eyes.
“Heuk…! Huhiinng…!”
“Yes yes, I know. It was scary, right? Blame your oppa for that.”
“Who is oppa… I hate youuu…”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”
Like an adult soothing a child, Korin carried her on his shoulder and tapped her on the back to relieve the girl.
“But still, you did great. Ron, I loved how you tried to protect your sister, and Ren, you were very rational which was also excellent. You guys were awesome. Let’s just try to do a bit better every time.”
“Huuk…”
“Here. Here you go. Here is a handkerchief. Blow your nose. Let’s go…!”
“I’m, not a kid!”
Ren wiped her tears with the back of her hands while thrashing her arms around in an attempt to leave his hug. Korin carried her and put her down next to Ron.
“Both of you passed. Go up and grab your awesome rewards.”
Ren and Ron were frustrated. Despite being so harsh with them, in the end he was treating them like a kid. The two of them thought that it must be because they were far from being enough.
While powerlessly climbing up the stairs, the siblings tightly held onto each other’s hands and spitted out their feelings which they would only share among themselves.
“I feel so upset.”
“Me too.”
“Next time… Next timeee…”
I will not be treated like a kid.
Children had to be protected by adults. However, kids couldn’t stay kids forever. There would come a time when they would be forced to stand on their feet, away from the warm arms of adults.
The siblings wanted that day to arrive as quickly as possible.
Footnotes:
1oraboni is the same as oppa but with more respect
