Return of the Woodcutter

Aito's eyes opened wide under his helmet as he gazed upon the elementalists when Sheyla's warning came from behind him. 

He rapidly took a look around. At first, it appeared as if they got rid of every opponent hindering their way. 

However, sect members had been purposely progressively, slowly retreating to bait them into this trap and avoid friendly fire at the same time. They were now standing either at Aito's flanks or behind at a relatively safe distance. 

Flames started to show up in front of the elementalists' palms. Knowing it'd be raining fire very soon, and with no time to avoid it, Aito activated his shield, shifted it to the shining ainium side, held it in front of him before shouting, "Get behind me in line!" 

Both siblings simultaneously thought he was crazy but did as they were asked, after all, he had led them thus far. With no plans of their own and no time to come up with one, he was their best shot at survival. 

They quickly stood behind him, forming a line closed by Ogoro, with Sheyla in between him and Aito. 

"Are you mad—" Sheyla started but stopped as she saw dozens of fireballs rapidly heading towards them, their flickering light coloring that part of the black corner of an orange-red hue. 

The ambient air in the area slightly rose because of the sheer number of level 1 fireballs flying in Aito's direction, clearly aimed at him. Not because he was the most dangerous, but because the others were standing behind him, only leaving this angle of attack available—for most of the fireballs at least. 

As the burning projectiles neared him, he suddenly realized how optimistic he had been. Trying to block them all with his shield was utterly impossible. Too late for regrets or a drastic change of plan, he greeted his teeth and braced for the impact. 

The first fireball hit his shield. Instead of leaving a burn mark, it exploded outward in a wide angle towards the opposite direction, affecting a few of the other fireballs, destroying them in the process. 

Aito felt the heat of the explosion that took place barely one meter away from him. His outside body temperature rose as did the armor since fire was an element and not aura made.

The fire spread to his cloak, turning it into ashes, revealing his entire grey armor set unaffected by the fireballs. It had a few scratches on it originating from the previous melee. But that was it. 

Some fireballs that had been launched from slightly different angles crashed against Aito's lower body parts uncovered by his shield. Pants. Grieves.

The armor held, progressively dissipating the aura fueling the fire. 

Underneath it, Aito's skin reddened from the heat but didn't burn. A result of his body reaching level 3. 

A seemingly unending stream of blazing projectiles ensued, forcing him to stay put. If he were to move even slightly, the siblings could get hit. 

The idea of charging forward into the fray and brute force his way through those fiery bastards passed through his mind. 

However, the closer he'd get to them, the more he'd expose the siblings to danger. Alone, he would be fine. But his goal by coming here wasn't to leave alone. 

Aito's shield repelled the projectiles, one after the other when possible, the heat on his armor's surface rose dangerously by the passing seconds, reaching a level he wouldn't be able to bear for long. Thankfully, it wasn't hot enough for the armor to glow red from the increase in temperature. 

Ogoro and Sheyla braced themselves behind him. At some point, a lucky shot brushed past Aito's defenses, crashing against Ogoro's right arm, burning the leather armor parts and clothes. Worsening his already grave injuries. 

The giant grey-haired man let out a groan as the pain forced him to release his grip on the two-handed sword he has been holding until now. 

"We have to move!" Sheyla shouted, warning her allies of the fate awaiting them if they to stay in this place. "Now!" 

Aito wanted to roll his eyes at the obvious statement, but now was the not time for such petty things. 

He wanted to look around him for a way out. However, the accumulated heat on his armor and around him, made it hard to see properly. 

'Think! Move your grey matter and find a freaking exit!' Aito thought, making a schematic of the entire first floor in his head to search for a way out of this predicament. 

He knew his worst enemies were the elementalists in front of him. Warrior and archers stayed on standby, watching his struggle as if it was a show. It was weird since the archers could at least send arrows their way. Maybe they had some obscure purpose he didn't know of. What he did know was…

'The nearest entrance to the second floor is barred. Others are too far from us. Gotta find another…, entrance?' 

An idea suddenly struck him. Why search for an exit when he had an entrance nearby exclusively made for him? It would be a temporary measure, but at the moment, they simply had no choice. 

Ogoro was heavily injured and exhausted. 

Sheyla lacked real equipment, even if she did okay, she'd be far more deadly and useful as an archer.

He slightly turned his head towards his back as to make his voice heard in all this chaos, then shouted, "Run towards the black candle!" 

"What? Are you crazy!?" Sheyla said, thinking the grey armored stranger had lost his mind due to the heat. "We move. We burn!" 

"I am the one burning right now!" Aito said, the heat starting to get unbearable. "So, shut up and run!" 

Sheyla clicked her tongue but nodded and grabbed Ogoro who seemed like he had heard nothing of Aito's orders. 

Aito waited for them to move first, before starting to run while holding his shield aside to protect himself. 

By now, the elementalists were targeting him by default, as if they were holding a grudge against him for not dying under their torrential attacks. 

Normally, they were the stars amidst the night sky. The cream of the crop. The elites having been chosen for their "outstanding" talent for controlling aura—or so they had been told.

Privileges and the feeling of being above the masses created a humongous pride. Their pride was such they couldn't handle the sight of a single person resisting them. Even more when they worked together. 

Even more when he alone was capable of fighting an entire small army of challengers for so long.

Jealousy overruled logic. 

Two of their targets were running without much protection. They were at their mercy, provided they could hit moving targets. Yet, they chose to concentrate their firepower on the sole man capable of shielding himself against them. 

Soon, more elementalists joined the dozens already firing at Aito. The battle quickly turned into a game to see who would kill him first. 

Warrior classes stood aside, fearing they'd just get in the way and needlessly die under friendly fire. 

Archers, after receiving orders from Kai, were taking this chance to participate in the game. Raining arrows on Aito from all sides. Too bad their accuracy sucked most of the time. 

However, a few arrows hit him almost at the same spot on his helmet. A coincidence? Yes, if it hadn't been the fourth time. 

An arrow hit him a fifth time on the head, but compared to the previous ones, it struck him harder. It felt almost akin to a hammer strike. Aito could feel a small dent in his helmet because of it. Thankfully, the steel was mixed with ainium, making it stronger, more resilient—at least that's what he wanted to believe.

Arrow tips rebounding on Aito's armor.

His shield repelling fireballs. 

'Almost there!' He thought, focusing on the black candle dozens of meters from his reach.

He was attacked on all sides. No mercy. No quarter. 

'Just a bit more!' 

Battered, bruised, and burnt. Aito served as a scapegoat for the siblings. So that they could run. So that they could live. 

'Come on!' 

Despite the pain. 

The mental pressure. 

The unending stream of attacks. 

He held on. Buying the necessary time for the siblings to reach the altar-like table and gather around the black candle as they have been ordered to. 

Heavily injured on the lower part of his body, Aito limped towards them as fast as he could. Blood trickling down his armor.

Inside his helmet, he could smell the stench of his own skin that was starting to burn. Uncomfortable though it may be, he continued and finally reached the siblings. 

"What now?" Sheyla asked him while eyeing the surroundings warily. 

Archers had stopped firing arrows, allowing elementalists to close in on them. Encircling their positions, barring every escape path. 

As if they had practiced this before, they lifted both of their palms in front of them with perfect synchronization and readied their last outbursts. Their reserve of mana was starting to run low, although they could recharge it using mana beads it took time they couldn't afford to give to their opponents. 

Aito didn't even look back, limped to the black candle, and placed his hand on it. Ogoro's face appeared full of questions as he saw a black portal open. 

"Walk in, now!" Aito declared. 

Without further ado, both siblings rapidly brushed past Aito, entering the black ethereal matter. Once they got through, he was about to follow when something wrapped around his biceps, preventing him from moving. 

'The fuck?' 

He glanced at his arm to see a thin yellow string attached to it. His gaze followed it to the source, only to see... no one. The person who had cast this weird spell was blended amidst the crowd of angry elementalists who were about to shoot a deadly volley of fireballs. 

With no time to think, he relied on his instincts that were screaming to him the string was made of aura, leading him to bash the unknown material with his shield. The string dissolved upon contact, releasing its hold on Aito, who immediately walked through the portal without looking back.

Fireballs flew from all sides, but inevitably missed as the black matter disappeared without a trace. 

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