JEN LOGHEART

My eyes darted frantically between left and right, simultaneously keeping watch on multiple sharp blades aiming directly at me. Slowly, I found myself being pushed back by a horde of skeletons. My fists swung against them tirelessly, but it felt like an endless battle. For every skeleton I defeated, another would take its place.

“Sis, there are too many of them!” My brother's voice rang out as he too struggled against them and was slowly being overrun.

He started incanting more offensive spells toward the skeletons, but it seemed futile. No matter how many he took down, they just kept coming. Usually, he played a supportive role in our missions, but now the situation has taken a turn for the worse. It had to be changed. I couldn't handle them all alone; I needed someone to keep some of them off my back.

Amidst the battle, I spotted a single golem slowly making its way towards us.

“Ken, there’s a golem up ahead!” I shouted over the chaos.

“A little busy here!”

Gritting my teeth, I sent a bunch of skeletons flying into the air and channeled more mana within me. The ground beneath my feet cracked. My eyes locked onto the golem, and at a rapid speed, I barged through the group easily and jumped high into the air.

I positioned my feet and delivered a swift kick right through the golem’s head before it shattered to pieces.

As I descended, the skeletons closed in once more on me. Having finally had enough, I stomped my foot on the ground, causing sparks to fly.

“Ember!” I called out, and the sparks burst into flames, creating a circle of flame. It provided a momentary barrier, giving me a breather to readjust. Spreading my arms, the flames surrounding me burst through the surrounding, spreading it further and leaving them to turn ashen.

I already felt tired from using that much mana. If this keeps up much longer, then my mana will eventually dry out, as would Ken’s. I glanced at my brother, who managed to destroy most of the monsters on his side. He tossed me a potion, and I caught it, drinking it in one go. The wounds and bruises healed instantly, but the relief was short-lived.

“Thanks, Ken!” I shouted before turning my attention to another wave of reinforcements.

Five golems and a swarm of skeletons marched toward us. Breathing heavily, I focused on myself. I felt a warmth building in my palm then slowly tiny sparks appeared and flew around my fingertips. I extended my right hand to my left hand and slowly shaped the fire into an orb. The orb intensified as I poured more mana into it.

I glanced at the upcoming reinforcement with a smirk. I passed the orb to my right hand and lifted my left leg, shifting my weight on my back foot. Jerking my body backward and twisting my hip, I threw the ball in their direction.

BOOM!

The ground beneath me trembled as the impact resulted in a burst of flames and an explosion, bigger than the eye could see.

‘That should give us enough time,” I thought to myself as I took a glance at my brother who already did his part of the fight and was panting on the ground, heavily.

Hastily, I came up to him.

“You alright?” I asked worriedly, checking to see if he sustained any fatal injuries, luckily there seemed none.

“Yeah, I just overdid it a little,” He said, still struggling to breathe.

I checked his core just to be sure he was not overusing his mana pool and was relieved to find it stable, though nearly drained.

“Take it easy. Drink a Revitalize potion just in case.”

“I will,” he said, glancing towards the wall of flame. “Are they all dead yet?”

I blinked and took a quick peek from behind. No monster could survive the blast; it was one of my most powerful spells in terms of destructive capability.

“Possibly. I’d be surprised if one survived,” I mused. “We should probably—”

I cut off mid-sentence as I could feel my senses were on rapid alert. Ken noticed that too as we simultaneously turned our heads towards the newly arrived mist forming just meters away from where we were.

“Sis-”

“I know.”

‘This pressure., It could belong to S-Rank or probably higher,’ I thought grimly.

We watched as the mist slowly formed itself into a humanoid figure and then as the mist slowly dissipated. We were left horrified by what it was.

An infamous undead creature that only a few adventurers can come across appeared in our very eyes. They were known to be kings of all undead.

A Lich.

“Ken, we still have the potions we bought, right?” I asked urgently.

“A-Are we really gonna fight that t-thing?”

“Ken, do we still have the potions or not?”

“Uh, yes! Do you mean the strength or—?”

“Strength. Give it  to me now,” I said urgently.

Ken quickly  took out a potion from his bag and threw it at me. I caught it, quickly opening the bottle and gulping it down.

I feel the contents of the potion surging within me. Taking a series of breaths until the pain disappeared and what followed was a sensation that could be described as pleasant.

“Is it working?”

“I hope it is,” I replied, narrowing my eyes at the Lich, who had been silent until now.

“So, you’re the intruders I heard about,” he spoke, his eyes staring intently at us.

I pursed my lips. “So? I bet you’re here to personally deal with us, no?”

“That is correct.”

“Should I be honored, then? I heard that Liches don’t tend to fight their own battles.”

While I was conversing with the Lich. I gave Ken a signal gesture using my hand.

The Lich gave no reply other than raising his staff on me.

I gave no time for him to incant a spell as with a quick dash, I appeared before him. My leg was inches away from his face, but it was blocked by a barrier before it could reach him.

I could feel a jolt of pain as I bit my lip to suppress it.

‘Tsk’

I retreated back while the Lich rained down soul-based attacks on me. None of them managed to hit, however, it caused the ground to become mucky as a result.

“Feeble attempt,” he sneered.

I only gave a smirk in response to his comment. Both my hands lit themselves on fire before returning to charge at him.

My fist swung multiple times at rapid speeds. Just as expected the Lich still kept using the shield. The shield was surprisingly strong despite being barraged by my relentless attacks.

'What a coward.'

I clicked my tongue, taking a large step back. The fire on my hands gathered and formed into a ball. This spell might not be as powerful as before, but the quantity makes up for it.

I raised both hands and threw the flaming orbs at him. As expected the Lich blocked them all effortlessly. But that wasn't the plan. Ken who repositioned himself at the side released a beam-like attack.

The Lich blocked the beam, a glint appeared in my eyes and there was a section of him unguarded.

With the distraction in place, I curled my hand into a fist as the fire returned to it.

I moved behind him, ready for the attack.

‘I got him,’ I thought.

Unexpectedly, before my fist could make contact, he disappeared.

“What?” I exclaimed.

“Sis, behind you!”

Frantically, I planted my feet firmly on the ground, stopping myself from going further. Twisting my body, I readjusted the trajectory of my punch.

But my fist was caught, his grip was surprisingly strong even with the strength potion.

We locked eyes for a moment before my other hand formed a fist, aiming it toward his chest.

He reacted by using his staff to deliver an attack, pressing it onto the ground. Letting out a pulsing wave threw me off across the area, crashing onto a nearby wall.

I let out a grunt of pain.

“Sis!”

“I’m alright!” I said, wiping off the tiny blood on my mouth. I glance at the hallway to see more reinforcement coming in. The fire already began to diminish leaving a clear way for them toward us.

‘Could have timed it worse,’ I sighed, straightening my back.

“Ken, deal with the reinforcement. I’ll handle the Lich.”

“Are you crazy?!”

“Just do it!”

Ken hesitated but was shocked to hear my sudden burst of anger. Nevertheless, he still nodded.

My anger diminished and felt guilty shouting at him like that but it had to be done. I shook off my thoughts and focused on the Lich. I realized that if this went on much longer, I would be the one who would end up dead.

That can't happen and will not happen.

The Lich watched silently as I approached him.

“Your attacks were powerful but lacked not strength but power,” he said. “You have the most powerful arsenal yet never use it. What a waste of potential.”

‘Arsenal? What is he talking about?’ I wondered, keeping my silence.

“Judging by the look on your face, you have knowledge of it,” I could sense disappointment in his tone “A pity. I was hoping for an interesting opponent.”

I took a step back as he released a flare of aura. It was intimidating no doubt

“But you're just another adventurer,” he added, pointing his staff at me.

 I finally spoke and after much concentration. My body burst itself into flames. It didn't hurt, it was the opposite. I felt like I was a completely different person.

It felt good,

As I poured the rest of the mana, the flame intensified. The ground beneath me cracked, and the surrounding area near me began to melt.

Flame Stance.

A special technique that has been passed down by my family for generations. My father had It, my grandfather had it, and his father before him. At least one member of the family must be chosen to inherit this stance and I was the one chosen.

It will instantly put the user in a state of destruction. Their body will be so hot that could melt steel and anything near it. My father said that this technique was special and could only be performed in dire situations.

What better situation to use it than now?

The Lich seemed unfazed by my transformation, and his staff glowed bright purple before shooting a beam towards me.

I dashed onto the beam, not dodging but facing it head-on.

My fist collided with the beam itself resulting in it being held back midway. I struggled to hold it but my will and determination kept me from losing grip.

“Oh?”

The Lich appeared surprised that I was able to block his attack.

I smirked.

“Not… over… yet!”

With enough force, the beam retracted and broke. My eyes snapped towards him, closing the gap within a second.

I swung two, three, and more punches at him. He kept blocking them using the same barrier without counter-attacking. With my endless attacks, the barrier began to crack until it broke, surprising the Lich again.

The opening it gave me was enough to land a fierce hit on him over his lower body then followed by another one in his head causing it to jerk upon impact. The third punch was aimed directly at his chest which caused him to be hurled toward the wall.

I wanted to attack more, but a sharp pain in my chest caused me to halt. Gripping where my heart was, I let out a massive breath. Blood began trickling from my lips.

‘Damn it, That was fast’ I thought. I looked at my brother, who was still holding off the mob of monsters.

“Sis!” he shouted, noticing my dire situation.

I saw he wanted to help, but no.

“No, Ken, stay back!” I shouted as another wave of sharp pain coursed through my body, leaving my knees to weaken. As a result, I dropped to my knees.

“I’ll give you credit, girl. That attack of yours was an excellent display of power.”

I raised my head to see the Lich, completely unharmed and unscathed. My eyes widened in horror.

'How could it be?" I wanted to stand up but found myself unable to.

'Come on,' I tried to force it, but the pain was just too excruciating for me to handle. 'No, not now!'

The Lich raised his staff, and the ground beneath him turned mucky.

Out of it emerged skeletons that were different from the ones we faced. They had a green aura, and I sensed a widespread of mana just by looking at them.

It's one of the most twisted spells in Arcane magic. I recognize the spell as Necromancy.

This is the first time I've written such a big fight scene. I don't know whether I wrote it well enough to be of decent standard but it is what it is. Also, the next chapter might be the last chapter for a while since I have so many things to do in school(I really need that one-week vacation) and another sole reason is that I haven't written the drafts of future chapters yet hahahaha(I procastinate so much even on my free time).