9 (9) Just one person?

Kraton hurriedly got up from the floor and took a pouncing stance, waiting for the intruders to show themselves. He watched the doorway and waited for any movement or indication that people were going to be crashing through. In his mind Kraton had played out several fun scenarios where he would smash them apart without mercy.

5 minutes passed and yet not a single person had entered the room. No sound had been heard through the door either. Believing that the party just turned back to continue grinding. After losing any anticipation that the party would enter his room, Kraton slumped down onto the floor and started drawing circles.

*SLAM*

The doors abruptly slammed against the walls, shocking the sitting Kraton who had yet to draw a single circle. Out of fright and instinct he grabbed the nearest item and hurled it towards the doorway. A large metal boot soared towards the door, it was impossible to miss a party that was clustered into the small doorway, however the sound that ensued was neither the painful shouting from a person, nor was it the sound of metal colliding with the soft human skin or the thin armour that protected them, but was the sound of metal shattering against the hard rock floor.

'Impossible! how did no-one get hit!' Countless thoughts raced through Kraton's mind, he found it irritating that no-one got hit, and started to ponder how a group of 5 could possibly avoid the incoming projectile in such a cramped space. Attempting to discern the figure in the doorway, no luck was held because the light from outside half-blinded Kraton who had yet to adapt the the light, only silhouettes could be seen, yet they were muddled and hard to focus on.

"How rude," a voice mumbled from the shadows by the doorway. A lone figure stepped forwards into Kraton's view. This person was covered in bandages that wound around their arms, torso and legs, however they did no seem to walk with a limp, nor did they hold their sword awkwardly. In fact, they looked like they were in their peak condition.

As the image of the intruder became clearer, he was shocked for two reasons: one, there was only one person anywhere in sight; and two, it was not a muscular figure that let off an overwhelming blood-thirsty appearance, but a slim female with fiery red hair. Her entire demeanour exuded a rich, powerful and deadly atmosphere, capable of suffocating other people if she found them disgusting.

"You should be honoured Kraton the Pathetic, for you are the first stepping stone for I, Celeste Furore, to slay the demon bosses with my ow--"

*Shroom* *Shatter*

Kraton did not care about who was standing in front of him, and what they were saying, instead he threw another metal boot at her in order to make her vexing buzzing shut up. This did the trick and Celeste stopped what she was saying so that she could dodge the incoming boot. "F****** barbaric oaf" Celeste swoar while diving to the side and carefully avoiding landing on the bangaged areas of her body.

For any other person in the country, she would be treated with respect, and most monsters would fear the name 'Furore'. The family name Furore began spreading it's roots before most people had started creating parties to raid the dungeons. However the family name was spread around multiple countries and the branch Celeste came from produced the most high-skilled mages and elementalists.

Celeste was one of her generation's younger prodigies and had made a vow that unless she was beaten by any monster, she would never join a party with other people. This may seem like an arrogant statement, however Celeste had her own reasons behind it. After a few days of careful preparation and researching, she decided to start her journey with one of the so-called weakest bosses. Kraton was only picked in the end because of his sudden spike of fame, garnering her attention over the other bosses in her closer neighbourhood.

After rolling back to her feet, Celeste took out an elgegant, curved sword with gems the same colour as her hair, imbued within the hilt. These gems weren't just for display but actually helped direct elemental mana into her sword. This helped her channel spells into a smaller area. A fire spell which would normally spread out in a wide area could be condensed into a burning layer around her sword. The best way to describe Celeste was as an elemtalist merged with a swordsman.

Upon regaining her balance, she held the sword horizontally in front of herself and dashed towards the hairy figure of Kraton. When the distance between the two had closed within a few meters of each other, Celeste's sword flared up, a crimson flame engulfed the entire blade of the sword and the scorching temperature made the air shimmer and shake like it was sweating in fear. Slashing her sword across, a wave of fire trailed the tip of her sword and after completing a slash, an arc of fiery energy made it's way towards Kraton.

Sensing the destructive nature of the arc, Kraton swung his mace to dissipate the energy, however as the wave struck his mace, he felt the force of the energy pushing against his own swing. Such power! Not only was the wave an elemental attack, it was also a physical cleave that would most likely cut a deep wound into his own body if he did not defend it. A wound that had been cut and cauterised by a person's flame mana would not close the wound healthily, but would leave traces of the mana inside his body. This would flare up every now and again and would bring internal pain to the victim. This effect was titled the 'Burn' debuff.

When Kraton staggered backwards, Celeste took this chance to leap forward, slashing again with her sword. This time, the flames did not trail by the tip of her blade, but instead was channeled into the special blade. This made the sword look like it was glowing, it was a breathtaking scene for any spectators but for the victim, it would normally be the last thing they see.

Kraton could not defend again with his mace as it was still swinging backwards due to the impact and inertia, therefore he let go with his left hand and raised it up to protect his neck.

*Sissssss*

Kraton had fortunately caught the blade before it planted itself deep within his neck, but as soon as he caught the blade, the smell of burnt bacon overwhelmed his nose.

"OWWW" a few seconds after the blade had lodged itself in Kraton's hand, his pain receptors finally responded to the pain of the burning sword cutting into and burning his flesh, causing him to howl in pain like a crying infant.

Celeste yanked her blade out from Kraton's hand, causing him to howl in pain again. Celeste glanced at Kraton's health bar and was very shocked. The amount of health she had taken was not what she expected at all. Her eyes glanced between her sword, Kraton and his health and her eyes furrowed inwards. After seeing the damage caused by her sword, her face started sweating as she got ready to attack again.