Dorian leapt at the man and was ready to slash upwards. Directing his blade upwards, it struck through pieces of cloth that seemed to be magically enhanced in a way Dorian couldn't anticipate.
The mage raised his leg and pressed a kick straight towards Dorian's sternum, which he barely reacted to. As soon as he could, the mage placed himself in a guarded stance.
"Such confidence, you surprise me. You say I couldn't have been prepared for you, yet you're the one who encased this place with fire, just for me and you. I'll see to it that I erase that smug face of yours, child."
Though Dorian's smug face was just an 'act', there was something dangerous which he could only have discovered once fighting him.
There was something about his body. Though his blade was angled precisely and the force was adequate to meet his flesh, it didn't.
No matter—Dorian would have to work around this, just like he had to so much in his life; his past had ensured that he could prepare for such scenarios, for the unexpected, for the unknown.
"Bring all you have," Dorian said, whilst rushing back in.
The man raised his wand. "Foul swordsman, who hasn't met the might of magic, I will be sure to cleanse your false heroism from the planet."
The leaves rustled as gusts of wind began circulating around him. An instant after, waves of water were being drawn from the air, from the plants, and from the grass.
Dorian activated thermal sense. However, trouble struck harder than he would have liked. There was such a large collection of mana forming in such a narrow area that it was hard to pinpoint the trajectory it would take, so that only meant one thing.
This was a big attack.
Dorian couldn't allow that to happen. If this were a water attack, which he had suspected due to the low amounts of heat he sensed, then this wouldn't be his best friend.
Water always extinguished fire, after all, but Dorian wasn't going to allow his flame to be extinguished.
The grimoire began radiating a more potent light that blinded Dorian for a moment, but a moment was all it took to completely shift the dynamic of a fight.
Dorian slashed an aerial projection of fire - to try and distract the opposition, but it was too late and Dorian was too cocky.
What Dorian hadn't accounted for was the separate powers the grimoire could provide—besides controlling beasts, it had other capabilities.
Dorian watched on as his fire was extinguished, fury embedded into his expression, knowing he wouldn't be able to evade what was coming.
Before him, with the help of the grimoire, the mage summoned a large wave that released without an incantation. It was that damn grimoire, it gave him the ability to use incantationless mana.
Dorian did his best to minimise the damage; however, what was there to dodge when it was a whole tsunami engulfing him?
With no means of escape, the water quickly crashed against his body. The destructive plethora of water pummelled his body. The speed of the ravenous waters weakened him.
He tried to rise, but it was useless; the rampant pulls of force were too much for him, and he wouldn't last like this for long. He needed to do something to turn the tide of the battle.
**
Aya and Shadowbound had been flung off the dragon, leaving them within a mile radius of Dorian's current battle.
They saw the rise in black flames, which indicated Dorian was in battle, and until he let that wall of flames down, Aya and Shadowbound would be forced to remain away from it, as per the plan.
Dorian had used the aid of Emrys to empower the flames, taking into account the possibility of the orchestrator of the attack having an affinity for water, which would naturally extinguish the flames.
But when it came to Emrys' flames, they were on a different scale to what Dorian's natural body could generate.
Nevertheless, they were tasked with a specific objective, and that was to draw all the monsters in the vicinity into a compact area; the rest of the details weren't as important for them at this current point.
As a result of the battle, which had taken Xerxes from her, Aya had adopted a more vigilant approach. She used her mana and sent out pulses of wind to detect any disturbances, and she did pick up on a few.
Cid, too, seemed to be in a different mindset; he was attempting to attract the monsters. From a pouch he had stored, he scattered the floor with a special blend of herbs and other components that made the trees rustle.
It wasn't some potent power that could sway mana, but instead attract monsters. This was a blend that the Eshvirs had used to lure more beasts—and if that was what they needed to do to give Dorian enough time, then he would do it.
"Now, Aya, we need to commit to this task. As Dorian told us, if we succeed, then we can already count ourselves as being fifty percent there. Though your task is more harrowing than mine—are you sure your speed will keep up with what you need to do?"
Cid was concerned for Aya—anyone would be, naturally—as her task was quite daunting. She was assigned to use a powerful wind-mana spell to shake all the trees within the largest radius she could cover.
Why? Because goblins moved in the trees, and once shaken from them, their instincts would drive them to initiate combat. The decoy who would be leading them would be none other than her.
"Shadowbound, I assure you that I won't fail, not like before. As for speed, strength, and rationale, I have greatly surpassed who I once was."
Shadowbound drew his sword and raised it in an inspirational manner. "Then, Aya, get all the beasts here! Get as many goblins, slimes, and abominations as this forest has to hold!"
Aya nodded. She looked down at her hands and thought of drawing in power. However, this wasn't from her soul core—this was from a specific soul shard she had held for a long time, though her body had never been strong enough to meet the demand the soul shard required.
This was her wolf soul shard—a power that enhanced her magical range and mana quantity. It was said that mana was held in the voice of creatures, and the one greatest at making their voice known was the howl of a wolf, which demanded the attention of all nearby.
Now, correlating this with her mana, Aya could wake all these creatures with her wind.
Aya started running further into the forest as she muttered an incantation:
"Oh blessed wind, hear my call! Lend me your speed, your fury, your grace. Through the veil of my soul, take form and awaken... Howling Wind!"
The air answered. It began with a whisper, just a breath brushing across the battlefield, but within seconds, the ground trembled as leaves, shards of stone, and dust lifted into the air, as if freed from gravity.
A sapphire hue bled across her skin, veins alight with energy. The wind didn't just stir around her as it had before—it began to connect with Aya's specific state.
To Aya, battle was never meant to be viewed as calming and fluid; it was meant to be chaotic, sprinkled with touches of elegance. That was how she had learned from her elder brother when she was younger.
And if there was anything to admire about that vile mage, it was his fundamental fighting style that oppressed any opponent, no matter their size or strength.
That was how the vortex of screaming air rose from the ground, pushing everything upwards with a huge gust,
From the trees, goblins frantically jolted upwards, then, a gale force pressed down on all of them with a crushing weight that rumbled the entire surface of the earth that surrounded them.
The impact crashing down from the tree lines had ended the lives of many beasts, but for the ones that didn't, they directed their blood thirsty eyes up at the Aya.
In a swift motion, they all dashed toward her, one of them thrusting its claws to take her eye.
She thought she would be fast enough, but she wasn't. There was too much searing pain in her muscles from summoning that widespread attack and it all felt useless.
Could she just give up and drown in fear, like before? That was easy, it was easier than standing and fighting, is what she would have thought, but these few months had shaped and reconfigured the foundation of who she was becoming.
She wasn't the regular mage she once thought she was, she had excelled and dove back into the world of adventuring with a new dedication to strength than what she had previously.
She wouldn't be able to change her past, but she could change her future. It didn't have to be a dream of becoming great—it could be an actuality.
This prompted her to muster all her strength and leap backwards.
Blood was drawn from Aya, but not from her eye. From her cheek, as the claws penetrated a few centimetres away. She wiped the blood and summoned her strength.
Mana began rotating around Aya's hands as she held them in a circular shape. A great deal of goblins were all rushing toward her, nearing closer and closer—but Aya needed more.
She needed more of them to take out, and she would. The goblins, slimes, and all other creatures were rushing at her, less than three feet away, as she generated mana within the small crevice of her hands and roared with all her pent-up rage:
"SEVERANCE!"
A disk of wind appeared within her hands as she thrust them outward, unleashing a disk of destructive wind magic that gashed and minced the flesh of all the goblins, keeping them at bay.
Aya started to make her way over to Shadowbound. She was heaving and not in good condition—the overuse of mana was debilitating her body, and she could barely move.
But he was so close. Shadowbound was so close. Some goblins that weren't dead began to rise, matching pace with Aya as Shadowbound approached.
"Shadowbound, I'll need some help. I'm almost done."
Shadowbound looked at Aya with different eyes than before—there seemed to be a void growing larger and larger by the second. But what was it?
"Cid?" she called, confused.
Shadowbound then raised his blade, and Aya thought this would be the help she deserved—but there was also a slight inkling in her mind that made what was happening… strange.
In the next moment, Shadowbound ruthlessly attempted to decapitate her. But Aya had anticipated this and quickly pivoted her lead foot to dodge the attack without expending too much energy.
With no other choice, she had to overexert her mana and use a quick push of wind to separate the distance.
Shadowbound then spoke in a monotone voice:
"Kill those who try to object the golden will."
She sighed and looked at Shadowbound with tired and angered eyes.
"Someone like you surely can not be charmed, can you? Does That mongrel of a mage have control over you now, Shadowbound?"
Shadowbound widened his stance, squaring himself with his intimidating size and blade, all directed at her.
It was now Aya vs. Shadowbound.