BornAndTorn

My first attempt was a jab to her face, but she just pushed my hand away with wind magic. After that attack did not land I aimed for her stomach with my other hand but even that the result did not change.

After launching several attacks I was forced to admit, that I could not hurt her that way. I could throw punches for the rest of my life and still end up not dealing any kind of damage to her. But I had no doubt, that if I was capable of pa.s.sing every objective so far, that I will not be blocked by this mild breeze.

After yet another deflected punch, it spun around and used a kick to the face. But once again she blocked its path with ease and pushed it back with wind magic But this time around she did not stay on the defence and threw a wind blade at me with her other hand.

I decided to endure it as it left a b.l.o.o.d.y line on my chest but in return, I was able to grab her left arm and twist it, before she was able to cast another spell. Winching in pain she threw me off with her magic.

The easiest solution was to just grab her and incapacitate her arm. While her way of defending against my attacks deserves praise, her actual performance does not. Using just the necessary amount of mana to prevent attacks from reaching you is a valid idea, it leaves a big opening if the enemy is willing to pay the price. She currently lacks the experience on how to deal with close combat and I am thankful that her mana has reached its limit, after all that time, otherwise I would not be the one standing here.

Not willing to wait for her to recover, I ran right back at her. Laura did not show any kind of movement, had she accepted her fate. But having learned out of my previous clashes with her I kept being cautious. But as I came closer she still did not show any signs of reacting. I still had that feeling of doubt in the back of my mind that something was horribly wrong.

My intuition has never been wrong so far, so what is she hiding. Her mana tank is empty, her left arm unusable. Right now I can dictate her life or death. So why is she that disturbingly calm? My instincts were screaming at me to back off. So I did just that and stared at her, watching her every move and breath.

Her expression returned to its normal state, but with a big smile on her face, she began to taunt me.

" Come on, kill me, kill me. Kill this poor little girl. I am standing defenceless in front of you and yet you hesitate. Where is all that previous vigour and ferocity? And you dare call yourself a man? "

I am quite curious you do not strike me as a death-seeking person, I would rather call you a tentative person if I had not provoked you, you still would have not started to fight with me. So why do you want to bait me to kill you? If you had behaved differently most likely I would have done that already.

" You fool, death is meaningless for me, if I were to die here, I would just end up coming back to life again. In this world, I am an immortal. So, you ask why I behaved that way? Each possible choice you might or might not choose will lead to just one outcome for you and that is death. On the other hand, whether I die or I live will not matter.

Okay, I will bite, why would each of my choices lead to my demise, regarding of the circ.u.mstances?

" I am an envoy a G.o.d, he protects me and punishes those who kill his chosen seedlings. Even in a world, where I can die as often as I want, he will punish those who seek my death. Bow down and grovel if you want to have the slightest chance of survival."

Now it was my turn to show a deep grin on my face.

Sadly you oversaw one little thing, as long as I do not kill you, everything goes. So I am asking you, can your G.o.d save you now?

" Do you not fear the ire of the G.o.ds?"

I took my time as I came closer to her step by step.

Why should I be afraid, I did not cross the border they themselves chose, I do not speak of them in vain nor do I act blasphemous. This world adores strength over anything else. So even If I torture and humiliate you, your G.o.d will not care. He will be thankful, that I gave you that kind of experience to strengthen your spirit and resolve.

Everything I did so far was showcasing your flaws and weaknesses by exploiting them one by one. There was no spectator or a witness of any kind, so even if the G.o.ds did care whether their reputation is sullied or not, no one would ever know. So why would he care?

Even if he were to care about this kind of circ.u.mstance, he still would be magnanimous enough to view the circ.u.mstances that lead to my decision. My logical reasoning, will not be viewed as an attempt to ridicule the G.o.ds, rather it will be viewed as an act of personal revenge against you and all the concessions I made will show how much respect and concern for the G.o.ds I have. So as long as you do not die, I will get out of this with ease.

As I am standing here before you, you might ask yourself what is going to happen to you. What kind of s.a.d.i.s.tic torment would I use? You do not have to worry, I am not a psychopath who enjoys hurting other people for my own amus.e.m.e.nt. I will not feed you your own guts nor will I break your will and make you beg for death. That is not my style.

I will show you a different kind of despair, I will crush that pride of yours. As for my motivation, it is not born from a burning desire for vengeance nor is it something I do because I am bored. This is just insurance for the future. Something you will remember.

I pushed her away and she fell on the ground. Leaning forward I spoke directly into her face.

It might not make sense for you right now, but in the future, it will.

" Validate it all you want but it is your strength that gives you that right. Strength is might and might makes right."

I had already ripped out one hair out my left arm and was prepared to start, as I felt a sharp pain in my head. What had happened? I did not see or hear anything coming. Did she get support from somewhere? Looking down at her I saw her sheepishly grinning. Without any emotion, I used my right arm and felt up my head.

There it was an icicle had been rammed into my head. I yanked the icicle out and grabbed her right arm, pushed it down to the ground. Before Laura could realize what a grievous mistake she just had committed, her hand been pinned to the soil with the icicle. Her scream reverberated in the surroundings, but no one could hear her.

Here I thought I was nice and considerate to her but no, without any real consequences they will never learn. That is all on you now.