Chapter 43 One Versus Four

Seeing the 3 spells come at me, I instinctively jumped out of the way. I rolled once I hit the ground to cover even more distance. My training has given me more power, which made it easy to clear the 3 spells. It seemed like they expected me to do this, since Diego fired a barrage of earth spells at me. At a glance, I could see arrows, spears, rocks and the like coming at me. I was still on the ground after my roll, so I wouldn't be able to dodge these spells.

I lifted up my hands, and tried to block the incoming spells. I tried to make sure that they hit the weights on my arm, to limit the damage. While I was able to do this, some rocks slipped in, and hit me. They hit me in the chest, but they didn't draw blood. The lances and arrows got embedded into my weights, dragging my arms down into the ground. More spells from the different elements were coming at me, quickly. I wouldn't have time to chant any spells. I did have time to remove the weights on my arms. Once these were gone, I rolled away. I was able to clear the spells, but I was still hit by the shockwave caused by the fire spells. I used this shockwave, to get myself back on my feet, and quickly escape. They chased after me relentlessly.

"O spell of wind, combine with the fire to form a barrier that surrounds myself."

While I was running, I chanted my protection spells. I got hit by a couple of their spells, but it wasn't anything major. Once the protection spell was cast, a barrier formed around me, which stopped all the incoming spells. When the spells hit the barrier, it activated my spells counterattack. This was my first time actually seeing it, so I watched what it did. The area that was hit, just emitted flames. It didn't go far, but they would be deadly if they hit. There was a temporary truce after I had chanted this spell, since they couldn't do anything.

"You are just gonna stay inside this barrier?" Diego asks with derision evident in his tone. I think he felt superior, as he forced me to hide.

"Just give me a sec," I reply, before ignoring whatever else he says. I first take off the remaining weights on my legs. I leave those in the ground before I begin to heal myself with my healing spell.

"O spell of water, combine with the wind as a healing mist that heads to heal myself."

The crazy thing was that the healing mist stayed within the boundaries of the protection spell. These 2 spells complement each other extremely well. With that spell, my minor injuries were healed. Even though they were minor, they would have been annoying in the fight. Once I was healed, I dispersed the healing mist.

"O spell of wind flow through my body to reinforce myself. O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies. O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies."

I chanted 2 spell swords, and my reinforcement spell. The two spell swords were then grasped within my left and right hands. Afterwards, I dispersed the protection spell, and launched myself at them. My speed shocked me, as I really didn't need to use the reinforcement spell to run. I only used my reinforcement spell to help increase my strength. After all, my regular speed is similar to Astra and Ana's due to training. The reinforcement spell just makes me even faster. This speed was a little hard to control, and I ended up running past Diego and his crew.

"You think you have a chance now?" I ask, in an attempt to cover up my embarrassment. It luckily worked, probably because they were too busy thinking about the speed I had just shown. I can probably win this fight without Ana and Astra's help. I don't want to be cocky though, as they might be able to turn this situation around. Better or safe than sorry.

"He may be fast, but he doesn't seem to have control over his speed yet," Diego suddenly shouts out. It seems like he has noticed what I tried to cover up. "We can make him mess up, and then kill him."

"Okay." "Yes." "We got this."

I was going to rush in, but they started using earth spells to change the terrain. They were raising and lowering places, making it extremely hard to walk around. With my speed, and control of it, I would definitely hurt myself if I tried to run through that. As such, I stopped channeling my reinforcement spell. I wanted to use my hiding spell, but I wasn't sure if I should. They may not know it, and I wouldn't want to expose it if that were the case.

"O spell of fire, combine with the wind as a tornado that comes forth to burn my enemies."

While they were changing the terrain, I used my fire tornado. This fire tornado started heading straight towards them. While it was moving, it tore up the ground and ripped branches from trees. Diego and his crew immediately jumped out of the tornado's path. When they did this, I rushed towards one of them with my spell sword ready to intercept any spells that may come my way. Luckily I did this because they shot spells at me while they dodged the tornado's path. If I didn't have my sword steady to intercept, those spells might have hit me.

I continued my chase of one of them, and swung one of my swords at them. I kept the other ready, just in case. The spell sword just barely grazed their skin. However, it did injure them, and even drew some blood. They had cleverly used a wind spell to alter the trajectory of the sword at the last moment, minimizing the damage to themselves. I wanted to pursue, but 4 spells came at me from the different cardinal directions. I only had 2 swords, and would, most likely, not be able to intercept their 4 spells.

As such, I jumped eastward, and slashed the water spell that came from that direction. The other three spells collided at my original position, but none of them hit me. I feel like I am too passive, as my spells all take time for me to chant. Even if I chant them fast, they can't compare to Diego and his crew's instantaneous cast. Even while thinking this, I closed onto another target, and once again slashed with my sword. This time, I threw caution to the wind, and struck with both swords. This would make it hard for them to get out of.

They were able to use a fire spell to offset one of my swords' trajectory. They also tried to use the shockwave from the same fireball to remove themselves from the situation. However, my second sword was able to make a deep gash before they left. Before I could celebrate this win, 3 spells came from my back. I was unprepared, and got hit by them. Luckily, there was no fire spell among them, as that would have caused some serious burns. However, I still got badly cut and scraped from the earth, wind, and water spells. Luckily, they aren't fatal injuries. I could still battle with these injuries.

"O spell of water come forth as a jet to pierce my opponent."

I retaliated by casting my water jet spell. It was one of my shorter spells, but it still could cause a lot of damage, which is why I used it. However, I had to first dodge multiple spells aimed at me before I could finish chanting this spell. I used my two spell swords to cut through the spells aimed at me while chanting the spell.

Once the spell had finished chanting, I aimed it at the female fox. She was the closest one to me at the time, which is why I aimed at her. Luckily, she was caught off guard by the speed of my spell, and got hit by it. It wasn't a severe injury, but it should be painful, which would impair her judgment. This hit caused the other foxes to be momentarily stunned. They probably thought that I wasn't good at ranged attacks, which is why they were stunned seeing me perform one.

Of course, I didn't let up my attacks. I focused my reinforcement spell to my legs, to increase my speed. Somehow, I was able to control my new speed, which immediately brought me behind the female fox. She was injured, and closest to me. If I could incapacitate her, this fight would be easier for me. Even more so if I could take her as a hostage. As such, I swung the flat side of my sword down onto her head. However, wind spells came to interrupt the sword's trajectory. This caused my sword to hit the ground besides the female fox. While this did upturn the dirt, the female fox escaped unharmed.

While the female fox espaced, the other kept bombarding me with fire spells, trying to cover her escape. I could have risked it to incapacite her, but the injuries I would receive doing that wouldn't be worth it. As such, I let her go while moving away from the spells launched towards me.

"O spell of wind gather in my sword to drain the mana of my opponent."

While they were regrouping, I stopped channeling one of my spell swords and used my mana drain spell. I was running out of mana keeping the spell sword and reinforcement spell active, so I used the mana drain spell to offset that. I should also be able to drain mana from incoming spells, but I'm not too sure about that one. This will be a great time to test that though, as several spells are flying at me.

I don't want to block the fire spells, as they might explode, and hurt me if I do that. That's why I dodged all the incoming fire spells. On the other hand, I targeted the wind spells. They are nearly invisible, which would help me hide the mana drain spell. I'm sure that Diego and his crew have never seen me use the mana drain spell, so keeping it hidden will be a definite help.

When I slashed through the wind spell, it was just like I had expected. I got some of my mana back. It wasn't a lot, and I probably wouldn't have noticed if I didn't actively pay attention to it. However, this is a viable way to receive mana while fighting. I probably didn't get much mana, because the spell wasn't in contract with the blade for long. If they were in contact for longer, I might get more mana from the spell.

While I was distracted thinking of this, I got hit by some earthen lances. They got embedded into my legs. While it did hurt, it was nowhere near the worst I've experienced. I'm pretty sure that the worst pain I've ever experienced is when I first tried to use my strongest spell. However, these lances would impede my movements, and more spells were coming at me. I took my sword, and cut the lances, as close as I could to my legs. I couldn't just remove them, as I would probably die from blood loss if I did that. While this will still impede my movements, I'll still be able to fight.

I would really love to have some time to chant my protection spell. That way, I would be able to heal myself up, but I don't think that they will allow that. The only thing I can do is continue stalling until Astra and Ana appear. They would be able to alleviate some of this pressure, which will allow me to use some of my better spells.

Diego and his crew didn't let up their attacks, and I could only defend. The use of the spell sword and reinforcement spell had drained a large amount of my mana. Without the mana drain spell, I would have run out of mana. I was still reluctant to show it though, which caused my mana to continuously drop. I focused on a defensive fight, and even stopped using my reinforcement spell. I wouldn't be able to beat them, so it would be better to conserve my energy for when Astra and Ana got here.

I fought for a long while. My mana was running out, causing my spell sword to flicker. I was forced to dodge instead of block. A long time ago, at least it felt like that to me, they had me surrounded. They had been bombarding me with spells from all over, which made it hard to block. I was only able to barely block all their spells. However, now that I could only dodge, I began to get hit by a lot more spells.

My mana drain spell was still active, so I could continue fighting if I really needed to. However, I knew that I didn't need to. From my mana links, I could tell that Ana and Astra were extremely close. They might be here already, hiding, and waiting for a good opportunity. That thought gave me comfort, as I'm sure they would come to my help. My spell sword that had been flickering, finally gave out, leaving me with no mana. Of course, through the mana links I could gain more mana from Astra and Ana, but they would need their own mana to fight. I also didn't need their mana, as when they joined the fight, I could expose the true power of the mana drain spell, and get back a huge portion of my mana from Diego and his crew.

"It seems like this is the end for you," Diego says smugly. "If you have any last words, you better say them now."

This was the first time that Diego and his crew talked to me this entire fight. They probably feel like they have won, and there is no way to change that fact. That is most likely why they are confidently proclaiming my death.

"I do have last words, but they are not for you, for I am not dying today," I arrogantly responded.

"I have heard your last words, it's time for death," Diego responds calmly. It seems like that was a signal, as Diego and his crew gathered together, and began to gather a large amount of mana. It seemed like they wanted to end this with one, all out attack. Of course, that is probably because they are too scared to get close to me. Before they had finished gathering the mana needed to launch their spells a shimmering blue barrier formed around me. I remembered this as the barrier that Ana used for our spell competition, but I tried to make it seem like I wasn't surprised

Once the barrier had finished forming around me, Diego and his crew finished gathering their mana. They then formed the mana into fireballs, and threw them in my direction. They were extremely fast despite their size, and immediately landed on the water barrier. Once they did, they exploded. Looking at the barrier, I could see some places where it had cracked. It seems like the combined might of Diego and his crew has exceeded Ana's barrier. I placed my hands at those cracks, and began to drain the mana that was seeping into the barrier. I also began to patch up the barrier from the inside using some of Ana's elemental mana. This helped me regain a significant portion of my mana, while keeping me safe from the explosion of fire balls.

In the end, the barrier held up, despite being heavily damaged. Before they could fire another attack, Astra's firebird suddenly appeared. It flew through the air, leaving behind a trail of fire. The nearby trees, which had not been affected by our battle, started to ignite from the fire. The firebird flew close to Diego, harassing him.

"As I said, I'm not dying today," I say to the stunned foxes before me. While I'm talking, the water barrier shatters before me, and Astra and Ana appear behind me. They have water and fire spears at the ready, floating around them. Once I finish talking, they immediately launch them at Diego and his crew.

Diego quickly forms an earthen wall to protect everyone. The spears were stopped by the wall, but they did pierce it. A couple more attacks, and the wall would fall. Diego seemed to know this, as he quickly formed more earthen walls. However, the firebird was still out there, attacking Diego and his crew behind the earthen walls.

"O spell of wind, form from my hands a mighty blade that follows my movements to destroy my enemies."

While Astra and Ana were harassing them, I took the opportunity to chant my spell sword. Even though it constantly drained my mana, my mana drain spell would offset that. My mana drain spell was still active on my hands, so I didn't bother to rechant it. I also didn't chant my reinforcement spell because I didn't need it. Astra and Ana would distract the enemies, which would allow me to get close to them, without the need to reinforce myself.

I had already appeared before the earthen wall. They didn't notice me, since they were trying to deal with the firebird. I could see all sorts of water spells trying to hit it, but Astra expertly controlled it to dodge all of those spells, as it continued its harassment. As such, it was easy for me to sneak up. I didn't slash with my sword, but drained the mana from within the earthen walls. With the mana drained, the walls just collapsed leaving them exposed.

I slashed sideways with my sword. The firebird cooperated with me and attacked from the opposite side of my slash. This forced them to jump to their left or right, where Ana would be ready to attack with a spell of her own. Of course, they could always jump into the air, but then I would be able to easily cut them down with a second strike.

It seemed like they didn't want to go with our plan though, as they used water spells to forcefully push their way past the firebird. I pursued their escaping backs with an upwards slash. However, while my attack did connect, it couldn't be called serious damage. It would, at most, be a slight hindrance. They just escaped too quickly. They literally fled the area once Astra and Ana came.

"O spell of wind come forth as a blade to cut down my opponents."

In a last ditch effort, I fired off the wind blade, hoping that it might cause some damage. lt might have worked, but I couldn't tell. Their retreat signifies the end of our fight. However, there is now a serious problem. Our home has actually been discovered. They will come back to us again, and it will be a pain to deal with. I'm pretty sure they didn't use anything we left behind to find their way to us. I'm pretty confident that we covered our tracks exceptionally well. However, they still managed to find us. They also definitely learned from last time, and wouldn't lose this location.

"O spell of wind spread with me as the center to detect my enemies."

"We are in deep trouble," I say only after using the detection spell to make sure that they are gone.

"How did they find us?" Astra asks.

"I feel like we covered our tracks real well," Ana chimes in.

"I don't know, and it doesn't matter," I reply. "They probably mapped out the area, and can most likely return whenever they want. Let's not stay outside, and discuss inside."

"Fair enough." "Sure."

With that, we went inside. I immediately sat down on a chair, and slumped over in exhaustion. I had to fight for a very long time. I had even exhausted my entire mana pool, so I was very tired. I might need to make a spell to recover exhaustion, or help me ignore it. Actually, no. I only need to increase my stamina, which could be done with training. Exhaustion of mana can be revived through the mana drain spell. I should train my stamina, instead of relying on spells for it.

"Are you okay?" "You're fine right?" While I was slumped over from exhaustion, Astra and Ana were worried about me. Ana had even used the healing spell to try to heal my wounds. I was wounded, but most of them weren't very serious, since I was focused on defense. The only serious injury was from the earthen lances, but I could heal them tomorrow. However, it is nice to be cared for.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I quickly said once Ana started using the healing mist. "I'm just tired from all the fighting. However, my condition is not the most important thing at the moment."

"What are you talking about sylvi?" Ana says enraged.

"I'll be fine with some rest," I say before Ana could continue. "The problem with Diego won't go away after some rest, so comparatively, this problem is worse."

"Your health is still important," Ana says. "Go get some rest."

"I agree with Ana," Astra says before I could get out a response. "Sylvain, we care about you and your health. If that is not enough, then we value your strength. If you were to overexert yourself, then that would only be a detriment. While we could talk today, it won't make that much of a difference if we talk tomorrow. Besides, they have just escaped, so we should be fine for a couple of days."

"But," I start to say before Ana interrupts me.

"No buts. You are getting a good night's rest." She says, as she starts dragging me to bed in her human form. Astra also joins in, making sure I can't escape. They lay me down in bed, before turning into their fox forms and laying beside me. Their tails wrap me up, so I look at them with a questioning face.

"We are here to make sure that you actually get some sleep," Astra replies to my questioning look.

"I don't need you guys to watch over me," I say indignantly.

"We are doing this either way," Ana says, as their tails wrap around me even tighter. Even though they were wrapped around me tightly, it was nice. Their tails were extremely soft and warm. Their tails didn't cover a large amount of my body, but it just felt nice to have them over me. Since they were wrapping me in their tails, I decided to wrap them in my arms. I hugged the both of them close to me, feeling their warm soft bodies. With that, the exhaustion overtook me, as I fell asleep. I didn't even do my practices nor eat, but instead, just fell into a blissful sleep.