"O spell of wind, come forth as a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies."
I chanted my spell sword, and it appeared in my hand. With this, I would actually be able to hurt the wolves with ease. I would just need to hit an attack on all 4 wolves. I would have to make it a deadly one, so I would aim for the heart, or the head. Either is fine, as long as I get a clean cut on one of them. I don't care if I take damage. I would end this fight as fast as possible.
I charged straight into the wolves with that as my basis. Every second I waste, is another that could cause Ana and Astra to die. I couldn't wait for them to make the first move. The wolves seemed surprised by my action. I didn't have the advantage, yet I charged in. I understand why they would be surprised. However, they soon got over the initial shock, and got into battle preparations. By the time they did that though, I was in striking distance of the closest wolf. My spell sword cut straight through its head, killing it. I would be surprised if this wasn't enough to win against a demonic beast in the human zone. I was still reinforced after all, so my attack definitely had killing potential. Now though, the others knew it as well, and would try to avoid my attacks. If I wasn't wrong, they would definitely try to prolong this battle to make me run out of stamina. Once that was done, they would then kill me. As if to prove my point, they gathered together in a defensive formation. I didn't have the time for this, so I would use another spell.
"O spell of wind come forth as a ball to blow away my opponent. O spell of wind flow around my body to hide myself."
I chanted the wind ball spell, and my hiding spell. I chanted the hiding spell once the remaining wolves' attention was focused on the wind ball. As such, they never saw me become invisible. The wolves focused on the wind ball, and tried to swat at it with their claws. Once their claws came into contact with it, the wind ball exploded, and pushed away the wolves. I then charged at them, and killed them while they were disoriented from the explosion. They never saw it coming as I was invisible, and I was able to kill the remaining three with ease. I quickly stored the bodies into the magic bag, and ran towards the cave with all my might.
I cancelled my spell sword, keeping the hiding spell and reinforcement spell active. I focused most of the reinforcement to my feet to increase my speed. I ran as fast as I could, and went past anything in my way. If I did this normally, many demonic beasts would be chasing me. However, my hiding spell made me invisible to them, so I wouldn't be slowed down by their attacks. I soon made it to the cave, but Ana and Astra weren't there. Why would they be there? They should be out collecting still. They should've been attacked while gathering.
I couldn't think of this. I need to find them, and fast. Knowing them, they wouldn't call upon me unless they really needed my help. If they could do it by themselves, they would. As such, they are definitely in a very dangerous situation. I need to find them quick.
"O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my allies."
I quickly chanted my detection spell. I also changed it so I would be able to see Ana and Astra instead. If I had just said enemies, then demonic beasts would also be detected. I also wasn't able to tell anything from my detection spell. It only gave me the direction of the enemy in correlation to me. It did nothing more and nothing less. This would be the best way to find them. However, this means that I am using three spells simultaneously. Even though I have been training my multitasking skill, I haven't really gotten any noticeable results. It did take me 3 years to be able to do 2 tasks simultaneously. I wouldn't be able to master multitasking 3 things in a matter of days. I have never regretted not training more than I have now.
I just wasn't able to keep up the 3 spells. I would have to stop one, and I instantly stopped my hiding spell. It may help keep me hidden, but the others were more useful. The reinforcement spell helped increase my speed, while the detection spell allowed me to actually find them. The hiding spell would only save me time when dealing with other demonic beasts. It wasn't the most useful. With that decided, I continued running frantically, trying to find where Ana and Astra were.
I was panicked, fearing the worst would happen to them. While running, I remembered our connection, and how we could use it to figure out each other's general location. I am such an idiot for not remembering this sooner. However, now is not the time to beat myself up over this. I need to quickly get to them, and make sure we all survive this. I ran in the direction the connection was telling me to run in. Soon my detection spell had detected two people. It had to be them, as they were my only two allies.
I immediately began to push myself more, running faster, and channeling more mana to my legs. I broke through the bushes, and found them both. I could see the leather bags on the floor, their contents slowly falling out. The owners of the bag were also there, and in pretty bad shape. They were still standing, but not by much. It seemed like even the slightest breeze would be able to knock them down. That was just how battered they looked. The silver lining had to be that there was no blood, but I'm not sure how great that is.
Their opponent seemed to be a part of the rainbow fox clan. He also seems familiar to me, but I couldn't recall where I had seen him before. He seemed to be gathering a lot of the ambient mana. He was probably trying to finish them off with one final giant spell. I immediately rushed out chanting a spell.
"O spell of wind come forth as a blade to cut down my opponent."
I chanted the wind blade spell. It was one of my faster spells, and I fired it straight at the rainbow fox. With this I was able to interrupt him, and brought his attention to me. I couldn't be sure, but I thought that the fox smiled when he saw me. Almost as if he wanted me to come here. However, I couldn't care about that. This b**ta*d had attacked my precious family. He would pay for that. First I had to make sure that they were okay. I grabbed both of them, and then chanted my hiding spell.
"O spell of wind flow around our bodies to hide ourselves."
With this we were all hidden by a veil of wind. My reinforcement spell was still active, but I had cancelled the detection spell. I didn't need it when I would be heading to the cave. I then hurried back to the cave. I got there quickly, and began to treat them. I went to go get supplies, like I would normally, but realized I had created a healing spell. I had also created it to make sure my family would be safe. There is no better place to use it.
"O spell of water, combine with the wind as a healing mist that heads to heal my allies."
With the spell finished chanting, I could see water vapor converging onto their bodies. It also went to areas that had been damaged. They had fainted when I had first unleashed my spell. I guess they were relieved that I had arrived, and decided to leave the rest to me. They hadn't regained consciousness, but their wounds had definitely healed. I quickly wrote a note for them, and went back out of the cave. I still had some payback to give to a certain fox.
"O spell of wind flow through my body to reinforce myself."
I rechanted my reinforcement spell, which I stopped channeling so I could focus fully on their treatment. I also chanted my detection spell, to try to find out where the rainbow fox was. I changed it so that it would only detect rainbow foxes.
"O spell of wind flow through my body to reinforce myself. O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect nearby rainbow foxes."
I had to do it to make sure that I could find the rainbow fox who did this. I was able to find 4 reactions to my spell. Three were moving together, and seemed to be looking for something. The fourth, presumably the one who hurt Ana and Astra, was still in the same spot. It was like he was mocking me, daring me to challenge him.
"Don't think I won't." I muttered to myself. "You will regret harming Astra and Ana."
I then ran towards the rainbow fox. It didn't take me too long to get to him. He was still there, in the exact same spot as I had left him. It was like he had never moved. He even had a little smirk on his face. It was like he knew I would come here.
"I don't think I'll get an answer, but I'll still ask. Why did you hurt Ana and Astra?"
"To lure you out."
The fox answered like that. So I was the target of all of this, but why? I should have never done anything to anger a rainbow fox. Sure I may have roughed some up when they were attacking us in the past. However, the king himself had already come out and talked to me about that. This matter should be long behind us.
"I didn't expect you to answer. Can I ask why you want me?"
"Your death will be beneficial to me. That's all you need to know. Take joy in the fact that you will be my stepping stone."
So my death would help him out. Why though? How would my death help him out? Also what did he mean that I would be his stepping stone? Something big must be happening in the rainbow fox clan, and we had just become a part of it. No matter what though, I'll make sure that we get out of it alive. While these thoughts were flowing through my mind, the fox attacked. It was a fireball headed straight at me. I stopped using my detection spell, and dodged the spell.
"O spell of wind."
I tried to chant my spell sword, but was interrupted by a wind blade heading towards me. I rolled out of the way, while continuing my chant.
"Form from my hands a mighty blade."
This time a water ball came at me. I kept chanting, and at the last possible moment dodged. Even though the attacks incorporated different elements, they were all monotonous. All straight at me with no variation. It was a tell tale sign of his lack of combat experience.
"That follows my movements to destroy my enemies."
I was able to finish my spell before his next spell came at me. This time it was a simple ball of earth coming at me. Instead of dodging, I cut it with my spell sword. I am actually glad I did this because he had already fired another spell. This time it was a bolt of lightning, and it was aimed at the place I would have dodged. If I dodged, I would get hit by that attack with nothing to do. I guess this fox has some tricks up his sleeve. Well now that I have my spell sword, his tricks won't really matter.
I charged straight at him. He seemed to have panicked, and fired some spells at me. My speed, enhanced by the reinforcement spell, was too great though, and I was able to fly by all of his spells. He did something a little tricky by slightly raising a part of the dirt in an attempt to trip me. I just jumped over it though and began to engage in close combat. I slashed at him with my spell sword, but he was able to block it with his claws. I continued slashing using different cuts. I even added feints in there, but they were all blocked by his claws. I guess his fortey was in close combat.
I would need to get him to mess up. Then I would be given a chance to heavily injure him. However, I wouldn't be able to do anything. I couldn't multitask three things, and I was already channeling two spells. Wait no, I was able to use two spell swords along with the reinforcement spell once before. I believe I was able to do it when Ana and Astra were attacked by a bear type demonic beast. Well I was already able to do it once, so I should be able to do it again.
"O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies."
I was able to chant the second spell sword. I changed my grip so that a sword would be in both hands. I then began to attack with both. One would head to one side, while another was heading straight to the front. This was something my dad had told me once. If you aim for the head, people would instinctively protect it, giving an opportunity to attack somewhere else. This worked perfectly as the fox guarded his head, and my other blade caught him in the side.
After the fox got hurt, he seems to get more determined. It was like he had finally recognized me as an opponent and not just a stepping stone. He started using spells, and this was very troublesome. As a demonic beast himself, he didn't need to chant spells. They could just be activated instantly, which in close combat throws in a whole new variable. I had to keep one spell sword closer to me to defend against his spells, while attacking with the other. This just once again put me in a passive situation. However, he was hurt, which gave me the advantage. He would mess up due to his wound, and that would be my time. I would then strike him once again before calling it a day. Even though he hurt my family, I wouldn't kill him over it. That would just put us in an even worse position. However, it seemed like things wouldn't go my way today.
"Diego, where are you?"
"Diego, it's about time we head back to the clan."
"We will leave without you Diego."
I heard the voice of three others. This had to be the three other rainbow foxes picked up by my detection spell. So they were looking for this rainbow fox, and his name is Diego. They soon came through the bushes. When I looked at them, I felt a sense of familiarity. I swear I had seen them before, but where? The only rainbow foxes I've seen were Watson and his group. Oh, this is Watson's group.
"Guys, I'm glad you found me." The fox probably named Diego said. "This elf started to attack me while I was doing my business."
"Oh, really now."
The other foxes looked at me warily. They soon began to surround me. They would probably bombard me with spells. Overwhelm me with a sheer amount of different spells from all sides. If they did so, then I would probably be able to do nothing. There is only one thing for me to do. I canceled my reinforcement spell, and one of my spells swords. While I was doing that, many spells suddenly flew at me. Sure enough, they were trying to overwhelm me through shear number.
"O spell do wind flow around my body to hide myself."
I chanted my hiding spell, so they wouldn't be able to see me. I also timed it so that it would activate once the spells were a little bit from my location. I then jumped as high as I could into the air. Without my reinforcement spell, I wasn't able to go high. However I was able to get out of the range of the spells, and stay long enough in the air for the spells to collide. The dust was kicked up from the spell collision. I used this to move behind the fox named Diego. They kept firing spells at my location, and didn't let up the barrage. Luckily I was already out of it.
"I haven't used this spell in a long time." I mumbled to myself behind Diego. He definitely wasn't able to hear me due to the spell collisions. "O spell of wind, gather in my blade to drain the mana of my opponent."
I modified and chanted my mana drain spell. I honestly didn't know if this would work, but it was worth a shot. Once the spell was finished the green aura around the sword became brighter. It even broke through my hiding spell as the other foxes noticed me. However by the time they warned Diego it was too late. My spell sword was already on its descent. I aimed at his legs, and was able to get a pretty good cut in. The mana drain had allowed for his mana to disperse making my attack easier to perform. However, I made sure to stop so he wouldn't have any permanent disabilities. He would at most have a scar in that area, which is much better than his leg being fully cut off.
"This will be your one warning. Don't harm my family, or else."
I then quickly left the area after saying my piece. Otherwise, I might have to continue to fight all four of them. I headed back to the cave, while keeping the hiding spell. I had already stopped channeling the spell sword, and mana drain spell. I kept the hiding spell up since I didn't want to be bothered by demonic beats, nor give the rainbow foxes my position. Soon I was able to make it to the cave. As I got closer, I saw Ana and Astra coming from the cave entrance. When they see me, they run at me with full strength.
"What are you doing?" I ask them when they get in earshot of me. However, they don't stop running, and soon collide with me. It was a heavy collision that pushed me back a few steps.
"Why did you leave us behind sylvi? What if something happened to you? You should have at least waited for us to recover, so we could help you." Ana started talking. I thought I could even see tears streaming from her eyes.
"Yeah Sylvain. You should have waited for us. That way we could have all gotten back at Diego."
"I'm sorry, I really am. I should have waited for you guys so you could have beat him up too."
"It's not that Sylvain. We don't want to get back at Diego. We just don't want you to die, so don't act rashly. We already had this conversation before. We are family, and should do things together, so let us help you. Don't do everything alone."
"Yeah sylvi. I'm sure we already said this, but I'll say it again. You can rely on us."
"I don't want you guys to get hurt though."
"And we don't want you to get hurt." They said with a displeased face, and in almost perfect unison.
"Okay then okay then." I say aloud, while secretly thinking that I would expose them to the least amount of danger whenever we were fighting. I wouldn't let them get hurt.
"Anyways, how do you know Diego?" I say in an attempt to change the conversation.
"He was always following Watson around back when we were at the forbidden zone."
"Yep, he would always be next to Watson."
"Oh, no wonder he looked so familiar. He was in the group that Watson came with back when he attacked you guys."
"But why would he come after us?"
"I don't know Ana. Maybe he believes we really did kill Watson, or maybe since he was sticking to Watson so closely, he's been influenced by him."
"That shouldn't be the case Astra. Before we fought, I was able to talk with him. He said he attacked you both to lure me out. He then went on to say that my death would serve as his stepping stone, so his target was clearly me. However, why would he want to kill me? I don't think I'm worthy of being targeted by a rainbow fox. Do you two have any ideas?"
"A stepping stone. Then there can only be one thing. However, I don't know why he would need to kill you to get it."
"What is it though Astra?"
"It is the chance to become the leader of the rainbow fox tribe."
"Isn't the king already the leader."
"He is right now sylvi. However, according to our custom, a leader can only be a leader for a century. The king's term is almost over so the leader title is up in the air."
"Why would Diego get the term though? Isn't he too young."
"Sylvain, he has a shot precisely because he is young. Only fresh blood can become the new leader. This way the rainbow fox tribe will be led by a young, innovative mind. The maximum age requirement is 30."
"But why would he attack me then?" I wouldn't challenge him for the throne."
"I don't get it either. There would be no benefits to killing you."
"There is no point in guessing then. We don't have enough information."
"Ana is right. We really don't have enough information."
"I just hope we aren't caught up in something big."