Wounded

A shriek of pain escaped Klein's lips, accompanied by an involuntary burst of essence, almost causing Elowen to fall. The arrow took him off guard completely, but it barely took a moment for Klein to get a hold of himself and his power.

He established his complete control over them and manipulated them into the form of a semi-corporeal barrier. Before it could fully coalesce, another arrow struck the protective barrier, overwhelming it with a resounding crash. If not for the barrier, it would have stuck Elowen.

"Take cover!" Klein shouted, his gaze locked onto the direction from which the arrows had come. They ran to take cover behind a huge tree as the arrows kept coming. His pace was by no means fast, with the arrow stuck to his leg. Thankfully, Klein was more competent in the brain than Brawl.

All the essence within his grasp solidified into a corporeal shield, enveloping them from all directions. It didn't restrict their movement, as Klein made it move along with them.

Klein focused his mind to ensure that the agony didn't overpower his control over essence. The assailants continued to unleash arrows, even though his shield rendered them ineffective. There were two of them, Klein could glimpse the one from the north, but the other in the west remained hidden behind leaves.

This defensive stand would stall the confrontation for a while. Even if he managed to hold out until the attackers ran out of arrows, they could resort to other means or retreat and return more prepared. The intense pain in his leg told him to stall them until they ran out of arrows, but that was half measures.

He hadn't survived this long taking half-measures.

[Essence Weaving F --> F+]

Clenching his teeth, he gingerly removed the arrow from his leg, causing a crimson stream of blood to well up from the wound. Tears streamed down from his eyes, but there were mild inconveniences. Fortunately, the arrow had not penetrated all the way through to the other side, sparing him from a more grievous injury. However, it would severely impede his mobility if he were to have a fight.

Within the protective safety of the shield enveloping them both, Klein retrieved two vials of potion—one blue and the other white. Opening both vials with his mouth deftly, as though he had his practice, the former fifth-circle mage swiftly downed the blue one and splashed the white liquid onto his wound.

An intense, bone-chilling sensation surged through his leg, causing the wound to seal shut almost instantly as some snow-white fibre-like thing enveloped the wound completely like a bandage.

"Ahh, that would do for now," he groaned. Just as he began to prepare for a spell, Elowen's shrill cry pierced the air.

In the periphery of his vision, Klein glimpsed the silhouette of a figure, but before he could have a complete view of the man, he shot him the way he came from. For a moment, his instincts took over his conscious thought transformed the protective essence shield into a torrent of force, and thrust it all into man. The force sent the man hurtling through the air a dozen paces away.

A spatter of blood came out of his mouth, but the assailant was far from being done. Klein allowed him no respite, unleashing his [Essence Bolt] onto him on a streak. The first bolt struck home, burrowing deep into the man's leg, inflicting a wound more severe than the arrows had upon Klein himself.

The assailant, who appeared to be a man of his age, managed to evade the second and third bolts, rolling across the ground with a desperate urgency. However, the fourth bolt again found its mark, embedding itself firmly in the man's ass, bursting through whatever defences he had mustered. Sitting comfortably would not be an option for him anytime soon.

He rolled on the ground wiggling maddeningly, forgetting all coordination in agony.

Klein was ready to bring an end to his misery, but a sudden, chilling sensation coursing through his system froze him in his tracks. A foreboding feeling crept into his mind, causing him to clench his jaw.

"Shit!" he cursed, his gaze snapping back to Elowen, who stood ready with her bow, already shooting at the enemies. "I'm poisoned."

Only after the words escaped his lips did he realise he had spoken in his own language. He didn't know the word for poison in Elowen's tongue. The potion that had sealed his wound would prevent the poison from spreading further into his body, but it was apparent that a significant amount had already infiltrated his system.

"Run!" he screamed. He could withstand the assailants long enough for them to retreat, maintaining the protective shield all the while. However, being poisoned left him in no position to deplete his energy reserves recklessly.

Thankfully, their assailants didn't come as strong after he severely injured one of them. One of the archers came down from his prime spot to rescue the melee fighter.

Klein kept their vitals protected as Elowen shot arrows. Her archery by no means to scoff off, hardly giving the assailants any easy time. The bowman shouted out some words, but Elowen didn't stop shooting, injuring the fallen man again.

Both parties broke apart from one another soon, until none of their arrows found their mark. After covering some distance, his legs completely gave away, paralysed to move. Thankfully, his body had become far more resistant to poison than he knew, not to mention the potion he took was already fighting against the poison. 

He would just have to let Elowen carry him for some time. Hopefully, nothing would go amiss during the night.