Female Mage

"How... how is this possible?" the three Silent Ones stared at Will, astonished.

"His sword..." one of the Silent Ones pointed at Will's short sword, which was glowing with flames.

Lisa and Jin stood behind Will. Lisa placed her hands on Jin's crossbow, and suddenly, a red, flame-like light erupted from her palms. She slowly transferred this light onto the crossbow.

"Alright, your crossbow is now enchanted with fire magic. When I used the fireball spell against those bandages earlier, I found that fire works very well against them. They seem to be particularly afraid of fire. But the enchantment won't last long, so be cautious," Lisa whispered to Jin.

"How amazing!" Jin couldn't help but marvel.

"Be careful, I think I need to rest for a bit." Lisa, already injured, slumped to the ground, exhausted.

"Okay! It's my turn now—let's show these bandage monsters my perfect aim!" Jin said, holding the fire-enchanted crossbow as he slowly stepped out from behind Will.

"Will, you go ahead and draw one of their attention while I distract the other two. How about it?" Jin quietly suggested to Will.

"Got it," Will nodded, scanning the scattered Silent Ones.

"Alright, let's go!" Jin shouted. With that, Will dashed toward one of the Silent Ones.

"Stop underestimating people!" The Silent One, facing the charging Will, unleashed another barrage of bandages to strike him.

"You can't rely on the same trick more than once!" Will shouted, dodging the incoming bandages with agile movements while using his flame-enchanted short sword to slice through them. The white bandages quickly turned to ash under the heat of the blade.

"Hmph, then how about this?" The Silent One sneered. The white bandages suddenly tangled together, forming a massive wave that crashed toward Will. But Will didn't stop; with all his might, he leapt into the oncoming wave of bandages.

"Ahhh!" Will roared as he slashed through the wave of bandages in midair, creating a gap in it. He then plunged straight into the mass of bandages.

"Will!" Jin shouted in worry, watching Will charge into the bandages.

No sooner had Jin spoken than the enormous bandages suddenly turned to white ash and disappeared. When the ashes cleared, they saw Will squatting on one leg in the corner of the arena, his short sword plunged into the chest of the fallen Silent One.

"Did Will succeed?" Jin asked, incredulously.

"Ha... ha... ha..." Will panted heavily, looking down at the unmoving Silent One beneath him. With a grunt, he pulled his short sword from the body.

"Now what?" The remaining two Silent Ones regrouped.

"We don't have a choice—let's take out one of them first."

"That red-haired sorceress looks exhausted. We should start with her."

"Mm!"

"Go!" With that, the two Silent Ones vanished once more.

"Will! Come back and protect Lisa!" Jin urgently called as he realized the two Silent Ones had disappeared. His instincts told him they would target the weakened Lisa next.

"Got it!" Will gripped his short sword tightly and sprinted toward Lisa.

Just then, one Silent One appeared directly in front of Will, crouching and sweeping his leg toward Will's. The sudden attack caused Will to lose his balance and tumble to the ground. At the same time, another Silent One appeared and hurled his dagger at Lisa, who was sitting on the ground.

"Clang!" A metallic sound rang out as the dagger was knocked to the ground by a crossbow bolt.

"Jin!" Will exclaimed with excitement from the ground.

"Ah! Don't forget about me," Jin said confidently, holding his crossbow.

Will, now back on his feet, rushed toward Jin and Lisa, disregarding the Silent One behind him.

"Will, be careful!" Jin called out.

"Mm, I won't be careless again," Will replied with a grin.

"Alright, let's get ready. We'll protect Lisa," Jin said, taking up a defensive stance.

"Okay!" Will responded, tightening his grip on his short sword and scanning the arena with focused determination.

"You... don't underestimate me," Lisa said with effort, slowly standing up.

"Lisa?!" Both Jin and Will exclaimed in shock.

"I've rested enough," Lisa said, brushing off the dust from her pants.

"Alright! Let's finish this," Jin declared.

"No, you two stay back," Lisa said as she patted their shoulders.

"Huh?" Jin asked, confused.

"They attacked me with such force earlier. Now I'll handle this myself," Lisa said, her voice tinged with anger.

"Can you do it alone?" Jin asked, concerned.

"Just watch," Lisa said dismissively.

"Fine, but if you can't, remember to call me and Will for help," Jin replied with a sigh, then sat cross-legged on the ground.

"Hmph, arrogant little girl," one of the Silent Ones muttered. And with that, he disappeared once again.

In an instant, one of the Silent Ones appeared on Lisa's left, holding a dagger and preparing to strike. Lisa stood motionless, her gaze never even flickering toward him.

"What?" The Silent One gasped as his dagger was stopped by an invisible barrier, as though Lisa were surrounded by an ethereal shield. No matter how much he struggled, he couldn't move forward.

Suddenly, Lisa turned her head toward the Silent One and extended her left hand toward him.

"Shockwave!" Lisa said, her expression dead serious.

In an instant, a wave of invisible energy shot from Lisa's hand, blasting toward the Silent One.

"Ahhh!" The Silent One screamed in agony as the shockwave continued to assault him, contorting his body. In the end, he shattered into fragments, his form dissolving into nothing.

"Impressive..." Jin, still seated on the ground, muttered in awe.

The last remaining Silent One appeared before Lisa. He clasped his hands together and began chanting a spell. A massive wave of bandages burst from his body, wrapping around Lisa.

"Let's perish together!" the Silent One shouted, enveloping both himself and Lisa in the sea of bandages.

"Lisa!" Will cried out in worry. He knew how terrifying this move was—when he had been trapped in the bandages, he couldn't move at all. The more he struggled, the tighter they became. If it hadn't been for Lisa enchanting his short sword with fire magic, they would have suffocated in the bandages.