The duo followed the direction the compass pointed to, walking further and further until the weather suddenly changed; the air was cool and had a pleasant smell to it. The sky changed too, the base color was now magenta with a bit of light blue that looked like it was sprinkled on it.
"Woah!" Ishani said after the sudden change.
"Look," Hunter said using his head to point upwards. Ishani looks up to see the sky from where they had arrived still orange.
"It's really beautiful," The dark brown-skinned woman said.
"Yeah. Wish I brought my camera," Hunter said.
"So you're a photographer? Are you any good?" Ishani asked.
"Maybe I'll show you someday," Hunter said.
They passed by a crowd of demons who were seated on one side of the road, sharing what Hunter believed to be spoils among themselves. One of the demons looked up and his eyes met with Ishani's who quickly averted her gaze.
The demon eyes the duo until they were out of sight.
A short while later, they see another group of demons, only these ones weren't sharing spoils. Instead, they had a young woman, who pleaded incessantly as they pulled her in different directions. "Mercy! Mercy!" She cried but the group was having none of it. "It's been a while since I had a human heart," said one of the demons. "Ooh, this is going to be so much fun!" said another.
'I have to do something!' Hunter thought.
[No you don't]
'Why not? They are going to eat her!'
[You're not stupid Hunter. Think!]
'Huh?' The sprite paused, looking once more at the group of demons before it finally hit him. 'Damn!' He thought, disappointed at himself for almost falling for it. He looked to his side to see Ishani with dark eyes and clenched fists.
"Ishani, don't!" He dissuades the battlemage as she began in the direction of the demons.
She doesn't respond, picking up her pace while the teal green-eyed boy grabbed her by the arm to stop her from interfering. "Don't," he shook his head. "It's a trick --" Before he could finish his sentence, the dark brown-haired woman pulls her hand from the sprite's grip and jumped toward the small crowd of demons, landing in the middle of the dark mystics.
The demons all turn and face the gray-eyed woman. "What do you think you're doing?" One of them says but the battlemage replies with a punch to the face that sends him flying away.
'Is this how you feel?'
[It's never this bad]
Ishani quickly took out a small metallic rod the size of a pencil from her pocket and uses it to strike her hips twice. The small rod extends and turns into a lance.
One of the demons shoots an energy beam from his hand at the battlemage. Before the dark brown-skinned woman could react to it, the energy beam explodes.
As the smoke from the small explosion dissipates, Ishani is standing tall in the middle of it with an energy barrier shielding her.
'I've gotta learn how to make one of those!'
Another demon with tentacles for arms uses her tentacles to try and attack the battlemage after her barrier comes down but the dark brown-haired woman uses her lance to hit it away.
Ishani runs in the air before jumping and striking the demon down. She turned back to see one of the demons transforming. She quickly spins her lance and throws it at the demon. The lance hits the demon's head before flying back to Ishani's hand like a boomerang.
The first demon that had attacked the dark brown-skinned woman jumps up in the air, forming a large pink energy ball between his hands before projecting it at the Indo-African woman. The battlemage positions her lance in front of herself and spins it so that it stops the attack from passing through. She pairs her index with her middle finger on her free hand and moves them in the air as if drawing half a circle.
The ground next to her feet brightens up with a circle of runes and suddenly, a mammoth jumps out of it. The hairy, elephant-like mammal races towards the demon before using its curved tusk to strike the demon to oblivion.
Ishani quickly rushes over to the side of the woman the demons had intended to use as the main course for their dinner.
'Well ...' Hunter thought looking at the defeated demons.
"Are you okay?" Ishani asked the woman she just saved.
[Have you ever heard of the reality spell?]
'What's that?'
[It's a spell that reveals the true nature of things]
'Err ... No.'
[Don't worry, I'll teach you. The reality spell is one of the strongest forms of natural magic and since there's no natural energy source close by you'll have to try a different method to cast it.]
'Right.'
[There's an abundance of dark magic here and you can --]
'I can?'
[There's no need for that anymore; look at your friend]
Hunter turns to Ishani to find the battlemage still trying to comfort the woman who suddenly begins to laugh hysterically.
"Huh?" said the battlemage, taking steps away from the girl as the girl dug her nails into her face and began shredding her skin and revealing his true form. The demon was extremely tall and muscular, with blood-red skin and black scales starting at the elbows of his arms and reaching all the way to the tips of his fingers. He had long, jagged, curved, blacked horns and a patch of white hair on the top of his head sticking upward, two blue stripes on his face, and a gigantic, thick, gray scale around his waist.
The demon grabs a stunned Ishani by the shoulders and drives his head toward the battlemage's neck. Hunter races forward and uses his shoulder to tackle the dark brown-skinned woman to the ground, effectively removing her from the demon's range of attack.
[Hunter move!]
The sprite turns to see the demon's clenched fist flying toward him. Hunter quickly turns, he knew he wouldn't be able to avoid the strike so he decided to block it. The dark-haired boy raised his hand and the punch catches him just below the shoulder.
'Shit! That hurts. Was that a mauve-colored attack?'
[Yes. It's a type of black magic attack that should lock your regeneration ability]
'What should I do now?'
[Avoid it. I'm also going to unlock my abilities for you]
'Didn't you once tell me your specialty is chaos magic?'
The demon throws a hook and Hunter jumps backward to avoid it.
[It is. His body is reinforced with protection spells and it would need a black bolt attack to break that]
'I see ...'
The demon throws another punch and the sprite moved to avoid it but he wasn't fast enough as the strike hits him below the shoulder - the same spot as the first strike.
Hunter falls to the ground, rolling in the dirt before stopping on both his feet. 'Another mauve-colored attack. What's the damage?'
[Apart from your left shoulder being absolutely obliterated? No regeneration ability for the next day or two]
The demon charges forward and attempts to hit Hunter with a running knee. Hunter moves out of the line of attack. This time, the sprite was fast enough to avoid the demon. He grabs the demon's heel - while the latter was still in the air - and pulls him to the ground.
Hunter pulls his arm down at a 45-degree angle. He rotates his body, his fist surrounded with black energy as he throws a mean uppercut that instantly knocks out the demon.
'Well, that was easy.' Hunter said before turning to Ishani who was still on the ground.
Hunter gives Ishani his hand, helping her up from the ground. "Are you okay?"
"Had a nasty fall from your hit ... I think something's broken," she said.
"Sorry," Hunter apologized. "It was the fastest way to get you out of his grip," he explained.
"It's fine," the dark brown-haired woman assured. "I'll take this over being dead plus you did try to warn me so I kinda deserve it," she stated.
"Which road should we take now?" She asked.
[Rest. It's late]
'It's late? It looks pretty early to me!'
[Hunter ...]
'Fine.'
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