"What is your name, boy?" Sha asked.
"William," William replied. "William Von Ainsworth."
The Sand Demon nodded and took a fighting stance.
"My name is Sha," Sha stated. "And I will not let you pass."
The wind blew over the desert, but the two fighters just stared at each other for a while. Neither of them took the initiative to attack. It was as if they were waiting for a signal before their fight started.
All of a sudden, Sha charged forward and William followed suit. The Sand Demon's weapon, the Crescent Moon Spade shone with a vengeance as the sunlight reflected off the tip of its blade. Sha was once a Heroic Spirit. Although he was stripped off his Divinity and powers, his mastery over his weapon had stayed with him, even in exile.
The weapon he wielded specialized in hook, stab, scoop, sweep, smack, and chop strikes using techniques from spear, staff, broadsword, and trident fighting styles.
It was an all purpose weapon for both attack and defense. Unlike William's wooden staff that looked so plain to the eye, the Crescent Moon Spade was capable of cutting things like a blade.
Although Sha knew how to fight in close combat, he was more of a Sorcerer that specialized in sand spells. Even so, he was stronger than William physically, so he thought that he wouldn't have a problem fighting the Half-Elf one-on-one.
When the two weapons collided, William was immediately sent flying due to the strength behind Sha's attack. As a Centennial Rank Beast, his strength couldn't be underestimated.
Sha didn't follow up his attack and looked at the boy with a calm gaze. "This is the only time that I will show mercy. If you don't plan on dying then you'd better fight me seriously."
William held the staff in his hands firmly as he narrowed his eyes. 'Such strength. My hands are still tingling from pain due to his casual strike. Well then, time to use my skills.'
The Half-Elf took a step forward and charged towards the Sand Demon. Sha stood completely still and waited for the boy to reach his strike zone. When William was only three meters away, the Sand Demon used the tip of his weapon to scoop up some sand and throw it at William's face.
The boy momentarily shielded his eyes with his hand, and Sha took that opportunity to attack. The Sand Demon didn't feel any shame in doing what he did. In the battlefield, when matters of life and death were on the line, there was no such thing as a dirty trick.
He slashed at the boy's body with the intention to cut it in half.
However, his attack completely missed its target. The moment William covered his eyes, he slammed his staff on the ground and somersaulted above the Sand Demon. The Half-Elf delivered a strike in mid-air, aiming for the Sand Demon's head, but he was up against a Centennial ranked beast that couldn't be easily hoodwinked in battle.
The blow was completely mitigated, when Sha used his right arm to block the strike from above. He then turned around and delivered a kick to William's chest which sent the boy flying several meters away from where he stood.
However, before Sha could even follow up his attack, William's staff slapped the side of his face, stopping him in his tracks. William had the ability to infuse his Aura on his weapon to make it atack on its own.
Unfortunately, Sha's face was thick enough to withstand a full strike from the staff at close range.
"No damage," William muttered as he successfully landed on the ground. "Time to try something different."
William ran away in order to gain distance from the Sand Demon, but he didn't run too far from his enemy. When he deemed that the distance was sufficient, he raised his arm to summon the wooden staff and channeled his aura on its body.
"Quick Shot War Arts... First Form," William said as he held the wooden staff like a flame thrower, aiming its tip at the Sand Demon in the distance. He also didn't forget to firmly plant his feet on the ground as he took a shooting stance. "Destroy everything in your path!"
"Railgun!"
A thunderous clap resounded as a concentrated ball of aura shot out from the tip of the wooden staff. William's face contorted in pain as he skidded tens of meters away from where he stood due to the skill's powerful recoil.
Sha didn't know what the boy did, but his instincts honed in battle made him jump subconsciously to his right side. A second later, his left arm exploded after getting hit by the invisible attack that William had just fired.
The Sand Demon screamed in pain at the unexpected injury he received. Everything happened so fast that he didn't understand how the boy was able to hurt him at that distance. All he knew was that the boy shouted and a few seconds later, his arm was destroyed instantly.
William looked at the Sand Demon while gritting his teeth due to pain. The recoil of the railgun was so strong that William felt that his right arm was about to fall off from his shoulder, due to the searing pain he was experiencing.
The Sand Demon roared and charged at William. Whatever the boy was planning, he wouldn't allow him to do it again.
William wanted to fire another Railgun at the charging demon, but he was afraid that his arm would literally be severed from his body due to the backlash. With his current strength, he could only fire the railgun once.
However, if there was a healer nearby, he could fire it every five seconds as long as his injuries were healed completely.
Seeing that his enemy was closing in on him, William held the staff with his left hand. Due to the passive skill "Ambidextrous", William could use his left hand as if it was his dominant arm.
The two exchanged a couple of blows from each other in close range. William didn't try to parry or block Sha's weapon because the Demon was stronger than him physically. All he did was dodge the demon's attacks, while channeling his aura into his weapon.
William's right hand lay limp at his side as he thrust his staff at his adversary, aiming at his eyes, neck, face, and chest.
'Quick Shot War Arts… Second Form," William roared internally as he aimed the staff at Sha's body at close range.
"Shotgun!"
Sha's body bent over as a powerful force slammed into his stomach. If not for the armor he was wearing, he might have already suffered serious injuries from the attacks that he was seeing for the first time.
Before William could fire another shot, Sha brandished his weapon filled with his own Aura intent. Although William was a few meters away from the Sand Demon, a powerful force swatted him away like a tennis ball getting hit by a racket.
Blood spurted from the Shepherd's lips as he crashed heavily on the sandy desert floor, creating a dust cloud.
Sha panted as he glared at the red-headed boy in the distance. He didn't expect that the boy had several tricks under his sleeve and had caught him by surprise not only once, but twice. He would be a fool if he allowed William to get his way all the time.
While Sha's reasoning was sound, he didn't understand the mechanics of William's ability. Also, he made a mistake when he attacked William just now.
Instead of closing in and going for the kill, Sha sent the boy away with his strike that allowed the Half-Elf to have the tactical advantage over him.
Naturally, Sha realized this as well, but it was already too late.
He was about to run towards the boy's direction when he saw the Half-Elf with an evil grin on his face. William's staff was firmly embedded on the sand, supported by his left hand, and aimed in Sha's direction.
"Obliterate… Howitzer!"
Sha's body broke apart as William's full powered attack exploded in his face.
(A/N: Howitzer is similar to a cannon. For more information please ask google senpai.)