Chapter 20: Tears - Part 1

Chapter 20: Tears

MIKO

I can't really remember the last time I had such a strong enemy. Of course, I could refer to the incident at the election. It's strange how my recent life seemed to have started at that point. Whenever I try to think about my past, it doesn't go any further than that day three years ago.

While I can't remember exactly how I fought those terrorists, I know that some of them were a real challenge. But thanks to this fact, I also knew we would not lose this fight. Because I was sure she wasn't stronger than them, and unlike then, I wasn't fighting alone.

Even though I was somewhat underwhelmed by my teammates for various reasons. Krystoff was just weak; he did manage not to get hurt, but that was only because this horned woman completely ignored him. She was more concerned with dodging and blocking my and Wace's attacks.

Speaking of Wace. I'm guessing he's holding back, or was he not strong to begin with? I never saw him in action before, but everyone talked about him as if he was as impressive as the King of Mages, making him the only natural choice for his co-leader.

At least I could tell our opponent was getting increasingly annoyed with us, slowly but surely overpowering her. Another thing I noticed was her lack of real magic usage. Her fighting style consisted of quick and strong series of punches and kicks. Her defense was also a bit scary, being able to block my sword with her bare hands.

"She's definitely a fun opponent," Wace said, panting slightly as we stood together, having backed off a bit after exchanging blows with our enemy. It was as if we had made a nonverbal agreement to take a short break because she didn't give the impression of jumping right back into the fight.

"What's Luna doing?" I asked the guys, nodding in her direction. At the beginning of the fight, she tried to hit this creature with fire projectiles, but she dodged every single one while we also had to be careful not to get hit by any of them.

"I hope she's up to something because I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this passive fighting style of our enemy." Wace conceded.

KAYLA

Surprisingly, the wound on my forearm did not hurt as much as I had expected. Maybe my brain was playing tricks on me because several orcs were just running in our direction. Even more exciting was the fact that I showed no signs of panic. I think I was in one of those moments where the body automatically took control of everything. I wouldn't know how to explain to myself why I could even form so many clear thoughts while trying to survive this battle.

With Alex by my side, I was optimistic to see another day. Her attitude alone exuded confidence. She told us she was training to join a guild one day, but I didn't expect her to be so calm and collected in such a situation.

Although I trusted her to win against an orc in close combat, I wanted to keep them as far away as possible. So, I gathered mana in my right arm again and tried to cast another strong wind spell on the orcs, but the moment I moved my arm, the wound gaped open, and my concentration was gone. I still managed to shoot some magic in their direction, but it was no more than a light blow to the orcs' faces.

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts

I instinctively started running away, building some distance while building up mana in my left arm. My aim would definitely suffer, but Alex reacted fast and dodged to the right. The only things besides the enemies I could hit were the tents, and the one with Nada in it wasn’t really in the range.

Since throwing the orcs in the air hadn't worked so well the first and second time, I had to try a different attack. The only other trick I learned in our boot camp, besides the vast wind and the projectiles, was the attack I call the air cutter. At its weakest, it resembled a slashing whip, but if I hit the right tempo and angle, it easily sliced through thick tree trunks.

Unfortunately, this attack resembled the first description, but there was something satisfying about seeing the impact on the orcs' bodies. Since they seemed stiffed by the cuts they had suffered from my invisible whip, they stopped running at us momentarily, giving me time to count our enemies. Three orcs were running towards us, one lying a few meters behind them near the purple woman who was still standing in front of the gate staring at us.

"Are you okay? How is your mana?" Alex asked as she stopped at my side.

"I feel good. I'm sure the painful heart racing is not from mana exhaustion this time."

"Let's immobilize them so you can kill them with a headshot like you did with the other one."

"How are we going to do this?" I had a few ideas of my own, but it seemed Alex had already worked out some kind of plan.

"Either try to hit their legs with the spell you just used or try to distract them so I can go into close combat. If I hit them in the right places, I can break their bones."

I would have loved to keep talking about our strategy, but the orc at the front was the first one who started running at us again. So, I raised my left arm and formed a pistol with my fingers, my thumb serving as a rear sight. I aimed at the orc's chest, which was wearing only leather armor. Alex began to pace toward the orc before I fired my spell.

Thank you for trusting me not to hit you!

The orc had trouble deciding which attack to focus on, making hitting him even easier. Against Alex's suggestion, I fired a smaller wind projectile and hit the orc's belly. Alex approached him almost at the exact moment and put her hands on the orc's head, then she jumped and pulled herself knee-first into his face with full force. Again, I heard a disturbing crack and wasn't sure if it was his skull or her knee.

Based on her reaction and the lifeless orc on the ground, it was probably its face. Just as I thought these creatures were less of a challenge to defeat than I thought, the last remaining orcs came charging at Alex. For some reason, only now they have discovered teamwork.

I had to close the distance between me and the others. Alex was way too close to the orcs to try another attack from a distance. I was also starting to feel fatigued from running out of mana, so I didn't have as many shots left to do some damage.

“Hey, hey, where are you going?”

At the same moment, I heard that voice, I only realized that the person in front of the gate was no longer standing there. Before I could react, something hit me in the rib region and knocked me away. When I finally came to a stop, I didn't quite know how far I got separated from Alex. But I was still alive, which I mainly sensed from the stabbing pain in my chest area.

Right then, I wanted to cry. Every breath, no matter how short, hurt like hell. After I slid across the ground, the deep cut on my arm burned even more than before, and I didn't know how exactly we were going to win this fight. I was impressed by Alex's strength, but I wasn't even sure if she was still alive.

I was about to fall into despair and self-pity. I was about to ask myself that question again. What was I doing here? For twenty years, I had managed to ignore the fact that I could use magic. It was okay for me to contribute nothing to society. And now I'm supposed to die for nothing? Who would mourn me?

Fuck

Somehow, I hated that her face appeared in my mind.