Chapter 117: Masked Man

Two years huh. And I'm back at where we all started. I entered Itz and it seems to have grown.

It's richer than before seeing the new shops and the houses have more high-quality materials than before. It's so beautiful.

I was just wandering around without knowing where to go. We all agreed to meet here two years ago but we didn't settle on an exact location.

After wandering around for quite a while, I first met Zeta in the park of Itz.

But it seems that he had a companion.

"Zeta," I called out to him.

"Oh! Afal! Haven't seen you in two years!" He greeted me with a big smile on his face.

"Isn't that the point so we could train?"

"Ah."

"Who's that accompanying you?"

"..." Zeta was silent for a second. "Afal... You can see Yurid?" Zeta looked at her and said, "You're invisible right now aren't you?"

That female floating behind her nodded.

"I apologize if I did something wrong."

"No, no, it's nothing. I'm just surprised you can see her. I'm pretty sure she cast an absolute invisibility on herself."

"I can't see her clearly. More like a figure of her. I can see mana. But she's... Different."

Zeta had a shocked looked on his face. He then turned around at her again and said, "He's fine. He's a friend."

"What did she say?"

"She thought you were dangerous."

Before we could continue our conversation, I heard several people yelling as if calling out to us.

"That's them," I said as I pointed to their direction.

"Haha! Precia, Yefa, Rize, Greta!" Zeta waved back to them.

We all gathered and went into an inn to get some food and drinks.

We sat down on a circular table and most of them ordered a beer.

Rize was the one to break the awkward silence, "So, are you going to introduce her Zeta?"

"Hmm? You too? Fine..." Zeta then did an exasperated sigh. "Dispel." The woman behind Zeta appeared. "This is Yurid. It's the final gift my master left me."

"I see," Greta said in a low voice which made Zeta shake for some reason.

Precia was the next to speak, "So what's our next plan?"

"Of course we need to find Zieglind first." Yefa joined in.

"Hmm... Since we have no clue on where to go from here to find him, how about we head first to our village." Precia suggested.

"Ah!" Everyone had a sudden realization.

"I forgot about our village," Zeta said.

Everyone agreed. Precia was the one to take the lead, "That's decided then. Let's g-"

We suddenly felt a cold breeze of chill. This amount of mana headed our way is only directed at us.

"Does anyone have any idea who that is?" I asked. No one responded. "I see. Then we'll have to see."

We dropped some money on the table and went to head out in the direction of the one who's inviting us.

The person who was looking for us was far. We had to go out of the kingdom of Itz to find them. And there they are, inside the forest as if they were waiting for us and to our surprise, it was just one person looking for us.

They were covered in a shrouded black cape and their face is covered in a mask.

"Let's do this." He raised his hand and muttered some words that we couldn't hear.

The next thing we knew, we were in another place.

It was a freezing icy place with a horrible blizzard.

"Frost Resistance." Zeta cast on all of us. "This will help against the cold."

"Thanks. Anyway, who are you? What do you want from us?" I asked the masked man.

"Gazer Form."He has not shown his weapon yet but he equipped only his armor and in an incredibly deep voice. A man? But when he spoke and invoked fear upon us.

But we know we changed from those two years. This time, we will not lose.

All of us transformed into Gazer Form and equipped our weapons except for Rize.

"I see. Then you aren't here for peace huh? Grasp of the Void!" Using Gazer Armor I can't equip any other item but these artifacts are not items. They're a part of me. "Come here. Void's Calling!" A small black hole formed and began to slowly drag him towards me. "I can not move when I'm using this skill! Do it!"

"Okay, nice job!" Rize shouted. "Hou Yi's bow, Blessing of the Marksman, Bullet Hell!"

"Hunter's Feast!" Greta began to move even faster and rushed at the masked man."

"Fire Shackles!" Zeta cast his spell too. It summoned a Phoenix and it screamed a loud screech and began to breathe fire.

Yefa jumped in the air, "Maximize Weaponry, Explosive Fists, Stance Change, Boxing, Haste!" Her weapons enlarged and with that enlarged weapons came an increased range in which she used to attack the masked man from afar.

"Unruly Gemstone, Corruption, Rage, Berserker!" Precia activated multiple skills.

"Precia, there is no need to go that far!" I shouted.

"Don't worry, I'm in control!" She then rushed at the enemy and everytime she swung her blade the ground is also getting sliced. That's how powerful she is.

The three spells she cast, corruption, rage, and berserker are skills that give bonus strength and damage in exchange for one's sanity. It seems she's grown too. Well... every one of us has grown in our own ways.

But it's not time to be happy or be relieved. That masked man blocked every single one of our attacks with ease.

We all backed off. We tried to figure out what happened. We didn't see anything.

"Zeta, use your scanning ability. Who is that person?" I asked.

"G- got it. Status Reveal." Zeta then had an extremely worried face. "He's using the False Information skill. Everything about him is at the single digits. Level 1, 1 HP, 1 MP."

"He definitely doesn't have 1 MP as his maximum. His mana is... More than you Zeta."

"Then that makes things easier. He's a mage. He can't fight back when we're near him. Let's pressure him."

"I see. That's a plan."

"Cover me, I'll cast a large spell. This will take a while."

"Got it."

I revved up my arm and it started to vibrate. I'll pressure them with absolute speed.

I rushed in and Greta, Precia, and Yefa followed.

"DUEL!" I cast. And just as Zeta said, he has false information. The board on the top said, my name and my current HP and MP but his only says Z and has 1 HP and MP.

I dashed at him and began to unleash a barrage of attacks.

He counter-attacked, "Frozen Field!"

"No, you won't!" Zeta shouted. "Dispel!" But nothing happened. "Damn it. Anti-Dispel skill."

That frozen field he cast froze our feet. It didn't do any damage to us but it restricted our movements.

I didn't want to use this but... "HEY!" I shouted. He looked at me as planned. "Stare into my eyes and feel absolute FEAR!" I activated the Eye of Cthulhu. But he just stood there. "Did... Did it work?"

Yefa and Greta broke free of the frozen field by Rize shooting the ice off their feet so they both rushed at him.

But the masked man moved.

"It didn't work!?" My eye didn't work on him. It's either we both have the same powers or he's immune to it.

But he's done either way since Yefa and Greta rushed at him.

"Tornado." A sudden large gust of wind blew us away. It broke the binding of the frozen field on me but it seems that getting close will be difficult. He activated another spell. "Summoned Swords." And just as the name suggests six swords spawned behind him floating. As he stretched his arm towards us, the swords followed pursuit and flew our way.

We dodged it easily but as soon as it hit the ground it disappeared and reappeared behind him. It seems that it's a continuous spell.

"I'm done with my spell. Get out!" Zeta shouted.

We all backed off and watched Zeta cast his spell.

"GRAND MAGIC: TIME LOCK!" And as if a clock appeared on the masked man's chest it rang a loud sound and suddenly, the masked man stopped moving. "I just drained 20℅ of my mana with that." Zeta plopped onto the ground. "It only works for 20 seconds but in that 20 seconds, he can't move. Let's kill him quickly. He's too dangerous."

"Yeah. I agree." I voiced my opinion. "I'll do it."

I walked to the masked man and raised my sword.

"Wait." The masked man suddenly spoke. "I give up." Then he raises both of his hands. He took off his cloak and mask and revealed his face.

"Ah!" Everyone was shocked. "Zieglind!?"

Zieglind's normal voice is back, "Everyone has grown huh? Well, I'm glad. I'm back." Followed with a smile.