Chapter 20 The Two Adepts from Vale
Isaac took out some of the antidote leaves he received from Kraden to heal Felix from the poison he was suffering from.
Felix groaned as he opened his eyes to his childhood friend and his companion.
"Hey Isaac. You have amazing timing." Felix chuckled as he sat up. "I guess this makes us even."
"What happened to you? There is no way those Bandits did this." Isaac said
"No, it was their pet." Felix said
'So, I was right.' Isaac thought. "What can you tell us about this monster?"
"It was a Giant Toad-Lizard thing, but it looked a bit…odd. It had these black marks on its body that I don't think looked normal. But either way, it's no pushover and I sadly lost all my Djinni minus Echo when I got here. That creature has poisonous attacks that hit me and I was forced to flee. I used sand to escape and hide while I sent Echo to look for a way out. The rest you know." Felix explained
'I remember on Crossbone Isle that I fought a monster similar to it, but I don't remember it having dark lines on its body. Either way, I better find the others fast.' Isaac thought before he turned to Felix.
"Well, I'm glad you're alright." Isaac said with a small smile. "Now we need to find the others and take that thing out fast."
Felix nodded and then noticed Claude.
"Sorry, didn't see you there. My name is Felix." Felix said offering a hand
Claude took it and shook. "My name is Claude Von Riegan. I'm the house leader to the Golden Deer who is currently learning under teach here."
"Teach?" Felix asked looking at Isaac confused
"Yeah, I'm still not fully sure how it happened, but I got a teaching job at Garreg Mach Monastery." Isaac said
"Wait, seriously?" Felix asked shocked
"I'll tell you all about it later, but for now, I need to find the rest of my class before the bandits or that monster finds them." Isaac said and Felix nodded.
"By the way, why did Garreg Mach send students here?" Felix asked as the three started to run.
"We were supposed to assist a group of knights find the bandits with my Psynergy. I don't think they were expecting this." Isaac said
"They know about Psynergy?" Felix asked
"Can't really keep it a secret when multiple students were exposed to it, including yours truly." Claude said
"You're an Adept?" Felix asked and Claude nodded.
"Out of my eight students, three of them are Adepts." Isaac nodded.
"And when we're finished with them and you, there will be five less Adepts in the world." A bandit said as several of them blocked the path ahead.
"As for how they know, I'm still trying to figure that one out." Isaac said drawing his sword. Claude drew his bow and Felix drew his blue sword Excalibur.
"Miasma!" Lysithea called out unleashing dark magic on her enemies. Raphael rushed in and started to slam his gauntlets into the enemy's skulls.
"I think I head battle going on over here." Leonie said as she and Lorenz ran towards the two.
"Lorenz, Leonie! I'm so glad that you two are all right." Lysithea said happily.
"Same to you two as well. I'm guessing that you haven't seen the others though?" Lorenz asked
"No. All I found was Lysithea in these tunnels." Raphael said
"Well, now we have at least half the class together again. Now we need to find the others and the Professor." Leonie pointed out.
*Grrrrrr. *
"Raphael, please tell me that was your stomach." Lysithea said trying (And failing) to hid her fear.
"Nope. Not this time." Raphael said
"Seems that there are more than just Bandits down here." Lorenz commented
"Well then, let's go take it out." Leonie said getting her lance ready
"I think it would be better to find the Professor first." Lysithea advised
"What? We can take this thing on!" Raphael argued
"Did you forget the corpses of those Solders we saw? The second batch was confirmed to be by these bandits with their letter. I'm willing to bet that monster is the one that did that to them!" Lysithea argued
"I agree that we should at least look for the Professor first." Lorenz said
Leonie sighed. "Fine."
The four ran in the opposite direction before the creature could find them.
"I can sense some people up ahead. Can't tell who they are though." Isaac said pointing ahead.
"Well, it's only two options. Friends? Good. Bandits? Target practice." Claude joked
Up further ahead, Hilda, Ignatz, and Marianne were up against some bandits. Hilda took the front lines with her axe in hands. Ignatz and Marianne provided support with magic and a bow.
One of the bandits charged at Hilda who jumped out of the way and brought the axe down on the bandit killing him. Another came at her with a sword that she intercepted with her axe. Ignatz fired an arrow at the bandit, hitting him right in the shoulder as Marianne blasted him with a Blizzard spell. The last two then charged at her.
"Gaia!" Isaac shouted.
A blast of Venus Psynergy erupted from underneath the two bandits, killing them. Hilda turned to see Isaac, Claude, and some new guy ran up to her.
"Are you three all right?" Isaac asked
"Oh yes Professor. You came at the perfect time. Those Bandits nearly had me." Hilda said
"You looked like you were doing fine to me." Isaac said
"You saw that?" Hilda asked shocked
"Yes, and you did well Hilda." Isaac praised
"Hey now, don't start getting expectations on me or anything." Hilda said much to Isaac and Felix's confusion.
"Anyway, have you seen the others?" Isaac asked
Ignatz shook his head.
"Well, lets hurry up and find the rest of the class." Isaac said and Hilda and Ignatz nodded.
"Um, Professor? Who is that?" Marianne asked
"This is my friend Felix." Isaac said as the six ran off.
Lysithea, Raphael, Lorenz, and Leonie kept running as the growl got louder.
"Anyone else thinks that whatever that thing is, is fallowing us?" Leonie asked
"I knew we should have fought it." Raphael cried out.
"We would have ended up like those solders. A little caution can go a long way Raphael." Lysithea chided.
"Indeed, it can, but sadly, it won't today." A voice said up ahead.
Lysithea and the others looked up in shock. Not only were there more bandits in front of them, but to make matters worse, their leader Rodrick was with them.
"How did you get in front of us?" Lorenz demanded.
"Easy. We live in these tunnels. We know these tunnels like the back of our heads. We wanted to get you punks separated and pick you off one by one, but you punks got lucky and started to find each other. But no matter. Once our pet is done with you, we'll have half the class dead." He smirked
The growling got even louder as the four students turned around. Before them was a giant orange creature that looked like a cross between a toad and a lizard. While its build was more lizard like, it was bend forward like a toad with strong looking legs. Its arms were pretty strong looking too with claws. It had blue spikes on its back and dark lines that covered its whole body.
"What is that thing?" Lorenz asked shocked
"Is that what killed the soldiers?" Lysithea asked
Rodrick laughed. "You've got that right."
"Now what do we do?" Lorenz asked
"We fight our way through!" Leonie declared as she readied her lance.
"Sadly, we don't have a choice. It's either fight or die, since we are completely cornered." Lysithea said as she got ready
Raphael and Lorenz also got ready for the fight of their lives.
Isaac lead his group down the tunnels at a fast pace.
"There's a large group of people up ahead. I don't know if the rest of the students are there, but we need to find out." Isaac said
"We also need to be wary of their pet. It can poison its victims and we have only so much antidote leaves on us." Felix said
"Marianne, have you mastered the Cure Poison Psynergy spell?" Isaac asked
"I know how to use it, but I've never got to actually test it." Marianne said softly.
"Well, this may be your best chance to try it." Isaac said
"I-I'll do my best." Marianne stuttered
"I'm sure you can do it." Isaac smiled
Leonie charged at the Poison Toad with her lance, only for the monster to grab her and toss her at the wall.
Raphael charged with his gauntlets and delivered a powerful punch to the monster's stomach. It made the monster slide back in pain, but it countered a punch of its own and knocked Raphael back.
Lysithea fired a Whirlwind at the creature while Lorenz shot a fireball at it. The monster stumbled back from the power of the two types of magic. The Poison Frog then took a deep breath and spat out acid from its mouth at the two magic users who barely dodged it.
"This must have been what it used on those knights." Lysithea said in horror.
"And unless we do something fast, we'll be next." Lorenz added.
Leonie and Raphael got back up and regrouped with Lysithea and Lorenz.
"Any ideas here?" Leonie asked
"Yeah. Accept your fate and die!" One of the bandits behind them laughed, though his laughter was cut short through and arrow to the back killing him.
"Take your own advice there buddy." Claude retorted as he and the rest of the group approached the bandits.
"Tch. Looks like everyone is here. But don't think I'll let you kids go join that fight." Rodrick said as he and the remaining bandits readied their weapons.
Isaac grunted. The space that Lysithea and the others were fighting the Poison Frog was wider in space, but the spot where he was wasn't and if he wanted to help his students, then he needed to get past the Bandit leader.
Felix noticed that there was sand on the ground for some reason. Why there was he didn't know, but he wasn't going to question it. Instead he smirked
"You have a plan?" Isaac asked and Felix nodded.
"If you have a plan then let's hear it." Hilda said
"Yeah. SAND!" Felix shouted as he, Isaac, Claude, Hilda, Marianne, and Ignatz suddenly turned to sand much to the bandit's shock.
The group returned to normal in front of Lysithea and the others standing in between them and the frog.
"Ugh. What was that? I think I have sand in my hair." Hilda complained
"Now that was awesome." Claude smirked
"Professor, Claude, everyone." Lysithea said excited
"Finally, we're all back together again." Raphael cheered
"Except, we have a monster capable of spitting acid in front of us, and a group of angry bandits behind us!" Lorenz pointed out.
Isaac took notice of the situation. The tunnel they were in was large enough to allow the others to dodge the acid beforehand, but it was unlikely that all of them could dodge it now. Granted, the acid isn't as deadly as Lorenz and Lysithea thinks, but it is still a massive danger all the same. Not to mention that the bandit leader wasn't too happy that his plan was failing so it was likely he would up and attack them from behind. Just like in the Mock Battle, the Golden Deer was trapped. The bandits were ready to charge and the Poison Frog was ready to shoot more acid.
However, this time, Isaac could use Psynergy.
"Retreat!" Isaac shouted
"And how are we suppose to do-" Claude asked as suddenly he and the rest of the Golden Deer along with Felix teleported out of the tunnels.
The bandits stumbled as the Poison Frog shot more acid at the bandits. While Rodrick managed to evade it, the rest were poisoned, all falling to the ground in pure agony.
"THOSE BASTARDS!" Rodrick yelled as he grabbed some Antitoxin for his gang.
The Golden Deer suddenly appeared at the stairway of the bandit's hideout.
"-that?" Claude finished.
"Lets get out of here!" Isaac ordered as the group headed up the stairs and outside.
The sun was starting to set as they reached the top step.
"Wow. We were in there longer than I thought." Ignatz said looking at the sky.
"At least I'm finally out of those stupid tunnels." Hilda groaned
"Professor, who is this man?" Lysithea asked pointing to Felix
"And what power was that?" Claude added
"In order, this is my childhood friend Felix, and what I used was a Venus Psynergy spell called Retreat. It's a very strange spell that warps me to the entrance of whatever cave, or building I enter." Isaac said
"Wait, this is that Felix guy that fell in the water all those years ago?" Raphael asked
Felix just looked at Isaac.
"I started telling them about our adventures we had before arriving in Fodlan. Though, I only got through that storm that started all of this." Isaac explained and Felix nodded "Though I did tell you guys he did survive."
"Oh yeah. Sorry about that." Raphael admitted
"But what are we going to do now? In case you guys have forgotten, that monster is still down there." Lorenz pointed out.
"I know, but I wanted to take the fight outside were we would have more room to fight." Isaac said
"I see. That would be best if we wish to avoid be covered in acid." Lorenz admitted
"So then, what do we do now?" Claude asked
The ground exploded in front of them as the Poison Toad and the remaining 10 Bandits arrived on the scene.
"You think you kids can make a fool out of me in my own lair? Just because you're outside doesn't mean you're free. You are all mine!" Rodrick growled as he and his men readied their weapons.
"Lets take these guys out and go home everyone!" Isaac ordered as he and the others drew their weapons, though this time, Isaac didn't draw the Steel Sword he's been using. He drew the Sol Blade a its golden blade reflected the setting sun, much to everyone except Felix's shock.
Isaac was ready to finish this. And if worse comes to worse, with Felix here, Isaac could always fall back on the most powerful attack for an adept.
Djinni Fact of the Day:
Flint: So today, I'm joined by the only other Djinn besides me that was ever allowed as a tutorial, Echo!
Echo: Hi there!
Name: Echo
Attribute: Earth
Stats: HP +9 / PP +4 / ATK +3
Origin: Golden Sun The Lost Age
Original Location: Right Outside Daila
Echo: When in battle, I can boast my partner's physical attack with the power of Venus, increasing their power by 60%.
Flint: That is literally the same thing I do!
Echo: But I do it better! I give one extra HP point
Flint: What does that have to do with our ability in battle?
As both Echo and Flint argue, Geode laughs from above.
Geode: Fools. I'm superior to both of them. (Increases power by 90%)
And that's a wrap!
Yep, I gave Felix an Excalibur blade in the game, so he gets one here. It's the second most powerful non cursed weapon in the Golden Sun series. Second only to the Sol Blade.
So, now the Golden Deer and Felix have finally made it back outside, but so has the bandits. And their little pet.
Next chapter will be the final showdown between the Golden Deer and the Bandits, so stay tuned.