Chapter 34: Power of an air mage

I smiled and launched myself at the first serpent.

I had only moved halfway in the air when I felt someone grab my shirt and pull me back.

I came crashing to the ground and hastily stumbled so as not to fall.

I looked back and my shirt was being held by none other than Zoe. I looked at the smirk on her face and got pissed instantly.

"Hey what gives?!" I shouted at her.

Zoe looked at me, that stupid smirk remained on her face as she dragged me back with my shirt. She was way stronger than she looked and I found myself being yanked backwards.

When I was by her side, she let go of me and she stepped in front of me.

"I'll go first". She said and walked past me.

"What's her problem?" I shouted at the others.

Liam shrugged. "Hey dude, let her be. She likes to have the fight first".

I looked at Emily in surpise and annoyance, Emily smiled. "He's right, she likes delivering the first blow".

I didn't bother looking at Aaron, I knew his opinion wouldn't be different from the other two anyway. Besides, I didn't like him very much, other than the fact that he was a simp, he was also quite rude to me and I don't respect people who are rude to strangers.

Courtesy is a basic human attitude that every person should have, it's what separates us from other animals, empathy and mutual respect. The highest form of intelligence is being able to respect every human unless they've proven they don't deserve it.

And I definitely hadn't done anything for Aaron to think so little of me, so I decided he didn't deserve my respect.

I looked at Zoe once again, she stood in front of a particularly large serpent.

Zoe didn't look intimidated in the slightest however, she stood before the serpent, regarding it with insolence.

An energy I didn't recognize began to radiate from Zoe, it surrounded her like a blanket at first, then it spread till it surrounded us, then the entire forest.

The snake seemed to sense the energy that came out of her too, it's fierce look died down a little and it's movement began to radiate uncertainty.

Zoe raised her hand. "Well come on, what are you waiting for?"

The snake's head bobbed slightly from side to side as if it was looking for an angle to attack her, but it didn't move or strike, it just stood there, bobbing its head from side to side.

Zoe and the snake now stood at an en passé of some sorts, neither of them made the first move and they just stared each other down, calculating, weighing their options.

"Oh come on, just kill it already!" Liam shouted at her.

"Keep quiet". Emily snapped at him. "That's a level 6 beast monster".

I wondered why Liam would shout at Zoe who he obviously had a crush on and was trying to impress.

Call me crazy but you're not supposed to shout in anger at a girl you're trying to impress, what's the point of all your earlier efforts if you yell and she feels negative emotions around you?

She might decide she doesn't want the source of those negative emotions in her life and close the door of romance on you.

"I'm tired, I need to sleep". Liam complained.

"Well keep that attitude up and we might all get to sleep permanently". Aaron said.

Liam yawned loudly. "At this point I don't think I mind that, as long as I get to rest". He said.

I looked at Zoe again, it looked like she was done assessing the serpent and had formulated a plan, she took a step back and took a fighting stance.

"Alright, I gave you the chance to attack but you didn't take it. Don't blame me now". Zoe said.

"Wind clap!" She shouted and clapped her hands together with a force that was definitely magic assisted.

Crackkk!!

A loud crack resounded in the forest as a visible sound wave travelled from her hand and headed straight for the snake.

Zoe was a smart mage, she was one of the best mages in her class and easily the best female mage there. She had noticed the green scales on the snakes back and knew it was a level 5 or 6 beast monster.

The best way to attack the snake was to not attack at all, instead you wait for it to launch its own attacks, then you react based on that attack and launch your own counterattack.

Anything other than that and you ran the risk of being dismembered and killed in a short instance.

Therefore she waited for the snake to attack first, even taunting it so it would be provoked but the snake had not taken the bait.

The snake was an ancient snake and it had a higher level of mana so it was able to recognize the mana in the girl, while it was a significantly lower level than his, something about the girl had made it hesitate to strike.

She carried herself with a rare confidence, as if this was an everyday occurrence for her and she could easily beat it. Then her aura had started to leak out from her body and the snake recognized it, she was a distant relative of the 3rd monarch and while only a tiny drop of his blood flowed through her veins, it was still a lot of power.

The blast of air headed straight for the snake and it had to twist its body to avoid it but the air still sliced part of its body on the way.

Hiss!

The snake hissed, fully provoked and launched itself at Zoe.

This was exactly what Zoe was expecting and she jumped out of the way with amazing speed.

"Wind arrows!" She shouted and ten air arrows rained down on the snake. Sёarᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The snake twisted and turned to avoid the arrows but some of them still ended up piercing it.

I watched with awe as the snake trashed about and made a loud hissing sound.

Hisssssss!

It shot up suddenly at an inconceivable speed and aimed for Zoe.