Chapter 55 - Failed Mission (1)

"Better snap out of it Arya, I can't take him alone!" shouted Arian as Geld swatted away another volley of arrows as if they were nothing. "What's going on here? Did Geld betray us? But why would he? He's the leader." thought Arya as he scurried behind Arian.

"Forget it Arya, this armor can deflect all tier 3 spells and below, and from what I've seen, you aren't even a one-star mage yet. Just accept your fate," said Geld with a sad expression on his face as he swung down his axe causing the ground beneath him to crack. "Isn't he just human? What the f*** is up with his axe?" asked Arya surprised by the show of power.

"He drank a boosting potion, it seems whoever hired him must've paid him top dollar. Though I must ask, was it worth it Geld? Was it worth killing Gizem and exploiting the trust Raghnall had in us? Was it worth betraying your comrades, the comrades you've led for five fu**ing years Geld. We've been together through thick and thin and you betray as at the chink of gold coins? So tell me, how much were we worth? How much are you getting for all of this? Tell me you bastard!" shouted Arian, exhaustion and sadness audible in his voice as he shot three more arrows in rapid succession aimed for the eye holes of Geld's armor, however Geld blocked them with the side of his axe.

Geld's armor glistened with a purple glow that was only made more remarkable due to the lighting caused by the fire around them. Looking at him, he looked like a beast from hell, with the armor's long black horns that stretched out from the sides of the helmet reaching about 30cm on each side to its bulkiness that made him look several times bigger than he already was. Geld was 1.85m but looked like an even bigger giant in his armor, coupled with the size of his purple and red axe he looked like something out of a fantasy movie.

"You didn't have to go through with it, I told you guys to leave. I gave you all a chance. Gizem wouldn't listen, she kept trying to fight back, I'm sorry I had to. I had to!" shouted Geld as he lunged for Arian aiming to slice his torso in two.

"Arya I'm hoping that all that talk of your magic being special wasn't all for show!" shouted Arian as he dodged to the side. "Why the f*** should I be included in this mess? I knew I shouldn't have accepted this mission. Argh!" thought Arya as he chanted the strongest spell he knew, the tier 2 ice spell, frozen call. "Child of water heed my call, respond to mine enemies beckon a toll," shouted Arya as the air around them began getting thinner at an astounding rate, suddenly the chill was gone and the air expanded once again, like a tiger let out of its cage.

"Cover your ears," Arya said to Arian as a sonic boom emanated from the spell, causing Geld's ears to bleed. Arya and Arian were affected as well but the spell just disoriented them, the damage wasn't as immense.

Frozen call was a spell that used the basic theory of sound to create a chilling soundwave that both damaged an opponent's eardrums and also caused immense confusion due to the chill entering their ears. The spell would freeze the air around the caster causing compression of soundwaves produced during the chanting of the spell, it would then quickly withdraw its chill causing a sudden expansion, this sudden compression and expansion causes an explosion within the soundwaves bringing about the spell.

"You could've warned me earlier!!" complained Arian as he recovered from the shock and shot a volley of arrows at Geld aiming for chinks in his armor. Geld succeeded in blocking the first few, however, the other arrows hit their mark, causing Geld to bleed even more.

"My armor can block tier 3 spells and below but those just take into account direct attacks. Indirect attacks aren't blocked, are they? Well done Arya, I was right in choosing you to join the team." said Geld as he dropped his axe and collapsed to his knees.

"Stop acting as if you ever cared for us! Don't try and act like you actually gave a f***. Accept your fate, this is revenge for Gizem." said Arian with tears sitting at the rim of his eyes as he notched an arrow on his bow aiming for a chink at Geld's jugular.

"This idiot! Don't waste time talking, kill him alre-" Arya was about to say before a dagger struck Arian on his throat killing him instantly. Geld turned around and found a group of men dressed in black approaching them. "I see, it isn't yet time for me to die yet. I'm sorry Arya, I'm sure you could understand. They have my daughter, I have to do this, I have to." said Geld as he coughed out blood and picked up his axe.

"Run, they don't know about you yet, I haven't reported on you since you joined so late. Don't try to be a her-" Geld was about to say but Arya was already sprinting away. "A hero for who exactly? Who is left that is worth saving?" thought Arya as he ran into a group of trees. At this point the smoke was so thick that he could hardly see where he was going so he doubted that those men could follow him even if they wanted to.

"Who was he?" asked one of the men dressed in black. "He was just a kid. Someone I met in the group. Have you captured the slaves and the old man yet?" asked Geld as one of the men dressed in black looked in the direction Arya went. "We've captured as many slaves as possible and the old man is in custody as we speak. We should report back to the master lest he grows impatient with us." answered another man dressed in black. "Ice magic?" thought the man dressed in black who was looking into the forest, but then shook his head right after, "No way. It was just a kid." he finally thought as the group went back whence they came.

"I best search for Teressa." thought Arya as he ran towards the direction from where he heard the screams when he woke up. When he arrived there he found Teressa on the ground naked. She wasn't alone many other girls and women were left there as well, with their clothes torn and bruises on their bodies. The attackers had defiled them and didn't even have the decency to hide them from plane sight. Gren's body lay a few meters away as well, a stab wound visible on his chest.

"Hahahahaha!" laughed Arya with tears running down his face. He looked hysterical with tears running down his cheeks and an ominous smile on his face, the lighting made it look like his eyes were glowing a bright color. "Of course, of course! How could I have forgotten? This is what humans are capable of. Even in my old world things like this weren't too uncommon. What did I expect of a world where they even treat others as slaves?" said Arya to himself. His mind was already broken, but seeing someone who was close to being his friend in such a sorry state broke it even further.. And this time there were no voices to him company, this time he was left alone to the silence of the void that was his mind.