"Et tu Tomika?!
"You see now?~ Things are more interesting than I could have ever anticipated!~"
Fernando had once again placed his hand atop of my shoulder. The slender man stopped forward as we shared the sight together.
"The hell is going on?!", I asked in a state of disbelief.
Right before my eyes was Tomika, with her blade lodged into the barrier. If not for that barrier, she would have definitely run that blade deep into my back. With those serrated edges lodged in my spine, my mission would have been over. There was something strange about her actions. Her eyes were just as wide as my own. For the normally expressionless Tomika, her face was painted in shades of disbelief and confusion.
Regardless of her expression, Tomika continued to drive her blade into the barrier. I could only reflect on the actions of one person so far. My eyes latched onto Fernando, and his own shifted to me. He must have been enjoying my reactions so far, but I was soon getting fed up with him. He knew something that I didn't, but he continued to withhold the information. That frustrates me to no end.
"What the hell is going on? Why is Tomika trying to attack me?!", I interrogated Fernando while shaking his shoulders.
His cursed smirk curled his mustache as he held his tongue. It appeared that he was intent on holding his tongue for once. This talkative bastard chose now to shut up when he was talking our ear off earlier. The sharp ringing of Tomika's sword tearing into the barrier filled my ears. I had thought that this barrier ring that he had given to me would be of some use, but here I am. I'm watching Tomika tear into it with her blade, and she's not particularly strong, all things considered.
My eyes scan the battlefield in hopes of locating the ax that I had thrown earlier. In hindsight, that was likely a grave error, but I wouldn't have guessed that Tomika would attack me as well.
"We find ourselves wrapped up within a world sphere, but that is not all.~", Fernando said.
The man finally let me in on the brewing secret. I had heard of a "world sphere," but my knowledge of them is quite limited. So it wouldn't be surprising for me to look to him to elaborate further.
"A world sphere? Isn't that one of those rare skills?", I asked him.
Fernando had been acting stranger than usual. Whenever I spared him a gaze, he was always looking around as if he was searching for something. He also didn't offer any assistance to help put down Harris, but he did intervene to protect him.
"Indeed. There are only a few beings on this server capable of wielding such magic on this server according to the data in our guild. In all, there are ten, and five of them belong to the Midnight Guild.~"
As he spoke, the man began walking towards the hole that Tomika had been forming in the barrier. Her assault was relentless, and soon after, she disrupted the stability of the barrier. The energy warbled as if it were on life support. With the barrier now neutralized, it allowed Tomika to initiate her attack on us. Her sword traced through the air and whiffed past the slender frame of our handler. With grace, Fernando evaded and right after he jumped away from her.
Tomika charged towards him again, but the result was the same. Each time she swung it was a miss, but there was something odd about her attacks. Each time she swung, Tomika launched large, overarching slashes. They were robotic and awkward akin to the ones performed by Harris before her.
'Tomika doesn't swing like that…"
Those attacks are nothing short of amateurish strikes. Tomika attacks with more discipline and technique, while now she is attempting to completely overpower Fernando. That is a fool's error, so I know that something indeed is off. I wanted to assist Fernando, but at the same time, I did not desire to harm Tomika.
Regardless of my desires and wants, I needed to retrieve my ax. From what Fernando has disclosed before his game of cat and mouse with Tomika, I assume that this world sphere has somehow gotten to influence both our allies. After locating my ax, I attempted to make a break for it. If we are truly under attack, then I will need to protect myself.
'Those sounds that you hear are not as they seem. They are a deterrence…'
Fernando's words bounced around in my head. Just what did he mean by that? He has been speaking in such a roundabout way, but why? I know that isn't normally the type of man to speak vaguely, so he must have been trying to tell me something.
'Those sounds that you hear are not as they seem.'
Currently, I hear nothing but the slashes of Tomika's blade. There are no beast howls or loud insects. There is basically silence wrapping us. Then again, that coincided when Harris attacked us.
'They are a deterrence…'
This must be a tactic to drive out any people who are trying to get close to Stormpass. This forest, our allies attacking us. This all must be a ploy to make us waste time. The distance between me and my ax was practically nonexistent. Upon getting right on it, I reached forward and attempted to retrieve it.
"Watch out!~", Fernando shouted.
His words spooked me to the point that I stepped back out of instinct.
Swip!
The wind whiffed, and before I knew it, an arrow fired from my right. The arrow head tore into my flesh, but I was fortunate. My eyes locked onto the crimson splashed arrow head, and my eyes tacked the location that it could have come from. What I saw was the dark and dense leaves of the tree's canopy.
"Good call!", I yell at him.
If not for Fernando, then this graze would have been something far more severe. It could have been the end of me, but how did he know? The man continued to evade all of Tomika's attacks before he did something strange. He began swiping around the air around her, and then… her blade dropped.
"Don't just stand around! Regroup here!~", the man grunts as he suddenly jerks the air facing the treeline towards his body
There was a slight shake within the trees, but it was clear to me that he was onto something. In a split-second decision, I moved to swift action. Just as planned, I managed to get over to his location and lent him my strength. I grabbed him by his waist and then pulled, and pulled until…
"Wh-What? No!"
A voice shrieked out as Fernando and I pulled something out of the canopy. The individual slammed into the ground and kicked up dirt. With that, Tomika also fell to the ground. I didn't get the chance to properly assess the situation when Fernando suddenly pushed me aside.
Swip! Swip! Swip! Swip! Swip!
I could barely catch my balance before I took a violent crash to the ground. I kept my head on a swivel, and that allowed me to roll to my right to avoid the rain of arrows. It was enough to force both of us back from the displaced individual.
"Come now. On your feet. Things are getting even more interesting! It's divine!~"
Fernando's words came from above me as the man suddenly appeared before me. His hand stuck out, and he assisted me to stand. He had this face drenched in pure joy as his sultry tone erupted in a sing-like ending. I shared a different opinion on the matter. As I stood up, I turned to face the individual recovering on the ground.
"Ow! You're quite the strong vermin. I'll give you that.", cried out our attacker. The voice sounded like a younger male, and the slim frame hinted at that.
He was crouched to one knee with his hand out rubbing his head. It was odd that he was wearing a cloak similar to Harris', but his was dark blue in color. It also had three stars lined around the front. A confident chuckle erupted from the young male's mouth as he regained his standing.
"But a vermin is a vermin, no matter how powerful."
A line of arrows separated us with each indicating that they were fired from the same general direction. Considering that he had been pulled out before, that indicated that he has a partner as well. One that has their eye on us as we speak.
"Looks like we managed to discover the individuals responsible for this attack.~ Isn't that right, Members of the Midnight Guild?~"