Asta could feel he was different from these masked men, but this only made him more excited since he can finally go all out with his spells and swordsmanship for experience. He looked to be around 12-13 years old. As soon he noticed Asta he spoke "So you're the one who killed my subordinates, tell me how do you wish to die? "
Asta - "It depends whether you have the ability to do so! "
The boy frowned, he could feel Asta was most probably a peak 1-star mage, but the bodies of his subordinates that he destroyed spoke of his ability, so he immediately cast a fireball to which Asta replied with one of his own. They both noticed the quick casting speed and proficiency. Asta then used windblade to probe for more information from his opponent, which was dealt with an earth wall from the opponent's side.
'So earth affinity, a bit troublesome' thought Asta
'Fire and wind with great speeds, who is he' thought the boy.
They both kept exchanging spells, but it was becoming obvious that Asta had a disadvantage since the boy had more mana and stronger spells. So Asta had to negate it with mixing two spells which used a lot of mana and it was draining on his mind and body, so he decided to get serious and started using his sword to send slashes in an attempt to stop him from using stronger spells. The boy smirked under his mask and kept dodging while keeping a distance from Asta.
Asta still hadn't used his perfectly merged Flamethrower spell yet, because he could sense there was more to the boy, much more than just spells and great physical ability.
"Firewave"
"Fireball" "Windgale"
Asta was using fireball to hold up the spell and coating his wind attribute to his sword to negate the spell. Asta was getting really tired, he started realize that he couldn't win like this. So he used mana on his whole body and rushed towards the boy, even though this might drain his mana, he needed to get close, he couldn't win from a distance. The boy also noticed this and
"Fireball"
sent a quick spell, but to his surprise, Asta didn't dodge or cast a spell instead just took it head on, his clothes burned but he kept coating his body with mana which negated much of the damage, the boy was caught off gaurd and tried to use his earth defensive spell but Asta was quicker and swung his sword
"Windgale"
Even though the boy had tried to cover his body with mana, he didn't cover his whole body so slash reached his shoulders and blood started dripping down
"Aaarghh, damn it you're persistent"
Both of them still had their masks on, but they had blood all over their body, their clothes were tattered and they were breathing heavily. Without giving the boy time to rest, Asta quickly casted his fused spell with all the mana he had left
"Ahhhhhh, flamethrower"
He yelled out at his battle cry and a huge flame wave erupted from his hands and were being concentrated in one place. The boy immediately sensed the danger this spell had at close range since his broke even after his mana coat and realized that Asta had used his Trump card, he too used his own, a darkness attribute or an inheritance. He yelled out,
"Phoenix Wrath" and a numerous flames destroyed Asta's attack and he felt an enormous amount of pressure on his body as if he was something insignificant.
Asta POV -
As soon as I saw him use that huge spell, I immediately felt pressure like there was a mountain on my back. I didn't have mana Or strength to continue the fight anymore but that pressure was something else as it was forcing me to kneel in front of him. It had that noble aura and presence as if a higher being was in front of me. I concluded that this was a darkness attribute or an inheritance related to fire or something. But suddenly my mind started going haywire, I started remembering my past life, like something was triggered, I heard him say
"Good, kneel in front of me and offer your head. You should've realised the difference between you and me, I have talent and you have nothing, this is the power granted to me because of my qualifications while you have nothing"
'Ahh I see, all this time I've been a hypocrite, I became the very thing I despised. I became arrogant' my mind was being split apart, my eyes turned hazy, was this it? Was this all I could manage even with everything, am I truly useless?
I remembered, I remembered the mocking looks I received in the past life when I started out because I wasn't strong enough,
'Ha! such a weak body and you want to join the federation'
'Man I wish I had what you smoked kid, trying to undergo the agent training while having no qualifications'
I remembered, the previous world, where I was the weakest, I had no background, no accomplishments, nothing. I was picked up from the streets, an orphan due to the war and chaos. I gritted my teeth through training, torture, hunger, extreme conditions, we were trained everywhere but I survived everything. Not those bastards who mocked me, but me, the weak one.
And I remembered him, my teacher. The one who taught me spying, infiltration and information management and combat. He remembered his words,
'The one with the highest strength isn't the strongest, it's the one survives that's the strongest'
His memories slowly started flooding in. He was in no position to protect himself from the incoming attack from the boy. But before he could step forward there was a voice filled with strength,
"Alright, that's enough, you've defeated him. It's enough no? I don't want to interfere as long as you aren't trying to kill him"
The boy was visibly shaken as he couldn't sense where the voice was coming from, he stopped using his darkness mana and tried to reply but he was cut off,
"What's your name kid, I don't think you're from around here seeing that your hair is red"
The voice spoke again, I recognized this voice, it was grandpa's voice. I relaxed and went into my own mind space since my memories were triggered. And I learnt an important lesson today, this world has a lot of monstrous individuals and I was just restricting myself this whole time. These memories were my own strength, an advantage that I myself have been keeping away subconsciously.
'Maybe I was afraid that I'd change, that I'd lose myself and lose all the love and warmth that I've gained in this life. But it's a part of me, a part of my strength and those memories don't define me, not anymore'
I stopped resisting and started assimilating my memories and I immediately felt a burden of my chest, I was too stuck up and too arrogant thinking of doing it all without using all of my advantages. It's time to change that. I slowly started losing consciousness, although I didn't get my complete memories, I had enough to not hold me back anymore.
Leonard POV -
'I only wanted to watch them fight and let the kid take care of if himself but that red hair changed my mind. If I'm not wrong it should be from the Phoenix Empire, what is he doing her? '
At this point I felt a fluctuation of mana and looked over to see that brat was closing his eyes but his mana was a erratic but it was slowly calming down.
'So it was a mental attack, a darkness attribute'
I looked over at the kid and said,
"What's your name kid, I don't think you're from around here seeing that your hair is red"
I could see him immediately lose his composure upon learning that his mask and cloak were gone.
Red hair, blue eyes and good looking features, definitely a high noble. But what are they doing here. The kid replied,
"My name is Alec senior"
I immediately let out some pressure and told him
"Don't lie kid, I can sense you when you're lying, tell me your real name and why you're here"
Now I'm starting to wonder why he's here, after all the Phoenix empire is very secretive.
"My name is Austin Mcburn senior. My teacher brought me to this forest to train and get experience"
'Hmmm, he's still hiding something I think, well whatever, he doesn't look like he's alone and the brat looks like he'll lose consciousness'
"Alright, leave. Since you're not from here, I advice you to go back to where you came from"
He left after nodding and I immediately picked up Asta and left towards the cave. Sigh he makes me worried with how reckless he is. Well at least I hope this loss will help me grow out of his arrogance.
As soon as we reached the cave, I noticed the lass Dorothy meditating, I didn't disturb her and put him down and started treating his injuries. I soon noticed how his body was slowly recovering on its own.
'Does he have a darkness attribute too? Now that I think about it, that bastard Wilson's family was supposed to have some sort of trail of strength, hmm I'll need to talk to his parents'
The lass opened her eyes and noticed that he was unconscious and immediately started spewing out killing intent and asked me,
"Can you please tell me what happened and who did it?"
Looking at her cold eyes and chilling killing intent, I couldn't help but wonder
'Sheesh, if you have so much feelings for me, why don't you just tell him instead of being so obsessed'
After an hour of making sure she understood the he was fine and was just exhausted. She finally let it go and waited for him to wake up.
After an hour, he woke up and I immediately felt a different pressure from him that sent chills down my spine and I could see his eyes were glowing golden. I immediately understand that his own darkness attribute had awakened and it was strong enough to make me feel threatened. looks like I'll need to have a long conversation with his parents and him. I told him to rest a bit and left.
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