Free Of Heroes And Villains (Book 4) by Julius St. Clair

off. Thankfully, as soon as Michael’s butt hit the ground, he started yelling and clutching his nose. It was bleeding, but at least he wasn’t dead.
    Mason took out his eidolon and swung right at Bastion’s face. Bastion took a step back to narrowly dodge the bulk of the blade. He could feel the edge just barely nick the middle of his nose. Before Mason could recover from the swing, Bastion reached out and grabbed the blade’s surface with both hands, keeping the edge between his palms.
    With little effort, he squeezed and pulled. A crack appeared down the middle of the sword, and Mason’s face went white with horror. He stopped struggling and just stood there. Completely still. Bastion didn’t proceed any further. His mother might have been able to withstand the shock of having her eidolon broken, but he wasn’t so sure about the Sage novice. Though it was now common knowledge that you could survive a destroyed eidolon, it was all based upon the will of the victim. If Mason’s wasn’t very strong, as Bastion suspected, then he would be in real trouble.
    He let go of the sword, and Mason sheathed it back into his body. With the eidolon safely tucked away, he scowled at Bastion, trying to decide whether to fear him or punch him in the face.
    “Okay, okay, one more round and that’s it,” he heard Kent groan from behind Mason. Bastion’s focus went beyond the Allayan boy and to the others, coming back from their battle. Based on Fern’s normal size, Kent’s cuts, and Zif still on his back, he assumed that Daisy had won.
    “Hey, you two aren’t finished yet?” Daisy asked him and Mason. Mason sneered at him and then turned to his teammate.
    “We are,” he said. “It’s just you and this kid left.”
    “I’m probably older than you,” Bastion retorted, but Mason ignored him.
    “So I guess it’s just you versus me, huh?” Daisy said with a warm smile. “The final battle.”
    “No, you won,” Bastion chuckled. He really didn’t want to hurt Daisy. “The Sages are victorious. I got beat up pretty bad. I barely won.”
    “Yeah, right,” Mason spat, waving a hand toward Michael so everyone could take a look at him. “Look what he did to Michael’s nose. This kid was just playing with us. I would be shocked if he even has a scratch on him.” Bastion winced as the group began looking for one on his body.
    “How’d he do it?” Fern asked. “Eidolon?”
    “Just strength and speed,” Mason snapped, still angry over the scuffle. “He broke Michael’s face and he nearly broke my eidolon with his bare hands!”
    “Damn!” Fern laughed. “I’ve heard of one eidolon being stronger than another, but bare hands?” He slapped Mason on the back playfully, but Mason wasn’t in the mood. He shrugged off the gesture and stuck a finger in Bastion’s face.
    “What are you?” he spat. Bastion wiped the spittle from his cheek.
    “He’s probably just a Langoran,” Fern replied. “Simple explanation.”
    “Seriously,” Daisy laughed. “You don’t have to act like he’s a disease.”
    “So which is it?” Michael said with a nasally voice. Everyone waited patiently for the answer, but Bastion wasn’t sure what to say. He just stared at each of them, one by one.
    “Whatever he is, he’s good enough to join the Academy,” Kent said, nodding toward the tome sitting in the grass. From where they stood, the sunlight was shining off of the exquisite emerald cover. “So we’ll find out eventually.”
    “No,” Mason said. “Now.”
    “What does it matter?” Daisy asked, stepping between him and Bastion.
    “I need to know,” was his only reply. He balled up a fist, and Daisy noticed it right away.
    “Okay,” she said with a slight smile. Her eyes remained steady on his. “He’s an Allayan.”
    “Then I want to see his eidolon. I want to see how strong he is.”
    “He’s a Langoran then.”
    “I want him to prove it.”
    “I don’t understand what the problem is,” Bastion spoke