Even Kenneth was at lost for words at what had just happened. By the time he recovered, the whole area was in flames. 

Screams of terror had echoed throughout the area. The sound of metal slashing against skin and blood splattering on the walls made for a very traumatic experience. 

"What… happened?" 

Looking around, Kenneth was completely surrounded by fire. He hurriedly looked around in hopes of being able to escape the rapidly enroaching walls of death. 

What used to be the restaurant was now completely unregognizable. Parts of the ceiling were falling apart, devoured by the heat. 

This wasn't good for Kenneth. He had always possessed a weak body, and an even weaker constitution. He would always get tired faster than other people. 

"Calm down… deep breaths. Fuck, fuck, I'm panicking." 

His attempts to calm himself down were about as useless as pouring a bucket of water on the fire around him. 

No matter how he tried, his head only seemed to conjure up negative thoughts. 

Then, as if someone had come to save him, he heard the sound of someone landing in front of him.

With his hands to his head, he couldn't see their figure. But he had hoped. Hoped that it was someone who would help him. This hope was like a light that shone to him in the middle of the darkness. 

Only for the light to suddenly disappear once he looked up. 

In front of him, two robed figures had appeared. 

His gaze focused on the medallions strapped to their necklaces. A chest and a pile of gold. 

"Hoarder's Circle." He muttered. 

"That's right! I didn't know we were already this famous. Even some backwater brat knows about us." 

"Stick to the plan. There's supposedly two more of them, so we'll have to take care of the kid first." 

"Pff… yeah, yeah. But he looks rather weak, huh? Hey, little kid. That staff seems too big for you." 

Kenneth was barely able to stand up. The force from the blast had done great damage to the lower part of his body. Even now, the pain coming from it was like a dozen knives piercing through his skin. 

He had to rely on his staff to support his weight. If he took even a small step forward, he'd stagger uncontrollably. 

"Tch." 

"The kid doesn't seem to talk much, huh? Say, Qransa, can I handle this? You can have fun with the other two." 

"Fine." Without another word spoken between the two, one of the robed figures disappeared from Kenneth's sight. 

"Now, how do you want this to go, little kid? The easy way or the hard way?" 

"I'm inclined to believe the easy way involves me following you back to your cultist base. So I'll take the hard way, please. I'll go down with a battle if I have to." 

"That's more like it! Now come on, show me what you've got." 

"Aren't you afraid your little cult will be known to the world?"

"Why would I? Bandit attacks like these happen all the time. This will just be another sudden invasion by some unknown gang."

The man said this with a confident smirk on his face.

***

"Shit, my head hurts."

As if he was waking up from a long nap, Lucas' eyes slowly opened.

It took him some time to adjust to the hellish scenery that had unfolded in front of him.

Fire, fire, everywhere.

The last thing he recalled was that he had gone to a nearby restaurant with his siblings to eat. And then, something unexpected happened. 

"Did they track us all the way here?! I should've known Kenneth's spell wasn't enough to stop them." 

He didn't have doubts about the strength of Kenneth's spell, especially since he got to witness the supposed damage it caused on the people that were chasing them. 

"Fuck, that's why we didn't get attacked even when we went exploring. They were following us until we stopped here."

They were led to believe they had eluded them, when they were in fact just one step behind!

"Lucas! Lucas!" 

"Lena? What happened? Where's Kenneth?"

Upon seeing that his brother wasn't with her, his started panicking.

"I don't know, I don't know! He was only close by when I saw him. Lucas, we need to find him!" 

He had seen this exact scenario before. It was when they lost him. Lucas still couldn't forget that day. With tears in her eyes, Lena cried, and cried. 

"Shit. Don't worry, we'll find him." 

It was then they heard someone walking towards them. Both siblings looked in the direction of the sound and noticed a robed figure, slowly approaching them. 

This was enough to warrant their suspicion as both siblings brought out their weapons, and pointed them towards the robed figure. 

***

"I'll let you have the first attack! Come on, hit me with all you've got."

"I'd love to punch your shit in right now, but I'm afraid my body won't allow that to happen." 

"Then, should I just take you away? That won't be any fun, you know." 

"That's true. So, you say you'll let me take the first hit, yeah?"

"Yup! Not like a brat like you can do any damage to me, anyway. Come on, hit me with all you've got." 

"You're going to regret saying that, hah." 

With a smirk on his face, Kenneth began concentrating his mana into the tip of his staff. 

'If there's a time I have to use it, it has to be now. I'm not fond of revealing one of my newly made moves, but it's a small sacrifice to hide my actual affinity.'

Sweat began to form on Kenneth's pores as he expended almost all his mana into creating this one spell.

"Before I kill you, would you like to tell me your name?"

"I'm not dying from this, but sure. A brat like you won't know the significance of it anyway. Hogruan." 

"I see. Then, Hogruan, say goodbye." 

From the man's point of view, a small sphere of golden mana had gathered on the tip of Kenneth's staff. 

This sphere somehow did not reach the mana levels he had expected it to have, especially seeing as how the kid was using his all to make it appear. 

"There's something to it that I don't know. It's likely hiding a great deal of power."

Even if Hogruan held the same cocky demeanor even in the face of Kenneth's spell, he knew better than to underestimate his opponents. 

But what came next was truly underwhelming, to say the least. The sphere of mana was shot out from Kenneth's staff at a great speed, instantly reaching where Hogruan was. 

It should've exploded. What other reason was it shot at him? If he was hit by it, he most likely would take a lot of damage. 

"Shit." 

Not planning to get hit by it, Hogruan dodged out of the sphere's trajectory. The whole time, he kept his eyes on the spell, making sure he was out of its radius if it were to explode. 

Keeping his eyes on the sphere led to an unforeseen event. The spell exploded violently in a bright light, covering the entirety of the building. 

Or at least, that's how it looked to Hogruan. In reality, Kenneth had used his Mimicry spell to conjure an exact copy of Lena's Flashbang. 

As his Mimicry spell quite literally replicated the features of any spell he knew the structure of, he was able to make it explode in the same way his sister's one did. 

"Fuck! My eyes!" With his hands to his eyes, Hogruan had removed the vision he had of Kenneth. 

"If you're going to attack, now would be a great time to do it, please." 

Kenneth's voice wasn't directed at Hogruan, but rather, at a certain area of the room he had been eyeing. 

If one were to look there, they would only see broken down pieces of the burning building along with debris that had built up. 

Kenneth's keen sight didn't miss a certain detail, though. Inside the fire, he noticed the same pointed ears he saw earlier. 

These of course belonged to the elf. She had hidden herself in the burning fire by tucking herself inside a wooden tree that somehow appeared out of thin air. 

Kenneth had wondered why the tree wasn't catching on fire, but he decided there were more important matters to attend to. 

The elf, having realized she was seen, slowly pushed off the concrete piled up above her with a single wave of the hand. 

The tree had magically started growing, and grew until it pushed off the rocks. 

"You're strong, human. Yet you seem so weak. Why is that?" 

The elf's voice was feminine. It sounded like it belonged to a maiden who hadn't experienced the horrors of the world. It was the tone of an innocent girl who had just recently stepped into adulthood. 

Her tone conflicted largely with her actual words, though. She was belittling and praising Kenneth at the same time. 

"I'm pretty weak. I don't know what you mean strong. I'd like to request this elf to assist me in taking down the man in front of us." 

"Why should I fight with you, human? What reason do you have for me not to turn on you at this very moment?"

"I'll admit, none at all. I'd just like to be able to brag to my ancestors that I fought alongside, or against an elf before I died."

Unlike humans and other races, elves were a prized race. They were proficient in hunting, lived long lives, and were quite possibly the race with the most contact with mana. 

They also possessed outstanding beauty, along with having near perfect hearing. 

It wouldn't be far-fetched to say they were one of the few races who could rival humans in terms of power. After all, they were one of Hudra, the nonhuman continent's, rulers.

"You're funny, human. Alright, I'll lend you a hand. The elf Areia will make sure you come out of this battle alive!" 

"I appreciate it."

***

"We'll be forced to hurt you if you come any closer. I'll ask again. Where is our brother?" 

"And I have told you many times, miss. He's inside the burning building. I left one of my colleagues to take care of him. He should be done at any moment." 

"Bullshit. Don't be spouting lies." Lucas retorted. 

"I'm not spouting lies. Now, I must ask you two to come with me quietly. We can't risk the Hoarder's Circle being revealed to the world so early." 

The siblings raised their weapons. They weren't letting the man do what he wanted. If they were to fail here, who would help their brother?

"*sigh* This is why I'm not suited for these types of missions. People never seem to want to come quietly. That's it then. I have no choice but to do my utmost best to bring you two with me."

The man dug his hands into his pockets and brought out a red talisman, shaped like a sword. He tied it around his right hand instantly and held it out. 

Mana, somehow not coming from the man, had began gathering into the palm of his hand. Within seconds, a blueish sword had formed.

"Do you know why I was a bit sad that I had to fight you two alone? It's because my colleague, Hogruan isn't here to help me." 

"I'll just say this now, even if he isn't here, don't assume this will be any easier. Because he is the shield, and I am the sword. And there is no one who compares to me when it comes to my swordsmanship." 

***

Kenneth had long scanned Hogruan with his Mind's Eye and was met with a frightening number of skills, along with a danger level higher than any he had seen before.

"You brat, was that your attack? I guess I can start attacking now, huh?" 

Having just recovered from the light, Hogruan was still rubbing his eyes. 

"I've got someone to help me, so I won't be the one fighting you." 

"Who, the elf beside you? She doesn't look like she can even harm a fly. I'll make sure to pay you back twice for the spell you cast."

Out of nowhere, a small talisman had appeared on Hogruan's hand. He gripped it tightly, and soon a protective layer of mana had covered his entire body.

'It looks like an aura… I wonder if Areia can break that.'

"Don't even think about trying to get past my shield! You'll die trying." 

"I'd like to see for myself." Kenneth nodded to Areia, who had brandished her sword. 

"Whoa, what are you doing?" He looked to the elf and noticed her rubbing some sort of gel onto the blade of her sword. 

"Corrosive gel from the Fiuas Grondi plant. You humans would be surprised to see how powerful they can be." 

"Heh. Alright."

No more words were spoken between the two as Horguan and Areia both disappeared from their spots. 

*clang*

Areia's sword clashed with Hogruan's wrist. The two held their ground for a bit before the elf had fallen back. 

"Tch." 

"What's wrong?"

"His aura seems to strengthen in places he wills it to. His wrist seemed more resistant than the rest of his body." 

"I see. So he can redirect it? I'll have to ask you to take a few risks with your sword and keep on clashing with him. I've got a plan." 

"Does it involve using your Illusion magic?" 

"H-how…? Oh wait." 

"Your Illusion spells only work on the people you want it to affect."

"Shit, yeah, I need to fix that. But yes, I'll make him think that I'm launching an attack." 

"Very well." 

"And before that, could you please come closer? I have to tell you something."

"I can hear it from here even if you whisper it."

"Yes, but I can't risk Hogruan hearing it either." 

Having no choice but to agree, Areia bent her body down to Kenneth's head level and brought her ear to his lips. 

"What? How confident are you?" 

"Pretty confident." 

"Ngh… I'm not fond of having to lose this battle and going against my own word, but very well. I will trust you, human."

Areia once again shot towards Hogruan, who had long been prepared to receive her attacks. 

The two then continued their feud. Slashes from Areia's sword would result in it bouncing off Hogruan's body. 

For every hit aimed at him, Hogruan would respond in kind by launching a few of his own counterattacks. 

"Is this the best the elves can do?! I expected more from the race that was said to rival us humans!"

"Don't get cocky, human. I haven't even started getting serious." 

Sounds of excitement could be heard from Hogruan as he eagerly deflected all the attacks sent to him. 

As if preparing for a large hit, Areia raised her weapon above her head. 

'She's going to feint it. I know.' Hogruan brought his arm up to intercept the blow, but was surprised to see it being held by something. 

Areia had secretly waved her free hand out, sending mana behind Hogruan. 

Behind him, a vine had seemingly grown from a hole in the wall and latched onto his arm. 

This brief distraction allowed her to charge a more powerful hit. 

Small, subtle cracks had appeared on Hogruan's arm. His smile quickly turned into that of a frown, and he muttered something under his breath while resupplying the shield with mana. 

"My turn."

He had forcefully pulled off the restraints on his arm with his strength and threw a stray piece of debris at Areia. 

Thinking the attack would be futile, she made a downward slash, cutting the block of concrete in half. 

This was what Hogruan was waiting for. Dust had gathered into the air from Areia's attack, momentarily blinding her. 

He used this opportunity to unleash a strong hit on the elf. 

Areia's senses did not fail her though. Her extraordinary hearing easily caught Hogruan trying to get close and raised her sword up to block it. 

What she didn't account for was the fact that she couldn't see where he was going to launch his attack. Her sword was on the thinner side and thus could not completely protect her from every direction. 

Areia felt a sharp pain on her stomach and felt herself being pushed all the way back to the wall. Her body flew past Kenneth, who had a look of worry.

"Now it's just you, brat."