Dashing his hair to the side, the fellow looked down at Jared's motionless body. Taking a step forward, the man reached down, picking up the book to his side.
"So their family just lets anyone walk out with books like these."
Flipping through the pages, a sword started manifesting, revealing and floating behind his back.
"A research paper on the dark side of P.e.t.s and their theoretical but unavoidable malfunctions. Yeah, Viktor would love this. Guess I'll pocket it and sell it to their guild later. "
The man casually shrugged as he continued looking through the pages.
"If they're lending out information like this, then I can see why B.T. thinks that the library is an unprotected gold mine. "
Mist slowly generated in the palm of Jared's hand as the orb twisted, sprouting legs. Concentrated emitting waves instantly caught the fellow's attention, his eyes snapping from the pages to the object.
The orb walked, climbing Jared's arm. It wrapped around, circling his neck as the orb's appearance faded. In its place formed a slender, dark orange fox, waving its two tails as it sat on Jared's shoulder and staring into the fellow's eyes.
"Bizarre… a child his age acquiring a p.e.t, guess it makes sense considering the book he had."
The fellow closed the book, sliding it into his pouch that was strapped tightly to his side.
Not letting the animal out of sight, he spoke. "... Things have gotten unexpectedly interesting."
Unsheathing his blade, three colorless flames burst from the fox, floating in place. Holding the blade horizontally in front of him like a workbench or table, the man's hand glided over the blade's surface, cloaking and completely removing its ability to be sensed.
Gradually, the creature walked forward, deceiving the eyes and completely changing his size and scale. It grew with every step, shaping itself like a horse with the build of a bear who came forth after a long, sleep-filled winter.
Bursting from his sides, like summons, were dozens of ocean blue, softly burning spirit flames. They scattered before forming into three marvelous wisps.
Unconsciously, the fellow took a step back.
"Flames? No. It couldn't be. I already started to deprive the place of its oxygen."
The blue flames whooshed through the air.
"The Hell!"
His eyes widened, jumping away from the one spirit resting inches away from his ear.
The spirits mockingly laughed as the fellow tried to regain his composure.
"Damn it! It's playing with me. Crap!"
Realizing too late, his eyes snapped to Jared.
With rapid speed, the beast dug its fangs. First, bending the surface metal, its second crunch broke through the enhanced fabric.
Tackling him to the ground, the weight of the beast pushed against his chest, gripping his collarbone.
Fighting the surges of pain again and again, he slammed his fist into the beast's head but attempts only worsened the pain. "GET OFF!".
The beast's grip deepened, bending the metal-like fabric with every strike it received. "GOD LET GO!".
The man grabbed a chunk of the beast's neck. Its eyes turned to him, compressing once more as blood began to soak the fellows' clothing... "NEXT TIME LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY!"
The once-hidden blade was revealed, flying at the speed of a fully drawn arrow. "NOW STAY RIGHT HERE AND DIE!"
The beast's force was strong, but so was the man's grip. As the man held the beast's head in place, a laugh suddenly played at max volume.
One! Two! Three! Four! All three of the spirits, even the hidden fourth, were summoned by the animal and latched onto the man's arm, burning.
"COME ON!? REALLY!? AH!"
Losing his grip, the beast snapped away from the arm as the sword missed its head, but loosely planted itself into the monster's back.
Pushing distance between the two, the man swiftly jumped, ripping two of the four spirits from his hand before landing on the ground. His eyes were glued to the pet as the other two flames were promptly commanded back to the monster's side.
"Damn, you must really love shoulder tissue."
Struggling, the man tried drawing strength from his left arm, but its movements were slow and weak.
"You gripped onto my shoulder so tight that you yourself couldn't get out of your own grip. You might be strong and fast, but you're just another dumb beast."
Roars echoed like a last dying call. The blade sticking out the beast's flesh, digging deeper into its body. The man checked as the beast's eyes turned sharp, jumping at him.
"Not sure you want to do that."
A wall of white flames appeared between them.
"Especially with how your master is looking over there."
The beast stopped and snapped; the color on Jared's face looked ill as swarms of white flames grew chaotic around the child. Fearing nothing, the beast leaped through the flame, frantically lunging as the blade dug deeper into the beast's body.
As if accepting its defeat, it jumped towards Jared, grabbing his body out of the chaotic flame.
"It's over now; if you start turning, you both might survive."
"And for you."
The fellow calmly pointed to the trees behind him and spoke. "And for you. There's no use covering it anymore; your residuals are leaking out."
With that, three pieces of cloth dropped to the floor.
A new voice- "So much for a flashy entrance."
Dropping down to the ground with noble blue, yellow, and white lightning forming in their palm, Mark walked forward.
Mark- "Well-"
Flash. With a snap, Mark stood before the beast, ripping the blade out of its body.
Mark- "- at least it wasn't a complete failure."
Toast jumped back, holding Jared with its teeth. Mark horizontally unsheathed his yellow and white short sword, pointing the other fellow's blade at the creature. He looked at the monster seriously.
Blood dripped from the blade like a broken faucet, shocking the beast back into their body. Hesitating no longer, it ran into the forest.
Mark turned back to the man, watching as he casually flipped to the next page of the book he stole. With a sudden twitch of the face, Mark kicked the tyrant's blade across the floor toward him.
Mark- "Is that how you really treat your next opponent?"
"Oh, I'm SOOO scared. Is that how you thought I would react? You're pretty fast, but we both know how this will end. You'll waste your energy fighting me; I'll humor you while reading the book. Once I'm bored, you'll crumble under the pressure. Bla Bla Bla Bla, you run away, and I'll feel like I wasted my time."
Mark slowly sheathed his sword, calming his demeanor. "How much do you know already? It seems like you already pieced my core concept together."
"Well, it wasn't that hard at all, honestly. First, if you even had half a decent level of control or stamina with your concept, you would have just killed me without a second thought. Second, even after doing your little show, I could barely feel a change within the air around you."
"Changes in the air?"
"Oh yeah," The fellow slowly looked up from the book. "You're definitely a scrub."
Without much of a glance, the fellow waved his hand, lifting his weapon off the ground without even bending over. He walked off, paying Mark no mind.
…