45
As the woman lifted her right hand from the quiver of arrows on her back and took off her hood, a beautiful face, the likes of which Id had never seen in his life was revealed. The girl, who looked less than twenty years old, was a beauty with long, luxuriant black hair. Her dark eyes, like obsidians, looked into Id’s eyes. As Id hesitated and couldn’t answer, she continued.
“I’ve never heard of a human operating manna like you. I’ve never seen an elf or a dwarf do that either. Who are you?”
Only then did Id see pointed ears with slightly protruding ends between her rich hair. He retrieved his sword aimed at the girl’s neck and asked in a somewhat shaky voice.
“Are you an elf?”
“Yes, I’m an elf, Selena. What’s your name?”
Id replied, a little embarrassed by the straightforward attitude of the elf named Selena.
“My name is Id. Not long ago, I was informed of someone targeting me, which was why I had mistaken you for an enemy. I’m sorry.”
“Why is someone after you?”
Id felt a little embarrassed again by the elf’s blunt question.
“It’s a long story to explain in detail. In short, a powerful wizard is trying to take away something I have. Anyways, did you say you can feel a difference in the way I control my manna?”
“If someone operates manna as powerful as yours, any elf could feel it. If an elf, a race that has a special affinity to manna force in general, doesn’t feel your peculiar manna operation, that would be strange.”
“Ah, is that so! I apologize once again.”
Saying goodbye to Selena, Id jumped down the tree and headed for Blackanvil’s house, but she followed him and asked, walking along beside him.
“What are you doing in this forest alone? I haven’t seen a human walking alone deep in the forest recently. Besides, you are the first one who has ever been able to notice me.”
Id spoke after a while.
“Do you happen to know a dwarf named Blackanvil? I’m staying at his house with my friends for a few days.”
“Are you close to Uncle Blackanvil? I can’t believe he invited humans to his house.”
The two walked side by side without words for a while. Id asked Selena out of sudden curiosity.
“I’ve heard that elves and dwarves are not on good terms. Are you close to Blackanvil?”
“It’s a silly misconception of hasty generalization. Humans often misunderstand without reason. Of course, there must be some elves who don’t get along with dwarves, but I like Blackanvil.”
Id, who had been walking silently again, suddenly started to run fast as if he were bouncing off the ground. Selena also followed closely behind Id at a quick pace.
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“It’s in the direction of Uncle Blackanvil’s house, right?”
Nodding quietly, Id jumped onto a tree overlooking Blackanvil’s log house, and gently landed on a thick branch. Selena sat down next to Id without any noise. Lara was lying unconscious in front of Blackanvil’s two-story log house, and the dwarf artisan Blackanvil was kneeling beside her, checking her wounds, not caring about the blood flowing out of his own wound on his arm. Sasha stood in front of them, clutching his sword and shield, but his left thigh was bleeding too. In front of him stood five Knights in full plate mail with the same geometric patterns and three sorcerers in fancy robes. Among the three sorcerers, the one in the middle told Sasha.
“I don’t have any business with anyone else. If you could just tell me where Id is, I won’t hurt you anymore. No more reckless resistance! Tell me the boy’s whereabouts.”
At that time, Blackanvil shouted in an angry voice.
“Torres, you’ll have a hard time after doing this to me. Although I live alone in the human world, my tribe’s dwarf warriors will not forgive you if you continue to persecute me.”
“Blackanvil, I am not afraid of dwarf warriors, but I don’t want to antagonize you. I just have business with the boy named Id.”
Having identified the situation at the scene, Id spoke to Selena.
“Please stay here.”
Before Selena responded to him, Id jumped into the air, stepping on a branch, and spun around in the air, lightly landing between Sasha and Torres. A Knight hurriedly stepped forward to guard Torres and asked.
“Are you Id?”
Id asked Sasha, ignoring the Knight’s question.
“Sasha, what happened?”
“When I came out, Lara was already down, and Blackanvil was hurt. I fought with him for a while, but he is the strongest opponent I’ve ever faced.”
Sasha said, pointing to the Knight blocking Torres with his index finger. Blackanvil added onto Sasha’s words and continued,
“He is Yuri Bunin, the second son of Marquis Bunin. Be careful. He is a peak-class swordsman and wears armor engraved with Anti Physical Force. When Lara was training swordsmanship here in the yard, he asked for your whereabouts. Lara didn’t answer his questions, and he abruptly attacked her. There was an intense fight between the two for about ten minutes, but eventually, Lara was slammed away and fell unconscious after hitting her head on the ground.”
As Id ignored him, Yuri Bunin shouted in a voice full of anger.
“Put on your armor. I’ll show you the sword skills of the true peak swordsman.”
Id said, looking at Torres, still not answering Yuri’s question.
“I know what you want from me. My answer is ‘No’. I’m not such a generous person to let those who hurt my friends live, but I’ll give you a chance. If you retreat right now, I’ll forgive your mistakes once, but if you step forward a step from where you are, nobody shall return alive.”
Raging, Yuri did not wait for Torres’ answer but swung his sword at Id. As Id’s sword deflected Yuri’s sword, the latter cut through the air, and the former stabbed Yuri’s chest. At that moment, Id’s Aura Blade and the Anti Physical Force of Yuri’s platemail collided. Although the armor did not get pierced, Yuri retreated a couple of steps, shocked by his crumpled breastplate. Id moved to his opponent’s left side with light footwork and cut at Yuri’s right flank.
Three Knights protected sorcerers, and the other Knight confronted Sasha. Sasha’s thigh injury was but a flesh wound, so it did not interfere much with his movements. The sorcerers, escorted by the three Knights, began chanting spells simultaneously. Then, some arrows flew one after another from the tree where Id jumped down from. Although two arrows bounced off the Knights’ shields, the third one killed a sorcerer instantly by piercing his neck. Surprised by the unexpected ambush, Torres stopped casting an attack spell and cast a Magic Shield. However, his casting time lengthened as he lost his composure. A Knight ran to the tree where the arrows were shot from, but he could find no one on it.
Helene, the six-circle-master mage, focused on casting an attack spell, ignoring the arrows. When Yuri Bunin, who could not keep up with Id’s fast movement, rushed toward his opponent with his shield in front of him, Id stabbed the opponent in the back of his neck, jumping over the rushing Knight’s head. Yuri’s helmet and armor were covered in the blue light of the Anti Physical Force at the same time, but Id’s cobalt Aura Blade broke into the magic defense and penetrated Yuri Bunin’s neck from behind. One of the top three swordsmen in the Kingdom of Scandia met his end without even a scream. The Knight, who was confronting Sasha, collapsed the next moment. Sasha’s sword that stabbed his opponent in the heart was also covered by bluish light, though faint.
“Lightning Bolt.”
After completing her casting, Helene shouted an initiator, and dozens of Lightning Bolts flew toward Id, who was approaching Torres. However, as Id brandished his Aura Blade several times, Helena’s lightning bundles bounced off helplessly. Shocked by the scene, Helene sank to the spot. As Id rushed to Torres, speeding up. Two Knights attacked him simultaneously. One Knight was torn apart together with his sword by Id’s shining Aura Blade, and the other was decapitated. Looking into Torres’ eyes with a cold stare, Id swung his sword wide and struck the Magic Shield surrounding the wizard. Although Torres’ Magic Shield defended Id’s Aura Blade once, the manna forming the shield was dispersed by the first attack, and the magic defense disappeared soon by the second strike. Torres shouted in an urgent voice.
“I was wrong. I will……”
Torres couldn’t finish his sentence and fell to the ground, bleeding from his heart. The Knight, who chased Selena, also collapsed, clutching an arrow stuck in his neck. As Id approached Helene, sitting on the ground, she bowed her head in resignation and made no sounds. At that time, an urgent voice was heard from a distance.