SHAMAN PROTOCOL
Chapter 91: Bon Appétit, You Bastard

Chapter 91: Bon Appétit, You Bastard

The Ruminant King froze before its entire body trembled. The bell around its neck jingled as its entire frame locked in place, frozen from the blow to the ground.

Meanwhile, Mikel’s mouth dropped while Ran’s wide eyes didn’t blink. Their grandpa stood in silence, brows deeply furrowed. All three stood in stunned silence after watching the twins actually land blows on the Ruminant King.

"Boom... Blitz..." Ran muttered under his breath, staring at the little toddlers.

As for Mikel, his face twisted in disbelief. They had just learned their stripe colors today, but hadn’t received their official color clips yet. Hence, he had no idea what kind of shamans were in his team. Not that Mikel cared much about what colors the others had—he was more concerned about his own.

"But these kids..." he trailed off, wondering just what kind of shamans they were.

[Analyzing the spiritual energy in the area...]

[Name: Lazrenix Ellionyx Windemere Fanrir AKA "Blitz"]

[Elemental Shaman

Type: Geomancer — Earth Affinity

Class: Faultline Tier]

[Note: User’s Spiritual Core causes Minor/Major Terrain Deformation]

[Name: Irradiel Sylfenyx Vaelwyn Fanrir AKA "Boom"]

[Elemental Shaman

Type: Sylvan — Earth Affinity

Class: Botanica Core]

[Note: Memory Seed retains a "memory" and can influence the caster’s next summon.]

An Earth Affinity like Tahu?

But then, Mikel recalled some of his interesting conversations with Tahu that Affinities were varied by classes.

[System Alert: Spiritual Instability Detected.]

"Boom!" Blitz shouted as he slammed his little hand on the ground.

"Mhm!" Boom replied, hands pressed to the soil.

In response, the earth crawled upward, wrapping around the cow’s hoof to pin it in place. A second later, an overgrowth shot in every direction, hammering into the Ruminant King and forcing it to raise both glove-wrapped hooves to block the barrage of attacks.

"Blue stripes?" Ran blurted out, watching the twins bombard the beast.

"Not just blue stripes," the grandpa added, eyeing the children with faint surprise, "but it looks like they’re already two-colored stripe students at that age—Red and Blue Stripes."

"Blue and Red?" Mikel and Ran both turned to him in disbelief.

Weren’t there only ten red-stripe students in their class? And each had been assigned to a different team?

"Right..." Ran blinked, his gaze drifting back to the twins. "Even if they’re two-colored, the academy will probably only give them a blue stripe because of their age."

"No," the grandpa said as he slowly rose to his feet. "The academy will assign only one color based on their strongest affinity. The second isn’t acknowledged unless a student can demonstrate good control of that mastery."

"Meaning?" Mikel asked. "Those two are...?"

[Unstable.]

He grimaced as his eyes darted to the twins. "That’s unstable?!"

It didn’t look unstable to him, until a tree launched straight at him. He was about to leap away, but the ground grabbed his ankle like a hand.

"Shi—!" Mikel hissed, bending backward on instinct as the massive trunk passed inches above his face.

[That would’ve killed you, Master.]

Meanwhile, Ran had just gotten to his feet when a vine wrapped around his ankle. He looked down, but it was too late. The vine had already climbed up to his leg.

"Oh n—!" Before he could finish, the vine yanked him upside down. As he dangled, another branch whipped toward him.

"Ah—!" Ran curled up midair, narrowly dodging it.

The old man, unfazed, quietly dodged the chaos while keeping his eyes on the twins.

"Haha!" Blitz laughed, skipping around the Ruminant King. Each step triggered tremors, causing chunks of earth to shoot upward toward the beast. Little did he know, the Earth was not only attacking their opponent.

Boom, meanwhile, brushed his palm over the soil like he was playing in a sandbox.

"Bad cow! Ground beef! Corned beef!" he sang.

"Steak!" Blitz chimed in.

"Shawarma!"

"Roast beef—!"

"Hey!" Mikel finally shouted, his voice rising in exasperation.

The twins turned, blinking innocently—only to see Mikel wrapped in vines and hoisted like a struggling pupa, Ran still spinning upside down, and the old man with arms and legs bound in vines.

"Big Brothers... Grandpa... why are you trapped?!" Boom asked, puzzled.

Blitz gasped. "Ahh! The beef can copy our abilities!?"

"No, it cannot," the grandpa replied dryly, eyeing the vines coiled around his limbs. "It seems your abilities have mistaken us for enemies."

[That was not a mistake.]

Mikel gritted his teeth, glaring at the pair. "Oy. The enemy is over there, not here. Get these things off me!"

"Boom, Blitz..." Ran groaned, dizzy from being spun around.

"Ah!" Blitz slapped his forehead. "Boom, what are you doing?! You’re hurting them!"

You’re not any better! — was what Mikel wanted to yell as he had nearly been crushed by a boulder thanks to Blitz.

"Sorry, sorry!" Boom cried, raising his hands. "I said ground beef, not ground shamans!"

He clapped his hands, and the vines unraveled instantly. Ran dropped with a painful thud while Mikel and the old man landed on their feet.

Before anyone could speak, the Ruminant King roared again.

"MOO!!"

The shockwave blew Blitz — who was the closest — away like a paper doll. "Ahhh—!"

Before he hit anything, the grandpa caught him. Blitz blinked in his arms. "Grandpa!"

"You did well, Blitz," the old man smiled.

Boom, meanwhile, gripped the earth and rooted himself with a vine. But the Ruminant King followed its roar with a thunderous jab, straight at him.

"Boom!" Blitz cried out.

Boom looked up at the approaching glove—massive, fast, deadly.

"G... ground..." his bottom lip trembled, eyes welling up. "...shaman!"

Just as Boom’s shout echoed, Mikel’s voice cut through the air.

"RAN!"

"Uh!" Ran, running purely on adrenaline, bolted toward Boom. He dove, tackling the boy out of the way. They tumbled across the ground, Ran shielding him from the worst of the fall.

But even earlier, Mikel had already been sprinting toward the Ruminant King. He vaulted over trees, rocks, and bent terrain shaped by the twins.

Using a boulder as his final stepping stone, he launched himself into the air.

The spiritual pressure from both the twins and the Ruminant King was enough to keep him momentarily suspended midair. He clenched his fist, and his beaded bracelet had already begun wrapping around his hand.

The Ruminant King froze, eyes rising to the figure hovering above.

[Scanning for weaknesses... Weakness Detected: Center of Skull.]

"Hey, you pound of protein," Mikel muttered. "Bon appétit, you bastard."

With those words, his fist—now cloaked with the Blood Chain—came crashing down on the Ruminant King’s head.

The already-cracked ground beneath it shattered and deepened, forming a massive pit. The Ruminant King collapsed with a boom, the impact sending out a hurricane-force gust.

"Ahhh!!" Ran and Boom were blown back, but before they could hit anything, Gallos appeared, catching them midair.

The old man ducked behind an earth wall Blitz had made.

When the wind finally died down, they all slowly opened their eyes.

"Ouch..." Boom peeked out, gasping at the large phantom cradling him. "A knight!!"

His cry made Ran lift his head with a faint smile. "Thanks, Gallos..." His voice trailed off as he noticed Gallos staring at something.

Ran followed his phantom’s gaze and found Mikel standing over the fallen Ruminant King.

"Big Brother Mickey, so strong!!" Blitz cheered, peeking over the wall.

The old man stood beside him, his usual squint gone, eyes wide at the collapsed beast. He turned to Mikel, his brows knitting in disbelief.

"How... is this possible?" he whispered, studying Mikel, then the Ruminant King. "I can’t feel any spiritual energy from him... but..."

The old man stared at the fallen beast once more. Even though it had coated itself in spiritual energy for defense, Mikel’s punch had still brought it down.

"A white-stripe student..." he whispered. "Headmaster... who is this kid?"