Chapter 36 – One Vs Five (1)
'Was that it?' The little kitten asked incredulously. 'No, there must be more!'
Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she surveyed the hallway ahead. Seeing that nothing had happened for a short while, the little kitten was about to walk ahead when suddenly she heard several whistling noises descending from above.
She didn't sense the appearance of these new intruders due to them arriving several meters away from her, landing from above with a loud bang. Dust clouds covered the little kitten's view of them, but as she examined these new intruders, she quickly counted that there were a grand total of five of them, to her dismay.
'I'm expected to fight five enemies?' The little kitten's eyes widened in shock. 'I-I've only ever thought one on one thanks to Jonathan's intervening...'
The little kitten gritted her teeth before exhaling out loud. 'There's no choice, that freak's got info on my origins... There's no way I'm letting this chance slip me by!'
Soon enough, the dust clouds were whisked away by the peaceful breeze and beastly red eyes were the first thing the little kitten could see of her enemy. She wasn't surprised to find these to be the same beast that she had just struck down moments ago.
Strangely, the five rabbit-like beasts stood still, their forms breathing, but looking lifelessly towards the little kitten. Before the little kitten could study their curious states further, a familiar and annoyingly high-pitched voice sounded out, grating her ears.
"Kekeke! You did well to kill an enemy of the same level as you in one hit!" The Guardian Spirit began. "But, how well can you do against five of them at the same level? Kekeke, if you defeat these five Horned Cloud Rabbit's, there will be only two more steps to go until you complete your trial!"
'There's still two more steps to go after this?!' The little kitten exclaimed in disbelief. 'Dammit, when he shows his red *ss in front of me again, I'm going to bite his tail off!'
"Good luck~" The Guardian Spirit's voice faded out in a tune.
In sync with the Guardian Spirit's farewell, the little kitten noticed that these so called Horned Cloud Rabbits seemed to come to life. Low growls escaped from their throats and they all began to walk cautiously towards her menacingly.
With a long sigh, the little kitten put all irrelevant thoughts to the back of her head and her eyes narrowed in concentration once more. 'Oh well, there's only one thing to do now!'
With gritted teeth, the little kitten's claws extended to their fullest reach and her throat produced a low and menacing hiss as she stared down the closest Horned Cloud Rabbit.
Seemingly triggered by her display of hostility, that closest Horned Cloud Rabbit let out a shrill cry before it madly dashed forward, its white furred limbs a blur of movement. At the same time as it ran forward, it also began to chant a short spell!
Seeing this, the little kitten's pupils contracted as she noticed a white sheen cover the Horned Cloud Rabbit. At the same time, the rabbit's speed saw a drastic increase as it moved so fast it seemed to almost breach the speed of sound.
'Wind!' The little kitten immediately understood that the Horned Cloud Rabbit was using some sort of wind spell to quicken its movement and sharpen itself for some sort of full frontal tackle!
'Let's see how nimble you truly are!' The Guardian Spirit's invisible form smirked in thought as he watched the upcoming confrontation.
'Gotta dodge!' The little kitten exclaimed as her four limbs went into overdrive, aura circulated to her four paws and her body twisted to leap out of the way of the oncoming Horned Cloud Rabbit's tackle.
The sound of a sharp object cutting metal screeched, and the little kitten felt a heavy force land on her left side just before she could fully dodge out of the way. Just as she was getting out of the range of the Horned Cloud Rabbit's tackle, the rabbit beast's claws had struck her maliciously, digging into the metal armour that shields her body.
Luckily for the little kitten, the 'Ravager Armour' held strong and she was simply pushed a good distance from her attacker, only suffering a bruise from the force of the claw's strike.
Before the little kitten could get comfy however, another Horned Cloud Rabbit was pouncing at her, both of is claws outstretched and prepared to strike down at her small form.
'Dammit!' The little kitten's teeth clenched shut. 'There's no time to dodge!'
In this hopeless situation, the little kitten's eyes suddenly lit up with a determined gleam and she quickly chanted a spell hastily. Before she could finish the chant completely, the Horned Cloud Rabbit's two claws dug into her 'Ravager Armour', yet the little kitten's determined eyes failed to falter and she pushed on, completing the chant.
Swish!
Blood sprayed from both the little kitten and the Horned Cloud Rabbit!
The little kitten cried out in pain as the enemies vicious claws sunk into her skin. However, the claws only dug in an inch before the Horned Cloud Rabbit's eyes suddenly turned dull and blood sprayed from its forehead, where now a deadly slit appeared.
It was the work of the 'Sky Piercing Arrow'!
As the little kitten recovered from the previous exchange, she suddenly felt the presence of two attackers behind her. Reacting quickly, she chanted another spell, as the 'Sky Piercing Arrow' had traveled too far to react in time.
The little kitten unleashed the second spell from the 'Dance of the Flames Art', 'Wandering Glow'!
As her body twisted to face the two attackers, a flame sparked into life beside her, glowing in an orange glow it appeared as a long flaming snake. This snake was as thick as a person's arm and a little over a meter in length.
With rapid speed, the Wandering Glow spell sprung forward and swiped at the two Horned Cloud Rabbit's who failed to react in time. The orange snake struck the two Horned Cloud Rabbit's in their chest area, causing them to feel a painful burning sensation that singed their white fur. After striking the two beast's in the chest, the Wandering Glow spell lingered there, radiating a powerful heat that forced the two Horned Cloud Rabbit's to retreat backwards, lest they suffer further burns.
While the Wandering Glow spell returned to the little kitten to hover beside her, the little kitten was quick to order her 'Sky Piercing Arrow' to strike forth at one of the two Horned Cloud Rabbit's that were in retreat.
Unable to dodge the 'Sky Piercing Arrow's' frightening speed, the beast became the second Horned Cloud Rabbit to fall in this fight.
At this point the little kitten was beginning to breath heavily as the 'Sky Piercing Arrow' returned to her side. Meanwhile, the other Horned Cloud Rabbit's began to encircle her, eyes full of malicious intent.
The little kitten took this time to analyse the previous exchange. 'The 'Wandering Glow' and the 'Sky Piercing Arrow' are a good combination, it seems... With the 'Sky Piercing Arrow's' frightening speed and strong piercing ability making a strong and deadly attack while the 'Wandering Glow' spell is great for defence, burning the opponent and forcing them to retreat upon contact!
To fight this many opponents, it would seem this is the best method I have at hand... Only, I have already used up a lot of aura to maintain these three spells and keep them active. I'll have to end this quickly, lest I run out of aura and fail this trial... I can't fail on only the second part! I can't mess up this chance to find out what that freak knows about me!'