The old man blasted toward Arad at a blinding speed.
Arad gasped, pulling the adamantine sword from his stomach. ^Fast, but not as much as Gura, let alone Alcott.^
CLANG! With a swift swing, Arad deflected the downward slash.
SWOSH! The old man shifted his weight rapidly, his sword changing direction toward Arad’s side. Blood splashed as he delivered a solid slash.
“Rusty,” The old man smiled. But soon gasped, his sword stuck in Arad’s flesh, refusing to move. “What?”
Thud! Arad grabbed the old man by the face, “It’s over!” He smiled. [Void Step]
In the blink of an eye, the old man found himself standing beside the healing tent with Arad still grabbing his face.
“Keno?!” A priest gasped in the back, “You old fart, you were in the forest?” He rushed toward them.
“Get away from me, kid,” Keno stared at Arad, “You, who are you? Why do you look like Alcott?”
“A lot of people said that to me, but I only trained under him for a while,” Arad replied, pulling Keno’s katana from his side. “Forget defeating me if you can’t do it in one slash. Next time, go for the head.” He threw the katana at Keno’s feet and Disappeared with another [Void Step]
“Stop it Keno, you won’t defeat him,” The priest sighed.
“I can’t accept it!”
“You have. He wiped the floor with Five. And also he’s the one who murdered the white dragon that came for princess Isdis.” The priest approached Keno, casting a healing spell on him.
“Defeated Five? So he’s an S-rank? Fuck my life, always bested by the young ones.” Keno fell on his butt, gasping for air. “Even though I dedicated my life to the blade.” ．
“How did he look to you?” The priest asked.
“A monster, never felt something the same as facing him face to face.” Keno smiled, “I knew he wasn’t Alcott from the start, but I couldn’t help but want to see what he could do.”
Keno giggled, “If I were to describe it.” He scratched his beard, “It’s like facing a vicious dragon, oppressive, mighty and proud.”
****
Thud! Arad landed again in the forest, “Two attacked me. I hope the other three are a bit more friendly.”
He started walking, “I know you’re here! I came to help!” Arad called, looking around for the third A-rank.
“You can help?” He heard a voice from behind him. He turned around and saw a little girl staring at him from underneath the ground. “A little girl?”
CRACK! The little girl punched the ground off and crawled out of the hole, “Little girl, how rude.” She growled, “I’m a halfling, you giant!”
“I’m not a giant,” Arad replied.
“Look who’s talking, the two-meter monster. I’m barely ninety centimeters tall.” She mumbled, flicking her finger, and her black hair flickered with fire.
“Meimei here, a sorceress that actually learns magic,” As a black robe covered her body and a massive hat appeared over her head, she sat on a burned log and ignited a pipe. “I’m probably twice as old as you, young man,”
“You’re one year and a half old?” Arad replied as he was barely six months old.
“I’m forty-two years old! Are you mocking me?” She growled, “I will blow your head off!”
Arad shook his hands, “No! No! No! No!” He forgot that to people, he looks in his early twenties.
“What brought you here?” She glared at him, trying to assess the magic flowing from his body.
“I came to take you back to the soldiers’ camp. You were hit by that darkness earlier, right?” Arad said, looking at her.
Meimei blinked, “You mean that void rush? I blocked it with a barrier and then hid underground with a burial spell to avoid any secondary attack. But none came.”
“You blocked it?” Arad gasped.
“Yeah, it seems like a fool just expanded an uncontrolled void magic all over the forest in an attempt to quell the flames.” She started playing with her pipe. “Usually I will find the bastard and set them ablaze, but since their plan seems to have worked, I can turn a blind eye to such a reckless deed,”
Arad pointed at his face, “That was me. The flames seemed to go out of control, so I starved them.”
“Stop joking! You don’t have enough mana to command such a vast amount of the void.” She glared at him, her eyes glowing blue.
“I don’t care if you believe me or not,” Arad approached her, grabbing her hand, “To the soldiers’ camp,”
[Void Step]
Arad felt a heavy sensation fall over his chest. A sharp pain spread from his head to his knees. Looking forward, he didn’t teleport but remained in place.
“What?” He gasped, holding his head with one hand.
“What did you just…” Meimei was about to speak when Arad grunted, “Again.”
[Void Step] [Void Step] [Void Step] [Void Step] [Void Step] [Void Step] [Void Step] [Void Step]
“Stop casting that!” Meimei lunged up and smacked him on the head, “You will fry your brain, idiot!” She glared at him, “Don’t you feel the pain?”
“Pain isn’t enough to stop me,” Arad replied.
“You can’t teleport me. I’m heavier than you. Magic wise at least,” She looked down, “How do I explain it? I have multiple tattoos and enchantments cast on my body, in addition to several enchanted gems that I swallowed or wear as jewelry.”
“How does that make it harder for me to teleport you?” Arad asked.
Meimei scratched her head, “How do I explain it to a muscle brain…It’s like you’re trying to lift boxes and they are all light. Then you try living one but’s far heavier than the other, but you don’t know that. You might break your back, right? It’s the same for magic.”
“I don’t get it,”
^[It’s the same way mages will find it hard to charm you if they don’t know you’re a dragon. They can’t make a suitable spell. Unless you know the nature of the magic her body is enchanted with, you can’t teleport her,]^
^What magic is she carrying?^
Doma started stating Meimei’s enchantments while showing Arad replicas of the inscription used to make them.
[This halfling has expanded magic capacity on her earring and basic protection magic on her left ring. The wristbands host five charges of fire arrows each, and her ankle rings hold an illusion spell that makes her look two centimeters taller. The tattoos on her back give her enchanted speed, and the one on her chest can restart her heart if she were to get on the brink of death.]
^Is that all?^
[She still has more. Lightning charges are stored inside her left arm while two charges of holy magic, healing to be specific are stored inside her right leg. She has several magic items inside her stomach, probably for emergencies.]
^She even implanted some inside her body?^
[Don’t even get me started about the sack of the elixir of life she has tucked on her colon. One squeeze of her stomach and she would get fully healed, and all her MP and SP charged.]
^Damn!^
[You got a mix of a wizard, a sorceress, and probably an artificer. And don’t even try killing her. She will explode and have a really bad day.]
“How should I explain it better?” Meimei started thinking when Arad stared at her.
“Probably later, to the camp,” He said.
Meimei stared at him, “Didn’t you…” As she blinked, she found herself standing before the soldiers’ tent. Her eyes opened wide as she turned back to glare at Arad.
“Wait!” He teleported back to the forest before she could catch him.
“Damn IT!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, ^That bastard! If he teleported me it mean he knew about every magic enchantment I have. How did he even do that!^
“Hoi! Meimei, you little devil.” Keno waved his hand sitting beside Gura, “Did that Arad kid give you a hard time?”
Meimei turned back, “Shut up, old fart! Who’s that brat?”
“Defeated Five and solo killed the white dragon.” Keno smiled, “A new S-rank, A-ranks like us who were outside the city on quests and only came today can’t help but miss his existence.”
“Strong! Like punches, heavy.” Gura said with a smile across her face. Keno stared at her, “He even knocked you out.”