Ar moved at lightning speed, his body darting to the side, dodging the bearded man's attack without using any of his Essential Power. His movements were fluid yet deadly. With a single twist of his sword, the long blade managed to graze the man's stomach, creating a wound that made his opponent groan in pain. Blood flowed, but the wound was not deep enough to completely paralyze him.
The bearded man growled angrily, his voice deep and threatening. "You'll regret coming here, boy!" With trembling hands, he drew the dagger from his waist and lunged at Ar.
But Ar was no ordinary Channeler. As a Voidwalker, his Shadow Stap ability gave him an advantage over the average opponent, not to mention his young age.
Just as the dagger was about to touch his skin, Ar's body melted into a shadow that flashed across the ground. In an instant, he reappeared beside the man.
Ar did not give his opponent time to react. With a lightning-fast movement, he stomped his foot on the ground. A wave of dark energy rippled through the floor, shaking the entire room. The ground beneath the bearded man's feet shook violently, causing him to lose his balance and nearly fall.
"You are too arrogant," Ar's voice was cold, almost a whisper, but sharp enough to pierce the heart of anyone who heard it.
He stepped forward slowly. His red eyes glowed under the growing flames, the glow was not something beautiful, but darkness that enveloped and threatened. "That is your weakness."
The flames outside the building grew larger, the heat beginning to pierce the skin. Thick smoke began to fill the room, the thugs coughing and panting. Their eyes were red and sore, their breathing choked. They began to look at each other, fear slowly taking over their faces. Before, they thought this Ethel child was nothing but crumbs to be easily crushed. But now, they didn't know what to do.
The bearded man who was the leader of the group stepped forward again with heavy steps. His face was flushed with anger and shame at his failure. With the strength he had gathered, he raised a large saber, which emitted a sharp light under the flash of fire.
"Enough fooling around, brats!" he shouted, his voice booming over the roar of the fire and the crackle of burning wood. He stepped forward, swinging his greatsword with surprising speed. Ar did not retreat, not even a hint of fear. His sharp eyes watched the man's every move, analyzing his attack patterns with the calm of a hunter. The greatsword was almost as tall as he was, but Ar smiled only a small smile, a smile filled with confidence.
The bearded man growled and swung his sword with all his remaining strength. Essence flowed from his body into the great blade, creating a loud whistle that cut through the air like a piercing scream. But before the sword reached Ar, his body simply vanished.
In a thick cloud of smoke, a dark shadow quickly flashed by. Using his Voidwalker ability, Ar merged with the darkness and disappeared from his opponent's sight.
"Where is the boy?" the bearded man shouted in a high tone. His eyes, reddened by the smoke, continued to search the dancing flames around them. His voice was nervous, almost desperate.
Ar appeared on the other side of the circle of fire, his movements almost inaudible. His steps were light, like a shadow moving in the middle of the night. His Shadow Step technique used the shadows created by the flames. The darkness became his ally, obscuring his presence so that the bearded man had no time to sense the approaching danger.
Before the man could turn around, Ar was right behind him. With a swift and precise movement, his long sword stabbed the bearded man in the leg.
"Aaaaargh!" The man's screams of pain echoed over the sound of the flames. His body staggered to the ground, his hands clutching his injured leg. Blood flowed freely, soaking the filthy floor beneath him. Seeing their leader badly injured, the remaining thugs tried to attack Ar. They advanced with weapons drawn, but their steps stopped when they could not find the figure of the Ethel boy. Ar had vanished back into the shadows.
Amidst the thick smoke and growing flames, only a faint shadow could be seen. The thugs began to become confused, their minds filled with fear. They came with the confidence that Ethel's son was just a helpless child, but reality told a different story.
One by one, Ar attacked them from the darkness. He didn't kill them, but each attack was enough to paralyze them. Stabs in the thigh, scratches on the arm, or cuts on the side of the body, all done with terrifying precision.
Each stab and cut was accompanied by a scream of pain. The chaos grew, and the thugs didn't even have time to use their Essential or fight back.
The thick smoke made it difficult for them to breathe, the flames trapped them even more, and Ar's shadow became their nightmare.
The bearded man looked around and saw his men falling one by one. His injured leg continued to bleed, and though he tried to channel Essential to heal himself, somehow the wound wouldn't heal. The look in his eyes changed from one of anger to one of fear.
"G-get out, you bastard! Fight me directly!" he shouted hoarsely. But his voice no longer sounded like a threat, but a desperate plea. Ar emerged from the shadows, his steps light but sure. He stood before the bearded man, who now looked smaller than before. The sword in Ar's hand was stained with blood, and the reflection of the flames on the blade seemed to heighten his menacing presence.
"You want me to fight you directly? Fine," Ar said in a calm yet cold tone.
The bearded man growled angrily and raised his greatsword with both hands. He swung it with full force, each stroke slicing through the air with a deadly whir. However, Ar had moved before the sword could get close.
With [Shadow Step], Ar disappeared and reappeared in another place, too fast for his opponent's eyes to follow. The swings of the greatsword hit nothing but empty air, making the bearded man even more frustrated.
Ar was deliberately toying with him, appearing on one side and disappearing again, just to provoke the man's anger. "Is that all you can do?" Ar thought, watching his opponent's movements as he began to lose his balance.
In one swift movement, Ar jumped over the man's head. He struck the bearded man's hand with the hilt of his sword, forcing the greatsword from his grasp.
The greatsword fell to the ground with a heavy clank, and before the man could realize what had happened, Ar kicked him to the ground. The bearded man's body hit the ground, his breath ragged as Ar stood over him.
"Thank you," Ar said simply, his voice calm but containing an unspoken threat.
Ar knew that he was just a twelve-year-old boy, an Ethel who was looked down upon by people like this man. But that was their biggest mistake: to look down on their opponents just because of their origin. Anger burned in Ar's heart, not just for this man, but for the entire Kaeilth clan that had taken everything from him.
"They are arrogant because they have never known what it means to lose," Ar thought. He suppressed his hatred, trying to keep himself from sinking further into the darkness.
The five remaining thugs lay on the ground, injured and helpless. The growing flames made them lose the courage to fight. The old building began to collapse, forcing the thugs to crawl away like frightened little mice.
They had come with great confidence, thinking they were invincible monsters. But now they were shadows of themselves, defeated by a child they had underestimated. With the wounds Ar had given them as a warning, they limped away, running from the collapsing building.
Ar stared at them with a blank stare, no sense of satisfaction or victory on his face. His sword, now reflecting the red light of the fire, felt heavy in his hand. He sheathed it in his long staff, ignoring the small cuts that began to appear on his body.