—Asher Frostblade's perspective.
By removing my mask I felt I was giving my companions more confidence. I consider them trustworthy friends, we have been in very dangerous situations for quite some time and I think that hiding my face from them and them never recognizing me at some point where we meet again, I didn't like that idea at all.
So, putting my mask aside, I looked out the window. The night was in its full splendor, so I looked at Alicia.
We knew something could happen at any moment. Alicia held her two daggers close behind her, Clara held her cane.
"It must be seven o'clock at night," Alicia spoke.
"It doesn't feel like anything is going to happen," Clara spoke.
"True, but..."
"Crack."
At that moment I turned my gaze to the window.
I moved closer, but there was nothing there. Then, I returned my gaze to Alicia and Clara since there was nothing, but....
"Watch out!"
Alicia and Clara screamed at the same time.
Then, at that instant, I used Aura of Darkness and that's when a large axe hit my shoulder. Quickly, a dark sphere appeared in my hand and I exploded it in that instant.
"Starburst."
The part exploded into pieces. At that moment, Clara and Alice ran and jumped out, I followed behind them, but then I felt the sharp pain from the previous hit.
I couldn't see who hit me, but after using my darkness aura skill, my whole body is protected by a thick layer of mana.
Jumping out of the room to the outside, as the part where the window was blown out by the previous explosion, it had shattered into pieces.
Of course, the dust was scattered. Then, with a wave of my hand, the mana dispersed, covering the entire area. The dust dissipated, revealing the three men from before.
One of them had the large axe that hit my shoulder. The other man had a large sword in his hands, it was thick and long with a thick, bandaged hilt.
Looking at the three men, the one who seemed to be the leader, the one called Sebastian, stared at me, then spoke.
"Well, well, so you are royalty then."
I instantly replied.
"Actually I'm not, I just look alike."
"Hahaha, I guess if you are royal, then you'll have to die."
For some reason, those words from Sebastian made me smile. My face had a smirk on it and then the axe guy scowled at me.
"Hey bastard, why are you laughing? You got lucky on the first attack."
"That's for me to say."
His eyebrows furrowed and veins appeared on his face. Before he started to move, Sebastian stopped him and looked at me.
"I see you have a different and strange magic, how about you fight me? Maybe I'll have a little fun."
I looked at Alicia, she instantly nodded.
"Then I'll fight the one with the axe. That fucking psycho is pissing me off," Alicia scowled at the man holding the big axe.
Sure enough, the man scowled at her.
"You fucking bitch, do you think you'll even give me a scratch? I'd like to see your head split."
"..."
Indeed, that bastard is a fucking psycho.
"I guess I'll have this mage girl," the man with the big sword spoke.
"Fucking asshole," Clara cursed at that moment.
Looking at Sebastian, he glared at me.
"Why are you doing this," I asked.
"Why? Because it's fun and I can make money from it."
"You crazy fucker, then I'll have to kill you."
Despite saying that, I wasn't sure if I could kill this guy. Looking at his physique alone, he is extremely strong. Although I should save as much mana as possible, I think that won't be possible.
Then my body was surrounded by mana, covering my entire body. Using my darkness aura skill, I also learned a way to use the mana for close combat. Then, the mana moved to every muscle in my body, slowly veins popped out everywhere.
Despite that, I felt no pain, but my muscles were reaching the possible limit of this body. Of course, once I finished, my whole body would be very sore for at least a week. It's a technique I learned to improve my muscles temporarily.
Using aura of darkness and this new skill, my body had great strength at this time.
It was then that several dark spheres appeared right behind my back. There were five in total, they were slowly getting bigger.
Of course, it is a skill called hole of darkness. It absorbs mana continuously and when it hits a living being it is possible to tear the body apart, even make it ashes. It's a slow skill, but a very good one.
Sebastian looked at me more seriously.
"Looks like I'll have to take you seriously," his voice echoed.
Then, from one moment to the next, Sebastian appeared right in front of my eyes. I quickly covered myself with my hands, but at that moment....
"Burst."
Dik appeared interposing himself right in between Sebastian and me. Sebastian instantly stepped back and looked at Dik, who spoke at that moment.
"I was waiting for this moment, I wanted to tear you apart ever since I saw you inside the inn," Dik said as he looked at Sebastian.
Sebastian simply looked at him.
"Hey Asher, you don't mind if you share this guy with me?"
"No, no problem."
"Then it'll be a two on one," Sebastian said at that point.
"Then how about we fight with no weapons and no magic?"
At that moment, Sebastian proposed an idea. Of course, looking at his physique, it's clear that his best fighting style is melee, but right now he was with Dik, who is also quite strong in melee. Not only him, I'm also very good and just now I'm straining my muscles.
So, no problem at all.
''It's okay, I won't use magic, of course, if the situation starts to get worse, I'll use the darkness holes that are filling up with mana.
Before that, I hid them in the dark so as not to be seen. In fact, no one noticed that I had hidden them.
"Good, very good, then they don't mind me starting." At that moment, Sebastian appeared right in front of the two of us.
Dik, who was next to me, gritted his teeth and dodged Sebastian's punch, but at that moment it grazed his cheek.
So, in my situation it was the same.
"He is fast, not only that, also his strength is very high."
Crouching down, I raised my fist and aimed it at Sebastian's abdomen. Dik raised his fist and directed it at Sebastian's chin.
But at the same time, Sebastian, with both hands, parried our blows. Then, using more force and squeezing my hand and Dik's hand, in an instant, Sebastian's head came towards me and headbutted me. Dik was hit hard on the chin by a knee from Sebastian.
At the same time, we both recoiled. Dik wiped off the blood and I wiped my hand across my forehead, then quickly pounced.
Dik circled Sebastian as I faced him head on.
Sebastian ducked and swung his leg horizontally, colliding with both my legs and sending me crashing to the ground. Dik was kicked in the arm at the same time Sebastian got up.
We both stepped back.
"Shit... This guy is really fast."
This guy's reflexes are very fast, his speed is quite high and in terms of strength, it's like getting hit by a big rock all over my body.
There must be a way, a fighting style that confuses the opponent.
So, I quickly changed my fighting stance.
Dik and Sebastian looked at me confused, but....
At that instant, I appeared right behind Sebastian. I moved my hand on Sebastian's back and hit him with my palm, mana shot out of my hand causing Sebastian to be ejected several meters away while spitting blood.
"How did you do that?", Dik was surprised.
"I don't know, but it seems to work."
I had the idea of using palms, a style of combat similar to kung fu from my previous life, but using a different style, implementing mana in each attack and having the mana enter the body causing a discharge of mana inside, causing the inside to explode with mana.
It is a way to kill the opponent from the inside using the mana as a form of explosions inside the body.
At that moment, Sebastian stood up with a pale face and blood pouring out of his nose and mouth.
"Damn bastard."
At that moment, Sebastian rushed towards me. Of course, concentrating the mana in my legs, I moved much faster. Using the aura of darkness as a shield, I blocked every attack from Sebastian and, using my palms that filled the inside of my body with mana, I blasted.
Sebastian seemed to be finished.
***
—Scene change.
—Alicia's perspective.
Moving so fast, Alicia executed a barrage of attacks with her two daggers. Vendrik, who was using the great sword, moved at great speed while swinging the sword, but to his surprise, none of his attacks managed to hit Alicia, who was moving at great speed.
Using the bow, Alicia quickly shot an arrow. Before the arrow got bigger, Alicia compressed it and the arrow had a smaller size, but the moment it reached Vendrik, who used his sword as a shield, it flew backwards.
Without more to wait, Vendrik moved as fast as possible and appeared behind Alicia. At that moment, Alicia pulled out her two daggers and blocked Vendrik's attack, but due to Vendrik's great strength, she was pushed back several meters as Vendrik swung his sword up and down.
"Starburst!"
The sword hit the ground, and Alice, at that moment, rolled to the side, managing to dodge Vendrik's attack by a few inches.
Of course, Vendrik did not stand still and, with a grin, swung his sword again. Alicia raised both her daggers and blocked the attack while lying on the ground.
"Starburst!"
The ground caved in and cracks appeared. Alicia spilled blood from her hands, and then Vendrik's foot landed on her abdomen, so hard that blood came out of her mouth as she opened her eyes.
Using her leg, Alicia swung at Vendrik in an effort to knock him off her, managing to knock him back as his mouth bled from the kick to the chin.
"Damn... If I keep this up..." Unable to finish his thought, Vendrik pounced.
Vendrik's face was red and veins stood out on his face; he was extremely angry.
"Die, you fucking bitch!" he shouted, aiming his sword at Alicia's side.
Alicia, in an attempt to block the attack, used both her daggers, but after blocking the blow, she was thrown against a tree that broke in half after the collision.
"Coff... Damn... coff.... I feel like I'll faint if I keep fighting!"
"Shit... He managed to cut my arm pretty bad." Alice looked at her arm, which had a deep wound from which blood was pouring out uncontrollably.
"Shit... I mustn't lose." Getting up, Alicia squeezed her wounded arm.
"I must use mana." Although Alicia is not a mage, she is an elf, and elves can use mana, but it is a unique mana.
Of course, that doesn't mean she can't use mana just because it's unique or because she's an elf; using elven mana is very difficult to control because of its power. That's why Alice uses her mana on the arrows of her bow.
But at the moment, that is not possible. Vendrik surpasses Alicia in strength and stamina; despite wounding him quite badly, Vendrik was still standing as if he had nothing.
"You can't seem to continue," Vendrik said.
"You think so, I haven't used my full strength yet."
"Heh, like that's..."
At that moment, as Alice stood up from the ground, a golden and white mana surrounded her entire body.
"Now I'll use all the mana, but my body won't be able to withstand it for long," Alicia thought as she looked at Vendrik, who was wide-eyed.
"Now we start all over again," Alicia said.
"Shit... I don't think I'll be able to kill you," Vendrik admitted at that moment.
Then, in a second, Alicia appeared right in front of Vendrik. He didn't react when several arrows appeared around him and Alicia's fist landed on his face.
The arrows around him shot towards Vendrik.
"Starburst!"
Looking forward, Alicia spoke.
"I can't take it anymore.... This is my limit."
Vendrik's body was filled with golden arrows that pierced him.
"Shit..." were his last words as he closed his eyes.
Using elven mana is difficult; it's not a normal mana. It's a mana that elves can't control very easily. The elf's body gets very heavy from all the mana; of course, her power can be increased quite a bit, but that's the problem.
Alice cannot control too much mana. Basically, the mana Alice used at that time was the amount of a ninth circle mage. A mage of that level has extremely dense mana, and since Alice used so much mana, her body couldn't handle it.
So, Alice closed her eyes as her body began to ache from the mana....