The battle between the six sword masters was still in heat. Though there was a balance now: a change, since the beginning of the clash. Four combatants wore slashed wounds; three of the people’s injuries were inflicted by blades, and a single one had claw marks from a monster.

If that barghest hadn’t intervened in the fight, Sheng and the others would have accomplished their mission and disappeared long ago. No doubt, the beast was a shapeshifter. Its presence was off the plan, causing additional problem to the task.

But the shapeshifter was not as an inevasible obstacle as the woman in front of them.

The arrangements had been nigh flawless for releasing the target and getting away without anyone tailing them behind even at the worst-case scenario. At the best case, they must have exterminated the whole escort troop along with the small caravan following them.

However, things got out of hand when this female warrior appeared and started eliminating their side’s elite fighters one by one, unceasingly. Her fighting style was slightly untraditional; unusual blade use and a mix of self-taught in her techniques. But it was effective.

And by the speed and strength she possessed, the woman might be in her third stage of inner magic control.

Still, when they were about to take down this female swords master, that shapeshifter in a barghest form abruptly showed up, ruining their missions further.

The battle is dragging for too long.

Sheng blocked a strike, which was executed with a near lightning speed by their opponent. She was fast, strong, and annoyingly high skilled at comprehending their every formation and predicting their next move.

He tried to hold the blades of the swordswoman intact until one of his companions could leverage from the clash. Though when Sheng’s companion tried a sneak attack, the woman proved herself enough skilled once more to dodge the side attack while kicking Sheng away from herself, preparing for her next strike.

She feigned for a right turn while lunging for the man on her left. Her movements were sudden, but perfectly performed.

The man, whose name Sheng didn’t know, and didn’t need to know, was forced two steps back from the powerful hit that he blocked at the last moment with his sword. The woman followed with a horizontal swipe, prompting the man to retreat further. Soon, she had to shift into defensive. The fifth member of Sheng’s group of fighters attempted another sneak attack. Certainly, she had anticipated it.

The fight went on in this pace. The swordswoman had regained some vigor after that beast, who was most likely her ally, had showed up. The one sided assault half a minute ago had now turned into a real tactical combat between true magical warriors.

The wounds the swordswoman had inflicted on Sheng’s squad while she was confronting one less opponent was also the cause of it. It was the reason the scales were even now.

Suddenly, Sheng’s years of experience at deadly conflicts kicked in as he briskly slid to his right, away from the battle circle. A thwonk thundered on the spot he was standing a split second ago. Followed by splinters of wood sprinkle to every direction from where it landed.

Sheng looked up, and saw a towering figure of an ape monster glaring at him with resentment. Though it appeared like the beast was making a faint smirk on its crumpled face.

So you are back!?

Sheng got ready for a tougher fight this time. In front of him stood a two-and-a-half meters tall all dark furry humanoid creature, a tree trunk in its arms. The piece of wood was so thick that the shapeshifter was partially hugging it, and the log’s extent was at least three meters long; enough to keep Sheng in a favorable distance.

Sheng took a quick glimpse at his previous battle. They had already adjusted to the change of combatants. The woman was fighting as if to prevent her opponents from going to the other fight. She was succeeding.

We may have to deviate from the original mission. Sheng though bitterly as he next glanced at the girl leaning to a tree. Nice doing they had broken her leg to prevent her from running away. One less problem.

The ape monster didn’t give Sheng further moments to ponder over the situation as it lunged at him. It didn’t forget to keep a safe distance at the log’s length.

The shapeshifter swung its weapon at Sheng’s head, at his feet, and sometimes attempted jabs. From the strikes the shapeshifter executed, it was obvious this inner magic user was not trained well at weapon arts. But the speed was covering up for it.

It is faster now!

The attacks were executed clearly to avoid for the tree trunk to be sliced away. Additionally, another fact Sheng noticed, the wound Sheng presented to its previous form was now fairly closed up as well.

It all meant Sheng’s opponent was not an ordinary highly skilled shapeshifter.

Sheng stopped underestimating his opponent any more. He switched from defensive into offensive. In seconds, the wooden weapon in the shapeshifter’s hands started being reduced in length.

Sheng’s sword swings began chopping the crude club down inch by inch. The shapeshifter quickened its strikes as well, its sways still aimed to keep the distance. Sheng didn’t risk a leap at his opponent’s nearside either; he had a clear feeling the shapeshifter was expecting it.

Finally, Sheng cut away a large chunk of the wooden club. This caused the ape monster bellow in frustration and rage. Then it started swinging its crude weapon erratically.

Now the shapeshifter was using excessive strength for short but more powerful bursts of strikes with equally erratic footing. Its strength also had been boosted up; the unsuccessful hits carried more than doubled power compared to the previous confrontation.

Still, the shapeshifter was evidently an unskilled fighter.

Sheng dodged the strikes and continued chipping away the log in the ape monster’s hands. He waited for an opening to reveal itself. Enraged opponents were an enemy to themselves.

However, amateur fighters, especially those who possessed more mana than they could handle, were self-harmful as well as capable of dragging down their enemies into their graves with themselves. In addition, they were unpredictable.

Sheng had deal with this opponent carefully.

The shapeshifter did another large strike at Sheng’s head with a frustrated bellow. Sheng didn’t let away another opportunity to reduce his opponent’s chance of facing him. He swung his sword at the sizable log to cut it in half.

However, the log had slightly changed its course of strike. Sheng had realized it a bit later after he tried to chop it down. The blade halted halfway through the wood.

Sheng looked up at the ape monster’s face, and saw a smirk.

Realizing the shapeshifter’s intention, Sheng immediately tried to pull out his sword, but it was too late. His opponent yanked its club first, in an attempt to disarm Sheng. The shapeshifter proved itself a little faster and stronger than Sheng. But the years of walking the path of a warrior was not for nothing.

The shapeshifter twisted and pulled the sword struck log with powerful jerks. Sheng moved his arm accordingly, not letting the shapeshifter achieve its goal, kicking the monster’s shin and knee. But its pelt was as hard as a rock. And the shapeshifter was being wary of letting Sheng too close to his attack range as it flailed its lengthy arm.

Sheng wasn’t much familiar with this type of monster’s physique. Still, he tried to strike the humanoid creature’s possibly most vulnerable spots.

His kick contacted with the monster’s body’s weaker place. But it seemed the shapeshifter had its own aim.

Paying no heed to the strike, the shapeshifter tried to yank away the weapon from sheng’s hands, while waving its free arm to punch Sheng away. Having no other choice, Sheng gave another strike with his own punch to its ribs. This time his arm was extra-fueled with mana. He left the aftereffects to the future.

The shapeshifter was persistent. With a pained cry, it eventually reached its goal as the sword’s hilt was slipped out from Sheng’s hand. It threw away both the weapons behind it.

Not too clever decision.

Sheng, who wasn’t much affected by the outcome, closed the distance between him and his opponent, where the ape monsters limbs couldn’t inflict physical damage effectively. Throwing away the sword with the club was a foolish decision.

The shapeshifter backed away from Sheng with long and swift leaps, but it could not put another safe distance between them no matter what. Sheng barraged the monster’s lower ribs with his punches while chasing the shapeshifter where it tried to back away, predicting its every moves.

Suddenly, Sheng heard a pained cry. It forced him to stop briefly and take a glimpse to the right at the other battle. His companions were in a dire situation. One of the men had lost an arm, another one had just been pierced through the chest by the swordswoman’s blade.

This is too bad. Need to go to the contingency plan. Sheng immediately made up his mind and looked at their main target. The girl was still on her former spot. Though she was too far for him to reach in an instant without alerting the female opponent. The distance was enough for the warrior woman to prevent his fast approach.

Then Sheng looked at his sword, which was struck in the log. It was far behind the shapeshifter, on the opposite direction of the other clash.

The shapeshifter quickly tried to utilize Sheng’s distraction to gain upper hand. The ape monster took three steps to close the distance in a second from where it backed away.

Plenty of time for Sheng to overflow his mana channels.

When the shapeshifter was upon him, Sheng welcomed it with a mighty punch to the stomach, causing it bellow and stumble back. It buckled in half from the pain. Sheng followed with another powerful kick to the chest. The ape monster collapsed with a loud thud.

Then Sheng himself too buckled his body. The backlash of overloading his mana channels was affecting him, burning his insides.

Not intending to waste precious seconds, Sheng forced his limbs to move. Within a couple of seconds, he managed to take control of his body and sprung toward his thrown weapon.

He reached and freed it from the wood. When he turned, the shapeshifter had already regained its sense from the physical damage. It bounced forward, nearing Sheng. But not carelessly now, wary of the sharp weapon in Sheng’s hand.

Sheng circled the shapeshifter as he neared it. He leapt forward and swung the sword, forcing the shapeshifter jump back. Using the chance of his opponent’s safe distance, Sheng hurled the sword to the intended target.

It flew in a speed a normal human couldn’t have a chance to avoid. A magic warrior could parry or dodge. Though it was not aimed at a mana user, but towards a defenseless girl with a broken leg, who was still leaning onto a tree.

The girl couldn’t even let out a scream when the blade pierced through her skull, killing her instantly.

The female magic warrior was distracted for a split second, though not enough to receive a strike from the people she was confronting. But Sheng’s opponent was.

Taking advantage of his opponent’s inexperience, Sheng began his flurry of attacks once more with powerful punches in a convenient range.

The shapeshifter tried a straight punch, frustrated. Sheng didn’t let away another chance of his opponent’s reckless move. He took hold of the large wrist of the ape monster while briskly spinning in place, directing the grasped hand further behind. Sheng had intended to use the opponent’s strength and weight against itself.

However, when he was about to hurl away the shapeshifter, its other hand grabbed his arm from the shoulder, making him instantly act to get released form the highly possible terrible outcome. But he couldn’t make it.

Not too inexperienced then.

The shapeshifter managed to land on its knees. And copied Sheng’s last technique.

Sheng was slammed onto the ground with his whole body. Even the oxygen in his lungs couldn’t find a way to get out unhindered. His bones had clearly formed up some cracks.

Sheng couldn’t breathe in or breathe out. His limbs were numb from the pain ordinary people couldn’t endure. Even the strengthened body was not able to handle the impact.

Before Sheng could regain his composure, his arms were firmly grasped. The crash was not the end of his suffering, it seemed.

The shapeshifter in the monster form rotated in place, still holding Sheng’s limp and aching body. After performing a double spin, it hurled Sheng away, probably with all its might. Obviously, the direction he was thrown was not a clear space. He crashed into another fleshy obstacle on the flight way, definitely one of his comrades.

Sheng’s body was in too much pain to stir his arms and legs to sit up. He took notice that the swordswoman they had been fighting against didn’t waste the opportunity to slay another one of their comrades.

Now the situation was truly unredeemable.

The leader of the group, who was one of the two last standing, glanced back at Sheng, at his state, and at the other remaining member of the delivery squad who was now continuing the battle alone. Then the leader pulled out something from his waistband. It was a small cloth piece. From inside of it, he took a tiny object what looked like a pill. He put it in his mouth.

Sheng understood his intention. After all, they were all prepared for this type of consequence beforehand.

In mere seconds, the third member received a lighting fast swipe on the throat, losing his head. The leader swiftly appeared next to Sheng with his dagger raised. The stab to the heart didn’t hurt as much as Sheng had expected. Only its meaning carried a heavier meaning.

Sheng couldn’t think straightly about his accomplishments in life thanks to the pain in his body. Anyway, the aching was fading away, along with his consciousness.

Death was finally welcoming him on his board. After serving the empire for years since he knew what was what, he was now taking his last breaths. Though he wasn’t able to fully complete the mission.

At least, it was the death of a warrior.

------------------

Felix was staring at the aftermath scene of the fight, at the small but bloody battlefield while sitting, exhausted.

The enhanced sense of smell of his gorilla form was better than humans had, but others were about the same. Relying on this sense after looking around, he could tell there were no other threats in the vicinity.

The wound he got to the arm had reopened. It was bleeding. So he had to change in order to stop the blood loss. Shapeshifting once should do the trick.

The swordswoman was checking the bodies of the people lying dead on the ground, perhaps in the hope of gaining some information from the corpses’ clothes. It wasn’t likely for her to find anything worthy, in fact. They wouldn’t have committed suicide if they had any betraying objects in their possession.

After being done with the inspection, Kiria let out a tired sigh, staring at Lina’ lifeless body. As expected, she must have not found any useful data after examining the corpses. Then she approached dead girl and started stripping down her clothes.

Don’t they give prisoners a special uniform?

“Ah, I have my clothes,” Felix said as he slowly stood up, realizing his master’s intention. He was now in Sereena form. “They are not far. On the horse I rode to come here.” He pointed through the thinly grown trees, beyond the short hills.

Kiria looked at the direction she was shown. “How old are you, actually?” she asked suddenly, looking back at him.

Oh crap, here it comes.

Felix kept a brief silence, before deciding to answer. “Twenty-three,” he said. She deserved an honest answer after all these events.

“Figures.” She nodded. “And where from?”

Felix slightly grimaced at the question. “That’s… truly complicated.”

Thankfully, Felix’s master didn’t chase the matter further. She just came to his side and checked his wound.

“Stay here. Don’t move. I’ll bring the horse,” she instructed him.

Kiria started walking away to the horse’s location while watching the vicinity. Then she slowly started running. Soon, the female warrior disappeared from Felix’s sight.

Being left alone with the bloody corpses and sliced limbs were not really pleasant. The girl whose head was almost split from the sword to the head was the most gruesome sight. But it didn’t make him feel sick enough to throw up. It was just displeasing to look at. Very displeasing.

Felix took deep breaths to calm his heart, and his stomach. Maybe he was a little nauseous.

Felix then performed twice more appearance changes, though the wound had not been healed up fully. It could open again if he exerted it like before in a fight. He could actually do it more, but Felix didn’t want to squander his mana reserves, especially in an environment where the possibility of a battle was high. He had already shapeshifted twice to deal with the injury.

In the last attempt for the mana reserve limit, the shapeshifter was able to change nine times before feeling a weird emptiness in his body, like hunger, followed by mild exhaustion and dizziness. Eating was not enough to satiate the emptiness.

Is there another way to refill the mana source?

There were many things he didn’t know about the magic in this world. Its function was definitely not like any other magic system he had read from the books. Knowledge was the most crucial weapon in one’s arsenal, and he lacked on this department.

He had to prompt the swordswoman in order to gain some more understanding of the magic as soon as possible. It was not good to walk around half-clueless about the way the miraculous force worked.

Sounds of hooves sounded while the shapeshifter was busy with his thoughts. Now he gave notice to his pondering when he was standing in an almost open field, fully naked and distracted by his own train of thought, Felix realized it was foolish to lose wariness. He must learn how to be aware of his surroundings.

Maybe it is what people call battle awareness, Felix thought.

Kiria soon came back on the horse. She handed him the outer clothes. A pity the undergarments were all shredded into pieces the moment he shapeshifted.

Felix quickly started putting on the clothes whose temperature was now the same with the current weather’s condition. Covering up his delicate body felt much better. He had got used to being naked quite a lot by now. Still, being dressed was much more preferable to feeling the coldness and exposition. Mana enhanced physique wasn’t good enough to fight against the cold.

“Wait,” Kiria stopped him when he was putting on his coat. “Let me see the injury again.”

She began inspecting the wound. Felix really wanted to know the translation of the word ‘infection’ in the local language. But looking at the swordswoman tending to his wound, maybe it was safe to trust this world’s experienced warrior who must have gone through lots of bloody encounters. She should know what to do.

As expected, the magic warrior cleaned up the blood around the wound carefully. She then found what looked like a medical satchel from the horse’s saddle and started wrapping the wound after rinsing it with a biting liquid.

Having done taking care of the issue, Kiria let Felix put on the rest of his clothes.

“Could I ask a question?” Felix said, once again dressed warmly. “Do you know if it is possible for me change with my clothes… not being damaged?”

“It is. But I don’t know how.”

“I see. And do you know if there is someone who can teach me shapeshifting?” Felix gave another question, making the swordswoman raise her brow slightly. “Or… somewhere I can find information about shapeshifters?” he added with a slower and lower tone.

“If the government finds out about your ability, the high powers will start their games to snatch you to themselves,” Kiria said warningly. “It’s most likely you’ll lose your freedom if that happens. Someone as skilled as you is precious.”

Well, he had already realized this fact. Now he had to search for more information in order to know what to avoid.

“How many times have you changed since the battle started?” the warrior resumed.

“I think… if I’m not mistaken…” Felix started mumbling. “Seven, I think.”

He wanted to say five. But it was not clear how much the magic warrior in front of him was a body language reader. He had deceived Tsilonee because he believed the things he had said. And they were the truth, with some untold parts.

Besides, he wanted the woman to trust him, so he could have someone close he could rely.

“No one I’ve heard of among shapeshifters had managed to change seven times in one hour. And you were using body strengthening technique with it,” She said, though not looking overly surprised.

“Which means?” Felix asked slowly.

“You have much bigger mana reserve in you. Your mana channels are quite endurable too, it seems.”

Mana channels?

The flow of mana in his limbs was quite perceptible when he empowered his body parts, but Felix hadn’t felt it move in a certain pattern. Was it like blood streamed in his veins?

“Mana channels, what do they look like?” Felix asked, getting out of his little contemplation. He wanted to make sure what he guessed was correct.

Kiria stared at his feminine face with slightly narrowed eyes. Then she gave him a thin smile. “I’ll teach everything soon. But not right now.”