‘She… she killed him?’
Eren asked the question to himself. He wasn’t clear on that detail yet. Because various mana pulses fired off at various points on the battlefield made it impossible for anyone to keep track of everything even with their mana senses.
But with a demon spell, it was in the realm of possibility.
A demon spell was something only someone owning a demon beast would have access to. Since the demon beast and the ranker get connected on a deeper level through blood ritual, their existence as mana wielding entities becomes synchronized.
The results of taming demon beasts changed with each ranker and the demon beast itself. But there were a few things in common. Like, there was a possibility of a ranker’s mana signature getting completely attuned to their demon beasts and vice versa if they shared a deeper bond. It wouldn’t happen overnight. It might not happen at all. But once it did, it would allow the ranker and their beast to boost each other’s spells.
It meant that both the tamer and their demon beast would be able to cast the same spell at the same time. The effects of such spells would be more than their normal summation would produce.
There were other variants of the demon spells as well. But the fact that such spells required the participation of both the tamer and their demon beast remained unchanged.
‘Damn it. My Reen is so much better than this shitty crow. If there was not so much rank difference between us, every spell of both of us would have been a demon spell.’
Eren criticized Roo Roo for no reason. He also felt jealous that Altashia could team up with her familiar so openly without worrying about consequences.
The reason Altashia could cast demon spells was simple. She and her demon beast both belonged to the E-Rank. They used the same rank of mana so they could cast the spell easily.
This was not the case with Eren and Reen. She was in the C-Rank, while he stood much lower than her in terms of ranking hierarchy. Although she could technically use lower ranked mana, the synergy needed to execute demon spells wasn’t there. This was not a compatibility issue but rather the issue of not practising the execution of demon spells together.
Eren didn’t prioritize the casting of demon spells at all because he couldn’t use such spells openly like Altashia. And since Reen was a C-Rank, they didn’t need the demon spell to enhance the output of any destructive spell. Reen’s solo casting of the C-Rank mana or spell was enough to deal the maximum damage the pair could dish out to their opponents.
Technically, every spell the butcher had could have been made a demon spell because of his unparalleled compatibility with Reen. If only he had enough time and freedom, the effects he could have produced with Reen would have been much higher than any demon spells in existence.
‘No point thinking about the ‘could have beens’. We can reflect on our lives all we want by looking backwards but it can only be lived forwards. Such is life.’
Eren thought to himself and finally jumped down from the tree. Altashia had also jumped from her demon beast at the same time after getting close to the butcher. They both landed on the ground at the same time not too far away from each other. Eren and Altashia’s eyes met before the former asked the question that was bothering him.
“Did you kill him?”
Altashia smiled mirthlessly before shaking her head in denial.
“No. He escaped. That monster was too crafty. With my show of power, I forced him to run away from his tribe. Guess he calculated that fighting with me wouldn’t be in his best interests.”
Eren nodded when he heard Altashia’s response. He had to admit that this young girl was amazingly talented. A naturally gifted genius that was rarely produced. The fact that she could cast a demon spell not only spoke volumes about the bond she shared with her beast but also her inborn talent. Handling the demon spell was not as easy as it looked. It takes fine control over one’s mana and the ability to match up the outflow of mana with that of your demon beast. Otherwise, such a spell would become haywire on the battlefield long before it could hurt the enemy.
“Our job was to only take care of the orc tribe that had gotten too close to Edinburgh’s borders anyway. Our job has been accomplished more or less. Although some orc managed to survive and flee, it is unlikely that they would dare to come any closer to the border.”
Altashia nodded while walking closer to Eren. She patted the baby crow that had just landed on her shoulders before continuing.
“That’s right. Exiled orcs are likely to be accepted into other orc tribes if they are lucky. Or would get killed by the creatures of the Badlands.
It’s frustrating though. That monster would have been more useful for the army if we could have caught him alive. I played it too safe after considering his rank. I should have fought him on the battlefield.”
Altashia had the Scythe Slayer ranking technique, which set her class as a mid-range warrior. It had allowed her to make full use of her two affinities: fire and wind while ensuring the weapon arts got incorporated into her moves effectively.
Altashia was blessed with the best ranking technique for her aptitude and the most effective resources that were available in the Edinburgh kingdom. Additionally, her natural talent helped propel her forward more than any of her known peers, which were equally privileged as her if not more.
Eren wanted to say that Latashia shouldn’t take an Orc Lord lightly. That she had done a good job playing it safe by keeping her distance from the monster. But after rewinding her performance in his head and feeling her post-battle presence up close, he changed his mind and decided to keep quiet on the subject.
Just like in the case of Baran, he had not seen Altashia’s full potential as a ranker. So it was better not to comment on that subject.
