Ted stared at the miniboss that they decided on was called Boulder. Boulder stared at Ted and looked at the other 3 that were sitting on the side of the room.
“This is the first time in forever that people have reached here and whaddya know? I get underestimated! But that's fine, I’ll just smash you, little twerps, bit by bit. I didn't expect y'all to get here this fast, however. Normally I have more than a day to prepare for anyone who does make it through the ‘Tile Experience’”. I would call it more of a “Shitty Experience” and I'm all that's needed to put you in the ground.
“Hahaha. Let's see about that half-pint!” I'm very normal sized thank you very much, but a rock-headed boulder wouldn't know!
“We will see if you're still able to talk like that after I make you eat dirt!” Boulder punched the ground and the whole cave shook and cracks appeared in the floor. Pieces of the rock floor shot up and Ted jumped from the rising rock to land at a safe spot behind Boulder. He threw some [Rock-et Punches]. The flying rocks hit Boulder but didn't seem to have done any damage.
As expected. Ted observed the boulder barreling at him. He stomped the ground and made a rock appear in front of Boulder. Boulder tripped but turned his momentum into a rolling attack.
Shit! Ted took up a stance. He knew this was risky but he didn't get a lot of opportunities to show off. He made earth magic flow from the ground into his left leg to his right arm and threw a punch at the fast-approaching rolling boulder. [Mountain Buster]. Boulder’s body ground against Ted’s metal knuckles. Sparks flew and neither moved. Ted was firmly anchored because of the magic flowing into his leg and Boulder’s momentum made him almost like an unstoppable force. Ted put his back more into the punch and drew more earth magic in. He succeeded and sent Boulder flying. Beads of sweat rolled down Ted’s forehead. Boulder crashed into the wall next to Raishin, who freaked out.
“Not bad not bad!” Boulder said as he got up. He then instantly threw a big rock, which got formed after crashing into the wall, at Ted. Ted kicked the rock back and dashed towards Boulder. Ted used earth magic to make sure the rock wouldn't shatter by his kick. Boulder jumped and crashed on the ground creating shockwaves where earth spikes erupted from the floor around him riding the shockwave outward. Gregory made [Earth walls] to protect himself, Agnis, and Raishin. Ted punched the ground to cancel the shockwave and the rock spikes in a radius of 3 meters around him, he broke off a rock spike near him and threw it at Boulder, He broke off more and kept throwing it at Boulder. Boulder stood there and took all the rock spears head-on and took no damage. Guess I got to put a lot of force into my attacks to get through that thick skin.
“Haha, give up kiddo! You don't stand a chance! You can't hurt me and all I need to do is land one or two good hits to make you crumble.” I disagree with that sediment; It is you who can hurt me. I have landed attacks while you didn't land any! Ted made a gesture for Boulder to approach. Boulder fell for the provocation. He rushed at Ted. Ted narrowly evaded Boulder's attack. He wanted to try something but his range was too short because Boulder was too big. Boulder rushed at him again. Ted evaded this one too but this time he transformed into his big bear form. In this form, he was about as big as Boulder.
He used Boulders momentum to perform a shoulder throw. [Bear mode: Boulder Throw]. He slammed Boulder into the ground and made a huge crater. Blood spurted out of Boulder's mouth. Ted used this opportunity to mount Boulder and threw magic-enhanced punches at Boulder. The earth shook at every punch Ted threw in this big bear mode. Boulder tried to protect himself but he couldn't do much since Ted was in this overwhelmingly advantageous position. After 5 punches Boulder started to realize that if he didn't do anything he would be defeated here and then. He gathered mana with himself and used it to buff himself up. His muscles started to expand rapidly. So rapidly that it pushed Ted off him. He used this chance to get up and throw a punch at Ted but Ted blocked it. Another punch and Ted deflected it. Ted was proficient in martial arts so simple punches wouldn't do much to him.
“Martial arts, eh? I know some myself too! But to think I would be fighting a war bear!” Dashing around and rolling around sure indicated otherwise… Boulder went for a low kick but Ted moved out of the way and swiped his bear paw upward to attempt to claw into Boulder. Ted had a slightly longer reach. Boulder narrowly evaded it. Or so he thought, Ted’s bear paw still drew blood but it was shallow. Ted’s paw which was now high in the air turned to aim his paw downwards and made a downward swiping motion while stepping in. Boulder blocked it with his arm allowing Ted’s claws to dig into his bulging muscles. Boulder threw a punch at Ted’s abdomen, which he took full on. The thing is Ted is quite tanky. He smiled and threw a punch back at Boulder. This didn't seem to do much to Boulder but more than the punch Ted received.
“Haha, that hurt but it isn't enough to bring me down!” We will see about that! Ted pulled his fist a bit back from Boulder’s abdomen. He pulled a lot of earth magic in with his left foot and sent it to his right arm he also gathered fire mana in his right hand. You must have heard of this technique, right? The one-inch punch? Boulder realized what was going to happen and tried to break free but Ted’s claw dug further into his arm, moreover, Ted pulled him in with his claw making it difficult for Boulder to escape.
Eat this! [Explosive One-Inch Mountain Buster]! A huge bang sounded. The ground underneath Ted’s anchored left foot cracked and some enormous flaming projectile got launched into the wall opposite Ted. After the rubble cleared all that could be seen was Boulder with a huge scorch mark on his abdomen passed out with the white of his eyes showing. Blood was flowing out of his mouth. Ted approached to make sure Boulder was knocked out. After confirming Boulder was knocked out, he used earth magic to move him to his room and made an earth prison restraining Boulder’s limbs and movement. After returning back to the boss room he looked around and inspected the havoc their battle wrecked. It was a short yet explosive battle. He canceled his big bear mode and strengthened the room with the help of Gregory.
Whew, I won't say that was hard but It sure was challenging. You almost turned me into a pancake! You dodged it fine, stop complaining! And I guess that is because we don't encounter a lot of brawny types like those.
Yeah, most of our opponents throw a lot of magic around so there isn't much I can do about that. That punch boulder threw at you seemed to pack a punch didn't that hurt?
Just a bit. He was strong, yes but I'm confident in my defense! Ted slapped his right biceps. Alright, I'm making the small hole to the surface so that we can return here tomorrow, you guys go check on Agnis.
That punch felt so good! I had to hold back because I was afraid that I would send him through the wall and bring this place down on us. Raishin looked at the 10-meter crater Boulder made by flying into the wall as a result of Ted’s punch and pointed.
That was holding back? About half of what I wanted to punch with yes.
Scary! Hey, Agnis wake up! The battle is over! Is he napping?
I don't know! He has this weird half-awake half-asleep state. He once said that if dolphins can sleep with one brain half at a time why can't he. But I don't know if he managed to do that. What a weirdo… Hey Agnis! Wake up! But mommy, I don't want to go to school! I want to stay home and bake cookies with you! Ted and Raishin look at each other.
Oy Agnis wake up! Ted slapped Agnis’ cheeks. Agnis jumped up and started his [Tail dynamo] What? Enemies? Where? What is the plan! It is over. Ted beat Boulder. Agnis canceled his [Tail dynamo]
Oh, I had a short nap, wish it was longer. Gregory is creating a way out; we should be able to go home soon.
How did the fight go? Ted struck a victory pose. I won!
Nice! Any loot? What? He didn't drop anything.
Oh, nothing really interesting in his room either. Hmm, I wasn't expecting much from a mini-boss anyways. We will see what the real guardian has to offer, although the siblings didn't drop anything either…
Well, we’re not here for any loot or stuff, right? Something cool would be nice though… Hey, how funny would it be if the guardian were like Boulder’s older brother Mountain or something! Then there would be Rock, Boulder, and Mountain!
And a sidekick called Pebbles! The exit is done! We can finally leave this place! How late is it by the way Agnis? Nearing 4 in the morning, It might not be a great idea to take the places of our clones right now so let's just sleep at Raishin’s place. Good one, I could use some good sleep! Ted stretched as Gregory called them over. He shadow-melded them and they escaped from the hole Gregory made. They popped out of the shadow of Raishin’s hut.
So sleepy… Time to sleep! Good night! Raishin that is my blanket!
It is cold! Use your fur or something! Can’t you use your tails like Agnis?
Have you seen how fluffy his tails are? And have you seen how not fluffy mine are? Guys shut up I'm trying to sleep! Silence falls over Raishin’s hut as the 4 guys fall asleep.
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Meanwhile
A shadow stalks through the night looking for its target. Or actually targets. The shadow’s search has brought it near a small village. The shadow spots a campfire with 3 silhouettes outside the village. The shadow carefully approaches and listens in to the conversation of these three men.
“Are you sure the information broker will come? This village here”, one of the men with a dark green cloak said while pointing at the small village, “is quite in the middle of nowhere and hard to reach.”
“Well, that is the whole point of meeting up here dumbass, our identities as well as that of the information broker should stay hidden,” said a man in a black cloak.
“I still don't know how it can be so hard to find 4 brats,” said the last man in a grey cloak. The shadow keeps listening and realizes that there is a possibility that these men have the same targets. The shadow is also in need of information because as these men said it proved to be quite difficult to find these 4 targets.
“Well, if we find them, we will be paid handsomely and let's be real here, it was never going to be easy. They might be brats but they are the brats of the Calamity trio.”
“And one extra!” The man in the dark green cloak added. The shadow was sure that they had the same target. The shadow detected a slight sound and inspected the area where the sound originated. Another hooded figure was heading towards the camp. Judging by his gait and posture this wasn't anyone of a similar profession as these men or the shadow's own profession. This might be the broker they were talking about. The shadow wondered what the best course of action was. Clearly, the men didn't have a specific time set for the meetup. The shadow could capture the broker and get information out of him and then pretend to be the broker and get information out of the three men. The shadow decided that this would be the course of action that would net the most information. The shadow blended in with other (real) shadows and easily abducted the broker.
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“Good morning, sir, Let's make this an efficient encounter, and tell me everything you prepared to tell in your meetup.”
“Wh.. who are you! You are not my client! I've been told that there would be 3 clients!”
“We just had a little falling out, now tell me.”
“L..Lies! If that is the case what is the codeword?” The shadow knew that it couldn't deceive the broker like this so a blade made out of shadows was held at the throat of the broker.
“I don't think you understand, you don't have much of a choice unless you’ve grown tired of carrying this head around.”
“W...w…wait! Ok, I got it! All you need to know is what I wanted to tell you guys right?! The Clan will hear from this!”
“That is fine, you can file a complaint at the clan, now tell me what you know!”
“F...fine! So, this is about the Calamity trio’s offspring, right?” The shadow held the blade closer to the broker's neck.
“You’re not very specific here”
“Eek! Okok, you need information about Edea Hourai’s only son Agnis, Nadila Sheru’s second son Gregory, Felicia Torai’s only son Raishin and Barry Barrington’s third son Ted, right?”
“I like how concise you are, continue.”
“You got the assignment from Enott Hing’s right-hand man Emute Aer to capture those 4 targets and bring them to the drop-off point at Lasha volcano however unexpectedly they vanished shortly after we suspected that they escaped from Hourai. It has been 5 years and not a trace of them has been found. But a rumor appeared today about the appearance of Hourai rubies.” The shadow thought about these words.
“I'm curious about these Hourai rubies, go on.” The shadow moved the dagger so that the broker had more room around his throat. The broker took this as a form of satisfaction so he continued.
“We still need to verify if this rumor is true and the origin of these rumors but it is more information than we’ve had in 5 years.”
“Is that all? A rumor? With no source?” The shadow brought the dagger closer to the broker’s neck.
“Hii... okok! It is still a rumor but a man we have in the Yttroz Industries confirmed that a precious cargo arrived yesterday but he couldn't verify if it was the Hourai rubies of the rumor. It was handled with great care and it went through the procedure that all highly valuable items go through! At least that was what the inside man said!”
“Yttroz Industries, eh?” The shadow thought of everything it knew about this company. “So which branch are we talking about?”
“Uhm it was received by the headquarters in the capital of Hjuva.”
“You're telling me that rubies were found on that enormous plain?! You are expecting me to believe that?!” The shadow pressed the dagger closer to the broker's neck and a small trail of blood appeared.
“Owowowow! I don't know! I only know where it was received! I don't know which branch bought the rubies and transported them to the capital! I swear! We are still trying to find out!” The shadow released the hold on the broker. The shadow had monitored the broker's pulse, transpiration and breathing rhythm the whole time, besides the obvious fear it was clear that there were no lies in the broker’s words.
“The capital of Hjuva eh? Gittrian, the city of gold, that's quite far from here.” The broker used some weak healing magic on the cut on his neck.
“Oh, I also had to add, they hired more spies and assassins to retrieve those 4 so you have way more competition, well good luck and Cya! I hope we never meet again!” The broker picked up the items he dropped as a result of the shadow's ambush and ran off.
“Hey did you hear something too?” The shadow hid as a person was approaching. It was Greycloak. “Hey! Isn't that our broker? Why is he running away?”
“A monster maybe?” Greencloak said while he approached to look at the scene Greycloak described.
“Then why don't I sense any monster!” Blackcloak said while he took out a short sword. “We might have company, he continued.” The shadow wondered if it could get away unnoticed but it was also curious about what information these 3 had. The shadow revealed itself to the three men. “I knew it!” Blackcloak said while getting ready for a fight.
“Hey maybe this assassin wants to corporate,” Greycloak said.
“I don't think so! The battle has already begun!” Blackcloak pulls Greycloak aside and moments later a black spike shoots out of the ground where Greycloak was seconds ago.
“Ugh, another I-don't-talk-but-I-will-kill-you type” Greencloak said while also getting battle ready. “Be careful it is a shadow user!”
“I will consider letting you 3 go if you tell me all that you know about your targets.”
“Ha! You think you can beat us in a 1 against 3 fight! We will destroy you and you will tell us what you know! Right?” Greycloak looks at Blackcloak and Greencloak who don't seem as convinced of this as Greycloak does.
“I'm listening unless you want to get impaled by shadows.” The shadow knew that it was strong enough but it also was bluffing a bit. The shadow had a rough week and at the moment the last meal the shadow had was 2 days ago, also the build-up of fatigue could hinder the shadow. In a perfect state, these would be easy opponents but the shadow was relying on some bluffs to intimidate these 3. In this line of work, every piece of information could be crucial and could be the difference between life and death. That is why the shadow was possibly risking its life here. After 5 years of searching this is the first opportunity to get useful information, the shadow wouldn't let this chance slip. A silent wind slash got fired off but the shadow noticed it and dodged it while sending more shadow spikes at the three. Blackcloak seemed to be the one with the most experience while Greycloak had the least. The shadow learned this just from one attack and by how these three evaded. The shadow would focus Greycloak down first. The shadow moved and appeared behind Greycloak.
“What?!” Greycloak tried to parry the slash but his short sword broke.
“No augmentation, eh? How disappointing.”
“How many times do I need to tell you to augment your sword with magic while in battle!” Blackcloak threw a dagger which the shadow deflected. Blackcloak and Greencloak jumped at the shadow while Greycloak fired off some fire magic.
“Using magic so openly how bold!” The shadow said. It slipped between the two dashing towards it and went for Greycloak. The reason why magic doesn't get used often in this profession is that it can be quite easily traced after a battle. It is also difficult to cover up completely. Some forms of magic are easier to conceal than others. Shadow magic for example is easy to conceal, shadow magic even gets used to conceal magic traces. Fire falls in the category that is hard to hide. Greycloak must be new to this profession. Shadow slashes at Greycloak and his head flies off. At least that is the illusion Greycloak saw due to the killing intent the shadow sent towards him. Greycloak turns pale and steps back. The other two also get to see a similar illusion due to killing intent but these don't back off.
“Be careful! This one here is an experienced assassin! Their killing intent alone can hint at how you could die if you’re careless!” Greencloak said at Greycloak who seemed to back off.
“I will give you one last chance! Tell me all you know about your targets.” The shadow approaches the three men and they back off slightly beside Greycloak. The shadow aimed its focus and gaze at Greycloak who got immobilized by fear.
“All we know is that we are looking for 4 brats of about 12 years old and that they're impossible to find! We waited for the broker to find out more!”
“Idiot! don't give away information!” Greencloak yelled at Greycloak.
“But we don't have any information! That is why we’re out of money, tired and dirty! I just want to go home but this assignment is impossible!”
“I see you don't have any information. I guess you three are no use to me.” Judging from the reaction the three men gave off the shadow concluded that these men knew even less than the broker, just like itself they have had no success in anything related to finding these 4 12-year-olds. The shadow wanted to leave and go rest before putting the information from the broker to use, however, Greycloak took the words of the shadow as that the shadow would wipe them out.
“I don't want to die! Nobody would hide my sexy magazines if I kick the bucket!” Greycloak shouted and rushed with short sword at hand at the shadow. The shadow dodged and tried to step away. Greycloak kept blindly slashing at the shadow to which the shadow responded by lopping his head off. Blackcloak and Greencloak who saw this were shocked and upset.
“At this point, it doesn't matter if we get found out because of the use of magic if the alternative is dying here, right?” Greencloak said to Blackcloak.
“I have too much I need to yet accomplish in life to die helplessly here to a strong opponent so at least let us put up a good fight.” Blackcloak said as he started glowing gold and Greencloak ignited. Shadow wondered if everything it had done so far was the right decision. Normally these two would be easy opponents but it was a 2v1 and the shadow was really exhausted and hungry. If the battle didn't get decided swiftly the shadow would get put at a big disadvantage.
“I should have just quietly assassinated them when I got the chance”, the shadow thought to itself. Blackcloak started casting magic that looked like the supportive nature, the magic coming from him also supports it since it was light elemental magic. The shadow summoned countless shadows and assaulted Blackcloak. Greencloak fired multiple [Fireballs] at the shadow but the shadow evaded those. Blackcloak got immobilized by [Shadowbind], Blackcloak tried to cast [Unbind] to escape the bind but the shadow cut off the arm which was supposed to apply the magic.
“Aagh!” A [Fireball] hit the shadow but it didn't seem to do much.
“Hmm, I've experienced fire magic way hotter than this!” The shadow decided to ignore Greencloak since so far, he hasn't been able to do any meaningful damage to the shadow. The shadow was intending to finish off the support first because it is unknown what types of supportive skills Blackcloak has. Blackcloak fends off an onslaught of attacks unable to cast anything meaningful because he is too busy trying to not get cut in half. Greencloak changed his strategy and started to cast strong spells. The shadow was wary but this fire didn't seem like a big threat. It was either fast and weak or strong and slow. The shadow understood now that if Blackcloak could cast a supportive spell to fix Greencloak flaws the tables could be turned easily. Going for Blackcloak was the correct choice. Blackcloak seemed well versed in defending from shadow-based attacks.
The shadow didn't want to use too big moves because it would eat at its already low stamina and mana. But they also might instantly decide the outcome of the fight. The problem was, the shadow didn't know if there are any other threats close by. It is always safe to stay vigilant. And Greycloak has been throwing fire around for the last 10 minutes so if there was anything close by it would have surely noticed by now. Blackcloak made a mistake and took a [Shadow slash] to the torso. However, Blackcloak used this moment to buff Greencloak’s attack speed and magical attack power. Shadow instantly noticed that a reversal might be possible and it followed up by a [Shadow bind] and a [Shadow bolt]. Blackcloak wasn't dead but he was very wounded and lost consciousness. The shadow now focused on the powered-up Greencloak. The shadow was breathing heavily. They weren't tough opponents but more persistent. The [Fireball] Greencloak shot was many times bigger and hotter than before.
The shadow dodged and sent [Shadow arrows] at Greencloak. “I know that this is to be expected in our field of work but please die so I can avenge my colleagues!” Greencloak fired another big [Fireball] and the shadow used [Shadow meld] to dodge the fireball and appear from Greencloak’s shadow. The shadow slashed at Greencloak’s neck and Greencloak reacted by heating up making the air rapidly expand and pushing the shadow away. A shallow cut appeared on Greencloak’s neck and the shadow looked at its melted sword. The shadow realized that it should consider escaping since without a sword it would have to rely on magic even though its mana pool was running really low. Normally it would have multiple daggers and hidden weapons but they all have been expended. The shadow made a mental note to take more stops to rest and resupply.
The shadow looked at its melted sword and decided that martial arts might not be a great idea. The shadow threw the remains of its melted sword into the approaching fireball, evaded and made a shadow spread under Greencloak and the shadow formed walls on the side of Greencloak with teeth and made them collapse into each other as if a shadow shark snapped its jaws on Greencloak. Flames burst from this shut jaw and a slightly bloodied Greencloak emerged from the [Shadow Jaw] and dashed at the shadow clad in flames and flaming sword in hand. The shadow [Shadow Melded] to evade this dash. The shadow didn't have much mana left to confront this buffed-up Greencloak head-on. Since Greencloak was throwing fire around it wouldn't be an issue if the shadow used some fire magic too. The shadow had the choice between expending extra mana or extra stamina here.
Fire magic as mana expensive but there was also an option to remove heat and create ice, this would be cheaper on the mana side but will be more stamina intensive. The shadow made a split decision to conserve mana. The shadow used [Frozen Ground]. Greencloak who was rushing at the shadow slipped, the shadow reduced the heat of the fire Greencloak had clad himself in and formed an ice blade. The shadow could now create ice blades and conserve mana by using swordsmanship as much as possible. This would not be a permanent solution. Greencloak got up and amped up his flames. The moisture in the air evaporated as did the [Frozen Ground] melt. This also made it harder for the shadow to use the water in the air to form ice by removing heat. But this didn't bother the shadow much. The shadow used its speed to land 2 ice slashes which extinguished the flames where they hit. The shadow wanted to follow up with a third finishing strike but Greencloak amped his flames up more and blasted the shadow away in a big explosion. The shadow broke its fall and got up. Part of its [Shadow cloak] got blasted off and a part of the shadow's face showed as well as the shadow's left side.
“You! That race! It still exists?” Shadow realized that now is not the time to conserve mana or stamina, the identity of an assassin was also something valuable.
“I really didn't want to do this.” The shadow said. Greencloak felt a pressure he had never felt before. The shadow approached him slowly while covering its face and body back up. Greencloak was convinced that he would never be able to forget that face and he know that this would be the end of the line for him. He knew this shadow was stronger than him but now that he knows what race this shadow belongs to. he knows it's hopeless. He notices that the shadow used up all its mana by guarding against the explosion he set off earlier but he also feels that that doesn't matter now. Never has he seen anyone be so intimidated while being out of mana and unarmed. He readied his flames, the buff Blackcloak put on him would run for 2 more minutes, the chance is small but he might be able to work a miracle and defeat this shadow. He tried to condense the flames and shoot them in a concentrated arrow to concentrate its destructive power but the split second he shifted his attention to concentrating his flames proved fatal. The shadow blurred and appeared behind him. The shadow concentrated some weird black-purple energy at its fist. Greencloak got an ominous feeling, he had no idea what this was but it wasn't shadow magic.
The shadow threw a lightning-fast punch after a half-second charge. Greycloak didn't fly away, he didn't feel pain but he felt his body twisting. He felt his body getting sucked into the impact of the punch while twisting, the parts closer to the impact area getting pulled in stronger than those further away. He felt this effect for about a second before he got completely sucked in. The moment Greencloak got sucked in a shockwave flew in the direction of the punch which returned and sucked everything in the black-purple glow of the punch. The shadow, panting heavily dropped to one knee. The glow in its right hand disappears. The shadow did a quick scan of the area. Nobody was nearby. The knocked-out Blackcloak got sucked into that punch earlier so all the opponents were eliminated. The shadow took off its [Shadow Cloak] and looked at the crescent moon.
“I wonder if this lead will take me closer to my targets. I will have to eat and rest before I head over to Gittrian.” The shadow said to itself and assured itself that the search will be over soon enough. With the shadow cloak disguise now dropped, the shadow looked like someone who could be a normal civilian after some minor tweaks to its appearance so it headed toward the close by village after resting for about half an hour. The sun would rise in about 1.5 more hours which would be about the time it would take to reach the village at normal walking speed. The shadow looked back before walking towards the village.