BEYOND THE BLAZE

The atmosphere filled with the intensity of the big auras that were looming from the two power sources.

Akirion had a reddish aura that was overwhelming, and the Drai had its own orange-like aura.

Akirion moved towards the Drai, moving slowly, the wind carrying the leaves and dust around him. The moment was scary for the sweating monster, while it was getting cold, and Akirion was also having a mist when he was breathing. His every exhale was filled with a big mist from his mouth since he had his teeth gritted, while his eyes were firmly opened and his face was printed with a sneer. His shoulders were slowly moving, just like his stomping footsteps.

'Tsk, this kid, what is he up to? My body can't stop shaking, dammit. What should I do? I shouldn't use my ultimate weapon just yet, so let's face him head-on, even though I'm lacking strength due to this vibration.' The Drai thought, its eyes narrowed while glued to Akirion. Its knees were shaking fast, putting it in vibrate mode.

It felt the chilly cold sprinkling over its hard skin. The chilly cold slowly got in its spine, running all the way down, increasing the shivering.

Meanwhile, the followers had their eyes wide open while the cold slowly made its way into their bodies. They started to shiver from both fear and cold while the intimidating aura from Akirion made them lose their senses for a second since they all gulped while their eyes and mouths were wide open. Their hands were taking a break from covering the nose since the monster's smell flowed to the surroundings, polluting the air.

After their pause, they were normal, but the aura didn't stop disturbing their peace. They started to talk about their jackets, and lucky for them, they were prepared. They were wearing warm clothes.

Meanwhile, Elina was walking from shop to shop, her eyes scanning every shop label as she searched for a blacksmith in order to borrow a sword. Her journey had an unknown fulfillment, but she never stopped searching for the blacksmith.

She asked every shopkeeper in all the shops that were open, getting her all worked out. She lost her helping enthusiasm. Tiredness befell her, and she was about to go back to Akirion to report.

Suddenly, she saw a nice big sword label that was on top of another ordinary shop.

She exhaled first and said, "Nice sword. What's that? Goran swords! Mhh, it's a company label just like the bottle store. Not even helpful, just Goran swords!" she said while she turned away.

Suddenly, she held her brakes; her eyes checked the shop label in their corner, while her mouth unzipped.

"Goran swords, Goran swords! It's about swords! I can finish my quest. Yes, whoooh!" she happily said, while she glared at the shop.

Back at the battlefield. Akirion sneered fiercely and increased his walking pace. The wind around him got bigger; the cold continued, freezing anything that lacked heat.

"Sup with this cold, where is it coming from? I can't even regenerate my arm now, and this cold is totally ruining my peace of mind." the monster said while it held its left arm while its eyes observed Akirion's moves.

Its arm crashed during the hit when it hit on the wall. Its left arm had a broken bone, and its skin wasn't damaged. So it wasn't able to heal that bone; the main reason is that it was a low-level Drai, lacking power.

It started smiling, thinking of trapping Akirion.

"Hey, aren't you ready to hear all of our ranks? I can tell you all, I'm just waiting for the word!"

"You can say whatever you want."

"Ohh, sure, why not. I'm ready for it, and I hope you are paying attention and stop moving too!"

"You can't tell me that!" he said, his voice sounding tired.

"Then my mouth is closed too!"

"Your choice!"

It gulped, its eyes widened as it feared the way he said it. Its heart thudded while its mind raced as it searched its mind in order to say all the ranks orderly.

Akirion didn't stop charging towards the Drai; his mind blanked out as he only concentrated on the Drai.

"I guess it's time to say all of those words, since you can talk." Akirion said, taking in a deep breath.

The monster deeply took in the air and got a bit choked since it took in not only the air but also its saliva.

It started coughing also; it begged. "Hey, hey, wait." It tried to stop him and then realized that he wasn't listening; it silently continued saying, "I've got to get his attention out of my way to cut this hand off because I can't work with all this pain!" It silently said, its eyes glued to Akirion.

"I'm about to say what you asked for, so wait a second, human." It continued trying to stop him.

Akirion gave it a cold shoulder, and it was totally thunderstruck. It started talking without even asking for permission when Akirion was like 7 meters away.

"Okay, I'm talking about everything I know."

I'll start with the frank. Amazing, isn't it? I'm finally opening up.

F ranks are the browns, and by browns, I mean that one with a brown aura!" Akirion slowed down and paid attention.

The Drai continued, "The browns are so weak, they are like the minions! Ohh sorry, I didn't introduce the minions; they are the lowest-ranking monsters out there.

Then we have the green. They've got a bit of power but are not powerful; those are the E ranks.

Then, my group, the orange. We are strong just like I am. I guess you can see that.

Then there are D ranks—these are the yellow aura monsters, stronger than us a bit; they can do many things.

Then C ranks—white; these are strong, truly.

They can use swords too.

Then B ranks—purple. These are stronger, and let me tell you, they got some ladies."

Akirion glared at it and got disgusted as he bent his mouth. The monster then cut off its hand and said.

"Then A ranks—black. These are more than strong; they've got the fast regeneration skills. Compared to mine, you can see that it's slow. As for them, they only stretch it, and then it will be back to normal.

Then there are S ranks—the reds. These are stronger than you think; if you see them, run for your life.

That's all of us; I hope you..." Suddenly, Akirion charged towards the Drai before it finished its speech.

He was holding an ice sword while his aura followed. The Drai was flabbergasted, and lucky for it, it had its arm back. It blocked the ice sword, and the impact caused the sword to break into pieces.

Akirion opened his tired-looking eyes a bit in astonishment, and suddenly, the Drai launched a punch, and before it reached Akirion, Akirion dodged and went back.

"Tsk, let's play, not dance, human!" The Drai angrily said, its eyes blazing with rage as it glared at Akirion.

"Kikiki, so you've got your vibe again!" With a laugh, Akirion replied.

"Ohh yeah, I'm not easily down, so you've to pray to the unknown to win."

"Ohh, really? Then, let's see if you'll survive this."

Akirion created a big tornado whirling towards the Drai that had its eyes wide open. It tried to run away, but it wasn't able to. The wind pulled it in, and suddenly, they were vacuum blades inside the tornado, slicing everything in front of them. The Drai was in hot soup since it couldn't dodge anything while being turned around by a tornado like a fortune wheel.

Akirion sneered, and suddenly, he saw that his tornado was going to create big damage in the apartments that were nearby.

He pulled the tornado down, and he formed a rock sword.

When the Drai was released by a tornado, Akirion was already behind it, ready to strike.

It started regenerating, its body getting back all of its lost shape. It looked forward with a bit of dizziness, and it saw no one.

Suddenly, Akirion's voice echoed behind it. A sudden gasp escaped its mouth while it sighed, since it thought that the use of magic was almost over since Arcana was known for its sudden exhaustion since Akirion had used a lot of magic.

"Looking for me?" Akirion asked, his eyes widened, ready to strike.

Akirion stroked the time it turned its head towards him. It widened its eyes as it saw the sword piercing the air heading for its neck. It suddenly went down, getting Akirion to miss, and instantly Akirion received two punches from a power-channelled arm and another that was not channelled.

Akirion was sent flying on his back. He swiftly pulled a lot of air with his mouth, his teeth gritted, before he crashed. He then snapped his eyes wide open, and suddenly he silently chanted, 'Instant portal.'

Instantly, he was out of the portal that took him next to the monster, and he cut 1 fist in the middle, going straight to the elbow since the Drai wasn't ready for an attack. The Drai screamed in pain while Akirion jumped backwards.

Akirion sneered as he landed on the ground while the blood went down from his lips to his chin.

He moved slowly and said, "Ready to face your dread?" His aura intensely loomed on his sides. That same old dark cloud was now looming around him, intensely and overwhelmingly.

Suddenly, Elina came running with a sword!