CLANG!
Despite attacking as a group, it was immediately clear that the duo had never actually trained together.
They both ended up swinging their swords together at the same time and clashing their weapons clumsily.
Hora used the opening to lunge forwards slice upwards with his own sword, holding it in a two-handed grip. He felt the blade tear through flesh as it left a gaping wound up one of the human's shoulders. Blood sprayed like fountain water.
"AGH!" The man cried, whilst Hora flapped his wings and used to wind to carry him to the side, evading any potential danger.
"You humans don't fight too well. Did they really leave it up to you to retrieve the escaped Ashfallen?" Hora taunted with a smirk on his face.
The wounded human grit his teeth through the pain and growled as he drew his pistol from its holster. Hora slashed his left wing outwards in response. Like a shield, his wings crashed into the incoming bullet, sending it ricocheting towards the direction of the other human.
The man spotted the incoming bullet, and dove out of the way just in time, landing on his side in the grass.
By the time he rose to a seated position, attempting to rejoin the battle, the winged Ashlord had already appeared in front of him, staring down at him with a smile as he thrust his dark blade into the man's chest, pinning him to the floor.
A wet squelch came as the man was skewered like a steak, and bled out onto the ground. Hora pulled out his blade and twirled it, sending blood splattering across the white grass.
Another one down.
He turned back to the man who was already wounded in the shoulder. The man trembled as he tried to back away whilst reloading his pistol at the same time.
Hora almost pitied the man. He withdrew the Shadowsteel Longsword back into his inventory and flew towards the man, swinging his fist and pummeling the man in the chin.
The humans jaw cracked as he fell to the ground unconscious.
Just like that, Hora had defeated the humans, successfully keeping one alive as he had planned, though he would have to wait for the man to wake up.
"It's incredible what a pair of wings can do." He said to himself.
Under normal circumstances, such a battle would be impossible for Hora to win. However, the Ashfallen had certain abilities that helped him close gaps between himself and others. For example, a boost in strength when fighting in the darkness.
"Ashlord, you saved me!" A voice came from the side.
Hora had almost forgotten that the Ashfinder Woman was there. She hurried over to Hora and dropped to her knees, immediately pressing her head against the grass to show her respect.
It was clear that she was sincere, however, Hora still wasn't fond of the way the woman worshipped him.
"If you want to make yourself useful, then help me out." Hora started to explain. "Remove their clothes and use them to tie the man's arms and legs together. I kept him alive for a reason."
Mariketh looked up and nodded her head. "O-of course, Ashlord. What will you be doing in the meantime?"
Hora reached into his inventory and summoned the Copper Pill. It was a small brown oval the size of a fingertip. It seemed to pulse with a faint presence as it appeared in the physical world.
"I'll be advancing to copper."
...
Before swallowing the pill, Hora checked his status. Nothing had changed due to the limits being placed on him by being bronze; however, his progress was now at 100% and it seemed it would stay there until he consumed the pill.
After consuming the pill, he waited and sat on the grass. It felt like he could sense the pill travelling through his body, before eventually, it exploded. Its content spread throughout his veins, travelling to his bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and everywhere else.
He felt his body being renewed. It wasn't a huge jump, but there was a most certainly change.
By the time the process was finished, Hora checked his system again.
[Hora Ashfallen]
[Rank: Copper]
> 13%
[Race: Ashfallen]
[Affinities: Fire]
[Skills:]
> Overheat - Level 1
> Flames of Pride - Level 1
[Inventory:]
> Shadowsteel Longsword
[Transformations]
> Wings - Level 1
[Flames of Pride: Consumes your pride and converts it into heat that can be released from your palms as a wave of flames. The intensity of the flames is affected by the skill level.]
Flames of Pride... Hora had awakened a new skill linked to his affinity for fire.
At first, he was confused. Shouldn't a skill awakening be linked to the abilities he used during combat? So far, he had used no fire techniques.
Then he realised something. The skill has not awakened due to his usage of fire, but rather his pride. His status suggested that he was so prideful that it created a skill based on it. The only reason it was connected to fire was due to his affinity.
Was I really that prideful? I mean, I have won two battles where the odds were stacked against me. Does this mean I should be even more prideful from now on, to strengthen this technique?
Hora wanted to test the skill, but for now, it would have to wait.
Mariketh had finished tying the young man up, and now he was awake, rubbing at his broken jaw.
His black hair was messy and fell over his face, and his dark eyes glared around nervously. Eventually, he could only groan as he noticed the wound on his arm.
"P-please, let me live. I have a wife and kids!"
Hora made his way over to the man and stood over him. He still hadn't retracted his wings, so at that moment, he looked like an angel of death.
He crouched down and stared into the man's eyes. "What is your name?"
"L-Lucas. Lucas Gravesfield."
That's right. Sounds like a human name.
"Alright Lucas, here's the deal. I will let you live, if you answer my questions to my satisfaction. If you don't, well..."
Hora glanced over to the corpses around them and shrugged his shoulders.
Lucas immediately understood the implications and nodded his head aggressively. "Of course. I will tell you whatever you want to know."
"Good. Then my first question is: how many human forces are inside the White Ravine?"
Mariketh's eyes went wide on the sidelines. Did this mean that the Ashlord planned to help?
"A-around two-hundred." Lucas stuttered.
"Pfft."
They were able to enslave our people with only two hundred men? Are the humans that much stronger than us?
Hora brushed the thought to the side, lest it angered him more.
"And who is their leader?"
After hearing the question, Lucas seemed to hesitate for a moment. It was thought that merely naming their leader would bring his wrath down on them. Eventually, he spoke.
"His name is Commander Richard Vondergast, Humanities Eagle. I must warn you, no matter how strong you are, a Paleskin does not have a chance against him!"
Richard Vondergast. Hora logged that down in his memory.
"No chance?" Hora repeated. "And why's that?"
"Because Richard Vondergast is a Gold Rank Water Mage. The perfect counter against your fire users."