> Perspective:Kaiser
> Time:2:42 AM
> Location: Campfire Clearing — Deep Mountain Woods, Celestine Realm
"AGHHHHH! MY ARM! MY FUCKING ARM!"
Kiel crashed to his knees in the mud, clutching his spurting right stump against his ribs. Dark blood sprayed across the frozen pine needles, pooling between the stones.
Across the scorched clearing, Ronan stumbled back 3 steps. His face went gray. His hands shook as he gripped his twin daggers, his eyes darting between Kiel's severed forearm in the dirt and the steel resting on my left shoulder.
"What the hell are you?!" Ronan screamed, his voice cracking on the cold air.
"An E-rank can't move that fast!"
"Told you already," I said, resting the flat of my blade against my collarbone.
"I'm just taking out the trash."
Behind me, Celia's fingers bunched into the wool of my torn coat. Her breath came in short, ragged bursts, but she held her ground.
You got lucky, Kaiser. Think that way.
You caught him off guard from behind. You are slower than both of them.
Remember that. You are weaker than them.
The familiar voice rattled through my skull, cool and flat. I clamped down on it, keeping my stance relaxed, letting my weight sit evenly on the balls of my shoes.
I reached my free hand back, gently patting Celia's trembling knuckles where they gripped my coat.
"Stay behind me, Celia," I murmured, keeping my voice soft, steady, and warm.
"I've got you."
Her grip tightened slightly, but I felt the tension ease from her fingers.
"Get up, Kiel!" Ronan yelled, his eyes wild with fury.
"Get on your feet!"
"HUH? Stop focusing on me and burn him!" Kiel shrieked from the dirt, his voice thick with agony.
"Kill him, Ronan! Don't look at me, kill him!"
Kiel slammed the open wound of his right arm against the freezing mud. He muttered a frantic incantation. Crimson fire exploded around his elbow, hissing violently as the heat burned the open blood vessels shut. The smell of scorched flesh rolled through the clearing.
Kiel groaned, his teeth grinding together so hard I heard the enamel click, but the bleeding stopped.
"You're dead, you bastard!" Ronan roared.
Ronan lunged forward.
Orange flames engulfed his fists, roaring into life as he crossed the 10 paces between us in 1 single leap. He drove a flaming right hook straight at my temple.
Step back. You cannot tank that fire.
He is faster than you. Let him push you.
I followed the rule. I pulled my chin back 2 inches and let his flaming knuckle graze the empty air. The heat washed across my eyebrows, hot and dry.
Before his momentum carried him past, I turned my left wrist and slapped the flat of my sword against his forearm. The steel struck bone. Ronan grunted, his swing pulling wide, exposing his ribs.
Hmmm... Ronan leads with his right shoulder every time he throws fire. His left foot drags behind on the turn. Leaving his throat wide open for a counter-strike.
Hhmm don't do it, Kaiser. You are weaker than him. Stay in your spot.
I pulled my sword back instead of driving it forward, stepping back 2 paces to keep my body between Ronan and Celia.
"Kaiser!" Celia called out from behind me, her voice sharp with warning.
"Kiel is using earth magic to seal his pain! He's getting up!"
I reached into my inner pocket with my free right hand and pulled out a small glass vial filled with red liquid. I turned slightly, looking directly into her wide crimson eyes.
"Drink that, Celia," I said, pressing the glass into her cold hands with gentle care.
"No!" she argued, looking down at my scorched sleeve.
"Your shoulder took the fireball earlier! You need this more than I do!"
"Drink it," I smiled softly, brushing my thumb across her cheek.
"I can't carry you down the mountain if you pass out."
"I won't pass out!"
"Then prove it and swallow the medicine."
She popped the cork and drank the vial in 1 gulp.
Ronan didn't wait. He spun on his heel, his daggers flashing orange in the firelight. He flicked both wrists outward, unleashing 3 crescent blades of sharp wind straight toward my chest.
Wind blades. How romantic of them to aim at my heart.
Hmmm I need to tell myself to be more worse. I could have disarmed him earlier.
You cannot parry wind magic, Kaiser. Think like a weakling.
I grabbed Celia around the waist, pulling her down against my chest as I dropped flat behind the mossy spruce log, shielding her head with my arm.
The wind blades screamed overhead. They sliced through the spruce trunk above our heads, severing branches and sending wood splinters raining down across my back. Not 1 speck touched her hair.
"You okay?" I whispered against her ear, keeping my hand steady on her shoulder.
"I'm fine..." She breathed, nodding quickly.
"Stay low. I'll deal with them."
I peered over the log.
Kiel stood on his feet again. His right sleeve hung empty, charred black at the elbow, but his left hand crackled with raw, cold mana. His skin was pale, sweat dripping from his chin, but his dark eyes burned with pure malice. He walked forward, stopping 5 paces behind Ronan.
"Look at you, Stella," Kiel sneered, his voice dripping with poison.
"Cowering behind a loser. That's all you ever were. A burden who dragged our village into ruin."
Celia stepped out from behind the log. Her voice shook, but she did not look away.
"I never brought the curse, Kiel!" she cried out, her crimson eyes locking onto his.
"What happened to you!"
"What happened to me? You killed our friends..." Kiel laughed bitterly.
"The posters placed 500 gold on your head. Enough to change anyone's life."
"So... Money was more important than our promise..." Celia whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"You said you were my knight."
"I said whatever kept you clinging to me," Kiel spat, stepping closer.
"I wanted your body in my tent. Now I only need your head in a sack. You are a disgusting freak, Stella. Nobody loves you. Nobody will ever care about you."
Celia's breath hitched, the grief cutting deep into her chest.
I stood up, stepping smoothly in front of her. I placed myself squarely between Kiel and her trembling frame, resting my steel sword against my shoulder with a dry smile.
"And here I thought charming was dead," I drawled, looking Kiel up and down.
"Turns out he is just a poor hunter."
"Shut your filthy mouth, trash," Kiel snarled, his face twisted in rage.
"Celia spoke of good things about you," I continued, my tone light, almost bored.
"She thought you were brave. She thought you were strong. And look at you now—screaming in the mud after 1 swing from an E-rank."
"I will SKIN you alive," Kiel snarled, his left hand trembling with hatred.
"Try it with 1 hand, Sir ampu-tat-ed~" I smiled.
"See how far that gets you."
"Ronan, back up," Kiel whispered.
"Kiel, your arm—" Ronan stammered, blinking.
"I said back up!" Kiel roared.
Ronan stepped aside.
Kiel reached up with his left hand and ripped off his heavy breastplate. The iron plates crashed against the stone with a heavy clatter. His dark eyes shifted, turning a chilling, glowing blue.
The heat from Ronan's fire died instantly. The air plunged into freezing cold. Frost raced across the moss, turning the grass stiff and white.
Behind Kiel's shoulders, moisture condensed into solid, jagged spears of blue ice. 1 spear. Then 4. Then 8. Within 10 seconds, 10 jagged ice spears hovered in the air, their points aimed straight at my chest.
Ice spears. Basic elemental magic.
All that build up... Truly flattering.
Naturally they are directed by his eyes, not his hands. A direct hit will pretty much break some of my bones.
You cannot dodge 10 spears at once, Kaiser.
You are too slow. You will die here. You must do something worse.
I smiled wider, letting the cold air fill my lungs.
My right hand slipped under the collar of my torn coat, fingers brushing against the hidden frost-weave lining along my ribs.
"I don't remember the name of every insect I crush," Kiel said, stepping forward as the ice spears hummed with lethal power.
"You'll suffer first, Kaiser. And then I take my time with Stella."
"Her name is not Stella," I said, the lazy smirk vanishing from my face.
"Her name is Celia."
My voice dropped into a flat, deadly whisper that cut right through the howling frost.
"And you will never lay your disgusting hands on her again."
"Not in this life, and not with those intentions."
"Then die for her!" Kiel roared, his teeth bared in fury.
"Gladly," I murmured, narrowing my eyes.
"Let's see if your aim is better than your swordplay."