Arcane Innovator

As I approached the last, furthest bonfire, I noticed that only two men were sitting there.

One of them must have noticed me as he suddenly stood up and began stumbling in my direction.

His breath reeked of cheap ale, and his eyes were bloodshot and unfocused. "Hey, you there!" He slurred as he seemed to realize I was not one of them.

But I didn't pay him any attention as I was busy incanting a spell. Soon, several long, sleek wind blades manifested before me, swishing forward and cleanly bisecting the drunken thug in half.

His companion only had time to widen his eyes in horror before the same fate befell him, too. 'Alright, the hard part is over...'

Since I dealt with all the gang members sitting around the bonfires, I stepped out of the shadows as there was now no need to keep hiding.

All that was left was the dozen or so sleeping gang members I had previously ignored since they didn't pose an immediate threat.

Now, however, it was time for them to join their comrades in the afterlife, as I didn't plan to leave a single one of those bastards alive.

Therefore, the whole cavern was soon filled with the muffled screams of many abruptly woken thugs who looked around in utter confusion, only to be mowed down by the merciless wind blades.

After the battle with the Warrhogs, I decided to rely more on this elaborate spell, as I found it pretty convenient in situations like this one, where I had to face a lot of weak opponents.

Before long, the cavern once again grew quiet. Still, to be on the safe side, I did one more quick scan with my magic sense.

Not detecting any further life signs anywhere in the spacious chamber, I nodded with satisfaction and turned toward Theo, who was watching everything transpire with a mix of awe and trepidation.

"I can't find Hans and Greta anywhere in here. Do you have any idea where they might have taken them?"

He seemed to think about it briefly but then dejectedly shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I often saw Vincent going to the far end of the cave together with that brute who brought me here, but I was never allowed anywhere near it."

"Vincent?" I asked with furrowed brows.

"That's the leader of this organization, at least I think so, as he commands everyone around, and nobody dared to look into his eyes," Theo replied.

'Wait, so the mysterious merchant's name is Vincent?' I tilted my head to the side, wondering.

'Well, not that it matters much, as I plan to kill them all anyway...' I thought as we headed toward the back.

I contemplated whether or not I should keep Theo here, but I chose not to as I didn't like the idea of separating. Plus, there was no telling how many criminals might still be lurking in the shadows.

At the very end, there was another tunnel that led further, but it was partially obstructed by a protruding rock, so it wasn't visible if you didn't know what to look for. 'Without Theo telling me, I might have completely missed this...'

We carefully tiptoed through the dark as I didn't dare to conjure any flames not to alert whoever was ahead of our approach.

The tunnel then ended, opening into another smaller cavern. Yet this one was fully illuminated by equally spaced lamps. I blinked, trying to adjust to the bright light, but then I froze as a massive figure appeared out of nowhere, blocking our path.

I widened my eyes before hurriedly jumping backward as I instantly recognized him. 'Dominic...'

It seemed like he was just about to go take a look as to why the main cavern grew so quiet so suddenly when we almost bumped into one another right as we were coming in.

It was the very first time I had seen the mighty gang leader make such a startled face as he hurriedly moved backward and cowered into a fighting stance.

"I've finally found you..." I scowled at him, intense emotions battling inside of me.

"You..." Dominic grimaced as he also seemed to finally recognize me.

Behind him, I could see the surprised faces of Vincent and Sir Konrad, who appeared like they were just in the middle of a meeting, but I didn't pay them any attention as my sight was solely focused on that bastard Dominic in front of me.

"You thought you could get rid of me, and there would be no consequences? Well, you've missed your chance, and tonight, I came to settle the debt."

My proclamation loudly echoed through the cavern as I couldn't help but let some of the anger bubbling inside me seep into my voice.

By now, Dominic seemed to have regained his composure. He looked at me with disbelief, his eyes narrowing in anger, and I heard him scoff.

"I have no idea how you managed to get all the way here, but this is as far as you'll go. I don't think you'll be able to talk your way out of here."

He then glanced at the merchant Vincent, who nodded and said, "Kill him; he's too difficult to control."

With that, Dominic smirked at me while he took out a peculiar weapon—an exquisite-looking dagger. It had quite a long crimson-colored blade, and I could feel tremendous power emanating from it.

'A magic weapon?' I thought, slightly taken aback as I had never seen something like this before. Dominic took my caution as a sign of fear as he grinned viciously while pointing the dagger at me.

Out of curiosity, I peered into it with my magic sense, noticing a massive amount of essence hiding beneath its surface.

I quickly realized that it was quite dangerous, and if I let him hit me with it, I could face a severe injury, maybe even instant death.

Not that it mattered much as, by now, my preparations were all but complete.

Ever since I first emerged from the tunnel, I have been gathering my essence and circulating it around my whole body. With each revolution, I drew more and more essence from my core until I felt that I had amassed every bit of strength inside of me.

For a single moment, I decided to let go of all my pent-up anger, letting it fuel me as I pushed the limits of my body further than I had ever before.

They thought I was just some nuisance they could get rid of whenever they pleased; well, this one time, I would let them see who I really was.

As my power continued to rise, the surrounding air began cracking with static electricity, and my body began emanating an almost palpable pressure with tiny shockwaves traveling in all directions.

This alerted Dominic, who till now had simply been posing with his fancy dagger, acting like I was already a dead man. He then hurriedly entered a battle stance, preparing to lunge at me.

On the other hand, I didn't move a muscle, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of magic that now filled my body to the brim.

I felt like I was a mere moment before I would undoubtedly lose control. But then, my perception seemed to have changed, and I entered a trance-like state.

I suddenly felt a sense of clarity like I had never felt before. Time seemed to have slowed down, and I could now perceive every little detail of my surroundings I never thought possible.

I saw Theo's frightened face as he cowered behind me, Dominic, as he moved toward me in slow motion, and the ever-so-slick and calculating Vincent, losing his nonchalant expression as the first signs of concern began appearing on his elegant face, all at the same time.

I wanted nothing more than to see those two bastards burn, but even now, I had enough presence of mind to know that summoning an inferno in the middle of a cave would be a really bad idea, so I did the second-best thing.

Ever so slowly, I raised my hand as my eyes shone with incandescent light, and I finally released all my magic.

The cavern's floor seamlessly parted to give way to the largest earth spike I had ever conjured. Just the tip was at least twice as big as Dominic itself, and if it had a space to extend fully, it would span for more than fifty meters, almost double the size of the cavern itself.

Normally, it would be impossible for me to summon something like this, but since we were in the middle of a mountain, I had as much rock to work with as I wanted. Plus, in my current state, manipulating my environment came to me naturally, like breathing.

I had already previously noticed that Dominic was wearing the same protective pendant as the Magistrate and the others did, so I knew there was no room for half-measures.

'Take this, you bastard!' I thought, right as the gigantic spike smashed into Dominic with the power of a speeding train.