My blade made contact.
Clang—!
But it didn't pierce flesh. It simply bounced off a thin, light blue shield that appeared suddenly in the air.
I knew this spell very well. It was one of the very first spells I added to my [ Spells ] document. It was also one of the most-used spells for wizards which they usually mastered first.
Edward Thrum was one of those wizards who did so. He must have spent hours upon hours practising the spell.
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Spell: Mana Shield
Mana Consumption: Moderately Heavy
Number of Mana Programs: 1-3
Description: Mana Shield creates a temporary shield of mana to protect the caster that dissipates after a few seconds. At low proficiency, Mana Shield requires the caster to actively cast and recast. At higher proficiencies, Mana Shield can be cast beforehand and automatically appear whenever a threat is sensed.
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"Hahaha!" The laughter of the wizard before me was crazed. "I knew you bastards would come!"
Edward yelled out at the top of his lungs as if trying to draw attention to himself. A few drinkers indeed looked over, but the tavern was too lively for one voice to shake.
Edward frowned.
"Deaf f*ckers," He growled as his eyes landed on me. I squinted in reply, with my dagger already pulled back and ready for another venomous strike.
My eyes glinted with a deep, light blue shine. I knew how Mana Shield worked. I constructed it myself, and its most grating weakness were strikes fuelled by precision.
And I was capable of simple precision. After all, this was the most basic shielding spell there was.
With Mana Vision, I could see where the weakest link of mana was. And I was a bit confident I was capable of hitting it.
Fwhip—
I stabbed out once again. Meanwhile, Edward, in his arrogance, refused to move. In fact, he was even smiling.
"All you have is a rusted dagger. How f*cking pathetic! I was right to destroy the Luster Mountain Bandits. They would never get anywhere!" Edward grinned, "You must be Caelum, right? I didn't see you when leader made her talk. What were you doing? How mad are you to be to challenge me, a wizard, with a blunt stick?!"
I kept silent as I inwardly cackled. Edward was as arrogant as I wrote him to be. He was predictable. He was a puppet whose strings I had control of.
The one who's pathetic is you, my little creation.
Crack—!
The light blue mana shield snapped the moment I thrust my dagger into its weakest point. My blade then struck swiftly, rejuvenated by the extra step I took forward.
"Huh—?!" Edward gasped. His eyes shrank in shock and his reflexes saved him. He dodged to his side. My dagger pierced into cloth.
I missed.
I was still too slow for a one-shot kill. I clicked my tongue. This wasn't good.
Another Mana Shield appeared in the air. My irises flashed, and I saw through its weakness. I stabbed out and snapped the shield in an instant.
"How—?!" Edward was in disbelief as he dodged again. He was a frog in a well, unaware of spell counters that college-level mages were forced to master.
This time, I pierced into his arm. I felt my dagger dig through skin and flesh. I also perceived a small bounce as it made contact with bone.
Come on, let me kill you, I thought.
Nervousness was creeping towards me with every failed attempt I made in killing Edward. If the man had the space to cast an offensive spell, I was surely dead. If not, then at least severely wounded.
Thus, I could not give him that space.
I continued my attacks, finding it pleasing that I now had enough familiarity to strike the weakness of each Mana Shield that appeared. It was like a rhythm game. Strike, strike, strike.
I could feel the growing number of gazes falling upon my form. We were drawing attention.
But Edward was still very much alive. He had a wounded arm, but he wouldn't bleed out from such a wound. I needed a deeper strike. An incapacitating attack.
It was then,
Swish—!
A ball of frost flew past me as I broke another Mana Shield. It struck Edward squarely in the face.
"Agh! Who dares!" He screamed as he clawed at his slowly freezing features.
Miana finally acted. I could finally end this charade.
Ssuk—
My dagger found its way into Edward's chest. It hit bone first, but I pulled it back and stabbed again with all my weight. I pushed Edward off his feet and used his fall to supplement my stab.
This time, my blade pierced through his ribs and tore into the organs inside.
"Yes!" I hissed as I pulled out my blade again and stabbed yet another time. "Perish!"
After three more stabs, I felt movement in the crowd of drinkers. Vague voices were yelling out from within the commotion.
I took this as my cue to leave. I pulled out my blade and fled. The drunkards all subconsciously made way in the face of my dagger. I noticed one man trying to stop me, but a stray ball of frost was fired into his face.
I glanced in the direction of the frost ball and I saw Miana nodding at me solemnly. I nodded back.
"Thanks," I said to her.
I watched as Miana mouthed her words, "You have skill, Caelum Phricius, but your strength is underdeveloped. I hope we do meet again."
Miana then disappeared into the crowd behind her.
...
After escaping the tavern and hiding within an alleyway I charted beforehand, I discarded my mask and cloak and set both of them on fire.
I returned to the streets of Gobble with no one the wiser.
My hands were still shaking. It was likely that Edward was dead. No, I was sure that he was. Especially with what Miana did to him.
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Spell: Frost Ball
Mana Consumption: Light
Number of Mana Programs: 1-2
Description: Frost Ball shoots out a ball of frost that freezes the first object it hits. At low proficiency, the size, rate of freezing, and temperature of the ball are only capable of freezing water. At higher proficiencies, all of its offensive traits increase.
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A large portion of his respiratory system was frozen by Miana's [ Frost Ball ] spell. His nostrils and his mouth were both blocked all the way into his throat. Taking any freezing spell to the face was never a pleasant experience.
It was usually lethal.
Add on to the fact that I had stabbed him several times, he would bleed out just as fast as he would run out of oxygen. Perhaps I had pierced his heart into pieces. I don't know. I just stabbed with a singular purpose.
As such, he was surely dead.
And I had gained a connection with a future criminal underworld boss.