"Roar Violen…"
A wyvern's screech resounded throughout the entire city, the sound itself sent a massive shockwave, cracking the ground beneath him.
Leonard's eyes changed, they resembled that of a serpent, enhancing his vision ten fold.
"Where are you?"
A faint trail of purple mana traced out of the city, into the nature dense outskirts.
"I found you…!"
His tone was gleeful, salivating at the prospect of his upcoming "feast."
"Odin, let's go."
Odin merely nodded as they headed towards their target.
…
Boom
Laura stared towards the city, feeling a foreign energy lock on to her.
'So, they've arrived."
She went into her room and took out a small wooden box, inside was the dragon's blood she requested from Cain.
'Here goes nothing.'
She drank it, feeling an intense burn throughout her entire body.
"This… This is good!"
In Lumia, dragon's blood has unique properties as it alone created a race. When one is exposed to dragon's blood it alters their dna structure giving them traits resembling a dragon. This practice in itself is common, drinking the blood of powerful creatures or making pacts with them. Dragon's blood specifically however, gives the user increased durability and slight magic resistance. Though, it matters how much of it one drinks, in small doses it could be crucial. But in large ones, you're no longer a regular being.
…
Kez raced through the streets of Versol, gritting his teeth, he hoped the city would stay intact.
'They're here already, hopefully I can help mitigate the damage.'
pinpointing the foreign mana signatures he stopped where stood, eyes widening.
"What's this killing intent?!"
Kez was paralyzed by the amount of Ki Leonard was leaking. He fell to one knee, knowing this situation was out of his hands.
'I can't assist in this one, I'll die if I interfere.'
Kez witnessed himself dying numerous times, by either a spear or something monstrous.
…
2 hours later
"We've arrived, Leonard."
Odin found himself backing up due to Leonard's intense bloodlust.
"We must feast!"
Leonard stretched out his arms to the side with a manic grin.
"Lend me strength Vioken!"
His mana surged cracking the ground, out of the shadows, Laura appeared wearing a dark cloak donned with various items.
"So you've finally stepped out of hiding?"
Odin leaned against a tree, glaring at Laura.
"Filthy mystic, this execution is well deserved."
Laura steeled herself, preparing for the upcoming battle.
"Oh? Did us mystics hurt you in the past?"
Odin's glare deepened as he clenched his fist.
"Odin…"
Leonard halted his advance, staring at him.
"Vioken wishes to devour her mana, stay out of it."
Odin sat against the tree and nodded.
"What? He orders you around?"
He stayed silent, not falling for the obvious provocation.
"Enough talk, your days end here!"
…
A few hours ago
"Roy, go into the forest and hide."
Her expression was calm, grateful even.
"Why? Is there something wrong?"
"Don't ask questions, just go!"
I walked away in confusion, looking back between the forest and mother.
"There's monsters and ravenous beasts deep within the forest, I'll go to the mother tree."
Mother trees are the beginning of forests, their roots hold an extreme amount of mana, which grows forests at a rapid rate. They're usually the barrier between safety and danger, going beyond them leads to monster territory and only awakened can fight them.
…
Leonard lifted his arm to the side, opening his hand. Slowly, a spear of ice formed, radiating with energy.
"Let's begin!"
He spun his spear multiple times before throwing it up into the air, jumping and kicking the handle. The spear darted in Laura's direction, before landing he formed another spear, launching it.
Laura stretched forth both her arms as a barrier made up of translucent hexagons appeared.
"Interesting…! Interesting!"
Leonard's spears pierced her barrier, exploding in a flash of blue on impact. Laura was sent flying, crashing into a tree nearby.
'Ugh, that hurt, he's just as strong as they say.'
She got up grabbing a branch, black energy wrapped itself around it as it transformed into a makeshift sword.
'Haven't used one of these in a while.'
She swung it casually before dashing towards Leonard.
"Coming at me eh? Let's see how you fare!"
Leonard's long spear jabbed relentlessly, rapidly targeting Laura's openings. She dodged and parried with her sword, swinging upwards to gain distance. Laura's sword radiated with mana, as she swung, black magical energy burst forth in a wave.
"Haha! This is a fight!"
Thinking quickly Leonard stabbed his spear into the ground before leaping and landed on top of it. The maneuver made Laura momentarily pause, taking this moment, he lifted his hand in the air as a magic circle appeared under him.
"Heaven's tears."
Above them, the snow intensified greatly, quickly turning into a blizzard. Icicles started to form due to the rapid changes in weather, rain poured relentlessly as thunder roared.
"All that for nothing? Your intimidation tactics won't work here."
"Intimidation? No, this battle has already been decided."
In an instant Leonard vanished, the chaos from weather aiding him.
"Is this all for nothing now? Can you handle what comes next, Mystic?"
His voice echoed all around the area.
'Damn this is bad.'
Leonard appeared in front of her thrusting his spear, she quickly ducked under his attack, countering by placing a small orb on his chest. The orb exploded in a massive shock wave, Leonard staggered back feeling disoriented.
Taking advantage of this, Laura threw four metal rods around him. When he noticed it was too late.
"Gate to the abyss!"
The metal rods shone with purple mana, magical energy shot up into the air, forming a small box around Leonard.
'Tch, this isn't good! I may have to use that.'
The ground beneath him disappeared, being replaced with black mist. Chains sprouted out of mist latching around his limbs.
Watching the battle from a safe distance, Odin's eyes widened.
"Leonard! Get out of there, now!"
"I wanted to save this, but here goes nothing."
Leonard closed his eyes exhaling, a moment later he was behind Laura.
"Polar step."
Before she could react, he slammed his fist into her side and followed up with a roundhouse kick.
Laura was sent flying, skidding to a halt.
'What was that?! He was trapped! I would've won! How'd he even get behind me?!'
Her musings were interrupted as a spear was headed her way. Instead of using a barrier, she caught it out of mid air, launching it back at him.
"Hmmm… Vioken is becoming restless, this could end up dangerous."
Forming another spear he tapped it on the ground multiple times before vanishing once more.
"Where'd you go!"
Laura formed a barrier around herself, preparing another attack.
Swish
Blood gushed out of her chest as Leonard appeared, yet he looked different.
"I'm right here…"
His hair grew longer and wilder reaching his lower back, his teeth resembled that of a shark, and his eyes were slitted.
Laura slowly got up from the floor, gripping her sword tightly. Chains imbued with purple mana emerged from the forest latching on to Leonard.
"caught you."
Laura gathered mana in her sword, sending waves of magical energy towards the pinned Leonard.
"Quite, the dead don't speak…"
Boom
A spear from above crashed into Laura, shattering her ribs.
"Ugh…!"
Laura clutched her chest in pain dazed from the attack. Leonard slowly walked to her downed frame, grinning widely.
"Looks like I win."
Before he could strike however, a purple haze spewed from Laura's mouth, temporarily blinding him.
'This is my chance!'
Using this, Laura slammed her palm onto the ground and a magic circle appeared.
'Grand void aid me!'
The world around them lost its light, the air was still, and an unknown presence lingered.
"Tch… This filthy mystic… I'll vanquish you!"
Leonard extended his arms and concentrated, a moment later, a massive ice shield appeared in front of him.
"On the defense? Don't tell me you're scared?"
Leonard clutched his chest coughing violently, blood spattering on his palm.
'The mist that flew out of her mouth did a number on me, my mana veins have been corrupted. Over-exerting myself wouldn't be ideal.'
Laura lifted her arm into the sky.
'This is my trump card, Letum!'
A stench of death permeated the atmosphere, a moment later, monstrosities emerged from the ground. They resembled grotesque beasts. They had multiple eye-sockets with spirals inside of them, their mouths were slightly ajar filled with fangs that bent at awkward angles. Their bodies were covered with rotten flesh that seemed torn, they had four arms spikes slowly protruding out from their skin. They stood with four legs, and had a skeletal tail with thousands of smaller spikes covering it.
"What the…"
Leonard gagged at the scene before him, terror filled his gaze.
"I'm breaking my promise."
Odin, who was spectating the battle, rose to aid Leonard against the hoard of beasts.
"This sure looks fun…"
He cracked his knuckles, having a small smirk etch into his features.
"Odin, I'm running out of mana, I can't stay in this form for much longer. You kill the monsters, I'll handle their caster.
"Alright."
Odin placed his palm on his heart, a massive surge of heat expanded from his frame.
"I'm ready!"
His eyes were glowing with wisps of red energy as he dashed towards the hoard of monsters.
"Your attempts are futile!"
Laura extended her arm and the beasts responded, charging at the pair.
"Raaaghh!"
Odin swiftly ducked a two armed strike from an incoming monster, countering, he got into its garud, delivering a devastating blow to its solar plexus. The strike left a gaping hole in its mid-section.
'The smell, it's nauseating.'
He continued plowing through the monsters, shattering their attempts at defense. Leonard gave a quick glance towards Odin, watching him coat his fists in red aura, blasting through enemies.
'He seems to be enjoying himself, Vioken hungers for this mystic desperately. Yet something's odd, that woman's life force doesn't seem to belong to her.'
Through his musings, Laura charged at him with her sword. Leonard effortlessly dodged, seizing the opportunity he rammed his knee into her stomach. She staggered, recovering quickly, Laura threw a punch. Seeing this coming, Leonard countered with a scorpion kick. Laura smashed into the ground, temporarily paralyzed.
"How… Are you so strong…?"
He extended his hand, an ice spear materializing. He focused, jabbing his spear through her chest, impaling her.
"Quiet… The dead don't speak"
Leonard's body returned to normal as he clutched his chest, coughing up blood.
"Good work Leonard."
Odin was covered in green blood, his body reeked of decaying flesh. The world around returned to normal, that unknown presence vanishing.
"Ya… She was strong, but not strong enough."
Leonard walked up to her corpse, extending his hand.
'Feed Vioken.'
A faint blue energy gathered in his hand, absorbing all the mana Laura had left.
'He seems satisfied, for now.'
Leonard turned around and gazed up into the sky, as soon as he did this, the weather slowly returned to normal, snow and rain no longer falling.
'That should do it, these people aren't used to that weather, it also was draining too much of my mana pool.'
Odin dug into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette.
"All in a good day's work… Let's go Leonard, I want to get paid."
"Alright… But you need to take a shower and burn those clothes."
Odin sniffed himself, regretting it instantly.
"Ya, you're right…"
The two walked away, heading back to the capital.
…
I gazed up into the sky, watching the dark clouds slowly drift away as the snow subsided.
'Why did mother want me to hide? It's been thirty minutes since then and she hasn't returned. What's happening? Should I go or should I stay?'
I weighed my options, making a decision.
'It couldn't be anything too serious, I'll just head back home.'
The stench of decaying flesh reached my nose as the aftermath of a battle entered my view. My eyes constricted, refusing to believe the scene before me. Trees and parts of the landscape were frozen over, craters were formed, steam rising out of them, monsters… Or whatever they are, were destroyed, pieces of torn flesh were flung all over the area. Yet, all this pales in comparison, my mother… She's dead.
Her body laid motionless, a spear made of ice piercing through her, embedded into the ground. My breath grew haggard as I hurriedly crawled to her corpse. Ignoring the rotten flesh near me, tears began to leak from my eyes as I cradled her still frame.
"Why… Why'd you have to leave me…? Why'd this have to happen?! Am I cursed?! Am I fated to be alone?!"
Every inhale became a challenge, a panic attack settling in.
"Why… Why?! My parents died when I was young… Now this!?"
My hands trembled, as I stared at the blood on them.
"If only I was stronger, right? If only I wasn't so damn useless!"
I screamed, slamming my fists onto the ground repeatedly, blood drawing.
"I swear on my life, I will never be weak again!"
Shortly after vowing this, I stood and buried my mother.
"May you rest in peace…"
I entered the old wooden house and took the book that started me on this journey; "Guide to the strongest." Afterwards, I took as much money as I could find, which was 30 Silver coins. Before exiting and saying a final goodbye, a canister of gasoline entered my field of view. Gazing back to my mother's grave I swallowed heavily, pouring the gasoline all around and inside the house. I gathered the riddled corpses of the creatures and found a match. I lit it, setting the house and those things a-blaze.
'Knowledge, I need it. I will not rest until I find out why this happened.' I turned towards the city walking in that direction. 'Traveling the world, I guess that's what I'll do next.