Blade Over Magic

Terrifying Clarity

It didn’t take long before those who went out on the hunt began to trickle back into the area they had set out from, the King and other Archmages already being there. Even Bellion had returned, though his expression was neutral.

As quite a few had only done some casual hunting with their guards, they returned fairly quickly.

More minutes passed, and those who went deeper began to appear slowly, however, it was evident that something had caught the attention of many as they were discussing it in hushed tones.

It was, obviously, the massive crystal tree that was visible even from their position, standing there like an inviolable law of the world.

’Tch, good thing we didn’t go any deeper. As expected of the place created by an Archmage, the stronger creatures here would be utterly disastrous in the real world.’ Dorian clicked his tongue as he also came out of the treeline with his seniors.

His mage robe was tattered in some areas, and there was a trace of exhaustion in his eyes, but the light of pride remained.

’Usually I get assisted when I’m training like this, but other than simply ensuring nothing beyond my ability to handle appeared, all my hunts were done by me alone. Isn’t that a testament to how far I’ve come.’ He sighed and looked down at his hand.

’It’s a shame, our people weren’t able to ascertain the position of that bastard. How nice would it have been to see his angry face when they kept interfering with him. Speaking of...’ Dorian looked around, and he noticed that many of the invitees were looking at him, but he didn’t find the face of Xander or his companions.

’Running late, huh? Did he perhaps fail to find many beasts and is trying to pull off some last minute hunting? Heh, even if he manages to find anything, the hunt has ended, so anything he kills now won’t count. Heh, did I overestimate him?’ He barely restrained a snickers as he looked at his seniors, they also appeared to be amused by the situation.

It was then that a new set of people appeared, and when Dorian looked up, his eyes lit up.

It was Falael, Aubrey, and Curtis. Curtis had transformed into his humanoid form beforehand, once more clad in his winter attire and scarf. When they appeared, Dorian smiled as he didn’t see Xander with them.

’Did they not travel together? Or did they go ahead of him while giving him a chance to kill more things? Oh wow, this is just getting better and better.’ Dorian covered his mouth to prevent himself from laughing.

However, his amusement soon faded a bit when he noticed their demeanors. None of them seemed... concerned?

He frowned slightly, but he soon calmed down.

’They must be putting up a strong front.’ With that saud, he stepped closer to them with a pleasant smile and asked.

”Seems like you lot are already back. What about that Xander guy? He seems to be running late. Did you not move out together?” He asked, his tone conversational despite the undertone.

They all just glanced at him briefly, none of them showing an expression. However, while Aubrey and Curtis were calm, Falael’s lip kept twitching ever so often, almost like... she was trying not to laugh?

’That damn girl. Even now...’ Dorian felt a vein pulse on his neck, but he didn’t let himself show any reaction. He’d teach her a thorough lesson when he got his time with her.

”He will be arriving shortly.” Just then, Aubrey answered his question. Dorian opened his mouth to ask her to elaborate when a gust of wind suddenly swept over the area, causing the hair of many to flap up as Dorian covered his face from the dust.

Annoyed, he looked up, but his eyes widened when he saw Xander, a long trail behind him which signified that he’d come to an abrupt stop.

There was a moment of silence, and Dorian felt a bit uneasy.

’How fast was he running to make a commotion like that?’ He thought, then he smiled again as he approached Xander who was currently shirtless. His tones upper body visible for all to see.

Dorian saw this and, for a second, felt slightly jealous at such a physique. Compared to those he knew that walled the physical path, his muscles weren’t obscene or unwieldy. They were visibly lean yet dense underneath his skin. And for someone like Dorian who focused entirely on casting, his own physique was nothing to write home about.

’Tch, so what? It just shows how brutish he is for focusing on such an obsolete thing. Martial arts? Swordsmanship? What a joke.’ He grumbled internally while speaking up.

”How nice of you to finally grace us with your presence. You seem to be the last person to have arrived. However, you should know that any beast you killed after the bell went off won’t count to your final tally, correct?” Xander glanced at him before shrugging.

”Alright. Not like I killed anything else after.” His words caused a few people to frown. So why had he taken so long to get back, then?

Dorian found it confusing as well, but he threw it to the back of his mind, assuming that Xander was lying. In that case, Archmage Irene would definitely call him out if he brought out any beast he killed after the bell went off.

”Well, no point in beating around the bush, anyway. How about we tally our scores?” Dorian said, and Xander just shrugged again, then he paused and added.

”By the way, does the quality of the hunt matter? Or is it solely about how many that were killed?” Dorian blinked, then he waved his hand.

”Of course. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be fun if one of us just found a group of very weak beasts and harvested. Quality matters too.” Xander nodded slowly.

”Then you may go first.” Dorian smirked.

”With pleasure.” He walked to an empty area and held out his hand where his storage ring was.

It shone, and everyone watched as a large heap of beast corpses were deposited.

Some surprised gasps rang out as around 40 beast corpses could be seen of varying types, all of them carrying wounds from different spells, but primarily of the earth and wind attribute.

Among them, there were a few that stood out.

”My goodness. Is that an Elusive fox? It has two tails... that means it was at least at the beast leader level!” Someone exclaimed, pointing at the corpse of a large fox with two tails, its fur like shifting shadows as even in its death, it was difficult to grasp directly with the eyes.

”And that’s a Vermillion Kong. To think he could kill it even with its magic resistant skin. As expected of a 3rd Floor Disciple of the Mage Tower.” Another said. Many uttered their silent praises as Dorian just nodded to himself.

”How is it, not terrible, huh?” He hummed and looked at Xander, but he frowned when he saw his expression. He didn’t look somber, nor did he look celebrative. Rather, he looked... thoughtful, his hand rubbing his chin as he regarded the corpses Dorian revealed.

’What’s he thinking about? Does he perhaps believe i cheated?’ In his mind, that was the only thing that justified such an expression.

After a few seconds, though, with everyone staring at Xander, he just sighed and scratched his head.

”I guess I show mine.” He sounded a bit unsure, which made Dorian’s smile return. He must not be feeling confident of his haul!

Everyone watched as Xander stepped back, presumably to make space. But then... he kept stepping back, and he stepped back even more.

’What’s he doing?’ Everyone was confused, Dorian as well. Was he trying to run away or something?

But then Xander finally stopped after there was a gap of about 50 or so meters between him and everyone else, then he held out his ring as it began to flash.

’What could he be trying to achi—’ Before Dorian could complete his thought, a shadow fell over him.

’... Huh?’ He looked up, then looked up some more, and he continued to look up until his neck was almost completely facing upward, and he felt his mouth go dry.

’What... what is this?’ He thought as his brain failed to compute what he saw immediately. Those... were all corpses?

Then he saw Xander move beside the huge heap of beast corpses as his ring flashed again, and Dorian suddenly felt the temperature rise as the massive corpse of a creature that had clearly been bisected in two appeared with a heavy thud. The smell of ash filling the air.

”Th-That’s... That’s a Great Pyro Bear!” Dorian flinched when he heard the name.

’No... that can’t be right.’ He subconsciously denied in his mind. He knew of such creatures. They were beasts even regular High Mages would struggle to fight one on one, and typically, it took multiple along with teams of Elite Mages creating large scale formations just to lock down the terrifying heat of the.

But Xander wasn’t done.

He moved besides that, and from his ring, the corpses of multiple large scorpions covered in bone were deposited as well.

Compared to the corpse of the bear, they were lacking in terms of size. Yet with their appearance, Dorian felt his body grow cold.

’... Bone Scorpions?’ His breath hitched as his hands began to tremble.

Those things... weren’t they beasts with conceptual attainments? While he’d never seen one in person before, he remembered one lesson he received in the tower by one of his instructors which spoke about creatures that were capable of utilizing concepts in addition to magic.

Back then, he’d learned of the terror of such beasts, and ordinary mages were advised heavily to avoid them at all costs, and flee if they ever encountered one.

So why was Xander depositing the bodies of not one, not two, but dozens?

And that’s when Xander moved to the side again.

’W-Wait... Don’t...’ Dorian had the subconscious feeling that if Xander revealed whatever his next haul was, it would cause an irreversible shift.

Yet he couldn’t even open his mouth as Xander’s ring flashed, and...

SHUDDER

Dorian felt his entire body tremble as his pupils constricted, his chest feeling as though a weight had been pressed on it. A presence filled with power and regality filled the area as many people staggered, some almost losing consciousness from the sheer weight.

’What... is that...?’ He struggled to breathe as somehow, he managed look up, and he felt his scalp go numb.

Crystalline scales. Large reptilian body. Huge crystal wings.

”No... No way...” He croaked out as he registered what he was looking at. And how couldn’t he recognize it?

It was... a wyvern.

And yet despite the imposing presence that made him want to sink to his knees, he caught sight of something horrifying.

On the creature’s chest was what looked like a stab wound, where its heart was located. And that’s when it struck him with terrifying clarity.

This creature... something he couldn’t even dream of encountering, yet alone fighting... It was dead.

And Xander was the one that killed it.