Technique

The dark energy within Zay's hands finally reached a limit and exploded outwards. The energy shaped into a giant blade that cut everything it came across in half. It didn't explode like a fireball, but it was smooth and precise. The knights fell one by one as the blade severed their bodies without a hint of resistance. In a couple seconds, an entire troop of knights died to a single mage.

The blade of darkness swept through the entire room, even reaching Ray's position 20 meters away. But by the time it reached Ray, the power had diminished to the point where it only left a small crack in his shield. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead after seeing the aftermath of the spell. 'If I hit that head on, I can't be sure I wouldn't have died' Ray thought.

However, he quickly calmed down. Now isn't the time to think about that, but rather to think about how to capitalize on the situation!

Zay was clearly drained from the spell, even a level 4 apprentice like him had to pay a price to instantly kill 30 knights. Ray started casting another light ray, which shot towards Zay within a couple seconds.

Zay didn't do anything, or rather he couldn't do anything. The previous spell was too exhaustive, he needed a small break before he could continue casting. So he could only watched as the ray approached him and broke through the dark mist surrounding him.

At the last second, Zay ducked a little so the ray hit him on the forehead instead of the eye. A dark bloody hole was left on his face, but it didn't completely penetrate his skull to the brain. He grit his teeth and tried to ignore the pain screaming from his head.

Ray brandished his sword and lept towards Zay. No matter how powerful Zay was, there's no way he would have much energy left. The same was true for Ray, he could only use one more light ray before he ran dry.

He quickly arrived at Zay's location and slammed his sword towards the injury on his face. 'Why did I not bring a weapon, how could I be so stupid?' Zay cursed internally. He raised his arms to block the sword, although a small injury was left behind.

'His body is very strong, he's probably been training for countless years' Ray thought while fighting Zay. Each time he struck Zay, a small cut would appear on his body. But it wasn't nearly enough to kill him anytime soon.

A couple minutes later, Ray realized something was wrong. Zay started to use his hands even more wildly, almost being able to push Ray back even though he was the one with the sword! His shield was already starting to show a couple cracks here and there. 'His fighting experience is far beyond mine, I have to change the strategy quickly!'

While fighting Zay, he remembered that time during the applications to Mythri when he was being pushed back by someone who also had superior close combat fighting skills than him. What did he do in that situation? He ran away!

After remembering that, Ray tucked his tail in and ran away. What could Zay do? He didn't even have a weapon on him, he only had his fists. 'Damnit, he figured it out' Zay thought in a panic. He had barely any energy left, his only chance was in close quarter combat. 'I'll have to go all out'.

Both Ray and Zay started casting a spell. Ray didn't have a variety; he didn't have much to choose from. While Zay started casting another dark spell that Ray hadn't see yet. It wasn't the ground spike or the blade, as Ray already knew the spell structure of them.

Zay finished casting first, since he had the battle advantage and he was much more experienced than Ray. Since Ray was using his aura the entire time, he could see the general direction of the attack before it happened.

The attack was aimed at the middle of his body. Even though there wasn't enough time to dodge, he could still move his vitals out of the way.

A dark spike appeared from Zay's hand.

The spike accelerated in an instant and slammed into Ray's shield. But to his dismay, the shield couldn't block the spike; it only stopped the spike for a second before shattering, leaving his body vulnerable. It was originally aimed for his chest, but since he moved out of the way at the last second, it hit his arm.

The impact from the spike caused him to go flying until he smashed into the wall behind him. The spike pinned his arm to the wall until the wall crumbled from the impact, dropping him to the ground.

Zay's situation wasn't much better. Ray's spell fired right after Zay's did. He no longer had the energy to put up a shield, so the ray hit him directly on his body. It hit near his stomach, piercing through his internal organs while leaving through his back.

Ray learnt from his last encounter that he can't go through his bones, he had to attack somewhere else. And as he expected, it worked. Zay dropped to the ground, coughing blood onto the floor. He looked up to Ray who was laying on the ground still dealing with the after effects of his attack.

He looked like a beast the way he was on the ground with his hands. His eyes gave of a murderous look towards Ray, as if he would kill him even if it meant dying in the process!

"What did you do to me!" Zay screamed, before dropping to the ground again, more blood rushing out of his abdomen.

Ray tried to stand up, then the pain on his arm hit him all at once. He quickly turned his head to see the full damage of the spike; it wasn't pretty.

A strange look appeared on his face as he saw the damage the spike dealt. The spike had already dissipated, but his arm was completely destroyed. He could directly see the fragments of his humerus (bone near bicep).

He wasn't shocked by the sight of gore, it was simply the first time he was the one on the injured end. The pain was there, but it wasn't as bad as he imagined. ' It's painful, but manageable. This must be the effects of having a stronger soul,' Ray thought while staring at his mangled arm.

He tried moving his arm, but nothing happened. He turned his head to see Zay's condition. After seeing him lying on the floor while bleeding everywhere, Ray's face turned into a smile. He used his working arm and fumbled around his pockets, trying to find the potions he got earlier. The messy site of broken glass awaited him; the potion was probably destroyed and leaked everywhere when he slammed into the wall. 'I'll have to finish this off the hard way' Ray thought.

He shakily stood on his feet while his arm hung limp. He took out his sword and ran towards Zay.

Zay stared at Ray approaching him with intense hatred in his eyes. He tried standing up, but he immediately fell down, as if his body would no longer listen to him

Ray stopped above Zay's body lying on the ground and stabbed his sword into the wound he already created. He didn't waste any time and repeatedly stabbed Zay's body while ignoring his screams of pain.

Finally, after minutes of hacking away, Zay finally went limp. Ray tried cutting open Zay's heart, but he somehow managed to stay alive. Only after destroying his brain did Zay finally stop moving.

"Ahh. That took way too long." Ray murmured to himself. The stench of blood filled his nostrils as he sat on the ground, thinking about what to do next.

His arm was destroyed, and he had no energy left in his body. As he was thinking, he remembered the servants that brought them food earlier. 'They probably already left after hearing the sounds of the battle. Most likely nobody in this town can rival me anymore, but I'll head back to Mythri soon, it can't be good to stay here any longer'.

Although his arm was destroyed, it wouldn't affect him in the short term. His soul is powerful, he can withstand the pain. His body is also stronger than an average person, his vitality can hold on for a while.

'Before I go, I should search this entire mansion. There are probably some clues as to what they were doing'.

He slowly got up, although it was a bit awkward. First, he searched the entire floor he was currently on. There was nothing, as he expected. It was just a normal looking mansion with little decoration.

Next, he searched the second floor. Most of it was empty bedrooms and empty rooms in general. Ray started to wonder why he bothered getting such a large house just to not use it.

Finally he searched the last floor, the basement. He wouldn't have even known there was a basement if he didn't accidentally catch the aura of something underground. He didn't even bother searching for a basement door, and simply used his sword to smash through the floor until he reached the aura he detected.

He landed in an ordinary looking bedroom with nothing in it but a bed and a cabinet. The aura he felt came from the cabinet, so he carefully broke the lock, and opened the door.

There was a papyrus and a journal inside. With a quick glance at the journal, he saw it was about some sort of experiment, and the mage was apparently documenting it.

The final thing he saw was a papyrus that read, 'Flesh Eating Body Training'.