This was the first time Eren had shown confidence in his team members to do the jobs they were given. Renita couldn't find it in her to spoil this moment for herself or her team.
Bel felt assured too when he heard Eren's words of trusting his team members:
"I… I'm fine, Renita. And Eren is right. White Raven can handle a mission of this calibre just fine. Take a look there yourself."
Bel pointed to a particular direction, nudging his two team members to follow his finger and observe the battle happening in the distance. Thanks to their enhanced vision, the three F-Rank LA students could see their mates engaging another boar.
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Ramy was paired up with Ana and Jake. Jake had been tasked with protecting Ana at all costs. She was the team's healer after all. Her safety was paramount. The tank's job was to make sure that she is protected while assisting Ramy.
But it seemed that a certain someone didn't want the tank's help.
Ramy was fired up for this mission. As soon as Eren gave his team permission to continue, the knight bolted towards the incoming boar.
"Bleeeh"
As the knight approached the boar without assistance from his teammates, the boar snorted and voiced his aggression that sounded like a war cry. One could say, the beast felt that the human was underestimating it by daring to be reckless.
The beast activated its defensive spell when it was a few meters away from Ramy. It started donning its armour-like exoskeleton as it ran. The process was smooth and instantaneous.
In addition, the exoskeleton also had some runic patterns on it, unlike the armour that Eren saw on the beat he had battled with. The runic patterns had faint luminescence of their own. It started exuding more light as the beast got more aggravated.
The Beast's evolution and rank-up were closer than those of its peers.
Therefore, it also had a shred of intelligence in it. The boar saw that Ramy had drawn his sword which didn't feel normal to it. And it could feel through its connection with the earth and the earth element that Ramy's body resonated with a certain white-noise-like sound that could affect its defensive spell.
Yes, this beast was even more powerful than what Eren had fought in every possible way. Plus, the beast had another inherent spell that it had unearthed from its genetic makeup.
Ramy saw that the beast who was running towards him suddenly exaggeratedly raised its front legs and stomped them down heavily the next moment. This was another inherent spell of the F-Rank Earth Suidae, but it was rarely known for it.
"Bleeeergh!"
The beast cried again as its front hooves stomped on the ground. And Ramy saw his vision change because of going off balance.
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The Earth Suidae species would have to evolve to break into E-Rank. The E-Rank species was known as Greater Earth Suidae. As compared to the Earth Suidae, it was bigger, larger, and more ferocious.
The Greater Earth Suidae species could execute the defensive spell of the Earth Suidae. It would generate rock-solid defensive armour around itself.
As opposed to the earth Suidae, which would have a normal exoskeleton, the armour generated by the evolved species would have runic patterns on it. It was multiple times more resilient than the F-Rank armour-spell-generated variant because of this very pattern.
The F-Rank defensive armour spell executed by the Earth Suidae was referred to as Suidae Armor. And the armour spell used by the Greater Earth Suidae was called Greater Suidae armour.
Mana beasts and demon beasts practised the way of the elements differently. After evolution from its lower rank, the Greater Earth Suidae would strengthen its affinity with the earth and earth element. So it would become more sensitive to anything that was connected to the earth.
What's more? Apart from the resilient defensive spell, the Greater Earth Suidae was also blessed with an offensive spell. It would raise its legs and stomp on the ground to execute a mini earthquake-inducing spell known as Suidae Stomp.
Normally, extra resilient armour and offensive spells were confined to Greater Earth Suidas of E-Rank. Earth Suidae would be able to access the power-ups only after evolution.
But there were some rare exceptions. There were talented entities in the mana beasts and demon beasts too. They would tap into their genetic makeup early and discover the power-ups they would be granted after their evolution while still staying in the lower ranks.
Such beasts were called deviant beasts. In most cases, deviant beasts were closer to their evolution into higher species. Like the case here. However, even if they were able to tap into the enhanced power-ups of their beast family, the power-ups themselves were restricted by the rank the beast held at the time.
So the defensive armour the boar that was close to evolution into E-Rank had built around itself had greater defensive properties than its normal self. However, it still belonged to the F-Rank spell. It was a far cry from the original E-Rank spell the Greater Earth Suidae was known for.
It was safe to assume that the beast that Ramy was going to battle with had armour that was stronger than usual. But it didn't cross the boundaries of the F-Rank.
The same could be said about the beast's offensive spell. The spell's area of effect and its intensity were more restricted than the normal Suidae Stomp.
Still, this boar posed the most amount of danger than any of its peers. It was also in charge of the sounder.
The reason it had zeroed in on Ramy was that it sensed the guy's sound vibrations through its connection with the earth. The knight was believed to present the greatest threat out of all the approaching enemies by the beast's instincts. So it rushed to tackle the man with the lisp.
The beast's confidence in itself wasn't unfounded. Against the opponent is deemed the most dangerous for its earth element, it used its offensive spell most effectively, at the most effective time.
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AN: I was listening to Carry On My Wayward Son (Kansas) the other day and was surprised how the lyrics fit with Eren's story so far. I now listen to it in the loop sometimes while writing VEH. Suggest me similar classics in the chapter comments or on VEH Discord.. Lyrics should bode well with VEH's storyline though. ;)