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The Ashen Sorcerer Strikes Back

The sword came towards him, as if to test his resolve. Gehen had anticipated this, but he did not want to pull out all his cards yet. For now, he needed to fight with offensive ash manipulation using the ash scattered around the road while maintaining his defense. He felt that this fight was towards him because of the ashes around him, but he knew better to not underestimate his enemy.

The sword was quickly deflected from its original trajectory by Gehen's almost instantaneous defensive ash. It deflected the fast-moving sword towards a nearby barrel, spilling its content. The sword then returned to its wielder.

"(Impressive)," said the ash hound. "(An Ashen Sorcerer. Never thought I'd seen one)."

Gehen then kneeled, trying to gain control of the ashes. But then, the ash hound's sword started to attack him relentlessly, causing Gehen to roll away to safety. It seemed that offensive attacks would lead to openings, so Gehen kept some ashes around him for defense.

"(Now that I know you're not a regular ash hound, this will get harder for you)," he said.

Not if I can counter it, thought Gehen. He was very certain of his own capabilities, and with his willpower, he could fight back and even the odds. Too bad he could not have time to get away and warn his friends. The moment he lost his attention, it could mean the end of him.

The sword started attacking him again, but this time, Gehen was able to see the sword's trajectory better, and was able to counter it with several solidified ashes. He managed to find an opening to attack the ash hound during one of his sword attack barrages, throwing a handful of ash towards his opponent which was reshaped into a long stake.

The opponent, startled by this, managed to dodge by moving his head aside from the ash-made stake. He tried to recall his sword and attack Gehen from behind, but the mute ash hound anticipated this attack. Still touching the ashes under him, he controlled it to become his shield, stopping the sword in place as he moved aside and grabbed it. However, he was too late to realize that his adversary was grinning.

"(Wrong move, buddy)," said Gehen's adversary.

The ash hound adversary then moved his hand up, then made a gesture with his finger as if he was pulling something or inviting Gehen to fight. It was the former, however, as the sword Gehen just grabbed started to pull the ash hound and threw him forward as the sword left Gehen's hands. He was not able to react faster this time, and only managed to stop the sword after it had partially pierced his chest.

Gehen grunted as the ashes he used to stop the sword fell in front of him, stained with his blood. The sword returned to its master, during which he quickly lunged forward for the kill. Gehen was still aware of his surroundings and was able to concentrate enough to use the ashes around him to teleport behind the ash hound.

This move surprised the ash hound enough that he did not expect Gehen to suddenly moved behind him and bit him with his sharp teeth. The ash hound yelped in pain before he grabbed Gehen and threw him down to the ground, attempting to finish him. He forgot that when the mute hound was thrown to the floor, the ashes around him was thrown upward, covering the ash hound's vision and enabled Gehen to once again disappear as he teleported away from his opponent, this time preparing to fashion a sword from the ashes around him.

The ash hound was a better swordsman than Gehen, but Gehen was helped with the fact that the battlefield was his weapon. Still, Gehen was cautious. His opponent could have pulled a trick that would even the odds. He was not supposed to be fighting Gehen if he did not know how to fight against an Ashen Sorcerer.

His fear proved correct when the ash hound suddenly moved faster than the ashes around him. Gehen found himself being stabbed through the stomach by his opponent, without even able to react. The sudden change of pace became apparent when he pulled the sword and kicked him, causing him to be thrown away into a solid wall. It was a strength that Gehen did not anticipate, and it cost him his advantage.

"(You're good)," said the ash hound while cleaning his sword. "(But you clearly don't know who you're fighting against. I, on the other hand, know what you're capable of, Ashen Sorcerer. I admit. That teleportation ability caught me off guard, simply because you chose to fight back instead of using it to run away. Still, you don't know anything about my ability, now that I know what yours are)."

What kind of abilities? It was the question that was in Gehen's mind. Things had been pretty much in his favor when his weapon was clearly around him. He knew there must be something the ash hound swordsmaster had that could change the pace of the fight, but what was it? Was it the sudden increase of speed, or was it the sudden increase of strength?

He did not have time to think about as his opponent resumed his attacks, now seemingly abandoning his ability to remotely control his swords. He started to increase his speed, faster than Gehen's ashes, and struck the mute hound many times, drawing blood and lacerating his body in many parts. As Gehen was naturally armored with the ash covering his fur, the attacks were not fatal, but it was enough to drop Gehen down to his knees, exhausted from trying to find his attacker's attack pattern and clearly losing more blood than he first thought.

That was when an idea struck him, as he saw his opponent's movements slowed as he threw his sword towards Gehen. With a renewed vigor, he moved away and started his ashen attacks once more, though this time, he did not attack blindly. Instead of trying to attack his opponent, he used the ashes nearby to protect him from the dashing attack. This time, he had anticipated the strength of the attack, and made adjustments so the moment the sword hit him, the ashes he personally controlled would stop the blade right before it hit Gehen.

He found out that the attacks did not seem to have a pattern, except for the fact that it could only come from one direction. The increased speed and strength were still a mystery to Gehen, but he knew that the attacks only happened once during the dash. When he threw the sword and control it remotely, however, the attack became far more diverse, but the user could only stand on the ground and became defenseless. In addition to that, when the sword was controlled remotely, Gehen realized that its speed was not as fast as when the enemy took control of the sword. With this knowledge, he teleported away as the enemy stopped.

However, his enemy was also resourceful. Knowing that the ashes would stop him, he simply released his grip on the sword and turned around as Gehen appeared behind him. He was ready to use his equally sharp claws to attack Gehen, and it did hit Gehen. The ash hound sorcerer then held on his enemy's hand and made a gesture that the hound could not see. However, doing this released his hold over the enemy's sword, and it quickly flew towards Gehen's back. Gehen was still holding the enemy's hand tight, immobilizing him.

"(I don't know what you're planning, silent Sorcerer, but if you think my sword won't stop until it impales both of us, you're wrong)," he said. "(Let's just say my control is...surgical)."

Gehen bet on this plan. If he missed even for a second, this blow would be fatal. Even with the ash protection on his fur, it would not be enough to hold back the fast approaching sword that would impale him. If the enemy's claim of being surgical was true, then he would aim Gehen's heart.

However, the enemy was not the only one with a weapon. Just as the sword flew towards Gehen's heart, Gehen made his own gesture. He then heard something being stabbed and saw his enemy's pained and surprised expression. The sword flying behind Gehen stopped mid-air before falling to the ground.

However, his attack was too shallow. It did not immediately kill his enemy. Fortunately, Gehen managed to get away from the hold, then teleported away just as the enemy retrieved his sword.

Again, his enemy had anticipated where Gehen would appear, but at the same moment, Gehen also anticipated this. He knew the ash hound sword master would be faster than his ash, but that was if he relied solely on the ashes to attack him from afar.

Instead, risking his body, he did what he did before; letting himself got stabbed in the shoulder to hold his enemy down. He then proceeded to anchor his enemy's legs and, with a small sharp shiv formed from solidified ash, he slashed his enemy's throat. He could look the surprised, but amazed face as his enemy gurgled and spewed blood out of his exposed throat towards Gehen's ashen grey fur.

His enemy slowly slid down the Ashen Sorcerer's body as his life was drained out of him. Gehen did not spare any moments, for he knew that his enemy, like him, would not be able to talk. He simply controlled the ashes around the ash hound's head and twisted his head, killing him instantly.

Gehen felt relieved that he managed to defeat his opponent, but he wasn't out of the storm yet. The short, yet intense, fight had caused him critical injuries that could prove fatal if not tended to. By this point, the commotion the two caused had drawn some ash hounds to him. Even if they wanted to help, it wasn't fast enough. He needed to administer the first aid.

Fortunately for him, he was surrounded by ashes. While he knew a couple of tricks with the ash, he could not use them as his primary healer. The first thing he could do was to cover his wounds and stop them from bleeding. The ashes around him would work perfectly.

He did not know ash hound anatomy good enough to be able to repair the damage within, though he could administer his own first aid. It wasn't pretty, but it kept him alive for a while longer, at least until anyone who bothered to help would come and take him to a proper healer.

He got that wish just as he started to lose consciousness from the damage inside his body. He did not know who took him, but one thing was certain.

This person got a smooth skin.

***

"How is he, Belial?" asked Zardes as he assessed the situation.

"He's alive," said Belial when he looked at Gehen's unconscious body. "But not for long."

Ashes started coming out from his wounds and they were opened anew.

"We need to stop the bleeding."

"He did, but I think he forgot that those ashes follow his will. No will, no control," said Belial. "If only I can access my powers out of this damn suit, I'll..."

Zardes had been standing beside Belial and put on bandages and stuff that was enough for first aid, though they needed more than that. Good thing Zardes noticed a clinic that was still open at that late of the night.

Belial turned towards the dead ash hound. He observed the dead body's damage. After noting the brutality, he turned towards Gehen and smiled.

"Even you, huh?" he said. "Guess I underestimated you a bit. A silent sorcerer. I like it. Gehen, right? Didn't catch your name back then," said Belial. "I only respect those who shows a will to fight. Come on. You gotta survive for your friend. He's asleep."

"Belial, in here."

Belial nodded, and they walked towards the clinic, where they stayed while the doctor patched up Gehen properly. Gehen was quickly stabilized, during which the ash hound doctor sighed.

"(Haven't seen an Ashen Sorcerer in ages)," said the doctor when he walked out of the examination room. "(Especially one with a great will to live)."

"(How do you know he's a...that?)"

"(Only an Ashen Sorcerer would use ashes to attempt first aid. You normally can't do that, but he could. Too bad he lost consciousness. He did not account on his will being the only one controlling his ashes)."

"(How is he going to be, doc?)"

"(Good thing his injuries were not vital points)," he said. "(If that is the case, it would be a miracle to survive. He'll be fine after I patch things up. Don't you worry)."

Zardes sighed in relief. He did not want to lose one party member so early in his travel. In fact, he preferred not to lose anyone. He knew Gehen would be able to fight, but he was surprised that he knew how to defend himself well enough to prevent critical injuries. It seemed that the mute hound had his own share of experience when it came to fighting.

Leaving Gehen to the kind doctor, Belial and Zardes walked out towards the body of the ash hound Gehen killed. His sword was somewhere away from his body, apparently thrown away during the intense fight with Gehen. Knowing that an ash hound would not start fighting with an intent to kill if he was a mugger, Zardes started to check the ash hound's out-of-place trousers, a further indication that he was not a local (local ash hounds wore loincloths). Then, he found something worth noting.

Inside the ash hound's trousers was a note telling him to kill anyone who had an Infernal in the group. There was also a device near the note that had a circle on it.

"This is a forced binding circle," said Belial when he examined the device. "It is used to bind a Circle demon."

"Will it work on you, though?"

"Unfortunately, this one does." He proceeded to throw it to the ashen soil and stepped on it with his hoof. "Now, it can't bind me."

From the note's description, the ash hound sword master was supposed to dispatch the group while they were resting, starting with Belial, the most troublesome of them all. However, he apparently changed his plan when he saw Gehen walking around without anyone accompanying him. For the sword master, the mute hound was clearly a prime target. His only mistake that proved fatal was that he did not know Gehen could fight as well as he control the ashes around him.

What intrigued them, however, was a symbol at the end of the note. It did not resemble anything the two had known, but one thing was clear.

The symbol looked like a bat.