Chapter 113: Lianas Field

"Stay close."

Adam took off in a burst of blinding speed, the beast boy a reasonable distance away from him. Aurelius looked at Adam with an amused smile on his face. He liked how Adam took charge like it was his right.

Reaching the boundaries of the Lianas field, Adam swung his sword in a wide arc, slicing through the thick vines like paper. He moved like the wind, his feet never staying at one point for more than a second.

With expert movements and manoeuvring techniques, he jumped through and over several vines. He looked back for a moment, seeing Aurelius keeping up smoothly. The vines had not reacted just yet, which was a good sign.

They might not awaken at all. But the thought came too early.

As they somersaulted over a bunch of vines, Adam’s unique skill caught the twitching of several vines from every direction in his view.

"Watch out!"

He warned as he planted a foot and spun to look back at Aurelius. He became airborne for a moment, flying through a coil of vines while his sword cleaved the surrounding vines in a circular dance.

Right at that moment, the vines erupted from the ground. They moved fast, almost instantaneously. Aurelius reacted just as fast, but the vines that came at him were just a few out of many.

More erupted all around the beast master.

Adam himself had his share to watch out for, as several thick vines had come alive to bind and strangle him. With agile moves and acrobatic stunts that would shame acrobats of the old world, he manoeuvred the surrounding vines, his blade flashing like a silver streak.

The beast master spun, brandishing his sword. With a combination of sword swings and techniques, he cut through the attacking vines and attempted to do the same for the ones wriggling towards him from his blind spots.

Alas...

"Ugh!"

Three vines viciously slammed into him from the back, knocking the air out of him. He was whipped into flying forward, his sword falling out of his grip.

"Aurelius!"

Adam cursed as he channelled his essence, drawing out the power of flames. The blade in his hand ignited in blue flames, the temperature spiking instantly. He moved just as Aurelius was slammed into another vine with bone-shaking force.

The vines swiftly wrapped around the beast boy before he could even attempt to adjust his body. His lips were bloodied from the vicious whip, his senses disoriented.

A streak of blue flames swept past his face just as he was recovering. Before he could even make sense of what was happening, he fell to the ground. Adam appeared before him in a flash and drove the tip of his weapon into the ground.

Flames erupted outwards, forming a protective dome around them.

"Aurelius, are you alright?!"

Adam grabbed the beast master’s shoulder with his other hand, shaking him out of his daze. That slap from the vines was a heavy one, even for someone as strong as Aurelius.

It took a moment, but the beast master snapped out of his daze.

"Y-Yeah, I’m fine," Aurelius answered with some difficulty, shaking his head and wiping the blood from his lips. He looked around for a moment before focusing on Adam. "Hehe. Doable, huh?"

Despite the situation, the beast master still found the time to make light jokes. He was impressed yet again. Adam had proven to be far more capable than everyone believed.

He didn’t even know Adam could use blue flames, and yet, the monster of a boy was using those flames to keep the vines. The temperature alone was astoundingly high.

"You could have done this earlier, you know?" Aurelius pointed out as Adam helped him up. "This would have been a lot easier."

"Maybe. But blue flames drain a lot of Spark to keep up like this."

Adam said as he prepared to pull out his tactical sword. The only reason the vines hadn’t erupted from the ground beneath them was that Adam was channelling the power of his flames into the ground as well, his control and efficiency impeccable.

Aurelius nodded and took out another sword, the other one abandoned.

Returning the nod, Adam looked around for a moment, swiftly determining the direction they had been moving in earlier.

"Stay sharp," he advised.

Right after he pulled out the sword, the blue dome of flames fizzled out. The two boys did not hesitate to move, dashing through the woody vines with renewed force and determination.

Aurelius gritted his teeth as his eyes darted about, his sword cleaving through writhing vines. That blow had not just struck him; it had struck his pride as a fighter as well.

His failure to save himself was a disgrace to his name, power and image. He would not fall to the vines again. With greater speed and power than before, Aurelius carved a way through the Lianas with Adam taking point.

He dashed forward and to the side, sharply changing trajectory several times in a row, but it was a lot more draining than it actually was.

Adam made it look so effortless, like the world itself was aiding him to manoeuvre the Lianas field. The monstrous boy moved so smoothly that it felt criminal. His efficiency and combination of movements looked almost predictive.

"We’re almost through!"

Adam said from the front, his flaming tactical sword streaking through the air like it was on some predetermined trajectory. He spun and cleaved through vines overhead, sidestepping and flying over vines like it was routine practice and not oversized vines trying to strangle him in a death grip.

The exit was just a couple more meters away, but the vines were getting more and more aggressive. His advancement slowed down, requiring more cutting and manoeuvring before he pushed forward.

"Aurelius, you first!"

Adam bellowed as he skillfully dashed back and forth through the attacking vines. He spun and slid backwards, brandishing his tactical blade. The blue flames around his sword erupted with greater intensity, momentarily lighting the surroundings in a blue hue.

He stacked a combination of leg movements and sword techniques, generating greater force than normal and unleashed a vertical slash that created a flame arc more than 10 meters high.

The flame arc blazed through the aggressive vines with incredible speed, cutting and burning through the woody vines with insulting ease.

From the side, Aurelius dashed past Adam, cutting through the remnant vines that still tried to bind him. He momentarily glanced back, seeing Adam readjusting himself after unleashing that flame arc.

Adam swiftly chased after his partner, the two crossing out of the Lianas field in tandem. Sliding to a halt several meters away on the gravelled ground of the mountain base, Adam looked back to see the Lianas field aggressively lashing out.

"Hah... That was something." Adam muttered.

The two boys were out of breath, Aurelius more so than Adam. The beast master glanced at Adam and then turned his focus to the Lianas field, the hand holding the sword clenching tightly.