Chapter 19: Torn.
The ogre slammed his staff into the ground, the whole earth trembled. Jason rushed towards the ogre, mana began to conjure in one of his hands. Arriving in arms length of the ogre, Jason unleashed a simple spell. "Paralysis," he casted, purple lightning coursed through the ogre, numbing him. Acting on this brief opportunity, Jason aimed his fists at the ogre's knees, trying to shatter his joints since he couldn't really reach the ogre's head. Hearing a mocking laugh, Jason was suddenly sent flying, smashing right into a nearby tree. "Foolish human, your spells don't effect me," the ogre grinned, walking towards Jason who was coughing up blood.
With a few broken ribs and ruptured organs, Jason winced in pain. As the ogre slowly drew near Jason, he suddenly felt a wave of vitality brimming out from the heavily wounded kid. "I don't need spells to kill you," Jason said, his pupils began to morph while his whole body began to shift. In a split second, the heavily panting kid that was barely alive was replaced with a snarling werewolf. "I knew you weren't human," the ogre cackled, completely confident in his own strength. So what if the little kid was a werewolf? He didn't believe that the small werewolf could withstand a single punch coming from him.
Extending his claws, Jason was still trying to get used to this body since he didn't really transform that often. "Let's see how long you'll last," Jason grinned, his figure disappeared instantly from the ogre's sight. Before the ogre could react, Jason appeared behind him, leaving four ghastly claw marks on his back. Red blood dripped out of the wounds, the ogre roared in anger and disbelief. "You are merely a chunk of meat waiting to be butchered," Jason grinned, his sharp teeth glistened under the sun. "I confess that I underestimated you little brat, but you are still a long way from killing me," the ogre said, the wounds on his back closed instantly.
"Field of Death," the ogre casted, the green grass and surrounding trees withered instantly, color seemed to fade from the whole area. Jason frowned, he could feel his vitality slowly drain when he was stepping on the grey dirt. Vitality was something he lacked, since his body was still far too young, he could easily die if was to careless. "How did an ogre mage learn how to cast such evil spells?" Jason asked, trying to fight off the mana that was corroding his body. This Field of Death and the Blight spell that the ogre casted were spells that Jason never seen before, which was quite rare. But just simply judging from the effects, they were definitely forms of dark magic which was something Jason never dared to dabble with, since they usually involved some pretty nasty stuff that Jason couldn't make himself do.
"Wanderlust," Jason casted, his speed increasing once again, he rushed towards the ogre. Lashing out at the ogre, his claws ripped through the green flesh of the ogre, pulling out his innards. But the ogre also got his hands on Jason, pinning him to the ground. Raising his fists with blood still pouring out from his stomach, the ogre prepared to smash Jason's head open. Before the ogres fists could meet Jason's face, Jason turned into a cloud of purple smoke, escaping the ogre's grasp. Forming right behind the ogre, he sunk his claws into the ogre's spine, trying to rip it out. "Stoneskin," the ogre casted, his robust skin hardened. Failing to slice through the ogre, Jason, who had shapeshifted back into his human form, retreated outside the withered area, observing the ogre.
The wounds on the ogre were healing rapidly, but Jason could feel the ogre was weakening. "FIGHT ME, COWARD!" the ogre roared, angered by the pain. His clothes were tattered, stained crimson red with blood. Jason simply stood there, patiently waiting for the effects of Ogre's blood wear off. Beginning to panic, the ogre released a barrage of spells at Jason. "Interesting," Jason thought, the ogre definitely had no idea that he was starting a battle of magic against one of the strongest mages in the history of mankind. Easily discerning that the barrage of spells were mostly dark magic, Jason sneered. Without even casting, the earth in front of him raised up, forming a small hill.
Perhaps dark magic was one of the strongest magics that dealt unimaginable damage to living things, but against a mound of dirt, it simply dispersed. Seeing his barrage of spells being easily dismissed by Jason, the ogre was quite surprised. "Fireball," the ogre casted, unleashing several balls of flame at Jason. "Now this is more challenging," Jason thought, the fireballs were much stronger than the ones the kobolds unleashed back at the castle. If Jason was still in his skeletal form, he wouldn't even bother dodging the fireballs, but this body would definitely receive a troublesome amount of damage. "Maelstrom," Jason casted, a whirlpool formed in front of him, resembling a rotating shield of water. The fireballs were devoured by the whirlpool, creating white mist that clouded the forest. "Is this all you got?" Jason mocked, sensing that the Ogre's blood would probably wear of in a couple of minutes.
Gritting his teeth, the ogre never thought that he'll end up in such a sticky situation against a little brat. "Blight," the ogre casted, the black smog appeared, floating towards Jason. "Seen this before, anymore tricks?" Jason mocked, he didn't want to cast any spells to defend the corrosive smoke. He simply conjured a random breeze that swept away the smoke. "You really got to try harder than that," Jason taunted. The ogre was perplexed, how many types of magic does the little kid specialize in? Even experienced mages could not come up with such fast counters, not to mention that the kid seemed to be able to cast spells instantly.
"What the hell are you?" the ogre seemed to break down, he couldn't accept the fact that the little kid easily overpowered him in a battle of spells. "You made me do this," the ogre screamed. Jason stared in shock as he saw the ogre's skin began to bubble, as the whole body melted. Black smoke poured out, radiating a malevolent feeling. Dark clouds formed in the sky, blocking the sunlight. Black rain began to pour down from the heavens, everything it touched began to sizzle and corrode, the spell even covered the village. A squirrel fell down from the tree's, and to Jason's surprise, the soul of the squirrel floated towards the black smoke, the former being devoured instantly. The black rain was definitely some sort of supportive spell for the black smoke, reaping souls in order to power perhaps some kind of ritual. Looking towards the village's direction, color drained from Jason's face. Ela! She was still in deep slumber, the wooden house definitely couldn't withstand the corrosive rain.
Jason was torn between the cloud of smoke that was clearly slowly conjuring into a powerful being and Ela's safety. If he didn't interrupt the weird ritual, he felt like something bad was going to happen, but there was no way he was going to let Ela die. Sighing, he released a bolt of purple lightning at the spiraling ball of smoke before rushing towards the village. Jason didn't wait to see the spell's effect, but if he did, he'll only be met by disappointment since the bolt of lightning simply disappeared once it reached the black smoke. Shape-shifting into his werewolf form, Jason further increased his speed by once again casting Wanderlust. The black rain sizzled as it came into contact with his fur, but Jason didn't have the time to deal with it. Feeling the wind blow in his face, Jason wished that he could go even faster. But he knew if he tried to stack another spell, his body would definitely break down.
Meanwhile, Zahra was still heading towards the distant battle when she saw the dark clouds form above her head. As the black droplets began to fall from the sky, Zahra was puzzled. The black rain struck her white, flawless skin, a red spot that was quite itchy instantly appeared. Reacting immediately, a roof of vines formed over her head, shielding her from the rain. The vines were being corroded by the rain, but with the infinite amount of nutrients in the ground, their regeneration speed was much faster than the corroding of the acidic rain. "What is this?" Zahra thought to herself, trying to analyze the current situation. Although it took her a little bit more time than Jason, Zahra quickly realized that her first priority was to protect Ela.
She ran towards the village, her skin sizzling as she was drenched with the dark rain. Back at the village, the villagers weren't faring much better. Some died before they could realize that the rain was deadly, while others quickly seemed shelter. It was as if hell itself has befallen upon the village.