Chapter 21: Ashur's Rage

Rox slowly rose off of the field, which was empty, with not a civilian in sight. He rubbed underneath his chin which had a light burn mark on it.

With a crack of his neck, a sly smirk was plastered on his face. His chest stung from the smack and punch he'd taken earlier. The imprint of Ashur's hand was still visible as well.

He thought to himself. Hmm. That hurt. Can't say the last time I could acknowledge something like that.

He stared forward, watching as Ashur, whose face was brimming with fury charged toward him. His fist was raised in the air, in a soon-to-strike position.

Rox raised his hand, easily catching the punch but the second he did so, Ashur swung his other fist, striking him in the jaw. He grunted, sliding back a couple of feet however his eyes were still locked on the warrior.

"This isn't going to help your case just so you know!"

Despite the warning to his junior, Ashur ignored it, choosing to charge in again. "I refuse to let this injustice pass!" He growled.

John pushed past the Guild Hall doors; some of the other adventurers were behind him, including those in Rox's Adventuring party.

They were looking at each other, talking to themselves most likely about what they should do.

"They're… fighting!"

Saying it out loud did nothing for John except increase his worry about the situation which was progressing very quickly.

He started connecting what Ashur was saying together but each time he arrived at the conclusion the same question popped up, why did this devolve into a fight!?

The last time he checked, infighting amongst Adventurers was typically against the rules, unless it was over a conflict in a mission such as being opposite bodyguards to the other target.

John couldn't help but see the scene before him as senseless.

Rox aimed at Ashur's chin, going for a heavy kick to try and send the man flying back but Ashur was able to dodge; sidestepping the attack before throwing a counter kick to Rox's chin.

He took the blow, releasing a grunt but just as he prepared to give a vengeful strike of his own, a flurry of fists flew his way.

Wide-eyed, Rox could do nothing except take the blows as the fists pummelled him back, to back, to back.

Ashur had held one emotion on his face the entire time, focus.

He was initially angry, clear from his eyebrows which were almost slanted as a choice, however now they were back to the straight-across position they belonged in.

If it were him being so focused on winning the fight that his anger felt forgotten, or the anger being such a source of fuel for him that it flowed straight to his fists instead of his face was unclear. However, one thing was, Ashur was appearing to be the stronger fighter.

Compared to his opponent, Rox, who now had scuffs and bruises all over his face, Ashur was looking in top health. Besides some dirt that was still on his face from getting pushed into the Guild Hall floor, he was spotless.

John's eyes had been locked on the fight but suddenly something took him away from it. A feeling, a warm one that slowly encased his body before he glowed. Then he felt the warmth slip away, as one second he was staring at the fight and next a pair of deep gray eyes were before him.

"Ah!" He jumped back, startled.

"What are you screaming for? It's just me." The spirit rolled her eyes, her squeaky voice glinting irritation from his reaction.

John scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. "Oh, hey Annerose. What made you come out?"

Annerose turned away from him, staring at the two fighters as Rox took on more punishment. She slowly floated up and backward until she was able to sit on John's shoulder, a sigh falling from her lips.

"It's very simple. I just watched the whole situation progress from your eyes. It's quite sad really."

"Sure, but in what way?"

"Is it not clear? He's lost so much. His father, birthright, close friends and mentors just recently, and of course…"

Annerose trailed off, biting her bottom lip as her eyes watered. John raised his hand, lightly placing it on her head reassuringly.

"I know, and Mary. I'm sure inside he must feel like giving up but still, even if in this situation I can't agree with his decision to fight a fellow Adventurer, he won't give up."

Annerose nodded silently, her eyes held a deep sorrow as she continued watching Ashur. He was finally done unleashing the onslaught of blows, his fists were now bloodied.

Rox was still standing, having a face now covered in bruises, and some blood trickled down from his nose. His eyes however were still clear and focused.

Suddenly John felt a shove from the side, making him slide over. Three cloaked men, belonging to Rox's adventuring party, ran past him.

In a hurry they jumped down the stairs, running towards the two fighters. The one leading the charge, who John recognized to be the one who was glaring at him so intently earlier shouted.

"Rox, we're here to help!"

However before they could get much closer to the two, who were by now several feet away from the Guild Hall, an open-palmed hand signaling them to stop was raised. They came to a halt, a confused tone accompanying the person's voice.

"Sir, why won't you let us help? You're choosing not to retaliate anyway, right?"

"Choose?" Ashur mumbled quietly.

He removed his eyes from Rox's party before they fell onto the main man. He held a searching gaze, almost as if he was looking for confirmation. Rox locked eyes with Ashur, a wide smirk on his face.

"Indeed. I was choosing not to retaliate. Now, my ability can be more useful," He paused, before looking past Ashur, toward his men. "You'd say I'm in a decent amount of danger right?"

At that moment, in a flash of speed John had seen in one other person, Rox flew toward Ashur. A look of shock emerged on the man's face as his senior was now directly in front of him.

Rox's massive fist was raised into the air, before flying down in a blur of straight power. Ashur didn't even have a moment to react as it smashed into his face.

The force easily knocked him back several feet or to be more specific, he slid back until his feet touched the bottom of the Guild Hall stairs.

Ashur's eyes were wide open, a big bruise was covering the bottom of his face now as blood poured out of his nose.

He slowly lifted his hand before touching his nose, lowering the hand again to see it covered in red. What was this feeling? The hit, while powerful, shouldn't have been enough to make his chest pound so heavily. Was it…fear?

As he raised his gaze from his bloodied hand to Rox, he felt a chill come over him. The man had a wide grin plastered onto his face.

"I don't usually use my ability so many don't know the details. Just know, my strength is greatly boosted at the moment."

Annerose's fist closed tightly. "There it is. The big blow. Wonder how he's going to take this."

She thought to herself, Ashur isn't the most durable man that's for sure but even still, that was a deadly hit. I'm honestly surprised he's still standing. Adrenaline is a crazy thing huh?

Ashur quickly raised his arm, wiping under his nose to clean the blood. He released a long sigh, his head facing the ground. Rox cracked his neck again, eyes staying locked on Ashur as he started to walk closer to him.

"As I said before. Give up. Larouge will handle things."

Hearing his words, Ashur's head snapped at attention.

His eyes held a fire in them once more and in an instant, a bright light shone all around him.

A heavy pressure came with it, making all in the area start to sweat.

Those closest to him, John as well as Rox's Party members backed away from him slightly. The pressure was immeasurable; the power of his will overwhelming.

"I refuse." He said with a firm and resolved tone in his voice. "I didn't use everything I had out of respect for you but it seems that was unnecessary. I'll use everything to beat you."

He squatted down, getting into a karate-like stance. The light which was surrounding him slowly started to grow brighter and brighter.

Right before it shone too bright for John to see Ashur clearly, he felt he could spot something starting to form from the light. Possibly some kind of armor but just then a voice cut through the air.

"Alright, boys, time to stop it. No using your blessings."

As if it was on cue, the light shining around Ashur dimmed.

A look of surprise sprouted on his face, as he looked down at himself, checking to see that exactly what the person demanded came to pass. Without his decision, his blessing was deactivated.

Rox had a similarly confused expression. Nothing seemed to change for him physically but he was looking at his hand with a puzzled stare. His expression though, unlike Ashur's faded quicker as he said faintly. "Wait, I know whose power this is."

At the same time, the two of them turned to their left, watching as the interloper was in plain sight.

It was a beautiful brown-skinned woman with long green hair that reached all the way down her back. She was wearing a short yellow dress with sunflowers on it, a pair of heels being her choice of footwear.

The woman had a very proper yet quick walk, a walk that carried her all the way to the middle of the field, in which she stood between the two Adventurers.

Rox squinted at the woman, a small smirk plastered on his face. "Well, it's good to see you, Claire."

"Likewise, you stubborn warrior." A light-hearted smile similar to the one you'd get while reminiscing was on her face as she gazed at him.

"Huh? Who's that?"

John's question seemed to fall on deaf ears as all around had all their attention locked on the woman. Annerose also held a look of confusion on her face, staring at her through squinted eyes.

Suddenly a voice from behind him rang out. "She be the right hand of Larouge."

John turned around to see a man standing there. He was tan-skinned, having all sorts of red stripes across his face.

There were two in a side-to-sideline that reached from his eyebrows down to his cheekbone. His eyes were a deep blue, having an almost endless depth to them just like the sea.

The man was wearing knight's-armor, having many adornments over it such as ribbons and pins. A long cape flowed from behind him, attached to his armor.

Even through the many strange or at the very least, unique-looking things about the man, his most distinctive feature was his jawline.

John stared, almost in awe at its pristine structure which seemed solid enough to easily grate stone.

However, once his mind was able to break free from the almost hypnotizing feature, he thought to himself. Wait, did this guy really just walk up to me, not making a single noise while wearing Knight's armor!?

The man reached his hand out for a shake, a warm smile on his face.

"My name be Kunan. B Rank Adventurer."