Chapter 12 - Weakened

Sief raised his dagger once again, and slowly the aura around the weapon began to dissipate. Edgar stepped forward, and red streaks enveloped his sword. 

"I'll clear the path, you go for the Shaman, or this will never end." He stepped forward, and the ground sank slightly. "Attention!" 

At the command, Sief leaned his body slightly forward, and Edgar charged at the mass of flesh. 

Skeletons and goblins leaped to strike, but the swordsman gripped the hilt of his blade with both hands and twisted his torso, delivering a vertical slash through the mass of flesh that cut through bones and crushed flesh until it collided with the ground, which sank from the force of Edgar's blow. 

Sief advanced and leaped over Edgar's back, then jumped towards the door, already seeing outside where the Shaman was still shouting. 

However, bony hands grabbed the young man's leg mid-air, surprising him and causing him to land, while the mass of flesh began to reassemble itself. 

Sief pulled his leg, but small bones stabbed into his skin, making him grunt as he clenched his teeth and heard. 

"DAMN IT." 

"NOT YET!!!" 

He leaned his body back and struck at the bones holding him with his dagger, breaking the hands that grasped him, but again the mass of flesh moved, and Sief saw a huge hand coming his way. 

The young man widened his eyes but propelled himself and jumped away, watching the monster turn towards him, taking the same form as if the blow had no effect, making him click his tongue in thought. 

'They won't die as long as the Shaman is alive?' However, another scream was heard, and the mass of flesh was smashed, revealing Edgar inside with cuts on his face, still smiling animatedly. "Hurry up, damn it! If you can't kill a weak monster like this, I'll send you back to Forta!!" 

His eyes still had a greenish glow, and red streaks continued on his body and weapon. 

Even in that small room, he swung his blade, and pieces of bones flew everywhere, making Sief look slightly surprised, until a laugh came from behind him, and he quickly turned. 

It was another sneaky goblin, whose blow was again blocked, but the monster looked surprised to see the iron bracer stopping its weapon, while Sief gave a slight smile, saying, "Not again." 

With a swift motion, Sief advanced and slashed, causing the goblin's body to fall lifeless as he saw the Shaman running in the distance, still screaming and attracting monsters that began surrounding the village. 

Sief clicked his tongue and quickened his pace as he saw a black glow envelop the alpha's scepter, which turned with a distorted roar. 

"UHUKAKA!" 

The black glow rapidly shot toward Sief, who widened his eyes and threw his body backward to dodge. However, the glow struck his arm, making the young man widen his eyes as he saw a dark aura quickly envelop his body. 

As if a weight had fallen on his back, Sief felt his body tremble and his legs gave out as the surroundings darkened. 

He fell to his knees and saw the Shaman resume running, looking breathless. 

Sief felt nauseous and weak but pushed himself forward, starting to run again, noticing he was clearly slower. 

"Is this magic?" 

No matter how much he ran, and although he was once faster than the Shaman, he couldn't catch up, and the monster continued to scream, calling the monsters that entered the village. Sief could see two skeletons approaching the Shaman. 

Sief gritted his teeth as the monsters came at him, raising their clubs, which were nothing more than pieces of trees they had ripped out, and hurled them in a vertical strike. 

'If I dodge, I'll never catch up!' He gritted his teeth and formed a cross block, bracing for the hit. 'This thing he threw at me is stronger than my poison...' 

Both strikes hit, making Sief's arms vibrate, but the assassin gritted his teeth and stabbed his dagger into one of the skeletons' necks, making its skull fly off. 

But another club blow struck, sinking into the assassin's back, making him grunt as he turned an enraged gaze toward the skeleton, quickly striking and hitting its neck, causing the monster to recoil. Sief pressed on and advanced, slashing, making the monster's skull hit the ground. 

Sief frowned, still feeling the heaviness in his body, and resumed running. However, the effects of the aura gradually began to diminish, and looking at his body, he noticed that the dark aura was weaker. 

He quickened his pace again, seeing the Shaman even farther away as more monsters approached. He frowned but continued advancing, this time quickly closing in on the Shaman, who stopped shouting and began muttering something. 

More monsters arrived, and Sief felt the effect of the dark aura dissipate. His body became lighter, and his vision cleared as he saw two sneaky goblins leap toward his face. 

The young man prepared to attack but saw the Shaman's scepter enveloped in a dark aura once again. He clicked his teeth in frustration, widening his eyes as the monster fired again. Sief threw his body to the side and jumped, surprising the Shaman, who stared in shock. The assassin displayed a slight smile, his eyes glowing a greenish hue as a goblin's strike grazed his cheek. 

'Let's see now...' 

Sief raised his dagger and slashed at the goblin's face, cutting the monster into pieces. The Shaman prepared to jump, trembling, but Sief kept advancing, eyes wide, as the monster pointed his scepter, once more surrounded by the same dark aura. 

In an instant, Sief leaped at the monster with dagger in hand, and the dark blast hit Sief's chest. 

The Shaman had no time to retreat, and the assassin plunged the dagger into his chest, piercing the monster as they fell, with Sief landing on top. 

As the monster focused its eyes, it saw Sief raising the dagger, realizing that the weakness had affected his strike. However, Sief struck again, causing the monster to scream in rage, clutching its scepter and hitting Sief's head. Sief felt his head pushed to the side but held on, striking the monster again, who screamed, attracting the horde already near. 

Sief widened his eyes and kept attacking, stabbing, cutting, punching, and kicking the Shaman, who tried to fight back but couldn't stop any of the blows. 

Blood flew, and the monsters arrived. Sief was hit in the back, and a goblin slashed his arm, but he continued attacking the Shaman, who gradually stopped reacting until its eyes rolled back. 

A loud crushing noise sounded, and a strong wind blew, but Sief kept going until the cuts around him slowly ceased, making him slowly realize the surroundings were clearing. 

Sief couldn't tell how much time had passed, but the effect of the dark aura on his body had stopped again. When he focused on the monster, despite having only a few deep cuts, it was lifeless and had stopped moving. 

Breathing heavily, Sief realized he had overexerted himself and felt the pain from the cuts and blows on his body. Then, a voice sounded, laughing with amusement. 

"Man, you're something else, Sifritt." 

When he turned his eyes back, Sief saw Edgar with an animated smile, his face full of cuts, parts of his clothes torn, but mostly covered in pieces of bones and flesh. 

Looking around, Sief saw a large horde surrounding him, some disassembled and others torn apart by heavy blows. 

Realizing this, Sief sighed and said. 

"You were protecting my back, weren't you?" He stood up with effort, feeling cuts on his leg, forcing a slight smile as he said, "Damn, I got helped again." 

"It's not quite like that." Edgar shrugged, looking at the young man who had various cuts and bruises on his body and a tired posture, though his eyes still glowed. "I just struck one blow; the others fell as soon as you killed the Shaman." 

Sief opened his eyes wide and puffed out his chest, letting out a long sigh, then put his hands on his hips and said, "But he wasn't an alpha, was he?" Sief approached the monster's body and retrieved his dagger. "He was too weak. With a few strikes, he was already dead. It's totally different from that giant I fought." 

"Monsters have their classes too. To be an alpha, it's not enough to be big; he has to be strong in that territory." Edgar approached the Shaman's body and crouched down, saying, "The cave giant was the closest we have to a tank and a soldier; this one was the equivalent of a caster. Don't belittle yourself just because he's small; after all, he gave us both a beating." 

"Us both, huh?" Sief gave a sincere smile, seeing that all of Edgar's cuts were light, making him sigh heavily as he turned to leave. "What a lousy joke." 

Edgar continued to smile, watching the young man walk away, but then he noticed something on the Shaman's chest and gave a slight smile, saying 

"You killed him, you dummy. Aren't you going to take the prize?" 

"What?" Sief turned with a tired look and said, "I thought we wouldn't have time to collect materials..." 

"They're not monster materials..." Edgar gave a slight smile and said, lifting a silver necklace with a blue stone at its center. "It's an item."