His mind was blank.
Teo was helplessly staring at the body of his friend, lying on the ground like trash.
What had he done?!
This was his fault!
If he had not insisted on escaping, this would have never happened!
If they had just waited for help patiently after sending the distress signal, everything would have been alright!
If he had been a little less confident and just paid a bit more attention, it would not have ended like this!
Something in his mind broke.
He ignored the panicked messages from Goliath, trying to pull him back to reality, and sunk into deep sorrow.
No... anger!
He did not hurt Jack, 'they' did!
What had they ever done to deserve this? Who had they offended for this to happen?
This was not fair!
Riddled with self-doubt, guilt, and uncontrollable anger, his mind could not handle the sudden influx of extreme emotions and frothed over.
A violent maelstrom of Mana and Fire Elements manifested around him and ravaged the surrounding area, only leaving the space around Jack untouched.
He would find whoever was responsible for this!
'Calm down, boy! Please!' Goliath tried to reign him in again, his voice barely more than a whisper to Teo right now.
'He is still breathing! If you go on a rampage now, he will die for sure!' Goliath screamed with all his might, trying to get through Teo's mental defenses.
"What?!" Teo said, surprised. This message finally made it through to him.
'You need to get down there and stop the bleeding! Now!' Goliath literally screamed directly into his mind.
Teo was still not completely clear-headed right now, but he was not about to lose control anymore. He hurriedly bent down to his friend and checked on his wound.
Jack had taken the full brunt of the shot in his stead and was severely wounded, but he was still breathing, if only shallowly. With the arrow still in place, blocking most of the wounded blood vessels, he only had to cauterize the edges and soon managed to slow down the bleeding significantly.
It must have been incredibly painful, yet Jack did not even twitch, he was clearly unconscious.
Teo slowly stood up again, hatred burning in his eyes. He did reign himself in for now, but he had not forgotten the unsatiable anger which he had felt a moment ago —now it was just more focused. He did not need to search for the culprit long though, as he presented himself shortly after.
"Hehehe, did you think you could just leave like that?! Ruining my brilliant plan?" a lean man in a black mantle cackled as he slowly stepped closer towards them.
He had a sickly pale complexion, and from his wrinkly scalp hung a few dirty swaths of dark hair, resembling the leaves of wilted cabbages.
"No one can leave before my perfect revenge is complete! The trap is almost set up too! Hehe." The man continued to talk to himself while caressing a large Arbalest in his arms. Clearly, he was responsible for the earlier shot. Unforgivable!
The tornado of energy surrounding Teo had not vanished entirely and picked up speed once again, causing a looming sense of danger to creep up in anyone sane watching it. However, the man before him fell not into that category.
'Be careful! I can sense another one hiding in the shadows!' Goliath made himself noticed again, providing vital information for Teo.
By now, the scrawny man had already finished cocking another bolt, took aim at Teo, and fired. Apparently, he was done wasting words now and ready for action, but so was Teo.
He swung his rusty sword, covered in a blaze of red and blue swirls, directly disintegrating the projectile midair, turning it into a haze of splinters. It did not pose much of a threat to him when he was expecting it.
He readied himself for a charge, but before he could even take off, he felt Goliath sharing the sensation of something approaching from behind. He spun around in a smooth motion and let his sword clash with an incoming dagger, targeting his neck.
He must have looked like a supremely talented swordsman right now, feeling his opponent's killing intent on his back, yet it was only through Goliath, that he had a second pair of eyes. His natural intuition was quite weak, and if not for that crucial piece of information, he would have met a quick demise just now.
The new arrival appeared to be a skilled assassin from his dress up and the fact that he sprang at Teo's back with a dagger at the first opportunity that presented itself. Probably he was part of the trap which the crazy man had talked about.
He would have to deal with both of them if he wanted to leave this place in one piece and unskewered.
Teo tried to use the Mana around his sword to surround and take control of his opponent's weapon, but it was met by a swift flow of dark energy that canceled the effect instantly.
'Great. A Magic-User was just what I needed now,' he thought bitterly.
Teo was fueled by anger and determination, so he was not about to give up due to a minor complication, yet he was conscious enough to realize the dire situation they had been maneuvered into.
He gripped his sword with both hands, so tight that his knuckles turned white, and pushed through with his strike, blasting the assassin a few meters away. He had put his whole cacophony of emotions into that, trying to buy himself a few seconds.
This time window was all he needed. Teo hungrily grasped as much Mana as he could and compressed it into a deadly sphere, even incorporating the Fire Element into it to increase its explosive might.
It was an unusually quick task, as he was surrounded by a blazing storm of Mana anyway and had Goliath trying his best to support his endeavor.
The Golem was easy to go unnoticed since he did not do anything flashy usually, but he played a huge role behind the scenes. Gathering Mana, weaving spells, compressing elemental energies, these were all tasks that he could and would help Teo with, increasing his capabilities and efficiency dramatically.
Before the assassin could strike again, the orb of destruction was already flying towards his employer, reminding him why he was a strict advocate of payment in advance.
Unfortunately, the man was not wholly self-absorbed and managed to defend himself somehow. He intercepted the attack with the sizeable ranged weapon in his hands, turning it into a splintered mess, before he sailed dramatically through the air, only slightly injured though.
Either the hard landing on a nearby wall or the second one on the ground seemed to have knocked him out cold, as he did not continue moving afterward.
Teo clicked his tongue but did not have the time to pursue the matter further right now, he literally had a professional assassin on his heels.
He bolstered his defenses and prepared to meet his opponent midway.