19 CHAPTER 19: Student and Teacher

Tears filled with fear rolled down his face as he inched away from Schelo's limp body. Who could have done something so gruesome? And what did Schelo do to deserve it?

Questions like those spiralled around his agonised mind, his sense dulled by the ringing silence in the room. Cowering with his head in his arms, Ray sobbed loudly, unable to come to terms with his teacher's death. With teary eyes he looked at the emotionless elastic face in front of him.

Leaving the room and contacting the police immediately was the best path for Ray to take, but an underlying sense of uneasiness still clung to him. It felt like he had walked into a trap set up by a psychopathic, empathy-lacking monster.

Standing up with a vague sense of justice, Ray began walking out of the room unsheathing his sword just in case something jumped out at him.

The green substance on the other side still 'breathed', adding to Ray's disgust and discontent with this place. He created 2 air platforms and stood on them. As he took a step ahead an arm grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him down. Ray fell onto the hard floor of the second room, inches away from the toxic green substance that could easily suffocate him even with the Helm of Rejuvenation on.

Ray fumbled back onto his feet, panicking as he took on a fighting stance with his sword outstretched. A shadowy figure stood before him, a black cloak obscuring the details of their face. Ray had dropped the light rod when he was pulled back, and the lack of magic input had switched it off, covering the room in utter darkness. Taking the opportunity presented to him as the light source slowly died out, Ray plunged his sword forward in an attempt to stab the perpetrator. The sword drove through complete emptiness, the lack of contact with anything sending Ray stumbling forward.

"The one you fight today will not be me, boy." A high pitched shrill sounded from behind Ray. Instantly turning around, Ray swung his sword in a wide arc, this time hitting the brick wall but still missing his target, the pitch black of the room obviously hindering his precision.

Nothing happened for the few seconds that followed and Ray could tell that the shadowy figure had run away. But something felt off. Using the sensory technique he was taught early on, Ray slowly let out a stream of air in every direction. The molecules reflected off the walls and returned to him giving him a clear image of the surroundings. This technique was akin to the echolocation used by many animals and was undoubtedly inspired by that.

Ray could clearly make out where the exit was. He sensed 4 large bumps on the wall of the door and assumed that they were the corpses. But one was missing.. The one belonging to Schelo wasn't hanging any longer.

A slicing wind rushed towards Ray from the corner of the room, attempting to cut him in half mercilessly. But Ray had already sensed it and ducked low enough to completely dodge it. He turned to face the direction of the attack and shouted in a shaking voice. "Schelo is that you? Why are you doing this?"

His questions went unanswered, instead 2 slashes rushed towards him, one horizontal and the other vertical, forming a plus sign. The attacker had moved closer to Ray, giving him no time to dodge the 2 attacks. Ray raised his left hand over his face and forced the air around it to harden. The hardened air acted as a shield, nullifying the two attacks.

The wind element was special compared to all the others. According to the first rule, all magic should dissipate once losing touch with the user, and though it seemed like wind magic didn't follow that rule, it actually did. Since the user is always connected to the air around them, there is an indirect connection to their magic even as it leaves them.

Similarly, an Earth magic user could manipulate the ground many feet away from him because of the indirect connection between his feet and the ground on the other side via the rest of the earth.

Since most fights occurred in places with air one would assume that wind magic users were almost always at an advantage, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Most techniques of the wind element focused on defense and quick kills. When faced with a 1v1 situation, the wind magic user would only win if they were well trained and able to come up with a creative solution to overpower their opponent.

Ray could sense the enemy's movements using his sensing techniques and was able to perform a counter to their movement instantly, always facing them in case they attacked. The impact from blocking the 2 wind slashes had taken a toll on his left hand which was hanging low due to the pain. The enemy was serious about killing Ray and he couldn't afford to let his thoughts wander around the person's identity.

Brandishing his sword with pride, Ray waved it around fashionably ,signalling to his opponent that he was serious now. He was more comfortable using his shortsword than magic since he had been taught how to wield it before his powers manifested.

Ray closed his eyes, it wasn't as if they were of much use in this place anyways. He lunged forward, bringing his sword above his head to form a giant arc as he brought it down. His opponent hardened the air in front of the sword before it hit them, stopping it at the end of its arc. Ray reacted immediately with a [Burst Fist] to the opponent's abdomen, sending them staggering backwards.

The platform hindering his sword had been released, giving Ray the opening he needed. He lowered his sword this time and sent it in an upwards arc, and just as he had expected another air platform blocked it in its path. He twisted the sword in his hand so that the flat portion would hit the air platform. Not letting the momentum of his swing go to waste, he jerked himself around, his sword replicating his movement to form a horizontal circular arc aimed at the opponent's chest.

Ray felt the sword exit the other side, but the cut wasn't deep enough to retire the attacker, who instantly got back on their feet as if nothing had happened. Ray grunted at the opponent's resilience and began hurriedly swinging his sword around, hoping desperately that one of his hits would land.

The opponent, seeing Ray plunge the blade towards their chest, sandwiched it between two air platforms. Ray tried pulling the sword out, but the force from the platforms was too much and abandoning it was the only reasonable choice.

He stepped back, giving himself some space to breathe, but the opponent continued to pursue him, this time using his own sword against him.

Ray cursed his decisions as he dodged the swings. To an outsider, they would seem similar to Ray's mindless attempts to get a hit in, but a trained mind could tell the true intent behind each swing.

Each slice was intentionally made to cover up any openings the opponent might find. Each attack was followed so quickly by another that the opponent wouldn't have time to counter the first one. It was a tactic only a genius with years of experience could pull off and Ray spitefully commended the attacker's vast knowledge.

Ray struggled to come up with a plan to counter the flurry of attacks thrown at him. He could continue dodging, giving his left hand some more time to recover as he waited for an opening. Or he could use brute force to stop the attacks using hardened air and counterattack with the strongest technique he knew to end the fight in an instant.

A confident smile tore through his face as he chose the latter.