First Mission [5]

Artis continued to stare at Ricky, hoping that he would find a weakness that he could exploit. 

'Maybe I should wait to use [Dominating Aura]. For now, let me go with [Telepathist]. That way, I can get an idea of how this fight would go. Ugh, it's not that I lack information, I already knew I wasn't getting that, what hurts the most is that I don't have enough strength to attack him!' 

Artis took a deep breath before clearing his mind and activated [Telepathist]. Chaotic streams of thought entered his mind as he focused his entire will to lock into Ricky's subconsciousness. 

'...Whatever this kid plans...I'll punch it. From that barrage of punches, I can tell the kid has only trained in offense and not defense...'

Ricky let out a smirk as he thought, '...Even if he attacks, all it would take is one [Dynamic Punch] for it to be over...' 

"Well, what are you waiting for? If you are not attacking, then I am killing you first!" 

'...smash his pretty face...' 

Artis smirked inwardly. His brute strength is his weakness as well. If Artis could predict what attack he would use, he could dodge it with his speed and counter-attack it at the same time. 

He ducked down dodging the punch and threw an uppercut shaking off his balance a bit and took a few steps back. 

"D-Damn you!" Ricky fought back throwing out another punch, but this time it was enveloped in a blue light. 

Smack!

The punch connected and Artis who managed to block the hit felt that his arms were beginning to freeze. 

"Heh," Ricky smirked as he let out a feral grin to launch another barrage of attacks but stopped moving. He felt like someone had aimed for his back without even him noticing it. As he turned back, he was surprised to see Artis behind him with a smug look as he threw another punch, his wrists enveloped in flames.

Misdirection! 

Before the moment of impact, Artis used [Magician] to create a little illusion of himself fooling Ricky's senses as he swiftly got behind him and aimed for his back. 

The fiery punch connected with Ricky's back, the heat searing through his coat but to his surprise, the coat wasn't damaged at all. 

Artis, not panicking, instantly realized the coat either had a protective spell on it or that it was a Unique Item. 

He took a step back and launched a kick covered in flames directly at Ricky's face but was too late as Ricky recovered from that initial attack and grabbed his leg. 

Enraged, he grabbed Artis and threw him far away. Artis managed to have a rocky landing, feeling the impact on his body as he looked at Ricky who was angry, his eyes filled with fury. 

Ricky took a deep breath calming himself as he looked at Artis and said, "I was wrong. You are powerful and clever with your attacks. I acknowledge your strength, and because I acknowledge it, I won't be holding back anymore." 

Artis wiped the sweat off his brow, pushing himself back up to his feet. He realized that all his plans may go wrong if he is not careful enough. 

'He's going to come at me with everything now,' Artis thought, the realization sinking in. 'I need to be ready.'

Ricky charged, his arms blocking his face as he threw out a one-two which Artis managed to dodge by ducking under him and covered the entire area with a smokescreen again. 

"Cough! Cough! Fighting with your tricks again huh," Ricky roared, "Too bad, it won't work a second time!" 

Ricky enveloped his fists with a white aura as he punched the ground hard enough to disperse the smoke causing the concrete to scatter around a bit but it was too late as Artis had already planned his next move. 

'I would like to enjoy my fight with you...But, the more I fight, the more disadvantage I'll be at. So, Sorry Ricky, I am finishing this now!' 

Artis covered his legs with flames as he kicked him in the temples causing him to fall back down grunting in pain. Not wasting another second, Artis got on top of him and threw a fireball at his jacket. Not to his surprise, it did no damage as Ricky recovered from his initial attack throwing Artis off as he landed gracefully. 

Gritting his teeth, Ricky pumped up his muscles, and his entire body was enveloped in a strange silver aura. 

'...I'll give you this brat...I have my own circumstances. Sorry that I will have to hospitalize you...' 

Hearing his thought caused Artis to smirk, 'I knew it...So it really was this case...'

 Ricky charged him at a high speed leaving dust particles behind him but was distracted by a pebble thrown sideways towards him. 

And at that moment, multiple pebbles coming from different directions attacked him at various points causing him to grunt in pain and fall to one knee. 

'What?' Ricky looked around and noticed the crack he made on the road had no pebbles and dust around it. It was perfectly clean!

[Eye of the Psychos]. Artis was waiting for a moment when Ricky would use his brute strength on the road causing damage to it and use [Eye of the Psychos] to hurl the pebbles in his direction. If he had not caused any damage, he would've damaged the road himself. 

Distracted by the sudden pebbles, Artis summoned his wand using [Magician] and aimed at Ricky. The wand generated some sparks as an electric spark of beam flew from the wand towards Ricky zapping him. 

Shock Wave! 

Zzzaaappp!

One of his Attack Skills that he had learned and honed over the years when he was in Inloen as Ricky screamed in pain and fell to both of his knees. 

"...You bastard...You had more tricks up your sleeve huh..." he muttered slowly.

Without wasting any more time, Artis took a deep breath and activated [Dominating Aura]. 

Immediately, Artis felt that his mind was going through a sheer amount of pain ready to burst at any moment from the strain of this power. Ricky felt an enormous pressure over him as he stood frozen in fear, not able to move a single muscle. Sweat, escaping from his brows. 

Focusing himself, Artis took a single step, his face showing no expression as he said slowly, "It's over Ricky...It's better if you give up now. It's better in both of our choices if you lose now before you seriously get hospitalized than push further and risk permanent damage."

Ricky, still paralyzed under the immense pressure of Artis's [Dominating Aura], struggled to even breathe. His muscles tensed as he tried to resist, but the fear and pain were overwhelming.

Artis took another step forward, his eyes locked onto Ricky's. He could see the struggle and fear in his eyes as he struggled to stand up under pressure. 

"...You...bastard.." Ricky hissed through his clenched teeth as he locked into Artis's eyes and said, his voice filled with pain, "I won't...lose...If you...wish to stop me...You have to...kill me..." 

Artis sighed, "You are one tenacious bastard. I have to give you that. But-" 

Artis, at that very instant, got behind Ricky and delivered a fast chop aiming at his head that caused him to lose consciousness and faint right there. 

Flash Step! 

"It's over. It is my victory." declared Artis weakly, his face showing no expression. 

At that moment, Evan appeared behind the building peeking at the fight. 

Artis let out a small smile and called her towards the scene. "It's over. Ricky...Or I should say...your brother, won't be bothering other people from now on." 

"Huh?" said Evan in surprise, "H-How did-," Fear was evident in her voice as she struggled to speak. 

Artis patted her head and put a finger across his lips, smiling a bit, "Shhh. We'll talk about it later. You should call someone to take him to the hospital. And how can I tell...Well, a Magician never reveals his secrets..." 

Artis stood up and faced Ricky's unconscious body as he leaned down and took a spike from Ricky's jacket. "I'll be taking this. You know, to get my rewards from Professor. You don't mind it right." 

Evan shook her head as Artis let out a warm smile, "Your brother is actually more caring and tenacious than you give him credit for. I can guess why he was terrorizing this particular area but I would like to hear it from himself. Alright then, I'll be going now. See ya." 

With those parting words, Artis made his way back to East Ferrous Laboratories leaving Evan and Ricky behind him.