Chapter 16

[Earth Sorcery: Doheki]

Hisashi casts as he thrusts his sword into the soil. A second later, an earth wall emerges as it blocks the bandit's view of Hisashi. It was one of the spells he has analyzed.

Everyone acted fast, especially Kaato who immediately jumped to slice and attack the earth wall. The upper part then fell and Hisashi was gone. A shadow caught his eye and Kaato bursts into running.

…

As Koyori runs back to the town, she heard a loud rustling from her back and she looks back only to see pursuers. Panicking, she releases her yoryoku outwards to her surroundings. In turn, the plants all moved and tried to block the two men.

Without a scroll, she can't actively use big spells without concentrating. Therefore, she settled on using her yoryoku to control the plants. She had been very envious of Hisashi after finding out that he was able to use spells but the two attributed it to his weird sorcery type.

Her trick proved to be ineffective as the two bandits easily sliced the plants. As a fighter, the two's reaction speeds were faster than normal people resulting in a fast result.

As they were using their Wind Sorcery to enhance their speed, it didn't take long for them to finally catch up.

They extended their hands to grab Koyori when… a force from the left threw them away.

"Argh!" The two were both surprised. They immediately raised their swords detecting a protruding danger. The sound of wood and metal clashed as the two bandits finally saw a figure of a kid. It was Hisashi, with boots made of lightning in his legs.

…

--Earlier--

After releasing a distraction and leaving the sight of Kaato and his goons, he immediately used one of the best spells he has seen and analyzed. He took it from an amputated retired samurai that always go to Mizuya's clinic for a check-up.

[Lightning Sorcery: Indra's Boots]

Then, a surge of lightning covered his feet up to his knees. Although a large amount of yoryoku is need to be used for one to cast a such spell, it was a breeze for Hisashi's near inexhaustible amount.

The moment the lightning clads his legs, he took off like a rushing beast. His senses, especially mana-sensing abilities are in full focus to detect their trail. It was easy enough that they are using their spell to catch up.

…

As the bandit defended from Hisashi's attack, he felt the strong pushing force that he can't budge, disappear. Then, like a blur, Hisashi spun. The next thing the bandit can see is the world spinning before it passes out. The force of the wooden sword hit him like a large rock, on the temple even more so.

Not stopping, the next bandit that recovered slower was thrown away by Hisashi's momentum. He also dropped his sword. This didn't stop him though, as he cast the fastest and strongest spell he can cast from his scroll.

The amount of distance he was thrown back was even perfect for his spell.

[Wind Sorcery: Shiroiba]

Then, two long white single-blade daggers made of wind appeared on his two hands. The fast wind that made the daggers up made the bandit feel like he can cut anything, even steel. That was because, not only did the spell give him sharp daggers, but it also buffs his arm to move a bit faster than normal.

Seeing that Hisashi is preparing a fast downward slash coming from above, he didn't dare to attack and chose to rather defend. He prepared to cross his arms and want to time his move against Hisashi. He was planning to slice Hisashi's blade giving him a shock and using that moment to attack and kill him.

As time passed by, the bandit felt like everything slowed down. Hisashi jumps and pushes his sword down in a fast motion. The bandit then quickly raises his two arms. As his arms reached the level of his forehead, the fast strike he was expecting didn't come and his slicing motion failed to hit anything.

As he quickly retracts his arm, the last thing he saw was Hisashi's wooden sword coming down his head. The moment the sword hit him, blood sprouted and his skull was even slightly cracked.

Although the bandit already planned his moves, Hisashi was also planning his. The moment the bandit spawned his two daggers, Hisashi already planned his attack. The moment he jumped, he already has two spelled prepared to finish the fight.

After jumping, he cast a simple wind spell to blow and propel himself upward. Then, he cast an earth spell on his sword, making it heavier. Although he wanted to cast it on himself too to make himself heavier, he failed to do so in a short amount of time. However, his plan of delaying his attack still worked and made his opponent pass out.

His reason for jumping was simple he wanted his opponent to be caught off guard, he need to be above him. By doing so, the opponent would block his own eyesight and thus, failing to detect Hisashi's delayed attack and defending against it.

Despite the confrontation being short, Hisashi felt the use of many spells in a short burst was very exhausting. It didn't make him exhausted in his yoryoku, but rather, his stamina. However, his stamina itself was very high so he wasn't very exhausted.

The group wouldn't give him a rest though as he was able to detect the main group finally catching up to him, albeit still a bit far. He didn't waste a second as he runs in Koyori's direction with Indra's boots on.

It didn't take him long to reach her. However, now that he was running the same pace as her, it wouldn't be long till the bandits catch up to them. Although he has learned many skills, he has yet to learn something that can strengthen others or in this case, make Koyori faster.

Moreover, even if the wind spells can be utilized to make her faster, her legs wouldn't be able to react and only make her stumble and fall to the ground.

"Koyori, I'll carry you," Hisashi said to her who was by her side.

"Huh? Carry m-" Confused, she was about to ask when Hisashi puts one arm around her back and the other around her knees. This made her blush and almost hit Hisashi on the head before retracting it.

"Am I that useless to you?" Koyori asked him. Given his training, Koyori's weight isn't really an issue to Hisashi. Compare to normal kids his age, he was like an adult in strength. However, it still slowed him down compared to running by himself.

"You always save me from bad guys. Last time, you saved me from bad guys that want to take me away. You even injured and hurt yourself. Now, you also saved me from new bad guys that want to take me away and almost got hurt. Am I a jinx to you?" She said solemnly. However, the reply she was waiting for from Hisashi didn't come. In turn, she looked at him only to see a smile.

"Why are you smiling!? I'm sad and you're smiling! You're a bully!" She said as she lightly hit him. Hisashi just continued smiling before he replies.

"I'm the bad luck remember? I'm the bad omen of this town. You only encountered them when you approached me. Despite the other bullies bullying you, you didn't leave me alone. So I also wouldn't leave you alone." He said as he returns back to full concentration.

Hearing what he said, Koyori became even sadder. She doesn't believe what he just said. However, she cried after hearing that Hisashi said that he won't leave her alone.