Chapter 86: Standoff (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: DarkGem/Frappe
Angele was standing several meters away from the man, and the man was lying on the ground. Both of them stopped moving and just stared at each other.
“Arrogant rat!” Angele sneered. “You said you were going to kill all my relatives? What happened? Why are you lying on the floor like a dog? Are you trying to beg for your life?”
“Kill me if you can.” The man’s expression did not change. He remained calm. “A punk like you will be able to hurt me? Come, come at me!”
Angele threw his crossguard sword toward the man, aiming for his chest, but the man leaned to the left, and the sword pinned his right hand to the ground. The grass around his hand became soaked in blood.
“You’re provoking me.” Angele narrowed his eyes. “I will skin you alive and sink your body into a cesspit filled with maggots.”
“You can try,” the man said in a light tone.
He was losing a lot of blood, and his face had turned pale, but Angele could see the determination in his eyes. The man was staring at Angele like a hawk. He then pulled the crossguard sword out of the ground, quickly took out a green potion from his pouch, and carefully applied the liquid on the wound. It stopped bleeding right after some liquid reached it.
Angele just stood there and watched, still paralyzed by the electric pulse after all the negative energy particles were gone.
The man was weak as well, lying quietly on the ground after patching up his wound.
Time went by, but the two did not move. One was standing, and the other still lying on the ground.
“Monkey, how do you feel? You are weak. You lost a lot of blood and don’t have any mana left. I guess your head is aching too,” Angele gloated.
“You’re paralyzed, and your body is being corroded by the negative energy particles. It surprises me that you can still talk.”
The man didn’t really care about what Angele had just said.
“Well, neither of us can move now anyways,” Angele said.
“Dumbass!”
The man rolled his eyes.
“Retard!”
The two were arguing like kids.
Time flew, and it was getting dark. Strange noises were coming from the forest, and there were birds twittering. Groups of shiny white mushrooms were growing under the trees, making the forest bright.
“If I wasn’t paralyzed...”
Angele stared at the man.
“If I did not fall for your lie and finished casting my spell...” the man on the ground said in a deep voice.
“You..!”
Angele was a bit mad. It was the first time he had met someone that was so tenacious.
“Come and get me!” the man said in a chilling tone. “Why did you even use the negative energy particles to increase your magic resistance, you’re lucky you survived the black smoke.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t lose your mind after overdrawing your mentality to cast that last spell.”
Angele didn’t want to lose this war of words.
Time was still passing, but the two were not recovering. They were still very weak and did not have the strength to fight at the moment.
“I’ve killed more than eight rank 3 apprentices, and you are the very first one that survived my attacks,” the man suddenly said.
“Well, why don’t you just let me finish you off then? I really don’t want to waste any more time.”
Angele looked at the man.
They stopped talking again, both of them trying their best to recover.
Two hours later, the two finally calmed down a bit.
The man with silver hair hesitated for a second, then asked, “Hey, I just realized I don’t even know your name. I don’t want to admit it, but you’re a worthy opponent, and after I’ve slain you, I will make sure to write down your name in my book.”
“I will live longer than you, so you should tell me your name first before asking for mine.”
“You punk...” The man shook his head. “My name is Benedict, and I guess you already know I main lightning spells. Where are you from? You’re pretty good.”
“I’m Angele, and I main Necromancy,” Angele said in a light tone.
“Necromancy... and you’re using Wind energy particles?” Benedict was a bit speechless. “Well... Maybe you’re talented, but don’t tell me you only know two spells. I didn’t see you use any other spell besides those two close combat ones.”
“Really... What a freak!” Benedict did not know what else to say.
“...” Angele didn’t know how to respond, either.
Benedict’s headache got even worse. He looked at Angele curiously.
“Hey! Angele, are you from the Ramsoda School?”
“You know Ramsoda?” Angele nodded. “I didn’t expect an apprentice from Manchester to appear in the Ramsoda Empire.”
“I came from the docks, and I was planning to head back to school after taking the hearts of the elephants, but I didn’t know I’d encounter a freak like you.” Benedict sighed and inhaled. “You know what, since we both can’t move, what if the bandits or beasts come by here? They can finish us off easily, and two future Wizards will die. Two rank 3 apprentices killed by bandits in a forest. It will become the biggest news among the organizations this year.”
Angele did not say anything.
After several seconds, his expression suddenly changed.
“F*ck... You jinx!” He was almost yelling.
“No way...” Benedict heard someone’s footsteps approaching as well, and he had a bitter smile on his face.
“Hey, are you still paralyzed?” Benedict asked in a light tone.
“Yea. Totally paralyzed. What now?”
Angele stared at him.
“Well, my head is still aching, and I can’t do sh*t right now. However, I’d rather die with honor!” Benedict’s expression turned serious, and he slowly took a yellow scroll out of his pouch.
“A real spell scroll...” Angele gasped. “Since it’s on a scroll, it must at least be a level 1 spell. Why didn’t you use it earlier?”
“I’ll die for sure If I use it,” Benedict answered. “It’s one of the most mentality-hungry level 1 spells, and right now I don’t have enough mentality to open the scroll and cast it. I can only release it, and we will all become its targets.”
Angele was speechless.
“Wait, you could probably survive with your magic resistance. If you survived it, can you do me a favor?” Benedict asked.
“Say it.”
“Tell Princess Lydia of Santiago not to wait for me to come back.”
“I will do it if I survive.” Angele was not mad anymore. He felt pity instead that a strong apprentice will end his life like this. “But if I die too, we will become a joke for other apprentices.”
“Sadly, I really want to come back to my hometown and watch the stars.” Benedict looked a bit sad and lonely while putting his hands on the scroll.
“Wait, wait. It seems like your dream will come true,” Angele hurried to say, stopping him from releasing the spell. “We’re lucky, they aren’t bandits. They were just passing by and didn’t notice us.”
After several minutes, they could no longer hear the footsteps anymore.
“Alright... It’s awkward,” Benedict said. “You know what, we should probably let this go and stop fighting.”
“Retarded lightning monkey, you think I will fall for this?” Angele sneered. “If I knew more spells, you would be dead in seconds. You even thought I was really from Manchester. How naive are you?”
Benedict started to blush. “You damn dumbass, you’re a rank 3 apprentice and you only know two spells, are you kidding me?” He got nervous and did not find anything else to say.
“Are you praising me?” Angele smiled. “Or do you admit that you’re retarded? I know only two spells and I almost killed you.”
“You..!” Benedict was mad but it was true that he had almost lost to an apprentice that only knew two spells. He had also canceled an important spell because he’d believed Angele’s words.
They argued for several hours, and it was already midnight.
The two suddenly stopped talking at the same time.
Benedict spoke up again. “Actually... I like you.”
“Well, you’re not that retarded I guess.”
Angele smiled.
They both realized something and stared at each other while laughing.
“You don’t need to do so much for the people from Vader City. We’ll both become Wizards in the future, but now we’re fighting for some worthless materials, is it even worth the effort?” Angele asked, laughing.
“I can say the same to you. We’re strangers, and there is no point for us to kill each other. I don’t even know why I wanted to kill you when I first saw you back there.” Benedict laughed. “Nice to meet you, Angele.” He smiled. “You’re strong enough to be my friend.”
“I will never waste my time with weaklings.”
Angele also smiled.
He suddenly charged toward Benedict, picking up his crossguard sword, and slashed at his opponent.