Academy of the Aberrant Chapter 6

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“... Please stop looking at me like that, Kunou.” Richard pleaded after enduring her half-worshipping, half-wary gaze for several minutes already. 

She looked like she was between worshipping him as her new lord and savior, or declaring him the reincarnation of Lucifer himself and branding him as the world’s worst evil.

“... The messiah.” She eventually surmised, staring at the pure and flustered form of Richard. Evil didn’t have that type of face.

A certain blonde, green-eyed man, reminiscent of Richard, in a world infested by Herrschers may have laughed.

“Lady Demeter isn’t that bad, Kunou…” Richard complained with a sigh, making Kunou’s eyes sharpen and ears rise at attention.

“The Devil…!” She hissed, tilting her body away from him dramatically. “Who knew the Devil wore such a pretty face…”

“A lot of people,” Ravel helpfully commented.

Lucifer was probably handsome, right? Richard thought he would be, considering how all devils were made to be attractive.

“... This feels like a terrible time to be contemplating Ritchie’s possible demonic heritage.” Hermoine sighed, clutching a spellbook tightly to her chest as she glanced at the shrubbery and forestry all around her nervously.

“Not to worry! The amazing Le Fay has already casted numerous Surveillance Spells to ensure that no baddies get the jump on our group.” Le Fay proudly reassured Hermoine while patting her chest, a smug look on her face as she showed off to the group.

“I suppose I shouldn’t bother using energy to sense around us for any disturbances, then.~” Kunou happily took the chance to slack off, offloading all the work to Le Fay in the same vein that her mother offloads work on Demeter when trying to get ‘Kunou Time’.

It was no wonder she thought Demeter was so terrifying when Kunou was likely the reason for most of her overtime…

Can’t strike the old, so target the young… Sounds like something a Greek would do.

“You should also pull your own weight here, dumbass.” Holly smacked the back of Kunou’s head with a frown as she tried to evade responsibility, making the fox girl pout and look back at her with teary eyes.

“Ritchie, I’ll give you my soul if you save me from this fearsome monster~.” Kunou quickly escaped Holly’s next attempt at smacking her, ducking just in time before swiftly running behind Richard for comfort as she looked up at him pleadingly.

“... If it was anyone else, I would’ve considered it.” Richard chuckled and shook his head, passing up on that smoke for today. “I’d rather not cross Holly again so soon.”

“Anyone else?” Ravel asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, making Richard’s face stiffen.

The scar on his palm burned.

He clenched his fist.

Ravel noticed.

She frowned, eyes growing softer before turning away.

“Eh? Eh? When will you want to cross her again, then?” Kunou, not noticing the quiet exchange between Ravel and Richard (or, rather, noticing it yet not wanting to comment), asked Richard with trepidation, watching as Holly orbited around Richard to try to reach her without being too obvious.

She was too amateur, though. Kunou’s been avoiding guards and expert Youkai since birth. In another century, perhaps.

“Maybe when I have a new trick up my sleeve…” Richard shook himself out of his reverie before commenting thoughtfully, contemplating what he’d want before confidently facing Holly again.

He couldn’t rely on pure willpower and a fierce display to make her surrender like last time, obviously. He’d need something new…

“Oh, Ritchie, you’re a Pokémon!” Holly gasped and suddenly remembered something, pointing at Richard accusingly as Richard stumbled.

“Huh?- Oh! Oh, right!” Richard suddenly remembered the Pokémon moves he used at Hagrid’s hut earlier today. That was certainly not some Wizard thing according to Holly, so it could be something for him to explore?

Maybe he can learn more about his heritage through it. Whatever that heritage may be.

“Since when was Richard the Pokémon? I thought the whole joke was that I was one?” Ravel raised an eyebrow at what Holly and Richard were blabbering about, having already lost the plot.

Richard blinked as he felt two round objects pressing against his back from different angles, looking back to find both Le Fay and Kunou pushing a Pokéball they got from somewhere against his back.

They both also blinked as they saw the other also trying to catch the wild Richard, turning to each other in surprise before nodding in tacit understanding.

“Share.” “Share.” They agreed at the same time, as if Pokémon ownership could be shared between two people.

Wait, maybe it could? There were Gym Leaders who did double battles and presumably shared Pokémon.

“Le Fay, please tell me you still have those surveillance spells up!?” Hermoine, seeing Le Fay acting so flippant and relaxed, couldn’t help but ask in a panic as her face flushed from the stress.

This group was a nightmare! She wanted out!

Holly’s sharp look as she suddenly had that thought made Hermoine’s spine straighten and her resolve‌ shatter.

This group was heaven! She wanted to stay forever!

“Help…” Hermoine whispered weakly as Holly looked away, nodding in satisfaction.

“Don’t worry, Hermoine!~ I can handle this much super-duper easily!” Le Fay reassured, not noticing Hermoine’s plight. Or selectively ignoring it. You could never be too sure.

“So, Pokémon?” Neville, who’s been characteristically quiet for quite a while now, suddenly spoke up from beside Richard as Kunou jumped at the sound of his voice, looking at him with genuine horror and confusion.

How did she not notice his presence??

“Ah, so, basically, Richard is a Dragon Type Pokémon.” Holly took the liberty to answer on Richard’s behalf just as he opened his mouth to respond, smirking as Richard turned to look at her with a glare.

“Not a Dragon.” He repeated, huffing exasperatedly.

“What was that you did back then, hm?” Holly challenged with a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to give a proper explanation if he wasn’t truly a dragon like she claimed.

She knew he had no better one, it was a guaranteed victory for him!

“That’s what Kunou is gonna be helping me figure out right now!” Richard smiled brightly and gestured to Kunou, who had composed herself and ‘generously’ decided to activate her senses to the maximum for no particular reason other than out of the goodness of her pure and delicate heart. One that cannot handle scares.

“Hm? Oh, sure! Although, I don’t know what you’re expecting from me if this isn’t something related to Youkai.” Kunou tilted her head and looked at Richard expectantly.

“I’ll also offer any insight if I recognize anything.” Ravel offered, having seen her fair share of different powers and bloodlines down in the Underworld.

“I can help too!~” Le Fay raised her hand happily, offering her own experience as a member of the Golden Order. Maybe it was just a super advanced Wizard thing the others couldn’t recognize?

“Glad to have everyone on the case, then.” Richard chuckled bashfully, not expecting everyone to be so eager and involved with this ‘investigation’. “Alright, here goes…”

Richard extended his hand out for the three girls to look at, blinking as the three immediately grabbed different parts of it before looking up at him with varying expressions of seriousness.

“Ehe~.”

“Touch is better for feeling out different energies.”

“Teehee~.”

You can guess which of Kunou, Ravel, and Le Fay said what. Shouldn’t be too hard.

“Sure…” Richard didn’t make a fuss as he closed his eyes, feeling Neville’s hand land on his back to guide him as they walked through the forest.

He slowly recalled the unknown energy and power he called upon accidentally when saying Pokémon Moves with Holly earlier. He hadn’t explored the sensation much since that time due to how busy he’s been, but it was surprisingly easy for him to reach…

His eyebrows furrowed as he truly felt it for the first time, not just using it right away like before.

It wasn’t the same energy he used for his explosive strength and Spiderman stickability.

Yet, it also wasn’t the energy he felt when casting spells with his wands. It wasn’t as… Arcane. 

It felt… more alive.

A third?

Slowly, he called upon that energy and moved it from deep within his spirit and into the arm the girls were holding, allowing them to feel it to try to recognize or categorize what it was.

To his surprise, there was an immediate reaction by one of the three girls as one of the three hands holding his tightened hard in response.

Richard opened his eyes to find Kunou staring at him with widened eyes as she stood still, but rather than staring into his eyes or at his face, her gaze didn’t leave his chest for even a second.

Everyone else stopped walking as Kunou did, pausing in surprise at how she suddenly went still.

“A third?” She muttered in astonishment, making Richard’s hair stand on end in shock.

She already knew about the two different energies inside him??? Since when?? She could differentiate them? How? And why hadn’t she sensed this third one before?

“Ah?” Richard gasped as Kunou suddenly pushed some of her energy into his hand before pulling some of his. He could’ve resisted, but he trusted her enough to allow her to do whatever she was trying, pushing his energy into her just as she was trying.

“Ah!?!” It was Kunou’s turn to gasp as the energy entered her body, making her entire body begin glowing a dim, golden glow. Her usually mischievous and lazy eyes sharpened drastically into vertical, vulpine slits full of intensity.

Everyone watched in awed silence as Kunou’s body continued glowing like a streetlight, not lessening in the slightest as she continued pulling more of Richard’s energy into her.

“She’s evolving!?” Le Fay’s shocked exclamation cut through the tense silence as Hermoine groaned in what could only be described as a healthy mix of fear, frustration, exasperation, and despair.

Holly, on the other hand, began laughing loudly, almost doubling over from how hard she was laughing as she watched Kunou glow like an evolving Pokémon.

“The disease is spreading… Soon, all shall be Pokémon,” Neville commented with a monotone voice, making Holly’s laughter intensify as she nodded in agreement. The slight incline of his lips betrayed his own amusement.

“Never, ever use this power in front of my mother, Richard.” Kunou’s steely, almost manic voice cut through the light atmosphere Le Fay’s joke made, bringing everyone back to Kunou and Richard as Kunou moved closer to stare deep into Richard’s eyes with her slitted ones. “Do you understand?”

Richard opened his mouth in surprise, shocked at the sudden change in Kunou’s demeanor. She was never this… demanding. It was quite jarring.

“I… Okay, I promise.” Richard slowly nodded his head to try appeasing the intense Kunou, watching as she did not let go of his hand, which Ravel and Le Fay had let go of once Kunou stepped closer to Richard, and continued staring into his eyes. “... May I ask why?”

“No.” She responded sharply. “Also, don’t use that energy in front of any other Youkai as well. Just in case.”

“... What if I’m in danger?” Richard asked awkwardly as Kunou narrowed her eyes, not responding for a tense few seconds.

“... Knock the Youkai out first. Or kill them. I’ll handle the fallout if you do.” She ordered seriously, leaving everyone to stare at her in genuine shock as the usually mischievous and cheery Kunou said something so cold with such a straight face.

“I-” Richard didn’t even know how to respond to that. He quickly looked around him for any help, but everyone else looked just as confused and shocked as he was. 

Except Holly. She wasn’t laughing anymore, staring at Kunou with an intensity only matched by Kunou’s gaze towards Richard.

She recognized that tone. It wasn’t one she liked.

“... Should I stop pushing the energy into you, then?” Richard decided to switch the topics, chuckling weakly as he felt Kunou still pulling at Richard’s energy reserves, now more greedily than ever. 

“No.” Kunou gave Richard the same response while maneuvering her body around to grab onto his arm, all while keeping her hand in Richard’s to keep sapping away at his energy. “How long can you keep this up before it starts hindering your combat ability?”

Richard opened his mouth to comment that he wasn’t really feeling any strain on his energy reserves despite the constant loss in energy, but Kunou beat him to it as she answered herself.

“Nevermind, I forgot your ridiculous energy reserves for a second. You could keep this up for a full day before finally noticing that you’ve lost a percentage.” Kunou’s previously tense face slowly faded into a pleased, mischievous smirk that Richard couldn’t have been more glad to see at this moment.

A hint of Kunou had returned to the girl, even if her eyes were still sharp and slitted. Usually, seeing that mischievous streak meant bad things, but at least it was harmless bad things. That should mean that everything would be fine…

But why did she have that look she always had when she managed to sneak off to slack from her training?

Richard slowly turned to his right, finding Neville staring back at him with a raised eyebrow.

‘Help!’ Richard mouthed at his best friend as Neville’s eyes creased with amusement before he signaled behind him, making Richard raise an eyebrow and look back.

He had to call upon every single one of his three energy sources to barely stop himself from bursting out laughing as he saw Hermoine stuck between Le Fay and Ravel, who were having a deep discussion about what they felt after sensing Richard’s energy that could have Kunou reacting in such a way, uncaring that they were squishing Hermoine between them as they huddled together to talk. 

‘Help!’ Hermoine mouthed to Richard, eyes pleading.

‘Help!’ Richard returned with a sympathetic look, getting a silent whimper from Hermoine as she nodded in sympathy after seeing Kunou gripping his arm and hand.

‘Help…’ They began nodding to each other in tacit understanding as Neville facepalmed in amusement next to Richard.

While having his silent discussion with Hermoine, Richard failed to notice what was happening to his left as Kunou’s senses had alarmed her of a malicious presence, making her turn to the left.

To her surprise, she found Holly staring into her soul with a terrifying intensity, almost enough to scare Kunou away… until she realized what the subject of Holly’s ire turned out to be as Holly’s gaze intensified once Kunou squeezed Richard’s arm.

Then, any thoughts of flight immediately evaporated from Kunou’s mind as a pair of sharply slitted, vulpine eyes returned the intense glare furiously… matching the similarly sharp, reptilian, and similarly slitted eyes of Holly as the two began a fierce, silent battle unbeknownst to anyone else in the group.

Kunou should’ve been horrified or confused at how Holly suddenly had those animalistic, almost serpentine eyes, but instinct took over and forced her to ignore those thoughts in favor of establishing dominance as she continued her glaring match with Holly.

“Hey, Kunou, you planning on letting go of Richard anytime soon? That glow of yours is giving away our position to every creature in the forest.” Holly spoke up after a minute of tense silence as the rest of the group refocused their attention on the two, making them reluctantly break their stalemate so no one realized what was up, even if this wasn’t over just yet.

“Don’t worry, it’s not enough to alert anything that’s not within ten meters of us, and my senses are more than enough to alert us should something reach that close.” Kunou smiled politely and while closing her eyes into slits, looking as Kitsuné as one would get without literally turning into a fox.

“Why risk it? It’s not like there’s any gain to continuing, is there?” Holly challenged, dropping any pretense of casualty as she accused sharply.

“Actually- There is. My senses are getting more and more honed the longer I stay like this, so I’ll be able to notice if anything gets closer even earlier if I stay where I am.” Kunou retorted while continuing to maintain her pleasant demeanor, still smiling politely even if she made Richard start sweating as she squeezed his hand tighter.

“We’ve got Le Fay on Surveillance already. Didn’t you want to slack off just a bit ago?” Holly fired back just as fast as Kunou giggled pleasantly while covering her mouth with her long sleeves.

“That was just a joke, Holly.~ I wouldn’t actually slack off when it came to the safety of my dear friends…” Kunou giggled again sweetly, tilting her head to rest it on the sweating Richard’s shoulder as she kept her eyes closed. “However, if it bothers you that much…”

The familiar light of one of Kunou’s illusions being made covers Kunou’s body before the glow surrounding her body disappears, no longer illuminating the immediate surroundings as it did before.

“With this, I’ll be able to keep my senses sharp without giving our location away like you’re so worried about. How’s that?” Kunou reassured magnanimously, as if putting Holly’s worries to rest. “Ah, but I’ll have to navigate on m- Ritchie here since I’ll be focusing on both my illusion and my senses at once. So, please excuse me…”

Holly had to keep her eyes closed and take several deep breaths to keep herself from lashing out, leaving everyone around on edge as they watched with bated breaths. This was either going to be a historical crash out, or a top 10 self-control moments on Youtube.

Then, everyone took a collective sigh of relief as Holly slowly opened her eyes with a small smile, appearing completely unbothered now.

“W-What was that?” Hermoine took the chance to slip out from between Ravel and Le Fay, moving between Richard’s free side and Neville for protection instead. As she whispered, Richard sent her an exasperated look.

He already explained the enhanced senses of supernatural creatures to her before. She should’ve known her whispers were meaningless, but only experience would make her learn at this point. Or so Richard supposed.

Still, Richard wordlessly responded to her with a shake of his head, truly quite lost to what was going on between Kunou and Holly all of a sudden. They were completely fine just a moment ago, but that tone…

Richard was still learning about the world and its people after only two weeks here and with some fractured memories to guide him, but he was certain that the two held a certain hint of venom in their tones, even if it wasn’t directly hostile.

Richard could understand Holly’s anger with how Kunou was giving away their positions and possibly endangering their group, especially considering how they were all her responsibility since it was her idea and that Holly already had a short fuse… but Holly’s usual anger came out like a raging inferno.

This felt… precise. Like concentrated jabs of pure poison being exchanged between the two rather than an all-consuming flame of wrath.

He didn’t know which of the two was worse, but he knew neither were good.

Just as Richard was thinking of a way to defuse the situation, he suddenly stopped.

“Richard?” The rest of the group immediately stopped as Richard did, with Hermoine calling out worriedly.

Richard’s wand… It was singing.

Something was here.

“We’re being watched.” Richard stated calmly, not wanting everyone to freak out if he spoke with panic.

Everyone immediately tensed at his words, with several of the more experienced members quickly activating their powers in preparation for a fight. Ravel’s wings lit up the area behind her back as she released them. Le Fay was sitting on her broom, floating a meter above the rest of the group as she surveyed the area with keen, curious eyes. Holly held her wand out, a red magical circle appearing on her free hand’s palm.

Then, a relaxed, melodious sound cut through the tense silence.

Kunou giggled amusedly.

She moved her head up from Richard’s shoulder, tilting it so she could whisper in his ear.

“Is a creature that small really enough to spook you, Ritchie?~” Kunou whispered teasingly as her breath tickled Richard’s neck, flicking one of her tails towards the thick shrubbery in their path as a gust of wind shot out from the appendage and swept the leaves away from the plants, revealing the creature hidden beneath.

A rabbit-like animal froze as its cover was blown away. As everyone immediately looked at it, it recovered in a mere moment as it stopped watching the group and began running away for its life.

“Oh, thank goodness…” Hermoine exhaled enough air to saturate the forest for another year after the breath she was holding, wiping a tear that was threatening to spill down her cheek had that been an actual threat.

“Oh, it was so, so, so cute!~” Le Fay couldn’t help but gush with a pout as the rabbit thing escaped, legs swinging from her broom as she regretted not capturing it as soon as she saw it.

“‘We’re being watched’, huh?” Ravel retracted her wings and turned to look at Richard with a smirk, eyes alight with amusement and a hint of teasing. “Is Ritchie a little shy?~ Can’t handle being watched by a little rabbit?”

“Pfft… ‘We’re being watched’!” Holly repeated with a shit-eating grin as she walked over to nudge Richard’s side with her elbow, ‘coincidentally’ forcing Kunou to let go of Richard’s arm as Holly invaded the space. “Feel any other critters watching you, by any chance?”

Kunou’s eyes turned murderous as she was forced to let go of Richard, shattering the illusion that was around her body as the dim glow returned, only to quickly fade away as her contact with Richard was severed. She slowly moved to Richard’s other side, watching as a terrified Hermoine quickly fled once she saw Kunou smiling at her with slitted eyes, before taking his arm and pulling at his energy again.

Hermoine fled to Le Fay’s side, panting as she pulled herself up on the little witch’s broom as Le Fay merely giggled at the new passenger upon her broom.

“H-How did that animal bypass your Surveillance Magic, Le Fay??” Hermoine complained with a whimper, holding onto Le Fay’s back as they hovered in the air.

“Oopsies… I had my Surveillance set to ignore anything weak or non-malicious.~” Le Fay stuck her tongue out cutely and hit her own head in a classic ‘teehee’ gesture. “I could choose to detect all living creatures around, if you want? But I’ll have to sacrifice a bit of my detection radius…”

“Please!” Hermoine pleaded, not wanting another scare after the last.

Richard opened his mouth to protest, believing that radius was a lot more important than detecting inconsequential creatures when Kunou could already do that, but was quickly forced to stop as Holly put a palm over his mouth.

“I think you’ve stressed yourself out enough, Mr. ‘We’re being watched’.” Holly teased, enjoying the look in Richard’s eyes a little too much as she stopped him from speaking with her own palm. “We’ll be fine. We have a few people keeping an eye out already, and Noodle says that he won’t let the ‘dragon’ ambush him again.”

The snake, upon hearing its name, hissed proudly, slithering a bit ahead of the group as it navigated the forest with the ease only someone residing here has.

Again?

Richard wanted to comment, but the firmness in Holly’s eyes made him pause as he saw the group calming down after they were alarmed by his warning.

… He couldn’t start making the group panic when he didn’t have anything but his gut feeling and the warning his wand gave him as proof. It wouldn’t do the group any good if they were stressed the entire time because of him.

Reluctantly, Richard nodded his head as Holly grinned and kept her hand over his mouth for a few seconds before pulling back as Richard looked down silently.

… His wand was still singing.

A hand pressing against his back snapped him out of his thoughts as he turned to look at Kunou, who was no longer resting her head on his shoulder as she looked him in the eyes mischievously.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you if anything appears.” She spoke in a singsong voice, sounding playful yet reassuring simultaneously. “If you’re too scared, feel free to bury your face in my tails for comfort?”

Her tails moved in front of her as she spoke, as if beckoning him over to try. The mischief and cunning in Kunou’s eyes told Richard all he needed to know about the validity of that offer, even if Kunou was being strangely flippant about him touching her tails, though.

“I appreciate the offer, Kunou. Thank you.” Richard smiled slightly and shook his head, thanking Kunou sincerely even if she was just joking as the girl’s ears twitched a little before settling as she smiled back.

“Offer’s always open~.” She teased before closing her eyes and resting her head again, focusing on her senses and the illusion she was using to cover up her glow.

Suddenly, Richard’s memories stumbled upon an epiphany as he looked closely at what Kunou was doing with his energy, pulling it from his body and into hers to… maybe nourish her own energy or something along those lines?

‘What is ‘Cultivation’?’

Richard’s thoughts were in disarray as the group began moving. He was truly stuck between a rock and a hard place, unable to move from Kunou’s clutches, locked at his left by Holly’s constant teasing presence, and with his wand singing into his head the entire time.

It didn’t help that Neville had been completely blocked from reaching Richard from either side, leaving him no one to turn to for comfort as the rest were following behind.

Richard took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves, feeling how his wand’s low, musical thrumming became increasingly louder the longer he ignored it. It wasn’t getting louder at a fast or even medium pace, but he could tell that it was.

And he hated it.

“... The trees are quiet.” Richard whispered as the rustling of leaves and the sway of branches quieted significantly, tilting his head to the right as Kunou giggled at his words.

“Still thinking that something is around? You’re right, when the forest quiets down, that usually means that a predator is around…” Kunou confirmed with a giggle, tightening her arm around Richard’s. “But can’t you hear it? The grasshoppers are still chirping. The nocturnal birds are still ruffling their feathers… The forest is still very much alive. We’re fine.”

True to her words, the distinct sound of nocturnal wildlife and active bugs was still very much present all around them, as if nothing was wrong.

Richard didn’t know what Kunou was talking about.

The sounds that the trees always made had gone quiet; he hadn’t been listening to anything else.

“I already said it earlier, didn’t I?” Kunou pulled Richard’s attention back to her as her lips inclined upward.

“I’ll protect you.” Holly finished on behalf of Kunou as she entered the conversation, getting a twitch from the Kitsuné girl as Holly smirked smugly.

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

A powerful, reverberating, Draconic roar interrupted the light scene as the entire group immediately froze in horror.

Everyone immediately turned around as the sound came from behind them, stopping them from tracing their steps or fleeing back where they came from should they need to. They were completely exposed with no way to escape.

Noodle hissed with a mix of fear and anticipation, confirming that they had found their ‘target’ as he quickly slithered into the forest and into the darkness.

“W-What? That sounds so close, but I don’t sense anything around us for a hundred meters in any of the four cardinal directions!” Le Fay exclaimed in shock, genuinely disturbed as she sensed for anything around the group, yet found nothing of note. “Unless… I haven’t been accounting for…”

Richard’s mind raced as the trees went completely silent and his wand began singing an orchestra into his mind, leaving his entire body on edge as he tried to figure out what was happening, his mind splitting in two as different trails worked seamlessly in parallel, yet somehow intertwined.

This monster had known where they were for- If Le Fay’s senses couldn’t detect it within- at least a couple minutes now if his senses hadn’t- any of the cardinal directions, that should naturally mean that its- lied. That meant it had to have been watching from somewhere that’s- ABOVE!

Richard and Le Fay looked up simultaneously, finding a massive, shrouded figure streaking through the dark sky towards their group.

“MOVE!” Richard screamed while grabbing Kunou and Holly, launching them to the side with all of his strength as Neville jumped to the side by himself without questioning Richard’s order or hesitating while Le Fay shot out towards Ravel to grab her by the collar before flying herself, Hermoine, and Ravel away.

Richard pivoted back around to face the incoming aerial beast as he could finally see its fearsome, no, terrifying pitch black scales and nightmare-inducing, spiky body. It was already close. Too close.

Richard clenched his fist as he steadied himself, calling upon his second energy source as the energy came to him naturally just as it did a million times before.

This time, however, he did not hold back.

Richard overloaded his arm with every ounce of energy it could physically handle- and more- as the energy burned beneath his skin and through his veins as he watched the dragon getting closer and closer, opening its mouth to swallow him whole as it focused its attention completely on Richard.

Was it because he noticed it first? Was it because he had so much energy? Was it because he deserved it for not trusting his gut?

Richard’s face sharpened as he let his fist loose, punching forward towards the massive dragon’s face as he could finally see it clearly for the first time.

A memory suddenly came to the forefront of his mind as saw the creature completely. A memory that he didn’t remember being his.

‘Rathalos?’

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The punch cratered a sizable plot of land from the forest alongside the dragon, and a shockwave stronger than anything Richard’s ever released shook the forest, launching the Dragon dozens, hundreds of meters back, surrounded by dozens of uprooted trees and launched debris.

That single punch broke the night’s silence, signaling the beginning of a loud and dangerous battle beneath the stars as any nearby wildlife immediately began running for the hills and away from the battlefield.

At the center of the blast stood a lonesome figure, stuck to the ground in the same position he was in during first contact.

Richard’s head buzzed with hundreds of different emotions, sensations, and thoughts as he saw the destruction he had caused. The devastation a single full-powered punch of his created.

He felt horrified.

“R-Richard??” Kunou’s voice broke Richard out of his trance as he looked to where he had thrown her and Holly, finding the two clutching a tree after the shockwave knocked them away as it did the dragon.

“Are you alright?” Richard immediately forgot all about his own horror as he ran to the two, kneeling in front of them and extending a hand for both of them to take as he tried to help them up.

… A hand?

Richard paused as he looked down, finding only a single hand extended towards the two. His eyes slowly moved to where his other arm was meant to be, slowly going up the invisible ghost of his arm until they reached the empty socket of his chest.

His shoulder was gone.

Richard suddenly clamped his mouth shut as blood began climbing up his throat. His face paled as he quickly turned away from both of the girls to not cover them in his blood before he spat it out with a few coughs, taking several deep breaths 

“Sorry.” He apologized for the unsightly display, moving the arm he had offered Kunou to both of them.

His entire arm?

… Could he even regenerate an entire arm?

He didn’t know.

Richard’s phantom pains intensified as flesh and bone began slowly forming where nothing existed now, slowly forming what would be Richard’s second right arm.

Not fast enough.

Richard bit his lip as he called upon every single one of his known energy sources, pushing them towards his injuries in a desperate bid to heal himself faster. 

‘Heal! Heal! Heal!’ He ordered and pleaded simultaneously, unsure if it was out of trepidation or fear.

Rathalos was near.

To his surprise, one of them truly responded. The very same energy source he used to blow his arm into smithereens responded to his plea for healing as it began aiding in the regrowth, making the slow but noticeable healing pace speed up several-fold as Richard’s entire right shoulder finally reformed.

“Are we alright!? Are we alright!?!?” Kunou finally broke the silence, reaching out to grip Richard’s hand as she didn’t pull on his energy for once. “Are you alright?? How are we- you- alive!?”

Holly remained silent as she stared at Richard’s missing arm with unmistakable horror in her eyes. Her eyes dilated as her pupils fluctuated between normal and slitted, only changing slightly every few seconds.

Unfortunately, Richard did not have the luxury of noticing such a thing.

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!

An undoubtedly furious roar came from the direction Richard had launched the dragon, signaling the return of the wronged ‘Rathalos’ as the ground shook beneath Richard even from this distance.

“Incoming! Prepare for battle!” Le Fay called out as she flew above the devastation Richard caused, having deposited Hermoine somewhere with some wards to keep her safe while the battle happened. 

As the Dragon began stomping towards the group once again, Ravel shot out from between the foliage she was pushed into and through the night sky, flying into the rampaging dragon’s path as a massive pillar of blazing flames soon formed where the two clashed.

“RAVEL! WIND, NOT FIRE!” Richard screamed as soon as he saw what Ravel was doing, but it was too late.

Ravel’s body was launched out of the fire as the Rathalos continued its march without so much as a stumble in its pace from that attack.

That soon changed, however, as Neville suddenly jumped out from between the trees and delivered a powerful uppercut to the beast’s jaw, launching it off its feet a few meters before it fell to the ground with another furious roar.

Richard’s eyes burned as he looked down, finding that he was a few seconds away from starting to regrow his elbow.

He had to get back into the fight.

He had to go help his friends.

Slowly, red energy began forming across different parts of Richard’s body as he stared at the furious Rathalos intently.

His healthy arm slowly extended towards the rising dragon, unclenched and holding no wand.

“... Blizzard.”

Winter was coming.

…

…

Academy is back. Yippie.

Things are gonna be changing over here and over by the Discord as well. Look forward to it.

We not waiting for a New Year New Me anymore. No more playing around.