Sacred Brother

Only a dozen meters separated us. I was standing on the other side of the stream on a slightly higher ground.

The hunter was right in front of his prey, but he didn't take any step forward.

The atmosphere around us suddenly turned colder as if the night suddenly fell and enveloped the world with its cold embrace.

The expression on the handsome face of the mage in front of me began to turn serious for the first time. There wasn't disdain or rage in his eyes at this moment.

I looked at him coldly, examining each of his movements.

Time seemed to have suspended between us. I don't know how much time we spent staring into each other's eyes, but at this moment, it was as if we were the only ones to exist in this world.

Without any warning, I suddenly raised my hand and immediately shot him with an earth bullet. With a wave of his hand, an earthball crashed against my attack, disintegrating it instantly. His attack was much more impressive than mine and didn't slow down in the slightest upon contact, but continued to fly toward me.

The attack came flying at high speed, but I didn't retreat this time. I used wind magic to propel myself forward directly in front of his magic.

His face couldn't help but show his surprise as I threw myself directly into his attack

However, his surprise suddenly changed into shock and seriousness as I used another gust of wind to slightly alter my trajectory.

I avoided his earthball by a hair's breadth but didn't lose any speed doing that. I was still heading toward him like an arrow.

I immediately shot an earth bullet and a larger earth ball at him.

He easily avoided my first attack but he didn't have to avoid the second as I didn't target him.

My large earthball crashed into the stream just in front of him. Large drops of water splattered toward him, but with a wave of my hand, the blue water turned into numerous small sharp chunk of ice.

He let out a furious roar and launched another powerful earthball to crush my attack.

However, hundreds of droplets of water already turned into ice. He couldn't avoid them all. He could only protect his face while bearing the cuts on the rest of his body.

The shreds of ice were numerous but too small to deal any significant wound.

I knew it from the beginning but I didn't care. I only wanted to obstruct his view and delay his reaction for a few seconds.

When his eyes focused again on my figure, I had already landed in front of him beyond the stream that separated us. I could see the surprise on his face and the mocking smile on his lips as I just entered his attack range.

He aimed a vicious punch at my face.

I was smaller and weaker than him, but that didn't mean I couldn't hurt him in close combat. I couldn't remember the number of times I fought with someone stronger than me.

Strength wasn't everything.

Accuracy was even more important.

I slightly rotated my body and stroked the side of his arm. His punch deviated from its trajectory and missed me.

Before he could recover from it and punch me again, I used wind magic to propel myself and hit his right flank with my knee.

*Bam*

Without his b.r.e.a.s.tplate, he would probably be out of breath already, but his equipment prevented him from receiving too much damage.

Nevertheless, his face couldn't help but distort because of the pain. He punched me once again, but I evaded as easily as before.

His magic was impressive but his close combat skills were lacking. His movements were too wide, too easy to predict.

His eyes and posture betrayed his actions.

Before he even started his movement, I already knew where he was aiming. After another round of furious missed punches, he furiously kicked at me but I avoided and kicked his support leg behind the knee.

Under my strike, his leg couldn't support his own weight and made him collapse.

"Earth dance"

Sensing the threat, he activated his magic before I could shoot at him while he was on the ground.

Two earthballs chased me away and forced me to use my wind magic to gain some distance.

One of them pursued me at high speed.

I avoided but the other one was already in front of me.

"Earthball"

I created the largest piece of earth I could and aimed it at his magic coming at high speed.

*Boom*

The impact of our magic happened just a foot away and made me stumble backward.

I stomped my feet violently on the ground to stop my course and watched him create other earthballs to complete his deadly magic.

"You should watch your back, kid."

His mocking words hit me like thunder.

I was too focused on the magic he was creating in front of me to notice that his previous attack was already coming back at full speed. I tried to evade by jumping to the side but the attack followed me without delay.

I could only cover my back with the hardest layer of earth I could before the impact.

*Bam*

I was thrown nearly thirty feet forward before stopping in the stream. I landed heavily while coughing a mouthful of blood.

The clear water was being tainted by my blood flowing from my back. Despite the protection of my clothes, I still received a serious injury.

I gritted my teeth and stood up with difficulty.

The small stream wasn't too profound as I only had water at knee level.

While I was painfully struggling to stand up, he already created his six earthballs furiously circling around him.

"Time to end this"

I didn't stay idle as he uttered these cold words.

I ignored the pain and created a waterball. However, I didn't launch it but continued to gather water from the stream.

After a couple of seconds, the waterball was already more than five times larger than before.

Seeing what I was doing, he fired his attacks. I retreated but still continued to gather more water. Even with my eyes open, I could sense the particles of mana circling at high speed in my hand. I focused on these particles and slowed their movements under the influence of my own mana.

The crystal-clear water began to turn transparent.

The nearly intangible giant ball of water slowly turned solid and heavier.

"Ice cannon!"

I launched my attack with as much speed as I could. The speed of this projectile couldn't compare with my earth bullet, but its size was much more impressive than any of the attacks I used until now.

Without using the water from the stream, I would never have been able to gather so much water with only my mana.

Under the might of my magic, the mage seemed to be disturbed. His reaction was too slow to hope to avoid my attack.

With a furious roar, he launched the six earthballs rotating around him to meet my attack.

*Boom*

A series of huge noises echoed inside the small forest scarring some small animals watching the fight.

The man was projected backward by the impact but didn't seem to have sustained any major injury.

His body seemed to be fine, but his mind was without a doubt in disarray. His dubious and shocked expression was enough to tell me that I succeeded.

Under the protection of his magic, he was like a ruler sure of its strength and victory as if nothing in the world could threaten him. His arrogance and confidence in his magic were enough to make me understand that, no matter the attack, his first reaction wouldn't be to avoid.

I was right, he was a step too slow to avoid.

When he realized that the might of my attack was too much for him to bear, it was already too late.

His defense was impressive but that didn't mean that it was impenetrable. Even after firing his six attacks, he wasn't able to nullify the impact and was sent flying.

When his gaze full of shock and wonders landed on me once again, I was already gathering water from the stream for a second attack.

He could probably use his magic another time to protect him from my attack but he didn't do it. The toll of mana for controlling these projectiles seemed to be quite important.

On the contrary, I was using water from the stream so my consumption of mana was less important.

He couldn't do the same and gather the earth around him to use. I already tried it during my trip. Gathering the earth around him to become a part of his attack was probably possible, but the toll of mana would be too much to handle.

This was a difference between earth and water.

A difference between these two elements.

Earth was solid but hard to manipulate. It belonged to a cohesive whole. To extract a part of this entity and refine it into a usable attack would be much more difficult than what I was doing with water.

Water wasn't hard or difficult to manipulate like earth. On the contrary, its strength resided in its softness, fluidity and handiness. Water wasn't hard by nature, but its ability to change form was unequaled.

Water becoming ice lost its fluidity, but gained hardness that didn't lose compared to the earth he was using.

After a couple of breaths, the water I was gathering formed into another boulder made of ice.

"Ice cannon"

My attack was heading at high speed toward him but he didn't launch his magic another time.

Instead, he put both of his palms in front of him and cried out in a voice filled with rage and unwillingness.

"Earth wall!"

A small wall made of earth was quickly erected in front of him but, before both of us could wonder if this defense would be enough to withstand my blow, my attack landed on it.

*Boom*

Earth and ice shattered together in a thunder like noise.

The blood-covered figure of my opponent awkwardly rolled away to avoid the strength of the blow. However, the impact of my attack clearly shook him.

I didn't lose any time and rapidly fired numerous earth bullet to end the fight.

He desperately avoided my attacks for what seemed like an eternity. Some of my bullets reached him but the earth covering his body, that he summoned along the way, didn't let him get truly hurt.

After this perilous state and, seeing that I wasn't able to finish him off, the man seemed to regain some of his confidence and arrogance.

His movements weren't as desperate as before.

While regaining his composure, he smiled maliciously at me before screaming with a voice filled with ridicule and rage.

"You missed your chance kid!!!"

He fixed his posture while avoiding some of my attacks and blocking the others with his armor made of earth.

"My turn now!"

He raised his hand and was ready to activate a magic when the noise of his feet walking in the water echoed in the clearing.

His face turned pale by the fright. He realized what was going to happen but it was already too late. The earth bullets I used until now weren't supposed to kill him but to lead him precisely where he was standing.

"You should watch your back too."

My words didn't even leave my mouth before I launched my attack.

"Ice Lance"

A quiet noise suddenly resonated in the peaceful clearing, disturbing the silence between us.

His profound dark eyes, which were fixed on me this entire time, suddenly left mine. His pale face filled with anger and pride only showed his disbelief as he looked down at the bloody hole in his c.h.e.s.t.

A long and thin piece of ice tore through his c.h.e.s.t from behind.

"How?"

He muttered before coughing a mouthful of fresh blood, tainting the transparent piece of ice in red.

Losing blood along with the strength of his body made him collapse under his own weight and fall backward in the stream.

I watched him struggle for several seconds before he managed to get his head out of the water to breathe some air mixed with fresh blood.

His gaze was already becoming hazier, but I knew he understood what had happened to him when he walked into the water.

With my feet in the stream, I was able to control the water to a certain extent to create ice and attack him from behind. This wasn't something that I was able to do just a couple of weeks ago. However, all this time fighting with magic and sensing the mana made my ability to control my mana skyrocket.

I couldn't help but feel stupid when I recalled all that time I wasted shooting my magic at a target with Amanda. If you used the same magic continuously then you will progress because it will become more familiar, but this didn't amount to anything compared to understanding the magic and the element you were using.

I finally understood that.

If I didn't then I would probably be the one currently struggling for each breath of air.

Even with his willpower, his unwilling gaze finally became hazier before losing its light.

His upper body fell into the water, never to emerge again.

I watched him for what seemed like an eternity before sitting on the ground.

The wound on my back was still bleeding. Without any other way to heal it, I could only unwillingly swallow half a vial of potion.

Even after curing myself, I was still exhausted.

My entire body was aching but I was happy.

In fact, not happy but satisfied.

For the first time since a long time, I was at peace with myself. I struggled for too long between my two identities, my two lives.

I wanted to bury and forget the first one and start all over again in the new one, but that was a mistake.

This fight helped me end this struggle.

It was time to accept what happened in my old life.

My mistakes, my lost family, my regrets.

To accept it and to move on.

I recalled the words of Hiraliel while we were walking together across the forest. The memories of her lost family gave her courage to live her life.

I had to do the same.

Memories that weren't shackles but a new strength to live the life I wanted.

I stood up and stretched my sore muscles.

I stopped these thoughts and prepared to exit the small forest. This wasn't the time to stay idle, I still had to find the advanced town as soon as possible. I started to walk, but after a couple of minutes, I sensed several lifeforms coming toward me at high speed.

"Shit… What is it now? This day is endless."

I just had time to finish swearing when several animals finally emerged from the forest in front of me.

I got ready to attack when I noticed that something was wrong.

They were running at top speed but didn't seem ready to fight.

"Are they… fleeing?"

I watched dumbfounded as a small horde of these animals bypassed me without sparring a single glance in my direction.

What are they fleeing?

I stretched my senses as far as I could but I didn't notice anything. This didn't reassure me because I already knew that this method wasn't infallible.

Without any way to know what was happening, I started running in the same direction as the horde.

After a couple of minutes, several other kinds of animals joined us in our frantic run.

It was as if the entire forest was going to meet its doom.

Trusting their instincts, I continued to run before hearing a strange noise. I didn't know what it was or where it was coming from but the noise was getting louder every second.

The earth around me began to quake in a massive rumble. Some of the smallest animals couldn't run anymore because of the vibration of the ground.

Even for me, it was becoming harder.

However, the desperation of all the animals around me and the increasingly strong quaking of the earth under my feet, made me understand that I couldn't stop.

I used wind magic at maximum output to escape.

However, I didn't have any time to regenerate my mana after my fight.

I couldn't hold on much longer.

The earthquake became stronger until the earth under my feet began to crumble and even open in some places.

Finally, the end of the forest appeared in sight.

I didn't even have the time to rejoice when the ring on my thumb began to burn stronger than ever.

Without any time to think, I used all the strength I could muster to run faster and exit the forest along with hundreds of different animals.

I only had the time to turn my head back to see the entire forest disappear before my eyes.

Trees and animals alike were swallowed together by the biggest monster I ever saw emerging from the earth.

A gigantic mouth swallowed a large part of the small forest only leaving a gigantic hole from which emerged a body so long that it even obstructed the rays of the sun from my sight.

It was the same kind of deviant that I had fought some time ago, but their sizes were so far apart that they weren't even in the same category. In front of something like that, I didn't have any way to fight back.

I could only run away but, as I was trying to accelerate, the monster let out the most terrifying roar I could ever imagine. A cry shaking the air, the earth and everything around me along with my soul.

I stared at the hundred feet long creature in a dazed state along with the other animals that stopped their run with me.

I shook my head to regain my mind, but it was too late.

The deviant's head, facing the sky after emerging from the earth, finally turned toward me.

Its hideous gigantic mouth full of sharp rows of teeth was wide open only a few hundred feet away from me.

The animals around me didn't even dare to run anymore. I watched this bringer of death closing its mouth with despair in my heart.

The long body awkwardly twitched a couple of times. None of the animals around me moved in front of this spectacle but I knew that something bad was coming.

I covered my body with the hardest earth I could before dropping to the ground in a hurry.

I didn't even touch the ground when the mouth of the beast opened again.

It wasn't an earth-shaking roar this time.

It was a whirlpool of death.

Trees, boulders, water, corpses of animals came rushing out of its mouth in a massive gust of wind.

My body didn't touch the ground.

I was thrown hundreds of feet away along with everything alive or not around me. The strength of the blow was so strong that I couldn't even lift my arms or try to fix my posture.

I was like a small doll in a tornado.

Rocks crashed on me and broke my meager defense along with my bones.

So this is the smell of death…

Just before my consciousness disappeared in this storm, I remembered having this last thought.