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Chapter 22: Ike's Test
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The Black Hellblade Chapter 23: The Novice Exams
Maritza grinned and commented, "The Novice exams begin in several minutes, and here you all are, training up to the last second."Green and black Essence glittered around Ronan and Ike, filling up the progress bars beneath their Marks of the Butterfly. A second tally etched its way onto Ike's shoulder, and the ink emblazoned on Ronan's forearm indicated that he was close to reaching his third Rank."Nice work!" Ronan exclaimed, giving Ike a hug and slapping him on the back. "The very same to you," Ike said. His muttonchops were so long they seemed as though they were straight out of an oil-painting of an old and wealthy noble. Ike bounced up and down on his freshly healed leg, shadow-boxed the air for a few punches, but then lost his balance and nearly tripped over his own two feet.Thankfully, Ronan was there to catch him by the cuff of his shirt. "Easy, friend," Ronan chuckled. "Save your energy for the exams.""He'll surely need it," Maritza said, setting her arms behind her
The Black Hellblade Chapter 24: Unleashed Beasts
Ronan's Mark of the Butterfly glowed white, and he jumped twenty feet in the air to the right. Even though he moved fast, the hairs on his arm were scorched away by the dragon's fire. Fireballs smashed into the ground where he had been, setting the ground aflame in a warm blaze. The fires grew so large they were like a wall, and they separated Ronan from Clove and Ike, who had also only narrowly dodged the dragon's attack. "Are you alright?" Clove shouted out over the crackling flames. The dragon lifted its gray nose before getting too close to the fire, then flapped its wings upwards and headed back to the sky. Smoke gushed from its nostrils as it angrily roared. "I'm okay!" Ronan shouted. "We're alright too!" Ike exclaimed. The edge of one of his long muttonchop sideburns was cindering, and Clove patted it out for him. She held his face in her hand for a moment, and Ike felt empowered. Ronan got as close to the fire as he could and explained, "The dragon is missing his left
The Black Hellblade Chapter 25: Moonlit Festivities
The celebration was epic. Clove and Ike were escorted by Elders to a private bathhouse deep inside the temple, where the two scrubbed off the thick amounts of dragon's blood from under their skin and nails. They were brought sparkling wine by the bottles, and heaps of expensive, exquisite food. Once they were clean, the two feasted in a natural hot spring outside the temple by a lush garden. Ike dangled a grape bundle over Clove's mouth, and she nibbled one grape for each of Ike's questions about herself that she answered. With the warm, refreshing waters of the hot springs around them, Clove and Ike discovered through their elated conversations that they both viewed the world quite similarly. Both wanted to use their new position as Novice to help those who had succumbed to inner-weakness, just as they had once before. If the perception of the Butterfly Nightblades were arrogant, pretentious aristocrats who hid away treasures in a big temple, then they agreed to prove themselves
The Black Hellblade Chapter 26: Trust and Love
Ronan was ushered away from Maritza the second he stepped through the door. Clove and Ike, both well into their cups, each grabbed Ronan by one of his hands and led him to a feasting table. He enjoyed a goblet of fine red wine along with a heaping plate of roasted steak and potatoes.As he bantered with drunken Trainees too intoxicated to hold a proper conversation, he exchanged the occasional glance with Maritza, who was seated at a large table overlooking the banquet. She was seated beside Lord Wallace and his slicked back black hair and cold, smug face, along with several Elders in hooded, purple cloaks. Kneeling before the table of Masters was Alfred with his hand over his chest. The leather strap securing Alfred's white mask to the back of his head slid up and down as he spoke. Whatever he was saying was making Maritza's lips curl in disgust. "Don't look so grim," Ike slurred with a laugh. He wrapped his arm around Ronan, and Ronan caught him before he toppled to the floor. F
The Black Hellblade Chapter 27: A Hero's Welcome
Ronan took a hearty sip of coffee, nudged his head towards the map, then said, "If I'm not mistaken, Farrier had mentioned that this was a Norovir?"Maritza's eyes were a little less bloodshot after a few bites of fried eggs, and she said, "Yes. That's right. I've forgotten that you're as well-educated as you are keen."Ronan couldn't conceal his grin, though he wanted to remain professional. "Norovirs," he said, sliding down on the bench and getting closer to Maritza, "are blue lizard looking monsters with two long, five-fingered hands and the tail of a fat snake."Martiza wiped her mouth with a napkin and unfolded a torn page from an old tome. The monster inked beneath the page's old, scriptive text depicted a creature just as Ronan had described. Ronan scarfed down his breakfast while Maritza continued her briefing. "It would seem," she said, pointing to a series of four wells spread closely together through the several city streets on the map, "that the Norovir is travelin
The Black Hellblade Chapter 28: The Well Mission
"On guard!" Maritza shouted. The second giant, blue clawed hand emerged from the well, destroying its entire basin. More murky water gushed out of the well's hole, and the two monstrous hands pressed against the ground to lift up a massive, reptilian body. On the body's stubby end was a reptilian mouth covered in dirty lapis scales, and a pair of unblinking, sludgy green eyes stared wildly at Maritza and Ronan. "This is unlike any Norovir I've ever read about," Ronan remarked, shifting his feet on the low stone wall. Already, the toxins in the brown water were beginning to sizzle the rocks away. He could only wonder what such a terrible substance would do to his skin. "It's triple the size of Norovirs I've defeated in the past," Maritza said. "It must be Corrupted by The Hellsworn."Confirming her suspicions, the Norovir's serpentine mouth slid into an open smirk, revealing a set of unnatural black fangs. The fangs gleamed, and drops of purple poison fell into the disgusting w
The Black Hellblade Chapter 29: Hellsworn Power
With The Shroud strengthening him, Ronan flipped backwards into the air. He avoided the Norovir's slash against the upper ledge of the building, and big stones of debris crashed into the murky water beside the Norovir's wriggling blue tail. While in the air, smoke steamed from Ronan's Mark of the Butterfly as he spun his body to avoid another jet of poisonous water from the Norovir's mouth. When Ronan landed safely at the other edge of the building, he saw the people of Augustate hurrying to their own roofs, escaping the ever-rising levels of poisonous water through shouts and screams. Ronan's grip on his sword tightened. In a final passing glance, he saw a poor family of five trembling in filthy tunics on the roof of their house. They sobbed for the few belongings they had that had been lost to the acid water. Even if Ronan defeated the Norovir, what would be left for these people? The Norovir hissed a large red tongue through its black fangs, and Ronan knew he couldn't weigh
The Black Hellblade Chapter 30: The Chopping Block
Ronan was forced roughly to his feet by the two hooded men. Ronan scoffed and asked, "Surely this is some mistake."Lord Wallace raised his nose to the air."There is no mistake," he declared, "that from the moment you arrived at the temple, horrific monsters followed with you."Maritza headbutted Wallace in his pompous nose, and he recoiled both hands to his face."Ronan has nothing to do with the Hellsworn," she shouted. Wallace's blood dripped from the edges of her blonde bangs and onto her forehead. Wallace shuddered, collected himself, then wheezed, "Seize her! Tie her slanderous mouth shut if you need to."Ronan wrestled with the hooded figures, but one stuck a scythe to his neck while the other approached Maritza with a bundle of rope."You can't silence me," Maritza yelled with a scowl. "I'm a Master. I outrank you, Wallace! You'll be killed for this."Ronan's forearm panged with heat, and he wondered if he might be able to burn the ropes off his wrist. "Not yet,"
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