The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

"KYUUUUUUU!"

These Exalt Beasts' cries were familiar to Oscar; he had heard them many times from George Harper's Sapphire Hedgehog. These projectiles flying by were certainly the creatures' quills. With a grim face, Oscar dodged and blocked any incoming quills, but they came from all directions, even from below.

'These quills wouldn't be an issue if I could see where the hedgehogs are. But this white mist provides the perfect cover.' His victory against George during the first Grand Gathering was partly due to knowing the position of the Sapphire Hedgehog to know where its quills came from. But he had no luxury of sight here. While Oscar was pondering, some quills made it past his defense to stab into him, but his 'Steel Scales' activated just in the nick of time.

He quickly unsummoned his deer anima to prevent it from being hurt.

Then a message rang across the cavern. "You cannot retrieve the Frost Orb until you've defeated the enemy beasts. Do not bother trying to take it without completing the task."

"Tch!" Oscar and Mary became irritated at the intrusive message. But they could not continue being irritated as the rain of quills continued.

The icy quills bounced off Oscar, who looked like a steel statue; his eyes turned to Mary, who was using her bear anima as a cover. Her bear anima was a perfect counter to the quills with its large swipes and sturdy defenses.

"Mary, these hedgehogs won't let up until they've exhausted their quills. We have to wait for the moment they recover to start moving." Oscar shouted under the flurry of quills.

"Got it," Mary responded while she stayed under her bear anima, using it like an umbrella. Then a sudden series of clinking sounds caught her attention, and she stared in disbelief. An icy quill shot straight toward her face, and Mary bit down, clenching it between her teeth to stop it; she said through her teeth, "What the hell?"

Oscar also noticed a bunch of quills had made their way to him, shooting straight up from below. Luckily, the 'Steel Scales' held strong and shattered the icy quills, scattering the pieces over the floor. Oscar remained unmoving with the effects of his spell, but his lips turned to a frown.

The mechanism behind the strange angles of the icy quills made itself known by the earlier trick. Oscar relayed to Mary, "They're bouncing the quills off the pillars and walls. These quills are light and supple enough to not break against the ice."

"So you're saying this is their ideal hunting ground?" Mary said while she swung her spear low. "That means we can't even find them by reading the trajectory."

Right as Mary finished speaking, the downpour of quills suddenly stopped. All around them were the shattered pieces of icy quills like a trash heap. Oscar canceled his spell and sprinted to help Mary up; his face had beads of sweat from enduring the entire time.

He noticed her hands were red with slight blood from scraps on her palm—the result of gripping her spear too hard for too long. Within an instant, Oscar took out a bandage from his bag and gave it to Mary. "Bandage your hand. It will also provide a better grip."

Mary graciously took the bandage and tended to her scraped palms. Her eyes kept to Oscar's pondering face, knowing he was formulating a plan. In their small partnership, Oscar was the one who had taken charge of their movement and plans. "You already have something in mind? We can't just endure the porcupines' barrage forever."

"Their attack lasted for a total of five minutes. Their number is unknown, but as we pick them off one by one, we'll eventually reach a point when no quills are thrown." Oscar put bandages on his hands as well as a precaution.

"Five minutes…." Mary gripped her spear with her newly bandaged hands. It would have felt comfortable if not for the current situation. "Are we staying idle to figure out exactly how long their recovery is?"

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"My friend's hedgehog took a few hours to recover fully. I'm willing to wait that long in exchange for valid information. We're right by an icy pillar, which nullifies one angle of attack. Put our backs to the pillar and defend the other directions. " Oscar looked around, seeing nothing but the white mist. "Rather than moving around with no idea when the attacks would start again and be caught in an awkward position like before, we can relax here."

Mary didn't respond but tapped her fingers on her spear in thought. After a brief period of deliberation, Mary nodded in agreement. "You're right. There's no blue frost here, which means we can stay for a long time. Besides, the Frost Orb isn't moving anything soon."

She slid on the ice toward the pillar and relaxed her back on it with a serene look. The anxiety and tension from earlier disappeared like a puff of smoke. She tapped the ice beside her to signal Oscar to sit.

Oscar sat beside her and rested his head on the cool pillar. He cracked his wrists. "The only problem is how we can find the hedgehogs. If we can find one, that would be a great start."

"There is one way." Mary's brown eyes brightened, and her round cheeks uplifted as an idea sprouted in her mind. "Remember how my thunder spell parted the white fog around where it went through?"

"I do. The white fog didn't disperse as well under my attacks." Oscar recalled his attempts only slightly lessening the deep white color of the fog rather than parting it. His eyes also brightened with the enlightenment of Mary's idea. "Are you suggesting we throw your spear?"

"You told me your buckler has a tough string in it. Tie it to the spear, and I'll throw it while applying my spell. I'll use more output so the white mist will disperse more around it. With any luck, we'll see a hedgehog." Mary finished her explanation as Oscar listened with admiration.

"That's a good plan. Let's wait after the next assault ends. For now, we have to recover our Ein and enter our best condition." Oscar smiled and closed his eyes to meditate. Although it was a plan reliant on luck, it was still the best plan in their current means.

Mary smiled back and also meditated.

Finally, five minutes after the last quill attack, the sounds of projectiles flying in the air resumed. Oscar and Mary stuck side by side with spear and buckler to deter the incoming storm. Within their vision, many icy quills appeared from all over.

The constant barrage of icy quills had begun. Oscar moved his buckler with minimal movements to cover for him and Mary while she did the same with her spear.

Oscar's attention stayed on high alert as the icy quills continued to pour from many angles, but he wasn't overdrawn. Draven's spartan training had steeled his mind further to not lose out in a mental war of persistence and calm. But the other cause for his alert was in the case of a larger attack.

George's Sapphire Hedgehog possessed the ability to produce a single quill, longer and deadlier than the norm. The situation would be drastically different if it came to that. Oscar hoped it wouldn't, but when had anything ever gone the way it should?

"Four minutes," Oscar called out.

Mary nodded while her spear tore through the air, destroying the icy quills. Her brown hair swayed around wildly as the last minute ticked down.

The quills stopped at the five-minute mark, and the crater returned to its peaceful atmosphere in the icy cavern. Oscar tossed his buckler to Mary. She took the string from the buckler and tied it to the end of her spear.

"We have five minutes to attack. Throw your spear for two minutes, then use three minutes to recover your Ein before the attacks resume." Oscar worried about Mary's Ein usage, but her 'Lightning Edge' was necessary for this tactic.

Mary noticed Oscar's worry plastered on his face, and she cheekily smiled. "Don't worry about me. I am a member of the Jones Family; this is nothing to me. Just focus on yourself, and don't miss your timing."

Her left arm wore Oscar's buckler while her right held the spear horizontally. She buckled her legs and drew her arm back; her current figure resembled that of a bow at the ready.

A rush of Ein, more than usual, turned into lightning on the spear's tip, crackling and burning furiously so that the spear's sharp tip wasn't visible behind the lightning veil. Her eyes widened as her pupils shrank with immense focus; her hand gripped tight until she finally let loose.

The spear flew like a missile with lightning zapping the white mist ahead, causing it to part a short distance away from it. However, it hit an icy pillar with a loud shockwave.

Mary cursed and brought the spear back using Oscar's string. She repeated the process several times. The two minutes Oscar set for her were almost up, and she was breathing heavily with a red face.

With a final throw, Mary relaxed her shoulders, expecting nothing. However, Oscar and Mary caught a glimpse of a spiky figure that shuffled away from her spear's lightning.

Oscar rushed out with all his might before Mary could say anything. He went down the path the spear had carved ahead and turned to the direction of their hunt.

"KYUU!"

"There you are, you prickly bastard!"

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