After Ethan's [Avian], everyone was waiting for the dust to disperse to see what happened but, among them was someone who was thinking about Anika
'I hope that useless Assassin will do her job correctly... I've already paid her a good sum, it would be a waste if she couldn't do it'
Seeing dust spread in the air, the man looked at the group A that was still following Akina's orders.
'Where's she...?'
Searching her, he came to the conclusion that she had taken advantage of the dust in the air to try to kill him
'I don't know if she's intelligent or naive, trying to kill him while the Sword Princess would surely notice if she killed him? Aren't those two in a relationship...? Well, even if it were the problem it wouldn't be mine..my only objective is...'
Before he could finish thinking, he saw the dust movement change slightly
'My imagination?...no...'
Some seconds later, what happened shocked him. With his expression change multiple times in a row, they saw as the Dust became similar to a tornado while all the spells returned to their owner, hitting and knocking them all out before dispersing completely. But that was not all, the disconcerting fact was that Anika was knocked out too, although it wasn't from the various spells.
Seeing her with cuts all over her arms, he even thought she was going to die but, understanding Ethan won't do such a thing turned out to be true because the cuts stopped to appear.
Surprised that such a thing happened, the man clenched both his fists
'he probably already knows she was sent by someone, but at least she shouldn't say anything'
'I will hire someone else'
With this, he looked at the logo of his familia.
'this event will prove disadvantageous to you, the next one will be surely powerful enough to kill you for good. I'm already tired of dealing with you'
---
Sighing, Ethan looked at group A
'I can't stop now, I think I'll take advantage of their shock'
Although they weren't distant, Ethan decided to not use his Instant Movements and the Perception slowed, mainly before he thought they were weak.
'I'll use my [Boost Magic] to make me able to fight them, I don't wish to kill nor severely injure them, so...'
Using his Boost to his whole body, he approached them without saying anything. Punching Lewis on the c.h.e.s.t, he made him fly towards the wall of the arena while coughing blood.
'I think I would be at their place if I made something stupid like duel Bete...it makes me feel so mad at them..'
Looking at him Lewis was speechless
'Just a few punches...he is completely superior in strength too .. I can't move..'
Observing the scene, the group A was brought back to the real world
"We can't stay here watching as Lewis is being hit, we need to help! If you don't want then I'll go alone!"
Without waiting, one of them held the spear in his hands and ran against Ethan with a battle cry
"Let our Vice-Captain go!"
Shouting this, he tried to Hit him but, Ethan dodged while he looked at the others of group A.
Understanding they'll go all out against him soon, he retreated while taking the sword of the Vice-Captain from the floor.
Although Ethan was speechless to see how coordinated they were, he didn't know this was the strategy of the first Captain.
---
"If I'll have any problems fighting against him, I'll make you a signal to enter the arena, then..."
Telling them all the details about his plan, one of them asked
"And, Why should we use this strategy against a mage? Isn't it suicide?"
Nodding, the former Captain answered
"I'll make him use all his magic, my fighting style is focused on speed, mainly to use small attacks to force the opponent to use skills, at first I will be at disadvantage but after he'll be tired I'll have a huge advantage, that's why... Using this technique is something similar to a last resort"
Understanding, everyone felt their fighting spirit boil in their veins
'We'll have the role to take him down when he can't use his magic...'
"I don't care if he's strong or not, my technique always worked with my familia, although I knew their abilities better, for that I can do nothing as everyone here uses swords and spears"
Having the confidence to beat him anyway, the group morale was sky-high.
---
'Although we don't know if he has finished his mana, the fact he took Lewis' sword made it obvious!'
'To manage to defeat more than 10 mages, he surely used a technique that consumed a lot of mana..it's our chance!'
Holding his spear, the new man that leaded the group attacked him again. Although Ethan parred, it was still obvious he never trained with a sword.
'Don't underestimate adventurers...'
Charging at him, they were convinced they had already won while Ethan had to chose
'I should try to use my boost magic more efficiently, if I continue to use my mana I won't be able to fight against everyone...'
Seeing an arrow approaching him, Ethan blocked it using his arms as protection. Trying to find the Archer, he saw it was an Elf.. Thinking to the most likely option, he was still busy dealing with group A
'I see, one of them ignored the chant and managed to get away in time...annoying'
Relaxing for a second, he retreated again but, before he could, a blow from behind managed to harm him.
Surprised, he turned around. Seeing another group still there, he was speechless, but he didn't have time to think about it before a fist hit him again.
Lucky to have [Boost Magic], he didn't receive too much damage but, he still felt the toughness of it
'This man is dangerous..but that's not all'
With a laugh, the man that hit him approached him without giving even the time for him to think on the situation he was in.
"You don't have time to lose yourself in thoughts!"
Boosting his defence and strength in his arms, he blocked the blow while returning a punch to him in the c.h.e.s.t. Although it was quite strong, the man didn't even flinch before returning another punch, this time making him lose balance.
Having some seconds where no Arrows, spears and swords could pierce him, Ethan used [Avian] against the floor to raise the dust
'I can't save my mana for later if I'll be defeated now..the best situation is hide and use these few minutes to boost my meditation and f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y charge my mana pool with Boosted Mana. I don't have a theory nor I know if it will work, but I need to believe it will work'
Even though he didn't use his 100%, the force of the blow was still enough to throw away the weakest while the strongest were only moved by the air pressure, but, with the confusion generated by the impact, they lose their advantage of numbers. Normally, the dust would quickly disperse, but the fact was that it was hit by [Avian], making it heavily, thus, unable to disperse for a while
Now with the dust that enveloped the whole arena from the force emitted by Ethan, He hid at the extremes of the cloud of dust to use the limited time allowed to fill his mana pool.
'With that attack I managed to give me some time to charge, I won't waste this chance'
Sitting with legs crossed, he started to meditate while trying to boost the speed with which his mana pool filled
Although this action made him feel awful, he tried not to mind it.
'It's possible.. I can feel my mana going up but...'
Feeling a powerful stomach ache with a d.e.s.i.r.e to vomit, he understood that the side effect was still bearable.
'It's comparable to have a fever in my previous world... I feel my head hurt but I can bear it... I can...'
Without losing willpower, his mana pool was near the point of exhaustion but, the fact Boost Magic was mitigating the pain for him was something he didn't know. Although doing this action would lead someone to explode normally, it has the advantage of increasing its maximum mana pool over a large amount.
Feeling his mana pool strangely expanding, he brought a stop to his actions before feeling his sickness fade away
'Now that I have mana, It's better to use the time I have to make these 2 groups exit the arena'
Thinking this, he felt his [Boost Magic] even faster than before. Confused, he looked at his fist
'Am I imagining it?'
Without anyone confirming his theory or not, he noticed a person looking for him. Without saying anything, he hit the adventurer on the neck with his [Boost Magic], making him lose consciousness
'Faster!'
---
Coughing, the man that faced him before was searching for him with a mad expression
'Where is he!?'
Searching for him furiously, he coughed again while his group was doing their best to make the dust disperse..
"It doesn't work, Captain! The Dust won't disperse even with magic, I think he wants to separate us and then knock us out one by one.."
Putting his fists together, The captain had already reached the limit of his patience
'That kid..how dare he..I was so close to knock him out...'
Clenching his jaw, he couldn't see a way to escape this situation
'he screwed us...'
From the stands, the situation wasn't different
'To think he could do such a thing..that woman was right...we shouldn't enter the arena together..'
Although most of them thought about this, someone else was still planning a way to take him down
It would have been easier to find him with mages, the fact was that the group that had entered the arena was without mages. Most of them had swords or spears while the minority used daggers or fists.
'You think only you have an advantage in this type of terrain...? You are really underestimating adventurers..boy'
With this thought in mind, the Captain of the group Z entered the Arena with his whole group
'we'll make you feel you're in a nightmare...'
---
(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8 If you enter it, you can choose one of Ethan's future powers from the pool I created, but that's not all! On the server, you can see the reference on some things that will be present in the story! Right now you can freely see some things like the [Twin's Digimon] and [The Devoted Heart].)
(I opted to make the person who hired Anika talk instead of showing the fighting in a detailed way, mainly because I can't do 40 chapters for an event. From now things will speed up quite a lot)
(Alternate Titles: "That dust helped a lot", "Group Z appeared!