TBATE: Brothers Forever (Beta Version)

Chapter 12: An Average Day

So Imma be real with y'all. I wrote up about three-quarters of the chapter before I looked over it. A majority of the chapter is the fucking same as the LN, and I was also quite unsatisfied with the quality of the writing. Umm... I decided to restart. So... Here I am.

Jayden Leywin

"N-No way..." Samantha's face drained of color as she slumped in resignation.

Standing more than twenty meters tall, high above our heads was a colossal mana beast. With a humanoid structure that oddly resembled a centaur, it towered over us like a massive building.

While it seemed to be made up completely of densely packed and intertwined vines, the top half of its body was that of an armored man holding a drill-like lance that came to a menacing point just over our heads. Its lower body was that of a horse, but rather than legs, its limbs consisted of the countless vines we had been battling against. Two green eyes peered down at us, filled with unbridled enmity.

I swallowed hard, staring mindlessly up at the imposing figure. For the last hour, the eight of us had been literally battling against the toes of this mana beast.

"I-I've read about a monster that looked something like this," Samantha stuttered in horror, sinking to her knees in complete resignation. "I think th-that's an S class mana beast called the e-elderwood guardian!"

"It can't be, right? What the hell would an S class mana beast be doing here?" Reginald almost dropped his giant hammer as he peered up at the elderwood guardian in dread, and with good reason too. An S class mana beast meant that it was on par with an SS class adventurer or at least ten S class adventurers.

"I-Isn't that Kriol?" Reginald exclaimed as he pointed a shaking finger at the lifeless torso and legs sticking out of the body of the mana beast.

"W-We're doomed..." Brald had a crazed expression on his face as he began laughing madly at the giant mana beast. He had already lost his arm and he was worn out from the fighting. This was probably the last straw for the veteran adventurer.

"We have to run." Jasmine turned around, gesturing Arthur and I to run back in the direction of the doors we had come from.

I turned around and began to run, however, Arthur wouldn't follow.

"What are you doing?! We have to get away!"

He simply responded, "No."

Suddenly, the elderwood guardian thrusted his giant drill lance at us, creating a gale of wind just from its movement.

[Earthen Shield]

Elijah conjured a flat wall of earth from the ground, angled slightly so that the force of the drill would be parried away from us.

A thunderous explosion resounded from the impact as the beast's lance shattered the thick, earthen slab.

Picking up his hammer, Reginald charged forward, seizing the opportunity that Elijah had created. His giant warhammer glowed a brilliant yellow as he roared out in desperate resolve. "Go back to the damn hole you crawled out from, you oversized tree! Impact Barrage!"

The giant hammer began vibrating fiercely in his hands as he unleashed his attack down at the elderwood guardian's lance.

It felt like a warship had just fired a massive storm of cannons as the whole cavern shook. The sheer force of Reginald's spell had reduced the beast's weapon to shreds.

Just as he was about to land on the ground, the broken vines that made up the lance whirled like tentacles and surrounded him. "GAAAH! HELPP!! NOOOO!"

The tendrils that had once formed the giant lance swirled around to mold back into its original shape, eating up Reginald in the process. The gruesome sound of bones snapping resounded from within the weapon as the tendrils continued to intertwine, slithering around each other like pythons to complete the shape of the lance.