Lyca just knelt there as she saw the world move around her in slow motion; she felt as if she were frozen in time, hands slumped to her sides. Even with her new power, she was unable to win. Arvin was getting closer to her, his right arm engulfed in a blue aura held at his side as he came at her. He was now in front of her, driving his viper like hand at her chest.

"This is it, I'm going to die," I love you, brother."

Where were the last words that came to her mind? But the attack never hit her. She looked up at Arvin's arm, and something was stopping it from reaching her, holding him at bay. Where his viper like attack had stopped, there appeared to be a distortion in space itself.

- A barrier? But how can she cast a barrier this strong? He was baffled by this. Suddenly something attacked him, and he was forced to jump back to evade the attack.

Lyca looked at what had supposedly saved her life in awe. It was a creature she thought was beautiful. She could tell that it was about four feet off the ground while on all fours and that its length was about six feet. It was a lion, but this one was white, and it had a frosty white mane. On the tip of its tail was a flame that burned blue and was gentle like the ocean. It walked casually from left to right in front of her, staring down her attacker. Its eyes were Arctic blue. They also had a calming feeling to them; she couldn't explain it, but she felt safe around this beast. It let out a soft growl, and a frosty white fog escaped from its mouth. Arvin was now standing in a defensive stance, preparing for the beast to attack, while the other two looked on in horror. "A white lion, also known as an Arctic lion, from Frostia The frozen lands It is said that the flame on its tail is what keeps it warm in the icy fields, and it wields incredible ice and fire abilities. "You're a long way from home, beast; where is your master?" The white lion lowered its head and growled slightly louder, revealing its perfect, sharp, white teeth. White mist escaped from between its teeth. Lyca stared at the beast with awe and confusion, wondering why this creature would try to protect her from all people, and where did it come from and who sent it?

"You will not take this girl's life." A voice resounded in the room in a commanding manner, as if no one could oppose his will. Then, out of nowhere, a man appeared between them, his back toward Lyca. She guessed he was the owner of the voice they had heard earlier. He turned and walked towards Lyca. Arvin maintained his position and watched as the new sojourner kneeled next to Lyca.

This was her first encounter with this male figure. He was incredibly handsome and looked no older than she was. He had dark black hair and dark brown eyes. His skin was flawless. He wore a white sleeveless jacket that had an insignia she had never seen before, a navy-blue T-shirt underneath, and Persian blue pants. He seemed to resonate with the same aura as the lion. With her newfound abilities, she was able to see the aura of this man and beast but was unable to sense Arvin's aura. She found this strange. Arvin had changed the defensive stance to one for combat, seeing that his opponent was the master of a creature that is said to be of legendary status. "Are you okay?" he asked Lyca in a pleasant voice. She could only stare at him as he smiled at her. "Do not fear; a friend of your brother has sent me; he figured something like this was going to happen and told you to intervene if ever your life was at stake." He smiled again. "Take your friend and flee; Dol, my beast, will transport you to safety." "I will take care of this guy here," he said, indicating his head toward Arvin. With that, he vanished with incredible speed and reappeared in front of Arvin, catching him off guard and driving a kink into his stomach, knocking him through the walls behind him and out of the house into the yard surrounding the structure. "You must go now." He turned and looked at Lyca before taking off after his opponent.

Lyca stood and felt her body ache with pain as she moved to her friend, not caring for the two assassins by the door since they were unable to move. "We’re safe now, Emily," she whispered, lifting her friend and placing her on the back of Dol before climbing on herself.

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"And who might you be?" He asked in a flat tone. The kick had knocked the ball a few meters away from the house and into the yard between the house and the surrounding walls. But as he looked closely at the person in front of him, he could see the insignia on his jacket, and he realized that the person standing in front of him was no mere man but someone who could be a real threat to him. This insignia belonged to a clan that has been around for many generations and was said to be extinct. But standing before him was a member of the God's Hand clan. As he came to realize this, his expression changed as the fight before him became more dangerous. "Who the fuck is the girl, and why the fuck is a member of an extinct clan standing in front of me?" was all Arvin could think, but he wasn't going out without a fight by any means. The man did not respond to Arvin's question but instead asked, "Who sent you?"

"So that's how it is." Arvin smiled and said, "With due time, my master shall reveal himself. "For now, you fight me. "Don't think you’ll land another cheap shot like before." I can’t hold anything back."

Arvin then took off with his speed, and as he and his opponent approached each other, they began exchanging blows. However, each attack was either blocked by the other or dodged. Arvin fired a right punch, which his opponent avoided by twisting his body to the left and countering with a backhand strike to his head, which Arvin avoided by ducking under the attack and countering with a full sweep to his leg, which his opponent avoided by backflipping.

This is getting nowhere. "You asked who I was; my name is Michael. "That will be the last name you hear." He then clasped his hands together and declared, "Ice Spear Barrage." With that, the air around him began to form multiple ice spears. He then released his hands and thrust them towards Arvin, causing the spears to follow suit, whistling through the air as they approached with intense speed.

Arvin’s eyes widened with excitement as he dove for the ice spears as they came whistling past him. Clasping his hands together, he spoke, "Viper’s Flame," and a vortex of fire surrounded him like a wall. The remaining spears shattered as they made contact with the wall's flame. A few spears managed to cut him as they flew past before he was able to release his defensive attack. There were several cuts on his arms and body, but no serious injuries. Arvin then stretched his hands to the side, and the vortex of flame split in two and formed around his hands and legs "Fire enhancement," he said. This technique increased his speed and strength by 10%. He then dashed at Michael faster than before.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

a technique used to increase speed and strength. It seems I underestimated him, however.

----------- Lucas was running at full speed, and I never knew Emily's name. The sound of an explosion coming from Emily's house interrupted his train of thought. What the hell is going on over there? Hang on, sis, I’m coming. As he neared, something caught his eye. What he saw was his sister and an unconscious Emily on a Frost Lion similar to Devon’s but a bit smaller, showing that it was younger "Thank you, my friend," he thought.

"Brother!" Lyca shouted as the Dol neared Lucas. "You must help him; he’s fighting this guy that almost killed me and Emily. "He's incredibly strong. "You must hurry, Lu."

"You shouldn’t worry about him, Lyca. "If he is the master of this lion, I bet he is strong in his own right." Lucas said he lifted his head, sensing a mysterious energy toward the west of the city.

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The city of Liasha, surrounded by giant concrete walls, was a small and beautiful city. It was far south of the major kingdoms, encircled by plains and mountains. Only every few months will merchants travel to and from this city due to the dangers that lurk in the mountains and the distance one would have to travel before reaching it. From the nearby mountains, one could see that there were only two roads leading to and from them, south and north. Both roads stopped at the gates of the city, with two guards at each gate clad in silver armor and wearing the same insignia as the guards that were in the city. On top of the walls were forts built for archers, who were also dressed in the same armor. In one of these forts to the far west of the city, a man watched from the shadow with a disappointed and frustrated look on his face. Behind him stood two figures cloaked in darkness as well. He observed the people going about their business after Lucas had killed a member of his clan, The Hidden Viper; he observed the guards searching for Lucas; he observed Lucas holding Emily in his arm; and now some pretender bearing the God's Hand clan's insignia. He watched all this from a cloud he formed out of black smoke in front of him. This pretender seemed to be as strong as Arvin, one of his best assassins, or maybe even stronger. This man was the leader of the Viper's clan, who was also the dark mage Metura, and he was the one who sent the assassins to kill Lyca, never expecting to run into such an inconvenience.

"Should we go and assist him, leader?" The man standing to his right asked. He wore a hooded jacket over his head, the shadow from the hood concealing his face perfectly in the dark. "No, I have an idea. "Let's see how they face off against Septom," Metura said with a look of pure evil on his face, and his eyes began to glow an ominous purple. Soon after, he began chanting in an unknown language to the men standing to his rear on both sides.

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"Agh..agh...agh." Arvin shouted with each strike he made at his opponent, but the man just dodged them effortlessly, twisting his body left to right and right to left as Arvin thrust his flame engulfed hand at him. Even with his new speed, Arvin could not hit his opponent, showing the difference in speed. Using the flame as a boost, he jumped several meters in the air before stopping and using it again to propel himself toward Michael, increasing his speed.

Michael then clasped his hands together and said, "I've played with you long enough to end this." "Ice Dragon Spear," he said, and the head of a dragon emerged from the ground beneath him, its mouth open; it was about 8 feet long and 4 feet wide, before dashing at Arvin, who was unable to dodge due to the speed at which the ice dragon came at him, grabbing him in its mouth, lifting him into the air, and driving him into the ground. Causing a booming sound to be heard through the air, ice was sent flying in all directions, leaving a white fog where the dragon's spear landed. Approaching where the dragon landed, Michael could hear Arvin coughing in the crater that was left. Reaching the crater with a wave of his hand, he dispersed the fog, revealing a broken Arvin.

*cough* "You really are from the God’s Hand Clan, aren’t you? "There aren't many *cough* strong people out there, and I can tell you weren't going all out." A bloodied Arvin managed to say

"I’m afraid this is where you die; I have no intentions of answering that question. I’ll make this quick." He spoke and extended his hands, forming a thin ice spear, and drove it into Arvin, but before his spear could connect with him, Arvin vanished. "So you decided to show yourself." Michael spoke to himself and looked up to the west of the city, sensing a mysterious energy. He focused his senses on the energy of Dol, and after finding it, he began to move towards the location.

---------

"Lucas, there you are I’ve been searching for you. ""Why'd you have to go and run off?" Sir Matthew was clearly irritated at having to search for Lucas. Standing in stone streets with houses and stores on both sides of the roads there was nowhere for to run. People were now gathered looking at them due to the attention drawn by the strange lion. That was Matthew, who also sensed the strange energy and turned his head to the west with a look of disbelief on his face. - "What a malicious energy," he thought before ordering the onlookers to go to their homes immediately. "So, you sensed it too." Lucas spoke, seeing the expression on Sir Matthew’s face.

"Yes, for now, let's call it a truce," he replied.

Soon after, a figure was seen running towards them in the distance. As he got closer, the lion began approaching him, and he patted it on the head. "Thank you for saving my sister." Lucas said as he bowed his head in respect.

"Don't worry about it; I was sent by Devon because he thought you might need help. I guess he was right; I sense a strange energy coming from the west; we must leave immediately. He explained this to Lucas as he looked to the sky and saw the dark clouds forming.

Back on the walls inside the dark room, Metura had completed his enchantment, and dark clouds that appeared menacing began to take form in the night sky. And soon after, a purple and yellow runic circle appeared on the ground before them. This was two circles with one on the inside and one on the outside spinning in opposite directions, "a runic summoning technique." Lucas spoke.

"What are they summoning here and what are they after?" questioned Sir Matthew as he prepared himself and ordered his men to prepare themselves for battle.

"It's not so much what they're summoning as it is who." A runic summon is a rare technique that puts a lot of strain on the body and allows one to summon another person. This is only possible if that person is under some type of curse from the person doing the summon. And to answer your question," he paused, "Lyca, they’re after Lyca; she’s the child of prophecy. ""I was hoping this day would never come." Lucas spoke out. Sir Matthew looked at the girl with disbelief, and Lyca looked at her brother with the same expression, who just smiled at her and said, "Don’t worry, your pretty little head sis, I won’t let them take you."

"Neither will I." said the knight "If you are the child of prophecy then there are dark days ahead of us, I will lay down my life for you child. Lucas, get her out here. "I will hold back whatever comes out of this seal."

With that said, Lucas, Lyca, Michael, and Emily, who was still unconscious, left after wishing the knight and his men good luck.

A few moments later, the circles stopped spinning and began to lift off the ground, leaving a copy of themselves. After reaching about 7 feet in the air, it released a purple and yellow light, connecting itself to the two on the ground.

"Prepare yourself, men!" Matthew order.

After the light had dissipated, it revealed a single figure standing in its shadow. The figure was male and muscularly built, wearing what appeared to be clothing from the days of old. He wore an upper shirt with just two metal shoulder pads connected by chains, brown pants, and what appeared to be a sash around the waist holding layers of strange cloth together. He wore no shoes, and in his right hand he held a sword that had a purple blade with yellow markings and an ancient language inscribed on it. He had a tattoo with black ink on his chest that resembled that of a bear. Looking at him Sir Matthew immediately recognized him from books of the old ages he read when he was younger and couldn’t help but wonder how it was possible, he was looking at a man sealed away for all eternity: "Septom the Fallen."