Blutox's grip on his sword tightened as he charged forward, he swung his Utagri Al, easily splitting five training dummies that were in front of him into two. He inhaled and exhaled as red smoke exuded from the sword, engulfing his whole body.
"That's impressive."
The Blue Kanrei veered around to see Uobleza staring at him. The latter gasped as he noticed the rage in his friend's eyes. "Are you okay…" Before he could finish his words, the blue-skinned man burst forward, he moved so quickly that Uobleza barely dodged the attack.
He managed to pull back just in time to only sustain a small cut to his neck. He was in shock, terror, and fear as he tapped his neck to see drops of blood.
"What is wrong with you?" He looked up to see the War Kanrei staring at him with the red smoke exuding from his entire body.
"What has gotten into you?"
Blutox ignored him and zipped forward again. He lunged his sword forward but this time, his opponent put his hands up and an energy shield appeared in front of him.
The sword shattered the shield but it slowed the momentum, throwing Uobleza out through the front door. The attack threw him out into the open street, out of the training field.
Everyone around turned to their location. "What is happening?" Some of them pondered the question as they watched Blutox stepped out of the building.
Arya who was passing by, noticed the villager's chatter and followed their eyes and fingers to where Uobleza was kneeling in front of the War Kanrei who had his Utagri Al up.
"What the hell is happening?"
.
.
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Eryth groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. He was still hugging the grey-haired woman but the heat he felt was more than just the energy from her body. He jumped up quickly to see the tent they were in on fire.
"Grevla, get up!"
The light act user quickly got up and realized the situation they were in. They picked up their things and rushed out of the tent before it fully burnt down. "What caused that fire?"
The dark brown-haired man looked around the place, the mist that had covered the entire place last night had reduced and was only in a far distance, revealing the withered trees all around.
"I see, that didn't kill you."
Eryth and Grevla quickly turned to see a man sitting on a boulder with a cup in his hand which he sipped from.
'I didn't sense his energy.'
The man was dark-skinned, tall and very muscular. He had long light brown hair which he tied in a ponytail and blue eyes. He only wore a red trouser a scarf wrapped around his neck and a backpack strapped on his back, leaving his chest open and showing the many scars all around his body and the most distinct one was the long cut scar on his forehead.
"I was hoping I could just kill you in that fire so I wouldn't have to put any energy into this, I'm already exhausted... but, I guess I'll just have to do it myself." He pulled out two daggers from his boot and zipped forward.
"Wait…" Eryth tried to speak but the man didn't spare a second to listen. He jumped and threw a kick which Eryth put his hand to block.
The man halted on the kick mid-air and used Eryth's hand to propel himself towards Grevla.
'His fast, too fast for someone with that stature.'
The Dangel daughter pulled out her sword and parried the attack but the force behind it sent her flying back. The light brown-haired man turned his attention back to Eryth again, but it seemed the Dark Mage was ready this time.
Eryth closed the distance between them and landed the first blow. His fist caught the man cleanly on the jaw before he grabbed the scarf around the man's neck and hurled him into one of the many trees around.
The man got up with a smile lingering on his lips. "You're not normal, you are different… there's something about you."
"And you want to find out?"
The man took out a small vile from his belt pocket and gulped down its contents. It only took a second before his eyes turned completely black. "I do."
He charged forward, rushing towards the dark brown-haired man. Eryth grinned. "Stay out of this Grevla."
The dark brown-haired man left his sword in his belt as he also pushed forward. Eryth stuck to defending and dodging while the man continued to swing his daggers.
'He's gotten faster… I better put some energy into this too.'
The Dark Mage jumped back to create space between himself and his opponent. The moment his legs touched the ground, he pulled out his sword and bolted forward at an extraordinary speed which caused stone and dust to rise and Grevla's eyes to widen in shock.
The tables turned and the man was now forced to defend. Sparks continued to fly all around as their weapon clashed. The man somersaulted back to avoid an attack before vanishing into the air.
Eryth grinned and quickly turned around, lunging his hand left forward. The man reappeared with his opponent's hand gripping hard on his neck. Eryth slammed him into the ground before smashing him through a tree.
The man yet again disappeared into the mist. This time, Eryth slowly and cautiously paced around in his location as he waited for the man to make his move. 'I can't sense his energy… no, he has no energy.' the moment Eryth realized this, he slipped his sword back into its scabbard and clasped his hands together. Three small knives flew out of the shadow and pierced Eryth's back but he didn't budge.
He inhaled deeply until he couldn't anymore before slapping his fist to the ground while exhaling. A strong wind blew from the ground where he slapped, blowing away all the mist in the location.
The dark brown-haired man looked up to see the man hanging on a tree, and along with that, there were countless faceless creatures with hands where the leg was supposed to be and leg where hand should be also hanging on trees.
"Shit!" Eryth clasped his hand again and the mist returned to the way it was.
The dark-skinned man dropped from the tree. He exhaled softly and slipped his daggers back into his boot before approaching Eryth. He took out another vile from his pocket and drank its contents. His eyes turned back to normal before he slipped the vile back into his pocket. "You must have much energy to be able to clear the mist."
"And you must have very little."
"I have no energy," the man chipped. "I also can't feel the energy someone possesses."
"I see," Eryth hummed.
"Who are you?" The man questioned.
The dark brown-haired man frowned. "You have no idea who we were and you were going to kill us?"
The man furrowed. "Yes, I was gonna kill you… until I got a clear view of Princess Grevla."
"You know who I am?" Grevla asked while approaching the two.
The light brown-haired man bowed his head. "I do. My entire family have served in the Herimol Royal palace for centuries, that is before Hex."
"And you were going to kill her?"
"One, I didn't know who she was until I got a clearer view," he started. "Two, who would have thought her royal Highness would be in bed with… you."
"What's wrong with me?"
"I was not in bed with him, I was only keeping him warm," she revealed. "Where did you serve?"
The man paused for a second before speaking. "My father was the assistant commander of the Imperial Knight, and I was but a servant on the farmland, because I didn't have any Act, but I have crossed paths with your Highness a couple of times."
"Please, drop the formalities," Grevla said. "Where's your… father?" She stuttered at the end as she already realized the answer she was going to get.
Being in the Imperial Knight meant being in the front of the line whenever danger got into the palace.
"He died in action, my lady."
"I'm sorry..."
"Trippier Djibril," he said. "Forgive me for raising my fist at her Highness."
"It's fine, you were only trying to protect yourself." She smiled and inched closer.
"How did you end up here? And what the hell are those things I just saw?" Eryth asked.
Trippier laughed softly. "Those are called the Living, harmless and have been here for billions of years."
"As for myself, I stumbled onto this forest with my mother, who died from severe cold, leaving me all alone," he explained. "I killed one of the living and was able to extract some fluid from its head which turned out to be medicine and also increases the users'' ability significantly. If only I had figured it out before she died."
"Was that what you took earlier."
He nodded. "It is. But I shouldn't speak about myself as so in front of her Highness." He turned to Grevla. "Say what you need, and I'll be of service."
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