“Who are you?” One of the men shouted, rushing at Gojo with a sword.
Gojo smiled, “I’m but a harmless human,” He dodged the sword without moving from where he stood, only slightly bending backward. CLENCH! He grabbed the man’s wrist with a smile. THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! Gojo used his palm and smacked the man’s chest like a drum, shaking his insides.
“Roses are harmless until you poke them,” Gojo said, letting the man fall on the ground, bleeding. CRACK! He then froze him, smiling.
“Well said!” Abel pushed the men surrounding him away, “Let’s us take them down, but make sure they stay alive,”
“Who are you?” Gojo stared at Abel with a stupid face.
“Does it matter, the guild sent me? We’re already fighting. Where are the others?” Abel asked.
“AH!” Gojo smacked his hands, “That’s what it was about,” He smiled as if finally realizing something, “Sorry, but we’re spread thin. Only I have spare times to wander around and save random people.”
The attackers looked at each other, “Let’s retreat!” a man shouted.
“Deserting means death,” Another growled.
“Are you joking? One has the hair of the devil, and the other has the hair of the evil god. No good will come from them!” The man turned away to run for his life, but Gojo appeared before him, even though he was on the other side of the street.
“Hair of an evil god? Now that hurt my feeling,” He smiled.
“Get away from me, you monster!” The man pulls an axe from his waist and swings it at Gojo, attempting to behead him.
CRACK! The axe froze before reaching Gojo’s head, and the man stood like a statue of pure ice.
“Teleportation?” One of the men shouted, but Gojo stared at them, confused, “The hell are you talking about?” A cold wind blew across the street, it started snowing out of nowhere, and Gojo’s voice echoed.
“This is it,” Several Gojos appeared everywhere, on the opposite sides of the street and the top of the building. “Snow clones, never heard of them?” The clones spoke simultaneously, their bodies shifting between transparent and apparent.
“Ice can reflect and become transparent, so I can make the clones invisible. And since their feet are made of fluffy snow, good luck hearing them moving.” Gojo smiled, and all of his clones jumped down, beating the men to a pulp and freezing them.
“Yo! Are you alright, Goldy?” Gojo extended his hand to Abel, smiling.
“Who are you? A court mage? An ice master?” Abel stared at him.
“Me? I’m Gojo, an adventurer. No more and no less,” Gojo looked around at all the frozen people, “Who are they?”
“You attacked without knowing?” Abel sighed.
“I was following someone with my clones when two women interrupted my search, deterring the man away,” Gojo glared at Abel, “And you were there, so I need you to go with me to the guild,”
Abel stood with a smile, “I don’t mind going to the guild with you, but can that wait? I still have to track that man,”
“You’re going with me now. That mage is my target,” Gojo replied with a stupid face.
“Make me!” Abel smiled, glaring at Gojo’s glowing blue eyes.
“Bet? How much?” Gojo smiled.
“Think you can…” CRACK! Gojo froze Abel immediately, staring at him, “I can always take the money from your frozen body. But I don’t think the guild will take kindly to that, so I will let them play with you,”
Later that day, Abel woke in the guild’s infirmary, and Nina informed him that Gojo brought him in with the suspects saying he was acting suspiciously.
“That bastard!” Abel growled, “I will have him arrested,”
“Please stop it,” Nina said, sitting beside him, “Here is a letter of apology from Gojo,”
Abel snatched the letter from her hand, “Does he think this will be the end of it?” Abel tried to open the envelope, and Nina’s instincts immediately kicked in. She jumped away so fast that she left holes in the ground.
The letter exploded into a burst of cold magic, freezing Abel again. When Nina looked at what is written, the letter said.
“Chill out, Son of the lord, or should I say, daughter? I honestly don’t know. How could you do that? Illusion magic, I will give it a try.”
Nina sighed, “How could he?” She looked at the frozen Abel and the bed he was on, “What was that spell? I better ask Merlin,”
***
Inside the dungeon, Arad, Jack, and Aella have finished setting their camp and found the passageway to the third layer.
Jack stared down the dark hole, “Doesn’t look any better. Not that it’s supposed to,” He sighed.
“Should we jump?” Arad asked.
“No, we will use a rope to repel down,” Jack replied. “Wouldn’t it be better if we tried to look down with a light first?” Aella asked.
“Good idea,” Jack nodded, “Let’s tie a lantern to the end of the rope and see what’s down there,” 𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
After doing that, they could still see nothing. It was pitch black.
CRACK! But as they were about to pull the rope, something big bites it and pulls like a fish.
“Damn it!” Jack let go of the rope before he could be pulled down.
“What was that?” Aella gasped.
“I saw a large ant,” Arad said, glaring down the hole. “It was for a moment, but I am sure I saw a cow-sized ant.”
“Giant ants?” Jack growled, “That’s a problem,”
“Giant ants? I think a mice-sized ant would be giant. Those are far worse,” Arad pointed down.
“You’re right. but wrong.” Jack looked at Arad, “We call them Giant ants because they are ant-sized to the giants. You will grow to be an ancient dragon in the future, and they will look ant-sized to you,”
Aella stared at them, “They have armored exoskeletons. My arrows can’t pierce them. How are we going to deal with them?”
“Which hit harder? A small rock or a big one?” Arad asked.
“A big one. But it’s harder to throw,” Jack replied.
“Good. Aella, give me your arrows. I will try something I read in the gravity book,” Arad smiled.