Chapter 126: Close Call

Ciaran ate his fill and was well rested, now he just had to bury a few bodies, and his day would be complete.

The Hunters were still actively looking for him, but the war was getting worse, and very few were able to continue the search. Even less so in the middle region, where chumps died constantly. After so long the weak had been weeded out, and most of the remaining Hunters were of a superior quality.

There were virtually no Rank Twos and Threes above thirty years old, and the percentage of mages just kept growing. The war bread stronger and stronger practitioners, and with each passing day, the quantity went down while the quality went up.

Ciaran had to either challenge one of the stronger groups, or risk being caught and challenge a weaker one.

He was excited to fight and chose the former, so he searched for a group. It took him two days, but he finally came across a group of twenty-four. Three Mages, One Rank Four, and the rest were Threes. By far too many, and too strong for him.

'Good thing I don't have to kill them all.' He thought and waited.

They weren't here to exclusively hunt for him. Sooner or later, they would get into a fight with the local wildlife, and then he would strike.

The one thing he hated the most was the fact that with his newer, weaker stealth, he had to stay farther away from his target. He still saw them, but it would take him more than a moment to reach them when the opportunity presented itself.

The party was competent, but it was pushing deep, far too deep. It had entered the territory of a Rank Five. When the Hunters saw it tho, they had the urge to laugh.

The arctic ground squirrel was The Arctic ground squirrel is a small rodent that lived in the tundra. It had a compact body and short legs, covered with thick fur that was a mix of brown, gray, and black. Its fur was bushy and when it stood on its hind legs it barely reached the ankles of the shortest of the Hunters.

They felt no sense of danger, while Ciaran backed up a little. In his experience, the most harmless-looking things were the deadliest.

The party had no need for such a small creature and they intended to pass by it, but it stood in their way.

"Fuck off now, and I won't

kill you." It said, with a high-pitched squeaky voice.

The humans were mostly amused, Ciaran explained verbally that he was not with them, and meant no disrespect. He even went so far as to thank it for its mercy.

"Look here furball, we don't need tiny –

Before the Rank four could finish, he was dead. His head just fell off his body. No one had seen how, and no one found the little animal funny anymore.

"Out of all of you, only the kid knows how to show respect to his elders. And only he gets to leave." It said before Ciaran asked if it could possibly leave him with one Mage, as he was in dire need to practice.

He even offered meat, ten times the weight of the Mage.

"Sure I don't care. We have Fire, Lightning, and Earth, pick your poison. And come here damn it, it's weird talking to you from so far away."

Ciaran came forward and thanked it. The Hunters were startled, but before long they were also dead. Every last one of them, but the Lightning Mage Ciaran was pointing at.

The squirrel just picked up the meat from the boy and left.

"There are Rank Fives and then there are powerhouses like the master of this territory. Now we will fight, but not here, I don't want any more trouble with him." Ciaran said, and the Mage was more than happy to leave the demonic rodent behind.

Once they were far enough, their fight began. The Mage could feel the energy crackling in the air as he drew upon his powers, and he knew that this fight would be intense.

With a fierce determination, the Mage lifted his hand and directed a bolt of lightning towards the boy. Ciaran was quick to react, devouring the bolt and sending back an empowered Storm towards the Mage with his tornados already forming.

The Mage stood his ground, unleashing a barrage of lightning bolts at the kid, but the Ciaran was too fast, eating the attacks with ease. The two combatants stared down each other warily, each looking for an opening to strike.

The boy knew this guy was far stronger than the Nature Mage, but for now, he wasn't showing it. He could tell because his Storm was almost singing in cheer. It was battle hungry, and it smelled like a good meal.

As they danced around each other, the Mage could feel his energy levels dropping. He knew that he needed to end the fight quickly before the boy devoured him whole. At this point he didn't have the luxury to ask why an eleven-year-old was able to bully him with magic, he just wanted to survive.

With a sudden burst of energy, the Mage unleashed a massive bolt of lightning, that the boy couldn't absorb and it landed with almost one-fifth of its full might. Ciaran staggered, but he did not fall. Instead, his eyes shined and he charged towards the Mage, his Storm howling in delight.

The boy wanted to smash him with his fists as he allowed adrenaline to dictate his actions. A quick bolt to the head brought him back, but he was already bleeding. With his calm restored he conjured one more tornado and was preparing to unleash his barrage.

The Mage knew that he had only one chance left. The boy was ready to use real magic, and Gods forgive him he was going to do the same. He never dreamed of fighting a child to the death, but what stood before him was a Mage, and he would treat his peer with the respect he deserved.

With a deep breath, he summoned all the energy he had left and directed it toward the sky. The bolt struck true, right at the storm, and then back into his body. He repeated this process seven times in one second and then aimed it at the boy.

Ciaran knew that he couldn't defend against something like that, so he aimed to kill his opponent first. Unleashing all of his icicles on the Mage while he was still charging, he gambled it all on speed.

Most of the icicles missed or were repealed by the lighting, but thirty-some hit him. Most landed in his face, and the rest hit him in the chest. Sadly for Ciaran that wasn't enough to stop the cast, and the massive lighting bolt hit him.

Like a smite from the Gods, it grounded him from the sky. He was able to put on his mask beforehand so at least he would be fully protected, but he still took massive damage.

The boy was left paralyzed, but at least he thought the fight was over, he was wrong.

The Lightning Mage had a Water snake as a familiar, and it was currently healing his wounds. It would take a while, but he would recover before the kid.

"Well, here goes everything." He said as he took another gamble. He called the Storm inside himself. This time only in his body, not in his soul. It was still unwilling to cooperate with the boy, but it hated that the lightning was still lingering there, so it ate it.

For a brief moment, Ciaran had a Lightning Storm at his disposal. He still couldn't move, but he unleashed it on the now-injured Mage. The snake wanted to block, but the attack was nearing the Rank Five level of danger, so it opted for evasion.

It couldn't save both its master and itself so it pushed him out of the way, dying in the process.

Fights between mages usually ended in one or two exchanges at the lower levels, because the practitioners were either inexperienced or too weak to cast more than that.

This fight was prolonged because of the absence of Ariadne, but in the end, it looked like it would end in a draw.

Ciaran couldn't accept that, and neither could his Storm, so he dug deep inside of himself, wanting to squeeze out one last drop of power.

He searched, and searched, and finally found something, but he did not like what he saw. In his soul, he saw the image of the mangled body of a woman. She had scales over one-third of her body. Some were ripped out, and others were rotting.

She screeched at the boy, and he felt his whole being shaking. Before he could pass out tho, his storm engulfed her, giving him peace.

Once he came back to the outside world, he was back on his feet, and his scales had begun showing. He had taken his true form and was standing above the Mage.

"Well, no point being the only one traumatized I guess." He said as he unleashed all the fury of his Storm on the dying man.