268 My magic (1/2)

”A staff... A staff... Gotta find a staff!!” she repeated to herself while feeling her heartbeat accelerating with each passing second.

Any moment she wasted was a moment where Daren would continue to be in danger while he kept Boris occupied so the fire mage could find a proper weapon to defeat him.

She rushed all her way back from where she came and finally arrived at the spot where the dragon tried to devour her. Getting there wasn't all that hard as the smell of its corpse rotting was infecting the whole cavern and almost made the poor woman want to tear her nose off.

”Oh, gods!! Oh, gods!!! It smells so baaaad!!!” she complained while being on the verge of vomiting.

She had no time for that though. After gazing at the huge hole located in the ceiling she hurried to climb to the surface and arrived in the middle of a jungle.

”Ok... Ok... Now... Just need to find a tree of channeling energy... There has to be one around here somewhere...” Leona whispered, hoping that she would be right. If the worst came to happen and it turned out that there was no tree in sight, Daren would be a dead man.

Leona slapped her cheeks trying to not think about such a terrible outcome and began her search.

While the mage was looking for a staff, Daren continued to hide from Boris by using the shadows of the cave to hide his presence and keeping himself concealed behind a bolder.

Every time the large man would destroy a piece of rock to vent his frustration, Daren would use this chance to sneak behind him and create some distance.

The plan seemed to be working, but Daren wasn't sure for how long.

”I know you're out there, boy!! Come out and face me like a man!!!” Boris yelled while strolling through the cave and slashing every bolder he locked eyes onto into pieces with his large sword.

Daren was about to reply with how he would rather be a living boy than a dead man, but right now, keeping Boris from finding his location was the top priority on his list.

The man with a heavy blade continued to slash and destroy anything in front of him without a care in the world.

”I assumed that since you were from the same group, you would at least have some guts to face me like the crossbow girl did... But I guess you are one of those cowards that let the women do all the work for ya, am I right?” Boris taunted again.

Daren knew that he was being provoked in order to reveal his location, but a part of him couldn't help but feel that there was a bit of truth in the words Boris spoke.

Ever since he lost the ability to turn into a lion beast, it seemed that the women in his life had been doing all the work for him.

It seemed that if he had no access to his lion, Eclipse, or his partner, Marcus, Daren was always completely defenseless and in need of saving. He still couldn't believe that he was turned into a follower of Mia for an entire week and needed the old goddess of the east to help him of all things.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to miss his curse a little bit. At least back then, he could fight for himself and protect others instead of always being protected. If only he could get some new form of power.

At that moment, Daren began to listen to the sound of water dripping from above. He looked up and realized that a stalactite was indeed crying from the upper part of the cave and making a small pond next to his feet.

Daren stared at the pond and noticed that it was trembling all of sudden as if a large beast was approaching with very heavy steps and making the very ground shake with its weight.

But it was no beast, it was merely a man fueled by his desire for revenge searching for its prey and swinging his blade on the same boulder Daren was using to hide.

The lad almost had no time to react while the sword came dropping its weight on top of him in an attempt to split him in half.

Fortunately, Daren managed to react fast enough to escape certain death, but the boulder was not so lucky and was trashed into pieces.

”Found you...” Boris whispered while holding a huge grin.

”So it seems... For such a big guy you have a lot of stamina...” Daren commented.

”You would be amazed by how useful rage can be to fuel someone to keep moving!!” Boris proclaimed while bringing his sword down one more time.

Daren was once again, able to dodge that attack. He was engaged with one of the world's greatest swordswomen after all. He had seen the path of a blade many times and he knew exactly how to dodge successfully in case he ever made her angry for one reason or another.

Still, Lilith tended to move with agility and precision, while Boris acted like a kid trying to kill a bug with a nuclear bomb because he couldn't be bothered to properly aim his swings.

His blade was heavy, slow, and incredibly easy to predict. The real problem was its power. While his attacks were easy to avoid, the impact of the sword with the ground was enough to throw Daren off balance.

”You have no idea what I've endured after that encounter with the golden bird girl...” Boris continued.

”Golden bird girl...?” Daren repeated, ”Oh, right... You faced Evlin when she was fused with Sphinx...”

”Evlin... Just hearing that name... Ugh!! I hate that brat!! I hate her so much!!!” Bori yelled while swinging his blade left and right while charging at Daren like a bulldozer.

”Oh, Lord!!” Daren gasped while jumping out of the way.

The attacks from Boris and his sword were becoming wilder and harder to predict. Boris wasn't using the blade with any thought behind it, he was just swinging it like a mad man, thus, making it even harder to predict.

”Do you have any idea how much I was humiliated that day??”

Daren rolled his eyes, ”No... Nor do I really care... But I feel your gonna tell me anyway...”

”Me!! The great Boris!! The greatest mercenary that ever lived!! Defeated by some mere mage after just one punch!! My name became a joke! My legacy was destroyed! My reputation turned into ashes!! All because of one dumb girl!!!”

More rocks continued to be destroyed left and right by Boris' mad rampage. Daren tried his best to continue avoiding his attacks but he was starting to run out of cave space.

”I was at the top of my game!! I had never been defeated before!! I never failed any job assigned to me! But after that day?? Nobody would come to me! All they cared about was 'Crossbow girl this! Crossbow girl that!', all I would hear about was about this damn crossbow girl!! And as for me?? You know what happened to me??”

”I think I can take a guess, but you seem like you're working on some issues, so please go on...” Daren whispered, trying to get Boris to keep talking and rambling to give more time for Leona to return.

”I still remember... That day... The day someone came to me, a very rich man with white hair and orange eyes... I assumed he would be a new client offering me a job... Maybe something to kill, or a bandit to capture... But instead... You know what he said?”