25 Mage Killer Se (1/2)

”Bodeth and Sylvie should be finished by now.” Oswin kept his staff pointed to where Sebastian stood, which was now covered in a cloud of dust. ”Hmm?” He briefly lifted his eyebrow as he peered into the dust cloud in front of him.

Oswin suddenly lifted his staff to block a flying rock. He was very relaxed with his movements, to the untrained eye, it looked like he was simply adjusting his staff.

Pak!

”Did you think that was enough to distract me?” Oswin turned to his left side where Sebastian was now standing, with his swords out. ”So you found out. I'm impressed with your speed and reaction.”

[Augment] Steel body and mind, flow mana into retinas, reinforce leg muscles, increase synapse flow. It was a result of Sebastian's nightly practice - a set of [Augment] skills which he dubbed as the 'Mage Killer' set. With the various augmentations involved, it was geared towards tracing an opponent's flow of mana and in the immediate surroundings as well. Coupled with physical augmentations focused on speed and evasion, it proved its efficiency when dealing with the mage's surprise attack.

However, Sebastian was continuously maintaining his [Augment] skills ever since they arrived in Erimead Village. It was slowly taking a toll on his body as his mana dwindled to dangerous levels and his physical augmentations were becoming drawn out.

”Hooo... Let's go.” Starting off with a deep breath, Sebastian kicked off with his foot as he dashed towards Oswin without further talk.

”Hmph.” Oswin responded in kind as he drew a large circle on the air with his staff.

'You think a mage's weakness is close-ranged combat. Die like the others before you. [Stoneskin], [Explosion]'

BWOOM!

The explosion area was wide enough to engulf both Oswin and Sebastian!

cough cough ”Are you suicidal?” Sebastian cleared out the smoke he inadvertently inhaled as he evaded the explosion at the last moment. Considering how close they were, Oswin seemed to be in the middle of the explosion but Sebastian still kept his guard up. He had trouble sensing Oswin's mana through the dust and the smoke in the air. He belatedly realised how foolish it was for him to rely on his visual senses to trace the mana in front of him. Sebastian made a mental note to revise this the next time he did his training.

SSHWOOM WHOOM WHHOO!

[Ice Lance] suddenly pierced through the smoke cloud heading towards Sebastian!

With an increased reaction time and sensitivity to mana, dodging the projectiles was easy for Sebastian.

's.h.i.+t. If this goes on I'll just collapse from mana burn out or I'll eventually slip up. He's not their party leader for nothing.'

As the dust settled, Oswin was still standing in the middle of the explosion crater as he continued to cast offensive spells like there was no tomorrow. [Ice Lance], which was the favoured attack of mages for its speed and lethality kept coming at odd angles no matter the distance Sebastian placed between him and Oswin. Occasionally Oswin threw some [Fireball] spells to push Sebastian back.

”You can't win in a battle of endurance with me. Die!” As if he read Sebastian's mind, Oswin increased his casting speed!

BWOOM! SSSHHHAAK!

'I'm almost there. Endure it!' Sebastian kept evading and appearing at Oswin's blind spots, although Oswin seemed ready every time he did.

BAAAM!

Another [Fireball] exploded near Sebastian when he ducked out of an [Ice Lance]'s trajectory!

BAM BAM WHOONG!

”[Signal]? Wh Bodeth and Sylvie!” Oswin momentarily turned towards the source of the [Signal] spell, which was enough for Sebastian to take advantage.

'Now! [Augment] Steel mind, triple physical augment!' Muscles and veins bulged all over Sebastian's body as he dashed once more towards Oswin with blinding speed!

SAK SAK SSASAK SAAK SSHAK!

With his newfound speed, Sebastian appeared in front of Oswin and slashed with speed and fervour that Oswin didn't have time to react or defend. With his speed, Sebastian unknowingly created an afterimage in front and behind Oswin, although the slashes from all sides felt real.

Thud

Only when Sebastian stopped his slashes that Oswin finally fell back on the ground, dropping his staff in the process.

”Haaah. Haaah. ... I'm, I'm still alive?” Oswin couldn't move any of his extremities, but he was still able to breathe and speak much to his surprise.

”I simply cut your tendons and the blood supply to your extremities - they're useless now. I've also fractured your cervical spine with some of my blows. You won't be able to move anything below your neck.”

”Ahahaha!”

”Have you gone mad old man? Is this funny to you? Was this all a game to you?!” Sebastian couldn't hide his frustration as he gripped his swords tight again. He already released the [Augment] spells on his body, but he was still able to fight if needed - even if he simply relied on his rage-fueled adrenaline.