How long had they been running?
Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty?
Jordan couldn't exactly say. He heard growls coming from behind him and he didn't need to check to know that the ravids were still chasing after them. Rina and Candice were following behind him but it was getting more and more clear that they're stamina wouldn't hold out for long. The same went for Jordan who was now starting to sweat.
They had managed to run out of the Super Market but the ravids were still on there tails.
While he was solely focused on the front Jordan saw another group of ravids coming from the front.
"Where did they come from?" Jordan couldn't help but say. If they had been one or two ravids then Jordan could have taken care of them.
The problem was that the ravids coming from the front was more than ten. Jordan was forced to stop in his tracks. He needed to think of a way and fast.
He could feel his heart beating rapidly. This was a really dangerous situation.
"Over there!" Rina pointed forward. Squinting his eyes Jordan took a closer look and right there to the right about ten meters away was a turn that led to an alley. The ravids at the front were closer to the entrance of the alley but he was confident enough that they would be able to clear.
"Stay close" Jordan said and darted forward. He pulled his fist back, gathering the momentum of his body. When he reached to entrance, six ravids were already close by.
Using the momentum he had gathered around his fist Jordan stuck forward. He hit one of the ravids in right in the chest. The result was immediate. The ravid's chest caved in to the point that its heart was crushed under its ribs. It was an instant kill. He then proceeded to kick away the other ravid. Although it didn't die it did manage to knock it away at quite the remarkable distance.
Meanwhile Rina stabbed one ravid in the chest, she pulled her dagger back and stabbed the ravid two more times before she managed to kill it.
Candice was working more smoothly. She cut open the throat of one ravid before turning and slashing another across its chest before delivering a kick to its knee. The knee broke on impact and the ravid collapsed on the ground. Candice then lowered her body while raising her dagger above her head with the pointed edge pointing downwards and she stabbed the ravid right in the eye, killing it.
"Come on" Jordan shouted after taking down the last of the six ravids.
The other ravids were getting closer no more than ever as the fight had slowed down the four of them. The girls took the lead with Candice being at the forefront and Rina and Jordan following right behind her.
They were now in an alley walled by two buildings on the sides. However, the group ran for less than twenty meters before they encountered another problem.
The alley led to a tall brick wall. In other words, a dead end.
…
Meanwhile Lydia was waiting for Huey to come out of the men's room when she heard the coiming in from the front entrance.
"Did you guys forget something?" Lydia said as she turned to check it out believing it was perhaps Jordan's group coming back around.
"Nothing really" a voice she didn't recognize said and immediately her guard was raised. For when she looked at who said those words, she realized that it was a man she didn't recognize at all. But if there was one distinct feature she could make out though then it was the dirty blonde hair and the tiger head tattoo at the side of his neck.
The man with dirty blonde hair smiled and pointed his dagger at her.
"Now that your friends are gone how about me and you have some fun to ourselves?" the man said. Before charging right at her.
When he was close enough he stabbed out with his blade. Lydia leapt three paces back to avoid the strike and she barely had any time to think of how to counter when the blonde was already before her once again. This time he made a diagonal downward slash for her throat.
Seeing this, Lydia pushed outwards with her palm open. A column of air was released from her palm. It knocked into the man's chest. The man was caught off guard and was sent flying backwards for a distance of about ten meters. He crashed into a shelf in the process.
Lydia could now catch her breath and think more clearly. The man obviously had higher agility and strength than her and she couldn't summon Kalibre at the moment. It consumed too much mana and given Kalibre's size she would bring the building down right on top of them.
Although she couldn't use the summoning skill that her family specialized in, she could still use her Air Manipulation though.
A cough came from the direction that the blonde man had fallen off to and she could see that he was standing back up.
"Damn didn't expect that" he said as he wiped off the blood that was dripping from the corner of his mouth.
"There's more where that came from" Lydia said. She swung her arms out and immediately after two thin sharp wind blades shot towards the man.
He grit his teeth and leapt to the side but not before one of the wind blades made a cut to his left thigh. A mini explosion occurred as the wind blades continued on and slammed into the wall behind him. He looked down at his bleeding leg for a moment.
"I need to take you more seriously" he said as he looked at her. He had clearly underestimated this girl. "What's your name girl?"
Lydia gave him a strange look. "Are you seriously asking me that now?"
The man shrugged. "I'd like to know the name of the person I had underestimated is all"
"Yeah well I'm not gonna tell you anyway" Lydia said.
A vein could be seen visibly on his forehead.
"I'm going to kill you slowly" he said while pointing his dagger forward.
"I'd like to see you try idiot" Lydia said.
The man charged forward.
Is this guy an idiot? Lydia couldn't help but think.
This man clearly knew that Lydia could attack from a long range so charging in recklessly was exactly that, reckless. Blasting Off another column of air, Lydia aimed for the man's head this time around. However before the hit could land the man managed to duck his head evidently dodging the attack. The distance between him and Lydia only became shorter and shorter.
Lydia backed away as fast as she could but as she looked in front of her once more she could see her opponents body disappear from sight. She couldn't even feel a presence at all. Lydia's eyes widened but before she could do anything she felt a sharp pain on her arm.
"Ah" she winced and pulled her arm back only to see and clean cut that was bleeding out.
"That's for my leg" she heard a whisper in her ear.
On instinct she spun around and swung her arm out, releasing a wind blade. However there was nothing for her to hit at all.
The man had used his skill 'Stealth'. As the name implies it was a skill that hides one's presence from others. It made them ghosts but would only be interrupted when either attacking or if he was hit with an attack. After the strike on her arm. He decided to attack from the back. He
Just then she felt something trying to penetrated through her back. Lucky for her, the battle robe she was wearing managed to deflect the attack after all it could withstand the force of low caliber bullets.
Lydia spun and swung her arm low while releasing the biggest wind blade the she could manage. The man saw the attack coming and he tried to defend with his dagger. The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed outwards and the man was pushed back once again.
He landed at a distance on his back. He felt a pain in his chest and his arm felt now. No, he couldn't feel his arm at all.
When he looked down on himself he could see a deep red gush running across his chest and his entire hand, the one he had used to block the wind attack, was completely mangled and covered in blood. He was out of breath and out of strength.
Lydia was also out of breath. It was the first time she had faced someone while completely relying on her Air Manipulation. She was now holding up her injured arm. Lydia looked in the man's direction and she could see that he wasn't moving.
When she went over to his side she could see that he was gravely injured. He looked at her but there was no regret or fear in his eyes. If it wasn't for her battle robe Lydia would have been the one lying on the floor instead of him. Maybe she would have already been dead who knows.
Lydia consumed the last bit of mana that she had and released one more attack with the swing of her hand. The attack cut through the man's neck. It was a clean cut and the man's head rolled off a few feet on the floor off his shoulders.
---
[You have received the soul essence of level 8 'Ryan Crow'.
You have received Mana +3, Stamina +1]
[You have leveled up to level 10]
[You proficiency with the skill Air Manipulation Level 5 increases
Would you like to see the evolution requirements for the skill? Y/N]
---
Lydia received system messages that she didn't expect but she choose yes nonetheless. If there was a way of making her most versatile skill more powerful then there was no way she would waste the chance.