Lament of the Slave

Chapter 103: Out of Breath

Without asking either of them if they were ready, I made my move. It was an attempt to catch them off guard, half successful. Harper was still pointing her crossbow at the ground when my feet kicked up the sand of the training ground, and the mage was no better off. The bunch of hot embers hovering over Meneur's palm weren't dangerous magic, just practice, his effort to find a new spell quickly and thus made himself more useful to the squad.

Freyde was the first to respond, not the fastest to act. Harper was seriously nimble with her hands and took a shot at me two steps earlier than I thought. Well, call me impressed. She managed to tweak her crossbow. The bolt now packed enough force to leave cracks in my barrier, even with just a graze.

Not the reason I went after her now, though. It had a much simpler rationale, perhaps even silly. I didn't want to attack the same target twice, avoid repeating my moves, and give the sword-wielding-elf a basis to predict my intentions.

Speed was what I based my attack on so far, and that didn't change. Only this time I pushed my legs to the limit, doubling the speed and risking snapped tendons and torn muscles. The price I was willing to pay just to get rid of one of my squadmates as quickly as possible.

To her credit, the moment Harper saw she wouldn't be able to fire another clear shot, she chose to move towards Freyde. She might as well try to dodge or take a point-blank shot regardless. Good thinking, only the baker should have done it half a breath earlier. Despite her best efforts, I managed to dig my claws into her and draw out her scream.

"Son of a bitch, seriously?!" she hissed as I left bloody gashes not exactly where I intended.

Yeah, her ass was a somewhat awkward spot to hit, nor did it take her out of the fight. If anything, it just pissed her off. Kinda mercifully, I didn't get more time to dwell on her butt as I had to dodge Freyde's sword and, for the first time, with a lock of hair in my left hand, swat away a swarm of embers threatening to burn me.

It worked like a charm, better than I expected, and actually reflected the spell into the ground. No longer did it stop me in my tracks or require me to turn my back to the mage. Though it had its unexpected, let's say, quirks too.

The spell, although weakened, when it hit the training ground, blew up a fair amount of sand. If not careful, it could blind me. I mean, take away my eyesight. True for my squadmates, too. With good timing and aim, of course, it was an advantage I could take. That, or straight up, deflect Meneur's magic onto one of them.

The downside of it all was that I had to fight severe frostbite. Although not experienced firsthand, I knew it was painful. I just never imagined how much. Seriously, I had trouble holding the mane, working its magic in my hand.

Yet, an issue I had to put off for now. A bigger threat than frostbite was Freyde. With his strike, he forced me to take a quick sidestep in a direction I didn't want. Being locked in a fight with this sword-wielding bookkeeper wasn't what I wanted to get into. Already been there, and it led nowhere. So, at the much greater risk of snapping my tendons, I slipped past him to Harper.

The pointy-eared bastard didn't let me off so easily, though. Not as fast on his feet, he stood no chance of keeping up with me. With not many options in his hands to stop my advance, he resorted to dirty tricks and tripped me up.

Sadly, I couldn't say I was nimble enough to avoid it. His foul play worked, to a certain extent. It threw off my footwork, not my balance. With [Perfect Equilibrium] among my skills, wings, and tail, it was...challenging, at the very least. Not impossible, but very difficult to do so.

Still, I didn't think Harper would take the shot in that brief moment it gave her. And so good shot at that. Despite my efforts to deflect the bolt like before, it hit the shield I hurriedly formed at a more blunt angle than I had meant. No wonder, then, that with the sound of shattering glass, it passed through the barrier.