26 Unlucky

'earthen submersion.'

Immediately Rina casted a spell. She was a capable earth mage.

The terrain around Oscar changed, his legs started sinking into the ground. He tried to escape it but the more he struggled the more he sank.

'Sir Jonathan said if I kept using this power I would have only three months to live. But at the moment, I have no choice.'

Oscar controlled flames to engulf his legs, increasing the intensity and stopping himself from being submerged.

He tried to go forward, closing the distance between him and Rina.

Rina used boulders to attack Oscar, hindering him from coming close. He dodged the attacks but couldn't go forward.

Rina casted another earth submersion spell causing his footing to falter.

The obstacles became too much for him to handle, he got hit by a boulder on his side and he fell.

'You are now in my grasp' Rina thought

She started to cast another submersion spell. This time Oscar had no time to escape.

His legs sank to the knee level. He could no longer move his body freely.

"I've got you now, little boy."

Trapped and sinking into the soil, Oscar no longer struggled.

"If this is all the strength you have, then you are not a threat." Rina spoke out.

"But you are wary of me."

"You might be considered strong Oscar but that is only if you are able to make contact while fighting. Even though you could control fire, you are nothing like a mage." Rina maintained her distance.

"But I could still burn you."

"Only if you are close enough to. I don't need to reach you to do you harm. This is where you'll die. I will bury you and seal you here. We are in a forest so it would be easier to erase any traces."

"What about your subordinates, won't they be linked to you?"

"No they won't. They are non-mages, and are also considered expendable to the cause."

"Cause?"

"You wouldn't understand, a child like you..."

While Oscar was talking to Rina, his thoughts were running on full gear.

'If I exert more power the sand would melt but that doesn't solve the issue of dealing damage. She is still cautious, the distance between us is too far for me to launch an attack.'

"...has no clue on the workings of the knolls." Rina kept talking to Oscar while he was sinking.

'What do I do? I need to think of something fast, I'm already waist-deep in the earth. How can I..." Oscar's thoughts were interrupted.

"You are sinking too slowly, it seems you are planning something. Too bad, I'm not going to let it happen." Rina said as she gestured and moved a massive stone that headed straight for Oscar.

'No way in hell!'

Oscar thought fast and instinctually punched forward before the stone could reach him.

"Boom!"

Rina's eyes held an expression of shock.

The stone was obliterated by the flame that Oscar sent out from his punch.

Normally Oscar could only coat his body with fire and use it in combat, this time it was different. He sent the fire out like an extended punch.

'This is almost like the flame ball spell but more powerful.' Oscar thought to himself in surprise.

The flame ball spell was a syne one spell and the first spell to be learnt by fire mages.

With a silent chant they could send an orb of fire to anyone or anything and deal damage.

Oscar's variant was fire in the shape of a fist moving with increasing intensity till it stopped.

Rina wore a serious expression, becoming more alert, she no longer conserved her mana and increased the intensity of the submersion spell, while forming larger stones to crush the young terror.

Oscar punched out once more, this time with the other hand. A boulder five metres away from him was destroyed.

Coming to a realization of how to use this new skill, he focused on melting the sand he was submerged in and continued to punch out, destroying every boulder sent towards him.

'earthen wall'

This time Rina erected a wall near Oscar and tried to crush him with it. He moved away from the attack and started to close the distance between him and Rina.

Going straight to Rina while using the flames to punch the boulders away he was closing the distance.

'As if I'd let you.'

Rina created a huge hammer made from the earth. She held it with both hands and swung it in the direction of Oscar. This hammer was bigger but faster than the boulders.

With the speed at which Oscar was running, they were bound to collide.

'I can't dodge this but maybe...' Oscar thought as he grabbed one of the stones and swung it in the direction of the hammer.

The hammer broke through the stone but it's velocity was reduced. Oscar braced himself against the hammer and blocked his vital areas.

Nonetheless, it slammed into Oscar's body, flinging him away like a ragdoll.

"Ugh" Oscar wheezed in pain as he fell.

'I think I might have fractured some ribs.'

Rina didn't let up, casting another spell and throwing another boulder his way while he was still on the ground.

Oscar rolled away this time, escaping the hit. He propped his body up, planning to initiate an attack.

'I have to take some risks in this fight or I might just die without knowing how.' Oscar thought.

Rina casted more spells trying to overwhelm him.

Oscar was surrounded by massive stones on all sides, he kept sending out fire attacks with his fists driving himself forward.

He sent out repeated hits, one of which almost hit Rina but she blocked it with an earth wall.

'If I keep going like this I'll lose' Oscar thought as he made another intuitive action.

He launched himself off the ground by directing firepower to his legs achieving an ignition effect. He jumped off, getting away from the range of Rina's spell and closing the gap between them.

Seeing an opening, he shot at her using all the strength he could muster. The attack was successful as the flame made contact, exploding on her face and burning her in the process.

Oscar fell to the ground. Rina was weakened by the hit and he had closed the distance.

"You... monster.." Presently Rina was partially blind.

She wasn't the only one in a weakened state. Oscar staggered a bit as walked. He overexerted himself in this fight. Nonetheless, he was in a better condition compared to Rina whose face was burnt off.

'I still have energy for one more' Oscar thought as he reached her side and unleashed another flame fist attack on her face. Her head burst.

"Haa..." Oscar heaved a sigh of relief.

"That was amazing."

A middle aged man emerged from the shadows clapping. The darkness of the night shrouded his figure.

"Who are you...?" Before Oscar could finish asking the question three more people came out and stood behind the man.

"You are scavengers."

"That's right."

"I do have some shitty luck." Oscar sighed and fell into a state of silence.

"You aren't going to ask any questions? Oh, you must be sad that we found you in such a condition."

"..." Oscar stared blankly.

"We were on our way back from the knolls territory after delivering some merchandise only to stumble into a fight between a mage and a...what do I call you?"

Oscar felt the need to shake his head but his body was aching all over.

"From what I sense, you are supposed to be a non mage. However, you casted the flame ball spell in a weird form, it resembled a fist and it was much more powerful." The man said, looking at Oscar with intrigue.

"My name is Clifford, and in all my years as a mage I have never seen anyone cast magic spells without possessing an aura of magic within them. You, my dear friend, are the first. So who might you be?" Clifford questioned.

"I am no one."

"Wrong, you are not no one. I believe you hold a lot of value. You see, the knolls have been carrying out research on how to make non-mages use magic, and I think you might be key to unlocking a monumental advancement in their research."

"Aren't you human?"

"Yes I am, but I don't see the knolls as bad people. Don't get me wrong, they are evil but they are a necessary evil. The knolls are the ones responsible for our growth even in the area of magic. They only seek deference from the humans which is a small price to pay for power."

"Deference? Stop sugarcoating it."

"I am not, the number of people that have been killed by the knolls are lesser than the ones being killed by their fellow humans. We need a more structured system, humans lack the intelligence to control things without using conflict or force. We need knolls to achieve a better system in all aspects."