[ Target is preparing a spell, Beware ]
Alister observed the warning with a grin on his face. His eyes lingered on the movement of Nervered who was preparing a spell, taking in every motion.
"This is bad, hero!"
The soldiers began to panic and even tried to warn Alister to back away from Nervered. But Alister was adamant. He remained unfazed, his eyes locked on the cultist.
His confident reaction in the face of danger made the cultist chuckle admirably.
A few seconds passed and Nervered finished preparing his spell. A mesmerizing glowing magic circle appeared in his outstretched right hand. The magic circle materialized into a wisp of blue fire right under their gaze and in the next moment it shot towards their position at an astonishing speed.
The soldiers panicked right away. The fireball was too fast for them to evade at such a close distance, and even if they did manage to dodge it, it would only strike the royal tent and hurt the king. They involuntarily froze on the spot.
"Too slow!"
Alister muttered as he launched towards the fireball. Under his enhanced perception, the fireball was only as fast as a golf ball thrown by a strong athlete and thus it didn't take that much effort to deflect it with a single, precise swing.
The sound of the sword hitting and dispersing the fireball vibrated across the encampment, shocking both parties.
"What?"
Nervered's eyes widened in surprise.
"How did you do that?"
He turned to look at Alister and exclaimed, astonished. He could not believe that a scrawny teenager had deflected a spell that had taken him years to master. It was impossible.
Nervered prepared another spell of the same element, several fire spikes darted towards Alister but to his surprise, they were easily deflected.
He repeated other dangerous spells but they were useless.
Reality quickly dawned on him.
He stared at the hero, bewildered.
Now, looking at Alister, he no longer appeared as the scrawny teenager he thought he was, but a master of the sword, one with a power that far surpass his own magic power. Only now did he realize his confident earlier weren't out of stupidity but out of trust in his own strength.
Alister, on the other hand, still did not stop smiling confidently as he began strolling towards the puzzled Nervered.
He only toyed with the cultist verbally earlier to gauge his magical powers since he had no skill to tell how strong a person was. He was able to confirm just how strong he was from his spell casting time and how easy it was for him to deflect it.
"Scrawny teenager, right?"
Alister taunted as he began closing the distance between both of them gradually. The cultist could be seen taking several steps back due to fright.
"Stay back and I won't hurt you. I am only here to take the king with me!" Nervered responded while backing up.
Alister chuckled and spoke back coldly, "You are still bold enough to make such threat in my presence, how deary."
"I am warning you, stay back!"
Alister could see fear dancing in the eyes of the cultist, and it gladdened his heart. He continued taunting him with his steady steps and cold replies, fueling his terror even more.
Nervered realized his situation and began chanting another fireball spell while backing up. He fired the spell at Alister but he easily deflected it with a simple flicker of his sword.
He tried thrice more and each attack failed to deal any damage.
He was stoned with the realization of just how weak he was before the scrawny teenager and only a single word appeared in his head — "Run!"
Unfortunately, he couldn't — he was like a prey paralyzed with fear.
Theobald and the others watched the scene with amazement and relief. The hope they lost earlier returned thanks to the hero braveness and strength.
'So masculine!'
'How beautiful! If I was a girl, I would be impregnated just by standing close to him,' Different thoughts ran in the mind of a few soldiers.
Even Inside the tent, the king and the wizard were also relieved as they watched the scene through a small opening on the walls of the tent.
"Stay back!"
As Alister got closer, Nervered's fear intensified, every word that came out of his mouth became nothing but frightful screams, like a cornered prey.
As he attempted to take another step backwards, his feet stomped on the body of a dead corrupted human and he fell on the ground disgracefully. Even on the ground, crawling away from the hero became his only option.
Alister enjoyed the expression on his face. He enjoyed the feeling of being the predator — On earth, he was always the prey running away from the strong but here and now, he was the strong opposite of his former self.
He could not wait to complete this mission and return back to earth and rain down terror on those who made his life hell on earth. He would pay back their humiliation in manifold.
Simply thinking of what he would do when he returned back to earth fueled his motivation to complete the mission as soon as possible.
"I have wasted enough time on you already."
Alister took longer strides and appeared before the cultist right away. He grabbed Nervered by the neck and lifted him a few centimeters up to ground. Despite the huge build of the cultist, he was only as heavy as a ragdoll in Alister's grasp.
His tight clutches around the neck of Nervered caused the later to choke and struggle for breath, his leg kicking weakly in the air.
Nervered struggled to meet the eyes of Alister that reflected the flames of the burning tents and he shivered.
Alister grinned and spoke in a threatening tone, "You have two choices, tell me everything about your cult and its hideout and I might let you live, though you'll leave badly wounded. Or keep your secrets and face a slow, painful death. Choose your poison."
"T-the gravemind secrets shall not be revealed!" Nervered struggled to reply while catching his breath.
Alister tightened his grip on his neck, causing his eyes to roll back in pain. He repeated his question once more.
"I shall die with those secrets!"
Nervered was adamant about keeping the secret of the cult.
"What was I expecting in the first place? A cult like gravemind would never spew out secrets so easily."
Disappointment flickered across Alister's face as he tightened his grip around Nervered's throat. The cultist struggled, his legs kicking wildly for several seconds—then suddenly went limp, his body sliding lifeless in Alister's hand.
[ You've slayed X1 Low-rank Gravemind cultist, EXP +100 ]
[ Quest completed ]
[ You've leveled up ]
[ Level 8 ------> Level 9 ]