Ash

Funnily enough, it was the second time Felix stepped within the Adventurer's Guild, and it was still at night.

Laura had been replaced behind the counter by an old man. His eyes were closed as he hummed an unfamiliar tune, rhythmically tapping his finger against the hard wood of the counter.

[Guild Master Tobias, ?, Lord]

As Felix looked at the old man, the latter opened his eyes, setting his eyes on the two newcomers. Felix felt surprised seeing the Guild Master out of all the people here, but he did not falter in his step as he followed Drakon to the counter.

And apparently, the old man manning the bar was not an unusual sight as Drakon greeted the old man familiarly, "What was it this time?"

Shaking his head with a sigh, Tobias replied, "You mess around a bit in Brightsky, and suddenly everyone is at tenterhooks, shouting for war. I say, let the fuckers attack, we're more than ready for 'em."

"You went to attack the Brightsky Kingdom?"

"Nah, just poked a hole or two through my old house. Anyway, what brings you lads here?"

Any semblance of wisdom Felix had imagined in the old man disappeared like smoke in the wind as he heard him talk.

Drakon was clearly used to him though as he took out four pieces of paper, their Quests. Taking them from his hands, Tobias looked them over, and as he reached the last one, he stopped for a moment, and asked, "You got the Rainbow Lotus?"

Nodding, Drakon took out a small box from his Spatial Pouch, placing it before Tobias. The old man poked it, and nodded, before crumbling all four Quests.

[You have leveled up.]

It was a single level, but Felix was happy nonetheless. It was something, at least.

Moreover, that wasn't their only reward as Tobias took out five Gold Coins, as well as a potion. Scanning it, Felix was disappointed to find it to be a Stoneskin Potion. As the name implied, it increased the defense of the one who drank it.

Drakon sent a look at Felix and asked, "I take the potion and one Gold Coin, and you take the rest?"

Felix nodded, pocketing the money before turning his gaze to Tobias, who was looking at them with shining eyes.

"What was it that was causing these disappearances then? I've got to admit, I was quite curious myself."

Felix decided to answer, "Ausafàrs. All around Level 50."

Tobias looked surprised, "Ausafàrs? It's strange to see them this far south. And you two managed to take care of an Ausafàr Tribe? I must admit I am surprised."

Drakon shrugged, "It was mostly Odin who broke their illusions."

Tobias raised an eyebrow, "Really? I never heard of a Runic Mage. You must be quite the fantastic mage."

Felix could see the old man was doubting Drakon's claim, but Felix honestly didn't care about his opinion, so he simply replied, "Well, I manage. Not sure about being fantastical though."

Tobias smirked, "Oh, but I am. Ausafàrs are quite the nasty creatures, coming from the North. It is actually very surprising to see them come this far South. For these devious creatures to be forced all the way here, I wonder what happened in the North."

Drakon put a hand in his bag and took out the corpse of one of the Ausafàrs, the Chieftain Rank one. Tobias narrowed his eyes at it, and said, "Must have been a tribe of several dozen, if that was their leader. And you really managed to break their illusions? I find it really hard to believe."

Growing a little annoyed at Tobias' constant probing, Felix groaned, "Why does it matter? We completed the mission, and got back in one piece." but as he said that, he felt, or rather didn't, his left arm, and corrected himself, "almost, anyway."

Tobias remained still for a moment, before showing a brilliant smile, "Of course! Where are m' manners! D'ya want anything? On the house!"

"I'll be fine."

Turning to Drakon, Felix added, "I will be leaving first. See you tomorrow."

Drakon nodded slowly as Felix walked out of the Adventurer's Guild, still annoyed. Guild Master or not, that old man was a little too intrusive for his liking.

His step slowed down a little as he exited the building however. He realized he may have overreacted, but it was too late to go back in now.

The most frustrating thing was that he knew exactly why. Although he tried his best to keep his cool at all times, sometimes his mask would crack, and he would be overwhelmed by his emotions.

Felix did not know whether it was his condition that was affecting him by itself, or simply a result of growing up with it, but Felix has always easily fallen to his emotions.

He had gradually learned to control himself and keep a cool attitude, but his impulses sometimes won over.

It was the exact same with Drakon. If he had to be honest with himself, Felix liked Drakon, he was a nice friend to have. But Felix had been a dick more than once, be it with the sun glare or his Innate Skill.

Now that he had a cool head, Felix realized it, but there was nothing he could do to change what happened.

Walking out of the city, Felix went to sit on a large rock, and started meditating.

He had found that meditation helped when he had a turbulent mind, and like always, he soon found himself calming down.

With nothing else to do, Felix was about to start training when he found a new Mana signature appear somewhere in front of him.

Opening his eyes, Felix looked at the Mana Signature, and there seemed to be nothing there. Felix said nothing, staring at it, and after a few seconds, he heard a sigh, "Did I leave out any flaws?"

With that, a figure appeared in front of him. It was a man, middle aged, with a pepper and salt man bun, and a rather easy going face. Despite being dressed in a black light armor of a material Felix couldn't recognize, he looked like a nice person.

[Ash, Level 50, Kresis' Blade]

He was all but a harmless player, though. Still, Felix felt like entertaining him.

"Your Mana."

Ash looked confused, so Felix added, "I am no expert in stealth, but the essence of it is to hide from all senses, isn't it? Well, you fooled my five senses, but did nothing about your Mana."

Ash smiled, bringing his palms together along with a short bow, "Thank you for the lesson then. Something else I will have to work on it seems."

Felix nodded calmly, not really sure why he was someone who looked like he was here to take the bounty on his head. He had done the same with Ishim, from Blue Light. They were enemies, but he helped them.

Still not moving, Felix asked, "Why are you here? The bounty?"

To his surprise, Ash shook his head, replying, "I don't care about something this trivial from a bunch of clowns. They are about to die-out anyway. No, I am here out of personal interest."

"I'm listening."

"I simply wanted to see what you were made of. You have been quite the sensation after all. And I must say, I am not disappointed."

Supporting his chin with his right hand, Felix said, "Aren't you? I am missing an arm."

"A detail, at most. Besides, aren't you a mage?"

Jumping down from the rock, Felix replied, "Yes, but I also fight. Having only one arm will affect my performance though, so I won't be holding back."

Still smiling, Ash unsheathed a dagger from his back, taking an attacking stance. Felix noticed his movements seemed weird though, it felt inhumanly fluid. And even as he took his stance, Felix realized, Ash was still moving.

It was only slight movements, but they were there, and simply looking at them made him feel strange. Moving his eyes to his opponents', Felix realized Ash had a teasing light in his eyes.

"Ready?"

Felix did not reply and instead created a Runic Circle above him.

'First Circle: Shockwave'

The moment it appeared, Ash suddenly disappeared from Felix's sight, the shockwave seemingly hitting nothing. But it wasn't teleportation, as Felix could still feel Ash's Mana Signature, moving at a high speed.

Skera appeared in his of him, a flicker appeared, followed by sparks as Felix managed to parry Ash's quick attack. However, Felix immediately felt a vast difference in strength. His opponents' stats were much higher than his own.

Taking a step back, Felix manifested two Runic Circles on his side, while stabbing forward.

'First Circle: Flamethrower'

With flames blocking both sides, Ash could now only go forward or backwards, and Felix had the range.

Yet as his spear approached the man, Felix did not feel a monstrous strength this time, but rather a gentle push. Somehow though, this gentle push was enough to completely mess with his accuracy, making him miss his stab as Ash was now right in front of him, his dagger about to pierce through his neck.

Understanding that holding anything back would result in his death, Felix used several Zeroth Circle Spells, 'Push' Runes.

They were not used on himself this time though, but on his enemy instead.

Taken completely aback by the sudden force exerted on several places in his body, Ash once again appeared in full view for Felix as he lost his balance.

Using this moment, Felix stabbed towards Ash's sternum, at his center most and where it would be the hardest to dodge.

Yet, despite losing his balance, being taken by surprise and being attacked in a confined space, Ash looked like a feather being gently pushed by the wind, narrowly dodging his attack.

Unfortunately for him, Felix's mastery of magic had recently massively improved.

Not even seeing it coming, another Runic Circle had appeared in his back, and a fireball slammed in his back.

Not only did the attack throw him forward, it also singed his back, dealing massive damage.

It wasn't over though as another Runic Circle appeared where he would inevitably fall.

'First Circle: Spatial Sunder'

Nothing seemed to happen, but Ash was clearly wary as he somehow managed to move his body in mid-air, almost dodging the Spell.

Almost.

The edge of the invisible attack hit his thigh, and as he landed on the ground, a large, ugly tear had opened in his thigh.

It nearly covered the entire front of it, raining blood down his leg as it became useless.

This would have been enough to finish any other player. But not him, it seemed.

Hopping on a single leg, Ash did not even bother becoming invisible anymore as he dodged a Wind Slash coming from the back, leaping at Felix.

His movements were clearly slower than before however, his form clear to see and his attack simple to parry.

Yet as he tried raising his spear, Felix found his body to be strangely weak, his arms turning sluggish. More by instinct than reflex, a Rune appeared in front of Felix, while another next to the incoming Ash, both intended to push them away from each other, and while that succeeded, Felix still felt a stinging pain in his chest.

Looking down, he noticed a long cut in his armor, his chest bleeding heavily. Fortunately, the attack hadn't gone past the rib cage.

Stumbling and nearly falling to the ground, Felix barely managed to stay on his feet as he failed to understand how he had been injured.

There had been no Mana in that attack, yet it had injured him, despite not touching him. And that weakness he had felt, he wasn't under any debuff either.

"You know, I've been mostly bullying mages since the start of the game, to the point I thought it was useless."

Although he did not look like he was in great shape, Ash was still standing, a red potion in hand. Not about to let him heal, Felix created several shockwave spells, which didn't do much to Ash but broke the bottle, spilling the potion on the ground.

Looking a little flabbergasted, Ash said, "You- That was worth a lot of gold!"

Snorting in derision, Felix created three Gravity Wells next to Ash, followed by five Flamethrowers.

Despite how strong he was, while relying on a single leg Ash couldn't resist the pull from the spells, and awkwardly kept his balance. Thus, he couldn't possibly dodge the incoming flames.

And he did not. Instead, Felix watched in a mixture of amazement, frustration and astonishment as the flames seemingly warped around Ash's dagger as he warded off the attack, redirecting it to the side.