Broken Tower Saga: The First Swordsman

After only covering a minute or two, Wrik gained his freedom from the grassland. So he was running across the grassland for two hours where freedom was within his reach, if only he had changed direction a little earlier. Wrik had no time to regret, dashed straight towards the location indicated on the map.

While after grassland there were more grasses, but they did not even reach his waist, helping him see where he was going. The sword was still in his arms as he felt the disturbance in the atmosphere. 

After moving a little more, Wrik could see who called for help. It was Tanya, and Byul was with her as well. Moreover, they were in a dire state as a group of human-faced beasts were after them.

Tanya and Byul could not outrun the group, but fortunately, the leader of the group—the two-and-a-half metre tall of a man did not chase after them, if not Tanya did not know if she could delay anymore without paying a price. 

She cast small ice spikes at the group, disrupting them in their chase, While Byul looked after any who get closed to them. Byul had broken the seal finally, as she had a wand in one hand and a knife in the other. She was holding the wand in her dislocated arm, even with the pain. She would do anything that would come in handy in her survival. 

Byul cast a weave of wind at the two chasers that were getting closer to them. One was blown a few metres away by the wind while the other skilfully dodged her spell. It was the same man that sealed her mana before, the one that dislocated her arms with no qualms.

Even though Tanya was successful in dealing with a couple of Ice spikes in his back, it appeared to have not caused many problems to him. Why did Tanya show mercy to such a man? Such thoughts came into Byul's mind. If Tanya had killed him then or at least made him unable to stand up, then she would have a lot less to worry about.

The man was just a couple of metres away when Byul cast a wind blade at his chest; he dodged, twisting his body sideways again, while Byul had guessed it as she threw a mana infused knife just after the spell, guessing the position of the man.

The man could not dodge again. His agility might have suffered after getting spikes on his back. The knife hit him on the side of the ribcage. Even though he was wearing a thin layer of armour, he could not help but grunt in pain. 

Byul cast wind blade again. Wind Blade was only an elementary spell, but it had its viciousness in close quarters, and it only took her less than a second to cast it.

The man dodged again, rolling on the ground, Yet Byul did not stop in her attack. Windblade after wind blade knocked on the ground, cutting the layer of grass. A couple of them were successful in smashing the thigh and arm of the man before he reached a safe distance where the wind blade could not reach.

Byul sighed in relief and peeked at Tanya to notice the one she had blown earlier had reached quite close to her. Moreover, the others would reach soon enough. But worst of all the giant of a man, the leader of these gangs, was walking towards them as well, though his pace was not fast, with his long stride he would reach in any minute.

Byul threw her mana infused knife at the group, but it was not of much use. Throwing knives only work when it's hidden, or with a misdirection, just like she did a moment ago with the spell.

Tanya did not care about the one reaching close to her, attacked the ones behind, even the one in the front would not come close to her recklessly, as half a dozen ice spikes were hovering in the surrounding air.

Suddenly, she smiled as a thick layer of mist formed around a five-metre radius of her. She had triggered her ability [Mist of Change], noticing a chance of retaliation.

Byul made a wise decision to hide herself in the mist, as she knew Tanya could let her vision uninterrupted in the mist. Now her throwing knife would be of some use, and so were the ice spikes. 

Few of the chasers entered the mist heedlessly, just when they yelped in pain. Ice spikes and knives hit them on the ankles, immobilising them to chase further.

"They were more skills than I have assumed," a gruff voice said in the mist. It was the leader of the group, the giant of a man.

Byul and Tanya hit him with their spells at once, yet the man dodged intuitively. It's as if he had no problem in sight, even though he was in the mists.

"Now I know where you are," as the voice stopped, the long legs of the moved in frenzies. It was like a leg of god. With a few strides, he was just before Tanya. 

The mist seemed to clear a little in his eyes, as he expected to see the despair in the eyes of the mage, but that was not what he saw. Contrary to despair, the little mage was smiling at him, as if mocking his level of intelligence. 

Tanya ducked the very next moment as a silhouette jumped at him, swinging his sword mercilessly from above. 

It was Wrik. He dealt a big blow to the chest of the giant man, even though the thick armour was restricted a little. The sword had reached his skin, severing the breastplate in an intersecting slash. 

Tanya did not just activate the [Mist of Change], so she could only cast seamlessly at the gang of chasers. She had noticed the presence of the giant man, as she had known the presence of her ally. Her brain worked a little plan immediately when she knew what she was up against, and what she had on her arsenal. Her only worry was that her ally would be able to guess her situation instantly. And Wrik did not disappoint her. He hid in the mist, just waiting for the right moment.

Wrik followed with another two, one returning and the other at the side of the ribcage. While the returning slash from the surprise swing was able to break his defence, the other one on the side of the rib cage could not. 

Wrik knew the answer. Armament Reinforcement. This giant of a man was just not a show of physical strength. He was seriously skilled in mana as well. But he dealt two big blows to the giant man, and he had the advantage here, the giant man could not see properly in the mist while he can. The giant man's allies could not help him much while his can.

One Phrase you should always keep in mind: Never let a mage time to prepare.

With all the advantages in hand, Wrik had some disadvantages as well. Like the chilly poison on his system, or the impaling migraine in his head for overusing the [Eye of Insights].

He met the spear of the man with his sword as they made a sound in their clash. The physical strength of the giant man reminded Wrik of the ghoul they had to deal with in the trial. He did not lose in any bit in the physical strength of the ghoul, might even be far better with the mana armament in play.

___________

I'll fix all the mess I have made today.