Chapter 100 Strong Bloodline.
Chapter 100 Strong Bloodline.
Videl dashed as he gathered Mana and turned it into Aura, concentrating it on his right fist. The pressure that he released from clenching his fist, created a weak shockwave that blew the flowers around him.
Aris watched the fist in front of her face and she simply flicked her left hand at Videl's fist, slapping it away from her face. At the same time, she threw a right kick to Videl's left ribs. She kicked Videl away and broke his ribs, sending him flying once again. She felt a bit of a sting on her shin after that kick.
Videl was lying on the ground, staring at the bright sky, stunned by what had just happened. He slowly sat up and rubbed his left side where the kick broke his ribs. He sighed and got up from the ground, cracking the ground in the process. He gathered as much Mana as he could into his body and turned it into Aura all over his body.
Rasmus had never seen Videl use Mana when he sparred with him even after Videl had lost his power. He knew he was no match against Videl's inhuman strength, but to see that Videl could use Aura made him even more terrifyingly stronger.
Every step that Videl took, he cracked the ground and created small craters under his feet. Small tremors happened on the ground whenever he walked. His expression was no longer that of a smug but rather a serious and menacing one.
Videl dashed once more, but this time the ground shook even stronger to the point everyone in the mansion felt the ground tremble. He threw a right kick to pay back what Aris had done to him, but she grabbed his shin with her right hand. The impact released a devastating shockwave that flattened the garden behind Aris and shattered the windows of the mansion.
Aris tilted her head slightly, her eyes pierced through Videl's eyes as she tightened her grip on his shin. The sound of the bone cracking was so loud that Rasmus could imagine the immense pain in his shin. She then spun around and used the momentum to slam Videl to the ground.
She slammed Videl to the ground with his head hitting the ground first. The impact destroyed the whole garden and created an earthquake that caused a quarter of the city to feel the ground trembling. The mansion's outer walls and inner walls cracked because of the impact.
Videl tried to get up with bruises and blood running down from his forehead. He could barely keep himself conscious and his body had reached its limit to the point his body was shaking uncontrollably. He finally collapsed with his back against the ground, slowly lifted his head, and looked at Aris with a huge grin on his face, in disbelief at Aris's strength and impenetrable defense.
"You're not bad..." Videl said weakly before he closed his eyes and fainted.
Rasmus who witnessed the fight was speechless and didn't blink his eyes for a whole minute. The fight only lasted for a minute and Videl barely did any damage to Aris. He had never expected to see Videl on the ground unconscious.
"(If she struggled to fight Satan and those demons, I stood no chance against them at all...)" Rasmus looked at Aris brushing off the dust and dirt on her blouse.
"This butler of yours..." Aris muttered as she walked toward Rasmus who was sitting on the bench. "Where did you find him?" She stood in front of Rasmus and looked down at him.
"He came to me. I didn't find him," Rasmus answered and looked at Videl's unconscious body.
Aris slowly sat down beside Rasmus and stared at him with a stoic expression. She didn't say a word or move a muscle, she only stared at him like a snake.
"The old woman said you were good at magic. Show me," Aris said, breaking the silence.
Rasmus glanced at Aris with his brows raised and didn't expect her demand. He created a ball of fire in an instant, but she wasn't impressed. He immediately extinguished it and decided to create rain, pouring the flowers and grass around them. This time she made a reaction, tilting her head.
"I see..." Aris crossed her arms as she looked up at the clouds that Rasmus had created above her. "You're indeed an Orthias. You control Mana rather than the elements."
"What's that supposed to mean? Isn't magic about controlling Mana and turning it into elements?" Rasmus furrowed his brows and looked at Aris with a confused look.
"Do you have problems creating elemental magic or manipulating Mana?" Aris glanced at Rasmus.
"No, but what does that have anything to do with—" Rasmus stopped in the middle of his sentence when he remembered that not everyone could control all elements. Everyone tended to have a strong affiliate with certain elements and weak with the rest.
Rasmus thought for a moment if it was because of his knowledge of science and vivid imagination of natural phenomena that made him a capable mage. He remembered when he taught the children and their parents back in Hurgel Village about magic, but none of them could do it like he did.
"(Is it purely because of my knowledge or is it because of my bloodline?)" Rasmus rubbed his chin and thought about it.
"You have the manipulation skill of an Orthias, but you use Mana like humans do," Aristoria pointed out as she reached out her hand and let the rain hit her palm. "That old woman is an exception because she's a Great Sage, but even so, she can't use magic as she pleases like you."
"Remember, Orthias are dragons. We control nature as we are the World's Essence," Aris said as she stood up and swung her hand, canceling Rasmus's magic.
"If you don't use Mana, then what do you use?" Rasmus asked as he looked at the bright sky again.
"You won't understand even if I explained it to you. Your human body is limiting your understanding of your Orthias lineage," Aris shook her head.
Rasmus sighed as he nodded with understanding and decided to help Videl. He didn't want to dwell on it because it would only make him even more frustrated than ever. But one thing he understood was the fact he could increase both his magical aptitude and physical strength as well.
"How long are you doing to stay here, Aris?" Rasmus asked as he lifted Videl's body and carried him over his shoulder.
"I don't have anywhere to go since I have taken the same path as my predecessor. I have abandoned my duty," Aris answered without a single regret or guilt in her expression.
"Are you interested in killing humans?" Rasmus glanced at Aris.
Aris arched her brows as she crossed her arms, staring at Rasmus. She was a bit surprised by his question that came out of the blue.
"Of course," Aris answered.
"Let's go somewhere tonight," Rasmus said and then went inside the mansion to put Videl in his room and apologized to Carrion for damaging his mansion and garden.
Aris's expression softened as she closed her eyes, letting the wind blow her hair. She stood still like a statue in the garden.
When night came, Rasmus put on his boots and left his room, ignoring his suit, which he had hung on the coat hanger. Aris, in a long-sleeved shirt, black breeches, and black tall boots, had been waiting for him in the hallway. When their eyes met, Rasmus nodded. They both put on a black cloak to hide their appearance.
Aris walked beside Rasmus without saying or asking anything. She followed him out of the mansion in the middle of the night. As soon as they both stepped their feet on the street, they both looked to their right with their cold gazes.
"This wasn't my plan nor our prey, but it seems someone is offering themselves..." Rasmus said.
Aris walked toward the presence that she felt in the distance. Rasmus knew that Esteban would send his people which was why he had been paying attention to his surroundings and around the mansion.
Two men were hiding in a dark alley with their backs against the wall. They were in disbelief when Rasmus and Aris detected them even though they were almost a hundred meters away from them. They shared a look and nodded at each other to take a peek.
"They're gone..." The first man muttered as he looked around. "Do you see them?" He asked.
The man waited for his friend to answer, but all he got was complete silence and a mild wind that brushed his nape. He turned around to look at his friend but all he found was a headless body leaning against the wall. His knees gave up on him and made him fall on his back. He then saw a head rolling in between his crotch, but when he was about to gasp, a hand covered his mouth.
"Good evening..." Rasmus said with a cold smile.
The man slowly looked up and saw Rasmus's cold smile, making him tremble in fear. He then heard footsteps from the dark alley and saw a woman with short white hair and a bloody dagger in her hand. At that moment he realized that that night would be his last night.