Leaving the brief stay at the fortress, Serena headed towards the barrier. The path was short, a few hours, but it wouldn't be simple.
Wild animals attacked her, which she could handle as she was used to it. Her basic spells consume mana and need to be used wisely. So a sword and a few throwing knives were enough.
Even so, there was restlessness. Something was strange. No demon appeared after the tree demon. She expected to be constantly attacked, but that didn't happen.
"Serena, there is something strange occurring."
Said the Codex Primordium. She paused for a moment. Stowing away the dagger that was in her left hand into her backpack and sheathing the broad sword, she pulled the Bloodstain Scepter from her back.
"You! Out!"
Serena said, looking into the void. Her eyes were shining, along with her aura.
"Ahhh, she saw us. How annoying!"
A slow and whispering voice responded, coming from behind the trees. Its figure tried to resemble that of a human, but the aura it emitted was rotten, and its bright eyes betrayed it. Clearly a demon.
Behind it, hidden, a twisted being with short hands and elongated legs, but with no eyes and a mouth seemingly sealed by its own flesh, kept its distance.
"So, let's get this over with!!!"
Serena said, impatient. She was confident that now she could use her powers with the Bloodstain.
"This is interesting!" — said the demon.
Serena began to chant her magic. However, something was different. Her eyes turned white and the scepter reacted differently.
"Incinerate, Agni!"
With a guttural scream, a fireball formed at the tip of the Bloodstain. In that moment, Codex realized something.
"No, suspend the magic!"
Before she could say anything, Serena launched it. Unlike when she cast with her own hands, the magic spilled out in black flames that grew to a large extent, comparable to advanced-level magic.
With the Bloodstain as a catalyst, the power was devastating. But there was a catch.
"Phew. I thought I was gonna die."
You need to learn to aim. Despite the magnitude of the attack, the strike missed the target. Aiming with a scepter is very different. Moreover, the aura cost was severely increased, leaving Serena on the brink with a single attack.
"I said not to shoot! This scepter, I knew. There is something wrong with it. High-level spells are difficult to control. There's little mana left, so fight with the basic spells without this weapon. And be precise."
"What? No way. You can't kill a demon with magic. It has to be a holy weapon."
"This thing is not holy! You possess an unusual ability, and it is toying with you; do not depend on it!"
"But what choice do I have?"
Serena needed to think quickly of a strategy. Something that would help her win. With only basic magic, she could scare off or weaken the demon, but wouldn't kill it.With little choice,
Serena pulls out her broadsword and temporarily stores away the Bloodstain.
"Underestimating me!? I will kill you for that!"
Said the demon upon seeing her putting away the sacred weapon.
"Burn, Ignis"
Unlike her previous attacks, Serena positioned herself, grounding her legs and resting the blade of her sword in her left hand. As she calmly recited the fire incantation, she enveloped the flames around the sword.
There are different ways to use the same magic, and one of them is this. By assigning the element to a catalyst, in this case, the sword, the magic is not launched but surrounds it, imbuing it with elemental power. The effect is temporary. If the catalyst of magic is a scepter, wand, or staff, it will function as a standard, but it may accumulate more mana and cast further than with the hands alone, in addition to adding the effects of the catalyst to the magic.
Serena decided not to imbue magic into the Bloodstain for fear of using up all her mana on another ineffective attack. She needed a precise strike.
She had full confidence in her fencing skills. Now, under the sunlight and facing her opponent, she could certainly win.
Despite this, she fled to the trees, making the demon chase her.
"Face me, coward!!!"
The demon shouted. Silently, Serena kept running.
Upon reaching a small lake, she stopped. Seeing this, the demon attacked her, thinking it would be an easy hit.
"The impatient hasty ones are often the weakest. They easily fall into any trap."
With a masterful movement, Serena crouched down, avoiding the attack.
She spun like a dancer and then... Slash. The blood fell into the water. The demon did not scream. It simply sank. With a firm, well-trained, and magnificent attack, clean and precise, she easily incapacitated it. Her hands showed no tremor.
A common sword cannot kill demons. But by imbuing it with magic, even basic magic, it became capable of piercing their defenses. Furthermore, by wielding the Bloodstain, her weapons became pseudo-holy and dealt more damage to demons.
"Cutting a demon with an ordinary sword merely enhanced by basic magic is not an ordinary feat. The strength required for such an endeavor is extraordinary."
Said the Codex upon seeing Serena's movement,
"It's not strength, it's technique. If you use strength, the sword breaks. If you cut like this…"
"Foolish girl. That won't kill me. I can end you…"
Serena was speaking to her grimoire when she was interrupted. The demon roared angrily for having been defeated so easily by a girl.
Angry for being interrupted, she took out a small artifact. A cross. This artifact could bless items and water. The demon knew what she was planning.
"Hey, wait. We can talk. Look, I'm just doing my job."
Without saying anything, Serena simply dropped the cross into the water. Upon contact with the liquid, it reacted immediately. The lake water became blessed. The energy of the blessed water flowed into the demon, which began to melt and disappear into the liquid.
Now only one remained.
Seeing this, the other, who had been hiding, attacked from a distance. Serena dodged his unusual attacks. He was attacking her, but he seemed to writhe in agony. He was making her move away from the blessed water.
Knowing this, she moved away from the lake, drawing him further away.
The demon was frantically pursuing her, trying to catch up. However, even with her back turned, she was agile enough to escape and dodge the attacks coming her way.
At one point, after running a few meters, the demon realized he had lost sight of her.
*crack* Hearing the sound of branches, the demon ran. However, he slipped and fell hard to the ground, becoming disoriented.
Looking down, he could see... a thin layer of ice had formed…
"An unconventional way to use ice magic. Have you become an inventor now?"
"Don't bother me! What matters is that it works. Cold that freezes time! Resublimate the mist in an instant! Interrupt, Nevan!"
Casting the ice magic, she froze the demon's body, trapping him to the ground.
"As I said, impatient hasty ones are often the weakest."
With the Bloodstain in hand, she pointed at the demon. Before he could think, she had drawn the scepter.
Without her holy cross, only the Bloodstain could finish the demon. And something unexpected happens.
Without any mana, Serena trusted that something would happen if she followed her instincts, and it truly did. As she touched the tip of the scepter to the demon's chest, a kind of black mist flowed into the opponent, like poison.
Slowly, this power corroded him, killing the demon and gradually destroying his body. Serena felt good right after that.
"I understand that you had no choice, but please use that scepter only as a last resort. You lost control and cast a spell that I did not teach you. Moreover, it poisoned the demon and then fed on its energy, converting it into mana for you. This object can be anything but holy. It compelled you to engage in hand-to-hand combat, draining your mana on the first strike. It seems to toy with you. What will happen if you try to use magic with it without any mana?"
"I understand that you're worried, but everything will be fine."
Serena said and set off on her journey, recovering the cross she had used at the lake.
Now, after walking a long distance, she was at the brink of the entrance. The true challenge will begin.
The barrier was like a thick white cloud, covering a dome that could not be seen to the end. It was impossible to see beyond the barrier. By placing her hand, she was able to cross it. She felt a cold wind covering her hand.
Looking back, she saw the way back. The fortress was not far away.
"You can still back out. You are young and have a whole life ahead of you. No one will blame you."
"I've never been able to choose anything in life. But now, I want to choose my own way."
After gathering courage, Serena crosses the barrier. She was already ready to continue the journey.
.....
A distant scream.
The mark on her hand strangely reacts.
The Bloodstain shines.
In the distance, she looks and sees.
A humanoid figure, crouching, lurking in the darkness.
Its bright eyes watch her.