Lise's Point of View:
Upon feeling such powerful killing intent, my body and my companions' bodies reacted instinctively in the shortest time possible. My body understood it immediately, this person or creature isn't something normal, it's far beyond what we expected to encounter in this dungeon.
Seeing one of my spears stopped by a wall of ice was a slight psychological blow. I have an ability that works in situations like this, allowing me to react quickly when I'm attacked from behind.
As a long-range attacker, I looked for ways to protect myself. I've had dozens of bad experiences being silently attacked over the years. My ability consumes a little more mana than I would normally need for such a powerful construct, but it's instantaneous.
The ability activates as soon as my body senses danger and my brain begins constructing before I even realize it, I only make the final adjustments.
I can't complain about the higher mana consumption of that construct, it has saved my life countless times. Its power is enough to force back any Ruby Rank or even kill the more careless ones.
Seeing my ability stopped so easily was emotionally discouraging, for a moment I felt desperate, the difference in strength is huge. I know because his construct began a blink after mine and was still completed at the same time, that demonstrates the individual's control over his mana and his knowledge of magic.
Murill's body moves in front of us and Joaki grips his greatsword more tightly, everyone else is ready as well. Seeing my companions focused and determined to make it out alive no matter the cost calms me down.
When the steam disappears a couple of seconds later, I finally manage to see who the individual is. A toned body without enormous muscles, medium-length hair, a slight smile, his posture is relaxed and his purple eyes are friendly.
I quickly recognize the person in front of us, and hearing his voice confirms it once again. He's the youngest son of the lord of the territory and a friend of our group, Maki.
This is the first time I've seen him this close. I've spent most of my missions outside the territory and only returned recently. The rumors are accurate, he's truly handsome and strong; I confirm the rumors once again when I feel that killing intent.
How many monsters has he killed? How many battles has he fought? That kind of killing intent isn't something someone so young should be able to develop, even people who dedicate their entire lives to this don't manage to obtain anything similar. His Imra is also special, enhancing his intimidation ability.
"You gave us quite a scare, I thought we'd run into something unexpected just a few hours before heading back." Joaki shouts beside me.
"What's this about practicing for a while? You come here, scare the hell out of us, and then start suggesting nonsense, I'm telling the princess the next time I see her." Yuly beside me doesn't miss the opportunity to shout either.
Maki slowly descends toward us. "I'm serious, all of you have improved enormously and I want to practice a little. Don't you want to train? Think of me as a Grade 5 boss." Maki shrugs as his feet touch the ground.
Everyone in the group approaches to give him a good hug. When it's my turn, I simply offer my hand. He looks at me for a moment with a big smile before shaking it. "Nice to meet you, Lise. Your friends have spoken very highly of you, let me tell you, you're even stronger than they said."
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Young Lord Maki. You're also several levels above the rumors." I knew about his versatility, I thought I might be able to surprise him with long-range attacks, now I'm having doubts.
"Would you like to practice with me?" That question was directed straight at me, and I didn't know how to respond. I see everyone in my group shaking their heads.
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"There's no reason to be afraid. You can come at me with everything you've got, with the intention of killing me, and I'll gradually increase my level." That declaration was directed at everyone, his eyes moving across each of us one by one.
I can see a little anger on my companions' faces because of Maki's words, and I feel the same. I know he isn't looking down on us, it's simply a cheap trick to make us angry, and it worked.
"Don't regret it in the middle of the fight, you won't come out unscathed either if we decide to go all out." Murill, our giant shield, speaks. He doesn't usually fall for provocations, maybe it's different when it comes to Maki.
"Is that so? Then come at me with everything from the beginning. You can start when this rock touches the ground again." Maki picks up a random rock from the ground and throws it high into the air, at the same time walking more than thirty meters away from us.
Maki gives us small protective necklaces, claiming he doesn't need one. All of us put them on without protesting, no one wants to get injured facing such an anomaly.
As the rock descends, he turns around and lightly bounces on his feet. First, a sword appears in his hand, then, just as the rock is about to hit the ground, he already has both swords in his hands; something feels different. The pressure coming from the young man undergoes a radical change, his eyes are serious, but his mouth is smiling.
My entire team is also in position, none of us are taking this lightly. I know this kind of sparring, I've fought people like this before, the difference is that all of them were Diamond Rank.
The first to shoot forward are Joaki and Murill, our two best close-range fighters. Murill will be the shield and Joaki the sword, while the rest of us quickly prepare spells to try to catch Maki off guard or use them as support whenever necessary.
Murill's shield bash has knocked down countless monsters of the same grade since I've known him, even people specialized in defense have trouble withstanding it. This time is different, the young man who's much younger than us doesn't move even a centimeter, stopping the shield with his sword.
The sword in his left hand stops Joaki's massive slash as well. His eyes become slightly annoyed. "I told you not to hold back, come at me as if you wanted to kill me." His killing intent attacks us once again.
That was the trigger, all of us stop seeing him as a human and our eyes now only see prey. Prey capable of devouring us if we give it everything we have, prey that can become the predator at the same time.
"That was more fun than I expected." A voice filled with happiness sounds a few meters away from me. Lying on the ground, I recognize it. Maki is the only one standing out of the twelve people here, the rest of us are lying down from exhaustion or sitting.
"Sometimes I forget how strong you really are. You're always fighting monsters or people a rank above you, I've gotten so used to it that I actually forgot how much fear you can inspire in others; fighting you has definitely opened my eyes again." Joaki speaks while breathing heavily, supporting himself with his arms as he stares at the dungeon sky.
"That healing ability of yours... it's only gotten stronger. I can't believe we got beaten up without even leaving a scar on you." Yuly complains while drinking the bottle of water Maki offered her.
"I'll be completely honest, you guys are scary. I've fought Diamond Ranks who gave me less trouble, and some Grade 5 monsters would fall at your hands." When Maki finishes speaking, my companions' smiles become radiant.
"I don't know who had the idea of bringing Lise into the group, but they're a genius." Maki locks his eyes on mine. "Your constructs are truly amazing, I couldn't take my eyes off you for even a moment." The Young Lord gives me a thumbs-up in approval of my performance.
I feel proud of myself, several times I made him lose limbs or forced him to retreat. His constructs are equally powerful, the difference is that I had more time to think and find the right moment; Maki was constantly moving from side to side.
I can't forget the exact moment when everything fell apart. An excellent combination between Murill and me forced him to retreat, he was on the defensive for an instant and I managed to attack him with ten extremely powerful constructs, enormous arrows loaded with fire and wind mana.
His ice defenses couldn't withstand the power of my constructs, they began breaking apart and evaporating in the blink of an eye. I remember thinking, "Yes, we finally got him." That lasted only an instant, when one of the arrows was about to touch his body, he disappeared.
By the time I managed to sense the spatial mana around me, it was already too late, our healer and our second long-range attacker had already fallen, their necklaces marking their "deaths."
We all slowly begin getting back to our feet. We were proud to receive his praise, but at the same time frustrated by the enormous difference between him and us. We seriously injured him several times, but it wasn't enough, that healing ability is a headache.
"This time, dinner and alcohol are on me, cheer up a little." I can feel my companions' Imra improve when Maki speaks.
"Get ready to spend a good amount of money, we're not going to be cheap." Joaki puts his arm around Maki's shoulder.
"Let's head back already." Murill's voice causes everyone to cheer, it's time to go back.