"W-What the hell did you just say?!" Gareth was starstruck at Luke's nonchalant response.
Other than Gareth, who was in disbelief, the other people, including Lea and the adventurers above, were also surprised at the response.
"What? I believe you've heard me for the first time. I'm a zombie, don't you believe it?" Luke nonchalantly replies.
"I DON'T BELIEVE SUCH THINGS!" Gareth yelled at him.
"Well, people do often react like that to me. I'm speaking the truth about myself, I'm a zombie, like those creatures who brainlessly bite someone without hesitation. Though I'm not brainless if you know what I mean."
Gareth, who was still in disbelief, refused to believe him and clenched his teeth as he was paranoid.
"Y-You're messing with me! There's no such thing as a zombie that can reattach their body parts like that!" Gareth yelled.
To be frank, he is right. Zombies normally lose a limb or other parts of their body and can't reattach them as they will not function anymore. Of course, it's a trait of a living being, unlike other living beings that can regrow their body parts at their own will, like lizards.
"Really, dude? I'm not even joking about this. I am indeed a zombie guy." He nonchalantly said and showed him his hand as he forcefully broke it.
"...!"
Everyone was dismayed and thunderstruck by the actions of the young man. They saw him breaking his hand without a reaction to pain or suffering.
Luke waves his broken hand around and nonchalantly looks around like he is comfortable with his hand.
"See? I don't feel much about my hand being broken like this. I'm even waving it! However, healing it is a hassle that it also drains my energy that much, like, it's kinda annoying." He said.
With much paranoia building up in his mind, Gareth stepped back and fixed his stance as he drew his sword towards Luke. He tries to suppress his paranoid face and smirks at Luke.
"I see... You're not just an ordinary person." Gareth said overcompensating.
With so much anticipation coming from the people inside the tavern as they watch two people facing each other, potentially starting a fight, a lot of people who don't want to get involved move out onto the second floor including the clerk.
"Even the people here like to see a duel, so much that they want to see you go down, Mr. Gareth." Luke mocked.
As for Gareth's response, he gave a stern look and quickly dashed into Luke, swinging his sword to slash Luke in his chest.
"Die!" Gareth yelled.
But Luke didn't falter as he kept staring at Gareth who was fast approaching. At the right moment, Luke stepped back and evaded the slash about 5 inches away from the blade.
Luke continued to dodge multiple slashes from Gareth's sword as he kept attacking. Luke took an opportunity to stomp Gareth's left foot and Gareth grimaced.
"AHHH!"
Luke smirks and does a front kick towards Gareth, making him stumble across the floor.
"Was that supposed to happen? I thought the people called you the 'Slasher' for a reason." Luke provokes.
Taking so much disrespect and humiliation from someone, Gareth stood up with anger and spellbound his sword as a faint wind circled him.
Seeing Gareth was about to do some magic, the clerk panicked as he foresaw that his tavern would get destroyed during a fight.
"A-Ah! Please, go fight outside!" The clerk pleaded while watching.
Hearing the clerk's plea, Luke glanced at the clerk behind him and gave a thumbs up to him with a reassuring expression.
"Don't you worry! I can assure you that he won't land a single stray of magic... Though, with minor damages."
In the background, after hearing Luke in the distance, Lea was quite intrigued about what he said. It's about the principle of casting out magic if the magic is cast out from the person, no one can stop it unless it's nullified. From the words given, her idea of getting intrigued is maybe because Luke may have a nullification spell on his sleeves.
Tightening his grip, Gareth released a wind slash on the air, rapidly propelling Luke.
"Zephyris!"
Luke took a moment to realize, standing still and blinking twice before avoiding the propelling slash toward him. The slash landed on the counter and ultimately destroyed it into pieces as glass cups and plates shattered.
The clerk gasps in disbelief. The place he used to work was instantly destroyed.
"MY WORK!"
Luke glances behind him to see the damage and quickly looks at Gareth with a stern expression.
"Hey, destroying properties is unnecessary, you know?"
Gareth smirks and prepares to attack more wind slashes. His stance fixated on crouching like he was about to swipe the air with his sword.
"What do you expect? I can do anything I want and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"
Luke didn't falter from his words and brought his broken hand healed instantly, making a cracking sound and smirking confidently.
"Well, I may not be the person who serves justice, but trust me, I can stop you."
Gareth scoffed and yelled; "KEEP TALKING!"
He swung his sword and blasted multiple slashes in Luke's direction. But Luke remained calm and put his right hand in front, opening it wide and casting a spell.
"Nivrelis"
Instantly, a grey magic circle appears on his hand and beams a glowing aura toward the slashes, dispersing them one by one.
Lea was right about Luke. He does have a nullification spell under his sleeves. But the chanting word was unfamiliar to her, yet she did hear it from somewhere else.
***
The ancient incantation "Nivrelis" is a potent nullification spell that renders all magic, no matter how strong or intricate, ineffective. It was regarded as the ultimate form of counter-magic, capable of dissolving the most complex spells and destroying the strongest spells.
However, following the conclusion of the Lux Era—the legendary golden age of magic—knowledge of this invocation diminished. Nowadays, the concepts of nullification have been modified to create "Oblivara", a less powerful but well-known spell.
Mages and academics predict that finding Nivrelis again would upset the equilibrium of magical power, although this is still a difficult task.
***
Gareth was in disbelief as his attacks were instantly dispersed like a bubble. He was irritated and shouted.
"What did you do?!"
Luke smirks as he lowers his hand and replies with a single word;
"Magic."
Gareth was provoked and took the bait as he savagely brandished his sword and attacked Luke while approaching. As every slash landed in the air, Luke simply dodged them.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Gareth shouted irritatedly.
Luke chuckles as cocky as he is. It's like he's just toying with him, dodging every sword slash Gareth delivers.
"Why so serious?" Luke mocks and grabs Gareth's left hand as he moves to his back, wiping his feet to make him fall.
Caught off guard, Gareth's grip on his sword faltered, the weapon slipping from his grasp. Seizing the moment, Luke drove a powerful shove into Gareth's chest, sending him crashing to the ground with such force that the floor beneath him cracked, the sound echoing like a thunderclap.
Gareth grimaced in pain, a few saliva dropping out from his mouth was evident.
The delivery of Luke's retaliation was smooth and effective. It even surprised the people inside the tavern with how good the counterattack was, especially Lea.
She furrowed her eyebrows as she remembered what her grandma told her about the person she was tasked to look for. The person was great at martial combat, and the description was relevant to Luke.
Luke grabbed Gareth's hand and threw him out, making him roll around the floor. He yawns and scratches his head as if he's pretending he didn't do anything just now.
"This is getting boring... Come on, put up a fight if you really want to rob this place." Luke said.
Gareth picked up his sword on the ground and stood up, giving a sharp glare to Luke. It was evident he was not happy about it.
"You piece of shit!" He grumbled.
Luke took a glance at Gareth and sighed as he raised his left hand in the air. His expression was apparent that he was not interested in making this fight any longer.
"Guess I'll get this over with."
He summons an ominous dark orange magic circle in his left hand, and a sword with a scabbard falls as he catches it, putting it on his waist and holding the hilt of the sword.
"Summoning a sword doesn't make you a winner here, you bastard." Gareth irritatingly commented.
Luke chuckles as he smirks at Gareth and says;
"Oh, I'm not going to have a par with you. That's because... you're weak."
With the comment, Gareth was provoked immediately and responded in rage as his pupils were constricted, clenching his teeth in anger. He savagely brandishes his sword and swiftly approaches Luke with kill intention.
"DIE!" Gareth shouted.
But despite this, Luke remained stern to his foot and fixated on his stances as he targeted Gareth's abdomen. At the right moment, Luke swiftly drew his sword and dash-slashed at Gareth, appearing in the blink of an eye on Gareth's back 5 meters away.
Gareth stopped running and stood still for a moment, his life flashed before his eyes. Luke twirled his sword like a freestyle and slowly put it on the scabbard on his left waist.
"Solvire."
As soon as the sword reached the tip of his scabbard, the effects took on as Gareth instantly got gushed by a dark orange slash. Gareth grimaced in pain before falling to his knees, slowly falling to the ground, completely defeated.
The people around the tavern were surprised and the tavern was immediately filled with mixed murmurs. Some of them yelled in disbelief, excitement, and confusion.
"THAT WAS EPIC!"
"IT'S OVER!"
"I COULDN'T BELIEVE MY EYES!"
That was the word the people inside the tavern could convey. It was truly a spectacle fight, but sadly, it ended pretty quickly.
Luke turned around and confronted the people, waving his hand like he was a hero of the day for them. His cocky smiles were apparent as he continued to wave.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Luke said.
But the moment instantly broke as the clerk screamed in disbelief.
"M-My business!" The clerk wails.
"C-Crap!" Luke stammered, his confident smirk evaporating in an instant as his eyes shot wide open. He took an unsteady step back, his face flushing with a mix of panic and realization.
'This is worse than I thought!' he thought, his heart racing as a cold sweat dripped down his forehead. The casual air he had tried to maintain shattered in an awkward, frantic blur—he had stirred up a whole whirlwind of trouble.
"Gotta bail out!" He said and ran away to exit.
The adventurers on the second floor noticed Luke and paused, surprised to see him suddenly backing off.
"Hey, what's he doing?"
"Where's he going?"
"Get him back here!"
The adventurers step down from the second floor and chase down Luke to make him face the justice the clerk needs. Some of them didn't chase them down as they knew he did well enough to stop Gareth.
But at the stairs, Lea stood still while watching Luke fleeing the scene. She wears her cloak and hides her face, planning to trail Luke.
'You're not getting away from me. Not after I have finally found you!'