Upon entering the forest that Fernando suspects was created by the Midnight guild, strange sounds have followed us. In an attempt to locate the origin of the cicada-like sounds, I attempt to look closer into the forest. It was then that Harris launched his attack. I can only assume that he had attempted to strike me in my back, but he managed to miss the target.
My palms illuminated and brought with it the completion of my spell. For certain classes within Infinity Unleash, people require special incantations to bring out items from inventory. I was one of the people. My spell allows me to pull out my weapon, which specifically tethered to the mana network within my body.
In my case, the weapon that was tethered to my network was a one-handed ax. The large, curved blade was double-sided and wide enough to cover my entire torso. Its black handle was tightened in my left hand while I rested weapon atop the armor of my shoulder. It is an incredibly heavy ax, but to a gym rat like myself, it is light work.
I stared a hole into the now hooded figure, and I couldn't help but smirk. While initially, I was pissed off at the blatant act of betrayal by Harris, but now I am indifferent. I should have seen it coming with how suspicious he's been acting. Of course, a man who's obsessed with blood and violence would relish the opportunity to enact it. It matters little if the victim is a friend or foe.
"My.~ How interesting indeed. You were correct, Tomika.~", Fernando states, his voice still jovial.
Once his betrayal had been revealed, Tomika and Fernando joined me by my side. The face of my elven companion hardened as she summoned her own weapon out. It was kind of a broad sword with serrated edges traveling up and down its left side. Its iron blade traveled down to the much narrowed black and red hilt.
"What are you talking about, Fern?", I asked the man.
My eyes slightly widened when I realized that he was the only one who was currently unarmed. Instead, he simply walked behind me as if I was some type of human shield.
'Is this man a clutz?! Doesn't he realize that we are being betrayed?!'
I wanted to give him an earful for his casual nature, but I made a mistake. The moment that I took my eyes off of Harris, he lunged forward to attack me. He was as swift as the wind that carried his cloak, and his blade flashed through the dark. Metal clashed as I managed to hold his attack with my own weapon. He slashed diagonally, and his blade raced against my metal. His goal was to force me onto the defensive, and he did so with his next slashes. Each seemed to clash violently with my ax, but I still stood my ground.
"This bastard is a good damn player killer, and he's good.."
Harris continued to lash out with his blade, striking in new directions with each attack. Whether it was my legs, chest, or neck, I quickly had to pull my ax up and down in order to remain untouched. The more he attacked, the more ground I was forced to give up. Despite his smaller size, Harris was a few levels higher than myself. That meant that despite looking like I would be naturally stronger, he edged me out in strength stats.
Each one of his violent blows slowly whittled down at my position alongside my defensive capabilities. Spark after spark flew, and soon enough, he began swinging even faster.
I had boldly declared that I was going to beat his ass, but it appeared that as things go, my undefeated streak might come to an end. Harris' blade slid across the arc of my ax, and soon, the man became airborne. Whether it was by accident or on purpose, it granted me the opportunity that I needed. I placed my left hand onto the flat area of my weapon and mustered my strength. With my hefty grunt, I forced the man backward into the sky.
He landed like a ninja, but Tomika wasn't going to allow Harris to do whatever he pleased. When the first chance arrived, she took it. She held her blade to her side before stepping forward, and then she vanished.
"Oh?! Impressive! I can see why the elders chose her for this job.~"
Fernando's words baffled me at that moment, but the sound of metal clashing drew my attention back to the action. Sparks flew as Tomika's sword clashed with Harris'. In that split second, Tomika had traveled the distance between our location and his own. His sharp blade started halfway through the serrated edges of Tomika's sword.
It was a test of strength, and despite gathering her momentum, Tomika was struggling. As the seconds went by, Tomika lost more ground as well. Harris' blade traveled up the serrated edges, and ultimately, he slashed vertically towards Tomika. As quick as she had disappeared, she had returned to my side.
Considering that the two of us have fought together for a while, I knew that I had witnessed Tomika's teleportation skill once again. As an elf, Tomika is capable of learning a wide variety of spells and skills. The skill that she used just then was "Accel."
It is a pretty decent spell that allows the caster to instantly teleport in a horizontal direction of their choosing. You can only teleport as long as there isn't an item blocking the path as well, so it is impossible for her to teleport behind someone without jumping through hoops. It's hot garbage for the most part, but she is adamant about using it.
"Damn.- Tomika. I told you that skill barely works.", I reminded her.
"Shut up and help.", She replied bluntly.
I scoffed at her orders, but it should have been obvious that I was going to do so anyway. I glanced behind me to see… Fernando merely looking around. The bastard still hasn't summoned his weapon to assist us. He merely turned to both sides of the forest and started chuckling to himself. Not only is he a weirdo, but he is also incompetent.
"Alright, let's -"
Tomika had already leaped into the action. Since she was much smaller and faster than I was, she charged Harris first. To be honest, I was at a huge disadvantage. With how large my ax was, I found it incredibly difficult to find an opening on our opponent. Even when he and Tomika clashed blades, he always did so when Tomika was in between us. I would be incapable of attacking him since he'd be able to evade once I got close enough.
I was reduced to a mere spectator as I watched the flashes of their blades. Both opponents seemed intent on outspeeding their adversary, but I knew things would be reaching a boiling point. It happened sooner than I actually anticipated. In the most recent clash, Harris changed tactics. Instead of parrying with his sword like always, he reached out and kicked Tomika in her side.
That was enough to completely shatter her defensive stance. His blade arched down, but he didn't account for one thing. Well, I guess he did. I reached back and in one motion threw my ax towards his location. It traveled through the air, but without looking, he leaped backward.
That action surprised the hell out of me since that was the only opportunity that I had to assist Tomika. It was as if he had the spider sense because as soon he jumped back, Harris charged my way. Both of his hands rested on his hilt as he barreled towards me with a stabbing motion. While he was blinding fast, I did manage to narrowly parry it. His blade cracked my forearm bracers once the two metals collided.
He made a mistake in that action, though. Since he overplayed his hand, his body was left extremely exposed. That was the target of my fist. In order to strike him, I charged my right arm and imbued it with one of the two physical skills that I have unlocked. Fire flickered in my palm, and soon it latched itself to my whole hand.
"Rocket punch!"
My fire imbued fist landed into the torso of my target, and he was suddenly launched straight into the air. His blade traveled through the air before landing on the ground somewhere between my location and Tomika's. Believe it or not, this skill is the one that has kept my streak going, so I wasn't surprised when I watched our attacker fall out of the sky like a comet. He landed about half of a yard away from where we stood, and he lay vacant on the ground. Harris was eating dirt right now, and I am all for it.
"See, that is a skill. ", I said to Tomika.
She wore the same unamused expression on her face, but she soon joined me by my side. On the way over, she retrieved Harris' sword, so there was no chance of him getting it again.
"I'll take care of the rest then. I'm in the right mind to finish him for attempting to kill us."
With that out of the way, I began to make my approach towards our enemy. As I walked over, I began patting my fire coated hand against my armor. That was enough to snuff out any of the excess flames that were present. Before I managed to reach him, a hand was suddenly resting on my shoulder. The strength of the individual was enough to stop me in my tracks completely.
"Why would you do that to an ally? Surely, you haven't forgotten our mission just yet?~"
I looked at the man with a confused look on my face. What he is saying now is completely ridiculous. How can someone who just attacked and nearby killed me considered an ally? Did he not just watch the scene before him?
"Ally?! This man tried to kill me! He nearly injured Tomika as well, and you didn't do a goddamn thing to help either!"
Fernando chuckled once more before standing in between Harris and I. This action further threw me into utter confusion. I began looking at him with complete skepticism in my eyes.
"Do you not hear them?~", He questions.
"Hear what? I don't hear a damn thing!-"
Wait… What? I don't hear anything now. That realization caused me to turn towards Tomika and then towards the forest once more. The sounds have stopped. For how long did the sounds stop? I was so engaged in the fight with Harris that I didn't notice at all. I turned back to see the man before me smiling.
'Why?'
That was the only question that appeared in my mind. Fernando's grin stretched even further when the man took my hand into his own. The act startled me, but I noticed his fingers tracing over the ring that he gave me. It was the barrier ring. He was acting quite peculiar again, and I was considering snatching my hand away from him. Though I couldn't actually do it since he was far stronger than I was, I merely resigned myself to that fate.
"What the hell are you doing? What's your deal, man?"
He didn't offer a response. Instead, he seemed focused on that ring until it suddenly lit up. A bright blue light erupted from the ring. It blinded me, but as soon as I regained sight, I noticed a bright barrier surrounding the two of us.
Crash!
'The hell was that!'
A sudden clash of metal pierced behind me, and so I basically jumped to face that direction. What I found caused my eyes to widen to cartoonish levels.