Ambush

"Harpies were bird-like magical creatures, and like most birds, they preferred to make their homes in high places like the tops of mountains. With their high affinity for the wind's natural energy and their ability to fly, mountain peaks made perfect homes for them.

At the base of a mountain, there was a group of three men. Two of these men were in a relaxed state, meditating with their eyes closed. However, the third man walked in circles with an annoyed expression on his face, his face growing redder with anger by the minute.

Finally, the man punched a tree with such strength that it created a huge dent in its center before he started shouting.

"Goddammit! Why the fuck aren't we going after that brat? There are three of us, and he is all alone. Benjamin, since when had my brother's number two become such a coward?" screamed Nick at Benjamin.

Benjamin opened his eyes to look at Nick, but the expression on his face was as if he was watching a clown in a show. The disdain in his eyes was obvious, and he made no effort to hide it.

'This retarded moron. If it wasn't for his brother, just becoming a Rank 2 Apprentice would have been a miracle.'

"I already told you, the information we bought said that the boy's mission consisted of killing some harpies. We would wait until after he finished the fight and attack him when he was exhausted. Now sit down and wait," Benjamin said before closing his eyes.

Nick saw the expression on Benjamin's face and became furious. But although he was a small-minded person, knowing who to mess with was maybe his only good point.

He knew that unlike him, who barely managed to become a Rank 3 Apprentice even with all the resources he had, Benjamin was truly talented. Although Benjamin hadn't reached the level of a pseudo-Magus, his battle strength was almost at that level.

Benjamin was a very strong apprentice, and thanks to the path he had followed, he was quite powerful in a fight. In fact, he could form a team of his own and not have to follow other pseudo-Magi. But when he saw that Arthur had a mentality of never underestimating his opponents, he chose to follow him.

'Killing that boy wouldn't be easy. Since we entered the forest, I had been feeling that something was off. I had to stick to the plan and take him by surprise.'

Just as he was preparing to go back to meditation, an immense feeling of danger assaulted him.

"WATCH OUT!" Benjamin shouted at Nick.

Nick was about to sit down when he heard the scream and felt something attacking him from behind. Mustering all the power he could, he tried to move his body out of harm's way.

Unfortunately for Nick, the attacker was someone proficient in assassination, and his presence was only notable in the last moment. He couldn't stop the sword that was going towards his body, heading right for his heart.

Nick saw the tip of a sword come out of his chest, and immense pain assaulted him. But although he wasn't able to dodge the attack, he was able to move his body at the last moment just enough to save his heart from being pierced.

'I can still make it! I need to hold on until Benjamin and Robert help me.'

As a body-refinement apprentice, Nick could still survive if someone helped him immediately. But unfortunately for him, what happened next shattered all of his hopes.

The sword started to shine as lightning ran through it, burning all of Nick's organs.

"SAVE ME!" Nick screamed in pain.

Benjamin and Robert attacked the figure, trying to separate him from Nick and save him.

A fountain of acid headed for the figure, followed by huge rocks that fell from the sky.

When the attack was about to land on the person, he covered himself in lightning and moved behind Nick, moving away from the trajectory of the spells.

Benjamin arrived beside Nick. Unfortunately for him, Nick was already dead, but when he saw the state of his body, he was shocked.

'Not even ten seconds had passed since I found the attacker, but his attack was so fast and ruthless that he destroyed most of Nick's organs before we could do anything.'

"You fucking brat. Do you know who you just killed? Once his brother Arthur the Pseudo-Magus finds out, you will beg for death," Benjamin saw the figure and knew this was the same person they were supposed to kill.

Benjamin was always someone very cunning, and his words were meant to try to induce fear in the opponent and make him hesitate. Unfortunately for him, his opponent this time was someone on whom this type of threat would never work.

Ezequiel looked at the two apprentices with a calm face. He was always someone proactive, and waiting for the enemy to attack was not something he would do.

Although they were covering their tracks very carefully, Nick's angry attacks revealed their location easily.

Not waiting for the enemy to take the initiative, he charged at the duo with his body covered with lightning.

'I should take care of the weaker one first,' thought Ezequiel as he launched himself at Robert.

But before he could reach him, Benjamin attacked him, positioning himself before Robert, and as he stood there, his body started to expand, and he transformed himself into a gigantic 5-meter-long snake.

"Robert, maintain your distance and help me distract this brat."

Robert knew that if he were to fight directly with Ezequiel, his only fate would be death. So he backed off immediately.

As Ezequiel looked at the huge snake, he started to distance himself from it.

'This should be a bloodline apprentice that Master told me about. They could transform their bodies for a certain amount of time by stimulating the blood in them. I should maintain a certain distance until I figure out how strong he is.'

Benjamin, now in the form of a snake, chased after Ezequiel, trying to crush him. He made rocks fly and trees fall as his huge body crashed into them.

As Ezequiel dodged the attacks from the snake, the lightning in his sword started to elongate and became a 3-meter-long whip.

Benjamin opened his mouth and tried to spit acid as a lightning whip hit his face, creating a huge burn mark and making him scream from the pain.

"Ahh! You fucking brat, I will devour you," yelled Benjamin as he chased after Ezequiel.

As Ezequiel was preparing to attack again, a shower of rocks started to fall from the sky. Although the rocks were gigantic, they were also slow, so Ezequiel easily dodged them.

But just as he was about to continue the attack, something happened. He saw how his legs were sinking into the ground. He was surprised as he looked in the direction of the other apprentice and saw him kneeling on the ground, chanting a spell.

Robert knew that his first attack was too slow and could not damage Ezequiel at all, but his objective was only to make him head to a place where his other spell was waiting.

Although this could stop him for just a moment, it was more than enough for the tail of the snake to crush him.

Ezequiel put up his arms in front of him to defend, making a cross with them. He covered his body and channeled all of his lightning energy into them to defend against the attack.

When the tail crashed into his body, the impact was so strong that he was thrown 15 meters away, breaking the trees apart as his body crashed into them.