In a forest where three figures lie, one wounded and two unharmed:
'What do you mean by that?' Idril asked in confusion. She didn't expect to be instantly rejected.
'It's just as you just heard. I won't go with you anywhere. My objective is complete.'
Idril was in shock. She was being brutally rejected. No one had ever rejected her like this. The human in front of her looked at her as if she was a nobody. It was then that she understood what Flurris had said previously. But Idril had no intention of leaving empty-handed. She was not going to leave with a human child and an elemental of dubious origin. Being instantly rejected, she thought of other ways and knew of a very good way to convince a human.
'The reason I want you to accompany me is to give you a reward for your heroic act.'
'It's not necessary. We're not helping the girl for profit.'
I was originally looking forward to going to that realm, but after D reviewed the memories of the five corpses, he discovered a lot of things, and I honestly didn't feel like stepping into the lion's den. Just by looking at the elf woman in front of me, I knew that this realm was rife with powerful guys. What treasure is worth more than my own life?
'You put me in a difficult position.'
After the woman said those words, a powerful energy began to emerge from her body. It was obvious that she wanted to take me away by force, although I feel sorry for her, but the only thing I would get would be a beating just like the guy before.
'Well, if what you want is to kidnap me, go ahead. Your offense will cost you dearly.'
'I don't want to kidnap you, I just want you to come with me.'
'And I told you I wasn't going anywhere.'
Idril was surprised. The pressure she exerted didn't seem to affect the human. She assumed it was the work of her elemental. Instead, the other human was sweating like a pig and breathing heavily.
'Ugh, okay, okay. If you don't want to come, then don't, but that human is coming with me. I have questions to ask him.'
'That's not possible either. He will guide me to his city.'
Idril's face soon scrunched up. She was already getting annoyed. Nothing seemed to work with this human. Her patience was reaching its limit.
"So what the hell is wrong with you, human?"
"Oh, you know how to speak human language then?"
"Fuu, I've been very patient with you, you know?"
"Is that so?"
Idril raised her right hand to attack the human holding an elemental. Her idea was to knock him out with a strong gust of wind, but before she could finish gathering enough energy and adjust it so as not to kill him, the human moved his right hand quickly and a wind blade shot out at an almost imperceptible speed. Idril had no choice but to raise her mana shield quickly, but she wasn't fast enough. The blade cut through her stomach in an instant and her right arm was almost torn off from receiving such a deep wound. Idril was in shock. She didn't feel the mana move at all, which was why she couldn't react in time.
"Ugh, what was that?"
"Just a basic wind attack. Be thankful it was regulated or you'd be split in two now."
"I see, I admit it, I underestimated you."
Idril had no words for this situation. There was a huge cut on her abdomen and her right arm was almost detached as she had no feeling. Blood was dripping from her wounds. It had been more than 10 years since she was hurt. Idril had forgotten the pain of being hurt.
"Do you still want me to accompany you?"
"My desire for you to come with me only increased, you know?"
"Ufff, you're so stubborn, woman."
"Fufufufu, don't think you've already won."
After saying that, Idril concentrated a large amount of energy into her injured arm and abdomen. A few seconds later, her wounds could be seen slowly beginning to heal.
"You can heal, interesting."
"Get ready, brat. I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget."
"Let's see what you're made of, Miss Elf."
The elf woman didn't want to give in. The only reason I was provoking her was because of D. He was studying her. According to D, the elf woman was using the surrounding energy in its neutral state, without the help of any skills. One example was that semi-transparent shield the elf woman created. According to D, we could do the same, so we needed her to use more of that power. But the next thing the elf woman did put me in a bind: she took in a lot of air with her mouth, and the moment she filled it with air, I started to feel dizzy.
- OXYGEN IN THE AREA WAS REMOVED WITHIN A 50 SQUARE METER RADIUS.
- ESTIMATED TIME TO FALL UNCONSCIOUS: 5 MINUTES.
- THE 'ICE HEART' SKILL WILL MAINTAIN BODY FUNCTIONS UNTIL THEN.
- AFTER 5 MINUTES IT IS RECOMMENDED TO LEAVE THE AREA OR ENTER THE CUBE.
'Understood'.
The elf woman had a neat trick hidden, so the damn thing took as much air as she could into her mouth. After figuring out the trick, I looked at the elf woman and smiled at her.
'Nice trick, but are you sure you can hold out until he loses consciousness?'
'Fufufufu, don't hesitate.'
'I also have a trick that you will really like.'
'?????'
Idril was shocked at the situation. Usually, her enemies fell after a few seconds of agonizing, and all due to lack of oxygen, but here was a human who looked to be no older than 8 years old, standing there as if nothing had happened. She tried her best not to look shocked at the situation. After the human said he was going to show her a trick, she saw it, a wave of mana was produced from the small human that swept away everything around it and hit her hard. It wasn't just her; the guy who had been silently recovering was also swept away with the strong wave of mana.
"Phew, I can breathe again."
"I guess I killed two birds with one stone."
- ATTACK RANGE: 100 SQUARE METERS. THE EQUIVALENT OF 10 TIMES HIS BASE MANA WAS USED.
"That must have hurt quite a bit."
- WITHOUT A DOUBT.
"Did you manage to learn the techniques the woman was using?"
- ONLY THE SHIELD.
"I guess you need more tests to learn it."
- CORRECT.
"Well, we'll call that technique 'mana shield'."
- UNDERSTOOD.
"Use it with 'iron skin' when I'm caught off guard and can't react."
- UNDERSTOOD.
After giving D some directions, I went out to look for the bodies. It didn't take me long to find the guy I beat up. He was bleeding out; blood was coming out of his mouth and you could see some bones sticking out of him.
"Did you see what happened to you for being stubborn?"
"You just had to guide me and I would leave you alone."
"Stupid worm."
"Now you will die and I will still get what I want."
D was almost on the verge of finding information about the city's location. The five guys from before obviously knew about it. I placed my hand on his dying body and put him in the bucket. That guy was valuable to me; not only did he nearly kill me multiple times, he also had curious techniques. Everything he knew would eventually become part of me. D was capable of obtaining useful information from the dead. The process was slow and you had to be precise or you could damage the corpse's brain and render it unusable.
"Well, now let's go with the other one."
After retrieving the body, I headed to the area where the elf woman fell. Thanks to my eyes, I could clearly see her in the distance; she was still alive. When I reached the area where the elf woman was, I stood 20 steps away. The reason was simple: the girl was super pissed off, her clothes were torn to shreds, several of her bones were sticking out of her body, and most importantly, the upper half of her body was not covered with anything.
'Damn, what a view.'
I could clearly see her bare upper half, but I knew that if I took another step, I was in for a nasty mess. And the reason was the mana surrounding the elf woman: its density and speed changed drastically, and her face was filled with a terrifying look. She was healing faster than before; it seemed like she was taking her injuries seriously now.
"Calm down, I'll wait for you."