BOOOOM!
The room shook violently, and the furniture tumbled. With no hesitation, Ace hastily crawled under the king-sized bed.
The deafening explosion rang out just outside the room. The white marble door that stood majestically was blown off, and the figures were revealed.
Standing ten feet tall, the five humanoids had reptile heads and goat-like eyes. Their bodies were covered in shiny, thick blue scales and some metal armor.
One of the figures scanned the room with its eyes and stopped at the bed. It then looked at its comrades and pointed.
"He's hiding under the bed, as expected of a coward!" There was rage and mockery as it said that. The reptiles then closed on the bed.
Ace–who was hiding under the bed–looked at the figures reflected in shiny tiles. He squinted his eyes and tried to make out the creature's figure. When he saw the scales covering its body, he thought his chances of winning to one was slim, not to mention several.
"Ah, sh*t. Miniscule Luck my ass," He unknowingly uttered in annoyance. But having realized what he just said, he covered his mouth with fear, not for the reptiles but for the higher entity that gave him the blessing.
'Forgive my insolence, Path of Dreams, I did not mean what I said.' He voiced in his head hoping he wouldn't by smitten by lightning.
Focusing his attention on the reptile-like beings closing on the bed, he racked his head trying to find suitable ways to deal with them.
This wasn't his first time facing such a situation in a 'Story', but the only difference here was his body. This body he was possessing was definitely not the athletic type; it was weak and slim.
Just as he was digging through memories, he suddenly stumbled upon the memory of this 'Character' he was possessing.
'This could work...' He thought while grinning.
***
The reptile that stood much like a human stopped their tracks when they saw a young man emerging from under the bed. The reptile behind the one leading laughed while looking at the young man.
"Hahaha, I see that coward finally surrendering." The reptile then jiggled an object that looked like dynamite tied to a string.
The young man, however, did not react or tremble in fear like they had expected when seeing the dynamite. Instead, he seemed to look down on them.
"How dare a lowly swamp creature spit down filthy words in my bedroom... Do you want to be burned at stake?" The young man with a little frail body uttered with a confident tone with head held high.
The reptiles heard that and looked at each with confusion. "Sel'avah, are you certain this is the right room?" One of them whispered to the one leading in front.
"Certainly." The leading reptile responded without shifting its gaze from the young man.
The reptile, Sel'avah opened its razor filled mouth and spoke, "Castileo Ed Trion, son of Marquis Martensir Ed Trion, you are unfit to inherit the Fiefdom of Trion. Today, you shall die." It pointed at the young man with its spear.
Raising an eyebrow, the young man let chuckle. "Hehe, what makes you confident that you can do that?" He voiced in an amused tone. The human also seemed to be relaxed and unbothered by the threat, making the reptile more confused.
The reptile behind Sel'avah began to doubt the human in front of them. According to their information, the Marquis' son was supposedly a frail coward. And so far, only the first criteria have matched.
"It's not a matter of confidence, but of skill, and I'm skilled enough that I alone can kill you." The leader, Sel'avah, stepped forward. The reptiles behind Sel'avah washed their uncertainty away, seeing their leader go for the kill.
Seeing the overgrown reptile getting closer, 'Castileo' smiled like a carefree boy. He scanned the reptiles from head to toe and muttered:
"I see, you're from the Cryst Swamp, correct? What did my benevolent big sister offer you to do her bidding? Wealth... Land... or perhaps her body?"
He recalled information from Castileo's memory. Apparently, his sister had a relationship with the Cryst Swamp Lizards. Castileo found this out from an information merchant. And from memory, his sister was also quite a looker, so he decided to use that as a taunt.
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH, HUMAN!" Sel'avah shouted with raging eyes. Seeing this, the reptiles behind Sel'avah also looked at their leader with confusion. They didn't know why Sel'avah reacted like that.
With hand clutched tightly at his spear, he spoke intimidatingly. "You know nothing, human. Don't compare her to people like you!" He lunged forward with his spear aimed at 'Castileo's' head.
With a smile on his lips, Ace stood still. He simply looked at the reptiles with indifferent gaze.
BANG!
A thunderous sound reverberated.
Like hitting a thick wall of solid iron, the spear stopped a few centimeter away from 'Castileo's' head. An outline of a dome surfaced, shielding 'Castileo' from the attack.
The reptile, Sel'avah seemed to snap out from its raged state and muttered in bewilderment.
"M-Magic..." Its other companions also thought the same as they stared with widened eyes at the blue dome.
"Heh. I asked you before. What makes you confident that you can do that?" The young man's deep blue eyes seemed to glint evilly while looking at them.
The blue dome suddenly became brighter. Seeing this, Sel'avah let go of the spear stuck on the blue barrier. But before Sel'avah could step back, what followed was a loud explosion outwards.
BOOM!
Like a canon ball, Sel'avah was sent hurling to the other side of the room, crashing on the expensive looking furniture.
"Sel'avah!" "Captain!" Its companions yelled in worry, one hastily went over to the area Sel'avah had landed. The other three looked at 'Castileo' with visible fear.
'Castileo' looked at Sel'avah who was vomiting green blood while being supported by another reptile.
"You said its not a matter of confidence, but with skill. Then," He picked the spear that had fallen and held it loosely in his hand.
"I'll f*cking show you my skill." He smiled malevolently while gazing at the reptile's shaking eyes. The spear was suddenly enveloped in blue and floated above his head.
"Die."
The spear of blue flew like a bullet and was aimed at one of the three reptiles, the one carrying the dynamite. The poor reptile attempted to dodge, but being a second late, the spear flew through the reptile's left shoulder, blowing it off to pieces.
"ARGHH!" "De'vra!" "Bastard, I'll kill you!" Amidst the shouting, one of the overgrown lizard charged forward with its shard claws brandished. The reptile was fast and reached 'Castileo' quickly.
"Die, human!" It shouted. Its claws directly aimed at his neck. Seeing this, a blue light surface around him.
Unexpectedly, the sound of cracking glass sounded and Ace was forced lean his neck to avoid the sharp claw that could have decapitated him.
'Anti-Magic!?' He was horrified. Ace thought that the one carrying the dynamite was the most threatening, but he was utterly wrong! If he was a second late, his head would've left his body!
"Ser'sha, kill him before he casts a spell!" Sel'avah yelled. The clawed reptile named Ser'sha obliged and a quickly slashed with its anti-magic claw aimed at "Castileo's' face.
'Sh*t!' Exerting all his energy on his legs, Ace leaped the sides to avoid the incoming claw attempting to gorely scratch his handsome face.
"ATTACK AT ONCE!" Sel'avah shouted. Despite its limping body, it ran and grabbed the fallen dynamites. The others also charged forward.
Seeing the turn of events, Ace attempted to back away.
With the anti-magic claw as his focus of attention, he missed the incoming attack from Ser'sha's legs. He was sent tumbling backwards and crashing to fountain in the room's center.
On the other hand, Ser'sha, with its legs not covered in anti-magic, was also sent flying back when colliding with the barrier.
CRASH!
"Ghargh!" Breathing heavily and groaning in pain, he looked at the incoming overgrown lizards.
"BACK AWAY!" They heard the shout of Sel'avah who was now carrying lit dynamite. Seeing this, the three overgrown lizards backed far away, while Ser'sha limped.
He then saw the triumphed expression on Sel'avah's lizard head.
"Milady said we shouldn't make it too obvious that you died in our hands. She truly cares for us!" Sel'avah muttered as the dynamite left its scaly hand and flew into the air.
'More like she didn't want it to be traced back to her.' Ace mused inside. But deep in his mind, he briefly thought why such stupid reptiles were sent to kill him. He was slightly baffled by the thought.
As the dynamite was closing in, he stared at the lizards who are already showing triumphed expressions.
Ace's lips curled up, and a smile so wide that it almost reached from one ear to another appeared on his pale, handsome face. The lizards, who thought they had won, frowned upon seeing his disturbing smile.
"That was fun," He mused while looking at their confused expression.
The reptiles stared at him with bafflement. 'Has he gone crazy?' This thought surface in their mind.
From behind Ace, a clean sparkling water floated. The water from the flowing fountain gathered and floated above him, forming a sphere.
The dynamite that was supposedly going to explode was encased in the sphere, and the lit string was defused.
'Castileo' slowly got up and patted his clothes. He looked the bewildered reptiles that stared at the floating mass of water above him.
"It did cross my mind as to why the room looked like an aquarium, but to my surprise, its actually not for decorative purposes." 'Castileo' gazed at the water floating above him and smiled.
With wide eyes, the reptiles all thought the same: 'Water Mage!'