The mages were aware of Lync's speed and how quick it'd be for him to end this fight.
With his longsword unsheathed his malevolent intent was directed toward me, and in a moment's notice he performed a burst of speed that made him seem like he'd teleported.
A dash through mid-air purely with momentum and leg strength.
In a moment's notice he'd appeared right in front of me with his sword swung in an arc ever so swiftly. An intent to fatally hack my chest.
With faster [Thought Processing] and movement, his blade missed me, violently striking the air instead. The shock on his face was obvious and expected.
'What!?' Lync searched for me, only to find out I was in front of Yugta and three meters away from him. Even the fellow I'd appeared before was amazed.
"You should chill out.." I said to Yugta noticing his fruitless attempt to attack me, but from my outstretched right arm a radiant blue, cold gas pulsed like a misty outburst from the palm.
[--Magic skill: Freeze gas--] He was frozen solid, any longer than twenty minutes and he'd die of hypothermia.
Another ambush came from behind. Spheres made entirely out of electrical energy that moved in rapid succession [--Lightning magic: Lightning sphere] about four in number.
Notwithstanding, I was up to the task, turning to face the spheres I neutralized them by forming a blue force-bubble around me that strengthened more as the sphere made contact [--Ultra wall formation--].
"Sorry, but I saw you coming with [Mana Sense].." barely anything could get past me with such an ability.
The attack came from the female mage; Dvena. She intended to attack again but this time I didn't grant her the comfort of such.
From my palms, force field-like webs of energy emerged [--Magic skill: Energy web--] and divided into a number of intersecting webs that ensnared her in its grasp.
The webs were tightly interconnected so there was no breaking out of it.
She struggled with all her might, unbeknownst to her that if she eventually broke free of the web's hold she'd be electrocuted.
Since it was made of energy, the dispersion of it's current form would result in a violent discharge of it's component particles.
"That's another down, three to go.." I muttered with an easygoing tone.
There wasn't any chance to breathe in-between battling these mages.
"Bastard!" Beltin charged vehemently, his target was the throat using his sharp blade, once again I could easily react to this. Light and sound all spawn from magicubes which are converted into perceptible data for my use.
His blade shattered into bits and pieces upon clashing with my blue force-bubble which I'd manifested at point-blank range.
But this particular defensive spell I had cast processed the kinetic energy used to drive the sword, and maximized it. It deflected a repulsive wave of energy [--Reflect: Ultra wall--] that launched him across the forest as if by gravitational push.
Flung helplessly, almost comically spinning through the air like a rag doll. His physical pain was by the sound of his voice excruciating, not even having the breath to scream.
"Way to go Nyx!" Alaric cheered me on from afar. Then he paused to reduce the pains talking inflicted on his sides.
"Alright who's next?" I asked like it was a contest of some sort.
It was three down and two left. Lync and Fushu, it didn't seem as difficult anymore. The latter had his eyes on me hitherto and he'd conjured his analysis on me, "The Cryo Manzardill's freezing gas, the blackulus spider's energy webs, mana sense... we must be cautious, he seems to possess a number of skills." urging Lync not to make any brash moves.
'This child, how does he possess this level of power?' the old man asked himself.
Flummoxed, although I had no right to be. This old man had listed out the number of skills put on display even the ones that should be imperceivable to the normal eyes.
By that, I meant [mana sense].
Being extremely secretive and cautious about any and all intentions made was the smarter route for now.
"Can we stop this already, I don't wanna have to beat you anymore than I already have.." a well-timed witty comment can be good. But the passive-aggressive statement that masked frustration just beneath the surface constituted the best snide remarks.
Lync didn't find this attitude pleasant, to him it was appalling. "Shut your mouth you insolent brat!" this was the first time he'd lost his cool since the encounter.
"So uh... that's a no?" I uttered uninterestedly while I removed dried mucus from my nostrils via my index finger.
What a mistake. I'd become complacent.
Fushu appeared in a haze of light and instantly blitzed me from behind.
My eyes widen which gets crosscut with the man aiming to slit my throat with his grotesque claws. As my legs tensed up, I got a closeup of his gleaming eyes sharpened on me like I was his prey.
His hand struck through the air with violent force, but didn't reach me before I could react. I dodged by moving so quickly only a rush of wind was left in my wake.
It was like a flash step, I wasn't even aware how I'd been able to react to an attack so effortlessly quick and lethal. I moved faster than the human eye could follow.
'How'd I do that...?' naturally, Scentia had an answer.
[>> The opponent's potential speed bypassed mana sense, your sensory capabilities were altered to support impending attack. Hence, "wild sense" was employed. An additional skill that divides consciousness from body movement to enable independent body movement based solely on instinct <<]
In other words, he almost killed me.
This old man wasn't like the others, he was on another level entirely. His speed in close combat, it was implausible.
How was he able to bypass my [Mana Sense]?
"It seems I may have underestimated you child, I was certain I slit your throat in half.." his distorted, unnatural arm was buried underneath his black cloak a further time.
It made sense now! there was a delay in my reaction time and this was only because my perception was purely magical whereas the old timer's was exclusively physical.
[Wild Sense] focused mainly on sensing the physical phenomenons like a person's emotions, so naturally his bloodlust was pungent enough to catch instantly.
I must've gained [Wild Sense] after adeptly acquiring numerous sensory skills from varying animals at the dungeon.
'He may have missed his intended target, but then again...' a sharp cut manifested on my left cheek, blood rolled down from the opening. 'He could still make contact no matter how miniscule.'
"You're a fool if you thought you could win against all five of us.." Lync uttered prior to sheathing his longsword again. "Your arrogance will be your downfall, make peace with your own." he added previous to assuming his battle stance.
Brace yourself.
[ Unique Skill ---> Oracle Engine ]
[ Additional Skill ---> Wild Sense ]
I assumed my fighting stance as well, there was a 90% chance that of the two, Fushu would make the first move.
Because [Wild Sense] was active, my irises became a pale blue colour and an insubstantial, aeriform aura surged throughout my body. I had given the area a distinctive atmosphere.
Six meters apart, we both focused on one another, isolating the environment around us.
Our dominant forearms clashed briefly after we appeared at the midpoint of our initial distance from one another.
The ground beneath us broke apart under force, air pressure fractured the ground even further.
We pulled back and using speed assisted by agility we exchanged explosive punches and kicks that moved so quickly we were barely visible.
I was able to increase my striking force. Enough that my fists generated air bursts with every punch, and yet Fushu was versed enough in combat to match whatever I threw at him.
It didn't take long to get sent flying into a tree, I coughed up a bit of blood. So this is why they are comparable to Gold-ranked mages.
"I'll finish things off.."
Lync manifested a spark of fire in his palm after amassing enough magicubes from within.
He summoned forth a devastatingly large incendiary detonation. One that erupted beneath me, the flame rushed into the sky like a heating destructive pillar that ate the forest away little by little.
As for me, I was caught within these sea of flames.
Originally, their goal was to cause as little damage as possible and acquire the target. But my involvement temporarily turned their goals to annihilating me before anything else.
And thus far, they may have succeeded...