That observation of his was, however, entirely wrong. Harthela's Shield Mastery was only Level 1, while her Energy Manipulation was in the lowest tier of Level 4. In other words, her defensive skills were actually quite basic, and her offensive abilities were nonexistent. Gareth's assumption about her expertise was completely off-base.

 

The only thing Harthela could do was spam the Shield Art, Parry—the only art she knew—and a trump card that Aidy told her to keep as a last resort.

 

'Hopefully, this lazy-ass bastard won't notice,' Aidy thought to herself as she prepared to engage Gareth in battle while he was still surprised by his parried attack. She bent her legs like a beast and pounced forward with lightning speed, closing the distance between them in an instant. 

 

"Tsk." Gareth was able to quickly recover from the parried attack and effortlessly dodge Aidy's pounce. However, with swift movements, she unleashed her own barrage of claw swipes with her gauntlets.

 

Aidy pressured Gareth with her relentless assault, each swipe coming dangerously close to landing on his body. But she was only getting started.

 

"Fire Hound Arts, Blaze Fur!" As Aidy chanted the incantation, flames erupted from her gauntlets and greaves, engulfing her in a fiery aura. The speed and intensity of her attacks increased exponentially, yet she wasn't able to land a single hit on Gareth.

 

She had mixed in feints and three-dimensional maneuvers, making use of the narrow alleyway to her advantage. Despite her efforts, Gareth's defensive skills were impeccable, dodging every strike with ease.

 

A sideways swipe from left to right, left to right, upwards and downwards; she made sure to vary her attack patterns, trying to catch Gareth off guard. But no matter how unpredictable her movements became, Gareth effortlessly evaded each strike with graceful dance-like agility.

 

Frustration began to creep into her mind as she struggled to find a weakness in his impenetrable defense. 

 

And then, suddenly, Aidy had finally found an opening. Gareth had stumbled on a loose cobblestone, momentarily throwing off his balance.

 

In that split second, Aidy lunged forward with all her might, aiming for Gareth's exposed side, only for Gareth to instantly evade with increased agility and precision at the last moment. The soldier had augmented his body with aether for a split second, enhancing his reflexes and speed beyond human capabilities.

 

Her aggressive attack had been thwarted, leaving Aidy momentarily off balance. Gareth, however, didn't answer with a counterattack.

 

'Is that intentional!?' Aidy thought in frustration, failing to land a single blow on Gareth. The more Aidy tried to attack, the more she suspected that Gareth's evasive maneuvers were deliberate and calculated.

 

It filled her with frustration, but she didn't let it dampen her aggression. Aidy ignored the smirk on Gareth's face and continued to press forward, making sure his focus was only on herself.

 

This exchange continued for several minutes, with Gareth exposing weak points for Aidy to exploit, but he would immediately get out of the way before she could land a strike.

 

 

Gareth was exasperated by Aidy's relentless pursuit of him, and he thought to himself, 'This is getting annoying.'

 

At first, Gareth found it amusing to bait Aidy. He's only here for distraction, and he was doing a damn good job. 

 

Eventually, the persistence with which Aidy chased after him began to wear on Gareth's patience. The relentless pursuit was distracting him from formulating a solution to the problem at hand. 

 

Despite his annoyance, Gareth couldn't help but admire Aidy's determination and talent. But it didn't mean he had to put up with her mindless attacks. 

 

If Gareth was forced to describe Aidy's fighting style, he would say it was reckless and impulsive. Her lack of strategy made her predictable, and Gareth couldn't understand how these ladies managed to defeat General Aiden.

 

The instructor inside him wanted to make her sit down and teach her the importance of planning and strategy in combat. But she's an enemy, and Gareth knew that it would be to their motherland's detriment to help her improve her skills.

 

Gareth then decided to change tactics, going from an evasive defense to a counter defense, finally taking the fight seriously.  He wouldn't act on it right away; it might alert the enemy to his change in strategy.

 

However, the presence of another enemy was completely forgotten as Gareth focused on his new plan—Harthela's.

 

The armored elf with only defensive capabilities was written off as the lowest priority in the heat of battle. As long as he didn't use any art, the elf wouldn't pose much of a threat.

 

But this would prove to be a grave mistake. While the heated battle raged on, Aidy had given Harthela only one task: to absorb the aether from the traps laid by Gareth.

 

With each trap that Harthela absorbed, the aether inside her armor grew, while cracks began to appear on her once impenetrable armor. 

 

And yet, this would do nothing to increase her nonexistent offensive capabilities. Nonetheless, it would turn the tide of the battle. Whether it was theirs or the enemy's, no one knows. 

 

In her excitement, Harthela shouted to her dog-eared companion, "Aidy, I'm done absorbing the aether from Gareth's traps!" It wasn't just Aidy who heard her, however, as Gareth also heard her triumphant declaration.

 

The sight of Harthela's once impenetrable armor, now riddled with cracks, caused a misunderstanding to arise. 'So it has a limit to its durability!' Gareth thought to himself, elated.

 

If Harthela were out of the battle, Gareth believed that victory would be within his grasp. The only reason he hadn't used any arts earlier anymore was because doing so would be pointless since Harthela's armor would just absorb it.

 

Taking advantage of her supposed weakness, Gareth used the aether inside his wand to augment his physical strength and speed. 

 

"Holy Fire Arts, Incinerating Lance!" Flames erupted from his wand and engulfed his entire body, transforming him into a blazing spear of destruction. 

 

In one swift motion, he lunged towards Harthela, trailing a streak of fire behind him. "Die!" Gareth shouted, his voice filled with determination and adrenaline.

 

Like a deer caught in headlights, Harthela stood frozen for a split second before quickly regaining her composure. Realizing the imminent danger, she swiftly raised her shields and, in tandem with her armor, simultaneously absorbed the aether from Gareth's fiery attack.

 

The clash of their powers created a dazzling display of light and heat, causing the surrounding air to sizzle. Harthela's shields and Gareth's fiery attack collided with a force that cracked the ground beneath them, and the walls around them trembled.

 

But a resounding crack filled the air as Harthela's shields shattered under the immense pressure of Gareth's attack. The force sent her flying backward, crashing into the nearby wall with a deafening thud.

 

"Hehehe," Gareth chuckled triumphantly, reveling in the success of his fiery assault. 'With the armored one out of the picture, I could easily finish off the dogkin maid," Gareth thought to himself, a wicked grin spreading across his face. 

 

As he turned his attention towards the remaining enemy, he heard her cry out in alarm, rushing to the armored one's side. "Harthela!" He let her be, since he knew that she posed no threat to him without her armored companion.

 

The dust and smoke concealed the elf and the dogkin, although Gareth's leisurely pace did not change. He confidently approached the two women hidden by the haze, knowing that they were now at his mercy.

 

Gareth knew that, with the armored one incapacitated, victory was within his grasp. As he closed in, he exchanged the Purity Crystal in his wand for a new one, removing the spent one and replacing it with a fresh, vibrant crystal.

 

He hadn't taken a few more steps and felt a chill run down his spine. Obeying his instincts, Gareth threw himself to the ground just as a powerful, fiery beam flew past him, narrowly missing his head.

 

When he turned to look in the direction the beam had come from, Gareth saw the dogkin maid, Aidy, whom he had been engaged in a fierce battle with earlier. Alongside her stood the armored elf, whose armor was once again back to its gleaming, pristine state.

 

'How?' Gareth wondered in disbelief, his eyes fixed on the elf's armor. He was sure that it had reached the limit of its energy absorption capabilities during their previous encounter. 

 

His last Holy Fire Art had surely pushed the armor to its breaking point. Yet, here it was, as good as new.

 

And another thing caught Gareth's attention—Aidy's total aether capacity seemed to have increased as well. The flames bursting from her gauntlets and greaves were now of a white, hot intensity, far more powerful than before. Befitting its namesake, White Fire.

 

Gareth couldn't help but wonder if there was a connection between the elf's rejuvenated armor and Aidy's enhanced aether capacity. 

 

But such thoughts were interrupted when the sounds of knuckles being cracked reached Gareth's ears. He turned to see Aidy, her eyes filled with determination, ready to resume their earlier fight with renewed vigor.

 

'I might have underestimated this dogkin maid and elf duo,' Gareth thought to himself, as he braced for the upcoming battle.