Chapter 122: Oh No...

"Is that right..."

Although Adam looked expressionless and absentminded, he was inwardly grumbling.

’Those fucking bastards!’ He bellowed in his head. ’After everything I’ve done to put myself ahead, someone thought it wise to pull the rug from under me!’

Adam had a few suspicions as to who was behind that article. But knowing who was behind the article did not matter at this point in time.

’Hah... When am I going to catch a break?’ He could already imagine the commotion back at the academy. ’There’ll be more eyes on me now, morons who would want to test me. What a drag.’

"It’s fine." Adam actually said, turning around and sighing. "There’s no use thinking about what’s going on elsewhere when we have an important commitment here."

"You’re right." Aurelius agreed as he too stepped forward, coming to stand beside Adam. "What’s here is more important."

The beast master shot a side glance at Adam, seeing the seriousness of his expression. The monstrous boy truly looked like the news did not bother him. Aurelius took a deep breath and exhaled, putting every distraction aside.

"You ready?" Adam asked.

"More than ever." The beast master replied as he pulled out his special function glasses and fastened them over his eyes. He looked at Adam again and nodded.

The beast master had put his sword away, since taming a beast required physical contact as well as not being perceived as a threat. The attempt was going to be a bumpy ride, no doubt, as he would be trying to convince a mythical creature of the benefits of being bonded to him.

The setting was just perfect.

Adam, on the other hand, had his blade sheath to his left side. Although he would not be fighting directly, it was best to be prepared. And he still had no idea what abilities those beasts had awakened.

They were essentially going in blind. That also meant things could go horribly wrong should one of the beasts have a way to bypass the barrier. In that case, he would abandon everything, grab Aurelius, and then get the hell out of there.

Looking at the beast master beside him, he placed his left hand over the boy’s shoulder and grabbed the other with his right hand. The height difference would have made the situation comical had Adam not grown since his awakening.

He now stood at 1.85m for a sixteen-year-old.

Even so, Aurelius had to lean forward slightly to make up for the remaining 0.04m difference. Fortunately for the two, neither of them paid attention to the difference.

Within a cavern that led to the sparkling cavern and beast cavern ahead, Adam went over the memorised topography and numbers in his head. He took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to calm his rising heartbeat.

’Here goes nothing.’

Calling upon his Spark, Adam activated several skills in swift succession.

Perception Overdrive.

Blood Ignition.

Skeletal Reinforcement.

Vector Dominion.

Thermal Sight.

He unhesitatingly stacked several skills at once, feeling the sudden dip in his Spark levels. Adam’s eyes darkened as veins bulged at the sides of his head. When he moved, it was as though he had teleported, instantaneously appearing in the dark cavern where the beasts were gathered.

"Now!"

In one fluid motion, he dropped Aurelius just before the wounded creature, spun and moved a few feet away. With both hands, he clenched his teeth and pushed against the air, a spherical barrier of compressed air coming to life with a rippling hum.

The response was just as instantaneous.

Boom!

"Ugh!"

Adam groaned, feeling the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. The forceful impact pushed his feet into the solid ground like it was nothing.

Three powerful beasts had sensed the sudden appearance of intruders and reacted with a kind of coordination that shouldn’t have been possible.

A snarling jet-black panther, an emerald viper twelve meters long, and a massive bald eagle moved to attack, only to violently crash into the spherical barrier with devastating force.

The cavern walls shook as chunks of rock cracked and fell. The devastating shockwaves ricocheted against the compressed wind barrier, slamming into the cavern walls without mercy.

’Shit!’ Adam inwardly cursed. ’The walls won’t hold for long!’

"Hurry up!" he urgently urged, blood dripping from the corner of his lips.

A reply did not come.

Aurelius was already at work. The moment he landed and became aware of his surroundings and the creature before his eyes, he froze for a moment, his heart beating erratically.

The beast was indeed a gryphon!

The beast master could not believe his eyes. Although he could not see the finer details, he knew a majestic creature when he saw one. And the beast radiated that strange aura they had been sensing since they got close to the mountain.

Fortunately, his shock lasted only a split second. Without hesitation, he dashed toward the gryphon’s head, stepping over the mess of foodstuff and meat lying around. The beast let out a weak squeak of warning, but could barely move its head.

Aurelius leapt and somersaulted, landing on top of the gryphon’s head. The beast tried to shake it off, its piercing screams and shrieks filling the dark cavern like a distress call.

"You’ll thank me later!"

The beast master bellowed as he lowered both hands on the gryphon’s head. The sudden contact froze the gryphon for a moment, then it suddenly let out a much louder scream and forcefully rose to its feet and shook off Aurelius.

"Whoa!"

"Ugh!"

Violently thrown off, he slammed into the wind barrier and slid to the ground. Aurelius shook his head, managing to see the gryphon collapsing to the ground like it was on its last legs.

"What the fuck is happening?!"

Aurelius heard Adam’s strained voice, feeling the ground rumble underneath him. Stones were falling onto the barrier and slipping off like they weighed nothing. The beast master pushed off the wind barrier and flashed forward, appearing before the much weaker creature.

"Hold on!"

He bellowed, his arms shooting forward. He grabbed the head of the gryphon again, a bestial aura exploding from him. The gryphon shrieked in one final attempt to resist, but it was too weak, too injured.

’There we go!’

Aurelius grinned, excitement and anxiety bubbling inside him in equal measure. The gryphon could no longer resist, making the process smoother. The cacophony of destructive booms and collapsing rocks within the cavern did not reach him; his attention was entirely on taming the gryphon.

But one did reach him, making his heart skip a beat in cold dread.

"Oh no..."