Pivot of the Sky
Chapter 26.1: A Bone (Part 1)

Lynk held the Terroculus in his left hand and waved his bone staff with his right hand, mumbling and shaking his head elatedly . In fact, it was impossible for him to use two magic media at the same time . He was just using the Terroculus, which sufficed just as well . It was simply a long lasting habit to wave the bone as a symbol of the headman .

The quiet water near the cave started to spin, forming a whirling vortex . As the vortex grew, the water became heavier and heavier, hammering the rocks on the shore . It was a [mudding magic], a kind of water magic . Any living thing hiding in the pool would not be able to withstand this stirring .

As an answer, a howl arose from the water near the cliff . Four big ugly heads emerged from the water . Enormous bloody maws gaped open, flashes of long sharp teeth were enough to show that they were ready to swallow half a man into their stomachs . One of the big heads sank back into the water after seeing Metatro, which might probably have been the one whose claw was cut off last time .

Metatro was on full alert with sword in hand . Suddenly, a long huge gilded whip slipped out of the water near the shore, silently swinging towards Metatro and Lynk .

It was an Ironback’s tail, thinner and longer than the big ones’ . It was glossy, black with golden dots . It was swift, and came without the slightest warning, curving around Metatro and hitting towards Lynk with the tip .

Lynk was about to be cleaved in two when Metatro swing the sword upwards with a loud shout . The sword glowed as an invisible force seemed to capture the tail, paralyzing it in preparation to be cut .

He was using magic along with his martial skills, making it much more powerful . The sword did not directly hit the tail, but with a loud clank, the shine stopped the tail . The pressure from the tail was so enormous that Metatro’s boots sank into the mud . There was also an earth magic effect on the tail that made it heavier .

However, a tail was not a sword . Metatro stopped the middle part from descending, but the tipof the tail was still whistling towards Lynk . But Lynk also reacted rapidly . He performed an earth magic on the tail, trying to slow it down . However, since the heavy tail, which should belong to the king, was alreading descending, the earth magic didn’t produce much effect .

There was no time for him to hide, so Lynk was summoning all his potential to build a shield . A cloud of dust and mud was summoned over his head, but immediately smashed to pieces by the tail along with a brown light . The end of the tail crashed down on his wrist . With a coarse sound, Lynk’s forearm snapped, the Terroculus flying out to the cliff . Metatro had gained him a moment to lean back a bit, otherwise his head would have been blown up .

At the same time they heard Amon shout, “Run!!!”

Along with a series of clacks, a huge beast broke the water’s surface and leaped towards the two, but an ice wave from the shore froze it .

It was the king Ironback . Slightly smaller but much slimmer than the big ones, it had an unproportionally long tail, about two-thirds of its body length . Its glossy black shell was covered with golden spots .

Amon had felt it when it was about to ambush the two from under the water . He had sensed a disturbance of earth elements around the pool . So at least one of the Ironbacks knew how to use earth magic to detect the intruders on the bank . Amon had used similar skills to sense and find Maqi .

The king Ironback was smarter than they had thought, knowing to make a detour and attack the caster directly . Now it had scored!

Lynk had made a mistake to use earth magic against the king Ironback . The latter was also good at earth magic, with far more magic power than him . So Lynk’s magic had had little effect . Amon had realized that Lynk’s information was wrong the moment he saw the strength and speed of the king Ironback’s sweeping tail .

The king Ironback was significantly stronger than Metatro . It was even stronger than an advanced warrior and far more proficient in earth magic . Even the two combined could hardly encounter it . It was no surprise that it could break Lynk’s arm in a single ambush . In order to save their lives, Amon also tried his best to summon a wave to freeze the king Ironback, before it jumped on them .

The king Ironback struggled, shredding the ice as it did so . Knowing that the situation was bad, Metatro spun, grabbing Lynk and sprinting towards the woods . The speed of a fleeing fourth-level warrior was remarkable, even while lifting a man, when it was a matter of life and death . Amon’s magic was crucial to snatch them the time to get into the woods . But the king Ironback went right after them .

The bits of ice transformed into crystal blades, shooting at the king Ironback’s eyes along with a gust of wind . The king was forced to close its eyes . The blades caused no damage to its rough scale shell, just causing it to pause for a second before it continued charging towards the two . When it was about to step into the woods, a wall of flame appeared at the edge of the woods, burning up two fallen trees .

This was not Amon’s magic . Metatro had cut down two trees when they went into the woods, and Lynk managed to perform a fire magic with his good hand . This time the flame was even stronger than the one that had burned his house . The two fallen trees were burned into embers in next to no time . But he had also used up his magic force .

The king Ironback was completely blocked by the burning trees . It roared angrily, took a few steps back, ran and jumped . Using its long tail, it managed to vault clean across the flames . But the moment it landed, the moist mud under its feet turned into a marsh . Most of its huge body sank into the slurry . Then the marsh turned to a tough earth wall, burying its head and forepaws under the ground .

It was Amon who had performed this earth magic . He had no better means to stop the king Ironback . The king in the soil roared again, a vague layer of yellow light appearing on its shell . It struggled, managing to pull itself from the trap by breaking apart the solid earth . Without pausing, it shot towards the distant two, its tail inscribing a long arc in the thin air as it vanished into the thick woods .

Amon had performed three magics to block the king, trying to steal enough time for Metatro and Lynk . Now he could only wish them good luck, since he was now in trouble too . Right after the king disappeared into the woods, the strongest of the big ones climbed up the cliff and pounced at him with a gaping maw, showing sharp teeth . Amon was no taller than an adult dwarf, holding a rod which appeared less dangerous than the sword . But this big one received a serious rebuff from this seemingly defenceless figure .

The “rod” in Amon’s hand was made of refined iron . It was much heavier than a sword when used as a melee weapon, which was perfect to fight against heavily armored beasts such as Ironbacks . Amon struck the beast on its shoulder using all his strength, raising a gale to blow it off the cliff .

The staff struck the beast with an incredible force, which most warriors and mages in the continent couldn’t withstand, let alone an Ironback . Amon blew it off the cliff in a single blow . The Ironback fell into the pool, impacting hard on the surface . Indeed, cracks had appeared on the surface of the pool .

Why cracks? Because the area near the mouth of the cave was frozen into thick ice . The surface was skewed, since Amon had frozen it along with the wave to block the king . The ice extended into the cave, creating a solid path from shore .

The Terroculus that had been swept away dropped onto the icy surface and had rolled into the cave . Amon had to get it back since the messages from Crazy’Ole were all sealed in it . So he had driven a lot of magic force to freeze the whole area in order to prevent it from sinking into the water .

Even the falling Ironback did not break the ice . With another loud crunch, a second big one fell on the first . Finding that the two passed out below in a mess, the third Ironback stopped climbing and turned around towards the cave . The last one that had lost a claw did not attempt to climb at all .

Amon was able to bring the two down because he had occupied a superior position and performed magic smartly . He shouted and waved the staff again, sending a biting cold fog towards the four big ones . Shocked by Amon’s magic, they turned around and fled into the woods as well, abandoning the cave .

Amon had accumulated more magic force than Lynk . He also performed with a stronger staff . Most importantly, he used the right magic to counteract them . Amon knew the Ironbacks . Normally hibernating during winter, the cold would slow down their reactions and movements, awakening their instinct to fall asleep . The big ones were stronger than ordinary Ironbacks, but the instinct remained the same . They were subconsciously fleeing from the cold .

Amon did not dare go down the cliff to search for the Terroculus . He didn’t know whether the big ones had gone far enough into the woods . It would not be fun to be cornered below the cliff . Moreover, the king might be back at any moment . No one would be standing on the cliff saving him this time .

He suddenly reminded himself that he had an accomplice in his bag . Schrodinger was evidently clever enough to understand his questions . So he patted the bag and cried, “Schrodinger! Go down and take the Terroculus back! I’ll protect you!……Don’t make me throw you down!”

A furry ball flashed out of the bag and swiftly ran down the cliff, moving far more deftly than the Ironbacks . It disappeared below the cliff for a while, and then ran back with an ashy rod in its mouth .

Amon shouted in fury, “I said the Terroculus! The black stone! Not this bone!”