Lift it, he didn't. He dropped the two discs, raising his hands and making them fall from a higher ground. The discs came rolling down, but just a few moments from touching the ground, he psychically wished they stopped.
They did, hovering in the air while turning slowly at a fixed point.
Eric felt the overwhelming control he had over the discs. It was like he was moving his own arms but in a far better and lazy manner. If only he could control a lot of other things with his mind. 'Telekinesis might be the best skill ever for a lazy bum like me.'
Raising his face up with a sudden jerk, he willed for the discs to bound straight for the target, the beast.
That was when he took a proper look at the monstrosity in their circle. The name he had in mind—Grotesque—might be such a wrong description, because this beast had a unique and imposing figure, and bone curdling at that.
It had a little head which took only a tiny fraction of the rest of its body. The most prominent feature of its head was the two big, glowing red eyes that had a black slit for pupils. Its mouth was just a thin, hard line with extensions jutting out like the feelers of an ant.
It stood about seven feet tall when it raised itself on his hind limbs, always screeching with every attack it rendered. Its body was rough but lustrous and tough, almost like he wore plates of armour to protect a delicate part of its body. It had six crustacean-like limbs, two of which were at the back, useless for attacks but solid and stable enough to support its overwhelming weight. The two middle limbs were long—the longest—and they always moved, swinging wildly at its opponents since it had better reach and even better protective layer against attacks. The middle limbs had sharp, sword-like shape for hands, and the sword hands were jagged on the edges, shaped like saw blades with a pointy end.
The topmost limbs, massive and befitting a monster, were simply shaped like human hands, able to grab and crush. For nails it has hideous long claws, deep brown and dirty to the eyes.
Eric felt like puking just from the mere sight of it. An offensive odour also accompanied the beast's movements, which must have been why he found himself unconsciously wrinkling his nose.
'I love fighting hideous monsters...but that's only in games.'
'Let's see how long I last with this weapon.'
WHOOSH!
The two discs cut throught the air, sailing past Bux who's back was turned to Eric. The grumpy man must have sensed the incoming attack, so he turned away from the beast, pivoting on his heels and tried to hack them down, swinging his hammer powerfully at the two discs.
But Eric immediately moved the discs away from the hammer's reach, zooming then higher out of range. And with a powerful will, sent them slicing through the still air straight to the top of the beast's head.
The discs hacked at the beast's head repeatedly before it could be quick enough to brush them away. Eric took the discs out of its reach while circling them round and over its head.
The repeated attacks on the beast's head had only made a few scratch, nothing fatal enough to crack the hard exoskeleton.
The beast's attention was now completely shifted away from Bux. Although there was enough open space for an easy attack on the beast, Bux lost focus and wouldn't use his hammer. Instead he stared heatedly at Eric who was sitting innocently by a tree, cradling his broken leg like it was child.
From the look on Eric's face, it was hard to tell if he was the one in control of Winter's discs, because he only stared at his own shadow, sniffing like a crybaby. But he kept the discs moving without even looking, sending them in and out of the beast's attack range while hacking uselessly at the tough skin.
Summer gawked also, looking from Winter who was still unconscious to Eric who seemed out of focus. Of course, there was no way "the squirm" would be able to control a Mage's Soul weapon. He knew other mages who had tried to take control over another mage's soul weapons but failed. So, Eric was indeed out of the question, to him.
But both Bux and Summer kept staring, lost for words at the strange happening. Was Winter controlling the discs even while unconscious? Or has the discs grown a mind of their own and helping them out?
Eric looked up once again, pretending to be amazed at the scene as well. The beast continued trying to bring the discs down without success. He saw Summer ripping his sleeves off and with the fabric, tied the sick wound the beast had cursed on him. He let out a painful sound, nodding his head back as he knotted the piece of cloth before standing up gingerly.
"Don't gawk for long, Bux. We'll settle the disc matter later. Let's kill this bummer monster first," his voice sounded thick with fury.
Eric stared simply, happy that they won't be staring at him again. "Go fight, you bums while I play my game from here," he muttered under his breath.
With his broken sword, Summer lunged at the beast, yelling from his core. Bux followed, grunting like this was never meant to last this long.
Eric continued trying to find a weak point. For now, the only possible weak point was the beast's eyes, but it was hard to penetrate because the discs will simply be swatted away like a fly should he start a direct frontal attack.
'Time to get serious,' he sat up, fully focused, determination written on his face.
But he lost his focus after a few seconds because at that point, Winter suddenly jerked up, rising from her lying state with a face that was near as pale as the colour of her hair.
And the first thing she tried to grab was her soul weapon.
"Where is it?" she gasped, still dazed.