Chapter 198
The earth all around the assassin turned into mud while spears of ice as big as a man randomly fell from above . Without space to move around, his footwork was nothing but a silly dance . Strength had become the deciding factor .
- "At least he has already used up all his rings . If he attempts to cast, I can kill him in a split second . As long we are lined up, his friends cannot aim at me properly . "–
The assassin was right, except for one detail . Lith had only used one ring in the opening act, the other spells were silent cast with true magic . True magic was silent, but still required time for casting, so he saved the rings for later, just in case .
All he had to do was to spread his fingers, releasing the remaining nine at once . Cursing at his bad luck for meeting such a monster disguised as a rugrat, the assassin crushed the medallion he wore at his neck, activating his last stand item .
Multiple barriers enveloped him, negating most of the damage . The sheer force of the impacts, though, was another matter entirely . The assassin was knocked back right to the point where the battle had started .
Yurial activated his Earth Vines array, entangling the assassin's body with tendrils conjured from the hardest minerals in the soil, devised to be powerful enough to keep even magical beasts in check .
Four bolts of darkness magic hit him from the front, above, and the sides . The moment the array was activated, Lith had crouched down, clearing his teammates' line of fire .
Seeing how sturdy and resourceful their opponent was, they knew that restricting him wasn't enough, but it created an opening . They all decided to use darkness magic because, despite being slow and mana expensive, it was the most difficult element to defend against .
It directly attacked the enemy's life force, so a hardened skin or a magically enhanced chain mail didn't offer much protection from it . The dark energy sapped the assassin's strength and vitality, turning the scratches he had suffered during his clashes with Lith into open wounds and the bruises into internal bleedings .
"You suck!" The assassin cursed at Lith, spitting a mouthful of blood from the many broken ribs that were now piercing his lungs due to the darkness ravaging his body .
"You are barely an amateur . Technique, experience, footwork, you are below me in every aspect . Why am I the one that ended up losing? This is not fair!"
Another four bolts of darkness struck the assassin, putting him out of his misery .
"Yeah, and if my grandpa had three balls instead of two, he could have been a pinball . " Lith replied only after confirming that the assassin's life force was fading away .
- "What pisses me off the most is that he is right . I really need to join the army and receive some proper training . Most of my knowledge about martial arts is only about unarmed combat . Aside from our sparring, Solus, I have no real practice .
"I'd need a master to polish my skills, since neither of us has the talent necessary to derive new notions from what I already know . Not to mention how I keep suffering from not having a decent weapon nor training in the way of the sword .
"The practice I had with Phloria during the first trimester barely taught me to hold a real weapon . After that, between the exams, the plague, and dimensional magic I hardly touched a sword .
"Awakened ones and Monsters can use true magic just like me . When magical skills are on the same level, combat technique and equipment make the difference between life and death . " Lith thought .
"Once we learn more about Forgemastering, we will be able to make our own equipment . " Solus mind-nodded .
"For the training, though, there is not much we can do for the time being . The academy takes too much time . Even if it didn't, mastering magic and combat skills at the same time is unheard of in all the books we read . Progress, not perfection . Remember?"–
"Lith, are you all right?" His companions asked in unison .
"Yeah, only flesh wounds . " He extended his arms, revealing that aside from small cuts in the uniform, only shallow injuries remained . Lith studied their reactions carefully .
He had shared with them part of his secret, but only now could they realize the scope of his revelation . They were still shaken up by the ambush, so Lith could see right through them .
- "Surprise aside, Yurial seems to be really impressed . Friya is conflicted between fear and admiration instead . She probably longs for this kind of power, but at the same time she is afraid I could turn it against her . Quylla is beyond me though . "
Lith could see something resembling pain in her expression, but she wasn't hurt . Her eyes were a little watery, but there was no trace of fear, making her a mystery .
"What you see is compassion . " Solus answered the riddle for him . –
"How did you do that? I mean moving so fast and taking so little damage?" Yurial asked .
"I told you I'm faster and stronger than a normal person . Also while you were spacing out I consumed enhancing potions . " He lied .
"As for the damage, I must thank the Forgemasters that enchanted the uniform and Professor Trasque's lessons about using first magic in combat . I used a lot of earth magic to deflect most of the sword strikes . "
"Did it hurt?" Quylla asked while tending to Lith's wounds .
"Of course it did . " Lith gave his first honest answer .
"I might be a little different from you guys, but I feel pain like anyone else . "
"I'm so sorry you suffered so many injuries just to protect us . I wish there was more I can do . " Quylla gently wiped off the blood from his skin before stepping away .
Yurial grabbed Lith by the shoulders, his breath was still ragged because of the physical and mental exertion, but his voice was calm .
"Thank you for saving my life . " He then looked at Friya and Quylla too .
"Thanks to you all for sticking with me, instead of running away like the associates of this poor b*stard . " Yurial kicked the corpse with more anger than pity . It seemed no one was going to be traumatized this time .
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