Chapter 45 FORTY-FIVE

Chapter 45: Chapter FORTY-FIVE

Sturdy. Steady. Every inch of its huge body is covered in scale, excluding the head and underbelly.

The thick armor has a hint of red glowing underneath. The creature itself looks harmless, non-lethal. Like a huge rhino with... destructive powers.

Unlike the one Xin Linhua had encountered back at the university with Zhao Xi, this one is much larger. Dare he say, he might have encountered an offspring back then, and now he’s staring at what seems to be a full grown Nikura.

The one back then had grey scales, this one had pure black scales. Much thicker and steadier. The scales glisten in the sun.

The large creature lets out a low growl, its pitch black eyes lock onto the group before it. Eight hooves dig into the rocky ground beneath it. With each heavy breath, smoke curls out of his nostrils.

It has deemed them as intruders– no, preys! And preys...you either toy with them, or kill them.

Thus, the large creature charges towards the group.

The first thing Hirano does is to carve out the earth beneath the four Sentinels before him and place them somewhere safe.

A Pyromancer will only make it worse, this is not the time to fight fire with fire. And when air meets fire, the whole battlefield is bound to be engulfed with red– both blood and fire.

They’re down to four. Two Hydromancers and two Geomancers. The collision happens fast.

On the other side of the field, Xin Linhua is biting his nails.

Partly because he’s nervous, partly because he doesn’t want anyone to end up dead. Well...anyone expect Goa Shi.

His grip on his blade loosens and tightens every time the Nikura attacks. He’s not fearing for his own safety.

"Your worries are unfound." Rong Yizhan speaks without remorse.

"Easy for you to say! Not everyone can survive like you do. When we get back, you’re undergoing a full examination! I still refuse to believe you survived that fall."

"Mm." Rong Yizhan nods "Gan is not weak. I train with him, I know he’s not. Rong Yufei... she has talent, but limited knowledge. As for the other two...not very promising."

"The Rong family does not lack talent." Xin Linhua mutters "But ever since Rong Weilan took over, they’ve been declining little by little. Anyone below D-Rank is not considered worthy of the family name."

"Fool." Rong Yizhan says no more.

"That, he is." Xin Linhua agrees "Maybe I should really train them."

"How?"

"Let’s just say...I have a lot of knowledge from watching movies and reading novels. They’re weak right now, they wouldn’t even last a minute in the Atla series, but I have knowledge of how to train them to reach a much higher level."

"Xin Linhua..."

"What?"

"You say a lot of things. I can’t make sense of some of them."

"Don’t try. You’ll get brain rot." Xin Linhua clicks his tongue.

Rong Yizhan’s attention stays fixated on him for a few seconds. He eventually turns his head away.

"They don’t need us to intervene." He continues "The Nikura won’t last long."

"I don’t know..." Xin Linhua frowns "It looks–"

His cuts himself off. Surprise flickers through his features as he watches the Nikura hit the rocky ground.

The creature lets out one last cry before slumping. The collision causes a tremor as dust kicks into the air.

"Damn!" Xin Linhua sneezes "I’m sorry I doubted any of you."

"Thanks..." One of the Hydromancers mutters.

The four Sentinels collapse to the ground. Their chests rise and fall with each heavy breath. Just a few minutes of fighting, and they’re already worn out. Will they survive this rift?

"By the way, you should all rest for now." Xin Linhua crouches beside Hirano.

"What?" The man sits up "We don’t have the luxury–"

"Trust me, you want to." Xin Linhua gently pushes him back down "That last cry the Nikura let out wasn’t because it was dying, it was to alert its own kind. We’ll be surrounded soon and even the Pyromancers will have to fight."

"That’ll only make things worse." Gao Shi walks over "Unless you have something up your sleeves."

"I always have something up my sleeves." Xin Linhua’s smile turns mischievous "And you all are about to receive some real training."

"Like what?" An Aeromancer question.

Xin Linhua turns to the two. It’s true that when air meets fire, things spiral out of control. But not necessarily.

"For now, the Aeromancers will sit this one out." He mutters "But Pyromancers, we’ll start with your own trainings first."

Gao Shi raises an eyebrow, an amused smile on his face. The other Pyromancer just nods, accepting whatever comes next.

"Let me ask you this– have you ever tried to control an external force?"

"...What?"

"I mean, have you ever tried to control a fire that you didn’t...produce?"

"No..." The Pyromancer’s eyes suddenly light up "You mean, rather than causing a fiery collision with a Nikura, we can take the hits head on and control their attacks."

"Exactly!" Xin Linhua pats his shoulder "You’re a smart one. Naka, right?"

"Yeah." The Pyromancer nods "That’s my codename."

Xin Linhua pats his shoulder once more.

"We’re in a life and death situation, so all hands on deck. I don’t know how I’m supposed to teach Pyromancers how to control fire, but you can figure it out."

"Well, there’s no record of it in any history book." Gao Shi shakes his head "And it’s different from the fire we release from our body–"

"How?" Xin Linhua cuts him off "Fire is fire. It’s red, hot and burns things without regard for life. The energy infused in your attacks is different from the one the Nikura releases, am I correct?"

"Yes." Naka nods "So it’s impossible–"

"You’re humans that breathe fire and you fight monsters daily, impossible is a far fetched word." Xin Linhua’s deadpans "If the energy is different, just change it to yours."

"...What?"

The group falls silent. They all stare at Xin Linhua with wide eyes, even Gao Shi is perplexed.

Change the energy? The fire they release is infused with their own energy– wavelength. It’s like a mark they place on the attack. Same with the Nikuras’.

What Xin Linhua is asking them to do, is change the very core of the attack of a Nikura to theirs. Let the flames obey them and redirect the attacks back to its source!

"You...are totally insane..." Naka mutters in disbelief.

"Can you do it or not?" Xin Linhua arches an eyebrow.

"I can." Naka replies decisively.

"Good." Xin Linhua points to the canyon up ahead "Cause we have company, and they have a way of giving people warm welcomes."