5 CHAPTER 5: ELIAS (1)

'BOOM!'

"UWAAH!" I screamed while I ran around as fast as I could.

"You're crazy! This is unfair!" I nearly dodged a flame projectile and burned my right shoulder.

This madman suddenly summoned flame projectile thingies just one second after our sparring session started. He's using magic on someone who can't do magic like me?

I leapt to my side and rolled on the ground, avoiding another flame projectile, "'take it easy' my ass! You're going all out on me!"

"Aw, don't be mad, newbie. This is me being easy on you~" he lifted his spear up and crouched down in a stance that reminded me like a tiger that's about to leap towards its prey, "or do you want me to come hunt you down myself?"

Eep! I swallowed down my shriek and stood up, running some more. This is bad. I have to think a way out of this. Stat window!

[Stat points: (Kim Minjun)]

[Strength: 18]

[Intelligence: 10]

[Agility: 15]

[Physique: 15]

His intelligence point is the lowest, yet he decided to use magic on me. Ideally, I would like to finish this off before he can go melee on me...

I picked up a huge rock nearby and hurled it at him with as much force as I could muster. As soon as I threw it, the rock had a faint reddish aura around it.

'Crack!' the rock broke upon meeting his fist. This guy really just punched a rock and broke it to pieces...

"Hey, so your element is fire, too. Just like me," he grinned mischievously at me, "c'mon, you can't just throw rocks at me all day."

Could that faint reddish aura be my magic? So red is fire, huh... Kind of a bad matchup here I'd say, if only my luck gave me water element...

"Tsk, we'll see about that, you sly fox!" well, no point in wishing for luck now. I hurled another rock at him, this time way bigger than before.

'Boom!' Sure enough, the rock broke again upon hitting his right fist, but this time I hid behind the rock and leapt forward as soon as he shattered it.

"You--" he was caught by surprise as I grabbed his right hand and...

"YEOWCH!!"

I bit him hard. Until it drew blood.

"Argh!" He leapt back with a surprised face, "you--you bit me!? Who the hell bites people!?" He pressed down on his wound with his left palm.

"And who the hell bombards people with flame projectiles!?" I wipe his blood off of my lips.

[Skill: 'Fighting dirty' is activated. Your stats are increased by 3 points each]

[Stat points: (Yoo Chaerin)]

[Strength: 18]

[Intelligence: 8]

[Agility: 13]

[Physique: 13]

Oh? So this skill works for people, too. And it seems that it only activates upon first contact with enemy? Great. Now I have something to work with.

"Hahah... Hahahahah! Good, good! I like your style of fighting," he laughed maniacally, "come, entertain me more." His eyes glimmered red.

This is bad. Even though my strength is now of equal value, but my physique is still lacking compared to him. I still can't win in a hand-to-hand combat. Moreover, even though I'm not a stranger to fighting, I'm sure he's a more experienced combatant than I am. Stats alone can't bring me to victory.

I took a deep breath and started to focus on my body. My soul. My mana. I sensed my mana flowing from the core of my soul to my fingertips. To every inch of my body. Surprisingly, it felt almost natural. Like I was born wih this ability. It felt... comfortable.

I can do this. I have to control my magic.

"...Hey you! Kim Minjun!" I called out to him.

"Don't waste time with useless chatter, newbie. Come." He beckoned me to take the first move.

I smirked, "let's have a duel."

His eyebrows tilted upwards, "oho? A duel? What kind of duel?"

"It's simple," I took a stance and held out my hand. A flame appeared on my hand, "your flame or my flame, let's see which is stronger."

"Hah! Do you seriously think your little spark can compare to my flame?" he burst out laughing.

"Basic rule of fighting, don't underestimate your enemy." I smiled.

He glared at me for a while. He's probably thinking about it because magic is not his strongest point. He tried to hide his physical prowess by only using magic earlier, too bad you can't fool my stat window. That being said, I thought he's just a simple hot-headed maniac who would agree to any challenges thrown at him. Turns out his head still works.

"Let's do it this way then. You and I both fire at the same time at each other. The one who comes out unscathed wins." He threw away his spear to the side and clenched his fists. I can feel his aura rising.

"Fine by me." I concentrate on my mana as I feel it getting stronger.

He chuckled a bit, his smile getting more confident as both of our auras rose. If I can feel his aura, then he should be able to feel mine. He must've realized that my magic is weaker compared to him.

He pulled back his arms in preparation to shoot. I pulled my arms back in succession.

Not yet.

Flame starts to form and gather around our palms. His flame brighter than mine.

Not yet.

His posture hunched forward as he gets ready to shoot his huge ball of flame.

Now!

[5 Stat points have been used]

[Intelligence: 8 --> 13]

'BOOM!'

Fire burst out from both of our hands. His flame started very strongly, pushing me back a bit.

"Hahahaha! As I thought, a newbie is a newbie! I was worried for nothing!" Kim Minjun laughed when he saw me struggling.

I paid no attention to his words and focused on concentrating my mana flow as my flame slowly got stronger. It's strange. I feel like my flame is a part of my body... A part of my soul.

'FWOOSH-BOOM!'

Suddenly, my flame overwhelmed his and engulfed him entirely, painting the training ground bright yellow. Thank god I refrained from hastily allocating my rewarded stat points earlier.

"Kkh--! Argh!" I can hear his painful groan as I stopped my fire and ran towards the spear he threw earlier. No, I can't stop here. He is not a man who can go down with that.

The smoke slowly dissipates and an injured Kim Minjun appeared with burnt-out clothes. He spat out blood from his mouth and his glare was fixated on me.

"Tsk, you... What cheap trick did you do earlier?" His gaze on me felt different. I can sense rage in his eyes.

I gripped my newly picked up spear tighter, "just accept your loss."

"Not yet," his aura rose, this time the air around him got heavier, and I could feel my chest tighten, "I haven't lost yet. I can still fight."

His stance changed, crouching low again like earlier, as if ready to pounce on me. His muscles tightened and his veins were visible.

"I can... still fight..." His expression got dark and his eyes looked empty, as if he were insane. The playful Kim Minjun earlier was nowhere to be seen. It's almost as if something took control over him. I gulped.

He took a step forward. I took a step backwards.

He slowly crept up towards me. I backed against a wall.

As he got closer to where I'm standing, I can see his face more clearly. His eyes looked dangerously empty, and his mind is clearly not in the right place right now.

"Wait, you--"

'BANG!'

I narrowly missed his punch which landed centimeters away from my face. My hand trembled as I deflected his punch with my spear.

What is this strength? This is definitely not a level 18 strength! My strength stat is also 18 now and my hand trembled just by deflecting his punch.

Without giving me time to regain my balance, he launched a kick to the side of my stomach. I instinctively tried to block it with my spear, and I succeeded--

'CRACK!'

I thought I succeeded. I was wrong.

The spear broke in two. His kick connected perfectly to my right flank and I can feel my bones crying. I didn't know which of the two made that cracking sound.

"Argh--!" I groaned as my body got launched a few meters before hitting the hard, dirty ground.

This bastard has really lost his mind. I can't possibly win against him, I have to run away! No way I'm risking my life for a mere 'sparring' session! These guys need to be taught basic common sense!

"Back off, you lunatic!" I fired as much flame projectiles as I could towards him, leaving him inside a cloud of smoke.

"Hey! Owen! Do something about him! He's gone crazy!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I ran to gain some distance between me and him.

"..."

No response came from Owen. He stood still near the benches while observing everything that has been unfolding.

Dmitri came running beside Owen and tapped his shoulder, "general Owen! Don't you think it's enough? Let's stop them before it gets worse!"

"..." Again, no response from Owen. He just peeked at Dmitri's worried face, and focused his eyes once more towards the training ground.

"General! This has gone beyond our normal sparring session!" Dmitri started to panic.

"Who said this is a normal sparring session?"

"...Eh?"

The cloud of smoke has disappeared completely as it revealed a crouching figure none other than Kim Minjun, totally unscathed except for the wounds he got earlier from the flame duel.

Damn it. My magic didn't work on him either. I literally have no way out of this...

I peeked from my hiding spot behind one of the rubbles a bit far from him. Luckily, it seemed like he hadn't noticed me yet. Should I just make a run for it towards the benches? No no, that would endanger other soldiers... But should I care? No. They put me in this situation anyway.

I felt annoyed as I looked around and see them just sitting there, having fun watching.

"Those bastards, let's see how you will react when I go there and bring this insane guy with me." I gripped my spear tightly and grabbed a nearby pebble.

I threw the pebble as far as I could and as soon as he noticed the pebble, I sprinted towards the opposite direction.

30 meters, 20 meters, 10 meters...

Just as I was about to reach the benches, my hair got pulled back by a strong grip.

"Ack!" My body got tossed backwards and my I hit my back on the ground.

He then lifted me by the neck, my face facing his. I grasped his wrist and struggled to get his fingers off me but his grip just got stronger.

"L-let go... Of me..!" Flames burst from my hand and scorched his hand.

"Kuh--!" I groaned. But him? His face didn't even twitch. His creepy gaze were still focused on my face, even though my flames were roasting his wrist... Wait... His wrist was fine?

What the hell is he made of? At this rate I too will go crazy!

"Chaerin!" Dmitri shouted from the benches, but Owen stopped him before he could get closer.

"Soldier Dmitri! I order you to stay back!"

I concentrated my mana to my right leg that's hanging in the air.

"I hope you don't want kids."

'BAM!'

I kicked his nether regions as hard as I could, with mana fully concentrated on my kick.

A resounding "oof" could be heard around the training ground.

He staggered and his grip on my neck loosened. I quickly used this momentum to grab his hair and bumped our head.

"Ouch!" I flinched from the sudden pain, but I didn't stop there. I slapped his right ear instantly after we bumped heads, causing him to lose his balance.

As he fell down, I quickly locked his arms behind him and pressed him down.

"Stay down! Bad!"

I glanced at Dmitri, and saw him sigh in relief upon seeing that, while Owen's face remain stoic as always. Suddenly, they look... horizontal?

"...Eh?"

It was a grave mistake to look away from my opponent. I should've known better. In one swift motion, he flipped our position and now I'm the one laying underneath him.

My eyes met his cold gaze as he sat on top of me. I felt shivers run down my spine. He pinned my legs down and used his left hand to lock both of my wrists on top of my head. He had completely subdued my movements. Crap.

I saw a shine coming from above, which belongs to a dagger held by his right hand.

"No no no no--"

He raised his arm slowly, and then with a single, swift strike, the dagger came down upon my neck.

'STAB'