Scorching hot magma began materializing beneath my adversaries. The forming lava hissed and spat as it slowly created an ever-expanding zone of destruction. Kai panickedly leaped back with a cry, just barely managing to avoid the molten ground. His face depicted clear fear toward me and my deep arsenal as beads of sweat dripped down his forehead from the oppressive heat.
Blackjack on the other hand didn’t panic. His manic features grew more contorted as he strategically dashed out of the danger zone. His eyes were locked on me with wild excitement. He evidently knew of my class and its capabilities, and now he was busy marveling at its might. Explore stories on empire
Nevertheless, I didn’t stop. Massive boulders materialized out of nowhere and a heartbeat later they began plummeting to the earth with a force pushing them, as if Thalorind wanted to hug them close so it amplified the gravitational force pulling them in. Each impact shook the ground and sent tremors through the battlefield, forcing Kai and Blackjack to dodge for their lives.
Kai stumbled when he rolled to avoid a falling boulder due to his frantic and uncoordinated movements. He cursed under his breath with a pale face as another rock slammed into the ground mere inches from him. His blade was in his hand, but his focus was entirely on staying alive.
Blackjack was a completely different story. He moved with precision as he weaved through the deadly onslaught. He twisted and leaped, avoiding each boulder by the narrowest of margins.
I couldn’t help but remember back to my samurai’s words when she first laid eyes on Kai. She said that he might be Mithril ranked, but she was almost certain that he got there through quantity, not quality. He likely spent numerous decades completing quests and slowly climbed the ladder, while Broderick shot through them due to his talent. Blackjack was made of the same fabric as my sole (self-proclaimed) friend. He was talented and trained a great deal to be a proper warrior who didn’t waver in the face of imminent death.
Then came the final assault: [Wind Cutter Barrage]. I swept my hand forward to conjure a storm of razor-sharp wind blades that tore through the air accompanied by a piercing whistle. The deadly projectiles honed in on their targets.
Kai was still lying on the ground from [Rockfall], so he did his best to scramble to grab his sword. “H-help!” He shouted to no one in particular. The first blade slashed across his thigh before he managed to lift the weapon in defense, after which sparks began flying as the steel deflected the incoming barrage. He gritted his teeth and swung desperately, deflecting a few of the blades with wide, panicked sweeps. But there were too many, and they came too fast.
One blade sliced across his forearm, drawing a crimson line that soaked his sleeve in seconds. Another grazed his cheek, leaving a stinging cut that dripped blood. A third dug into his side, leaving a shallow but evidently deep enough to make him cry out in pain. I couldn’t help but think inwardly…
Pathetic.
This little amount of pain and this old warrior was already tearing up?
The young child Iris wouldn’t have even flinched from this much.
The onslaught didn’t relent, and as more blades found their mark, Kai’s body bore an increasing number of lacerations. None of the wounds were vital, but blood seeped from every cut, staining his armor and pooling beneath him as his movements grew sluggish.
Once his portion of the barrage ceased, Kai quickly reached into his pocket with trembling hands where he found a vial, which he desperately tried to uncork.
Blackjack’s reaction – predictably – was far more deranged, or admirable depending on your viewpoint. He completely ignored his ally’s cry for help and as the wind blades closed in, his body began to radiate chaotic energy with his veins pulsing an ominous red light. He let out a guttural laugh. “Zehahaha! Brother! You’re amazing! I had never even met an Elemental Sovereign before, let alone killed one, let us change that sad fact! [Frenzied Dash]!””
His body blurred once he activated his spell. His speed surged beyond what I had seen him display thus far with his figure becoming a streak of red that darted across the battlefield. He zigzagged through the blades which were doing their best to home in on him, leaving cracks in his wake as his feet pounded against the ground with substantial force.
He sprinted toward his mansion and instead of stopping when he reached the building, he planted his foot against the wall and continued upward, defying gravity as his feet stuck to the surface. He ran in a completely straight line as if the earth had been tilted by 90 degrees, his back was perfectly horizontal to the ground.
As soon as he reached the top, he bent his knees into a crouch for the briefest moment before launching himself into the air – his aim obvious – me. “This is how I hunted when I was hungry and saw a tasty-looking little wyvern flying in the sky, brother!”
What kind of class does this dude have?! He ran up on the wall like he had sticky shoes or something! Each of his spells defy logic! It’s as if not only was his mind mad, but so was his class!
Seeing the anomalies he was pulling off each time he cast a spell made me question my knowledge of the innate laws of the universe.
Be that as it may, up in the sky where I could run around as if I was standing on solid ground I had the definitive advantage even if he could jump at me with frightening speed. It might’ve been a bit cowardly, but I did just that – I ran out of his path. His eyes bulged from shock and disbelief and as he whirred past me I could hear him cursing me and his own brain out with a lot of ugly profanities.
I was glad to see that he didn’t have a spell that let him change directions mid-air. His form became smaller and smaller, but Blackjack turned his body around so that he could watch me without the ability to do anything about my following action.
‘It’s time to end this.’ I thought inwardly as I glanced down at the panicked man fiddling around with his healing potion and I canceled my [Airwalk] spell, after which I began descending headfirst from the skies toward his location.