"Come out!" Riko screamed. Running a long way, he had reached the outskirts of the city, a forest area.
"Pretty brave of you to come here alone." A voice echoed through the trees from no specific direction.
"You would have caught me anyway, Zarha."
"Well, I wouldn't be completely confident of that. You have been slipping past the government for 3 years now."
"Those good for nothing guards were all brawn without brains, it's easy too easy to fool them, which is not the case with you, is it?"
"Ah, you know, it will be really troublesome if you let our information get into hands of any other kingdom. So, as long as you were in our kingdom, it was fi..."
Five daggers from different directions sling towards Riko. Riko jumps while kicking the one coming from his 6 and is able to dodge two others, but two of them slice through his skin.
"...ne, but it's not so fine now. I am afraid that if you don't accept our conditions, you will have to die here."
"Even if I accept your conditions, it's practically dying right?"
"Well... yeah."
*Ice Burst*
A stream of ice approached Riko at an alarming rate. It seemed as if lava burst out from the ground and froze to form sharp and glistening ice shards.
*Flame Shot*
Riko raised his fire engulfed hand and shot a glowing ball of fire from his palm.
The fire ball slammed into the approaching icicles which produced immense amount of vapour and managed to halt the progression of the ice burst attack. Just when the fire ball dissolved into the vapour though, the ice attack got right back into track and shot ever faster.
Riko jumped as high as he could, onto a branch of a tree; the icicles didn't leave his trail and rose higher from the ground.
*Flame Shot*
Once again and this time a lot faster in the release, Riko shot a heat enraging ball of fire which on slamming against the ice caused much more vigorous release of vapour.
As soon as he released his second attack, Riko jumped from the branch onto the trail of extremely sharp icicles left along its path.
The fire ball eventually dissolved but this time the ice spears did not follow Riko.
"Why are you even trying? You know you don't have a chance, don't you?"
"Then why are you not getting serious Zarha?"
"Then let me get straight to the point. What trap did you set for me, care to explain?"
Despite so much exchange of words and actions, Zarha had still kept his presence anonymous.
"The moment you kill me, I will *Memory Transfer * the details to the king."
"*Lightning Bird*?"
Meanwhile, a bird consisting entirely of flowing electricity circled around the Royal Palace of the Southern State.
"Yes."
"When did you send it?"
"As soon as I felt your presence."
"HAHA! Who do you think you are talking to, boy? I am The Zarha. I will take that king and this city down with it if you try something that audacious."
"I don't doubt your capability to take down this city, but you still wouldn't be willing to take on HIM, would you? Do you think he will just quietly digest the death of a king of one of Rauda's state?"
Riko continues, and this time in a much louder voice
"If you dare hurt Rauda, The Sun Will Rise, Zarha. And once it does, you will have to make your last wish."
Although damping his voice, Riko continues to make his thoughts heard "I promise not to reveal your kingdom's secret to any other soul in this world. You can take me up on my word. It is a prince's blood contract."
"I would have liked to take him on one day, but as of now, I won't progress any further. I can't guarantee that the kingdom won't send other forces though, I have no control over them. As long as you keep your promise, I, Zarha, will not threaten your life. Or rather, I don't want to. I just needed a reason and you gave it to me. Thank you."
"Long then, my fellow senior."
"I hope we don't have to meet again."
The ice melted away with a flash and Riko fell on his back. His feet were severely wounded by ice that pierced through his shoes. The nerves up till the knee were frozen.
*Heat wave* (an attack generally used for cooking purpose)
Riko applied it on both of his legs for 5 minutes till he could move his ankle again.
'It wasn't a measly attack attack from any angle. Though it was far far away from his potential, the attack could only be stopped by a fire type skill, and the only weakness it had was that the icicles could not chase after a target place on its trail. In case I didn't know him from before, I wouldn't have been able to tackle that attack itself. To use it on a 10 year old and expect him to dodge it is just too reckless of him.'
A smile dressed his face as he stared up at the starry night sky.
'Sure brings up memories.'