Even thought the battle had just started you could already hear the sound of metal clashing.
*clash*
*pang*
While the commander blocked the Leaders opening strike Aster had also blocked an arrow aimed at one of the guards. The arrow surprisingly, was packing quite the punch making Aster stumble backwards ever so slightly. Behind the bandits the Elementalist who had just shot sneered at the act.
'The faster we end this the fewer people will be hurt.' As he was thinking this Aster moved forward covering his sword in aura the best way he could. As he did so a bandit swung his sword at him. Aster met the bandit's sword with his own. when the blades collided the bandit's sword immediately flew out of his hand. The bandit watched his blade fall on the ground, when he looked back at his opponent he was meet with a left hook straight at his face, he couldn't do anything other than fall to the ground as he lost conscious.
Aster didn't waste a moment looking at the bandit on the ground however and instead he thrust his blade at another bandit who had his sword raised up in front of his chest. The bandit's expression soon turned uneasy as he blocked the strike. He managed to hold the blade but his arms went numb due to the impact. Aster didn't let the chance go to waste as he rushed in and landed a punch in the bandit's stomach. As the bandit bent down due to the pain Aster followed up by landing a blow on his head with the handle of his blade putting him unconscious.
' I'm glad I sparred with the commander before. I may have mediocre swordsmanship skills but if I hit them as hard as I'm doing they can't really block my attacks. '
Aster's aura on the blade was now much closer to the aura he had usually while holding The Sword, yet It was still far, far from fully resembling the original.
After he finished his attack another bandit was slicing at his neck, Aster saw the attack and aimed to stop the blade. He used all his strength and poured more energy into the aura surrounding his blade. When the blades connected however instead of stopping the blade Aster just cut right trough the bandits copper blade, shattering it.
Aster's sword was now moving towards the Bandit's face.
'Dammit'
Aster rotated his arm in a hurry the sword following his movements. When the sword landed on the bandit's face it hit him mostly with the side of the blade, leaving behind just a shallow cut on the bandit as he lost conscious due to the impact.
Before Aster could sigh in relief however a familiar felling came over him, he quickly raised his free arm above his head and right as he did so, he saw a sword cutting his arm followed by a jolt of pain. The felling that came over him was of course killing intent.
The slash ended up stopping at the bone but left a vertical cut on his arm between the wrist and elbow.
Having his arm injured however was the least of his worries, as he could easily feel the aura of his new challenger the new opponent was clearly an Elementalist. Aster quickly backed a few steps and moved his gaze to meet his new opponent.
He had a confident expression on his face and was clearly in this mid 20s maybe a few years older than Aster.
He charged in fearlessly at Aster while swinging his blade towards his neck.
Aster easily parried the attack and moved in while raising his fist. Before the punch could connect however a gust of wind pushed Aster away making his fist swing past the Elementalist's face.
'Guess he knows a few tricks.'
"Nice try. But it's not going to be that easy." Taunted the Elementalist while swinging his sword once again at Aster.
Thankfully Aster managed to raise his sword to block the strike and was just forced back a couple of steps.
'Better not take him lightly. Never underestimate an Elementalist no matter how cocky they are.'
The Elementalist then rushed forward once again, Aster did his best to hold his ground, but he couldn't quite get a clear opening especially considering his opponents ability. Every time Aster attacked him he simply made a gust of wind that would force the attack to the side ever so slightly resulting in a miss. Due to that they were left in a stalemate for a few moves until...
"Aaaarhg"
The scream wasn't particularly loud, but it was close. Aster looked to the side where a guard had fallen to the ground with a gruesome cut on his abdomen.
Time seemed to stop as the guard lost consciousness. Blood dripping out of the wound.
'...'
'...'
'What the hell am I doing?'
The elementalist didn't look to the side like Aster and instead rushed forward yet again. He was grinning at his opponents foolish opening.
Yet something was off. Even thought it lasted a spit second it felt like the whole cave had become ice-cold. A split second yet before he could even acknowledge it he saw Aster rushing towards him as he readied a swing.
He channelled his aura and hit Aster with another gust of wind to make him miss. He was getting ready to swing at him when an unbearable jolt of pain hit him across.
Aster had just sliced him diagonally across his entire torso. The pain was too much for him, so he passed out before even hitting the ground.
' I'm sorry. But I can't just waste time making sure I take you out unarmed when innocent people are getting hurt. '
After thinking so, he took a few well deserved deep breaths. The battlefield was still a mess with bandits and guards clashing against each other everywhere and people getting injured left and right. No one really had the choice to look after anyone other than themselves much less to pay attention to someone else's fight.
So when another bandit placed himself ahead of Aster, much to his dismay, he gritted his teeth while clutching his sword. This time however he took a different approach. He moved in and sliced upward at the bandit. Not aiming towards his sword but his arm.
"Aaaaarhg!!!"
When the aura covered blade sliced the bandits arm he immediately screamed in pain while dropping his weapon and falling to the ground. He curled up while covering his wound with his hand.
This scene repeated itself in similar ways as Aster kept incapacitating soldiers by slicing at their limbs forcing them to either drop their weapons or fall to the ground.
Yet even thought he was now taking care of the bandits at a much faster rate this expression was much worse than when he started.
' I'm tired, I've been using energy none stop and at full force since the battle started if this keeps up I might need to use that. '
His movements were slower compared to the start of the skirmish and his breathing was fast and closer to panting, but he kept fighting. Right as the fourth bandit screamed in pain however the felling of killing intent came over him once again.
As he turned to the side he felt another elementalist rushing towards him this one however had a much defined build compared to the previous one and was probably in his late 30s he had a much more serious look in his eyes similar to the Commander and was getting ready to swing his Longsword at Aster having both his hand on the grip.
Focusing more of his aura on the blade he clashed with the swordsman yet has he did he was pushed back his feet dragging along the cave floor surprised by the sheer force of the strike.
' What on... The damn wolf was weaker than his guy, and he was an elemental beast for elements' sake.'
Before he could even separate himself from the brute however he saw an arrow coming straight at him, yet considering he was still being pushed back there was little he could do as the arrow pierced his right shoulder.
Gritting his teeth and holding back the pain he tried his best to hold the sword as the brute finished his swing and finally Aster stopped moving backwards.
All he could do was take a glance at the shooter who just as expected was the same Elementalist that had tried to piece the guard's head in the beginning of the fight. His eyes dead set on Aster as he placed yet another arrow onto his bow.
" I think a 2v1 if a bit unfair wouldn't you say. " Said Aster as he raised his sword moving his eyes between the two foes.
"Sorry kid but I rather not take any chances." Said the brute maintaining a serious tone and look. The archer on the other and had one of the creepiest and most sadistic grins he remembered seeing.
'This is gonna be hard.'