…
Oh, right… I was knocked out. How long has it been? I have no idea. I couldn't move my body, or open my eyes even though I was now awake. I can't hear anything, my eardrums are ringing. Where am I again? Oh, that's right. The alley. Uhm, why was I here again? I don't remember-
…
My hearing is slowly coming back. It's a mess. I'm hearing so much at the same time that I don't even know what to think of it. Crying. Laughing. Screaming. All of them lumped together, going in and out of my eardrums. Why are you guys so fucking loud? What is happening here?
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
"Look at him. He wet his pants!"
"His sister isn't much better either, her face is a mess!"
Him? Who's the one that wet his pants? And who's sister are they talking about?
I don't remember… they really hit me hard, huh? Actually, why did I get hit to begin with? Why was I knocked out…? I guess I probably got in their way or pissed them off, although I'd say that's a fairly drastic measure to take against a kid. Wait, kids?
That's right… I was…!
I was trying to protect 2 kids from some guys, and I was knocked out. I'm awake now, but is there any point to it? I can't do anything. My body is weak, I have no strength left. And even if I had enough strength to get up, these clothes are weighing me down too much. It's useless. I have no way of helping them.
I'm sure Maia will arrive soon… I should probably just go back to sleep until then. I'm way too tired for this.
There was no point in me worrying about it, we were going to get saved soon anyway. But before that, I'm curious. I can feel my eyelids being lighter now, I think I can probably open them.
I guess it's worth a try… it's not like it'll matter anyway, right?
Slowly, I opened my eyes. My vision was fuzzy, probably because I had been knocked out earlier, my brain is still a bit messed up. However, among the fuzziness, I saw something. No, it was someone. It was a young girl, probably even younger than me. She was on her knees, bent forward, and while one of her arms was sustaining her body, the other one was extended forward. What was she doing? She should just sit down and wait until Maia arrives. That's just a waste of energy.
"S-stop…"
What is she talking about? Ah, I guess it's about her brother. They might be about to roughen him up quite a bit, unless they started already. I glanced at the ground next to her, and there was the bread her brother had stolen for her. You shouldn't waste food, you know? He's getting fucked up because of that very bread you're wasting.
I wonder what face she's making. I guess taking a peek won't hurt anyone.
I hadn't focused on her face yet, especially since my vision was still disoriented. After shifting my vision towards her face, I squinted my eyes, in order to focus and try to see her expression.
…!
The moment I finally noticed her expression, my eyes widened in shock, and that's when my vision instantly returned to normal, as if a bucket of ice cold water had been thrown on me, waking me up in a flash. Terror. No other word even came to mind, when it came to describing it. From the bottom of her heart, that was probably the most terrified she had been in her whole life. Such a young girl, making that expression… I couldn't stand by and watch anymore.
What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? What can I do? What can I do? Think! Think! Think! Think!
If only I could move my body… wait. That's right!
Body enhancing via mana! I had subconsciously done it once, during Alduin's attack, and I hadn't thought about it since. Thinking back however, I still vaguely remember the feeling. And I know the theory behind it. There was simply no time for me to hesitate.
Focus. Feel the flow of your body's natural mana.
Everyone's body is made out of mana, just like anything else. However, the mana consisting of your body and the one stored inside your mana stomach, operate differently. But what you can do is enhance either specific aspects of your physical body or senses, with your usable mana, and that was exactly what I had to do, now that I was able to feel my body's natural one.
Now for the usable mana… feel the pool. Imagine draining the water inside it, and distribute that water alongside the flow within your body's natural mana.
It felt weird. Like when you get water in your ears or nose, for example. But that was only a momentary sensation. And above all, it probably would only be something I feel now, as I'm doing it for the first time intentionally at least. That aside, to my utmost happiness, the second step was also a total success. Wherever this was mere luck, or a blessing given to me to help these two, it didn't matter now.
Now, the last step… condense the mana all throughout your body, and do the same for the neurological pathways that control your senses.
I knew I had succeeded almost instantly, as all of my senses had gotten substantially sharper, and I felt my body easen up so much that I could probably jump to get on my feet. I was happy. So happy that a grin creeped up on my lips, as I got up on my feet, and turned around.
""No way… How are you able to stand already?!""
2 of the brutes shouted, while another was holding the girl's brother, and the last one was simply watching him, until they had also both turned towards me, shock visible on their faces. None of that mattered though. What did matter was the expression on their boss' face when his eyes met mine. He was almost flabbergasted. And I loved seeing it!
"Drop the kid, all 4 of you, Go! Don't hold back, or you're going to die!"
His shouted command marked the beginning of the scene's escalation. My smile didn't falter however. I knew I wouldn't have much time, as I felt my usable mana getting drained, but it didn't matter. I was definitely going to save them.
"You annoying brat, I'll kill you!"
The first brute charged quickly, impressively fast honestly. However, the biggest mistake he made was not unsheathing his knife on his thigh sooner. He reached for it, but it was too late for him. With a quick dash, before he could react I had stolen his knife out of his knife holder, and cut off one of his leg's tendons.
"Arghhh!"
The other brutes had stopped for a moment, but even though they were clearly both scared and still shocked, they still charged towards me, all 3 of them with their knives in their hands, u like their poor friend.
This stuff is dangerous… I can see their movements so clearly, it's almost as if they're moving slower!
I dashed forward again, leap jumping on the wall on my right, and quickly dashing down, crouching and cutting the tendon of another brute's leg. 2 of them were immobilized, but the other ones seemed to be slightly faster, as one of them swung his knife down to cut me almost right after I had finished his friend.
He's definitely better than the previous two… but not good enough.
Before his knife could reach me, I slid towards my left, and cut his wrist, which made his knife drop. Instinctively, he reached for his wrist with his other hand, and I could've cut that one as well, but honestly I didn't have the leisure of time to do so. Instead, while the 4th was coming my way, I kicked the 3rd in the jaw, making him fall, and giving me the momentum I needed to turn around with an air kick, and hit the knife of the 4th out of his hand. Following that with a kick in the stomach, which had enough power to make him fall against the 3rd.
I don't think I can last longer than a few more seconds! I need to quickly immobilize him as well before-
But as I reached towards him, I was forced to give up on that task, and cross my arms in order to parry the kick which had hit me, sending me a few steps back. It was obvious who did it, and that I had to somehow beat their boss as well in the extremely short amount of time I had. So the moment I had landed back on my feet, I dashed at full speed towards him, with my knife ready to strike… but as usual, fate was against me.
Shit, shit, shit, shit!
I felt it. As I was dashing, I had run out of usable mana. Because of that, I instantly fell to the ground, as the weight of the clothes impacted me again, on top of my exhaustion. The boss, taken aback by my sudden fall for a second, quickly regained his composure and a devilish grin appeared on his face this time while taking the knife of a fallen brute, and walking towards me.
"Seriously… I would've killed you painlessly while you were passed out, had you not gotten in my way any further. Do you not have any survival instincts, kid of the Ashfords?"
"That might be the case. But it's not "kid of the Ashfords" you know?"
"Hmm. Normally, I'd say something along the lines of "I have no need to know the name of a dead brat" but, you've clearly shown me that you're not just a regular one. So before I kill you, I will ask. What's your name, foolish kid of the Ashfords?"
"The foolish part wasn't necessary, old man…"
He remained silent, simply looking down on me as he was now only around 3 steps ahead of my face, waiting for my answer.
"Cael. Cael Ashford."
"I see. Although you've caused me way too much trouble for what I could tolerate, I must give credits where credits are due. You did an amazing job at getting in my way. Had you had more mana at your disposal, or better control over your enhancing quality and quantity, I would've been the one on the ground now."
"You could tell, huh?"
"No one suddenly wakes up after being knocked out and becomes stronger out of nowhere after all. It's one of the basic skills that any skilled mana fighter acquires, but neither one of us is capable of it. As I've previously said, it seems like the Ashford genes are definitely not just for show."
"Well, thanks for that one."
His glare towards me got colder afterwards. It didn't take a genius to know what he was about to do next, as he further closed the distance between us, only a step away from my face now.
"Any last words?"
He was convinced this was his victory. I could see the older brother of the girl in front of me, he was watching with an expression almost as terrified as his sisters. However, my smile didn't falter for a second, as I wasn't scared in the least.
"I have none. I won't need them after all, haha."
"What are you-"