"What did you do to Ysabel?!" Simond yelled at the top of his lungs.
He had just seen one of his teammates pass out from torture due to the boy standing in front of him. "What kind of child could do something like that?" Simond thought to himself.
He thought this would be an easy job—go in, smash some skulls, and leave—but things have turned out completely different from what he had thought. He had never thought a boy who hadn't even hit puberty yet would be able to debilitate one of his squadmates in this way.
Simond stared at Alex, who had been smiling at Simond ever since he arrived.
"This kid is crazy..." Simond thought to himself.
That was when Alex spoke up for the first time. "I will ask you the same thing I asked her. Who are you and who sent you?"
Alex looked at Simond, still maintaining his emotionless expression, staring daggers at Simond.
"What would I ever answer to a punk kid like you?" Simond said it with a crooked smile on his face. Simond was curious about Alex and how he acted, but that wasn't important to him at the moment. His job was to kill this kid, and that was what he was focused on. Once he dealt with Alex, he'd help Ysabel. He thought this was a solid plan for him.
"You should know whatever your plan is." Alex said with a wicked smile on his face "I can promise you, it won't work out how you think."
Simond, tired of being taunted, jumped at Alex with his axe in hand. The height he had on the jump was inhuman. Alex had surmised that maybe his magic would help him accomplish those types of feats.
"You messed up." Alex said.
Alex raised one hand and launched a barrage of lightning strikes in the air, hitting Simond directly in the chest and knocking him to the ground. Steam from the burns on Simonds chest was noticeably visible as Simond grunted, getting back to one knee.
"That was a stupid move, and here I assumed you were a reputable mercenary...maybe Maybe you were just a rookie that was recruited to a good team. After all, not even beginners would make that kind of mistake." Alex taunted Simond.
"Shut up!" Simond yelled just barely getting to his two feet.
"Jumping in the air, hoping brute strength will carry you to victory...against a magic user that's suicide. You should know that, after all, unless you possess certain magic, it's impossible for you to dodge." Alex said instructing the mercenary sent to kill him.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, kid?" Simond said grunting.
"Oh, who knows?" Alex replied "I guess you could say I'm discovering a new side to myself."
Alex's eyes glowed purple, which made Simond nervous as he was staring at him.
Simond gulped before reaffirming his grip on his axe before charging at Alex with all of his strength.
"AAAAAH!" Simond yelled during his charge.
Alex clicked his tongue and said "Pathetic."
Alex quickly dodged Simond's attack before side-stepping Simond's attack and punching him in the stomach, causing Simond to spit out a little bit of blood.
"You really are overcompensating for something with your strength, aren't you?" Alex taunted Simond. "Maybe it's because you're as dumb as a bag of rocks, or maybe...it's because you're not exactly up to par when it comes to pleasing women."
Simond's eyes nearly popped out of his head with anger as he once again charged Alex, who repeated his sidestep and punch move from before.
Alex smiled again and continued the taunting. "You know, you are very easy to gaslight, right? Maybe I was right about the pleasing women part. What are you? At best, a one-pump chump?"
Simond this time smashed his axe into the ground, causing the earth to split open in between the two. Alex jumped backwards to where the attack wouldn't reach him.
"Earth magic, huh? Interesting." Alex said this while grabbing his chin in a thinking stance. "Since you showed me some of your magic, let me show you some of mine."
Alex manifested lightning that covered both of his arms. "This is a new move I wanted to try out." Alex pointed both of his arms at Simond before swirls of lightning formed around Alex's arms. The chaotic lightning had now seemed as if it had become completely controlled. Alex then shot out rings of lightning from his hands directly at Simond. The first one being large, but with each new ring, the space in the middle getting smaller and smaller, to the point where there was nearly no space.
Simond, who had attempted to dodge the first few rings, suddenly found himself trapped by the rings; he had barely managed to dodge the last one, causing a giant burn mark on his back.
"You're resilient. I'll give you that..." Alex said.
Alex then launched a barrage of lightning strikes at Simond, just to get him moving. Simond was built to use his strength to overwhelm his opponents, but if he is kept at a distance, he becomes more restricted in combat.
Alex stayed at a distance from Simond, making sure Simond was stuck to only using his basic earth magic, at best intermediate level two. Simond was a great mercenary, but he relied a lot more on his axe than his magic, meaning he wasn't as proficient when it came to magical combat. A major weakness against somebody like Alex.
Alex manifested his lighting in his legs before launching himself at Simond with speed uncatchable by the naked eye. Before Simond realized it, Alex was right next to him. Alex put his hand on Simond's hip and manifested a lightning strike that went right through Simond, causing him to spit out tons of blood before dropping to his knees.
Alex, not letting his window of opportunity slip, kicked Simond in the back, causing his face to face plant into the ground. Alex grabbed a hold of his arms, causing Simond to be completely restrained.
"I will ask you again who are you and who sent you?"
Simond sighed before revealing everything. Simond knew he was defeated and figured Alex was not above torturing him. Simond figured this was the easiest way out of the situation. If he tells the truth, then Alex could let him go, and Simond could go help Ysabel and get back to the others in his group. They were his family, and he would destroy his honor in order to save them.
"So...it was her, huh...not totally unexpected. I'll deal with her when the time is right." Alex said, sighing.
Simond looked at Alex the best he could from his position "Just let me go now so I can help my friend. We're done here."
However, against Simonds expectations, Alex kept him in place.
"Wha-" Simond said before his head was smashed back into the ground.
"Who said anything about letting you go?" Alex said.
Alex moved one of his arms swiftly, placing a hand on Simond's back, right where his heart would be located. Alex then launched a lightning strike right through him, killing Simond instantly. His eyes wide open and his mouth still giving the appearance of him screaming, yet no sound could leave his mouth.
Alex took a deep breath before turning his attention to the still unconscious Ysabel.
Alex hesitated killing her; he thought about it but decided against it quickly. "I have another idea."
Soon afterwards, Anna and Raven reunited, with Alex, Lyanna, Amelie, and Kaede soon joining them before the entire group went back towards the house to discuss what had happened. Everyone told exactly their experiences, all except for Alex, who said he killed the two mercenaries he fought.
Anna felt like something was off but didn't bring it back up before the entire group went back to the house to go to sleep, all except for Alex.
Alex got out of bed, snuck out through his window, and headed back into the woods. In the woods was a small cave with just one small light inside, barely noticeable from a distance.
Alex walked inside, went deeper into the cave, and saw who he had been wanting to see. Ysabel was still alive but had a rope around her. In front of her was a small fire to keep her just a little warm and a bowl of water for her to drink. She was conscious now and panicked, but no matter what she did, she couldn't escape.
Ysabel noticed Alex and immediately started to panic as her eyes widened in fear.
Alex walked up to the fire and kneeled down in front of it before looking over at Ysabel. "Relax; I won't hurt you."
Ysabel basically looked at Alex as if she didn't believe a word he had said.
"Now look, your groups are gone and your plan is destroyed. I know who sent you and who you are, so there's no need to fear, as I still have need of you." Alex explained.
Ysabel looked at Alex, still unsure if he is telling the truth.
"I promise I won't harm you. I need you to simply deliver a message." Alex said.
"A message?" Ysabel asked.
"Yes...to your boss." Alex said while stoking the small fire.
"You mean the person who ordered us?" Ysabel asked.
"No...your real boss. The boss of your guild." Alex said. "I'll handle the person who hired you soon enough.
"I..." Ysabel tried to say before being interrupted by Alex.
Alex cleared his throat. "Just deliver the message."
Ysabel nodded her head.
"Ok, repeat every word I say. Don't send any more of your mercenaries to my family. If you try this again, I promise to return the mercenaries you send head's right to your guild's front doors. My family has already killed numerous of your mercenaries. Don't take this threat lightly. If you personally attempt to make a move against me, I will come for your head."
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