Chapter 26: Greydarn Malikor shows why he was the final boss.

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Greydarn Malikor shows why he was the final boss.

Greydarn moved his hand and Draven barely felt the shift in mana.

"Move!"

A black discharge shot out.

Draven used Shadows of the Forgotten and vanished into the shadow of a tree while Taliah leapt to the side.

The attack tore through the place where both of them had been, making the ground explode and sending chunks of rock and dirt flying.

Draven reappeared several meters away.

’That was too fast.’

The first thing he noticed was that Greydarn had barely needed any time to prepare the spell.

He hadn’t spoken a word or made any complicated gesture; he had simply gathered mana in his hand, shaped it, and launched it.

That was one of the greatest differences between an ordinary mage and an S-rank: it wasn’t only how much mana they possessed, but how quickly they could use it.

Taliah charged straight at Greydarn.

"Taliah, wait!"

She was already there.

Her sword came down, but Greydarn raised a hand and a dark barrier appeared, making the blade crash against it.

Taliah reinforced her arms, sending more mana through her body and causing the barrier to warp.

Greydarn tilted his head slightly.

"Interesting."

Taliah pushed harder, but Greydarn moved his other hand and Draven felt a concentration of mana.

"Taliah, back!"

She pulled her sword away and a spike of rock erupted from the ground right in front of her feet, forcing Taliah to retreat.

Greydarn attacked again, making more rocks surge up, and Taliah began weaving between them.

Draven watched, because he couldn’t simply jump in; he needed to understand what Greydarn was doing.

The amount of mana mattered, but it wasn’t enough. A person could have an enormous reserve and waste it in a few attacks.

Control was just as important.

How much mana was needed for an action, how much was lost in the process, how quickly it could be moved, and how precise the amount used was.

Greydarn was good at all of it.

Every spell used only what was necessary, so he didn’t waste large quantities of energy.

He also never stopped maintaining mana inside his own body, and that was important.

Almost any experienced fighter kept a minimum reserve that wasn’t used for attacking, but served to maintain basic functions and allow the body to use passive healing.

It wouldn’t regenerate a limb or rebuild a destroyed organ.

But it could stop minor bleeding, close small wounds, and prevent certain injuries from worsening during a fight.

Taliah blocked another rock, then ran; Greydarn launched a discharge, but Taliah moved her sword and the edge caught the attack.

Mana flowed through the weapon, making the discharge shift slightly in direction and slam into a tree.

Draven’s eyes widened.

’Taliah is S-rank too.’

Her specialty consisted of channeling mana to a specific point, which was perfect for someone with little mana, and since moving it from one point to another was the most basic thing taught, it was ideal for those who weren’t mages.

Taliah accelerated; Greydarn launched another discharge, which she dodged by tilting her body, and closed into combat range.

Her sword swept horizontally, so Greydarn created another barrier; this time Taliah didn’t try to break it, but immediately changed the angle.

She attacked from below, forcing Greydarn to step back, and Taliah pressed forward, landing several blows.

For the first time Greydarn had to move for real, and Draven took the chance to slip into a shadow and appear behind him.

The daggers struck, but Greydarn spun and a current of air shot from his hand.

Draven felt the impact in his chest before he was hurled away, crashing into the ground and rolling several times.

"Draven!"

"Don’t worry, I’m fine."

Taliah glanced quickly toward him, but that moment was enough; Greydarn raised a finger and a small sphere of fire appeared.

Then another, and another, until there were five in total.

Taliah raised her sword and the spheres shot forward; she destroyed the first, deflected the second, avoided the third, while the fourth exploded against the ground, but the fifth struck her shoulder.

Taliah staggered back; her clothes were burned and the skin beneath had a visible burn, though it began to close slowly.

Greydarn observed the wound.

"Good control."

Taliah clenched her teeth.

"I don’t need your opinion."

"And what a temper."

Draven got to his feet; the earlier blow had hurt, but nothing was broken yet.

’He’s playing with us.’

That was the worrying part.

Greydarn still wasn’t using too much mana and wasn’t resorting to his most dangerous attacks.

He was testing them, analyzing them, seeing what they could do.

Draven knew that, because in the game Greydarn had been a boss designed to punish any mistake.

"Taliah."

"What?"

"Don’t let him keep you at range."

"I already know."

"At long distance he has the advantage."

She smiled slightly.

"Then let’s make him regret it."

She charged again; Greydarn moved both hands and the ground began to tremble.

Taliah didn’t stop and a stone wall rose; she reinforced her arms to split the wall with her sword.

When the wall fell, Greydarn was already behind her and an ice lance appeared in front of him.

Taliah moved her head just as the lance passed beside her face, then struck with her sword, forcing Greydarn to retreat.

Taliah managed to cut part of his clothing and a red line appeared on his side; Greydarn looked at the blood, but the wound began to close.

Draven saw it.

’That healing...’

It wasn’t the basic passive healing; Greydarn had used a specific ability.

’The wound disappeared.’

That meant his regeneration capacity was considerable, but even so, it had limits.

Any mage capable of regenerating organs or limbs had to concentrate, so they couldn’t do it instantly while focusing all their attention on attacking.

Besides, they had to send a large amount of mana to the damaged area, which temporarily reduced the amount available for other actions.

For that reason, even mages capable of recovering from serious injuries preferred to wait until the end of the battle.

Unless the wound was mortal; if you truly wanted to kill someone with such advanced regeneration, you had to destroy two points.

’The brain and the heart.’

And do it before they could regenerate, but the problem was reaching them.

Greydarn looked at Taliah.

"I think I understand how you fight now."

Taliah held her sword.

"How nice."

Greydarn raised both hands, and Draven immediately felt the difference; there was more mana, a lot more.

"Taliah."

She felt it too.

The air began to move while the ground trembled; rocks started to lift and small electrical discharges appeared around Greydarn.

Draven tightened his grip on the daggers.

’He’s done playing.’

Greydarn lowered his hands and everything happened at once.

The rocks shot forward, several currents of air altered their trajectories, and electrical discharges raced across the ground.

Draven slipped into a shadow and appeared far away, but a rock changed direction, so Draven vanished again before the rock struck the place where he had appeared.

’He’s tracking the shadows.’

Greydarn could roughly predict where he would emerge.

Draven appeared once more, but an electrical discharge was already coming at him, so he rolled and the electricity passed a few centimeters away.

Taliah was having her own problems; three rocks attacked her from different directions.

She destroyed one, avoided another, and the third rock struck her in the side.

Taliah fell, but rose immediately; Greydarn created another ice lance and Taliah split it.

Then a second one appeared, but Taliah didn’t manage to break it and barely avoided it.

"Draven!"

"I’m looking for an opening."

"Find it fast!"

Draven would have to find a way to win before Greydarn killed them.