Valerian, The Legendary

Valerian had already taken a battle stance subconsciously. Even though his heartbeat was accelerating slowly, he was sure that he did not want to give up. He did not wish to run away, and since the enemy had taken a step forward, he will respect it and duel.

Unlike a human, Magical beasts were all capable of having a battle intent and mana aura inside them. This was something that made the beasts even stronger than the humans.

The alpha wolf growled, and the winds became scythe. They had no pattern it may seem, however, as Valerian started to move and dodge the wind blades, he could sense the blades getting more and more condensed.

This was a clever tactic, if Valerian only relied on his armor, he will be reduced to not only a loser but also shreds of meat. He had to use his own magic spells to deal with this beast.

He thought of a spell and cast it decisively, ‘Lutum Hastae’

A spear of dirt protruded from the ground under the wolf. It made the beast jump away, although it was not a big threat it disrupted the wind blades cast by the beast.

That was all Valerian was aiming to achieve, and as soon as the blades were disrupted he moved toward the beast, with a commitment in his eyes. To come out of this fight as the winner.

The wolf could also tell that this child was not simple, after all, over the past two months, this guy has been coming here, and tonight he even killed one of their kin. This was the evident show of his increased strength.

.....

The alpha figured it out, this child was treating his pack and himself as a whetting stone. There was nothing more terrible among the beasts than an egoistic wolf. That was what Valerian will have to face now.

His actions had provoked this guy completely. The wolf let out a harsh bark and dashed forward. The speed was too fast for Valerian to keep up with his eyes. Depending on his senses he tried to detect the Alpha, but he was baffled.

The child came to stop in one place and he sensed the wolf around him, in multiple places. It was as if there were ten or twenty Alphas. This sort of speed was not something Valerian could deal with.

He was smart enough to figure out that only one of the wolves was real, the rest were shadows. These shadows were a result of the repeated wind disturbance. The child thought of something and cast a spell, ‘Lutum Hastae.’

One after the other he kept casting the spell and spears emerged from the ground. The location was not random like the enemy’s movement. Valerian had read in a book back at the city palace, to fight chaos, one needs order.

The distribution of the spells created a circle around Valerian, he was standing in a fairly clear area between the trees, and the spears surrounded him like a monument of honor. They also disrupted the movement of the wolf.

The spear was not a simple spear with a shaft and a head, but it had barbs or spikes protruding from the shaft as well. Valerian selected this spell for the reason that it was manipulative.

Recalling one of his training sessions with Quies, he decided to lure in the enemy, and he would play bait. He left enough space between the spears for the wolf to pass through and reach him. However, with the spears in place, Valerian will be able to predict where the wolf was coming from.

Imagine rods of metal vibrating from the movement of wind around them. These vibrations would emit sound waves, and that was what Valerian would use for detection. However, the catch was that the wolf could hear the sound waves as well.

These sound waves were hurtful to them, disturbing them from focusing. So, enraged by them, the Alpha started to cast destructive wind spells to break the spears as he charged forward.

It could be because the wolf was not very focused on Valerian that he missed a slight smirk on the face of the latter. The child calculated where the wolf will move and attack. He verified that his predictions were correct by letting the beast destroy two more spears.

When the beast was about to cross the final layer of spears, Valerian cast a spell, ‘Petra Chirothecam.’

His feasts were as strong as rocks in an instant. The beast passed through the last spears, and Valerian suddenly made an uppercut toward the right-hand side. The fist connected to the jaw of the beast.

The wolf was shocked, but it was not stupid, it could tell how this happened. Valerian had punched it hard and flung it in the air. Other magical beasts might wait to get a firm foothold first, but the Ventus Lupi were children of the wind.

The alpha moved his body in the air, and with his eyes locked on the silver head, he was about to cast a spell, when suddenly, it sensed a threat approaching from its side.

Valerian had cast wind blades of his own. The wolf tried to dodge, however, it was as if the winds had eyes. This trick he had learned from the wolves as well.

The alpha landed on the ground and wanted to dash away, but suddenly, it could not move. Only when the death was getting closer did it understand, that Valerian had predicted the landing spot and had cast earth bind as soon as the wolf landed.

The status of the beast had turned from the hunter to the prey. The wolf knew that it cannot get away anymore, the enemy was very clever, and he used the pride of the beast against it.

The other wolves in the surroundings could also tell what was happening and they all howled, however, before they could attack Valerian, the alpha let out a bark.

The message was to not attack the human. He took the win fair and square. This was disrespectful to the ritual of the duel. Valerian watched and heard all this, he did not intend to kill any of the beasts.

He cast off the wind blades and growled like a wolf. His actions immediately caught the attention of the beasts. He said, ‘King of wolves, I did not come here to kill you or your kin. My only intention was to learn from you.’

The Alpha did not care how this human was able to understand the wolf language. He scoffed and said, ‘Human, I acknowledge that you are strong but do not use this mannerism in front of me. I have lost and you can take my life, or as your kin prefers, take me as your dog. But do not take me for a fool. You killed my kin, and you can never get away from that blood debt.’

Valerian did not fret, he said, ‘What kin have I killed?’

He turned to walk towards the corpse of the wolf that had been stepped by his claw knife earlier. Valerian took out a bundled leaf from the inside of his armor. Inside the bundle was a herbal powder.

He lowered the herbal powder near the nose of the wolf and said, ‘The knife I used to attack was coated with the clear enzyme from meluca bee blood. The blood has paralysis properties, and this herb powder is the antidote.’

As soon as his words dropped, the dead wolf on the ground came back to life, the breathing could be seen. The child said, ‘It will take a few minutes for her to wake up. I apologize for the discomfort and I am grateful to you, for your teachings.’

The alpha was surprised, but he could tell now that this guy in front of him was not malicious. He said, ‘Human, you are very cunning. I pray for those who incur your wrath in the future.’

Valerian smiled and shook his head. With a wave of his hand, the earth binds were undone, and the child said, ‘King of Wolves, it is time for me to say goodbye.’

The alpha said, ‘I am not the king of wolves, in our kin the one who defeats the alpha is the king. From now on, you are the king of wolves. No matter where you go, the night will watch over you.’

That said, the beast raised his head against the night sky, and let out a howl. The pack behind the alpha also came forward and they also let out loud howls, a gust of wind blew and surrounded Valerian.

The child did not know but this was a blessing, from the wolves. A blessing that made him something more than just a battlemage, the king of wolves.