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Ryu's POV
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I ready my sword, prepared to strike the stone in a dash.

I can feel their gazes on me from beyond the barrier, telling me not to strike it, telling me to wait for them to pass through.

All in all, I don't know how I managed to walk through. My gut told me nothing would happen, and it was right.

And I continued walking, not taking a look at the burning corpses on my right.

Then I landed within striking distance of it. A bright, red magic stone that contained the mana of humans.

Now, I have my sword ready, and I dash forward, thrusting my sword at the stone.

Sparks fly in all directions as cracks appear, an indication of it breaking, while my sword appears completely fine.

The cracks get deeper and longer as I push more against my sword, forcing it into a dent it made.

More and more mana leaks out as the stone breaks further, dissipating into the surroundings.

Putting more force against my sword, the stone finally breaks with an outburst of the rest of the mana it contained.

It sends me flying back several metres and I land on my back, leaving me winded.

I lay there for a few seconds to recover my breath and stand up, directing my gaze towards the squad.

Suspicion is painted over their faces as they help the Captain to his feet.

Trying my best to ignore the look in their eyes, I walk towards them.

"I did it." (Ryu)

"Yeah, but how?" (Airi)

"How what? I just stabbed it." (Ryu)

"She wants to ask how you got through the barrier type magic." (Kana)

"Don't know." (Ryu)

"What do you mean you don't know?" (Kana)

"It means what it means. I don't know how I did it, I just did." (Ryu)

She turns away from me, gritting her teeth.

"I don't know what else to tell you. I just went with my instinct which said I'll be fine." (Ryu)

Despite not being happy with my answer, she decides not to press it further, and instead turns her attention to the composition of the magic.

"Hey, Astrid, do you know what type of magic barrier this is?" (Kana)

"Nope, not a clue. I've never seen a barrier that attacks intruders. Usually, they only prevent them from entering by acting as a sort of wall. It's not like it's a category of magic, it's more just a wall of mana that's been made solid but, in most cases, invisible." (Astrid)

"So, what does that make this?" (Kana)

"Who knows, my first guess was a barrier that was imbued with lightning magic." (Astrid)

"And what was your second?" (Kana)

"Didn't have one. For me, this is a complete anomaly." (Astrid)

I turn towards the town centre once again.

She could detect the magic from inside the barrier, but not the barrier itself?

"Say, Healer, why couldn't you detect the barrier? I'm sure you'd be able to detect mana that is this large." (Ryu)

"Oh, that's true. That could point to the fact that it isn't magic, but there's nothing else it could be. It couldn't be new technology." (Astrid)

Looking down, Healer begins muttering to herself, slowly creating theories as to what it could be.

"Hey, couldn't you increase the sensitivity of your {Magic Awareness}?" (Etsu)

Hearing Vice-Captain's suggestion, Healer closes her eyes for a few seconds before reopening them.

"There's nothing there." (Astrid)

"What?" (Airi)

"There's no barrier there. No mana in the area other than the remnants of the stone." (Astrid)

"So what is it?" (Captain)

Silence washes over us.

"A spell, maybe?" (Airi)

"That could be it. There may be no barrier, but they could trick people into thinking so if they fired a spell when they reached a certain location." (Kana)

"That would mean that we're being watched." (Captain)

Before the Captain finished speaking his sentence, we all get put on alert as we hear scuffling on the roofs above us.

"My oh my, they figured that out quick, didn't they?" (???)

"They sure did, Lynx." (???)

"We've got some smart ones on our hands. I wonder if they're any good at fighting, eh Panther?" (Lynx)

"Testing them sounds fun, doesn't it?" (Panther)

"It sure does." (Lynx)

Leaving the last sentence hanging in the air, the one called Lynx jumps from the roof, welding two daggers.

"How about I go for the one who destroyed our precious crystal?" (Lynx)

His gaze locks onto me as he sprints towards me, dropping as low as he could.

He brings his left dagger across my chest, attempting to slice me, but I barely block it, leaving me staggering.

"Hoh, good reactions there, for a kid!" (Lynx)

He lurches forwards again, bringing both daggers above his head, ready to bring them down on my collarbone.

I jump backwards, hoping to give myself more time to react, but it doesn't work as he closes the distance I made in less than a second.

I kick out my right leg, hoping to stop his movements for even a second so I could ready myself.

Reacting to my kick, Lynx jumps back, leaving several metres between us.

Taking the opportunity, I dash forwards, bringing my sword up diagonally from my right hip, scratching Lynx's leather armour.

"Not bad, not bad. But you're not fast enough!" (Lynx)

Leaving me with that statement, he sprints towards me again, launching a flurry of attacks that I can just barely react to.

He doesn't give me a break as I slowly back away from him, feeling my stamina drain away.

"Hey hey, Lynx, that looks fun and all, but you need to test more than just him or we'll run out of time." (Panther)

"You do it then! This is too much fun!" (Lynx)

Shouting back towards his partner, he stops his flurry of attacks and turns his head away from me, leaving an opportunity.

I take it, dashing forwards and thrusting my sword towards Lynx's neck.

"Woah there, that's not good etiquette." (Lynx)

My sword passes to the side of his neck, leaving a small scratch on his chin.

"Aren't knights supposed to be more noble than this?" (Lynx)

"Sorry, but I'm no knight." (Ryu)

Pulling my sword back, I slice across Lynx's chest, hoping to cut deep, but he disappears.

"That's a shame, they're the most fun to fight." (Lynx)

He appears behind me, whispering down my neck, before planting his knee in my back.

"I won't kill you this time, but I will if we meet again next." (Lynx)

With the blow to my back, I struggle to get up as I see Lynx walking towards the squad.

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Author Notes
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Wow, this is a long chapter.

I think this chapter is one of my favorites I've written so far, because being able to describe a fight between a fast moving character and a slower character is surprisingly quite fun.

Also, just in case you don't understand, Ryu doesn't call any of the squad members by their names. Don't ask me why, that'll be revealed when I feel like it. But anyway, I'm going to put below what their names are to what Ryu calls them.

Airi - Knight

Astrid - Healer

Kana - Archer

Etsu - Vice-Captain

Captain - Captain

Writing out this list also made me realise I never gave Captain an actual name, so be prepared for that, I guess.