Ric hid behind a boulder and listened to their conversation. Yota stood facing three guys: a bulky tank named Jeff, a swift swordsman named Desos, and a water magician named Fray. Jeff stepped forward with a smirk, holding a big shield, and exclaimed, “Hey, why don’t you trust us? Your friend Ric sent us to get you; he is in trouble, you see.”
Yota, hearing their claims, scoffed with confidence and replied with a smirk, “Ric is in trouble? Stop joking with me. If he's in trouble, then even I won’t be able to help him. He already knows that but still sent you guys? Come on! Try to come up with something better next time.”
All three of them glanced at each other. Jeff asked, “Hey Desos, didn’t you say that this guy was stupid?”
Desos replied, “Well, he was stupid enough to fight a noble on the first day. I heard his friend's name that time.”
Jeff sighed before replying with an evil smile, “Sigh, it doesn’t matter, does it? Now, let’s eliminate him and go to the finish line.”
With this, Fray started casting, and Jeff and Desos slowly moved forward, threatening to eliminate Yota. Yota faced off against the trio, already exhausted, his breath coming in heavy gasps. But he held his ground with courage and stood up, taking a fighting stance since he was running low on mana. He started thinking, trying to find a solution to this situation, “This is bad; I don’t have much mana left. Ric must be searching for me. I must think of a way to defeat them and meet up with him.”
The fight started, Desos attacked Yota with a downward swing. Yota swiftly dodged him and rushed towards the mage. But suddenly, Jeff came in front of him, blocking his path. Yota didn’t stop and attacked Jeff, but Jeff put his damaged shield in front, blocking Yota’s attack. Yota’s hand hit the metal shield and got hurt; he hastily backed off as he dodged Desos who attacked him from behind. Yota stood his ground and started thinking, “The tank is good at defense, but his attacks are slow; the swordsman is fast, but his defense is not up to the mark. I need to defeat the mage; his magic caused damage to the other pillar. I barely dodged it last time; if that attack hits me again, I won’t be able to dodge it! But how can I get to the mage? As soon as I attack, the tank blocks it, then the swordsman follows up with his attack, forcing me to back off. Tch! This is very tough; what should I do?”
Yota racked his brain for a solution, but nothing he came up with could help him in this situation. With hope slowly fading away, he clenched his fist and tightly closed his eyes, not knowing what to do. Then a thought came to his mind, “If Ric was here, what would he do?” But interrupting his thoughts, someone with a familiar voice exclaimed, “Don’t you despair, oh my friend thee, We are here, so hear my decree.”
Yota's eyes snapped open as he hastily turned back. He saw the familiar tattered clothes, green wild hair, matching eyes, holding a humble wooden staff in his hands—Jim arrived with his friend, Ren, whose red spiky hair and matching eyes shone brightly as he activated his magic, "Fire Fly," covering his hands and feet in burning fire to increase his mobility and attack power.
“You two? Where have you been all this time?!” Yota asked, excitement brimming in his eyes.
Jim answered Yota’s question in a poetic manner, “We have battled through hardships, overcome our fear. Don’t worry, my friend, because we are here.”
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“You did all that in a single day?” Yota asked, disappointment evident on his face.
Ren joined the conversation with a smirk, “Hey Yota, where is Ric? Did he chicken out and leave you behind?”
Yota answered him, “Do you think he would? He dropped his locket somewhere and went to fetch it when these guys ambushed me out of nowhere.”
The duo of Jeff and Desos were surprised. They were the type of people to prey on the weak and fear the strong. They glanced at each other and nodded in agreement before dashing toward Yota at full speed. Desos was fast, so he swiftly reached near Yota, who was conversing with Ren. But Ren noticed the ambush of the villains and rushed toward Yota to block the incoming attack. Desos was unfortunately faster than Ren and reached near Yota, thinking, “Yes, I am in range! Now I just need to eliminate him and get away from here.” But as he was about to swing his sword, something small and cube-shaped hit his ankle, disturbing his balance and allowing Ren a moment of time to punch Desos in the face, crashing him to the ground.
“Jim! Let’s go!” Ren yelled, rushing toward Jeff with full speed.
“Don’t command me, you see, I’ll cast my magic, wild and free.” Jim started his chanting. Ren, who was battling Jeff at a close distance, enjoyed it very much. A wide smile crept on his face, showing his satisfaction. “Haha! You’re a good punching bag!” He taunted his opponent. Jeff was getting annoyed, barely able to defend himself.
“Haha! Come on! This is all you got?! Try harder! Let’s enjoy to our hearts’ content.” Ren exclaimed as he hit the shield with a powerful punch, forcing it sideways and leaving Jeff wide open. Ren rushed to take advantage of the opening, but Desos, who was knocked down by Ren, came from behind and ambushed him with his sword.
“Ren! Behind you!” Yota shouted, trying to warn Ren about the attack.
Desos was mischievously smiling, as he was very close to Ren. He raised his sword to attack him, thinking, “Yes! He is in range; I will defeat him with this attack and rush toward the green-haired mage.” But, to his surprise, he was once again hit by a cube-shaped object, but this time, it targeted his wrist. The impact slightly moved his hand sideways and made him miss the attack as he thought "You know what? I give up". Ren took the chance to counter with an upper cut to the jaw, forcing Desos to fall unconscious and lose his sword.
Ren got angry, looked at the unconscious Desos, and said, “Hey! If you want to fight, come at me head-on! Don’t ambush like a coward.” He turned toward Jeff and added, “Now, let’s continue what we started!”
Jeff smiled mischievously and exclaimed, “I don’t think I need to.”
Ren was confused until Jeff suddenly moved to the side, revealing Fray, who had completed his casting. He launched his magic toward Ren, exclaiming, “Water Magic: Aqua Bullet!” Ren was shocked by the sudden attack and instinctively dodged it, forgetting that Yota and Jim were behind him.
“No! You two! Dodge it!” Ren screamed as he ran forward to stop the attack. He realized he wasn’t fast enough, thinking, "No, they will get hit! I can’t stop it in time." As the attack neared them at full speed, Yota didn’t lose courage and stood firm. “Jim is chanting, so he can’t move. If I don’t stop this attack, then both of us will be eliminated,” Yota thought. He smiled, “Heh, what am I thinking? I just need to stop it, right?” He raised his right hand, gathered all the remaining mana he had left, creating a flame that fully covered his hand and boosted his attack power.
“Now, let’s go!” he exclaimed with determination. The Aqua Bullet was about to reach him; he took a stance and raised his burning fist before punching the Aqua Bullet. But… something came in between and blocked his attack, resulting in a blast.