"I'll kill him myself!" Pyotr shouted in Russian, about to rush at me.
"Ha, have you mastered the middle level? You're a wind mage, you can't attack, even if you use ancient special spells," Jiaxing Yan chuckled, also in Russian.
"Yeah, go to hell, huh?!" Pyotr exclaimed. "Then kill him yourself if you're so smart!"
"Enough!" Jiaxing Xia calmed them both. "Now is not the time for pointless arguments!"
"Listen, don't you think he understands everything you're saying?" Jiaxing Zhu suddenly chimed in, also in rather broken Russian.
"What understands? Him? The one who lived in China since he was seven? As if you've almost forgotten Russian in all this time!" Pyotr also yelled at her, waving his hands. "Kill him and be done with it, and let all traces be washed away, eaten by beasts!"
"Wait, maybe we won't have to go to such lengths, and he'll give us the dragon's tooth himself," Jiaxing Xia said in Russian, putting his hand on Pyotr's shoulder, and then addressed me in Chinese. "So? Do you give us the tooth and get the chance to return to the keeper's homeland with a cleared reputation? Or do you die right here."
"You know, I'm curious, is this Pyotr some important figure in the keeper's clan? Some heir, that you're babysitting him so much?" I asked in pure Russian, the language I'm practicing, trying not to forget it. As my chatter continued, the faces of the four changed, showing me an incredible palette of emotions, from incomprehension to surprise and complete shock. "Alright, folks, stop talking. You've learned my secret, which means I'll have to kill you now." I smiled.
"Wh-..." Pyotr began with a slight smirk, but didn't have time to say anything before a wind blade flew at him.
Immediately after the wind blade, a star path of lightning was formed, which flew at Jiaxing Zhu, and I myself rushed towards the surprised Jiaxing Yan, simultaneously composing a wind step spell. With the corner of my eye, I looked at Jiaxing Xia; the wind blade had cut off his right arm from the elbow. Apparently, at the last moment, he pushed Pyotr away, who was lying nearby on the ground, covered in blood.
"Damn, what the f***," Jiaxing Xia roared in pure Russian across the clearing. "What the f***ing hell does he possess such magic? How did he unleash the wrath of lightning, and such a strong one!" he yelled, slowly getting to his feet.
"I told you he should have been killed immediately!" Pyotr retorted. Meanwhile, I drew my two daggers and completed the star path of wind, approaching Jiaxing Yan within fifteen meters. He finished the star path of fire, and a small fireball appeared in his hand, which he threw at me.
I shifted slightly to the left, so the fireball flew past my face by a centimeter, singeing my hair. In the next moment, I was already close to him and struck him in the head with a dagger, but he dodged by moving his head, jumping back. Immediately, I swung my second dagger. Jiaxing Yan tried to jump back again, but this time I hit him, leaving a scratch a couple of centimeters deep. Jiaxing Yan tried to retreat again, but with one lunge, I closed the distance between us and pierced his chest, aiming directly at his heart. After all, mages who cannot instantly and effortlessly cast any spell are very vulnerable in close combat.
Pushing aside his body, which still held the last embers of life, I was about to turn and head for the other three mages, but as I turned my head, I saw an ice chain flying towards me! I immediately pushed off the ground and jumped two and a half meters, the chain passed right under me. In the air, I flipped head down and cut the chain with my dagger, which crumbled almost completely. Landing, I finished the star path of lightning and sent the wrath of lightning at Jiaxing Ju, who had created the ice dungeon spell and sent the chain at me.
Three more chains circled around her, and the one that tried to kill me was gradually returning, restoring the place where it was cut. The strike of lightning's wrath was aimed directly at Chin Ju, so she had to use all three free chains to defend herself, but it only saved her. My lightning's wrath was two and a half times stronger than usual and was equal to one-fourth of the power of mid-level magic. So, although with great difficulty, it destroyed all three chains, thereby destroying the spell.
"Damn, how can he be so strong!" Peter yelled, crawling away. Of course, what use is a wind mage like him? Unlike me, he didn't hide his strength; he was actually only a third-stage wind mage.
"It's all clear, the dragon's tooth chose him! It helped him develop. Well, here's a little gift from me, Storm Wave!" Jiaxing Shan shouted, while I, at full speed, using the wind step, was rushing right towards him.
A stream of water appeared around him, which sharply increased in size and headed towards me like a wave. Second-stage water magic, the height of the wave was comparable to the height of the three-eyed wolf; even I couldn't jump over it now. However, I didn't need to do that; I had the wind blade! A wave of the hand, and the prepared spell, which was originally supposed to kill Peter, flew to meet the wave.
A moment later, water and wind met, and a deafening clap sounded, from which blood almost poured from my ears. The Storm Wave is an area attack, not a targeted one, so the mid-level power was spread over its entire area. Of course, Jiaxing Shan reduced its size to increase its power, but my wind blade, with a power of one-fourth of mid-level magic, easily broke through the wave, dividing it into two parts, like Moses parting the Red Sea.
Without slowing down, I slipped through the resulting gap, but there, a flash of light, third-stage, not a bewildered Jiaxing Shan, awaited me. To avoid losing my sight, I had to close my eyes, and the lightning whip, prepared for an attack, was sent to a random location to distract attention until I recovered.
"Aaaah!" Peter's scream was heard; it seemed the whip hit near him. "What the hell, his second-stage magic surpasses the third!"
I jumped aside from the light, covering my eyes with my hands. A moment later, I felt a sense of approaching danger in my abdomen. Jumping again, I opened my eyes slightly; at the spot where I had just been, a vine stuck into the ground! This is beginner-level plant magic! Ha, fighting mages is even more interesting than fighting monsters!
The flash of light passed in an instant, and I saw Peter backing away on the ground towards the trees, further away from me. His face was tear-streaked and snotty; there was no trace of self-confidence, and he didn't even want to kill me, just escape from here. Ten meters away from me stood Jiaxing Shan, and behind him, fifty meters away, stood Jiaxing Ju, creating a new ice dungeon and freezing the entire surrounding area.
Without thinking long, I rushed at Jiaxing Shan; after all, he was the most dangerous opponent at the moment, and there wouldn't always be an opportunity to deal with his second-stage magic. It seemed he wasn't taking any action, just holding his severed arm, but as soon as I raised my dagger over his head, a light barrier appeared, stopping the blow.
I acted instantly, pushed off the barrier, and flew into the air by a meter, after which I released the wrath of lightning directly into the center of the barrier. The shock wave threw me back and lifted me a little higher. From my magic, the barrier swayed and cracked; after all, defensive magic is defensive magic. However, I didn't plan to continue the attack; Peter had already regained some composure and was about to flee using wind magic, and I didn't want that.
Using the wind step, I flew even further back, hooked onto a tree branch with my dagger, and with a jump, I was already on another. Peter jumped to his feet as soon as he saw that the barrier had stopped my spell and ran straight for the nearest trees, hoping to hide from me there. However, it wasn't that simple; using my daggers and the wind step, directing myself and greatly increasing my speed, I jumped from tree to tree, approaching him with incredible speed.
"Damn, Peter, be careful! He climbed a tree!" Jiaxing Shan shouted as soon as he understood my plan, but Peter didn't listen to him, only trying to complete the star path of wind, which was constantly being disrupted.
"Damn, he's quick!" Jiaxing Ju shouted, sending all four chains towards me.
However, all their attempts were in vain; the chains literally shattered the tree I was on just a moment ago. But I was no longer there; I jumped off the trees and, rolling, ended up right in front of Peter. Of course, he tried to turn around, but with a quick lunge, I cut off his right leg, after which he fell to the ground with an inhuman shriek.
"I knew wind mages were fast, but he's simply something else!" Jiaxing Ju lamented, directing the chains towards me again. "Sorry, but I'm not going to die so easily after your praise."
Using the wind step, I jumped aside and approached the chains, which were still extended towards the tree and only then turned towards me. One swing of my dagger and they fell in half, but the spell continued to work, and Jiaxing Ju created another chain that flew directly at me. But I had already finished the star path of lightning and directed it at the chain, which, under the pressure of lightning power, turned into dust and almost reached its target, but at the last moment, a water shield appeared before the girl, saving her.
"Kill him already and help me!" Peter whined at the same time.
Jiaxing Shan also didn't waste time; a mage of his level could easily throw such shields whenever he wanted. I had to finish him quickly. He had already begun to build a new storm wave, and in the meantime, another vine was flying at me. Dodging it, I resumed the attack on Jiaxing Shan; he had no arm, and the pain prevented him from quickly completing the usual mid-level second-stage water magic; this was my chance.
Resuming and strengthening the effect of the wind step, I headed straight for him, ignoring everything, simultaneously creating the star path of lightning and wind. When I was ten meters away from him, I released the wrath of lightning, which he defended against with a water shield and some artifact shield. A moment later, I was already next to him and directing my dagger at his stomach, but Jiaxing Shan jumped back, getting away with a light scratch. I directed the second dagger, moving forward, as if to cut off his head, but he dodged again.
Meanwhile, Jiaxing Ju created another dungeon and sent another volley of chains at me; only this time they didn't come all at once, but one by one, trying to completely deprive me of any possibility of retreat. I had to jump two meters above the ground again, thus dodging two chains, raising my legs up and flying head down, directing myself with the remnants of the wind step, I dodged the third. The fourth chain, which was flying directly at my head, I blocked with my dagger, partially destroying it and directing it into the ground, and using its momentum, I flew over Jiaxing Shan and landed behind him, throwing my dagger directly into his heart.
However, at the last moment, he turned, extended his left arm, and released a flash of light, wanting to make me withdraw my hand and cover my eyes. But, to his misfortune, I had been waiting for this moment; the flash of light, of course, blinds the enemy, but it also deprives you of the ability to see him. Closing my eyes and covering them with my other hand for good measure, I intercepted the dagger and directed its blade from bottom to top, releasing the almost detached wind blade; just a little more, and I would have had to rebuild it.
I felt something warm splash on me, drenching me from head to toe. The bright light from the flash died out as quickly as it had flared up. I opened my eyes and jumped to my feet; before me lay, one might say, minced meat, divided into two parts. What chance do mid-level mages without defensive artifacts have against the durability of servant-level monsters? They are only slightly tougher than ordinary people. And an ordinary person would turn into a pile of minced meat if hit by a spell with a power of one-fourth of mid-level.
"Aaaah! How dare you! How the hell could you be so strong!" Jiaxing Ju screamed at the top of her lungs when she realized the scene before her eyes.
But I wasn't going to give her time to chat and was already heading towards her using the wind step, simultaneously creating the star path of lightning. She tried to direct ice chains to kill me, but seeing the lightning energy gathering in my hand, she recalled them for her defense. At that moment, the wrath of lightning burst out, destroying her and her already weakened dungeon. I was already ten to fifteen meters away from her when she made a last attempt to defend herself from me.
Jiaxing Ju created a couple of vines right at her feet, which intertwined and headed towards my chest, but this was only the second stage of beginner-level plant magic; it seemed she had only recently started cultivating it and didn't attach much importance to it, concentrating more on mastering mid-level ice magic. I already had the wind blade ready for this case; I initially wanted to get a little closer to finish her off, but this will do. Waving my dagger towards the bunch of vines, I released the blade, which cut the vines in half, along with their owner.
"Hoo..." I finally exhaled. Of course, like most mid-level mages, I can use beginner-level magic quite freely, but not constantly, especially controlling it like this. Firstly, it consumes a lot of magical energy, and secondly, my brain can't handle such constant strain. This is not one spell every couple of seconds, but constant creation of magic one after another, often starting to build a new star path while controlling the previous spell. If it weren't for constant training, I wouldn't have been able to do this. Just a minute of rest, and everything would be much better.
"Aaaah!" Peter's scream pulled me out of my thoughts about moral strain.