The golemns charge forward, shooting spikes made of stone from their rocky palms. There are currently five royals in the group, adding me would make it six young cultivators in the group. We divide ourselves into teams of two with the three guards fighting one of the assassin's and the six of us handling the other. It may seem like an unfair fight, but the assassin's happen to be extremely skilled and block all our attacks while using theirs to counterattack. Even with the combined effort of our spells, blocking the assassin's attack seems to be almost impossible which forces us to explode the spells in order to protect ourselves. Our opponent is an earth user, and he throws huge boulders and spikes towards our position while blocking our attacks with a wall made of sand. The other assassin seems to be a league stronger. He has a fire aptitude and uses talismans to enhance his flaming attacks. He overwhelms the guards easily but they still put up a fight waving their different weapons aiming to pierce his figure.
For the earth user, Sebastian mostly handles his attack, throwing lightning bolts at the incoming boulders and exploding the spikes.
In other words, you could say that we were completely coordinated, but are worst fear ignited when two other hooded men revealed themselves from afar. The three guards were already having a hard time against the hooded assassin, and we weren't any better off.
We divide ourselves into groups of three, with Sebastian and two other royals Melissa and Jiseng in the first group, the two are earth and wind users respectively. I stay with the two guards that were in the carriage leaving Igor the driver and the one I fought with earlier in my training days, with the remaing two royals, Han and Zana.
.......
.......
.......
.......
My group is utterly powerless, neither of us has any spell or even dantian to use. I didn't really expect the guards to have spells though, only Alexander and Alise should even be allowed to possess any. However we try our best weighing our opponent down with martial arts and other techniques. I use the power of my mind to predict his moves and also land blows with my blade looking for a way to overwhelm our opponent. He seems to smile under that hood of his and my survival instincts scream as his eyes glow beneath his hood. I take a huge step back quickly and another guard is quick enough to follow, but one is too slow to react and the man grabs him by the neck before roasting his in an endless wave of fire. What is left of the poor guard leaves most of us speechless. In those short seconds, a fully grown man was reduced to nothing but a bones and few pieces of flesh remaining. The royals scream, the guards are petrified and only Igor, Sebastian and I seem to keep our heads together. Sebastian lands an attack on the earth user he was fighting but the man dodges in time aiming to stab Sebastian in the chest. I react quickly enough to reach his position before severing his head from his body. Everybody looks shocked at my sudden attack. Sebastian let's a relieved sigh out of his mouth as the thought of death crosses his mind. He wouldn't have been standing if I was too late. The issue remains, the fire assassin that burnt one of the guards still smiles as his eyes fall on my figure, there's amazement in his eyes as he reveals his face throwing the hood behind his head. He is missing an eye, and has marks all over his face. His short brown hair doesn't seem to be well kept and he seems to not have much physical strength. He seems like someone in his mid twenty's and has a healthy but thin figure. His eyes possess the same color as mine but it seems to be paler. I know he's not of our bloodline, so I'm not so worried. "You know, that attack was meant for you. It's quite amazing how a kid like you was able to react faster than grown men. You seem to have awakened the mental world I suppose, even at such a young age. However, you don't seem to possess a dantian. I'll put an end to you hear and now, before you become a threat later on". The man says as his figure burns with flames, I whisper something in Sebastian's ear and he signals the other royals to inform them of our plan. The man shoots forward he wields a short sword and aims to cut my head of but he hits one of my blades instead. The man is indeed strong, but he paid less attention to his mind. I'm able to dodge while throwing my blades and lunging forward. All the royals and me charge towards the nearest assassin. He is too shocked to avoid what is coming next, and Sebastian doesn't hesitate to stab his spear into the left side of his chest, and I slash my swords froward making the man meet the same fate as his friend. "You don't have to kill them you cold-blooded fiend". Sebastian yells as the second man's head rolls lifeless on the ground. "It's either them or you, pick one", I say coldly as the one-eyed man remains still analyzing what had happened. Igor's group seems to steadily overwhelm their opponent. Though the man throws attacks non-stop, the group still manages to evade them and attack, though Igor serves as a meat shield to any attack the royals can't seem to evade making him bleed and gain bruises and cuts in the process. 'This man is too dangerous to take on alone, better wait for Alexander to get here.' I think as I scan and analyze the outcome of our battle. The royals are drained, the guards are severely injured or in need of instant treatment while the two remaining assassin's seem completely fine from our previous offensive. The assassin fighting Igor's group eventually pushes his opponent's back using a wall made of dense gales. Igor tries to protect the royals as much as possible leading to him breaking the bones in his arms and legs, Yet, the wall still flings his group to one of the trees behind them. "The fight was too boring to continue", the man says as he looks pitifully at Igor. He's unable to move and can't even protect himself anymore. The fire assassin stretches his hand forward and everyone expects what's coming as we all hold our breadths as the fire assassin releases a tongue of flame towards Igor's position. The royals jump out in time and the flame is about to crash on Igor's face before a wall of wind blocks it. The assassin glares at his companion wondering why he blocked the attack the companion shrugs his shoulders and respnds,"it wasn't me".
.......
.......
.......
.......
Another hooded man steps out of the thick forest but this time, we all let out a sigh of relief knowing who it is. Alexander looks annoyed as his glares at the remaining assassins. He's completely covered in blood and I expect him to have faced some trouble. The water assassin attempts to run knowing who they are facing but he doesn't get to far as a thick slash severs his upper body from the lower one. He is at a loss for words as he turns his head to see a smiling Alexander and a shocked crowd of people before his senses grows dark. Even with my mind, I couldn't follow the attack. And this happens to be the man I've been sparring with and even hoping to lay a finger on him.
"Xiantian, head down the forest with the royals. There's a short cliff inhabited by dangerous beasts and a steep gorge on the way, be careful". Alexander says before drawing his knife again.
"So you're the infamous Alexander l
Lee I've been hearing about. Did you really think I'd let those kids go so easily". He says with a wide grin. "You can try" Alexander says and I feel a barrage coverage I and the group. I pick up my second blade as we head towards the end of the forest.
..........
..........
..........
As we reach the ends of the forest there's a steep gorge ahead just like Alexander had said. They're holes on its surface they should be caves which tells us that different animals and beasts inhabit those areas. I take the lead of the group, avoiding any caves or paths that alert my mental sphere. We stay close to the wall, as the road is extremely narrow that any slight mistake could draw the line between life and death. We continuously move forward and the path becomes steeper, with more caves and more narrow roads. Alexander told us to head this way because it was a short cut. The other way would be too long to reach Taewan city.
I can tell that were almost at the end of the gorge. Then before we cross one of the largest cave entrances we could've encountered, Sebastian places his arm on my shoulder. "Thanks for everything back there Xiantian, but... I think you've done enough for someone of your status. You are extremely strong, even stronger than us royals. I'm sure you know why I can't let you go on with your journey". He says with an evil grin. "Let go.....", I say before realizing something in the utter rubbish he was saying. I widen my eyes in shock as realization dawned upon me. I try to run but Sebastian is faster than me and shoves me dip dark pit. "Thank you for your rude but meaningful service to the royal family. We thank you for your service". Sebastian says with both him and the royals behind him smiling. 'They always planned to get rid of me one way or the other, these bastards!' is all that crosses my mind before falling into the darkness.