Chapter 76 Forest Skirmish (2)

Malaki used his impressive strength to push back the dagger wielding man, brandishing his sword to cut off the man's path. He would hold him back for the time being. Meanwhile, the last person was trying to finish off the last defender, who was obviously a mage that was bad in close combat.

The attacker unleased a flurry of sword strikes that ere only just barely blocked by an earth shield raised by the defender.

"Why are you guys doing this?!" The defender, a lean woman with brown hair, cried out as the attacker's sword grazed her neck, drawing line of crimson blood. The attacker, a short male with brown hair and dark skin, ignored her cries and only intensified his offensive.

"Ack!" The woman tripped as he ankle bent, sending her tumbling back. Unfortunately, this was a very large opening that her assailant did not hesitate to exploit the moment it appeared.

Whoosh!

A water barrier blocked the advance of the man. He turned around and glared at Bella, seeing her azure staff emitting a bright blue glow.

"Damn mage." He grunted and continued attacking. He released a flurry of skills on the barrier, before it eventually burst apart. That moment was all the brown brown haired needed to turn the table in her favor. An earthen spike shot out of the ground, burying itself halfway through his chest before stopping.

Drip.

Drip.

Blood dripped to the ground in a steady rhythm, leaking form the man's mouth, and also running down the expose end of the earth spike.

"Damn you." The man glared at the shaken woman as the light in his eyes faded away.

The woman shakily took a step back as her adrenaline wore off. She immediately remembered the injured comrade behind her and fell to her knees at his side. Her trembling hands fished out a health recovery potion from a bag to the side and quickly poured it down his throat.

Nothing happened. Instead, his already pale color began to become even paler, and a sob racked through her throat as tears burst from her eyes.

Just then, Bella went down on her knees on the other side of the unconscious man. She put her staff aside and held her hands above the man's chest, which showed no signs of rising or falling.

"He's alive. Just barely, though." Bella immediately said, her eyes snapping wide open. She reached into her satchel and fetched a few glittering potions. She popped open a silver vial that glittered like watery silver and poured it over the man's head. Next, she poured another health recovery potion into his mouth, before grabbing her staff and raising it over his chest.

The next moment, a faint chanting sound left her lips, and her eyes glowed with a white light as she channeled both her healing magic, as well as Holy magic to speed up the healing of the man's fatal injuries.

Meanwhile, the battle among the rest of the people were beginning to swing in the favor of Adrian, Malaki, and the other member of the assailed group.

Adrian's body glowed with red vapor and light that was generated by his burning health. The man that he was fighting was a Mid C rank close combat mage, while he was just a Low C rank close combat mage. As for the other man fighting alongside him, Adrian guessed he was also Mid C rank, but his injuries inhibited his fighting prowess. Even then, he was able to keep up with Adrian, launching simultaneous pincer attacks that did not fail to injure the other man.

"Argh!" The flaming sword of the injured man fighting alongside Adrian slashed the Achilles tendon a the back of the other man's heel, causing him to cry out and fall back. He quickly regained his footing, but the constant burn of the severed tendon, as well as the corrosive flames of the man who cut him, kept him distracted.

Very soon, the tendon at the back of his knee was cut, and he fell down to his knee. A glistening blade covered in a red corona of hard light pressed against his throat, causing him to go still in fear. He stared up with wide eyes as Adrian looked down at him, the rage in his eyes barely cooling. He could tell at once that one wrong movement would be all it took for Adrian to slice off his head.

Malaki's battle was a bit different. He did not try to overwhelm his opponent, but instead focused on keeping him occupied. Daggers clashed against his solid shield time after time, but were unable to get past it. Both of them were Low C rank mages, so they were roughly evenly matched, with Malaki having the defensive advantage.

When he saw that his comrades were being brought down one by one, the dagger wielding man gritted his teeth and quickly dashed off. Malaki watched him go, as stopping him would be very difficult. He did not have the speed to keep up with the man. Blocking his path earlier had been the best he could do, but when the man put his all into escaping, he could not be stopped.

The earth elemental man swirling around Malaki slowly settled as he relaxed his body and let out a tired breath. Whenever he was fighting, he used his meager affinity with earth magic to boost his stamina and increase his defense. It worked wonders, but always left his feeling tired after he was done. The strain was lighter now that he was C rank, but it was still ever present.

Turning around, he saw that Adrian and the other man had just disable their opponent, while the other man had been killed by the sobbing brown haired woman. He grunted and made his way over to the men as Adrian tried to squeeze out answers from the kneeling man who was glaring at him. The man refused to speak and tried to act tough, but that only angered Adrian further, as the effects of his Class being activated had yet to wear off. He raised his sword, red light flaring from it, and swung it down in a diagonal slashing motion.