A quick scan of the leather pouch showed Ewan a tiny space—barely enough for some books and necessities. A black
It bugged him. The disparity between the man he fought, and the contents of his leather pouch tingled his curiosity. But the battlefield wasn’t the place to satisfy that, so he left the mystery alone and moved on to his next enemy.
……
The wind blades sliced the grass as Orange exploded away and dodged the attack. Ewan hurled two fireballs and retaliated but the basic spell couldn’t do much against the enemy’s earth wall defense.
The wind spells of his Wind Wolf killed Orange’s mobility, and the earth defense of his Earth Mammoth stopped Ewan’s offenses. A few trade-offs already confirmed he couldn’t win against this guy without going all out—even then, he wasn’t confident about killing him. And so, he hesitated.
They were both at the ninth awakening, their Astylinds too had similar stats. Ewan pulled an advantage on Ryvia and his spell arsenal, but the handicap with Frost’s absence balanced it out. No matter the disadvantages though, he couldn’t bring Frost out here. Not until he had a solution for his status. The blatant presence of a Demon as his Astylind could complicate things with his stay in Drarith otherwise.
Thus, he was at an impasse. Should he use all that he had? Should he pull out? He wondered.
“Do you think I’ll let you go?” the man said with a chuckle, aiming a spell at Orange.
Tiny wind needles formed around the little monkey and turned into a small tornado. The sharp wind screeched as they slashed whatever stood in their path. They rent the grass apart, tore the soil, and went for Orange.
Fuck!
Orange blasted away but the spell trapped him from all sides. He screamed as the needles pierced him one after another, splattering his blood over the lush grass.
Fireflies!
The enemy made the decision for him, so he killed his own hesitation too. Instead of becoming defensive and accepting the passive situation, Ewan attacked the enemy Severynth. But the man reacted to the spell and backed away from the armed area, giving it a glance.
Fireball!
Ewan didn’t stop though. He hurled one fireball after another. They were weak but worked well in distracting the enemy. The man dodged one attack after another and ran around, his Astylinds pulled back and upped their defenses too. The unceasing barrage killed the tornado spell the man had cast and freed Orange.
Ewan brought him back with Ryvia and poured a healing potion on him before sending him back into the fire rune with Dekoth—he now stood alone on the field. Smell and sight of death and carnage surrounded him, the memories of Frosthelm festival flashed in his mind. He took a deep breath and brought his Spellbook out. Since he couldn’t use his Astylinds, he would fight with his spells. This was the way of an Elementalist. Even though he had yet to complete the subtype, he could still don its approach.
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The Wind Wolf howled as it stepped forward and cast several wind blades. They whizzed across the field and slashed at Ewan. He pushed back with Ryvia as much as he could and left the rest to his Varos. The wind blades came, and a glass-like defense formed around him—with hexagonal nodes joining together to create a complete sphere. The attack hacked in front, and his Varos transferred the wave of impact through the nodes to the back. The wind blades dissolved as the glass defense behind Ewan shattered—it recovered to normal the next second.
Sindra—Ice-Favored!
Ice Daggers!
They hovered around him, amplifying his Ryvia at the same time. He aimed at the enemy and hurled all but one dagger out.
The man cast earth walls around him in response—his Astylinds also turtled up when he did.
Ewan didn’t expose his control over the daggers, yet the man still blocked all sides—his caution showed his experience and his nature. But it played to Ewan’s advantage here. He left one side open, and so, Ewan went for the kill. The daggers went up then plunged towards the man, from above the earth walls.
They bombarded his sand-like Varos, but after the pitter-patter, his defense held strong while Ewan’s daggers cracked. Before the enemy could block the top or move away though, Ewan shuttled his now-damaged daggers around and hindered him for his next move.
Fireball!
The daggers still existed; they still strengthened his Ryvia. And Ewan used that Ryvia to bend the fireballs’ path. They strained his spirit as they traced an arc to bypass the earth walls and barraged the enemy Severynth.
“Shit!” the man yelled and backed away, but his own earth wall blocked him. He tried casting another spell against the fireballs, but the daggers impeded him again, and he failed. The fireballs erupted when they hit his Varos. Ewan had used almost all his Fire-Anima with this attack, so the power degree and the number of fireballs was high—high temperature with a bigger pressure release.
Yet, they would soon fizzle out in the air if they couldn’t penetrate the defense. And they didn’t—after all, even the ice daggers couldn’t. So, Ewan aimed at the enemy and forced his Ryvia around him. As the fireballs erupted, he closed the Ryvia sphere and trapped the spell’s aftermath inside.
If the spell wasn’t efficient in killing, then he would make it so.
The detonated flames filled the encased area, the force from the shockwaves swirled it inside. And soon, the fiery sphere turned into a sweltering oven, roasting all and everything in there—Ewan won this round.
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Status: Healthy
Step-0 [9th Awakening]
Name: Ewan Ayres
Species: Human
Vitality: 2.0
Spirit: 18.0
Anima: [Fire – 1.0 | Ice – 2.4 | Blood – 18.0]
Astylinds: 4 [Potential: 0]
Rolling Cat [Toast]: Step-0 [9th Awakening]
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Fire Monkey [Orange]: Step-0 [Level-9] [Grade-B]
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Imp [Frost]: Step-0 [Level-9] [Grade-B]
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Blood Lotus [Iris]: Step-0 [Level-9] [Grade-B]
Equipment: Common Clothes; Yurn [Neck Gaiter].
Storage: Journal; Elementalist—The Path of Anima [Subtype-Book]; Spellbook; Bloodlust [Spell]; Transmute [Spell]; Anima-Crystals [Novas Coins]; Obsidian Dagger; Hub-Connector; Ingredients.
Novas: 31,039
Crelith: 4,049