"What a racket. What the hell happened here? There are holes everywhere. Did something go wrong in the torture room? Did they go that overboard?" Kashu (OC) muttered in annoyance.
Sure, Darmon might have enjoyed himself, but now he had to clean up the mess, and that made Kashu furious.
He would definitely charge extra for this. Otherwise, how could he ease his irritation?
As he grumbled, Kashu ran into Noel.
"Well, well, what do we have here? Wearing a guard's uniform, are we? Funny, I don't recall there being a kid like you among our ranks."
Kashu looked at the child before him, dressed in the uniform of the fortress guards, and found himself curious.
"What, are we so desperate for manpower that we're hiring kids now?" he mocked.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Noel shot him a cold glance, one eyebrow lifting slightly.
"What, your boss didn't tell you? You should be showing me some respect, you know. Ever heard the name Kashu? I'm a very important person around here," Kashu snapped, anger flickering as he noticed Noel's lack of deference.
"You mean the corpse inside? He's dead," Noel replied coolly.
What? Darmon was dead? Impossible. Liquid Magic was incredibly powerful. How could he die so easily? This had to be a joke.
But seeing this kid standing here, if he was an intruder, then Darmon was likely really dead.
Kashu's attitude shifted instantly. Initially, he hadn't taken the boy seriously, but now he regarded him as a true threat.
And a deadly one at that. If he wasn't careful, he could end up dead himself.
"Wind: Thousand Leaf Scatter."
Sharp blades of wind slashed past Kashu, leaving deep gashes across his arms. Luckily, they hadn't hit any vital spots.
His instincts screamed at him: he was in danger. If it hadn't been for those instincts, he would have died on the spot.
The spell had been so discreet that he hadn't even realized it had been cast. He only felt the pain moments later.
Such a magic… Keeping distance was dangerous, but getting close would be risky too. Kashu found himself in a precarious situation.
Then an idea struck him. If he could get close enough, that kind of magic would be harder for the kid to use without risking himself.
And in close combat, his size and strength would give him the advantage. Overpowering a kid shouldn't be too hard.
But that sudden, indiscriminate attack was still something he needed to be wary of. The spell's stealth was its greatest strength.
Yet without enough information, Kashu realized he was at a disadvantage.
But mages, even in the worst situations, could always find a path to victory. Kashu was no amateur.
"Wind: Storm Rain of Pear Blossoms."
Noel condensed the wind element into countless tiny needles. A flash of blue light filled the air as the needles rained down on Kashu like a sudden downpour.
The atmosphere shifted. This kid wasn't cute at all. He was dangerous, using such deadly magic without hesitation.
"Shield of Sand."
Dust and dirt began swirling around Kashu, forming a dense mass that solidified into a massive sphere of sand, encasing him in its center.
It was a perfect barrier; the tiny wind blades couldn't pierce it.
"I get it now, you're using wind magic. It's a clever tactic, but it's useless against my earth magic." Kashu grinned smugly, feeling confident now that he'd uncovered Noel's element.
"Sand Hand."
The sand barrier began to shift, transforming rapidly into a gigantic hand that swung down to crush Noel.
"Wind: Swift Step."
Noel's body blurred as he dashed away at lightning speed. To him, the giant sand hand moved in slow motion as he easily dodged it.
Kashu hadn't anticipated this. His attack missed completely, crashing into the ground and leaving a massive crater.
The power was undeniable; had that blow landed, it would have seriously injured Noel.
Noel noted that using Swift Step in the forest before hadn't felt this fast, likely because there had been fewer reference points to gauge his speed.
"Earth magic, huh? You're quite skilled with it," Noel admitted, genuinely impressed. He'd never seen earth magic used with such flexibility before.
"Being complimented by a kid like you is almost embarrassing. I should return the favor with a special gift," Kashu sneered darkly.
"Earth: Giant Sand Maw."
"This spell is inescapable. Die within the jaws of the sand!" Kashu cackled.
The ground beneath Noel's feet turned into a swirling vortex of sand, opening like a massive maw ready to swallow him whole.
Noel tried to leap away, but the ground seemed to pull at him, locking his feet in place as if glued down.
"Wind: Cyclone Cloak."
Wind roared around Noel, forming a spinning vortex that wrapped around his body.
He had to be careful—too much pressure from the wind could injure him. Under normal circumstances, he would never use this method, but he had no choice.
The cyclone separated him from the sand, allowing Noel to break free from the giant sand maw.
"You escaped my perfect spell?" Kashu growled in frustration.
"Don't blame me for your poor skills. It just proves your magic is easily broken—and second-rate at that," Noel retorted, unimpressed.
"Calling my magic second-rate? You've clearly never seen real magic. Fine…" Kashu's voice dripped with venom.
"You've pissed me off. I'm going to tear you apart," Kashu snarled.
Noel felt the shift immediately. This man was genuinely angry now.
"Sand Prison."
The earth beneath Noel began to writhe, forming columns that rose higher and higher until they shaped themselves into a cage around him.
"Illegal imprisonment, huh? Do you think you're the law here?" Noel remarked, now trapped in the center like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
"Law?" Kashu let out a wild laugh. "There's no such thing here. We are the law."
To him, the concept of law was laughable, but power—power was real, and it worked well when dealing with others.
"You're really disappointing, you know that? I thought you were going to show me something big, but this is all you've got?" Noel shook his head.
"Did you know there's a type of magic that can decompose, reassemble, and reconstruct matter?"
A massive magic circle spread out beneath the sand prison, with Noel at its center. He smirked, amused. Did this idiot really think a sand cage could hold him?
"Of course I know that magic. Any alchemist worth their salt can use it. Why are you bringing it up?" Kashu asked, puzzled.
"Because I'm an alchemist."
"What? You're just a kid."
"Since when was age the standard for alchemists?"
Kashu's eyes widened. A child who was an alchemist? Alchemy was a path to immense wealth. Suddenly, an idea sparked in his mind.
If he could control this walking goldmine, why would he need to keep working under Karsis at all?
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