As the wall fell to bits, Arthur saw a shadow appear in front of him. It was the swordsman that had come to the rescue of the two. With his great sword flying in Arthur's direction, he dodged the attack by jumping backward. As the range of the great sword was a lot longer than a normal one, Arthur had to block the blade's tip with his own. The protection rune broke down, and Arthur felt the residual force travel through his hand. It wasn't something he couldn't handle.
"Who are you?" The swordsman, named Lian, asked with his hood dropped down. It was a young man in his early twenties with a sharp nose and eyes. he combed his black hair backward with a lot of grey hair scattered in between.
Before Arthur could answer, Kira appeared in front of him as it swung its claws at Lian with fire trailing behind them. Lian tried to block the attack, but a deep gash appeared on his wrist as he wasn't fast enough to dodge. The strike sent Lian backward toward the two mages.
Now the two sides were opposite of each other; everyone stood at a standstill. Kira glared at the group with unhidden bloodlust because they attacked it so suddenly. Arthur, however, had calmed down by now. He knew fighting these three men was unfavorable. He walked in front of Kira and asked it to stop. Unexpectedly, Kira looked at him with glaring eyes but didn't do anything more. Seeing this, Arthur had a sense of bitterness in his throat for some reason.
"You attacked us first, so let's drop this." Arthur's mouth tasted even more bitter. However, he continued as he knew this was the right thing to do. "This is my friend, and we did nothing to harm you."
"Hah, friend, you say?" Lian, who has regained his composure by now, stood straight as he laughed with ridicule. "You're no tamer, I am. Monsters would only be 'friend' after we make them submit." Lian stressed the word friend with a hint of sarcasm. Arthur felt a lump in his throat, but he didn't want to fight unnecessarily.
"Our relationship isn't any of your business, so just leave." Arthur clenched his teeth as he spat out each word. he realized why he felt bitter. It was that his rage hasn't subsided by the least. He didn't want to back down, but he didn't want to risk both his life and Kira's if he could prevent the fight.
"I'm not leaving until I make that wolf mine." Lian pointed his great sword at Kira. Arthur stood there silently, and the tension rose between the two sides.
"I'm glad you said that. Now, I can rest assured that I tried to prevent this. It's time for you three to pay for attacking my friend." Arthur's feelings were far from being scared; all he felt was rage. His expression was ferocious as he clenched his teeth and glared at the lot.
Without saying another word, Arthur used his boots again. At the same time, Kira darted forward with him. The two's speed matched momentarily, and they reached the enemies in an instant.
Like before, Lian slashed with his great sword toward Kira as the two mage's abilities rained on Arthur. This time, the two of them prepared themselves, and Arthur couldn't outrun their aim. If he learned one lesson from his underground failure, it was to never go to battle unprepared. However, his protection rune was useless against magic attacks as they were elemental, not physical. His rune only protected him from physical attacks, and that was the second reason he almost died underground.
It was then that Arthur activated his runes for a second time, jumping high in the air. He then flipped his sword while he was mid-air and activated the force rune on it toward the sky. This led to his unexpected descent toward the two mages, and Arthur slashed the ice mage. His jump and air maneuver were so unforeseen and unorthodox that he took the group off guard. The ice mage couldn't do anything, and Arthur's blade slashed him, blood splashing at the latter's face. The wound was so deep that Arthur's sword reached the mage's ribs, slicing through them. Arthur's stomach churned at the thought of killing someone, but the other mage didn't allow him to dwell over his morals.
"Ken! Get away from him!" The fire mage blasted several fireballs as his complexion grew pale at the draining of his mana. Arthur had no means to dodge it and waited for the blast to send him away.
The light disappeared from his view as Kira stood in front of him, taking the full blast. As Kira was an elemental fire monster, his wound was only superficial. However, Lian took the chance and struck at the abdomen of the giant wolf, with ether images of his sword accompanying it.
This attack sent Kira flying as three wounds appeared on its body. Arthur's rage reignited as he dashed toward Lian again, using his boots as a propelling force, striking the man backward. The fire mage has used the last bit of mana with the previous attack and was now struggling to replenish it.
Lian blocked Arthur's strike and answered with one of his own, using the same skill again. A great sword and a great ether sword flew in his direction, and Arthur decided to let the protection runes on his armor and the one he drew in the air take the damage of the physical sword.
For the ether attack, Arthur knew he had use mana to deflect it. His survival instincts tingled as he drew every bit of mana he could toward his sword. In a fight-or-flight response, the mana sprung in his body, wildly hurting his internals in the process. They left his body as they raged through it and covered his sword like a blue flame dancing around it. The mana was unstable, but it was enough to block the sword, sending Arthur flying.
A scream resounded with the sound of flesh being torn apart. The fire mage, who has been preparing to attack Arthur's back by using the last of his mana, has been killed by Kira. Arthur crashed to the ground and coughed as his internals felt like the attack torn them apart. His sword had a big chip in it, but it wasn't broken yet. His mana was almost emptied, with 'almost' being the keyword.
With unbearable pain, he stood up and glared at Lian. Kira stood next to him as the two were ready for the final battle. Lian looked at the two still standing and then looked at his killed comrades. He shook his hand before putting his sword away. His wrist had a deep wound from earlier, and it only worsened by the prolonged fight.
"If this has been the outside world, I'd have been able to kill you both. This turned out to be a losing battle." Lian turned around like the death of his friends didn't faze him as he started heading toward the forest.
"You… you think I'd let you walk away?" Arthur was inwardly shocked at the nonchalant and arrogant demeanor the swordsman had. He crouched down again for a final attack, but his internals screamed with pain as a metallic taste filled his mouth. The earlier use of mana badly injured him, but Arthur swallowed the blood, fearing Lian would see it. Kira walked toward him and stood in front of Arthur, gazing at him with a meaning that Arthur knew.
"Remember this, I'm not a fighter, but a tamer. In the outside world, you'd fight me with my tamed monsters." Lian disappeared into the forest after saying those words. Arthur stood there for a long time, fearing he might return, but it didn't happen. Arthur crashed to the ground as blood leaked from his mouth. It was only then that he received messages from his legacy.
[You have leveled up. Level 10 has been reached. Runes-tree has been unlocked.]
[A new rune has been learned: Heal-I.]