'So that's what he has been hiding all this while...' Arin thought, his brows furrowing.
'This is bad... really bad.'
Before he could process the situation further, the bruises and scratches on Alex's body vanished in an instant. A dark, oppressive aura engulfed him, making Arin's eyes widen in shock.
Alex's once blue hair now bore streaks of inky black, and his eyes had transformed into bottomless voids, leaking ominous black smoke.
His muscles swelled grotesquely, veins bulging as though they would burst free from his skin. Dark mana seeped from his hands, crawling along his golden staff and converging on the glowing orb at its tip.
Arin's eyes widened the more as he felt a suffocating presence coming from Alex... A presence that seemed to come from the depth of the abyss itself.
His hands trembled involuntarily, but he tightened his grip on both swords, steeling himself.
'I knew he was hiding something...' Arin thought grimly. 'The novel always hinted at it, but it never fully explored this side of him.'
With the "few things" the novel had mentioned before it went on hiatus, it was 60 percent clear to the readers that Alex wasn't a hero, but of course, most of them didn't mind, after all, most readers preferred non-hero type of Protagonists.
'That Aura... it's not normal,' Arin mused, narrowing his eyes. 'And there's no doubt he's hiding even more.'
Arin squinted his eyes. He remembered something in the novel that also hinted at this, that was why he wasn't too surprised when Seraphine and Tessa told him that Alex was letting himself get hit.
He leaped backward, creating distance as Alex turned his gaze toward him with a wild, manic grin.
'I'm very sure....' Arin thought. 'He used those....'
"You're going to die," Alex hissed, gripping his staff like a sword.
Arin made the first move, raising his hands and gathering Mana.
Water spikes instantly materialized above him, streaking toward Alex with incredible speed.
Alex raised his hand nonchalantly.
A sudden gust of wind erupted in front of him, scattering the water spikes like leaves caught in a storm. Without hesitation, Alex darted to the left, trying to move towards Arin from the side.
Arin wasn't idle. He conjured another wave of water spikes, sending them rushing toward Alex.
Alex came to an abrupt stop and slammed his foot into the ground.
A towering ice wall erupted before him, absorbing the impact of the spikes.
"He's faster…" Arin muttered under his breath. "Far faster than before."
Of course, Arin knew that Alex's newfound speed and power came from the dark aura.
Alex continued his dash towards Arin, but Arin still decided to attack more.
By now, Alex had already reached some distance away from Arin's back, so Arin instantly turned back, facing Alex.
'I have to slow him down,' Arin thought.
He raised his fist, as Blood Energy seeped out, gathering in front of his fist.
A sound similar to that of a gunshot was heard, and in that same instant, an orb of condensed Blood Energy that was formed in front of Arin's fist blasted out.
Shock was evident on Alex's face for a second, but he quickly summoned a Water Shield in front of him, blocking the orb.
The orb shattered the shield in an explosion of force, though its power dissipated before reaching him.
That was one of Arin's new Vampiric Skill called Blood Orb. Before the expedition, he was able to learn two new Vampiric Skills alongside Blood Spike.
'That attack was strong,' Alex thought, as he furrowed his brows.
Instantly, Arin gathered Blood Energy in front of his a fist again, pointing it at Alex.
Arin kept shooting the Blood orbs at Alex nonstop. Meanwhile, Alex formed a rock shield from the Earth Element as he began running straight ahead towards Arin.
Each impact shook the ground, scattering debris as Alex zigzagged to evade the relentless attacks. As soon as the Rock shield blocks a Blood orb and get destroyed, Alex would immediately summon another one. Despite his best efforts, the continuous barrage slowed him.
'If it weren't for these attacks, he'd already be on me,' Arin realized grimly.
'For some reason, my Arcane Chaos Spell isn't affecting his Spells anymore,' Arin noticed.
If not, Alex's Ice Wall, Water shield, and Earth Shield would've had issues, but instead, they formed properly.
This time, Arin opened his palm and a Water Ball formed in front of it, before blasting off.
Alex instantly deactivated his Earth shield Spell, and swung his Staff towards the incoming Water Ball.
His Staff hit the Water Ball, sending it crashing into a tree at the side. This time, Alex was finally close to Arin.
Though, Arin suddenly made a sudden dash towards Alex who was also incoming.
Alex was startled for a bit, but he continued nevertheless.
Instantly, Arin leaped up, with his swords ready to strike. At the same time, Alex also leaped up, as his Staff suddenly got enveloped with the Dark Aura and an eerie dark flame.
Arin gathered Blood Energy in his hands, enhancing his swinging power as their weapons drew closer.
Alex's grin widened while Arin's expression remained unknown as they locked eyes in the air, staring at each other with fierce intensity.
A loud explosion was heard once again, sending dust and smoke everywhere. Some of the trees instantly snapped from the shockwave of the clash.
Once again, the teachers outside the forest instantly looked at the direction from which the explosion sound was heard, well, except the Assistant Principal who was sleeping without a single care in the world.
The smoke cleared up quickly, revealing Arin and Alex who were on the ground, some distance away from each other.
Arin's cloak that had some parts torn was now repairing itself as he stood up groggily, though the small scratches on his body were already healing.
Alex had also stood up, and the scratches on his body were also healing, though Arin's rate of healing was faster.
Noticing that Arin was also just getting up, Alex instantly grinned and slammed his Staff on the ground.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them started getting wet, but before Arin could react, his legs suddenly sunk into the earth, leaving only the upper half of his body visible.
"Haha! Got you!" Alex laughed.
'Huh? What the hell...?'
But that was just the beginning, because....
Alex's crazed grin widened as his eyes shone eeriely while glaring at Arin.
Suddenly, a dark cloud formed above Arin.... A cloud that was visible to even the teachers outside the forest.
The cloud began expanding, with streaks of lightning visible inside.
'Don't tell me....' Arin thought as he realized what Alex was planning.
The lightning suddenly began lashing out wildly inside the cloud, moving with fierce intensity while the cloud was getting darker.
Alex glared at Arin with a smirk, before whispering a single word.