Miasma

Chaz looked down at Ralph, groveling at his feet. He had taken a powerful attack that was almost certain to keep him down for the count.

"The only way that I'll spare your life is if you hand over all your scrolls. Otherwise, you'll die just like your teammates," warned Chaz.

With blood running down the side of his lower lip, Ralph grinned. Chaz narrowed his gaze and hardened his face as soon as he saw this.

"It seems you don't take me seriously. I'll say it again. Hand over all your Scrolls Of Life or I'll kill you."

"Hehe! Let me guess," laughed Ralph. "You only have an Affinity Of Steel, don't you? Based on the fact that your affinity is so simple, it's easy to say that your Bloodline Trait is a Common Trait. Am I right?"

"And what if you are?"

"Well, I have an Uncommon Trait. That's above your weak-ass Common Trait. That also means that I have a Double Affinity!"

"One's Bloodline Trait doesn't always decide how powerful they are. With enough training, even someone with the weakest of the 6 Bloodline Traits can match up to those considered the strongest. Hard work determines everything."

"Heh— Guys like you are always spouting that nonsense. But I've never seen someone with a Common Trait beat even a Third Class Kato. Talent is what determines everything! And I was born more talented than you!!"

Flames sparked to life from Ralph's body. This frightened Chaz, causing him to stumble backward. Seeing this only fueled Ralph's confidence even more. Steel was a bad matchup for fire. It only made sense that Chaz was a little intimidated.

"I'm going to burn you to a crisp for messing with me! I guarantee that you're a dead man!"

Ralph then dived toward Chaz as fast as he could. Chaz came around with a powerful swing of his massive hammer. However, Ralph didn't dodge. Instead, he clenched his fist which was now covered in flames, and punched Chaz's hammer.

"Bloodline Art: Flare Fist!"

In a matter of seconds, Chaz's metallic hammer melted like lava. He looked on in shock, frightened by what had happened. The heat from Ralph's fist was nothing to joke about.

Ralph then came around with another flame-powered punch. Chaz had to defend himself. He got his hands before his face, doing his best to prevent himself from taking too much damage.

"Bloodline Art: Iron Body!"

The searing hot heat of Ralph's fist then slammed into his iron arms. Chaz skated backward along the grassy ground, with an imprint of Ralph's fist on his arms. He groaned in pain. His arms burnt like a hot flame. As expected, not even his Iron Body could counter the heat from Ralph's fists.

"You're sweating already after only a single punch? Where's that big talk of yours about hard work beating talent? When up against the real thing, there's not much you can do, is there?!"

"This fight isn't over yet."

"You're right. Because I'll finish it with my next attack!"

Ralph then took a deep breath as flames erupted from his body like a flamethrower. He clasped his hands and immediately began concentrating. The heat that radiated from his body even caused the grass around him to burn.

"Bloodline Art: Flaming Burst!!"

A massive wall of flames crashed into Chaz with an explosion. Smoke and heat filled the air, making even breathing difficult. It was as if someone was throwing hot tea on their lungs. Ralph grinned with satisfaction. He was certain that Chaz couldn't have survived such a powerful attack.

Slowly, the smoke and flames began to clear. Chaz's silhouette could be seen standing amongst the cloud of smoke and small flames. His hands were crossed before his face and steam erupted from his body. His arms, feet, and body were all burnt significantly.

However, it was still too much for him to handle. He groaned in pain as he tried to regain his composure. Unfortunately, he couldn't recover. Instead, he fell face-first to the ground, too injured to move.

"That's it! Talent will always beat hard work! The way you're born will determine everything! And that's why weaklings like you shouldn't be playing hero!"

Ralph then turned his attention back to Eliisabet who was still slumped on the side of an old tree stump. She looked up at him in frustration, not knowing what to do. She felt lost and hopeless.

With a grin printed on his lips, Ralph moved over to her. He jammed his foot in her stomach and grabbed her by the hair. Eliisabet coughed violently and squealed in pain.

"Now, where were we? Right, I was about to bash your face in before we were so rudely interrupted! I'm going to make you scream for mercy, you bitch!"

Ralph then doubled his fist as he prepared to unleash another flaming punch to Eliisabet's face. However, before he could even properly form a fist, a solid punch rocketed into the side of his jaw. He bounced and rolled along the forest floor, groaning in pain.

With his rage boiling over, he grabbed onto his cheek and looked up to see what had happened. This was when he saw Custos standing in front of Eliisabet.

"Custos..!" Cried Eliisabet with relief.

Custos remained silent. He then stooped by her side and carefully began inspecting her injuries. He wiped the blood from her lip and used his hand to comfort the bruises on her face. Once he had done this, he picked himself back up and looked over at Ralph.

A chill ran through Ralph's spine. Custos' eyes were almost like the devil himself. He was enraged because of what Ralph had done to Eliisabet.

"What are you giving me that look for? Do you want a fight too? She killed my teammates first! I was only giving her some payback for what she did!"

"Payback? So that's what this is," said Custos coldly. "There are very few things that can piss me off. One of those things is hurting Eliisabet. If you want to know what real payback feels like then get up off your ass and come at me."

Custos threw down his sword to the ground and cracked his wrists.

"I'm going to beat the living shit out of you, jackass. I hope you have life insurance."