Critical Hit

AERIS'S POV

'I saw it coming once he threw those Hollowbanes.' Aeris's thoughts rushed through his mind while he sprinted to catch Ash. 'A man who soloed two Hollowbanes! I knew for sure that you were a warrior, Ash. From the very first time I saw you, I knew that you were a monster yet friendly and kind.' Aeris ran with all the speed he could muster.

'Ash… no, Mangle, you always kept many secrets about yourself. Sorry, but my ability says otherwise.' Aeris felt guilty knowing Ash's secrets without Ash even knowing. 'That's my ability, the…'

[Controller]

A new title shimmered above Aeris as his whole body shone blue. His eyes caught the patterns that no one except him could see. Aeris saw how severe the patterns felt around Ash's back, and he knew exactly what it meant.

"Oh no!" Aeris paled once he spotted how the patterns on Ash's back felt. His vision implied that Ash's back was almost fully broken. If he didn't heal Ash in time, Ash would die in mere seconds.

Aeris reached Ash first, held him firmly, and put his body on his core. Aeris didn't think about anything strange on Ash's back, because there were non! Aeris proceeded to heal Ash as fast as possible, increasing his ability to the maximum. He even activated his title to ensure that he would heal Ash the fastest he could.

"Aeris, what's wrong with Ash?!" Shizuna slid beside Aeris and asked desperately out of worry.

"Not good. Not good at all!" Aeris answered, his eyes were blacked out despite the Shine in his eyes. Nyro tensed as he caught to them and saw Ash fainted on the ground.

Aeris, fully concentrated on healing Ash, glanced at where the girl they saved and saw her walking toward them. When she reached them, she was nonchalant but kind.

"You are fortunate, he didn't harm his critical point." The girl said, leaving the rest in bewilderment.

"What do you mean?" Aeris didn't wait to ask.

"What I mean is… he is safe. He won't die, at least with the help of your healing. His critical point isn't damaged." The girl answered. Though Aeris understood a bit about her explanation.

"What is the critical point?" Shizuna asked, the same question that Aeris wanted to ask.

"That point." The girl pointed to a specific area on Ash's back that wasn't damaged at all. For Aeris's vision about patterns, that point didn't have any red markings, meaning that it's completely normal.

Aeris widened in surprise and looked at her while still healing Ash.

"How did you know?!" Aeris was confused. How did she know about something only he could see? The answer came in a way that had no words.

A Fangbane came from behind. Nyro and Shizuna were about to finish it off until the girl stopped them with a gesture and took a step toward the Fangbane.

"I didn't introduce myself yet," the girl said in an aristocratic tone. Something that caught their attention instantly.

'Is she a noble?!' They thought in union.

"My name is Leonna. My ability is something that won't be understood. Only if you saw it." Turns out her name is Leonna. Although she didn't say her surname, the others didn't say anything.

The Fangbane didn't give any attention to who was walking towards it and leaped to attack. To bite.

Leonna straightened her fingers and dashed toward the Fangbane. Its panel shimmered before her eyes. Though she didn't even notice it.

[Fangbane]

[Level: 9]

A title shimmered on top of her as she moved her straightened fingers toward a specific point on the Fangbane.

[Critical Hit]

Aeris saw the title and realized what she meant earlier. He widened in surprise, if what he thought was right… Then Leonna has the most overpowered ability among them.

The moment of truth came into existence. The Fangbane got hit by Leonna and his leap changed backward. The Fangbane, once reaching the ground, staggered and couldn't move as if he was stunned. Soon enough, the Fangbane fell on its side and died.

Aeris felt like a bolt of lightening had descended upon him. His intuition was right!

"I'm the Critical Hit. I can take any opponent down with only one hit." Leonna said, her graceful figure illuminated under the rain. They didn't even realize that the sky was raining until now.

Aeris understood how she could see the patterns. Turns out, she didn't even see any patterns, or rather only one type of patterns like a mark to identify the most vulnerable point in someone or something.

The Critical Hit, Leonna.

Nyro and Shizuna watched in awe as she took the Fangbane with only one hit. Aeris sighed and held Ash on his shoulder as he was still unconscious.

"We still have time to reach the castle," Aeris informed, looking at Nyro and Shizuna before shifting his gaze towards Leonna. "Will you come with us?"

"Why wouldn't I?! The more people we have, the faster we can reach. I was also heading toward the Castle but I didn't know which route should I take." Leonna said, her serious tone never left her.

"Then it's settled. Let's continue." Aeris informed once more. Though he felt curious about something.

'How did she know about the castle if she didn't have the map?' Logical thinking indeed.

And with that, the team resumed their march toward the castle.

***

THE CENTRAL CASTLE

"What?!" Someone inside the meeting room shouted.

"I'm not lying, number 1." Another voice said calmly, addressing the other as number one.

Sylas Valmere, the number one traveler of the latest travelers, was talking to one of the castle's members.

"We have detected number 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10. No sign of either number 5 or 7." The castle member said.

Sylas was evident that something must have happened. He knew the other travelers from the last generations and had never heard of someone from the numbers having gone missing. Something had happened and he had no clue how to solve this problem.

The castle member assured Sylas that they would dig deeper into the system and try with all of their knowledge to find number 5 and 7.

"And another thing, number one," the castle member's tone changed suddenly. "Not just the disappearance of number 5 and 7 made us worried."

Sylas looked at him with seriousness.

"Another code had appeared that was never found in the latest generations. A code that should have never existed."