Part 2

Dragon-borns.

A race of individuals that were born with a dragon affinity.

Humanoid in appearance, so human that it would be easy to mistake one for a human, and unless you knew what you were looking for, no one could fault you if you had mistaken the two.

They had two distinct features, one more minor than the other……

Dual-colored hair.

It was a trait that all Dragon-borns shared regardless of familial status and usually followed the same pattern.

The hair that covered the front and top of their heads was a variety of bright colors, with their eyes taking the same color, while the back of the head was black.

A minor trait that wasn’t unique to Dragonborn since humans were able to attain that same trait through various means.

But –

But the next trait was far too great, removing any doubt that Dragon-borns were anything like humans.

Chi Manipulation.

Using the energy that came from their souls, Dragon-borns were able to increase their physical abilities through mental fortitude, strengthening their bodies with Chi Energy.

Speed.

Strength.

Reflexes.

Senses.

All were increased ten, maybe a hundred times.

It was this strength that allowed them to become the dominant race on this planet.

Everything was quiet in the open courtyard.

It was what used to be a village center, now nothing more than rubble littered with bodies and ruined buildings, but despite that, there was something he could not look away from.

The three low-level Dragon-born soldiers.

Dead.

BOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

At the sound of a loud roar and explosion, Alistair turned his head toward a cliff.

It was just for an instant, but Alistair was able to see two bodies being thrown off the cliff.

Cassius and Lara.

Both were moving through the air as if they were being thrown.

Both descended above the village, with Lara crashing into a building and Cassius landing on the ground, his armored boots causing the ground to crack under his weight.

With a grunt, he fell to one knee, his left palm slamming into the ground to keep his balance.

Alistair stared at Cassius.

Blood trailed down the right side of his face. The left portion of his chest armor was damaged, with blood dripping from his arm.

Cassius raised his head, staring at the cliff, which caused Alistair to follow suit.

Then he saw the man from earlier, walking up to the edge of the cliff, overlooking the man below, holding his axe on his right shoulder.

Then he saw something that made him freeze.

It was large.

Yellow.

Raised wings.

Heavy footsteps shook the ground.

Absolute Terror.

Behind the man, a shimmering yellow dragon walked up, looming over him.

Qì lóng zhàohuàn. (Chinese transl. Air Dragon Summon. Chi Dragon Summoning)

A dragon made of Chi Energy.

White, blank eyes.

Just the way it appeared to Alistair.

Its form.

Its appearance.

Something divine, like a painting.

Creating an autonomous being out of nothing but pure energy was a feat only those amongst the Dragon-borns with precise control were able to pull off.

Tǒu jumped off the cliff up into the air, causing Cassius to tense up.

He swung his axe, which was engulfed in yellow Chi Energy down, which caused Cassius to step back as the axe hit the ground.

The sudden strike caused a large crater to appear on the ground.

Cassius stared at the shimmering axe.

(He was able to summon that beast of that size and still have a massive reserve of energy left.)

Everything shook

The ground.

Rubble.

Alistair's body jerked forward, nearly falling into the hill of rubble he was hiding behind.

Cassius slid across the ground before standing up and watching Tǒu climb out of the crater.

His entire body was glistening as a dense shimmer of aura surrounded his body.

Cassius readied his sword.

Without warning, with his right hand, Tǒu swung his axe.

Yellow Chi Energy flew off the slash, flying towards Cassius.

Too basic.

That was what Cassius thought as he decided to forego swatting the energy away with his sword.

He put pressure on his legs as a faint white light was emitted from under his boots.

Using the Aura Energy that was under his feet, he jumped into the air, dodging the attack.

“!”

To Cassius-

Almost instantaneous.

A yellow flicker.

In the air looming behind him was Tǒu.

With his left hand, Tǒu swiped his left arm, hitting Cassius left arm and knocking him out of the air.

Cassius landed on the roof of a building, sliding across the floor, before he stabbed his sword into the ground to stop himself.

Like before, Tǒu fell out of the sky, swinging his Chi Energy engulf axe down.

Cassius let out a yell.

Energy burst from the sword like flames as both swung the weapons at each other.

There was a slight ringing sound as the metal from the weapons hit each other.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The hit had released a huge shockwave.

The building where Cassius was standing was split in half as several buildings behind him collapsed.

The force knocked both men back several feet, but without wasting a second, Cassius rushed towards Tǒu again.

Tǒu simply stared at the man before –

He swung his axe, hitting the roof of the building.

The strike caused the building to collapse.

Grey smoke was kicked up into the air.

Tmp.

Tmp.

Everything was quiet as Tǒu walked through what he assumed was the ground.

His vision was obscured by the gray smoke.

He was here, and in a faint sense, he could feel it.

His eyes darted from left to right.

Nothing.

Getting annoyed, he raised his right knee.

With a grunt and a foot of Chi Energy, Tǒu stomped his foot into the ground.

SHOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

The smoke was blown away, revealing an even more ruined village.

There was a whooshing sound in the air as Tǒu turned his head right.

A small dagger.

Tǒu moved his head, easily dodging the weapon. Before he had a chance to raise his head, two more knives came flying out from a second-floor window of a collapsing building.

Tǒu quickly plucked the first knife out of the air, using it to swat the second away before flinging the knife away, which stabbed itself into the ground.

A large amount of wind was kicked up as the axe began to glow with Chi Energy.

He knew that this person would not be in one place for long.

Always on the move.

He also knew that, with one swing, he could blast all the rubble in the area away.

Tǒu tightened the grip on the axe handle.

An overhead downward strike to the ground.

That was the plan.

Tǒu swung the axe over his head.

Before he could swing it down, there was a fluttering noise behind him. Tǒu spun around, swinging the axe.

Tǒu eyes widen as the axe hits something—just not what he was expecting.

A cape that was propelled by a small boulder.

He swung across with his axe, destroying the boulder into a million pieces and cutting the cape in half.

Tmp.

A single step amongst the chaos.

But he heard it.

Tǒu lowered his eyes.

He was barely able to see it, just the hair.

Crouched down in front of him

Cassius.

Under the cover of the bottom portion of the ripped cape, Cassius swung his sword across.

It was a step from Tǒu as he took a step back.

Tmp.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough to gather enough space to raise his axe and swing it down, and that was what he attempted to do.

Another Clash.

Only this time, it was different.

Two weapons infused with energy.

Tǒu swung his axe down, which Cassius dodged by sidestepping to his left.

The hit missed him by a few inches.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

Behind him.

A huge fissure had caused the ground to crack open with a yellow flash.

Having dodged the strike, Cassius rammed his right shoulder into the chest of Tǒu, pushing him against the wall of a damaged building and cracking the wall.

Tǒu jerked his head left, dodging the attempted impalement from Cassius sword.

As the sword was stabbed into the wall, clipping his fur collar, Tǒu pushed Cassius away with his right leg.

Cassius slid across the ground before pulling out a knife from a strap on his right boot. He stared at the man, who had now grabbed the sword handle, attempting to pull himself free.

As Tǒu did, an arrow was shot into the wall, near the left side of his head, that caught him off guard.

Tǒu turned to the arrow, only to see a small flame fizzle out.

He paused.

Just like before.

Aura vortex ruentis explosion. (Latin transl. A blast of rushing whirlwind)

The end result of mixing two or more energy signatures together causing a volatile reaction.

Cassius energy from the sword and Lara energy from the arrow.

The two energy signatures began to mix as the wall began to glow a light blue.

And then-

The wall exploded behind him, knocking him forward.

“Gahhhhh!!!!!!!!” Tǒu shot out.

He took a heavy step forward that caused him to hunch over.

Through his pained grunts, he heard footsteps quickly approaching.

He glanced up.

Cassius was running towards him.

Gritting his teeth, Tǒu stood up and swung his right fist.

Blue Aura Energy began to surround his feet.

He needed to time this right.

An instant.

That was all he needed.

A yellow flame of energy began to engulf his fist.

He needed to time this right-

It was an instant, but Aura Energy began to surround his body.

A quick flash, but he knew that he needed to be faster.

(Aura Motus: Lux alba.) (Latin transl. Aura Movement: White Light.)

It was a flash, but Tǒu fist passed through the white light.

Nothing.

His fist crashed into the ground.

Tmp.

He heard it.

Again.

A single footstep.

Behind him.

He did not even get a chance to turn his head before-

SPPPPPRTT!!!

Blood spurted out and splattered onto the ground from his body from a deep cut between his right shoulder and neck.

Tǒu stumbled back, but-

Cassius rammed his body into Tǒu's back, pushing him forward.

Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Tǒu spun around counterclockwise, swinging his left arm.

Just as before-

A white light surrounded Cassius body before he vanished, causing his arm to hit nothing.

White particles of Aura Energy blew past his face before-

SPPPPPRTT!!!

His back.

Blood had gushed out from a diagonal cut on his back.

There were a few painful grunts before Tǒu fell to his left palm and right knee.

There was a sound that caught his attention.

The sound of something sliding across the ground.

Tǒu turned his head to see Cassius sliding on his palms and feet, grabbing his sword from the ground.

Tightening the grip on his sword, Cassius shot towards Tǒu, swinging his sword.

Tǒu gritted his teeth.

A small flicker of flames flashed over his body.

Suddenly, a massive output of energy poured out of his body that pushed Cassius back.

There he stood, his body outlined with a shimmer of Chi Energy.

With a grin on his face, Tǒu dashed towards Cassius, with the ground cracking under his feet.

KLANG.

SHIIIING.

KLANG.

BOOOOOOM.

KLANG.

KLAAAANG.

BOOOOOOOM!!!

BOOOM

The heavy sounds of metal could be heard as the two began to dart across the ruined village, repeatedly clashing and hitting against each other.

Endless buildings began to crumble as the two fought.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Smoke filled the area as Alistair looked on.

At the sound of a loud klang, Cassius was knocked through a building with his feet sliding across the floor.

Breathing hard, Cassius eyes widen as a ringing sound breaks out.

The yellow dragon on the cliff

Suddenly, it flapped its wings up.

It opened its mouth with a loud groan.

With each heavy step, the dragon began to gather momentum.

And then-

SHHOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

The dragon leaped off the cliff, flying towards Cassius.

Various rooftops of the remaining buildings were blown away as the dragon flew overhead, and a huge gust of wind followed behind.

As the dragon got closer, Cassius ran towards the dragon as it opened its mouth.

It needed to be a quick and precise action—that was his thought as he grunted.

He was barely able to dodge the dragon’s mouth as it snapped shut by rolling under its chin.

Rolling back up to his feet, Cassius, with both of his arms, swung his sword over his head.

The tip of the sword hit the dragon's stomach as it flew overhead.

Immediately-

It felt as if his body would break apart at the muscles.

Sparks of Chi Energy flew around him as the sword scraped against the body of the dragon.

His boots started to seep into the ground.

Grunting, he began gritting his teeth.

There was something.

A feeling.

Deep within him, a feeling emerged.

Cassius eyes widen as they flashed brightly.

That feeing-as if something had woken up inside of him.

Cassius tightened his grip on his sword.

Yelling.

Cassius let out a loud yell.

The sword began to glow as Aura Energy was infused into the weapon.

With a grunt and a burst of energy from the weapon, Cassius swung his sword down with all his might.

The dragon flew by, not registering the sword strike, before twirling into the air.

Exhausted, he stumbled forward two steps before-

Tǒu came crashing down, swinging down his axe.

Cassius legs felt too weak to try an escape.

The flame-like Aura Energy that engulfed the sword began to flicker away as he swung his sword to block Tǒu's downward strike.

Klang!

There was a loud sound as the two weapons hit each other.

It was a weak attempt to block his strike, which resulted in the axe cutting into his shoulder.

Cassius let out a loud grunt as Tǒu brought his face closer to his.

Grinning, he placed his left palm on the axe.

“As I said before...”

Tǒu said, slowly pushing it down, cutting into Cassius shoulder.

“….Weak.”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!

As the dragon twirled up into the air, it flapped open its wings, parting the clouds as they began to glow.

Alistair watched on as the dark clouds turned yellow around the dragon.

A feeling of dread washed over him as a memory of the day his village was attacked by a Dragon-born

The Aura Energy that had engulfed the sword fizzled out completely, leaving his sword bear.

Chuckling, Tǒu spoke.

“Your energy is weakening, which means that you are at the end of your rope—no more tricks, no more-”

Tǒu paused as he glanced upon Cassius’s sword—or what used to be his sword.

The top portion of the blade was missing.

Immediately, he quickly turned his head toward the dragon in the air.

Nothing.

Then his eyes widened as he saw it.

It was small, but there was a quick flash that reflected off the sunlight.

Its stomach.

Embedded within its stomach was the other half of the sword.

A blue vein started to spread across its chest.

The same technique.

Since the dragon was made entirely of his Chi Energy, which was nothing more than an extension of himself now, if another energy signature was introduced into it, then it should collapse.

But there was only one way to be sure.

There was a slight grunt as Lara, who was standing on the roof of a building, raised her arrow, aiming it at the dragon in the sky.

Aura Energy started to form as Lara began to pull back on the bow string with her fingers shaking.

To pull off what she was about to create, she focused on everything she had.

Converting energy into Aura Energy is a difficult task, and creating solid constructs out of said Aura Energy was even more daunting, but she couldn’t falter here.

An arrow.

A large blue circular sigil with four small circles in the four cardinal directions appeared in front of the arrowhead.

Tǒu knocked Cassius away with a kick.

"Lux pluvia: Sidus tormentum." (Latin transl. Light rain: star cannon.)

Lara said under her breath as four arrows shot out of the small circles on the sigil before-

She fired the Aura Energy arrow, letting it rip through the sigil, flying towards the dragon in the sky. As it did, the four arrows began to spiral against the larger arrow, combining into one.

One large arrow is now heading towards the dragon.

POOOOOOOOF!!

The dragon broke apart into small flakes that scattered and sparkled in the air, leaving Cassius and Lara in shock.

Silence.

What broke the silence was the single clap of two hands that alerted him.

Tǒu.

The Dragon-born stood there with his palms touching.

“Using your energy to disrupt mine, to try and eliminate my own energy, is a dirty trick, if you ask me, but what is the world with a few? But since we are revealing tricks, I hate to be the odd one out, so...”

His body flashed with a quick shimmer of Chi Energy.

“Then I will reveal my own.”

His energy was back with him.

Cassius dreaded that.

A grin appeared on his face as he glanced up at Cassius.

-Because he knew what that meant.

Shèng lóng xíngtài (Chinese transl. Holy Dragon Form.)

Or, the name it is more commonly referred to now-

DRAGON BRINGER.

The result of controlling Chi Energy at its highest level.

SUBJUGATION.

The ultimate act of bringing one's Chi Energy under their control.

The single ability that allowed Dragon-borns to dominate this world.

It was because of that reason that he could not let him finish what he was about to do.

Cassius rushed towards the man.

Tǒu smirked.

Cassius pulled a knife out of his belt and threw it at Tǒu, who simply sidestepped to his left, letting the knife pass him by.

He started to infuse his energy into the sword, which caused it to glow. No longer being able to cause a massive outburst due to his low energy.

Cassius swung the sword, which caused him to step back. He attempted another swing but was kicked away by Tǒu.

Cassius wrapped his right arm around the handle of the axe, pulling it out of the ground and taking it with him.

Lara appeared in the air above Tǒu, aiming her bow and arrow at the man below.

Tǒu looked up.

“Out of hiding, are you?” Tǒu said, thrusting his right palm into the air above him.

"Lux Plavia" (Latin transl. Light rain.)

Dozens of aura arrows shot down from Lara’s bow, which was blocked when a large hand of Chi Energy engulfed his hand.

Cassius dashed forward, swinging his sword.

SHINNG!

Cassius sword was blocked by the sole of Tǒu's left foot.

Lara landed on the floor and immediately aimed her bow at Tǒu, causing the man to turn to her.

Shuuunkkkk.

Tǒu's eyes widen.

A feeling.

His face winced.

Pain.

Alistair.

Picking up the knife that was thrown by Cassius, he snuck up behind him and stabbed Tǒu in his right midsection.

Tǒu grunted out in pain.

How?

Tǒu turned his head right to stare at the teen that he was sure was a Light-born.

How was he able to get behind him without him noticing?

Red eyes.

(You can’t do what we can do, even though you are a Light-born like us, but since you give off no energy-innate or Aura Energy, that may work in your favor.)

Alistair pulled the knife from Tǒu’s midsection.

(So, you will probably have to use every dirty trick that is available to you.)

Rapid attacks with no breaks in between, no time given for him to focus his energy.

That was what the three were now focusing on.

No chance for his Dragon Bringer to come into play.

If they can do that-

Cassius swung his sword, slashing him across his chest, causing blood to spurt out.

If they can do that, then there was a possibility that they could win.

But-

Even on defense, with a few small hits getting through, he knew that he could not fall here.

Tǒu dodged Cassius sword strike and gave Cassius a lariat, knocking him through several pillars.

He then back-handed Alistair into the ground before leaping into the air and punching Lara into a building.

Looking around, he landed on the ground with a loud thud.

They weren’t dead, not from attacks like that.

But it gave him time.

A Dragon Bringer was now out of the question, but if he tried something different.

A light shockwave broke out as Chi Energy surrounded Tǒu’s body.

A large thud could be heard as he fell to the ground.

Alistair's eyes widen at the sight before him.

Monstrosity.

If there was one word to describe the sight before him, then that was it.

Kneeling.

His right arm, now covered in solid Chi energy, giving it a largely disproportionate shape, making the air appear to be longer than his body.

His face.

No eyes, or rather, they were covered.

Chi Energy covered the upper portion of his head above his nose.

There were two wings that protruded from his back, with a tail extending from his lower back.

“The Dragon Bringer...” Tǒu started to speak with a slight echo in his voice. “It is the ultimate ability that we have, far beyond using Chi Energy to increase our abilities. I was hoping that it was just a fluke that I could not sense you, but looking at you now, you really do not give off any energy.”

Tǒu smirked.

“Strange, but it is of no concern if I am able to physically see you with my own eyes.)

Using his right arm to propel himself forward, Tǒu dashed towards Alistair but stopped when an arrow was shot into the ground in front of him.

Tǒu quickly raised his head to see Lara on top of a building, aiming her bow and arrow.

Grinning, he shot up towards her, leaping up into the air.

A light blue, hexagon-shaped sigil appeared in front of the bow as she aimed it at the approaching man.

"Stella clypeus." (Star Shield.)

That was all that she managed to shout out before-

There was a shattering sound that had broken out as Tǒu was in the air behind her.

Way faster than anything she could react to.

Blood had started to pour out of her mouth in large amounts.

Her breathing became shallow and heavy as she tried to muster up anything.

Her vision started to become dimmer.

Tǒu right arm broke through the shield and most of her midsection, gravely injuring her.

Alistair watched, unable to process any words.

It was a flicker.

One second, he was there, then the next-

Alistair's eyes widen.

-Then the next second, he felt something large grab his neck.

Before he had time to react, he was lifted from the ground.

BOOOOOM

BOOOOOM

BOOOOOM

Alistar was slammed into multiple buildings before being slammed into the ground.

A painful exhale shot out of his mouth as he tried to breathe.

Tǒu squeezed tighter around his neck.

“Not so Tough now that your trick has been exposed, are you?”

“You said it yourself…”

A voice spoke out, which startled Tǒu.

“If you can enhance certain parts of your body with your energy, what happens if we strike another part of your body?”

Tǒu turned his head to see Cassius swinging his sword upward.

Even broken, it edges was still sharp.

He had to aim right outside the reach of his Chi Energy-covered arm.

His right shoulder.

It was a swung but-

It was enough.

Cassius swing was enough to sever his arm from his body.

A clean cut.

So clean that Tǒu’s brain did not register any pain before Cassius delivered a kick to his midsection, knocking him away.

Tǒu slid across the dirt, holding the open wound that used to be where his arm was yelling in pain.

Grunting, he picked himself up.

Blood seeped profusely out of the wound that his left hand was covering.

“….YOU….” Tǒu said between pained grunts, staring at Cassius before rushing at him with a loud yell.

Rage.

It is a powerful tool if you know how to use it, but-

If you don’t.

It would be used against you.

Tǒu began to channel Chi Energy around his left arm.

Makeshift.

The Chi Energy construct around his remaining arm was nothing more than a crude mass of energy, but he did not care.

Cassius swung his broken sword to deflect Tǒu's strike. His eyes narrowed as he swatted the man away.

Because of its crude shape, he believed that it would crumble at the slightest touch, but-

It didn’t break.

Like Light-borns, Dragon-borns can also channel their energy, but Dragon-borns require more mental fortitude to pull it off, even for basic abilities.

It was a simple strike and deflect, but Cassius did pour his energy into the broken weapon, hoping to at least damage the arm, but-

Not even a chip.

Which mean-

He was using everything to keep Chi Energy stable.

Cassius was deflecting several strikes before being kicked away into a boulder by Tǒu.

His back bounced off the rock before he jumped into the air to dodge Tǒu's punch.

Falling back down, he swung his sword down, which was blocked by Tǒu's left arm.

An outburst of energy from the broken blade had pushed Tǒu down to one knee.

Even though Cassius could not see the man's face, he could tell that he was struggling.

The various wounds on his body were too much to heal in one go.

With a yell, Tǒu swung his arm, flinging Cassius away into the ground to his left.

Grunting, he took a step before-

Alistair, from behind, cut off Tǒu's left foot below the ankle, causing him to let out a loud scream.

He could not stop here.

Using the momentum from the swing, he continued swinging to the right foot, only to be kicked away by the tail, knocking him to the ground.

Cassius ran up behind him, pulling a knife out, which caused Tǒu to turn his attention back to him.

He sidestepped a punch from his arm as he swung the knife upward, causing Tǒu to tilt his head back.

Seeing this, Cassius swiped his right foot at Tǒu's right foot, which caused him to tilt off balance to his left. He used that to slam Tǒu into a nearby wall with his right hand, using his left hand to thrust the knife forward, aiming at his head.

A yellow wing made of Chi Energy had burst from the wall from Tǒu left, knocking the knife away and slashing across Cassius’s chest.

Cassius then swung his broken sword to deflect the oncoming strike of both wings before Tǒu dashed and grabbed Cassius neck with his left hand. The force sent Cassius into the wall of a destroyed building several dozen feet away.

On the side of the building, Cassius was barely able to raise his broken sword to block the wings from impaling him.

A devilish grin appeared on his face as Tǒu’s arm began to increase in size, squeezing Cassius’s neck tighter.

Blind Rage.

Violently end the person in front of him.

So focused.

He was so focused on that goal that it made it easy for him to completely miss what happened next.

Shuuuuuuuuunk!!!!

Blood slowly poured out of Tǒu's mouth, causing a single soft cough to escape his lips.

Behind him.

Alistair had stabbed him through the neck from behind.

Tǒu’s body jerked as Alistair pulled the knife out before jumping off his back.

There was a gargling sound as blood started to fill his throat.

Immediately, Tǒu released Cassius from his grip and quickly grabbed his neck with his left hand. and stumbled back.

He closed his eyes quickly to concentrate.

He still had time.

He began to illuminate as Chi Energy began to surround his body.

He could close the wound.

His body was too wounded to try and heal it fully, but that was alright; he only needed to heal one place.

His neck.

The Chi Energy that covered the upper portion of his head began to shatter and break apart; he closed his eyes to concentrate, pouring his energy into his neck.

Tmp.

Tmp.

His eyes quickly opened to see Cassius running towards him.

He could not stop his healing now.

Tǒu removed his hand from his neck to block a swing from Cassius broken sword.

With Tǒu blocking the sword, Alistair dashed past from behind him, slashing Tǒu's upper leg from behind.

It was a slight break from his concentration, but it was enough for Cassius.

With his left hand, he pulled a large dagger from a strap on his right shoulder, slashing downward across his chest to his right knee.

Again.

Cassius used his knee to strike his right midsection, knocking him back.

Another break in his concentration.

Cassius thrusted the broken sword forward, aiming it at Tǒu's chest, but was stopped when Tǒu grabbed the sword with his bare hand, with the blade almost severing his fingers.

Both men stared at each other.

It was just for an instant, but with his left knee, Cassius struck Tǒu's hand, pushing it and, by extension, the sword up.

A quick flash.

The broken sword began to glow before an outburst of energy shot out from the sword towards Tǒu's head, which caused Tǒu to jerk his head left, dodging the outburst.

Tmp.

Tmp.

Tmp.

A sound in quick succession.

At the sound of metal scraping across the ground, Tǒu, off balance, turned his head to the best of his ability.

The axe was lifted off the ground.

It was a simple swing diagonally upwards, with all his might.

One swift move.

SHIISHK!.

One swift move, and Tǒu’s head was separated from his body.

There were several soft thuds as Tǒu's head bounced several times on the ground.

Silence

There was an unnerving silence for the teen as he stood there.

This was a victory for them.

His mind was trying to process everything that had just happened.

There was a grunt from Cassius that broke the silence as he shoved Tǒu's body off him before standing up himself.

Both stared at each other.

“Are you alright?” Cassius asked Alistair, who did not react. beyond a simple head nod.

Cassius closed his eyes and began walking away, flinging his broken sword into the ground.

“For your first true battle, your technique was a little rough, but ultimately you performed better than I expected.”

His mouth wanted to crack a smile for the victory they had managed to pull off, but his eyes fell upon the ruined village, and his demeanor changed.

He slowly became depressed.

Countless days of training did not prepare him for this.

This feeling.

Is this what victory is supposed to feel like?-

Alistair looked around the village.

This feeling.

-So empty.

This was a victory; he was sure of it.

-So lost.

What interrupted his thoughts was the handle of the axe, which he slowly and weakly let go of, hitting the floor.

His fingers were lightly shaking at his sides.

There was a soft exhale that escaped his lips before he glanced away to see Cassius kneeling near Lara, who was lying on the ground.

Slowly, he began to make his way to the two.

Each step felt heavy as his feet shuffled across the ground.

Walking up to the duo, his eyes slowly drifted down to Lara.

Pale.

Blood.

Her chest was rising and lowering with deep, shallow breaths.

She laid there on the ground with her left arm on the missing portion of her midsection.

A look of dread was on Cassius face as he stared at Lara.

“Can you heal yourself?” Cassius asked softly.

Blood poured out of her mouth as it opened and closed as she was trying to say something, but nothing came out.

Her blue eyes began to glow a bright blue.

There was a quick flicker of energy that flashed across her body that caused Alistair's face to light up.

Hope.

Alistair watched on.

Anything would be nice, but-

The innate energy that dwells within Light-borns is far more versatile than the energy that dwells within Dragon-borns, allowing it to pass through the body effortlessly.

Cells.

Skin.

Nerves.

Organs.

Light-borns can use that energy to accelerate the healing of their bodies, but that was always its biggest flaw, since the more serious the wound was, the more energy was required.

Between the Aura Energy arrows and the failed shield she had created that was broken earlier, she did not have enough to even stop the bleeding.

Her energy quickly faded out as nothing more than small blue particles floating in the air.

With a soft exhale, the light in her eyes slowly faded.

There was a long silence, followed by Cassius and Alistair.

Alistair’s eyes widen at the realization.

Death.

Death with nothing more than a whimper.

Immediately, his red eyes started to glance away, only to meet the ruins of the village.

The coldness.

The death.

(Don’t look away.)

He paused.

Cassius’s words rang out in his mind.

(This is the reality of the conflict between Light-borns and Dragon-borns. The death, pain, and destruction....)

Slowly, his eyes glanced back at the lifeless body of Lara.

(....the end result of the war between the two. Ignoring that now will do you no good.)

He felt something die inside of him.

(.....there is no hope for us, born in this world, only to be caught in this conflict, and the only freedom we will have from it in this life is in death.)

This was the life he was living now.

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Something was happening—he started to realize that.

Around him.

The city.

Alistair Micheals.

People around him were panicking.

Seeing this, he descended from the air, landing on the ground as a white light broke apart under his feet.

On the ground, he could feel it.

A light tremor.

He raised his head to see red lightning flowing up to the sky in the distance. There were a dozen thoughts going through his mind, but the coincidence was too much to pass up.

The old man was making his move.

The city-wide spell.

Though they were able to figure out that he was laying the groundwork for a sigil that spans the entire city, they were never able to figure out what it was supposed to do, but given what Haruko had said, his magic couldn’t be taken lightly-

Their plan was that if they could remove half the markers within the sigil, then this spell should collapse upon itself, but there was no guarantee that the group had managed to destroy the sigil yet.

If that was the case, then-

The only other method would be to eliminate the casters themselves.

Alistair took off his sunglasses and exhaled deeply at the thought of what he was about to pull off.

Closing his eyes and shutting out the world around him, he began to focus on the little amount of energy that was within his body.

Quickly, he opened his eyes.

Everything became a blur.

Sound.

Light.

People.

The surrounding area.

Aura Motus: Vortex (Latin transl. Aura Movement: Vortex)

The Light-born technique of using one’s own Aura Energy that was emitted from the body to create a slight distortion in space. Then, by combining both the innate technique of pouring energy into your legs and surrounding one’s body with Aura Energy, to travel through that small distortion.

Everything became a blur as white quickly moved around the upper portion of Central Park.

He focused on one thing.

The old man.

He barely had enough energy to pull off the basic Aura Movement technique, and now with a second technique a few tiers higher, within this space it felt as if his body would break, but-

Given what was at stake, he could not fall here.

Alistair closed his eyes, focusing on the noise.

Somewhere-

He could hear the distorted chatter of various people and the noise of the outside world, but-

“…..tsepi goryashchikh ugley…” (Russian transl. Chains of burning coals). Alistair's eyes opened.

It was faint, but he heard it.

Alistair's mind flashed back to the retro diner the group was in.

[“While we are on this subject...” Alistair started to speak, which caused Haruko to turn to him. “His magic; we already have a basic understanding of what it is, but how did he perform it exactly?”

“What do you mean?” Haruko asked.

“Was there anything he did specifically?”

Haruko placed his finger on his chin and glanced away for a few seconds before speaking.

“I don’t believe the motions he made, such as swinging the knives around, are that important, but rather what was said. Granted, I didn’t understand it because it was a foreign language, but every time I saw him use his magic—the incantations, if you would call it that—it was always in that language.”

“Do you have any idea what that language was?”

Anatoli Azarov.

The mage killer.

Right now, he stood with his hands clasped together, standing on a red sigil in the ground.

He slowly glanced up, looking at the open park.

“Zhertvennyy prakh muchenikov” (Russian transl. Sacrificial ashes of martyrs.)

He paused.

A distorted sound that had alerted him.

“If I had to guess, I think it sounded Russian.”]

A white light shot towards him before breaking apart into the air.

A person

Anatoli barely had time to react as a dark jacket was thrown towards his head.

His vision was obscured.

Now was his time to act.

Anatoli pulled out a knife from his belt with his right hand. As he swung his arm, his forearm was suddenly blocked by Alistair’s own left forearm.

A jacket was all that separated their upper bodies.

From the back of his belt, Alistair pulled out a black pistol with his right hand.

A M1911

Under the cover of his school jacket, Alistair swung his arm around.

Seven bullets.

Just one.

That was all that he needed.

If he was lucky, one shot would be enough to end all of this.

Move.

Due to the school jacket blocking most of his vision, Anatoli could not see what the teen in front of him was doing-

But something told him to move—maybe instinct or fear.

He managed to move his head a few inches to his left before-

BAAAAAANG!!!!!

A loud sound broke out.

A single gunshot.

A bullet tore through the jacket, cutting into his left ear.

For the man now, he started to realize the situation he was in now.

His eyes narrowed at a small portion of the jacket, as if something were trying to poke through.

The gun.

Anatoli had ducked right and swung the knife upwards with his left hand.

He paused.

A slight miscalculation.

Alistair used his right hand to give the impression that the gun he had was trying to poke through, switching the gun to his left hand, which was aiming at the old man's head.

There was a cold look on Alistair's face before-

BAAAAAANG!!!!!

Another shot had rung out.

Blood had splattered onto the ground from Anatoli's face as a deep laceration appeared on the bridge of his nose.

He can’t let up now.

That was his thought as he got closer and aimed the gun again at his head.

Alistair's eyes winced as his vision became blurry.

It was a slight opening for the old man, one he wouldn’t let go to waste.

Twisting his body upwards with his right palm, he struck Alistair's left forearm, striking his arm away. With his left hand, he grabbed Alistair's left wrist and yanked his body closer.

Alistair struck Anatoli in the midsection with his knee.

As Anatoli kept holding on to his left wrist, Alistair thrusted his right shoulder into his chest, pushing him back and letting the gun out of his left hand before grabbing it with his right.

Alistair raised the gun, but it was grabbed by Anatoli, causing him to narrow his eyes.

BAAAAAANG!!!!!

Another shot.

Anatoli's body moved at the last second, causing the bullet to graze his right midsection.

He stumbled back, with his right hand clutching his midsection. With his left hand, he grabbed the gun, which caused Alistair to fire the weapon.

The bullet ripped through his palm and his left shoulder.

Grunting, Anatoli swung the knife, causing Alistair to lower his head, dodging the strike.

Anatoli swung his arm again, but his wrist was caught by Alistair's left hand, stopping his knife mere inches from his face.

Both men stared at each other.

Alistair's eyes widen.

A feeling.

He glanced down at his left leg.

A black void.

Under the sole of his foot, a black, murky void appeared, but that was not what had concerned him. Out of that black void, multiple pitch black emaciated hands were grabbing at his leg, and ankle.

As Alistair turned to the old man, the black void expanded.

Alistair's body jerked to his left as his left foot began to sink into the ground.

Staring into the black, Alistair yanked his leg free.

From the black void, there was a faint sound of the rustling of chains.

And then-

SHOOOOOOOM!!!!!!

A large gray hand with black chains wrapped around its forearm emerged from the black void under both men's feet in front of Anatoli, attempting to grab Alistair.

Alistair leaped back several feet, barely escaping the closing grasp of the hand.

Landing on the ground, Alistair fired two shots from the gun, which were blocked by the hand, with the second bullet bouncing off one of the fingers, grazing the right side of his head, causing him to stumble back.

Anatoli straightened himself up, staring at the large hand as it retreated back into the void as it closed, leaving the ground bare.

With a cold stare, Anatoli turned his attention to Alistair.

Anatoli placed his right hand on the gash on his noise, with his fingers covering the lower half of his face.

(Without using the incantations and none of the key requirements, the most I was able to summon without any drawback was just the hand of the beast. This person....)

Anatoli pulled his hand away from his face, staring at the blood on his palm.

(I am not sure of it fully, but he is different; it seems that in order to beat this individual, I need to fully utilize this particular spell in its entirety.)

Alistair watched the old man.

(It seems that Haruko was not joking about him.)

Alistair lowered his gun.

(Five shots, I was hoping that the gun would take care of this issue, but I suspect that he is using magic to enhance his reflexes. Even though he is human, I did not expect that there would be this much of a difference, even slightly. Wasting the remaining bullets is pointless if I can't create an opening.)

The teen stood up and placed it in the back waistband of his pants.

(If that is the case, then all I have to do is offset the balance.)

Alistair's eyes began to glow, watching the old man as he clapped his hands together.

(I’m taking a huge risk with this, but it is better to be safe than sorry.) Anatoli thought as he stared at the teen.

“Pogrenal’nyy mavzoley zverya-khimer.” (Russian transl. Burial mausoleum of the Chimera Beast.)

Alistair’s face twitched as a small trickle of blood dripped from his nose.