Julius left the room swiftly... I just hope he doesn't remember that and think I'm trying to assassinate him or something.
They left early the next morning and enjoyed soft bread with butter for breakfast.
Hours passed, Ruloy still seemed like a distant place.
"What were you even doing all the way over here?" Julius asked.
"That's classified, I'm afraid." The headmaster seemed to enjoy secrecy.
The road stretched endlessly before them, winding through dense forests bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun. Julius sat in the carriage, still mulling over the duel he had seen the Headmaster fight in the last village. He had thought Aldric was untouchable, but now…
"Something's coming," Aldric muttered, slowing the carriage.
Julius glanced up, heart quickening. The horses stamped nervously, their breaths coming in sharp, frightened snorts. Even the wind seemed to still.
Then—shapes emerged from the treeline.
A group of figures blocked the path ahead, standing like silent sentinels in the dying light. Each one carried an aura that made the air thick with danger.
Julius swallowed hard. They carried the same air of power as Kaelan and the Headmaster.
"Appraisal." He whispered.
The blue light shone over them.
[Maria Level 172]
[Izko Level 169]
[Lisk Level 170]
[Xero Level 174]
"They're strong..." He said. But that means they also have boons.
The headmaster looked back at him.
"You can use appraisal? Wouldn't that make you a hero?"
"I'll talk more later..." Julius muttered. "Right now we should probably just avoid a fight with these people..."
The headmaster looked up strangely.
"Who are you people? What do you want?"
"Just give them your wallet." Julius sighed. Some things never change.
The one who stepped forward was a girl with wild, flaming red hair and two curved horns protruding from her head. She was clad in thin clothing, red markings glowing across her exposed arms. Demonic energy flickered around her fingertips like embers from a dying fire. She had very generous body proportions that made Julius want to look away lest he be seduced.
"Don't stare... She'll explode your head." Julius muttered to himself again and again, his face completely red. "Ah but she's totally my type-." What happened to personality over looks? Curse this demon!
"Greetings, my name is Maria. We have one simple proposition for all of you."
Next to her, a massive man with a lizard's tail and a jagged eyepatch rested a great axe against his shoulder, his skin was covered in scales reflecting the last light of the sun. Scars crisscrossed his bare chest, and his single eye burned with unrelenting fury. He was a mix of man and lizard, a hybrid. He had the head of a man, so he must've been human enough.
"Name's Izko."
Beside him stood a swordsman with two curved blades, each pulsing with opposing energies—one light, one dark. His white hair and dark eyes gave him a menacing look. There was a threatening, almost deliberate poise to his stance, like a coiled viper waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
"I am Lisk, the master of the twin blades. I use Liet and Darek to kill."
So like yin and yang's weird cousin?
And at the center of them all, a tall, lean man with long black hair and piercing violet eyes stood with his hand on the hilt of a sword crackling with eerie purple energy. "I am Xero, nice to meet you both. I am only slightly envious of the two of you."
Something about him felt wrong. Something about this whole scene felt wrong.
"Do they really need to introduce themselves like an idol group?"
The girl—Maria—spoke first. "We simply ask for one thing. Give us the boy."
Julius stiffened. "Me?" I knew there was something special about me.
Aldric placed a protective hand on Julius' shoulder. "And who might you be? Why do you want him?"
Maria's crimson eyes glowed. "That doesn't matter."
"Doesn't matter?" Aldric's voice remained calm, but there was an unmistakable edge to it. "You want my student, and yet you refuse to explain why?"
Maria smiled, sharp and hungry. "We don't have time for explanations."
The swordsman with the twin blades—Lisk—spoke next, his voice cool and emotionless. "Step aside, Headmaster. If you do not, we will remove you by force."
Aldric's grip on his staff tightened. Julius felt a wave of magic coil around him—powerful, dense, suffocating.
"…Julius," Aldric said softly, without turning. "Do you know these people?"
Julius shook his head furiously. "No! I have no idea who they are! I certainly don't want to go with them." Well apart from the girl, I wouldn't mind her-.
Maria sighed, rubbing her temples. "Tch. I was hoping this would be easier." She glanced at Aldric. "You're in our way, old man. Move or we'll kill you. The boy is already gone."
Aldric exhaled slowly, as if disappointed.
"Very well. I suppose it must come to this." Aldric cast an invisiblity spell on Julius and his carriage-driver. "Both of you, hide for now."
Julius stood in the invisiblity, petrified of what was to come. He stood behind a tree, preparing to watch the battle, cursing his powerlessness.
So I'm just meant to grab some popcorn and watch? I guess it's better than getting kidnapped. But it really sucks being this worthless...
"If he dies here... That'll be two people who died to save me. Wait did Kaelan even die?"
"So you won't let us have our way?" Izko spoke, his face flaring red. "So you won't hand over the boy?"
"Not today..." Aldric grimaced. "Not tomorrow... Not for as long as he is a student of Ruloy academy."
Upon hearing his words, Maria was the first to move. She slammed her hands together, and a pillar of black fire erupted from the ground, screaming toward Aldric.
The Headmaster raised a single hand.
The flames shattered.
Before Maria could react, Aldric flicked his wrist and a pulse of golden energy shot forward.
"Damn it—!" she growled, dodging to the side. "Normal magic won't suffice here."
Then—Izko leapt.
The lizardman warrior swung his great axe down with terrifying force, the wind screaming from the sheer power behind the attack. Aldric barely sidestepped in time as he manipulated the wind to push Izko away from him.
CRACK! The road split open where the axe landed, a massive crater forming from the impact.
"You almost had me there."
"Really?"
"Yeah if I stood still and took a nap you might've hit me."
"This cocky bastard!" Izko roared out.
Aldric retaliated, striking Izko with a concentrated burst of magic.
But something strange happened.
The moment the blast struck his chest, Izko barely flinched—then the same wound appeared on Aldric's arm.
Aldric's eyes narrowed. So that was his trick.
"I shouldn't hit this one..." Aldric sighed.
Izko grinned savagely. "I assume you've already been hit. Don't you understand? Every wound I take? I send it right back."
Sounds like a masochist's power... Take damage to deal damage.
Lisk was next. The swordsman vanished.
Then—a flash of light.
Lisk blitzed Aldric mercilessly.
Aldric was too slow—one of Lisk's swords crashed against it, glowing with holy radiance. The moment of impact sent a burning pain searing through Aldric's body.
Holy wounds.
Then the second blade struck from the other side—pure darkness twisting around it.
Dark wounds.
Light ate away at Aldric's flesh while darkness devoured his magic from within.
Aldric summoned a barrier finally, putting all his power into it.
Lisk twirled his blades elegantly. "Blade Art—First Eclipse."
The blades slashed in unison attacking both sides of the barrier in a circular motion.
Aldric's barrier shattered.
Then—arrows of pure violet energy rained from above.
Xero stood atop the carriage, his blade raised, as he released another volley of energy spears.
"Envy Arrows," he whispered. "With your power, I suppose they aren't going to be the end of you."
Aldric flicked his fingers, and the earth itself rose to shield him.
The arrows exploded on impact, shaking the ground and causing the violet energy to wriggle on the floor before dissapitating.
Maria took this moment to press a hand against her own chest. Her veins darkened, black energy pouring from her fingertips as she muttered an incantation.
Maria grinned. "Demon Art—Sacrificial Detonation."
Aldric's eyes widened. She was burning her own life force to fuel an attack. He could tell because her skin was growing more wrinkly by the second.
A sphere of pure destruction built around her, its edges flickering like molten glass.
Then—she released it.
Aldric reacted instantly.
Golden chains burst from the air, wrapping around Maria's wrist and yanking her forward, breaking her control over the spell. The sphere of destruction veered off course, exploding into the treeline behind them.
The entire forest trembled.
"Curse you." She cried out as her spell failed. She looked like an old woman now, she consumed a potion and instantly became youthful again.
But Aldric had no time to breathe.
Izko swung his axe.
Lisk closed in from the side, his blades each aiming for Aldric's neck.
Xero jumped off the carriage, ready to engage.
And Maria, despite her burning energy, laughed wildly and prepared another spell.
Aldric was surrounded yet still ever so unfazed.
"These numbers are unfavourable..."
Maria grinned.
But the air around Aldric began to twist violently like a serpent writhing around it's prey.
"For you four..." Aldric hitched a smile, and the four of them twitched visibly upon hearing his words.
Xero shot a violet needle at Aldric's head.
"Take this you confident geezer-."