The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

What were they? Oscar's eyes slowly widened, and he sent out a flare, engulfing them in bright flames that drove away the darkness and lit up the corridor. Part of him wished he had never come here. The foul creatures seemed undisturbed by the fires, steam hissing from the drool leaking out of their mouths. The heads looked like an odd fusion of a wolf and a human. One ear was a human's ear, whilst the other was long and furred like a wolf's. Fangs extended from their lips, but rows of human-like teeth showed in between, and their faces had splotches of deep gray fur while the other spots held bare skin.

Their bodies of fur and skin, claw and hand, claw and feet, stepped forward, not a single burn on any strand of fur. Parts of their limbs were larger, and others were skinny, much like a person's. Their mouths parted, showing off two tongues, one round and short and another flat and long. They howled and wailed, two voices combining into a discord of primal cries, the wolf's beastly roar intertwining with the lamentations of a human whimper. Oscar nearly retched, disgusted by the horrific hybrids wandering closer.

One suddenly blurred ahead, crossing the great distance in a single leap from its malformed legs, its nails and claws digging into the stone. The large bear-like claw scraped on his shield, the sheer weight behind its single blow almost forcing Oscar off his feet, but he held on and stomped ahead, thrusting a fiery Golden Drill. He sought to end the creature's suffering, unable to bear hearing the wailing behind each howl, the screams of the tortured soul within. Shocked, he found his Golden Drill could not reach further, gripped by the hybrid's claw and hand, its palms sizzling from the scalding heat on the gold.

Oscar gritted his teeth and unleashed a Shattering Wave, flames erupting forth. The creature lost its grip and was blown away, but shockingly, it glared back with a drooling smile, its disgusting body still holding its shape as cuts and tears formed along its flesh, bleeding black globs of slimy blood, a foul stench of putrid rot filling up the corridor.

"I didn't expect their experiments to have reached this much progress. They're far tougher and stronger than the human and beast they came from." Sirsi, likewise, fought her own and kicked it back with a torrential Shattering Wave, the waters similarly cutting all over the hybrid's flesh, but no significant damage to its life. To his right, Erden engulfed his foe in a ball of pulsing white fire, so condensed, nothing should remain in its path. But the wolf-human hybrid merely retreated, ignoring the charred state of its body, the red eyes fixated on them.

"Your New Dawn deserves to die. How many people have you sacrificed to reach this so-called progress? What are they?" Oscar asked as the hybrids spread out, the corridor more than wide enough for them to attack from many angles. He solidified his stance and walked forward slowly with the shield in front.

"These are failed experiments for creating lycans, proto-lycans. They attempted to fuse wolf-type Exalt Beasts with humans of wolf-type animas since they had inherent compatibility. These things are the result of that. I'm shocked that they're so resilient. Their blows are quite heavy as well." Sirsi expressed her shock and matched paces with Oscar, standing side-by-side, keeping a slight distance. "It's not a use of Reis, so your strange technique won't work. They're simply fast, strong, and tough. Letting these loose in a fort might bring it down."

The proto-lycans howled and wailed, dropping to the floor in a quadrupedal stance, dark Ein gathering into their claws, hands, and feet as cracks formed in the ground under the weight of their grip, spreading wildly around them. The flames burst away and flickered out of existence, and the winds rushed behind Oscar. A wall of proto-lycans descended on them, a mass of ravenous fangs and grotesque, black-bloodied flesh about a foot away.

Oscar had already prepared for a sudden, quick attack, but Sirsi moved first, her gauntlets already enlarged with a sapphire coating, tiny maelstroms swirling on the knuckles. Her left hand punched out, and the maelstroms on her knuckles churned, releasing a great amount of water that collected into a wall between them and the proto-lycans. It did not behave like liquid water. The proto-lycans delved into her barrier, which rippled as the water contorted and stretched but did not let the proto-lycans through. Rather than water, Oscar felt it was similar to honey or jelly.

As the water contracted, the proto-lycans slipped to the sides, rolling through the water's surface until they ejected to the other end of the corridor behind Oscar, crashing into the walls, banging their bodies around, yet not a scratch on the sturdy walls. Sirsi exhaled deeply, a bead of sweat dripping on her forehead, clearly tired from the exertion. However, her powers merely redirected the proto-lycans away, and they slumped up, shaking their heads until their feet settled down. These hybrids possessed a toughness beyond any Oscar encountered.

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"I only redirected their attacks. My left hand can impart softness and slipperiness to my water spells. It's good for defending, especially with Vis empowerment, but your strange technique from when we fought nearly broke past it. Geez, I never suffered so badly when using my Meld until that time. It hurt my pride, you know, so take responsibility." Sirsi still had the energy to joke around. Still, the information he obtained was crucial. He suspected she was hiding more abilities, but he could only wait for the opportune time.

The proto-lycans leaped forward again. Oscar noticed the sluggish movements, their speed being fast yet discernably slower than before. Did they not feel pain? Erden spread his antlers around, bombarding the proto-lycans with blasts of flames blooming like flowers from every branch of his antlers. Oscar stepped forward and focused the Eirin and the flames to a fine point, driving the Golden Drill into one of them. Even with a burning drill in its stomach, the proto-lycan swung its mighty claw, and Oscar bore the entire weight of its blow, his head shaking, but his mind remained clear.

"Wawawa…wa…wa." The proto-lycan's red eyes dimmed, and its body hung limply on his drill. The two-tongued voice began to shift, the howling of the beast lessening to nothing as the human voice whimpered loudly and cried a baby's cry. Wiping the black, slimy blood from his face, Oscar retracted his hand, a sullen look on his depressed face. Dark lines crossed his brow. His heart thumped loudly, heat welling from his chest to the fingers, and he almost made a beastly growl behind his clenched teeth.

"Bastards…you bastards…." Oscar snarled, turned, and stomped to the next proto-lycan, clamping his Golden Maw on it, the dragon's teeth grinding and stabbing into the flesh. He heard the maw crunching on the bones, audible cracks that shut up the proto-lycan's howl and wails as the teeth punctured the ribs and into the lungs. Enraged, Oscar massacred the rest of the proto-lycans with Sirsi's assistance, her sharp waters cutting them down limb by limb. He desired not even to see their bodies and burned the entire corridor, not letting a speck of their black blood remain.

Masking his intent in the fires, he fired a Golden Breaker aimed for Sirsi's head. She whipped her head around and sidestepped his killing blow, covering herself in soft water as the ball of gold shattered, spraying hot and sharp fragments at incredible speeds. She removed the water like a cape and shook the golden pieces off. Her sigh came soon, and she said, "Why do you feel pity for them? People die all the time. I've seen you fight. You cull your enemies down like blades of grass. You treat them as inhumanely as the researchers here."

"I have no words to say to you. Just lead the way." Oscar stood a distance away, letting her go in front. He noted the speed of her reaction and her movements. Her guard wasn't down a single bit during any moment. He couldn't let her roam free, needing every piece of information he could gleam from her. Nodding to Erden, who understood his plan, they delved deeper into the laboratory, going from door to door. Cold stone altars with bindings attached to them for test subjects were in some rooms. Others looked to be rest areas with tables and chairs, and the rest were prisons, dry blood covering the floors and cells as white scrapes of frantic scratching filled the steel walls, signs of the test subjects' agony.

More proto-lycans blocked their way. Other strange hybrids of horrific fusion of humans with winged beasts, serpents, and fish started to creep closer before flailing around in a maddened charge. Every hybrid spoke in two tongues, one of the beast and one of the human. Oscar made sure to burn each one down, leaving no traces for anyone to see in the future. It was enough for him to gaze upon the horror, no one else.

"We've wasted a lot of time. There was no need to clear out every room, but I guess that's how you are." Sirsi watched him burn away the last of the corpses before he scavenged around the tables and cabinets. "There's nothing here. They took all the research notes and documents with them before abandoning this place."

Oscar tossed aside a box, frustrated that nothing remained. The laboratory was designed in a circular form, the entrance from the cellar being the starting point until it circled back while descending to a point directly below the entrance. Light flickered, blinking in and out from the open door. Something was here. Oscar felt his skin crawl, and the air became heavy. Stepping out onto the railing, he found himself in a square room, a set of stairs leading down to the floor below.

Sirsi observed the room and said, "The control for Velfen should be somewhere in–"

A loud roar shook the railings until they fell apart. Oscar, Sirsi, and Erden floated above and landed. The room shook, and a loud stomping thud pounded in his ears. From the large prison at the side, the stomping continued until the metal bars broke apart, and a terrifying hybrid stepped through the hole it created. For the first time, Oscar saw Sirsi pale, a hint of fear shaking her eyes. It was understandable. The creature was a Greater Knight Exalt but emanated a horrifying power, but not as terrifying as its appearance.

Three heads rested on its long snake-like neck. The left head was human and crying endless tears, the right head screeched and cawed, licking its red beak with its long tongue, and the center head croaked and blinked its bulging green eyes, puffing up its slimy cheeks. The hybrid's body had the legs of a frog with the talons of an eagle, wings extended from its slime-ridden back, and two human hands extended from the feathery chest.

"What is that monstrosity?" Oscar asked.

"It doesn't matter. Fight it and kill it." Sirsi urged, her trembling voice betraying her anxiety. It seemed even she was caught off-guard by this creature.

It cried, cawed, and croaked. The three sets of eyes locked onto them, crazed, soulless, and blank, creepy smiles extending from their mouths.

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