With his back against the wall, Ben could not help but let out a curse; it was a good thing that [Muffle] was still working, otherwise it would have been game over for him.

With no easy way out of it, Ben's already racing heart staring pumping blood even faster. His brain started simulating the upcoming confrontation a hundred different ways at the same time.

His first thought was to use the Illusion spell [Fury] on the two brothers and make them fight each other, but Ben was not sure if it would work on these guys.

His Illusion skill was only at the Apprentice level and he had never tested it on adult wizards.

Casting any spells in this dark alley would quickly give away his location, so Ben knew that he only had one chance to make it count.

Taking deep breaths, Ben moved closer to one of the brothers and waited for the opportunity.

As soon as the second wizard faced the other way, Ben hit the first wizard with a [Muffle].

The wizard quickly realized that something was wrong; two hands grabbed his head from both sides but before he could react, he lost all control of his body and started spasming uncontrollably.

Dual-casting gets unlocked once a skill reaches level 20. With twice the spark in the [Sparks] spell, Ben fried the poor man's brain to a medium rare.

Or that's what he planned to do, but while the [Muffle] took care of the incoherent screaming and the *Zapping* noises of the spell, it could not stop the bright flashes from the sparks produced.

The second Wizard turned around and was stunned as he looked at his brother's spasming body in Ben's hands.

"Nooo!" he screamed and shot a flurry of spells towards Ben in bout fury and fear.

Ben shielded himself from the attack with the wizard's body, he then charged at his attacker with the human shield.

"HAAAAA!" Ben let out a shout as he put all his strength behind the charge.

*Crash* "Ugh"

The narrow alley did not give with wizard any time to dodge and he was slammed against the wall with his own bother's body.

Ben was feeling low on Magicka making his mind a little clouded and the raging Adrenaline did not help in keeping his head clear at all, he was seeing red all over the place.

Letting out a beastly cry, Ben lunged at the man and fed him a knuckle sandwich, and another and then another.

But before Ben could enter a full-on *Ora Ora Ora* mode, a flash of light hit his chest and he got flung through the air, hitting the opposite wall.

"Ughh," he got the wind and the adrenaline knocked out of him.

"You vile knave," said the wizard getting up on his feet wheezing, leaning on the wall for support; pointing his wand at Ben.

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"Huuh," Ben took a deep breath, straightening his back.

"The pot meets the kettle,.. or.. something," he said trying to remember the proper phrase for the current situation.

The man stepped forwards, his eyes filled with anger.

"Pthew," spitting out a mouthful of blood he let out a fierce growl, showing a missing tooth and bloodied lips.

He looked at his brother's limp body from the corner of his while not taking his vicious sight off Ben.

"By the devil's horns, I'll see you dead!" He roared, "But not before making you regret putting your hands on my brother."

He said with a murderous glint in his eyes as a bright flash escaped his wand. Unfortunately, what happened was not something he had expected.

Ben pushed both his palms forward and produced an ethereal, glowing shield that blocked his spell.

"How-th-"

With the dual-casted [Lesser Ward] in front, he once again charged at the man, slamming him against the wall.

*Thud* "Uhh"

He didn't stop there and swiftly delivered a crushing knee to his family jewels.

"Uh-uhh-uhh," he whimpered like a beaten street dog.

"How do you like that; you pigeon," Ben said in triumph as he saw the man's knees give out, he was not at all ashamed of delivering the ungentlemanly blow.

"I'll take that," he said taking his wand away.

"On second thought, I don't really need it," he said, snapping the wand on his knee.

A purple light then flashed in his hand and an ethereal dagger was summoned that gave off a very sinister look.

There was a slight tremble in his arm and he was heaving heavy breaths, one could see the struggle in his eyes.

The wizard saw this struggle and took it as a chance to act, but Ben was not as indecisive as he thought.

*Slash*

There was a huge gash on the man's chest, a long but shallow gash. The sharpness of the dagger was on a whole another level. He could have cut him much deeper if he wanted, but he finally decided against it.

"He's not worth it," he said, trying to reason with himself.

There were many ways to end this now, but Ben knew that murder was not one of them. It may not seem like a big deal to kill someone while playing a game or watching a movie, but it is not the same in the real world.

It was no small matter, especially when Ben knew that it can literally split one's soul. Maybe he will have to take that step someday, but that day was not today.

The menacing dagger disappeared but Ben's skin flashed with a dim light instead and became as tough as oakwood.

Getting up close and personal, Ben fed the man a barrage of oak knuckles.

"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA"

Ben hammered his face, only stopping once the man lost consciousness.

He checked the other guy, who was still breathing, albeit faintly.

"Ughhh! Fucking scum," Ben screamed as he kicked the unconscious guy, "Carry my burden, my ass," he said as he tried to calm his nerves.

Taking a few long and deep breaths, Ben looked around to alley to make sure no one else was around.

Ben picked up the guy's wand to perform a few cleaning spells; he made sure that nothing related to him was left there, such as his blood or any piece of clothing.

Performing [Healing] on himself, he promptly disappeared from the place, taking the wand with him to dispose of in the store later.

The flight back home was not as exciting as before, there was a lot on Ben's mind and he could still feel his body shaking.

--Dreamscape--

MC just learned that the real world can be very brutal and he is not ready. Read more on Patre@n/DreamyApe

Here's something that the A.I. wrote when I asked it how a melee fight between two wizards would go, enjoy:

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Wizard 1: "You'll not be besting me with your wand, good sir!"

Wizard 2: "We shall see about that, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."

Wizard 1: "Ha! You're no match for my spell-casting abilities."

Wizard 2: "Don't be so sure, I've been trained in hand-to-hand combat by Aurors."

Wizard 1: "Hand-to-hand combat? You'll not be standing a chance against my magic."

Wizard 2: "We'll see about that. I've got a few defensive spells memorized and I'm not afraid to use them."

Wizard 1: "You'll be cheating, then. I'll not stand for it."

Wizard 2: "It's not cheating if you're willing to do whatever it takes to win."

(fight ensues)

It's important to note that while in the wizarding world, magic is the main way of fighting, physical combat is also present, and it's important to be well-rounded and trained in both types of combat.

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No update tomorrow, my mom got sick and I wasn't able to get enough sleep.