Phantom Hunters | Saphir Casters Academy

47 | Sword of Golden Flames

XLVII | SWORD OF GOLDEN FLAMES

    At Mohib's cue, Kael hefted the hilt of his sword into his hand and strode forward into the arena with a confidence he didn't really feel. He saw Kly sitting at the proctors' seats a level under the schoolmaster with three others and flashed a nervous grin. Kly gave Kael a thumbs up in encouragement.

    "And now, for our tenth student, we have Kael Smaradine with his sword of flames!"

    The audience applauded, and Kael scanned the elevated seats for his friends. He didn't have enough time to identify them, however, as a buzzer rang and a blighter escaped its prison.

    Kael readied his stance, watching the blighter ooze onto the arena with what sounded like a mix between hissing and a cauldron brewing. The first tentacle was easy to avoid.

    Kael danced to the side as another tentacle shot towards him. It missed him by a hair. The audience melted away, and it was now between Kael and the blighter.

    The boy sent his uthra into the sword, and the blade burst into hot golden flames. He concentrated on cutting down the tentacles, which came easily as the wispy flesh of the blighter ran straight into the fire, disseminating on its own.

    Kael tried to recall the lessons he learned over the past two weeks, but his mind drew a blank. He had no choice but to work on instinct.

    The blighter advanced towards him, sending a flurry of tentacles towards him. Kael ran forward, readying his blade to cut down the body of the blighter once and for all. He leaped over a tentacle and raised his arm to take a large swing at the blighter.

    With a grunt of exertion, Kael slammed the blade down, sending a great golden inferno towards the creature. He heard it screech as he landed on the ground. Sweat trickled down his temples, and he began to feel lightheaded.

    He was sure the blighter had been killed, and he waited for Mohib to come out with a blare of victory. When nothing happened, however, Kael realised with shock that he had completely missed the blighter.

    The creature had withdrawn towards the wall of the arena, drawing in its tentacles like a trapped octopus. Scorch marks marred the bricks next to it — an indication of Kael's accident.

    The blighter recovered before Kael did, and it shot out an attack, increasing the number of its arms tenfold.

    A lesson about blighters suddenly entered Kael's mind, and he took several jumps backwards.

    Remember, Nox had said, a blighter's tentacles can only reach up to about four to five times its body length. If you're ever in a sticky situation, the best thing would be to stay out of their reach.

    The tentacles tightened like a rope being pulled taut, wiggling in order to get closer to Kael.

    The boy threw his sword up, cutting the tentacles and turning them into dark auras absorbed by the giant rhinestone overhead.

    He took a deep breath, his energy sapped. He hadn't known that he had such a low reserve of uthra, and it was strange how his sigil didn't run out. He stopped sending his magic into the sword, and the flames died out. A plan. That's what he needed.

    Kael slowed his breathing to calm his heart. The blighter seemed to realise that it wouldn't get to the boy in its current position, and it began to slowly advance, stretching its tentacles towards him. Kael backed away and circled the blighter from out of its radius.

    Once he had caught his breath, Kael surged uthra into his weapon. He jumped into the blighter's radius and ran with the sword trailing on the sand. He ducked, jumped, and cut until he reached the body of the blighter, where he sent all his uthra to send a fiery cut into it.