Stratagem II

Mathias released his aura and you could see a red light enveloping his entire body.

 He had his sword out with his left leg extended out while his right leg was bent behind him. He was in a typical fighting stance, meanwhile Donellan stood upright, extended his aura out as well. A grey light with specs of red enveloped his body as well. He extended his sword in a defensive stance. 

"Come at me." He calmly said. 

Mathias charged forward and swung his blade straight at him while Donellan countered the attack easily not moving a single inch. An exchange of blows could be seen from onlookers, with Donellan still remaining on the defensive.

The exchange between the two gentlemen was done flawlessly making it almost impossible to follow to an untrained eye like Simuel. The two men started to pick up the pace when suddenly, Mathias withdrew his blade. He closed his eyes and mumbled an incantation under his breath.

A ball of red light formed in the palm of his hand and a sinister smile could be seen on his face. 

"Enough playing games you bastard. With this you DIE!" He yelled while launching his attack. 

The ball of light was thrown and flew at high speed reaching Donellan in seconds. Donellan looked at the attack coming his way and looked unbothered.

He swung his sword cutting the ball in half and completely nullifying the attack. 

"Is this seriously all you've got?" He scoffed. 

"Of course not. I am well aware that a simple attack like this won't even cause a scratch on Lord Donellan's body. This is merely the beginning." He smiled. 

Although Mathias spoke confidently, he was astounded on the inside. Even if that attack wasn't the strongest thing he had in his arsenal, it was amazing that he blocked it so easily. 

It was a level A attack after all. 

Regardless of class, meaning wether you were a mage or a swordsman, both classes utilized mana as their main power source and these attacks were classified into five levels. The lowest level being D and highest being S.

D level attacks although they were rather low in scale, still did a little damage especially when used against a weaker levelled mage or swordsman but wouldn't do much damage to someone as high ranking as Donellan for example.

 Attacks ranging from B to S were the one's that dealt the most damage and could significantly harm a high ranked mage or swordsman if it were to land.

A levelled attacks were very powerful especially when cast by someone who was mana proficient. 

Mathias was a high levelled sword mage, this meant that he could fight well with a sword and could also cast mana attacks as well. But when faced with a skilled swordsman like Donellan who passed him on every level, he knew he needed to switch things up and use mana attacks to deal some damage on this monster.

He knew that he couldn't waste time nor take this fight lightly. He needed to start fighting like his life depended on it. Which it did from the looks of Donellan's threatening aura. 

Mathias took a deep breath and started to gather energy to his core. His next attack would be a powerful one and he intended to put his all into it.

He wanted to end this fight quickly. He knew he could never defeat Donellan, not in this life and probably not in his next life, that much was obvious but he wanted to at least incapacitate him so he could interrogate him on Sylia's whereabouts. 

The air around the deserted forest changed and everyone there could tell things were about to get serious. Mathias' aura was much denser and stronger than before and so Donellan finally released his sword aura.

A dark grey light enveloped his blade. Suddenly attacks were being launched at him, each one getting stronger and stronger. Donellan evaded each one moving quickly and swiftly. He looked as if he was performing an intricate dance. The whole scene was amazing to watch. 

Mathias' grew frustrated and launched even more attacks increasing his speed. Thing however started to change and Donellan who was once of the defensive went into offence. He appeared right in front of him.

He swung his sword left and right and he was slowly closing in on him. Mathias in a panic and realziing the situation he was in drew his sword again in an attempt to block the blades. He moved a second too late and was grazed. Donellan's onslaught never ceased for a second and finally Mathias was disarmed and left defenseless. He knew there was nothing he could do and if he kept on fighting he would die. 

"I give up, you win." He surrendered. 

This made Donellan scoff. 

"You attack me and now that you're on the verge of losing you want to surrender?" He sneered. 

"I-I realize I've committed a grave mistake. I only wanted to know Sylia's whereabouts that's all." He stammered. 

This made Donellan frown. "You did all of this, endangered my son and fought a losing battle just for that woman?" He said in disbelief. 

The air around him got darker. He was quite obvious Donellan was angry and the look on his face frightened Mathias. 

"How foolish. Both you and that woman don't know your places. Since you will probably die soon, I can grant you a parting gift. The woman you are seeking is no longer in this world." 

"W-what? What do you mean n-no longer in this world?" 

"She's dead. Been dead for three years now."