Demon Child

Asher smirked as he read through his notes. He had so many plans and ideas that he had wanted to try, and now he was looking at a man who was telling him to do it. "Let's get these experiments underway." Silver light formed around his leg and disappeared, revealing his new wind-strider boots. "Test 1 wind-strider boots." Asher snapped his notebook shut before it became silver fragments drifting on the wind like scattered petals.

Regard felt a pressure. This boy should not be strong enough to make him feel worried, but the boy was planning something. He had enough skill to switch his boots to magic items, but what those items could do, he could not know. Asher took one step before activating the gust step. Asher was thrown forward like a rocket. The wind wiped and whirled around him before it shot him forward. Asher trusted the halberd with his total momentum.

Regard used the barrier to block the halberd. Despite reacting instantly, the barrier began to crack and moan under the weight of the halberd's attack. Regard took a step back in shock. How could this kid even scratch his barrier, let alone crack it?

Before Regard could react, Asher outstretched his hand. A violet circle was enclosed in his palm. Black smoke plumed out right in Regard's face causing him to stumble backward. Asher smirked. Cynthia had to have told him that Asher had no offensive elements. So the barrier only blocked physical attacks and not magical spells. That was how he could stop it so quickly without worrying about mana consumption.

Asher had used the veil spell to put a smoke sphere around regards head. Regard waved away the smoke only to find two Ashers attacking him from either side. His boy was insane, a one-man pincer attack. There was no time to find the real one. He created a barrier by mixing wind elements. A shock wave blew Asher and his double ganger away. Unfortunately, the doubleganger was destroyed, scattered into smoke, and disappeared.

Cold, sweat-stained Regard's brow. He can count the number of people who could develop a strategy like that on the one hand. Even fewer were able to force him to use a full barrier. This kid was scary. Asher smiled twistedly. Smoke beloved out of Asher's body, turning him into a column of smoke, and Asher activated the wind strider boots. Three copies of Asher dashed out of the smoke column.

The wind strider's boots allowed Asher to skate around on top of the air the same way a water strider would. Two of Asher's used this skill to circle Regard and attack him from both sides while the third copy charged him head-on. "He is trying this trick again?" Regard calmed his mind. To break an illusion, he had to focus on the illusion and force it to break. It was not difficult to do, but when the illusion was broken, the three figures turned into human-like columns of smoke.

"Wait, they are all illusions! Where is the real one?" Regard looked around. "If the illusion is attacking from each side, then the real one should attack from.." Regard turned and put up a barrier behind him. The moment he did, a clang came from his shield. The air rippled as Asher appeared from the air.

Regard smiled. The kid was not very skilled, but he had frightening instincts about fighting. Using the copies to distract Regard while he got an attack in his blind spot was a good plan. The only problem was that Regard had remarkable instincts from years of battle. If it was anyone else, that plan might have worried. "Sorry, kid, you were too obvious."

Asher backed up a few steps. "Too obvious, huh." His mana had decreased by about half, but Asher was not worried. "Try and keep up then." Black smoke enveloped Asher again.

"Trying the same trick again won't work." Regard laughed at Asher. In his mind, only a fool would try the same failing trick twice. But Regard was taken back as six different Asher darted out of the s oke. They zipped around using the wind-strider boats, leaping over Regard and going around him from every side.

Even Regard had to admit to keeping up with all of them. A cut appeared on his left side, causing him to b eed. "What the?" Regard turned to find the real Asher only to be unable to tell which had struck him. Again, he was hit, this time on his right arm. Regard raised a total barrier. He looked at the copies.

He could not break the illusion because the moment the copy left his line of sight, even for a moment, the illusion would be re-established, and he would lose track of it. That was the dangerous part about the illusion element.

Now and then, a clang would be heard from the clashing of Asher's Halbird and Regard's shield. It would always be located just out of Regard's vision, and when Regard looked, the real Asher would already be back in the mix of fakes. Asher was so happy with this result. It was clear that Regard could not break the illusion; if he could, it would not last.

Regard began to become increasingly annoyed by Asher. The boy was like a fly buzzing in his ear. Regard combines his barrier with the wind element again, causing Asher to halt from the wind's force. The force was enough that Asher had to dig the tip of his halberd into the ground to anchor himself from getting blown away.

The copies, however, were not so lucky. They all became smoke as they were blown away by the g e. "Using wind again?" Asher smiled. This was the second time he had got Regard to use something other than the barrier element, and in his eyes, it was a victory.

Regard snarled at the comment. "Don't get cocky." He was ashamed to admit that if they were on the same level, Regard would have had difficulty beating him. His only advantage was his experience and more powerful magic, but both come with age. The kid was able to come up with several different ways to use the same spell with little effort. If Asher had the same capability Regard had, he would be a force of nature.

Asher smiled. "Plan delta then." Smoke flowed outward, swirling like a sinister wave. The smoke formed a giant dome around Regard. The smoke blocked out the sun causing the area to become black a night. Regard could not see anything as the illusion made it so that Regard could not see a thing.

"You're trying to blind me, huh." It was not hard to figure out what Asher was trying to do. He was going to try and attack him while Regard was blind. Regard might not be able to see, but Asher would have made the smoke appear like a black mist to himself. Regard thought about just blowing the smoke away like before, but he was interested in what he would do with the opportunity. He closed his eyes and listened. Using his ears over his eyes.

Asher used his wind strider boot to move silently behind Regard. He readied another courageous charge, and this time he activated his boots to launch him l k before. Regard heard Asher's foot scrap on the ground before he shot forward.

He twisted around and put his barrier. The resulting shockwave pushed away the smoke. Asher's halberd forced the spear into the barrier. The magical wall began to wain and cracked under the force of his attack. Regard was shocked this time, and it was breaking through much easier than last time.

Regard layered four more barriers behind the first to stop the forward motion of the spear. The halberd broke through the first barrier, the second, the third, and the fourth. "How the hell?" Regard gritted his teeth. The halberd began to crack through the final wall.

Finally, a loud snap was heard throughout the training field. The halberd blade soared and tumbled through the air, landing a short d stance away. The staff of the halberd broke in two and splinted from slamming through the barriers.

Asher looked with a depressed look at the broken shaft. "Oh, come on. My poor halberd." Asher looked defeated as his weapon was now broken beyond repair. Regard finally let out the breath he was holding. The final barrier was cracked, but it was not broken.

Asher fell to the ground in a huff, upset with his b oken weapon. Meanwhile, Regard examined his barrier. The cracks were all focused around the point of impact and branched outward. Regard began to become covered in cold sweat. Based on the trajectory angle, if it had continued, it would have gone straight through his heart.

Regard looked over all of Asher's attacks. They were clum y but focused, and every movement was meant to cripple him or k l him outright. He could have done that right, and there was no way that he would have had the ability or the bloodlust to target his vital spots. Though the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. The boy was scarily focused during the fight, and based on his skill level and age, he had to do it based on instinct rather than actual training. Just what had this boy experience for that to happen for him to be such a demon of a child?

An average person would hesitate before attacking, but this boy did not even try to. The level of bloodlust needed to be willing to shoot like that would be honed by a seasoned veteran who has seen hundreds o thousands of battles. This boy must have had a horrible life.

"Oh, Cynthia. What o earth have you found? He fights more like a monster than a human." Regard u bles und r his breath. "Hey, kid. How is your weapon?"

"It is in pieces," Asher gave up. There was no way to fix the halberd.

"You got a lot of strength in that last attack. Sorry about that." Regard laughed like h old the funniest joke. "You got a lot of potential, but I don't think being a knight or guardian will not suit you very much."

"What is that supposed to mean " Asher glared at him, and he was more annoyed at his comment than upset about his halberd breaking.

"Hey, now. It's nothing personal." Regard put his hand up defensively. "Every style of fighting f l s into one of eight types. Knight, Guardian, Duelist, Puglist, Assassin, Scout, magus, and Specialist. I am classified as a Guardian Knight."

"I guess that means your fighting style falls between knight and guardian," Asher stated bluntly.

"Cynthia did say you were brilliant. Knights are well-balanced and the most common, having an extensive range of weaponry but mainly focusing on attacking. h y like to lead the charge. Guardian is about support. Healing a d protection, and the like. Duelists are top-notch sword specialists, and pugilists are all about hand-to-hand combat." Regard happily explained.

"Okay, so which one do you recommend for me?" Asher was getting bored with the explanation. Assassin and scout were self-explanatory. But Magus and Specialist, he wasn't sure.

"Assassin or scout would be good. Both focus on quick attacks and fast movement." Regard smiled boldly. "Assassins specialize in sneak attacks, and scouts are mainly used to locate the monster nest and layout of dungeons. For the most part, Scouts are more suitable for long-range attacks, and I think your strategy would be most suitable to them."

"Okay, makes sense. What about magus and specialists?"

"Magus focus on casting magic and sorcery, and specialists are anything that does not fit in the other categories. The only problem is that I don't know much about how assassins and scouts fight." Regard scratch his chin thoughtfully. "However, I think I know just who can help."