Screeches wailed from the crystal hooves meeting the sharp talons. Erden grunted from the pain as sparks flew from his hooves. Even with the amount of Ein he poured into them, his hooves were outmatched by Ruvin's talons, a slight crack appearing on its hard surface.

Even worse, Erden felt small flakes of darkness, like worms, wriggling around in the crack, corroding it until it died out in a huff of dark smoke. His antlers fared no better, and Erden retreated from the pulsing shadows around Ruvin. Ein welled up, filling in the cracks on his antlers and hooves until they returned to their pristine, crystalline form.

Sweating already from the short exchange, Erden knew this battle would not be so easy. His Ein would waste more rapidly if he spent too much on healing himself. He calmed himself and waited for Ruvin's next strike.

None of this came as a surprise, as he already discussed the possibilities with Oscar and Avril during the past few days of training.

'As a crow, watch out for his talons, beak, wings, and feathers.' Avril's voice from his memory propped itself back up. 'Ah, well, that's the entire body anyway. Most of the birds in Oscar's creature book seemed to use everything.'

'This Ruvin will be a cut above the rest. Hons said he is the best out of their current generation of hatchlings. No doubt his talons will be sharper than your hooves can handle. The worst two aspects are his aerial advantages and elemental power.' Oscar's words from their planning session days ago came back to mind.

Ruvin flew around in the air, circling Erden at breakneck speeds, the winds picking up from the strides of his wings. A storm brewed around Erden, darkness mixing and meshing into the winds. The dark storm blocked the light from the two suns. Only Erden's shining antlers and hooves provided a semblance of a spark in this nonsense.

'Your hooves are weak. Your antlers are weak. Your bloodline is weak, unloved by the elements.' Ruvin's caws resounded from every corner of the storm. Erden narrowed his eyes, peering into the darkness. He could not find a hint of Ruvin, only more of the dark winds. Ruvin's cries came out again. 'You are not mutated either. Weak. Weak. Weak. You are weak. I wonder how you will withstand this.'

Erden ignored Ruvin's taunts. Crows were always known for their harsh and mocking tongues, and he had enough experience dealing with the same mannerisms from Tort. His sight was useless here as the darkness enveloped everything. Erden closed his eyes and focused on his hearing and sensitive skin. His ears perked up, shifting out the sounds of the shrieking winds, and his body tensed, constantly pounded by heavy winds. He waited and waited for Ruvin to strike.

His skin crawled, feeling a sharp object start to pierce into his skin. Before the attack could delve deeper to cause more damage, Erden twisted his body, rotated to kick with his back hoof, and saw a shadowy Ruvin zoom through. Gritting his teeth, Erden strained and stretched to land a soft touch on the great Yatscrow's left wing.

Blood trickled from the small wound, quickly picked up by the raging winds and lost to the darkness. Erden glimpsed at the tiny cut and used his Ein to destroy the corrosive strands of darkness, trying to burrow deeper into him through the wound. It enlarged slightly due to the lag before he could use his Ein, and more blood dripped from the cut.

Erden smiled and thanked Avril in his heart for helping him reach this step. The concepts of deflecting and moving by a hair of an attack were nothing new. Oscar had done so multiple times, but Avril far outstripped him in that field, able to slip past an onslaught of killing blows and even null some direct attacks.

He still was not yet on par with even Oscar's level of deflection, but his sensitivity as a beast helped tremendously to act at the right moments. Keeping his eyes closed, Erden waited for Ruvin's next strike. Something pricked his skin in three spots, close to each other. It seemed this time, Ruvin struck with his talon. Erden formed a mental image of Ruvin's current position and did a backflip, his eyes meeting Ruvin's. The crow was descending at incredible speed since his talon failed to get a hold of Erden. Stretching his neck out, Erden could only tap Ruvin with his antlers, trying to burn his Ein through the thick darkness shrouding this unreachable foe.

This contact lasted only for a fraction of a second before Ruvin flew back into the dark storm. Erden grunted as the darkness corroded out from the three fresh wounds before he forced it away. The storms ceaselessly churned around him, fierce caws resounding from thick obscurity.

'Is this it? All those movements and all you could muster were a few taps on my body. I praise you for slipping away from my attacks, but those wounds will keep piling, and you will succumb.' Ruvin screeched.

'You talk too much.' Erden chuckled, mocking Ruvin. 'I thought you would show me what a true beast is. So far, you just keep yapping away like a human. Come now. I'm sure the great Yatscrow is capable of more than this?'

'Hahahaha!' Cackles echoed and bounced off the winds like a thousand crows were cawing at once. 'Then keep it up. Here I come!'

…….

"Oscar! Oscar!" Avril shook Oscar's shoulder, forcing his eyes open. Erden and Ruvin were about to clash again when she knocked him out of the connection. Oscar sighed and poked her forehead, making him wince. She scrunched her eyebrows and frowned. "How is Erden doing? I can't see past that darkness. You can see everything from your connection. She pouts and feels left out, wanting to know how her friend is doing."

Smiling at her cute, pouty face, Oscar complied with her demands and answered, "He's doing well so far. Erden is using the concept of going limp and deflecting to perfection. Though, it's not as good as yours."

"Still a mystery as to how he can do that. I thought that only with Reis could a person use Flowing Mountain and the soft state." Avril looked confused.

"He's not directing Reis at all. The Reis Awaken state is unnecessary if he's not going to redirect the Reis. So with his sensitive sense of touch, he figures out and moves away from the direction of the attack. As for the soft state…he's replicating it as best as he can, but without being able to disperse the Reis of the heavy blow, he still takes damage." Oscar explained. He felt jealous of Avril for being able to use the soft state so easily, unlike him. Despite his best efforts, his body was more favorable toward the Edureisclad.

"I see. She feels relieved that the past few days weren't in vain. I wonder why Oscar is still a beginner at that." Avril stared with a taunt in her eyes, a grin curling from her lips.

"Are you looking for a fight?" Oscar crossed his arms and leaned toward her. Avril never failed to keep teasing and joking whenever possible. Looking at her tense brow despite her grin, Oscar knew she was trying to make light of the situation as she had always done.

"Ahem! So how is Erden doing right now? I wish I could see." Avril turned to watch the storms, her lips flat in seriousness.

"Hmm." Oscar closed his eyes to see and feel Erden. Instantly, he felt the aching wounds, so many covering Erden's body. It was not an exaggeration to say he would die by a thousand cuts. He lost his breath just from feeling the exhaustion Erden was enduring, like running entire marathons without end. Unable to contain himself, Oscar shouted into Erden's mind, 'Come on! Hang on just a little while longer. You got this.'

…….

Again, Erden dodged a wing slash from Ruvin and grunted from the deep pain, more painful than the previous times. Roaring, he landed another light blow on Ruvin. With the crow disappearing into the storms, Erden panted and grunted, staying on his feet. His body was bleeding all over that one might mistake him for a red deer. Erden spat out some saliva and sent his Ein into the wound. This time, the injury was deeper than before. The timing of his dodges was starting to lag behind his thoughts as his tired body couldn't keep up much longer. Only a few more, and he'll be unable to prevent a horrific wound.

'Your tenacity is admirable. Even after all of this, you still stand. But it's almost over.' Ruvin flew right by Erden, cutting into his body with sharp talons.

Erden dodged as the talons scraped out his flesh. Withstanding the pain, he reached out to hit Ruvin, again only able to land weak hits. The onslaught continued as Ruvin dove in and out of the storm, cutting and tearing at Erden, and he retaliated again with powerless attacks.

'Again. Again. Again.' Ruvin said each time he attacked. 'Is this it? You stepped too far out of your domain. What can you accomplish when all you have managed to do is ruffle my feathers? Tell me, oh Outsider Erden.' His screeches grew louder as the winds picked up.

Erden sighed and grunted. 'I can sense your disappointment. After all, as a beast, you would crave the battle of the fittest. All the taunting and mockery are just you trying to see if I can do anything. I'm sorry if I was a disappointment so far.'

'Then what? Are you able to satiate this sense of loss? My appetite cannot be satisfied by you. I'm finished here!' Ruvin cawed.

Erden turned and faced Ruvin, who came out of the clouds, smiling at the crow's shocked face with widened pale eyes. He waited so long and suffered so much for this moment! Erden stomped as much Ein into his hooves and charged. Before Ruvin could react and recover from the shock, Erden drove his antlers onto his wing, the sound of bones cracking delighting him.

'My wing!' Ruvin retreated, clutching his broken wing with his other one. He snapped his head to Erden and opened his beak wide, a flicker of emotion passing through his pale eyes. 'You only attacked my left wing. Time and time again, after each cut I gave you, you stubbornly reached out to this wing no matter how small your power was.'

'Finally realized?' Erden coughed and floated uneasily. The damage he had accumulated was immense. But he still smiled and faced Ruvin without fear. Their one-shot plan finally paved off. Now he had the chance to counterattack!