"Did you feel the energy that son of a bitch exhaled after he died? I told you he was no good; thank the gods you listened to me and decided to kill him instead of just seriously injuring him." Durgan spoke; they were already leaving the mine, and he had a pleasant smile on his face as he remembered the death of the one he hated so much.

"Fuck him! He was just another one of Eve's toys, and that energy wasn't even that horrible. Hahaha, I've seen worse when I worked in the underworld of the royal capital. I'm glad we're going to be filthy rich and never have to deal with those bastards again!" Clark laughed at Durgan's words, more excited by the idea of being filthy rich than by Ethan's supposed death.

"You better shut the hell up! We haven't completed the mission yet." Jhon silenced both of his partners before focusing solely on Clark. "Give me the crystal; I'll hurry and lead the way; Robert must be waiting for us at that place."

"Right, I'll get it here." Clark stopped his steps and reached into his pocket, pulling out a single golden hexagonal crystal.

They had already left the mine by this point, and Jhon reached out to take the crystal, but all he got was a crimson glow, followed by shocked looks from Clark and Durgan.

A terrible sound of flesh being sliced and bones being crushed rang out, blood gushing like a fountain as Jhon's hand was severed from his arm.

"What the... my hand! FUCK!" A shrill scream came from Jhon's mouth as the pain and despair finally reached his mind, his eyes widening as he collapsed to his knees.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR? HELP ME!!!" Jhon shouted to his companions as he clutched his bloodied arm, but when he looked up, all he could see was the backs of his companions disappearing into the darkness of the forest without even looking back.

At that moment, sunk in despair, he heard footsteps behind him and turned his head to see Ethan slowly approaching.

"Ethan, please help me! We never meant to hurt you; the runes were messed up! A mistake! I didn't-" Jhon begged, but all he got was a contemptuous smile from Ethan, who soon disappeared into the darkness in the same direction his companions had gone.

"N-no..." Jhon's despair deepened, and his eyes watered as he heard the heavy footsteps of the guards rapidly approaching the position.

He knew full well that when those men found out about his dead comrades, his fate would be far worse than death.

***

"Was that Ethan? Wasn't that son of a bitch dead?" Clark asked, his eyes shaking and his breathing panting as he ran faster than he had ever run in his life.

"He looked pretty alive to me, and he's right on our tail!" Durgan replied as he looked back, his eyes growing sharp as he gripped his axe tightly.

"I'll hold him off for a while; find Robert and tell him to come help me!" Durgan stopped his steps, his feet sinking into the ground, opening a small crack in the forest floor as he fought against the inertia of his body.

In the next second, he raised his axe, and a metallic sound followed by an explosion of sparks took over the atmosphere. The dwarf's body was thrown another five meters, only stopping when it hit a tree.

"Ethan, you fucking bastard... I knew you were evil; that corrupt and disgusting energy you radiated didn't fool me!" Durgan barked as he slammed his axe to the ground and regained his balance.

The forest was completely dark, with only the light emanating from Ethan's crimson aura illuminating the area around the man and the dwarf.

"Am I a bad thing? It's funny to hear that from a man who used his 'companion' as a sacrifice for a rune." Ethan laughed contemptuously as he slowly approached the man.

"We all do bad things; the difference is that I do it out of necessity; you do it because it's in your blood, cursed by the gods!" Durgan replied, gripping his axe tightly. He could feel Ethan's aura and knew well that he had already reached the grounding stage, but he still faced him with courage.

"And what evil have I done to you? Ah, never mind, those are cheap excuses to justify the atrocities of your greed; I'd rather not hear them!" Ethan roared before raising his sword above his head and dropping it on the man.

"Bastard-" Durgan cursed as another metallic clang sounded, his feet sinking into the ground and his small legs almost bending backwards. But he still had a confident smile on his face.

Interesting... Ethan thought to himself as he felt the mana flowing through Durgan's body. For some reason, he wasn't channeling his mana into his arms, hands, and legs to stop his attack; quite the opposite, all of his mana seemed to be flowing out of his feet and onto the ground they were standing on.

At that moment, he remembered something he had read about dwarves in his childhood: They had many innate earth skills, and their affinity for this element was greater than any other.

Suddenly, the mana beneath Ethan's feet became violent, and, already aware of the little man's plans, he threw himself into the air.

In the next second, the mana on the ground exploded, and as if it had come to life, the earth rose towards Ethan. Dozens of stone thorns appeared and pierced towards the spot where he was standing.

"That was close. Want me to congratulate you on that?" Ethan landed under the thorns, balancing easily under their sharp points, his words filled with a mixture of arrogance and contempt that struck at Durgan's already frustrated heart.

"Fuck you, you little shit! You ain't seen nothing yet!" Durgan roared and swung his axe. The ground beneath his feet seemed to hear his command and flow towards Ethan like a sea of thorns.

"Good! Show me more of the power of the legendary dwarf race! I want to test my new powers too, hahaha." Ethan's laughter echoed like a thud in Durgan's mind, who watched in horror as Ethan easily dodged his thorns, even casually breaking them with his bare hands.

A reaction that didn't escape Ethan's discerning eyes made him decide to stop running and go for it.

With a single swing of his sword, he sliced through all the thorns that flew at his body, clearing the way for Durgan.

"I think I've seen enough!" Ethan roared, throwing his body forward as he swung his sword.

Durgan raised his axe and was about to successfully defend himself, but at the last second, Ethan drew back his blade and swung his hand as if cutting the air, producing a sharp mana cut.

In the next second, Durgan's head was sliced from his body, and he collapsed to the ground.