Fear

[please give me power stones...]

My back hurt, my chest hurt, my neck hurt, my head hurt and I was breathing hard.

There I was fearing for my life when just a few moments ago I was about to kill all the killers as if it were a picnic.

That made me think about how easily my life changed in such a short time in such a few years.

I remembered my past life, I was a despicable shit addict and only my brother could look at me without feeling disgusted back then.

I remembered when I was already trying to make peace with my little sister those bastards came home and stabbed me which cost me my life, it was in less than a minute and that's how I died.

Then I reincarnated, adapted and lived, that's how I've been doing for all these ten years.

I walk practically blindly in some decision that I am about to make and I just hope that it turns out, I have only been lucky up to this point But I don't want that anymore...

What happens if I make a wrong move in one of my actions and end up losing the little I have?...

No, I don't want, I don't want that! I want to live!!!

"Huh? What's wrong kid? Do you still want to fight? It's a shame I can't just kill you, if it were up to me you wouldn't have even seen me move" Enzo's voice brought me back to reality and I looked into his eyes, in his eyes there was only trust, not a hint of the fear that I am feeling, He knows the fight is on his side and I know it too...

There is nothing that can save me now, this world does not work like this, this place is not a cartoon and I am not the protagonist...

But that doesn't mean I will die without a fight, I just hope my mother can have a good life and that Philemon can be a great leader for the Notos...

Now with only one arm, I can only fight with the North God style, I never thought I would get to this point, but life is always full of surprises, right?...

"What's wrong? Are you ready to give up, Sir Paul?..." Enzo said with a mocking smile.

"I'm sorry, but I'm dead first!" I declared and with my left hand I held Sakka with all my strength.

Enzo raised an eyebrow and a sadistic smile formed on his face.

"Fine, in that case I'll cut off your other arm and legs and carry you back to Millis!!" He said and got into a combat stance, ready to counter any of my attacks.

Cold sweat dripped from my forehead and a chill ran down my spine. If I lost concentration even for a moment... I would die, and if I died I would never see Mom or Philemon again...

This simple thought made me afraid, I was afraid, but that fear gave me adrenaline and that adrenaline made me more ready than ever.

"Alright...it's time for us to play cat and mouse!" I declared, pointing my sword at him.

"cat and mouse? what the hell does that me- aaagh!" Enzo screamed but I immediately threw a Sonic boom at him which made him fall on his ass quickly.

I took advantage of this and started running and behind me I created a thick fog.

"tch!, don't you run away you damn cowardly child!!...what?!!"

While Enzo was running through the fog he crashed head on into a huge wall of dirt.

"Cheap tricks!!" He screamed but immediately created three more walls around him, enclosing him.

I had no idea what I was doing or what was going to happen, I'm just thinking on the fly, think, think!!

Hollow stone bullets won't be effective against him...and he can nullify any kind of magic...

I need a large scale attack...something he won't be able to escape from.

(slash!)

"That's all you can do?!" Enzo shouted as he cut through my dirt wall like it was butter and lunged at me.

"nggh!" Using a stone pillar I rose into the air just in time to avoid his attack and launched repeated fireball attacks at him.

"Haha, I can do this all day!!" He shouted and with his sword he nullified my spells with a slash while he looked directly at me, they were the eyes of a predator and I was his prey...

I need to analyze my surroundings...

I looked sideways to my sides, it was a simple forest with trees and behind us was the campfire that I created with magic...

If I manage to turn it off, he will be left without vision, but so will I...

"Shit!!" I screamed and threw a huge ball of water that instantly destroyed the light that allowed us to see.

"Hah?!, now you're taking refuge in the darkness?!, how pathetic!!" Enzo shouted as he ran around looking for me.

I ran the same way, using wind magic so that my footsteps wouldn't be heard, I was no longer on the path and I'm probably lost in the forest.

I only stopped when I felt my chest burning and my head spinning...

I was losing blood, I quickly put my sword aside and began to cast Saint-level healing mobs on my severed arm.

I closed my eyes trying to calm down and a golden light spread over me and then formed an arm that took thirty seconds to regenerate...

"Jah!, there you are!!" Enzo's voice made me freeze in place, I quickly realized my mistake, he saw the light of my spell...

Fortunately I already had both my arms back but I was still at a disadvantage, I continued running through the forest and raised my hand to the sky.

I hope Gesee and the others are already far away...

The almost non-existent moonlight was extinguished as large storm clouds began to form, but I didn't want a storm that Enzo could simply ignore...

No, I need all the power of that storm in my hand...lightning.

Ignoring the mana cost I began to compress the spell as much as I could until it became a single cloud with huge rays falling to the ground in random areas.

"What is this magic?! Only Laplace would be capable of such a feat!!" Enzo shouted.

I didn't pay attention to him, the guy was getting closer to me which made me lose concentration slightly.

Enzo was getting closer every millisecond, he was fast, maybe as fast as Wii Taa...

"Haa!" With my left arm I conjured a ten-meter wall of earth and as hard as I could.

I could hear Enzo crash straight into it and let out a grunt before driving through it like it was nothing...

The black cloud began to compress more and I concentrated it in my hand

The lightning bolts began to illuminate the forest, crashing into all the random places and with each one I could feel my body going numb and I could feel my hand burning.

Some rays even hit Enzo and he had to repel them with effort.

But despite all this he kept moving forward and forward.

"This is very interesting magic!! But you don't stand a chance against me!!" He shouted but...

A whistle was heard in the air and something hit Enzo's neck...

"aggh!!" He let out a gasp as he grabbed his neck.

It was an arrow and more of them started heading towards Enzo, but he deflected them effortlessly and looked back to face the shooter.

An opening...

I quickly pointed my hand at him, the electricity crackled in my hand and compressed the spell even more, I could feel the spell struggling to burst, it wanted to be a storm and end everything in his wake.

But concentrate that storm on a single point, a lightning bolt.

Immediately a purple ball of light the size of a ping pong ball formed in my hand, illuminating the area as if it were daytime.

Enzo seemed to realize his mistake and tried to turn to me.

But don't let him do it...

"Haaa!!" With a battle cry I released the lightning, electricity crackled throughout the forest followed by a pillar of light that crashed full on Enzo, the light was such that it blinded me completely and a tremendous explosion followed, causing me to fly and crash into a tree.

But as if it were a dream, when I opened my eyes the light had disappeared and the forest was dark again.

"nngh...that was something" I muttered to myself as I stood up and applied healing magic to myself.

"Paul! Are you okay?!" Laws' voice echoed through the forest and I heard footsteps running aimlessly.

"Over here!!" I shouted as I stood on guard, it took Laws a few moments to find me but he stood by my side afterwards.

"Paul, how are you? We were going to the city but I got worried about you and came back... it seems you weren't having such a good time" he murmured while preparing his bow and arrow.

"Yeah, so to speak... that guy is a Water King, and I don't even know if he's dead," I muttered, and I could see Laws visibly shudder.

We searched through the forest for a few minutes as we followed the path of my spell's destruction until we found a crater.

I used fire magic on my left hand and stood guard with my sword in my right hand.

But that was not necessary, in the crater Enzo lay charred and in an inhuman position.

At this image I couldn't help but let out a sigh and as if it were from a horror movie, Enzo's eyes opened.

"Ugh?!, what the fuck?!" Laws shouted scared and took a few steps back.

"nghhh....yiiuu, yuu fiiig wee quidoo" Enzo muttered as he coughed up ash, he could practically see the life leaving his eyes.

"Bu yiiuu bee stupid... if you think my death will sto teem, they'll follow you to tee end of tee world..." He said and a smile formed on his charred face.

"They, who they?" I muttered.

"heh...may Sainn Millis haee mercy on yiiuu soul..." Enzo murmured and with a sigh he died.

"Let's burn what's left of him, a revived with his abilities will be a pain in the ass" Laws suggested and I nodded.

I didn't want to admit it but his words resonated strongly within me, I knew what those fuckers of Miliis were capable of, Plus now they know my identity...

The mere thought made a shiver run down my spine again and so we left the crater leaving Enzo's ashes behind.

I didn't want to keep anything of him, I hope his name get lost in time.

Following Laws, we returned to the road and after an hour's walk we were able to reach the carriage.

"Paul!!"

"Laws!!"

Hilda and Anna screamed respectively jumping out of the carriage and running towards us.

I was surprised to see how fast Hilda ran despite her malnutrition and with one jump she hugged me tightly and began to cry on my chest.

"Damn asshole! What the hell were you thinking when you did that?!" She screamed as she hugged me tightly and I stroked her head gently.

"I'm sorry for worrying you Hilda, But I had to do it to protect you all" I whispered in his ear.

"I-I know but...uggg..." She continued crying non-stop for a while.

"Paul...I'm glad you're okay" Roxy said and patted me on the shoulder, I looked to my side and Flute and Hilda looked at me with similarly relieved expressions.

"Wow Paul, you really showed off now, huh? How powerful was that guy to make such a hasty retreat?" Gesee muttered from the side.

"The leader of the ambush was a Water King...I was barely able to defeat him with an experimental spell and the help of Laws" I said with a sigh and I could feel Hilda tense in my embrace.

"Wow... a Water King... you sure are strong, buddy!" Gesee said in an animated tone and hugged my neck tightly which made me smile slightly

"Yes, and this was just a warning, they already know about me, about what I did in the slave market... they put me as a fugitive here and that's why we must leave Millis as soon as possible" I declared and I could see the faces of the others become serious.

"I see, they are some bastards, huh? Capturing a noble lady and still demanding justice." Flute muttered disdainfully and I nodded.

"That's why we must be more alert, from now on we will try to cover as much ground as we can both day and night, The eastern port is still two weeks away and there may be Millis soldiers ahead..."We should continue, now" I muttered and everyone nodded.

"Okay, you heard the boss, everyone get in the carriage" Gesee said in a carefree tone and I raised an eyebrow.

"Since when am I the boss?" I muttered.

"Hehe...well, you are the strongest of the group after all, it's only natural" Roxy said and so we returned to the carriage.

I and Gesee exchanged shifts while traveling while the others slept, I decided that this would be our new operandi modes from now on.

Fortunately after two hours of travel began to dawn, so I felt a little more relieved, but I still couldn't rest, not after the experience I had just had, I had many doubts, too many in mind, I did not know what to do or where to start, I had always considered myself as someone strong and I can say safely that I am...

but still, I already have a very big enemy behind me and I already had an enemy. become stronger, no excuses or silly missions ... I must train, both in swords and in magic because if I still continue ... it probably ends dead before even reaching the central continent ....

...

Hours passed, it was already morning and I was still on the road but by Gesee's directions we were already close to the next city, my mind during the whole fight on this little journey had been a sea of thoughts and fears that invaded my mind at the worst possible time...

And if I want that to end, I must strive to...

"Paul? Do you want me to change places with you?" Laws said behind me, interrupting my thoughts.

I blinked in surprise for a few moments and then felt, with a quick movement Laws took the reins of the horses and so we continued moving forward but I was still sitting next to him.

"Is something wrong Paul?" He asked with concern.

"No, I just want to thank you for what you did for me a while ago" I murmured and a smile formed on his face.

"Don't thank me, it was normal to help a friend" he said and I nodded.

And now somehow I felt a little lighter and ready to reach the city.

But I had one thing clear, from today I would start with hard training, no excuses or nonsense, and I would do it, starting with those scrolls.