The Sword and The Shadow

Bloodless

[Hmph, thankfully you knew to bring this along,] Gahrona said as she brought out a thin silver wire from her waist.

[Is Teacher going to use that?] Leguna asked.

[Don’t look down on these wires. They can be sharper than blades if used correctly.]

[Okay.]

Leguna remembered a time he had used silver wire to deal with a great snowfiend. Indeed his teacher was correct. The wire was thin, flexible and hard to see. Proper use would indeed pose a great threat to an opponent.

Gahrona got a feel for the wire’s strength and glanced at Saron with a smile.

“Ready, kid?”

Saron frowned at Leguna’s smile. Waves of discomfort swallowed him.

“Here I come!”

Leguna’s eyes glinted as he exploded, flashing to Saron in an instant.

“This again?!”

Saron raised his guard completely. He even used Air Armor.

Leguna instantly appeared five meters behind him. Her hands danced wildly and countless super-fine needles flew Saron’s way.

“Hell!”

Saron’s eyes popped in shock. Leguna had figured out his weakness! Air Armor could negate most physical attacks, but it was helpless against small object like needles. He solidified a field of air on the ground with great difficulty and readied to dash out of the way. But Leguna figure materialized next to him.

“Now, you can’t Air Sublimation anymore,” he whispered with a sinister smile.

Saron’s gaze turned to him shakily. Air Sublimation was an impressive ability, but it had one weakness: it could only maintain one field at a time. Now that he had used one as a foothold, he could not block Leguna’s next attack.

Leguna waved Ebony as her other hand secretly made a gesture.

Damn it, he had no choice! Saron grit his teeth and used up most of his remaining manna. He blinked a few meters away, avoiding the worst of the bastard’s strike, but not before his hand was impaled.

“Gotcha!” Leguna smiled.

His left hand withdrew all the needles fastened to steel wire. They dripped with Saron’s blood.

The blood quickly ran onto Ebony.

“Ebony’s curse: Weaken!” Leguna shouted.

“What’s going on?!”

Saron suddenly felt his stamina run out of his body, his remaining mana also quickly started bleeding out of him.

[You evolved Ebony again?] Leguna yelped.

[A little gift on account of your decent performance!]

[What else?]

[You’ll know when you see it!]

Leguna raised again.

“Ebony’s curse: Steal Vision!”

Both Saron and Leguna were flabbergasted.

Double cursing... Was Ebony finally capable of that?

[I’ve saved up quite a lot of soul power, I just never bothered unlocking it. Since I’m going to use it today, I might as well restore it to its former glory!]

[Hey, Teacher, isn’t that cheating?] Leguna complained.

[Shut up! You dare question your teacher’s decisions?]

[Your disciple doesn’t...]

[Good!]

What the hell was this?! Who the hell was this bastard?! Saron’s rage and confusion merged into an odd cocktail of fury. He had only fought the bastard for a few minutes, but he was already on the edge of losing.

The bastard wasn’t behaving like he was part of the younger generation. Not only could he change his tactics at the drop of a hat, he even relied on all sorts of shady techniques. He behaved more like a sly old bastard than a brat. And it terrified Saron. He did not fear anyone in his generation, yet he feared Leguna, the only one besides his master that had made him feel fear. This brat had to be hiding his true age.

His vision gone and his limbs weakening by the second, he had no choice but to finish this quickly, one way or another.

“This is not how this ends! I’ll kill you yet!” Saron yelled into the darkness before vanishing into thin air with the last of his mana.

[One of the few good things about magi, they can escape even from even the worst of circumstances....] Gahrona complained.

[Why did you not kill him?]

[I was only here to help you survive. He’s your problem, not mine.]

[Ugh, fine...]

[And...] There was a sudden hint of weakness in her voice. [Being able to force him away is the best I can do... Hehehe... I almost lost it all just to show you this...]

[What?!]

[The rest is up to you. Teacher needs to rest now.]

Leguna suddenly found himself in his body again.

[Hey, stay to the end. You can’t quit halfway through! What kind of master needs their disciple to clean up their mess?! You--]

“--Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

Leguna’s thoughts were cut short by a sudden rush of infinite pain. He lost control of his body as soon as he got it, and convulsed on the ground, throwing up, coughing snot and tears and heaving like a dying fish.

Gahrona had not revealed a hint of how much pain she’d actually been enduring, so Leguna did not think it was that big of a deal. Now, however, his dignity irrevocably destroyed, he finally understood.

“Ley, you alright?”

Despite asking after Leguna’s health, Kurdak was actually very happy to hear him scream. It sounded like the scream he usually gave, so he must have returned to normal.

“...I’m... fine. Quick... Take us… away...”Leguna muttered between convulsions before fainting, still convulsing on the ground.

“You always end up like this and leave us to clean up your mess, you little brat...” Kurdak complained, “Ugh… fine. Since you did all the fighting this time, I’ll let it go.”

“How is he?” the prince asked as he approached.

“It shouldn’t be too bad. We best leave now.”

Kurdak hauled one of Leguna’s arms over his shoulder. Alissanda took the other. They were considerably taller than the kid, so it was easy for them to carry him.

“Vera, let’s go! Watch us on the way!” Kurdak yelled.

Vera had only suffered light injuries, so she was in the best shape. The other three were in no shape for any fighting.

“Fine...” She muttered before getting up.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“Balor, Balor!” Vera shouted, “I know you’re here! Come out this instant!”

Nothing.

“You still too scared to face me?! Still such a coward? Have you still not learned your lesson?! Should I have Ley teach it to you again?!”

Nothing.

“Fine. It’s fine if you don’t want to see me. Just remember one thing! No matter what happened, no matter what you did, I’ll still forgive you and accept you as my little brother! You’re my only blood relative!”

She turned around and left with her companions.

A shadow coalesced from a pile of rubble as the figures slowly faded.

“Sister...” the creature muttered.

Its gaze turned to its hand-like appendage.

“I stopped being your brother that day. No matter how much you wish, I will never be your blood relative again. I don’t have any blood left...”

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