"Alright boys, Fetch me their souls!" Mandy yelled. As he said that, howls of dogs echoed behind her. Three dogs appeared from the shadows from the trees and immediately began to run towards us.
Lilith was already at her feet, twirling her short sword in hand with anticipation. Her left eye glowing a pure red, her dragon eye activated. She swiftly moved out into the middle of the trail and held a position, taking on her fire king stance.
"Lilith? What are you doing?!" I heard Kale yell. I turned to him and saw that he was guarding Amelia, Claire and Chris. He had both of his swords drawn as he watched on, unwilling to leave the three by themselves.
Now to begin my plan.
"K-Kale, I have an idea!" I yelled, stumbling to my feet and staring at him.
"What?! Please don't let it be stupid!" He looked at me with concern.
"Uh…Maybe? I'm going to see if anyone is near us to help, I'm shooting a flame into the air as a way to signal our position!"
"Right here?!" He yelled. "You'll burn the trees above us!" I looked up and realized that he was right. Shooting the flames here would end up burning the whole forest if I casted it. I need to be in the open…But that means I need to be where the river is. It'll be a quick cast, one large flame that'll disperse in the sky
"Don't worry, I got that planned out!" I said, stumbling to my feet. "Let me and Lilith handle this!"
"Are you out of your mind?! That's not going to happen, I can't let you kids do this!" Kale said. "It's too dangerous!"
The howls and rumbling of paws drew closer as he said that. Any moment, these dogs will start attacking. With Kale occupied with the three, it's literally just me and Lilith. I got to do something! Ok, Travis…it's either us or them…us or them…fight for survival. Let's strip that moral code right now and kill these dogs and then Mandy!
But first…I need to make something to protect Amelia, Claire and Chris.
"Sorry, Kale! But you can handle those Three!" I yelled, slamming my staff into the ground. I silently casted a Earth spell called Fortress, a beginner Earth spell that should be able to withstand whatever these monsters dish out at them.
Pieces of the ground began to emerge from the floor around the four, creating a small tent of sorts that encased them. Kale looked surprised at how fast it was created, but quickly looked back at me.
"K-Kota, you are going to be in so much trouble once this is done!" Kale yelled.
And I took that as him finally agreeing to let me do my plan.
Now to actually figure out how to not die right now. There's three dogs who are just a couple of meters away from Lilith, seeing how she was able to handle herself during our wolf bounty, she should be fine. I can stay in the back and cast Quicksand from here, making it easier for her to atta-
The sound of rusting and a snarl snapped me out of my thoughts, I glanced to my left and saw another dog had managed to sneak up on me! Mandy didn't call just three, she called a bunch more! This dog was close enough to bite off my face. Travis, think!
Lifting my left hand, I silently casted a Wind spell aimed right at the body of the dog. I poured a lot of mana into this spell, feeling a surge and rocket through my palm. The blast of air blew right out of my palm, hitting the dog faster than it could get to me. It flew backwards, spiraling in the air before it crashed right into one of the trees. I couldn't tell if I knocked it out or I just killed it, but I'm just hoping it doesn't get back up.
Turning to Lilith, I saw that she had already taken down one of the dogs that charged at her. Her shortsword buried into its body as she slammed it to the ground. Using the momentum from the slam, she rolled over its body as the second dog came leaping at her. I saw her quickly pull the sword out of the dead one and swiftly sliced down the leaping dog, cutting the dog cleanly in the middle. It's two halves splitting and making a sloppy noise as they ragdolled past her, sliding towards me with a bloody trail.
"Ugh…Focus, Travis…" I said to myself. I need to start realizing that situations like these will happen. I've been saying that to myself for some time and still I get grossed out…
Then, out of nowhere, the Third dog came lunging at Lilith from her Right side. It even took her by surprise as she was wiping the blood from her face. With her sword lowered, leaving herself open, she'd be bitten. She didn't have time to react.
However, I was able to react! I had my staff raised and instantly at the third dog, already thinking of what to cast. Something with high speed, full velocity, something that'll pierce the dog in an instant. Like a pellet…a bullet.
As my mana surged through my staff, a moderately sized rock quickly formed at the end of the staff. It shaped itself into a more rounded one, I needed aerodynamics to play into my favor. My mind formed it into a bullet. Still, this was a beginner Earth spell. It's called Stone Piecer, but I was going to call this something else…
"Bullet shot!" I yelled out. The Earth spell shooting right instantly out of my staff. The initial shot made me physically recoil, just like a gun.
The spell shot at a lightning speed, the wind hissed and left a trail as the rock pierced through the dog's head. The force of the impact pushed the dog away, its head pouring out blood as it spun and collapsed onto the ground a couple of feet away from Lilith. Lilith looked with surprise at the sudden magic I did, glancing at the now dead dog and me.
"W-woah! Nice save!" Lilith complimented me as she stood up. Her face was now clear of the blood, even though the rest of her shirt was soaked in it. "I don't think I've seen you use that one before."
"Never found a reason to use it until now." I simply said. Which was true, rarely I find myself using earth spells beside Quicksand.
The sounds of dripping water and sloshing footsteps caught our attention. As me and Lilith looked towards the river, we saw Two large humanoid figures. They reminded me of the ones I fought in the alley, though it seems like these two were more skinnier looking. Their hands horrifically morphed into swords, looking as if their bones were carved into the shape. They still had torn clothing on them, reminders of their past. Judging by what's left from it…These two were Swordsmen.
Mandy hopped around the river, playing with the water as he spoke. "Wow! Took out my dogs, I'll admit I'm impressed!" He twirled his Bo staff around, water flicking off the ends as he did. "Let's see how you deal with things when I crank it up!" He held his Bo staff towards us.
"I-ice storm!" A gurgling voice rang from across the river
That's when I noticed across the river, near the forested area of it, another humanoid figure was casting a spell. A blue magical circle began to form above me, large icicles slowly sliding out of it.
I quickly began to move out of its way by rolling, avoiding the icicles that fell down. But then as I got back up from the roll, I looked up to see Mandy plummeting down towards me with his No staff ready to slam down. How is he this quick?!
"Got ya!" Yelled Mandy as he plummeted.
Using the wind spell from earlier, I used my left hand once more to cast it. I aimed to my right and blasted it. The blast of wind caused me to be pushed to the left and I flew into the trees before Mandy could slam me. As He slammed the ground where I used to be, I could see a large dent that was made into the ground. If I hadn't moved, I would've just exploded right then and there!
"Haha, You are fast!" Mandy laughed. I scrambled to my feet as he continued talking. "I love it when they make me work for it! Haha!"
"Agh, stop with the sexual innuen-Wah!" Before I could finish my sentence, Mandy was already charging at me with his Bo staff ready to thrust at me. With barely any time to move, I once again used my wind spell to blast myself away. I found myself tumbling and trying to find my feet, the sound of water and swords flashing ringing close to my ear. I was closer to the river, but I was surrounded by the forest.
"Aw, does the little boy not like being teased?" I heard Mandy's voice echo in the trees. The sound of branches snapping and the sound of the wind hissing made me look around anxiously. "I noticed that there were TWO blue haired girls. Haha…Didn't expect you to be bringing bonuses for me!"
Mandy is too fast for me, too strong as well. I couldn't really put up a fight with him the last time I fought him, it was kale who managed to at least get some hits on him. I need to play defensively, make him play to my advantage! I need to keep him at range, or at least distract him long enough to cast a spell. I need to also get out of this Forest, there's too many trees blocking my view!
I'll need to move this fight out to the open, I gotta find a way to ma-
"Don't keep yourself open like that, Hero!" I heard a yell coming from my right. As I looked, Mandy swung from the trees and came hurling at me. With no time to cast a spell, I tried to protect myself by holding my staff in front of me. Mandy rolled onto the ground before swinging upwards with his Bo staff.
As it connected with my staff, I immediately felt the raw power that Mandy had. It was like being hit by a damn truck or something, the whole damn swing sent me flying backwards. I could've sworn I heard my staff almost snapping from the impact. Trees flew past me and eventually I found myself getting hit by sunlight, the sound of water splashing singing into my ears as I plummeted into the water. My staff flew out of my hands in the process, twirling in the air before I splashed a few feet away from me. I landed back first into the water, the cold water shocking me for a moment. Luckily, it seemed the water was that deep and I managed to stay afloat.
Shaking myself off a bit, I stood up and noticed the humanoid figure standing near the edge of the river. It looked plainly at me as it slowly, almost like it was surprised to see me here. It then quickly raised its staff at me, an old wooden staff.
I quickly held out my right palm, imagining the compressed air alongside using ice to freeze it. My own spell that I made. Dry ice. My hand began to surge with mana before I felt my palm begin to freeze, a white orb began to form in front of it.
"Winds become mine, allow me to use nature itself to blast those away! Wind sho-."
Before they could finish it, I blasted the Dry ice straight at them. It hit his wooden staff first, expelling the rest of the dry ice all around its body. Instantly, the dry ice began to freeze them. White flakes began to form around them, enclosing onto its face.
"W-wind shot!" It finally finished its sentence. A final word for it before quickly its mouth was covered. The wooden staff shot out a wind blast, straight at me.
"Gah!" I yelled, getting hit right in the stomach by it. It wasn't that strong, but it was enough to have me fall backwards. I fell back to the waters, slowly spinning within the water as I stared at the sun. The mage was now encased and frozen. Hopefully.
This fight is taking quite a bit out of me. My mana still feels plenty, but my body feels exhausted physically. Just a few hits have taken a toll on me.
The sounds of clashing swords still rang from where me and Lilith used to be, I pulled my head from the waters to see if she was ok. From a distance, I could see Lilith had taken out one of the swordsmen. It laid on the floor, bleeding from its open neck wound. A quick kill made by Lilith. Just further away, near our now broken carriage, Lilith was clashing with the other Swordsmen. Both Lilith's and the swordsman's bone-like sword clashing against each other, with Lilith seemingly pushing it back with her own brute force.
"Hraaagh!" Lilith yelled, lifting her right leg to kick at the swordsman's left shin. The brute force of the kick caused the swordsman's legs to just snap in two. The swordsmen lurched forward, unable to bear the weight of itself now that one of its legs was now unusable.
"Fire King style: Flash Strike!" Lilith used the opportunity to grab the swordsman's right hand, allowing her to strike it. For a short instance, she began to glow a bright white before instantly her sword struck up. The speed she used for the attack was so quick that a large gust blew behind the swordsman, blowing pieces of the broken carriage back towards the small safe spot I made for Kale.
I recall Lilith actually using this sword attack on me once. Here, it seemed like she wasn't going overboard with it like she did with me. The shockwave after effect didn't happen at all with this one. It still had remarkable speed though, as I barely even caught that she did it.
The humanoid looking creature twitched at its spot, holding itself for a moment before it began to split in half. The left side of its body began to slide to the ground, blood squirting and leaving a mess where it laid. Lilith was still holding the other half of the body before casually pushing it away from her.
"I told you…Keep focus!" A voice yelled. As I looked up, I noticed the sun was being blocked. A shadow of a figure soaring in the air, and it was getting closer. "Stop gawking at your girlfriend and focus on me!" It was Mandy, seemingly coming from the air!
Scrambling to my feet, I tried to run in the water to avoid the now incoming boy. I needed to grab my staff! I only made it a couple of steps before Mandy made impact, the water splashed and I found myself being launched from the force of his hit. I landed a few feet away, just barely inches away from my staff.
"Golly, it took so much effort to set up this ambush!" Mandy annoyingly said, standing up in the water. "And somehow I'm finding it more difficult to handle two kids! First you, and now this overly strong girl! That was all I brought with me!" He then rubbed his forehead, clearly frustrated.
I stumbled to my feet once more. "You aren't getting those girls! We already have that client of yours caught! Your contract with the Demont family is over!"
Mandy stood there, staring blankly at me.
"There's no reason why you'd be doing this! So just give up!
I reached behind my back, silently casting a fireball. At this point, I'm stalling. Distracting this guy long enough would make me able to fire this spell, I just need a couple more seconds to-
"Really?" Mandy said, a grin crept through his face. "I guess D'rogh would've slipped up. So, my Client has been caught, huh? No more kidnapping for me." The sinister gaze he gave me shook me to my core. "Haha…That just makes it all better for me!"
"Huh?!" I looked at him with confusion. "You aren't upset that you couldn't finish your job?!"
"Tsk,Tsk Tsk…You don't know the half of it." Mandy pulled his Bo staff away from his shoulder, aiming it at me. "But I'll let you in on something else. The Demont Family ain't my real Client."
What? But Kale said the Prusha guard found a contract detailing their buy and what they wanted. You telling me that Mandy ain't the person who asked them to kidnap Claire? No…Maybe it's something else? Mandy wouldn't come out here to kidnap a girl for no reason, there's something more to this!
"Haha! Look at the face you have! All dumbfounded!" Mandy laughed. "Really stumped you there, huh?!"
I'm finding myself more confused right now, focus! I still need to finish my plan, and Fire this spell! I can feel the heat emanating from my hand, it's burning me.
Without saying anything else, I lifted my left hand into the air. Mandy looked at me with surprise, not knowing that I was silently casting a spell behind my back. The fiery orb then shot out of my hand, surging through the air as it hissed and left a smoke trail.
"What the fu-" That was all Mandy could say, looking up before that fire orb exploded in the air, a loud boom echoed loudly through the air. A large smoke cloud was left over from the spell, hopefully being enough to attract people to us.
Mandy then looked at me, furious. "Haah?! The hell are you doing? Trying to see if anyone is coming? No one is coming!" He then began to charge at me, his staff ready to thrust into me. "You little shit!"
Before Mandy could reach me, something caught his attention. The sound of water splashing fast made him turn his head. I looked to see who it was. A flash of silver hair and a fist balled up was all I could see before it connected to Mandy's face.
"You're annoying!" Lilith yelled. It was her who came dashing over to me, her left red eye still glowing.
Mandy then flew from Lilith's punch, splashing in the water before rolling and recovering from the punch a few feet away from us. Mandy shakingly stood up, pressing his hand against his face. I could see some blood coming from his face. He looked up at Lilith, more angrier than before. His nose was bleeding.
"Hah…I thought I was going to have fun with you, but you're really pissing me off right now!" Mandy yelled.
Lilith stared at him, raising her shortsword. "Good. Anger can blind some."
Wait, has Lilith started to control her anger? Woah, She's actually listening to me and kale!
"Sorry, I went to check on Kale and the others." Lilith said without looking at me. "Kale seems a bit mad, but he didn't move from the thing you built."
"That's fine. I managed to fire the signal, hopefully someone will come by and help." I said.
I could see Lilith smiling. "Then let's kill this pink haired person. No one is hurting my friends!"
And Lilith dashed towards Mandy.
A/N: Hey all! Been some time since I wrote another action chapter, this time it's quite long. And it's been some time where I was able to upload pretty early! I was able to write most of last week, so I was able to push this out of my Thursday and Friday uploads.Lots of things are happening here in this chapter, including Kota using more magic than he usually does. Maybe at some point I'll include a chapter that includes all the magic that's being used, that'll take some time though. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter and wait for the next action oriented chapter!