NOVEL NEXT Chapter 209: Did I do it?
Sound can be very insidious.
It possesses a natural ability to move even the most physically sturdy of creatures. Its effect can be more mental than it is physical and this makes it capable of slipping past defenses.
That said, the stronger a person becomes in this magical world, the better their brain is at being resistant to sounds. It takes magic of equal or greater strength compared to theirs to threaten them.
Alas, the case of the Bullcroc was not quite so.
Its greatest weakness was Sound. It was so physically powerful (for a Four-Star Beast) that its mind seemed to have suffered from it. A high-pitched sound would grate against its mental synapses and cause it to rage while a low-pitched sound would very quickly begin to shut down those synapses and consequently, its body.
Ordinarily, it would require sound magic at the Fourth Circle to be a threat to a Four-Star Beast, but the Bullcroc's susceptibility brought that down one star. I.e one Magic Circle.
When the first musical notes traveled into the Bullcroc's ears and began to travel directly into its brain to deliver low thrumming magical frequencies directly to its brain, its eyes widened in realization. It turned its attention on Eloise and made to instantly put an end to the music that it was quickly warned was trouble by its instincts.
Alas, its path got interrupted but attacks from Kaya, Aylin, Delia, Aurelius, Doran, and of course, Caius.
Vines shot out to wrap around the Beast and bring it down. Lightning struck it over and over again always backed by the chaos of a storm. Icy structures that appeared like magnificent spectacles struck it and brought along a sort of deathly chill as their caster remained adamant that she just might be able to kill the beast. Earthen fists clobbered the beast over and over. Light spells that dazzled the sight and packed incredible force were not lost in the attacks.
The group of students put their all into it. Pulling from the very recesses of their Mana reserves to sustain what was basically a distraction to keep the Bullcroc away from Eloise and keep it down long enough for the magical singing to do what it was meant to do.
Still, the Bullcroc broke past and managed to leap at Eloise even as its eyes began to close and its body became more sluggish.
"Ah!" Eloise cried but was already forming seals and had spells prepared. First, she was lifted by thrums of vibrations that took her away from where the Bullcroc would land. And once it did and made to turn its sight on her again, a spell circle appeared in the form of a musical note that shimmered and wrapped Eloise in a strange frequency that completely erased her presence.
Caius and Kaya recognized the spell. It was what Eloise had used to follow them into a closet a few weeks ago. It remained as effective as ever and she was difficult to find. Even for the Bullcroc who, again, was lacking a bit when it came to mental senses.
Eloise still sang but because of the magic of her music, it was not at all easy to pinpoint the origin of the sounds she made. The musical notes simply appeared in the air and everyone heard the music—her voice—from them as they floated into the Bullcroc's ears and continued the lulling effect that had been started.
The Bullcroc felt the sluggishness swarm it even harder. Its brain was shutting down and it staggered like one about to fall to the ground fast asleep. Still, it shook its body and especially its head to resist the feeling.
With a powerful sniff, it finally caught a whiff of Eloise's scent and its eyes nailed an empty spot where it now believed she was hiding. One hit was all it needed. The beast had done as much calculation as a Beast of its intelligence could and was going to use just enough strength to put Eloise out of commission and end the one thing this weak set of humans could possibly do to put it down.
But before it could approach that spot it believed Eloise to be at, Caius landed from a leap he had taken—a leap that he boosted with ~Hellsong Dash~—and landed on the beast's back before wrapping his arms around its neck.
There were only a few seconds left with Trait Acquisition and he could basically see a timer ticking down as the Bullcroc raised its head and let out a roar.
Caius saw that as an opportunity and swung around until he was standing beneath the beast. His arms were still around its neck but he now had his strength focused on the fleshy underside that was not as protected by the Beast's scales.
The Bullcroc choked at the constriction of its airwaves and then landed flat on its front, laying the entirety of its weight on Caius's body, cracking even more bones in his body and worsening already painful injuries.
The Bullcroc's goal was to crush Caius with its weight and judging by the pained groan that escaped Caius's lips, it just might have succeeded. Still, Caius didn't release that throat and didn't stop squeezing it with every bit of strength he currently had from Wyvern Trait Acquisition.
The Bullcroc felt discomfort from Caius's constriction of its throat but that was far from being a threat to its life. Still, it so badly wanted to get Caius off its neck. So it raised its head once again. The plan was clearly to land even harder and knock Caius out, releasing that hold.
But it was already over.
The final notes of Eloise's lullaby entered the Bullcroc's ears and arrived at its brain finally shutting down all of its synapses.
It was letting out a choked growl as it made to slam its weight into Caius as hard as it possibly could when the sound suddenly mellowed. It turned into something akin to a snore as the beast let out a puff of air from its nostrils and just went limp.
"Ahh!" Caius cried because the beast going limp meant it landed on him.
Sure, it wasn't as painful as it would have been had the Bullcroc done as it wanted to and slammed him down on purpose, but it still hurt.
Also, the Trait Acquisition Potion finally ran out so Caius didn't even have the strength to push the beast off of him. Ordinarily, he might have even been able to muster the strength to drag himself from under the weight but he was feeling far too exhausted.
The Trait Acquisition had lasted basically as long as Caius had estimated it would. Which meant that, despite how long this battle might have seemed with so many different moving pieces, it had been less than a ten-minute duration in its entirety.
A lot had happened in that short amount of time.
Caius just let his head hit the grass and let out a breath of relief. He had acquired some very important data from this exercise. He had to work even better on the Trait Acquisition Potion. What they would have to face during the Mud-Semester Test was sure to put the Bullcroc to shame magically and physically while also not having any of the restraint the Bullcroc had when dealing with the students that it believed were weaker than it was.
The air shimmered and Eloise appeared then with a tentative smile on her face as she looked at Caius trapped under the Bullcroc.
"Did I—Did I do it?" She asked.
Caius turned his head to look at her and smiled as he nodded.
"Yes," he said and patted the side of the Bullcroc's slumbering body to show it could no longer stir as he added,
"Yeah, you did it."
"Ha!" Eloise laughed as her tentative smile became a wider one of accomplishment. Probably the first time she had won a combative situation and felt this… proud of it.
So proud she almost forgot to be pissed that she even needed to play an active role at all because Lea Gilligan set up the exercise that way.
Almost.