亚洲综合中美

“I’ve got no idea, it feels like magic or something like it, it’s throbbing, the mana it’s pulsing; like a beating heart. This is the first time I’ve sensed anything like this. Normally, only humans can release such pulsations – it happens when a person turns into a mage and accesses their inner mana reserves; otherwise referred to as Soul-Tap. It happens only once in a person’s lifetime and lasts about two seconds at most. Sadly, this pulsation feels different, it’s continuous and has a wild nature to it; almost like a wild animal. The more I feel it, the more I get chills sent down my spine. Master, we might have found the reason why there are people hiding inside and using healing magic.”

“So you’ve made that connection too.” He added with a little tone of confidence. “There’s no reason why people should be hiding let alone using healing magic in an abandoned town. Whatever that pulsation you and I sense is weird but familiar.”

“W-what d-do you mean familiar?” Avon asked with his eyes sparkling with curiosity and gleam.

“It happened many years ago, I fought a beast so powerful that I still have vivid flashbacks to that whole ordeal. In the end, I won the battle but lost the war, let’s not go into more detail. Point is, I’ve sensed something like this before.” He gave out a sigh.

“W-what d-do we d-do now?” Avon asked as his fist tightened.

“No need to get worked up. First of all, I need you to write the location of the people in distress’s location on my palm, using a paper will take the time we can’t afford to lose. Also, give me an estimate of how much time I have left.” Obediently, Avon did what he was told too, touching Staxius’s hand made him jumpy but that was part of his charm. Seeing how he struggled, Staxius

could not but smile and forget whatever trial awaited him behind those closed iron gates.

.....

“Done,” he smiled proudly as the map he drew was clean, immaculate, and not to mention, scarily accurate. “Anything else?” The sparkly eyes stared up. “Job well done,” Staxius patted his head as compensation. “Do you have any blank magic scroll?”

“Yes, Master, we do have magic scrolls and they are indeed blank. What do you need them for?” Avon asked, this time he was skeptical, what could a mere unlicensed sorcerer do with scrolls. Logic says that only a master of high education, ones who’ve devoted their lives to magic and its secrets can properly utilize such a piece of equipment. He’s doubt was correct for he didn’t know Staxius for long.

“Avon, why do you ask such frivolous questions, hand me the scrolls and you shall see.” His tone deepened, it began to reach that emotionless and serious state he used when things got desperate.

“O-ok,” unwillingly, he handed over the papers which costs a hundred gold piece each.

With eyes closed, right hand holding a pen, and the paper laying to rest on the dashboard next to the steering wheel, he let out a sigh. “I can’t possibly hope to use healing magic, it’s beyond the capability of the death element and dark-arts. I’m here to fight and destroy and not to mend.

However, don’t forget that I’ve spent years of my childhood in the company of the greatest sorcerer who walked this country; my father. Time to put this knowledge to use.” The aura changed, the interior of the car felt heavy, Avon struggled to breathe. It felt as if the void had been summoned.

Staxius mumbled something at a very fast pace, his hand grew to match that speed, on the scroll, it began to light up. With every stroke, the pen felt as if it spewed out fire. A pentagram drew itself, ancient writings began to fill the empty spaces and done. Everything went back to normal, “alright, time to head into town.” Staxius spoke nonchalantly.

“Master,” Avon stared intently. “What is it?” Staxius asked while the car turned on.

“Did you just create a spell…” His voice trailed off on the last word.

“Yes, and what of it?” The car drove forward, the scenery began to move faster by the second.

“Just who the heck are you? You’ve made a spell so complicated that I, a spirit of unknown origin

can’t even decipher.”

*Shadow Variant, Fireball.* An explosion followed soon after, the gate broke open, and Staxius drove in. Oblivious to what was happening, Avon remained intent on getting an answer. “Avon, I’ll tell you all about it later, for now, I want you to take this scroll and head to where the injured is.” Without realizing it, Avon now stood in front of a mansion, the exact one where healing magic was being used. A thunderous sound broke his day-dream, Staxius drove away to where the pulsing mana emanated from.

“…” Few breaths in, “I give up, the one who freed me is someone I’ll never figure out.” Without paying much attention to the surrounding, he opened the giant wooden door, in which the crest of the family who owned this property was engraved on it; a sunflower. The door opened, a layer of dust resting for god know how long arose. Part of it escaped into the wild. In front of him stood an empty hall. Quickly following behind, a door directly opposite the entrance and two stairways going up. Everything was covered with layers of dust and cobwebs. It felt heavy and tedious, but Avon pushed through, his vision grew tighter, the only thing in his mind was following the order Staxius gave him.

The location from where the mana was being used came from upstairs. As he slowly and carefully climbed the stairs, in the railing, traces of blood were spotted. Fingerprints, multiple footsteps left on the floor thanks to the layer of dust. Following said trail of blood, Avon arrived on the first floor. Immediately, on the right, a single hallway headed deeper inside. Facing the opening, the hallway continued further on the left side as opposed to the right which held a window and a small table.

The footstep continued inside, there were four in total, which meant two people were here.

Slowly but surely, as quietly as he possibly could, Avon eased his way near the door left ajar. All the

footprint headed inside. Breathing was heard, one panting while the other one muffled. Curious, he tried sneaking a peak. The moment his head turn to look inside, a knife shot out. With both hands, as if clapping, Avon stopped the blade masterfully and rushed inside. The door fully opened, everything slowed down – two people laid down, one badly injured, and one of a girl. It was said girl who threw the knife, it was apparent, her posture was facing the door. Her mana was practically

empty. “Stop, I come as a friend.” Avon moved too fast – he vanished. He now stood behind the girl who fainted. She had exhausted her strength, her blond hair laid to rest, her rosy cheeks felt brighter.

The injured man coughed blood, his stomach was gravely injured. Amazingly, he was conscious. “W-who a-are you?” the tone monotonous, his face held no emotions. “I doubt you come as a friend, but please leave this place, a beast roams the place outside – he is going to come soon, the bloodlust on that monster is demonic.” Avon chuckled before the warning, “I come as a friend, and you don’t have to worry about that beast, my master is on his way to end whatever pursues you.”

Adamant, he continued, “you don’t understand, t-that beast d-defeated me, an A-rank sorcerer. Even with the help of my little sister here, defeating it was but a fantasy. Everything is growing dark, I t-think It’s the end for me…”

“Stop with the dramatics,” Avon casually interrupted him. With an effortless motion, he unrolled the scroll and placed it onto the man’s injuries. *Snap,* the scroll activated and both the man and the girl were healed. Said scroll worked so well that his injuries regenerated. The mana they both had lost partly got filled, it was enough for them to wake up and sit up straight.

“Who are you?” As soon as the blond girl awoke, she rushed behind Avon. Sadly, that didn’t work, he vanished once more and reappeared behind the girl. “Calm down sister, that man there or rather that spirit saved us. Even if you managed to hit him, you can’t kill someone immortal.” She scowled and sat near her brother. “Mind telling me what you’re doing here?” The man asked rather forcefully.

“I don’t know where your confidence is coming from, but using that tone against me isn’t going to affect me in the slightest,” Avon replied courteously.

“I guess you can’t fool a spirit, now can you?” he sighed. “Fine, why are you here?” I mean, how does a spirit like you end up in a place like this?”

“Oh, I’m a spirit contracted to the mage who’s now outside looking for whatever beast you fought.”

“A spirit contracted to a mage, now that is something that rarely happens. Aren’t you magical being supposed to be so powerful that you overlook us mere humans?”

“Yes, normally that is the case but I’ve found myself someone who’s pretty interesting.”

“And is it by choice that you use said tone of voice and girlish appearance? Do you want people to underestimate you – because I can sense strength oozing out.”

“Impressive, I didn’t think you’d be able to sense mana of such purity, well then boy, I was wrong

about you. Now then, isn’t it time for us to acquaint ourselves with each other.”

“Before we start, are you sure you don’t want to help that mage outside? He may die…”

“Not really, I’ll just end up standing in his way. Now then, I’m Avon.”

“I’m Duke Julius Garnet, and this lovely quiet girl here is my beloved little sister, Autumn Garnet, a B-rank mage.”

“Now, would you please explain to me why you’re hiding out in the noble district?”

“That is of no consequence, it was nothing malicious – we were on our way to the capital when this beast attacked us, and we fought, day and night, we fought until we reached this abandoned town. We managed to get away but I was gravely injured in the process, and had to hide here for god knows how long.”

“Quite the quandary,” Avon added nonchalantly.

“Avon, if I may ask, who is the mage you’re contracted too?” Autumn spoke, her voice wavering from fatigue.

“Oh, that’s a question I don’t have the answer for, my master is someone peculiar, to say the least, but for now, you should rest.

Outside, having ditched the car near the entrance, Staxius ran up and down the roads and alleyways tracing with all his might the pulsating aura. Near the upper end of the district, close to the town square, he caught a glimpse of the beast. It’s appearance hidden with a dark mist, it fed on some unlucky maid left behind by the nobles. “I’ve found you,” he slowly walked closer. A big growl was heard, the monster faced around, eyes filled with murderous intent, it got ready to pounce. “How lovely, you’re a wolf.”

Both opponents stared at each other, the wolf with gray fur and a rather large stature stood ready; it waited. The same went for Staxius, he slowly reached for the sheathed sword. “Let’s dance,” the wolf jumped, the first strike came from the right. Effortlessly, he stepped to the left and parried the sharp claws. Having missed the first strike, it followed up with a strike from the other paw, and yet again, Staxius parried and dodged to the other side. Frustrated, the wolf howled and charged Staxius from out of nowhere. Caught off-guard, he tried to block but was too late, he was thrown back a few meters. “That was foolish of me,” he tried regaining composure, but the wolf was right on him. Another strike from the claws pierced Staxius’s body and impaled him onto the ground. “Damn it hurts,” the wolf began tearing him apart. “What just happened? Hold up, I don’t feel anything.” It clicked, “bloody illusionist magic.” *Unleash Aura,* the illusion spell broke. He awoke, and the wolf jumped and was in striking distance. The sword sheathed, he half-heartedly took the lightning strike stance and slashed the wolf’s head clean off its body as it got closer.

“Illusion magic, I guess even I was fooled, but how can an animal use magic.” The body of the wolf began to burn away. “That’s not a wolf…” He stared as the carcass faded into nothingness. For something living to just vanish like that was unbelievable, there was some other force working behind the scene. Paying no mind to what just happened, he walked back to where Avon was. Little did he know that this was the first of many encounters, the world had begun to change. Throughout Hidros, the monster just like the one he fought, much stronger in comparison were going to be born, the fated day where the whole kingdom changed was soon to come. The birth of the new god-slayer or commonly known in legend as, the demon-king. A being so powerful even gods are no match for him, hence the god-slayer title.

The walk towards the house ended quickly. “Avon, I sense someone approaching.” Julius stood up and conjured purgatory flames, the strongest spell he had, a mixture of fire and lightning magic. Meanwhile Autumn conjured five fireballs. “Please keep your animosity in check.” Avon tried warning them but it fell on deaf ears. The footsteps grew closer, Avon backed away. Staxius walked right into the room, *PURGATORY FLAMES,* *FIREBALLS,* both spells were released. “What is this?” *Dark-arts, Mana cancellation.* The spell stopped them from using mana but their spells were already released. The attack headed his way, *Dark-arts, magical barrier.* An explosion rattled the room, heavy smoke rose from where he stood.

“Avon… did you not tell them I was coming?” Staxius nonchalantly walked through the fog. Instead of replying, Avon closed his eyes and smiled. Ignoring whoever stood before him, Staxius made way to Avon and patted his head.

“B-brother… t-that man j-just b-blew off our a-attacks like it was nothing.” Autumn’s mind was baffled.

“I-it c-can’t be… t-that p-ponytail, t-that c-cold aura.” Julius recognized it, the aura of an old friend, the mannerism, the way he ignored things not worth his attention. “E-excuse me b-but a-are you S-Staxius H-Haggard?”

With a grin on his face, “yes, that’s me. Long-time no see, Julius.”