noveldrama
Chapter 257: You Actually Hit Me
Chapter 257: You Actually Hit Me
In a meaty sound heard round the world, Anthony delivered a savage haymaker punch directly into the right side of Aoni's face, impacting him with enough force to send him flying.
Even with his Impact Resistance passive working its magic, the damage was easily above the E+ Rank. As such, Aoni flew like a broken kite across the chamber leading to the treasury and slammed into the far wall before sinking to the ground with a totally stunned expression plastered across his face.
'Ant hit me…' Mind a storm of emotion and thoughts, Aoni's hand slowly found its way up to the bottom of his jaw before unconsciously leaning over and spitting out a mouth full of blood and what he believed to be a piece of cracked molar.
"You Inconsiderate, insufferable little SHIT!" Anthony howled more in fear of what could have happened instead of rage.
'Ant actually hit me…' but it fell on deaf ears as Aoni was too shaken to deal with his older brother.
In all his life, Aoni had never once been struck by Anthony. Lea? 100%. Jason? Of course. Hell, every one of his other siblings, including Cammy, bless her little heart, had at some point, either on purpose or accidentally, hit Aoni with enough force to ring his bell.
But Anthony…he was the pacifist, the gentle sibling, the one more likely to talk your ear off for a full day straight in a scolding yet calm tone. Sure, there were always the playful chops, but this time…there wasn't a shred of playful banter; it was a full-fledged attack.
And that fact sent Aoni into a downward spiral.
His mental turmoil was so strong that even Nyria, who was guarding the fort, needed to land, or else she would have fallen from the sky, let alone Glacia, who at the moment was curled up on the stairs, whimpering.
"NOT ONLY DID YOU RECEIVE IMMENSE BACKLASH, BUT WHAT YOU WERE TRYING TO DO IS IMPOSSIBLE! YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO DRAIN THE ENERGIA USED TO CREATE RUNES FROM BEINGS DOUBLE, TRIPLE, OR EVEN BEYOND INTO YOUR BODY! DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND THE REPROCUSSIONS OF DOING SO!"
"you hit me…"
"NOT ONLY DID YOU OVERLOAD YOUR ENERGIA CELL AND POTENTIALLY CUT YOURSELF OFF FROM EVER UTILIZING IT AGAIN, BUT NOW YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO USE A FLUME BECAUSE YOUR BODY WILL NATURALLY REPEL ENERGIA!"
"you actually hit me." Mumbling softly and being completely overshadowed by Anthony's yelling, Aoni's eyes regained clarity as his mind was suddenly shocked back into resonance thanks to his connection to his Summons.
{'Brodder sad, it okay brodder.'}
{'Brother, I don't understand what's happening, but we are here for you.'}
Those small and weak words of encouragement were enough to proverbially bitchslap Aoni harder than the punch he'd received from Anthony. They grounded him in an instant as he realized that his mental state was drastically affecting Glacia and Nyria.
{'I…I am so sorry, you two, something that's never happened before just did. Still, it's okay, I deserved it…'} Offering up a few words to hopefully calm down the birb and floof, Aoni could see the error in his recklessness, and although he may have been ignoring the angry rantings of his eldest brother, that didn't mean he hadn't heard them.
'If I had just come clean with everything, he would still be angry., however, his reaction would be far different than this…' Hanging his head low and slowly standing up, Aoni shut his eyes tightly and cycled Energia through his mouth to hasten the recovery of his injury…that, to be honest, didn't really hurt.
After all, stats or not, Ant was a Mage, not a fighter, and thus, the amount of damage he could actually cause was superficial at best, even with a sneak attack.
For example, the fact that Aoni's molar had cracked was a perfect storm of circumstances: a jaw clenched too suddenly, with the right amount of pressure at the exact right location, while being unguarded.
The blood was merely him biting his tongue with the sharpened tooth, nothing more.
"Foooo…"
{'Glacia, prepare yourself, I am going to release my wooshy wooshy.'} Turning his head slightly and opening one eye to look over at his summon, Aoni offered her a small smile, making her bob her head in excitement.
This wasn't going to be the first time she'd seen it, and it had even gotten a nickname from her. When Aoni had returned from Terra the first time, one of the random pieces of training he'd executed was figuring out how to control his Aura, and of course, both Nyria and Glacia had been present.
Much to his surprise, instead of being frightened by the impressive amount of Killing Intent mixed in with his Aura, neither of them was scared or even flinched, and had the opposite response; they were quite excited.
"DON'T YOU EXHALE AT ME, AONI THURSTON! I WANT ANSWERS!" Standing some distance away, Anthony was subconsciously radiating his Aura…but a second later, he was forced to take a step back.
At that moment, an ungodly amount of Aura burst forth from Aoni's body, making Anthony flinch as the smell of blood and Ozone seemed to permeate the chamber along with a bone-chilling wave of coldness.
"Anthony…" Aoni said in a frosty tone as he tilted his head up, opened his eyes, and locked them with his brother.
"The next time you question my actions without having the full story, demand answers from me, or hit me out of anger in front of my summon, demeaning my authority as a Lord, expect me to return the favor."
Then, just as quickly as it was unleashed, Aoni sealed up his Aura as he'd been taught over a month ago before taking a slow, steadying breath.
Without saying another word, he rubbed the bloody dribble off of his chin and sat back down in front of the Stone door, leaving Anthony shocked beyond all belief because not only had Aoni stood up for himself, but the shadow he'd cast at the moment of unleashing his Aura, was something FAR beyond what a newbie or even veteran Traveler like their Dad was capable of.
It was like Ant was looking at a stranger and a powerful one at that.