162 The Two Heroes (1/2)

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Two figures were seen with the enhanced senses of both Kazuya and Tsuna. They hid themselves under the shade of the big tree on the horizon and had chosen to take the higher ground.

”Should we take an opponent each?” Though Tsuna asked this question, it was to prevent Kazuya from recklessly charging in on his own. Since both of them were former heroes, they had the habit of standing in front of others. This was the responsibility that came with the blessing they were given and it was something that couldn't be changed just because they wanted it.

”Fine.” Kazuya agreed. ”We'll take on whoever faces us when we make our way up.” Kazuya didn't want to waste any time and immediately dashed towards the two figures.

Tsuna sighed before heading towards the other direction. This way, the two would have to concentrate on either one of them and allow the other to reach them sooner or split their focus in which they would inevitably battle one on one if the opponents had failed to stop Tsuna and Kazuya's ascent.

””!!”” The two figures hadn't expected their positions to be discovered quickly. The two people showed that they were capable enough when the attacks that were meant to scare off these intruders were repelled easily.

Realizing that Kazuya and Tsuna were no ordinary individuals, the figures decided to get serious. They didn't know what they were doing in the mountains but it looked like they did not have good intentions. The shorter figure that had a sword on his waist was emitting a strong killing intent after all.

Kazuya locked on to the target that stood on the right side of the tree. He made his advance swiftly despite the upward and uneven terrain of the mountain. It was only until he suddenly felt a surge of mana that he had turned to take a more careful route.

As he had expected, he would have been in trouble if he had proceeded on the quickest path as the earth in front of him started to tremble. Many rocks started to fall on the path Kazuya had taken and it didn't take a long time for the terrain to change.

”(A mage!)” Kazuya exclaimed. The surge of mana he felt surprised him as he never thought that he would run into such a capable mage on earth.

Seeing that Kazuya had perfectly evaded the landslide intended to prevent him from getting close, the mage wasted no time and turned a hand towards where Kazuya had dodged to. Sensing the spell and recognizing it, Kazuya quickly rolled to the side as an earth spike sprouted from the ground.

”Annoying…” Kazuya clicked his tongue and focused mana on his legs. He jumped towards the spike and used its height to leap towards the mage's direction.

”Wind spirits converge! Mystral Wind!” Kazuya got close enough to hear the mage's voice. It sounded like a man and a relatively young one at that.

”Tsk!” Kazuya clicked his tongue and immediately drew his sword.

Mistral Wind was an advanced magic spell that would injure and send him flying down the mountain if he took a direct hit. This mage made a quick judgement to subdue him by using the aftereffects of the spell which would make him unable to use his body adequately because of the cold elements of the spell. He had underestimated this mage and assumed that the opponent was only adept in earth magic.

”Blaze Break!” Kazuya shouted as flames immediately emerged to cover the sword in his hand. The explosion of both mana and flames that met the spell head-on startled the mage and both the archer and Tsuna who were also locked in an intense battle.

Kazuya still hadn't reached the mage but he successfully reached flat ground. The terrain would no longer be a burden when evading the attacks from the mage and he would be able to see and feel the magic spells that would be used against him.

He looked at himself and found that his clothes had been damaged by the spell. He had been wearing an experimental fabric underneath his clothes that protected him from the spell but the unprotected parts were still left with scratches. It was truly reckless to meet an advanced spell head on so Kazuya decided to be a bit more cautious.

Glancing towards his opponent who seemed to have also been shocked by what just happened, Kazuya was able to see that they too had indeed tried to hide their identities. The mage and the archer were wearing green cloaks that seemed to blend perfectly with their surroundings. This gave Kazuya an inexplicably nostalgic feeling that made him frown.

”(That wasn't a standard spell…)” the mage who observed Kazuya's cloaked figure analyzed. ”(Is he naturally blessed by fire spirits?)” he thought before raising his hand to cast another spell.

”!” Kazuya immediately read the pattern. His experience and the memories that have been etched into his soul made Kazuya's senses clear on what he was about to face.

”Ice Needles!” sharp icicles immediately hurled their way towards Kazuya.

He knew the intent of the mage, common sense indicated that water was the natural enemy of fire. If he used the sword to deflect the ice, it would turn into water and weaken the fire. It was a clever attack but since Kazuya already read the pattern, he chose to dodge by dashing towards the mage indirectly.

”(Let's see how clever you are once I close in.)” Kazuya thought as he continued his pursuit. As he was getting closer, he felt a fluctuation nearby but it had already been too late when he found out what it had been.

”Quagmire!” the mage shouted as the hand that he hid on his back casted the spell. He had a hunch that his opponent had read the spells he was casting because of how quick and advanced his movements was. Though he thought that the probability was low, he still tried.

Little did he know that his hunch had been correct and Kazuya had stepped right into the thick and muddy earth that almost completely halted his steps. From the speed that the ice needle's couldn't catch up to, it looked like Kazuya had a hard time to even walk.

”(Damnit!)” he cursed in his mind. He had walked right into the trap. He was too distracted with advancing while evading the continuous barrage of ice needles that mage's ability to cast earth magic slipped his mind. ”(Looks like this is one mage I can't afford to mess around with)”

It wasn't that Kazuya had been inexperienced with handling mages, it was because there had been rarely any mages at his level and all the current experience he had accumulated so far had been focused on earth's level aside from his spars with Tsuna, so this mage's wits and capabilities were an eye opener for him.

”(Looks like he's finally taking his opponent seriously)” Tsuna dodged the incoming arrows and slowly continued his ascent.

”I don't sense any hostility from you compared to your companion. Why is it that you came here?” a female voice reached Tsuna's ears. It sounded peaceful and elegant which made him want to talk, but before he could reply.

*RUMBLE!*

Kazuya wasn't the only one who had underestimated his opponent. The quagmire was an advanced spell that was used to trap multiple enemies. Since it was only to trap one, the radius wasn't that wide and as deep as it should have been so Kazuya was able to take advantage of this and had cast an advanced spell of his own.

”Earth Pillar!” he had controlled the earth from deep underground and used it to pierce through the shallow quagmire under the mage's control.

Kazuya wasted no time and kicked the the rising pillar and used it's force to hurl himself towards the enemy. The mage was surprised but it had only been for a moment. Multiple number of ice needles appeared in front of his hand and immediately made their way towards their airborne enemy.

”Ignition” flames started to surround not only the sword but also Kazuya's body. He intended to reach his opponent with this step and received the ice needles that evaporated upon touch.

”(This person has an impressive amount of mana.)” the mage couldn't help admire Kazuya. ”(But I must apologize, guerilla tactics have a high probability of failing against me.)” the mage raised his other hand and reinforced his spells. The ice needles stated to quickly grow larger and looked more like spears now.

”(Dual casting?)” Kazuya immediately recognized what the mage had done. It was not the spell that he was shocked to see but rather the speed it took to improve the intermediate level ice spell to an advanced magic.

”Kid! Be careful!” Tsuna couldn't help but shout. Even he had judged that they had underestimated the mage.

”HAAAAA!!!” Kazuya gripped his sword tightly with both hands. The flames that surrounded him started burning in a different color. Blue flames sprang forth from the blade and completely covered his body. From Tsuna and the archer's point of view, he was like a blue comet that was falling from the sky.

”(Talented fellow. Looks like my dual casting didn't faze him)” Kazuya slashed at the oncoming barrage of ice that seemed to have evaporated almost instantly. This made the mage even more surprised but he relented and concentrated on strengthening his own spells by making the stake-like small spears into javelins. ”(How about triple casting?)”

*BANG!* the earth rumbled as the impact from Kazuya meeting the spell head on shook the surrounding area. The large branch the mage had been standing on also broke as he fell to the ground. There had been a pile of mist a few meters away from him in which it was unknown if Kazuya had made it out unscathed.

Tsuna and the archer appeared near the big tree but hadn't made any moves. They were concerned about their companions after that big clash. the archer extended her hand towards the torn part of the mage's clothes and was relieved that he didn't suffer from a major wound.

”Oi, Kid are you alright?” Tsuna stared at this misty crater. He wasn't worried whether Kazuya had died because he knew better than anyone else how smart and crafty this kid was.

”I'm fine” a shadow jumped off of the crater and landed beside Tsuna. Though Kazuya's clothes had been tattered, he had been wearing a protective suit that he had the team of Kazuno tech develop so he didn't suffer from any injuries.

There was no one more surprised than the archer that Kazuya had been unscathed. Though he wasn't able to reach her mage companion, Kazuya was able to inflict a light wound. She used healing magic to immediately take care of it but so far, there were very few people to have been able to give her companion any injuries.

”Isn't it about time you people tell us what your purpose is in intruding here?” the mage was unhappy. He had intended to give Kazuya an injury to give him an advantage if their battle continued but he wasn't able to see what his opponent had done to prevent his attack from doing any damage.

”You think you still have the advantage?” Kazuya patted the dust from himself and threw his tattered clothes to the side.