Toruf's huge body flew a few meters away, breaking all the trees in its path with its broad back.
Edvin was only slightly taller than the average man, and he and Zayne were almost identical in size, so compared to him Toruf was a giant. However, it couldn't protect him from the explosive force that was in Edvin's palm.
Toruf was surprised, but he quickly rose to his feet as powerful red energy began to emanate from his entire body and his horns shone brightly.
Edvin waved his hand, "Wait. There's no need for that. Look." Edvin tilted his head to the side and ran his palm across his neck, revealing the tattoo of the shattered moon.
"What...? What are you doing here?" Toruf's eyes went wide.
"Nothing much." Edvin shrugged, "I decided to do a little hunting and apple picking, however, suddenly I noticed something interesting. I couldn't get past your fight and enjoyed watching you."
Toruf shuddered, "So... You saw everything, right?"
Edvin shrugged nonchalantly before taking another bite from the apple. He looked completely calm, even though they were in one of the dangerous regions of the Dark Lands.
Toruf was wary. He still wasn't sure of Edvin's intentions, and it was scaring him. Unlike Zayne, whom Toruf could defeat at any moment, Edvin was on a whole other level.
"Honestly, I didn't think it would go this far. You shouldn't have put him in danger and carried out that last attack. Your horns practically pierced through him. It was reckless and completely unprofessional of you." Edvin said calmly as if this was an exam, and he was reprimanding a teacher who had crossed the line.
Toruf didn't answer anything, he just tilted his head. He didn't know what Edvin was going to do, but he realized that Edvin was right.
"Agh... I don't know why he did that." Toruf shook his head, "Surely you must have realized that I put my back up, he should have taken advantage of that, but instead he took the hardest route."
"Yeah, and he won." Edvin said confidently, taking a bite out of his apple, "You're lucky that by some miracle he learned how to use the Second Form of his dance. Most beginners take years to do it or never do it at all. He has real talent."
Toruf's glanced at him, surprised, "Second Form...? I know about that, but isn't he too young for that to be possible?"
"Well..." Edvin said lingeringly, looking at Zayne with a calm gaze, "He was personally chosen by our leader, so I guess that should be expected, though it's astounding in any case."
'What...? Gael Hauger has already met with Zayne...? Damn, it seems I underestimated the importance of this young man.' Toruf thought as he looked at Zayne, 'Well, now is not the time for that. He needs help now.
Edvin with a calm look, headed towards Zayne. He had to step out of the shadows since the situation for Zayne had become critical, but he wasn't worried that something bad would happen to Zayne.
"Hey... You're both from Shattered Moon Order, so you're going to help him, right?" Toruf asked with concern.
Edvin nodded, "Sure. That won't be a problem. His condition is serious but stable, and that's more than enough."
Crunch.
Edvin finished the apple, then the ring on his finger glowed, and in his hand appeared a curved dagger with a blade dark as night. Along the long hilt was a black snake with red eyes, it was a decoration but looked extremely natural.
"What are you going to do?" Toruf frowned, looking intently at Edvin.
"Nothing serious. I just want to cure him and you'd better stop thinking of me as your enemy. As long as Zayne doesn't betray our Order's philosophy, I will be his ally as he is mine." Edvin said seriously before swinging his dagger.
A long cut appeared on his arm, along the palm of his hand. Streams of blood slowly trickled down, not wanting to move away from their master, they had a purpose.
Edvin nodded, then he rolled Zayne onto his back and opened his mouth. Drops of blood were ready to fall on Zayne's tongue, but before that happened a scarlet magic circle appeared over his face with the sign of three drops in the center.
The blood flowing into the magic circle did not fall below, it remained on the surface, slowly swirling around the edges of the magic circle. Gradually, there were more and more drops, and they became faster, approaching the center.
After a while, Edvin directed the energy to his arm, causing the wound to heal and stop bleeding, what he gave out was already enough. There was no need for more blood to Zayne.
Droplets of blood gathered in the center of the magic circle, slowly coalescing into one single drop - completely black, barely reflecting the light. Then, the black drop traveled through the magic circle, falling into Zayne's open mouth.
"What did you do?" Toruf asked, puzzled. He had never seen a similar skill before.I think you should take a look at
"Well, I don't know how to heal, or rather not directly. However, I am familiar with blood magic and know how to use it to enhance someone. It will probably hurt, but Zayne will recover quickly. Keep an eye on him, I'll be back in a few minutes." Edvin calmly said.
"Wait!" Toruf shouted, but Edvin had already disappeared. He was like a ghost who could come and go whenever he wanted without any obstacles in his way.
Toruf wrinkled his nose as he began to ponder.
'I can still return Zayne to the Empire's territory, however, that would be unfair to him, right?' Toruf got a complicated expression. Zayne had won their bet, so he had to fulfill his part and let Zayne pass the Chaos Trial.
Crackle.
Suddenly Zayne's hand moved as he slowly opened his eyes. His wounds had stopped bleeding, but, he didn't look healthy at all as his veins had become black and swollen as if he had been infected with a deadly disease.
"Toruf...? What happened?" Zayne asked, holding his head and looking around. He felt a vivid pain that pierced his mind, but, otherwise, everything was perfectly fine or even better than before.
"How strange..." Zayne muttered, looking deep into the forest.
"Hmm? Is there something wrong? Just tell me and I'll try to help you. After all, it's my fault this happened to you." Toruf guiltily pronounced, tilting his head down. He actually regretted that he couldn't control his emotions and used too much strength.
"Well... I'm not sure... but why is it following us, and how long has it been going on...?" Zayne uttered, not taking her gaze away from the trees completely covered in a dark mist. It was almost impossible to see anything through it.
However, Zayne could clearly see a silhouette, with two eyes and a long fluffy tail, that had been waiting for a good moment for a long time.
Even when Zayne looked directly at the silhouette, it didn't move, being completely sure that Zayne was just staring into the void.
In fact, Zayne saw every detail as vividly as in daylight, no, even better since even the shadows weren't a barrier to him this night.
"Here... Can't you see?" Zayne said calmly, slowly raising his hand and pointing directly at the silhouette.
Whooooooooooooooooooosh.
At the same moment, the silhouette tore forward, pouncing on Zayne. The silhouette realized it had been exposed, so the only thing it could do was attack, coming at Zayne with great speed.
Toruf noticed it too late, so he had no chance to help Zayne in time, however, it wasn't necessary.
Crackle.
Zayne reflexively took a step back, tilted his body, and thrust his arm forward, hitting the silhouette's neck with precision.
It was a simple and precise strike, causing the silhouette to flip over and plow its back to the ground. The silhouette tried to quickly get up on its legs and run away, but, at the last moment, Zayne prevented it by stepping on the creature's tail with all his might.
"Argh!!! What are you doing!!!? Let go of me! That hurts like hell!" Silhouette exclaimed, pitifully, practically letting tears out of his eyes.
The silhouette turned out to be a black cat, with pointy ears, amber eyes, and thick black fur to help hide it in the dark.
"Who are you!" Zayne asked coldly. The cat's pitiful pleas didn't work for him, as he clearly felt that the attack that had passed was serious. He could have died if he had been weaker.
"No one! I was just passing by! It won't happen again!" The cat exclaimed, trying to break free from Zayne's grip.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
While Zayne was behind him, a massive silhouette with two long horns approached the cat from the front. Toruf's nostrils flared wide with every breath he took, releasing hot steam outward.
"You may not believe me, but a few minutes ago this guy knocked me to the ground." Toruf said seriously, "So, you better try to explain why you were following us and do whatever it takes to convince us not to kill you."
"Iek!" The cat shuddered with a gulp. Its eyes ran from side to side, filled with fear and anxiety.