The clash of the deer anima's metal antlers and the Petra Scorpion's stony claw resounded like thunder across the red mountain slope. The earth under their hooves and spidery legs cracked as they dug deeper to hold their ground as metal continued to clash against earth, a fierce battle between the elements. But Oscar's deer anima retreated to Oscar's side because it alone was not enough to overcome this Elite Exalt Beast.

Oscar patted and stroked his deer anima's head. The metal antlers on top were not cracked but worn down, very telling of the scorpion's tough exterior. The deer anima had received a big upgrade from Oscar's advancement, but it was only a piece of Oscar's full power.

"Any longer, and your antlers would have cracked." Oscar focused his Ein to recover his deer anima's antlers back to pristine condition. His deer anima grunted in response to his statement.

"Don't worry; I wanted to test how hard your antlers were. The Redback Ape was tough but did not have an impressive defense like this scorpion." Oscar canceled his deer anima's manifestation and charged ahead alone, intent on using this battle to get more experience.

The Petra Scorpion rattled its multiple black teeth in response to Oscar. Like terrifying pairs of scissors, massive pincers sliced and cut their way across to Oscar, carving out and upheaving the red ground. The destruction came upon Oscar like a devastating storm.

'Prinstyct'

Oscar's third eye glowed, causing the world around him to distort, but the scorpion's movements were static and obscured by its eidolon. He had to go deeper, Oscar told himself as he dodged and blocked the onslaught of the pincers. The memories of when he fought against his master, Draven, came into his mind.

A battle between Prinstycts was to be the one who read deeper and caught the intent faster. Going against an eidolon was no different. Oscar continued to stay passive against the Petra Scorpion to improve his Prinstyct to pierce through the veil of the eidolon.

However, his hand would be forced as something tore past his guard.

"Bastard." Oscar felt a slight pain in his shoulder as blood trickled out. "Those pincers are unusual." He was sure he had blocked that attack, but something damaged his shoulder.

"What is it doing?" Oscar kept a close eye on the scorpion's attacks and bided his time until the creature used its surprise attack again. When his buckler deflected its pincer, a sharp piece of its rocky shell shot out like a dart toward his leg.

'Edureisclad'

The dart barely pierced through his skin, unable to overcome Oscar's defense, only managing a trickle of blood like a nosebleed. Oscar retreated with the stone dart before the other pincer closed on him. This stone dart was the cause of his shoulder injury; it was made of the hardened shell of rock, husk, and Ein that encased the scorpion.

Oscar canceled his Prinstyct to get a clear look at the Petra Scorpion, noticing a small groove on its pincer that was slowly being filled in to return to its initial condition. This groove must have been where the stone dart was created and shot out, but the supply wasn't unlimited.

"If my Prinstyct were good enough, it would see through the intent of shooting out the stone dart." Oscar clenched the dart in his hands, shattering it into pieces. "But that's the wrong line of thinking."

His master, Draven, had fiercely beaten into him that the Prinstyct wasn't everything and that even if someone had a stronger Prinstcyt, they would still lose to a superior fighter. Oscar looked over his fist, recalling how even after overcoming Draven's Prinstyct, he could not overcome his master's defense.

"I've been too reliant on the Prinstcyt. It helped in overcoming the Inner Hall Promotion Exam and Charles, but in the end, this is a battle." Oscar summoned his deer anima, who was glad to be out again. "There's no point in the Prinstyct if my body can't get the job done."

As Oscar decided to fight head-on, a swift attack made its way toward him. The scorpion gave him no leeway, but Oscar dodged in time, his eyes locked on the larger stinger embedded into the red ground.

"That's a horrifying poison." Oscar saw the red ground around the stinger boil and turn purple, becoming a slimy mess like jelly. "If I get hit by that, it'll melt me to the bone."

'Steel Drill'

'Dual Awaken'

'Shattering Wave'

'Metal Antlers'

His 'Steel Drill' pointed between the metal antlers as he rode on the deer anima's back like a knight in a joust, but his time, he brought his buckler up to rest the drill on it. His eyes stared straight and true toward its target, the left pincer. The Ein resonated from his spell to the antlers to the buckler, almost as if they were fusing into a single devastating blow.

The antlers made way first, holding its target in place as the 'Steel Drill' pierced as deeply as possible and quaked the insides with 'Shattering Wave'. Finally came the last piece, the buckler that followed up under the 'Steel Drill' onto the cracks it created. Oscar coughed blood from the exertion needed during 'Dual Awaken' to perform the quad-pronged technique.

His heart beat fast, and his mind was shaking, but the results were undeniable before his eyes. The cracks spread all over the pincer before the shell shattered, exposing a soft pale flesh beneath.

"Retreat," Oscar ordered his deer anima. It picked up its pace before the scorpion could retaliate. "That last attack was amazing but hurts bad." Oscar clutched his heart, and the erratic beating made his blood feel cold.

He performed the tri-pronged attack of the 'Steel Drill', 'Shattering Wave', and antlers against Charles as a Greater Apprentice Exalt. As an Elite Exalt, Oscar felt he could handle adding more to the combination by using his buckler as the nail in the coffin by applying powerful blunt force. However, even though the spells and Ein were fine, the overuse of Reis overwhelmed his heart more than usual.

"I'm outputting too much." Oscar calmed his breathing. "Let's try half the input of Reis."

Together the duo charged in once again. The scorpion was more hesitant this time and stabbed its stinger multiple times so fast it almost appeared like it had eight of them.

Under the barrage of poisoned stingers, with the ground becoming a purple swamp around them, Oscar and his deer anima leaped up, the two suns shining behind them, illuminating them like a heroic knight, but it was just a man on a deer.

'Quad-pronged Attack'

Oscar landed like a meteor on the scorpion's craggily back, letting loose the power of his combination strike, but with half of his usual Reis. The collision was fierce as cracks appeared all over the scorpion, and it fell on its stomach to the ground, but the shell did not shatter this time.

Inconceivable!

The Petra Scorpion was in disbelief at the strength this little ant had, and the hard shell and pincers it was proud of were broken. Its pride had been damaged, and it retaliated in a fit of rage, releasing a black gooey substance that enveloped its entire body, even the exposed flesh of the pincer.

Hiss

Aghast, Oscar saw the black liquid start to corrode his 'Steel Drill', like hot magma, melting it down. A surge of pain rushed into his core as the same occurred for the hard metal hooves of his deer anima, which bleated in pain.

"Damned scorpion." Oscar leaped off the scorpion and unsummoned his deer anima before it suffered more damage. Right as he did, a shadow fell upon him. Looking up, he saw the stinger stab accurately toward him in the air; it was also coated in the black liquid.

"My buckler is only a grade one armament. Can it handle this poison?" Although ripe with misgivings, his arms lifted the buckler, which burned with Ein across its surface and Reis to support it. The sharp stinger was not deterred by the buckler and started to melt it.

Before the black goo could spread onto his arms, Oscar tossed the buckler away and retreated safely to the red ground. His expression was grave as he watched the buckler start to melt, leaving behind the tough thread made of Thousand Serpent sinew.

"That buckler was made with my master's finishing touch." Oscar felt his eyes heating up, not from sadness or longing but from unbridled fury. He heard the clattering of teeth coming from the Petra Scorpion. Was it laughing at him? Oscar walked with heavy steps and laughed coldly. "You're on your last leg, so just die already."

Although Oscar put on a tough display, he was frustrated at the current situation. The sudden appearance of the black goo was bad enough, but his Ein was not in good shape either. The power of an Elite Exalt was like a wild horse that he had yet to tame, so each spell, despite his best efforts with 'Ein Awaken', wasted too much Ein.

"What's the best course of action with how I am right now?" In his cold rage, Oscar pondered as the scorpion, covered in black goo, approached, intent on finishing Oscar off for good.