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A Hero's Beginning
Chapter 3.2 "Fear"

Chapter 3.2 "Fear"

Elena continued to stare at Raymond, who was starting to do something weird in the distance. He faced her and started punching the air. At first he only looked funny to her, but then the punches started going faster and faster, ever increasing in magnitude, and she was slowly feeling slight breezes blowing towards her.

Then all of a sudden, one of the tips of her ice spears broke from the strong winds coming from Raymond's punches. Elena immediately knew what he was trying to do.

"As if I'd let you!" [Elena]

Elena conjures several dozens of smaller ice spears in front of her frozen fortress and launched it towards Raymond. However the ice spears were shattered from the strong gusts of wind coming from his punches.

Elena once again conjures more ice spears but before she can launch them-

"《SONIC PUNCH》!!" [Raymond]

Shouting, Raymond punches the air in front of him sending a large shockwave that came barreling towards Elena's frozen fortress with tremendous force, it destroyed everything in its path as long as it reaches the frozen fortress.

"As if I'd let you! 《Mirror》!" [Elena]

Elena shouts as she forms another Mirror in front of her to reflect the shockwave. However it did not stop it. The shockwave continued to travel and destroys the Mirror and then obliterates half of Elena's frozen fortress.

"Wha-" [Elena]

Out of shock, Elena falls down with her mouth agape as she looks at her shattered fortress. She then looks at Raymond who just picked up his sword with a smile on his face.

"You thought you were the only one with some tricks on your sleeve? I realized that 《Mirror》 can only reflect magic, so what if I use a non-magic attack on it? And yeah I know that you could've blocked that too but I also know that you'd rely on your 《Mirror》 confidently and won't even use other barriers to defend yourself." [Raymond]

He confidently looks at Elena.

"In short, I created my own magic." [Raymond]

"I should have expected you to do something that ridiculous." [Elena]

"Now then, are you ready?" [Raymond]

Raymond gathers mana around his feet and launches himself towards Elena at a tremendous speed, creating a sonic boom behind him. However as he reaches Elena, he hears a small but confident voice.

"I got you." [Elena]

Just before his sword reaches Elena, a mere few inches from her face. Raymond suddenly gets slammed to the ground with violent force that it created a mini earthquake that could be felt deep inside the castle walls which was a few kilometers away from where they were fighting. However despite that, Raymond still received no damage, it was more of an inconvenience for him suddenly being thrown to the ground.

"What did you do this time?" [Raymond]

Raymond said as he struggled to stand up.

"I simply increased the density in the air around you by making it colder, thus increasing the drag and making you fall down like a stone. It was as easy as that." [Elena]

"Density- what? Drag- what? I don't even know what those are." [Raymond]

Raymond, who finally managed to stand up, wondered as he dusted himself off of debris.

"Huh? You didn't teach me that? Then who..? Why do I know these?" [Elena]

"Ah forget about it, let's just get this over with. But what will you do now that we're at melee range? Don't tell me you'll make another fortress? I can easily destroy it before it forms completely, you know? [Raymond]

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"I won't do that. I intend on finishing this just like how you wanted." [Elena]

Elena clinches her left hand, and a rapier-like sword made out of ice forms.

"Oh ho.. I see, I see! You're my daughter after all, of course a sword battle is still better! But then what was the point of all of that earlier when we could have just started with this?" [Raymond]

"You'll see later, papa. For now, let's dance!" [Elena]

Elena quickly tries to stab Raymond but he immediately blocks it with the hilt of his sword.

He swings his sword towards Elena but as if seeing the attack from miles away, she manages to dodge it easily.

The two exchanged a few more blows but it's apparent that Raymond is at a disadvantage. His sword was very big compared to Elena's ice rapier, it requires a wider swing compared to her ice rapier which she uses to stab. Elena didn't need to block either as she can see Raymond's sword long before it even reaches her.

At this point, Raymond knew that he'd eventually lose if this went on. Elena's much smaller body also helps her dodge Raymond's attacks and makes it even harder for him to land a hit on her. And now that he thought about it, he had never landed a hit on her so far in their fight, while Elena's damage to him just kept accumulating.

"I'm gonna' lose at this rate, I guess there's no other option." [Raymond]

Raymond drops his sword, readying his fists. But then he looks at Elena with a wide smile on her face.

"Hey papa, did you know? We've been fighting for at least thirty minutes now, do you know what that means?" [Elena]

"What are you-" [Raymond]

Before he could finish his sentence, Raymond realized it. Elena's plan all along It was through the use of 《Frostbite》. He had only encountered this skill once in his lifetime. What it does is that anyone who stays inside the Ice Domain for at least thirty minutes will accumulate damage. And for every ten minutes after that, the damage will double. There is no defense for Frostbite other than resetting its timer by quickly moving out of the field, but so far Raymond has not done that. He had remained inside the field since the beginning. By now, he had been inside the Ice Domain for forty-five minutes, way over the critical time needed for Frostbite to be cast. Now all Elena needed was direct contact with Raymond to deal the finishing blow, and to add to the damage, Elena had been accumulating mana from him since the beginning, further increasing Frostbite's damage. And Raymond is aware of that.

"Ah crap! I can't dodge in time- am I gonna' lose here?" [Raymond]

Raymond tried to think for a wait out but to no avail. He eventually stopped trying to think for anything and decided to accept his defeat.

"Maybe this is not so bad after all. I had fun anyway." [Raymond]

"̸͙̓̔͊̂̎Ẉ̵̽̀͒̕͝ḩ̶͔̰̥̽̽͂̔͝y̷̝̽̉̄̈́ ̶̧͔̬̍ͅd̵̒̈́͘ͅì̶̹d̸̪͈̑̓̓ ̵̛͔̭̣̿̈́̿͑̋y̵̫̰̓͗͠o̸̭͒̽̉̒u̵͎̮̜͕̲͆̓̎̅̚ ̶͎̱̓̄̓̈́b̶̡̜͖̤̎̌̀ẽ̸̗̝̜̪̟̿͑̎̈t̴̬͕̅̾͝͝͝ṛ̶̤̦̞͂͛̀̓͑͠a̸̱̹̺͔̳̕͝y̸̧̆̈͛̄ ̸̱̊́̇̃͝͝u̷̖̾̔̃s̷̭̉̀̈̽?̵̖̱̐͆̅̈́"̸̨̜̻̫̠̲̈́ ̶̩͓̭͋̊́̔͠[̵̳̻̝͕͚̉̐̅̿̃͜?̸͇͉͖͉̐̄͆͌̕?̴̛͉̥̺̲̇͌?̴̯̭͎̠̺͋̅̚͝]̵̘͍͛

"Who's there?!" [Raymond]

"̷̖̮͖̀S̶͎̫̟̜̩͒͘ĥ̵͖̃̿̏̒ė̸͓̦̰͉̯̄'̵̛͙̳͎̻͕̏͐̇̕͜s̴̩͘ ̸͚̩̩̅̎̉́͒t̴͖͔̓̐̉̄̕͝h̵̢͍͎̞̼̙͋é̵͇̯̭̖̤͍ ̸̛̩̹̖͎̖̎̈̊͂͂ḍ̴̈̆̆̄̕e̴͚̫͔̤̔m̴͚̓̌͆͝o̸̡̠̲͕̱͉͂͗̀n̷̢̖͖̠̽͂̃̈́̑͜ͅ ̶̺̱̀͗̚k̵̢͈͕̑̅̽̍̊i̴͓̎̂͑n̷̝͉̣̓̉̕͝g̶̨̮̰̤̀̕,̴̤̩̲̘̈́ ̶͎̻̩̲͋k̵̰͕͔̰̮͇̿i̸̢͑͊͒̑̚l̷̞̺͎̅͐͌̈͜ḻ̵̉͆͐ ̴̿́͘͜h̶̢̼̫̩͝ͅe̵̬̭͓̥̝͋ṛ̸͚̳͎̥̑̔̉͝͠.̵̩͚̪͖́̈̇̄̕̚"̴̮̀̍͌̊͑́ ̶̡̘̰͖͒͗͌͒͠[̴̡̉̒̄̋̏͠?̴̢͙̠͇̿?̷̳͕̘̏͆͑?̸̞̈̍]̷̦̫̬͙̽̚͝ͅ

"No she's not! She's my daughter!" [Raymond]

W̷̨̖̜̭̥͂̍̊h̶͍̿̀́͋̅͝y̵̛̛͖̱̪

D̷̺̈́̓i̷̘͖̜͛́͜͠ḍ̷̯̋̋

Y̵̝̲͑̽̎̈͝o̵̻͉̹̰̾͒ù̸͎͚̠̠̿

B̸̪̄͒͒̅̊̂ě̷͙̬̻̪̖͇̋̄̈̀͝t̶̡̛͖̖̃͌̅̽̕ͅr̶̺̿̈͋̏̔a̶͖͂̑̄̓͊͝y̴̜̹͈̐͂̀̿͝

Ǔ̴̧̩̩̰ș̷̨̙̞̳͌̒̄?̴͕̉

"I didn't betray anyone!" [Raymond]

"̴͔̠̌̒̚H̴̹̜͖̊̀̑̕a̴̘͋̈́̓͊̇v̵̲̥͉̘͛͌̍͋e̵̝̦̠͍͓̾̓̌͘ͅ ̴͙̹͈̏̎̀ỳ̷͎̤̼̐́o̸̼͋̿̊͂͜u̵̼̫̼̐ ̵̜̺̊̌͜f̸̦̲̽̎̈́͂̂o̸̢̗̬͋͒͑͘͝ŗ̵̪͎̣̈́̆̀̾͌ġ̵̝͚̺͓̘̖̔͋̒̇͠o̴̧̥̱̬̺̽̓̆́ṫ̸͉̬̯̱̄t̶̹̿͌́̇̓e̸͕͈̽n̶̰̉͑́ ̶͙̮̪̔̂̈́͆a̵͎͆͌̀b̶̢̝̣͊̓̚o̸̫͍̲̿̎̉ũ̷̧̻̫t̴̗̬̭͌͌͑̌͆͝ ̶̯̮͍͈̆̎̉̀̚͝ų̴̺̺͋͠͝s̸̟̤͗̌͝,̴̢̢̰͈̈́̊͘͠ ̶̠̗͘p̸͕̹̱͍̜̃̀̕̚͜͠͝a̸͓̾̋̾͆͝ṗ̵̣̝̽̿̅͐͠a̶̠̻̹̟͓͂͠?̴̹̠̱̚"̵̼̫́̃̍ ̷̨̝̱̭̖͛[̶̨̺͉̫̗͇̈?̶̼͍͠?̴̳͍̳̗̈́̈̈́͒?̶̛̠̤̰̤̥̥]̸͙̠̫̹͔͌̕͝͝ͅ

Before Raymond could say anything, he saw a dark figure at the corner of his eyes that was about to stab him. Out of reflex, he gathered a tremendous amount of mana on his left fist and quickly swung towards the dark figure.

Expecting to see a pool of blood from the assailant, Raymond regains his consciousness as he hears Elena's short scream towards his left. He turns his head slightly and finds her slammed against a tree with blood coming from her mouth as she coughs and her midriff showing through a burnt hole in her clothes. She thankfully did not receive fatal damage, as she seemed to have managed to create an ice barrier to absorb Raymond's hit.

"Elena!" [Raymond]

Raymond shouts as he runs towards the bloodied Elena, but before he can touch her, she shouts.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" [Elena]

She slowly tried to get up and gathered mana around her feet as she dashed away from Raymond.

"No, Elena wait!" [Raymond]

He decides not to chase Elena as he looks at her disappearing figure.

He looks down on his left fist, regretting what he has done as he blames the voices in his head for what has happened.