15 Speciality of lost gem

「Dream Art First Style: Light Slash」

A flash of light sliced through the air, cleanly cutting through a beast.

Sash!

Groaa!

"That's my fifth kill; don't forget the bet, okay?" counting his skill and reminding the bet, the young man sheathed his sword. 

The young man's blue eyes sparkled with mischievousness as he turned to his companion, a beautiful girl with silver hair and sharp hazel eyes.

"How many fucking times do I have to tell you that I didn't agree to the bet?" She said, her voice filled with frustration.

"If you want to flirt with a girl or lay on her bed, you can do it, but that girl is not me. This is your last warning; if you say this again, I will make sure you regret it, Marcus," she fiercely said.

"Yeah, yeah, that's the exact thing you said last time to me." Marcus teased her, unfazed by her threat. "If you like Asher, say before he confesses his feelings to—"

Before he could finish, a lightningball passed before his face, nearly missing his face. He blinked, feeling the crackling energy in the air as Shreya glared at him, lightning passing through her body and her eyes shining with a fierce glint.

"I said many times I don't like him, so don't misunderstand and spread weird rumors."

Marcus raised his hands in surrender, backing off slightly. "Alright, alright, calm down. I was just teasing you; you don't have to get angry." 

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she said, "If you start this conversation again, I won't hesitate to become your enemy. You got that?"

"Message recived." Marcus muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry"

The two fell into an uneasy silence, both of them focusing back on their surroundings. It looks like they seemingly teamed up with each other as third and fourth in ranking. 

"Didn't the teacher say only the top 2 students from each class should fight, so why do the top 10 have to fight?" Marcus asked her, breaking the silence.

"I heard the Elfilial Academy wants to see our top 10 ranker capabilities, and they also have top 10 rankers in them," she answered.

"Really, no wonder some of them felt as strong as me." Marcus mused. "Will we be alright?"

"I don't know about that, but Aaron and Asher might stand a chance… maybe." she said in a tone of uncertainty.

"Well, let's focus on gathering points and getting into the top 10 rankings." Marcus said, shifting the conversation. "Facing them is the problem, but not accumulating points by hunting monsters."

Rustle!

Just as they were about to walk, they heard a rustling sound ten meters away from them, causing them to halt their steps. They observed at that place.

Tap! Tap!

"Wolf!" Shreya exclaimed, her eyes narrowing. 

"No wolves, a pack of them," Marcus corrected her as more of them emerged behind the bushes.

A pack of sixteen wolves, all E and E+ rank, surrounded them. Gripping his sword, Marcus took his fighting stance, while Shreya readied herself, electricity crackling around her body.

Awoo!

Sensing the danger, the leader of the wolves ordered the three wolves to attack. The wolves rushed, jumping at him while opening their maws to bite him.

"Idiots" 

「Dream Art First Style: Triple Light Slash」

Three flashes of light filled the place, momentarily blinding. The three wolves were sliced cleanly into two pieces, blood splattering the ground. Their intestines slowly fell from their bodies, staining the ground.

"Eww, it's fucking gross as ever," she grimaced in disgust.

Marcus chuckled "Can't you talk more like a lady?"

"Fuck you, fucker," she swore to him.

Awooo!

The leader of the wolves howled loudly. As it howled, the other wolves' eyes became bloodthirsty and started to release bloodlust.

Two wolves rushed to him and attacked with their sharp paws. The sudden increase in its speed caught him off guard, and he hastily blocked its attack.

Clank!

"Wha—" Marcus sent flying as he blocked the wolf's attack.

"Careful, they are buffed," Marcus shouted as he barely managed to block one of the wolves attack, the impact sending him skidding backward.

"I can see that." Lightning crackled around her body. As the wolf lunged at her, she made a lightning spear in thin air and sent it to the wolf, piercing its body.

Awoooo!

The wolf howled in pain. Seeing this other wolf didn't hesitate and rushed in, only to be pierced by a lightning spear.

The leader of the wolves howled angrily as he saw his comrades dying. Hearing the leader's howl, all the wolves dashed at them, their power boosting again with another buff.

"Hehe, you made it easy for me."

"Dream Art Fourth Style: Dream of Chaos"

Hearing his sword technique, Shreya's eyes widened. "Fucker," she cursed him and ran out of his range.

Flash! Boom!

A blinding flash erupted from Marcus sword, followed by a deafening boom. A fierce wind brushed past her. Stopping her tracks, she looked at the place and turned her head to the other side, as she couldn't look in that direction. The scene looked too gore for her to handle. 

The wolves were sliced into multiple pieces; blood flooded out of them, and their brains and intestines fell out of their bodies through the sliced parts.

'Do they have to create the monster this realistically?' This was her only thought process.

"H-help me" She heard Marcus's voice in the center of the carnage.

"Hell no, I won't come to that place; you have a potion, right? Drink it," she said.

The technique Marcus used is too strong for him to use now, and as a result, he damaged his hands and body.

"It won't heal with one potion; give me yours too."

"Fucker, then why use the technique?"

"Because it's fun." Marcus grinned. "It's fun since it's not the real world."

"Sigh." With a resigned sigh, she approached him, holding out her potion.

"Can you feed me from mouth to mouth?"

Pop!

A vein poped in her temple. "This fucker," opening the lid, she shoved it into his mouth, forcefully drinking him.

Cough! Cough!

"Can't you at least gently put the potion in my mouth?" he asked, choking the potion.

"Die, Fucker"

Despite her annoyance, Shreya couldn't help but acknowledge Marcus's strength. 'The technique's destructive power is on par with C rankers or even above. He truly is fit for the sword genius title'

***

***

***

"Shit, they are catching up with us," Taren shouted, panic lacing his voice.

"We can't outrun them." I replied, his eyes scanning the surroundings, "They are clearly above our ranks."

"What should we do?" he asked.

"We have to face the—" Looking at Taren, I saw a line connecting Teren's head, and my hand moved instinctively, tracing through the line.

Clank!

"—Arrow, they have ranged fighter" 

Suddenly, I felt a prickling feeling all over my back. Turning around, I saw a bunch of lines connecting to my body, rapidly connecting my body.

'Shit!'

Tha-th-th-th-th!

I immediately jumped to the side, avoiding the barrage of arrows piercing my body.

'Fuck, if I'm two seconds late, I would have become a porcupine.' Standing up, I scanned the treetops.

"Jadel, are you okay?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

Tap!

"I didn't think you could avoid that." Hearing a sweet, captivating voice, I looked up. There, I saw two elf girls standing on the three branches. 

'Silver hair elves, they are pure blood… Wait, isn't that a leaf birthmark on her neck? But is that really her? Let's test it.'

Smiling a little, I asked, "How are you doing… Sister Efline"

Hearing me call her, she frowned. "Who are you, and how do you know my name?"

'Yep, it's her.'

"You don't recognize me, sister; it's me, your lovely cousin, Jadel." 

Hearing my name, her eyes widened in surprise and confusion.

Efline is the daughter of my stepmother's sister. We met many times on the birthdays of my half siblings, other occasions, and regular meetups with family, and as Jadel's personality, he picked fights with her many times. 

"Are you really Jadel?" Her expression turned to confusion, then it turned into surprise. "Hehe, I thought I couldn't fight you, but I can beat you now, you imbecile," Smiling evilly at me, she shot an arrow at me.

Clank!

Deflecting the arrow, I threw a paralyzing smoke bomb at her. But she avoided it.

"Cover your face," I hurriedly said to Taren. Taking out three paralyzing bombs, I exploded them in my hands and used mist to spread them. Using the mist spell will drop the poison's efficiency, but it's still a good way to spread it quickly.

Activating my gravity field skill, I rushed to Teren. My eyes and senses are also trained for this, so I easily found him in the mist.

Swoosh! Clank!

"Huh, arrow." Instead of going to Taren, I halted my steps and changed position with a big leap, but, two more arrows approached me.

'It's not a coincidence; she can actually detect me.'

"Yes, I can detect you," she said as if she read my mind. "So don't think of running away from me, Jadel; I can always find you." Another arrow flew toward me.

'Well, only she can detect me' I ran to the other elf girl. 'She is with her, huh' I cast a mist spell again. Taking out a poison dart, I threw it in the other girl's direction.

Ouww!

As I heard a pained voice, I confirmed it had successfully hit her. It's a slow poison that will gradually kill her in 10 minutes, and she won't be moving anything soon. 'One's story is over; now it's time for Efline' 

Efline stopped attacking me as I attacked her teammate. Taking the opportunity, I rushed to her.

Swoosh! Clank!

'she is changing her position' 

Shiver!

I halted my steps as I felt something peering at me. In the split second I froze, I felt a prickly sensation all over my body and saw a bunch of lines connecting my body. 

I couldn't dodge the arrows as I froze on the place; the only thing I could do now was defend against it.

I traced through the lines that connected me, deflecting and blocking the incoming arrows.

Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank 

Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank

I deflected as many arrows as I could, but some slipped through, piercing my hands, shoulders, legs, and abdomen. I couldn't move as pain coursed through my body. After some seconds, my legs gave away, and I fell to the ground.

The mist slowly disappeared, showing a figure of an elf walking in my direction.

"Why came? Can't you just kill me from afar?" I asked with a groggy voice.

"There is no thrill in that, I want to kill you by facing you."

"How can you kill your cute little cousin?" I asked, making a cute face.

"Cute? You? An imbecile like you is cute'' she said with disgust.

"Is that so? I still remember you kissing me on the cheek, clear as a day," her face flushed.

"B-bastard t-that was when I was a little kid, I don't have feelings for you now." 

"I know that, but aren't you forgetting something?" Her eyes widened in realization. She quickly held her bow, but it was already too late.

Pierce!

"Kugeh." Dagger pierced through her stomach as Taren stabbed her from behind.

Barely standing up, I walked towards her "Sorry I will give you a quick, painless death." Telling her that, I covered her eyes and broke her neck for a quick, painless death.

"Now let's kill the remaining one."