Chapter 2

Standing up with the unconscious person in his arms, Ziad began to walk away from the place. Luckily, he could follow his own scent trail and get out of there safely.

Taking less than three steps, Ziad was forced to dodge to the side. The place where he was a few seconds ago was hit by a kind of bubble of energy, the impact was strong enough to create a small crater approximately thirty centimeters deep and forty centimeters wide.

Raising his eyebrow in slight surprise, he looked in the direction the energy sphere was launched, finding five people staring at him with one hand raised. Ready to cast another spell on him.

Their faces were covered by hoods, which hid their faces. But through their raised hands Ziad could see their sickly green skin, covered in protruding black and purple veins that extended beneath their cloaks, as if they were snakes coiling around their victims.

Since Ziad had already encountered one or two sorcerers in the past, he had an idea of what those people currently looked like. Chapped lips, sunken eyes like a dead fish, as well as deep dark circles and lack of hair. In short, it was a vision straight out of hell.

But, that was the price they had to pay for messing with forbidden magic. The more they used, the more their bodies would deteriorate, and there would come a time when they would simply succumb.

Of course, there was an “antidote”, they had to “simply” consume the vital energy of different beings. The longer the being in question lived, the longer their own lives would be prolonged.

The half-elf in his arms was an example, if he had arrived half a minute later… he would have succumbed.

In this way, sorcerers could live for a hundred years, just by sucking the lives of other beings. However, this “method” did not return their original appearances, and as time went by they would become increasingly horrible and inhumane. Even being mistaken by some as ghosts, or souls forced to return to their bodies and forced to wander for all eternity.

Obviously, some people would feel sorry for these “poor souls”. Ziad even heard a guild member he met on one of his travels say that sorcerers weren't that bad. Of course, they killed a lot of people, massacred villages… But no one ever tried to see their side once, what made them be like that?

Ziad listened to all the nonsense in silence, that same night he took his things and left for the next city. Swearing that if he saw him again, he would divert his path at least three miles!

Some time later, he discovered that that guild member had allied himself with the sorcerers shortly after their last, and first, conversation. Ziad didn't really know the details, but from what he understood, his wife had become a witch, and as he didn't want to let his beloved suffer alone... he joined her.

But since he was a senior member of a very famous guild, this “stain” should not be associated with their names. Then, a large bounty was placed on the two's heads, and it was also placed as “top priority”. Thus, the former senior guild member's career ended as quickly as it began.

Pushing away these random thoughts, Ziad focused on the sorcerers in front of him as he assumed a defensive stance.

"what do you want?" asking in a deep voice, he didn't get any response before being bombarded by a dozen spells.

Dodging with the agility of a cat, Ziad moved as far away as he could. It would be a little difficult to attack and dodge with a person in his arms, however, he couldn't just put him down. His instinct told him that the target was the half-elf in his arms. So who would guarantee that it wouldn't be taken while he was distracted?

Supporting the person with just one of his arms, he extended the other in front of his body. From his fingertips a silver light was emitted, before a ray of blue light hit the sorcerers in the distance.

Noticing the attack they quickly dodged, however, one was not fast enough. The left half of his body was hit, sending him flying a few meters before hitting a tree. The place where the lightning had hit became a piece of solid ice and, upon impact, it broke.

The sorcerer didn't even have a chance to scream in pain before another bolt of lightning struck him. Doing the same they turned into a solid ice statue. His mouth was open in a silent scream, and his eyes were wide open in shock. As his hood had fallen off when he hit the tree, the image reflected through the ice was terrifying.

Feeling a shiver down his spine as he was stared at by those seemingly lifeless eyes, Ziad waved one of his hands and the ice broke into tiny pieces and was carried away by the wind. If it weren't for witnessing the scene live and in color, anyone could say that what they experienced was nothing more than an illusion.

But as this was clearly reality, the remaining sorcerers began attacking Ziad with everything they had. Not that they cared about their mate… they just didn't want to be next. And the person in front of them seemed to have a strength completely unlike anything they had ever seen.

The attacks aimed at him were strong, and Ziad would not deny that fact. If he were an ordinary human being, he would have died a long time ago. But, luckily for him, and the wizards' misfortune, he wasn't human... not completely...

So, although it was tiring to dodge so many attacks, he was fine, which was a huge deal with the sorcerers who, after using almost all of their mana reserves, began to run out of strength to attack. But this was a matter of life and death and they could not give up.

Pushing their bodies beyond their limits, they began to burn their life energy. It was okay if they were almost completely exhausted, just find more people and suck out their essence. Even the dying half-elf seemed to have some life in his body, so after they killed the person holding him he should be enough until they found other people.

However, his “plan” didn’t seem to be going according to plan. That person was a true monster!

No matter how much they bombarded him with spells, he dodged them all masterfully. Meanwhile, they felt weaker and weaker, and their magic was losing its intensity... Then, they finally realized, that man must not be a normal human being...

Looking at each other, they realized that everyone came to the same conclusion. With mutual consent, they gathered all their remaining power, directing it squarely at the man, before turning around and beginning to flee. Even though it didn't hurt him, it was enough to give them a chance to escape. Or that's what they thought.

Before they could get very far, an intense cold seized their bones before their vision went black.

Ziad watched the ice fragments being blown away by the wind, then cautiously looked around. Even if someone hid using mana, he would be able to sense it, after all, dragons in general were very good at detecting spells.

But nothing seemed to be wrong, and he didn't feel any mana fluctuations. So those people who attacked him must have been the only ones around.

Adjusting the person in his arms, Ziad determined his route before starting to walk, this time without unnecessary surprises.