Leaving the other three in the ruin, Atheline had expected finding Igrad would take a while. He had thought the man would have left the forest and run away but it seems he couldn’t care less about the consequences of his own actions.

Atheline had been holding the grudge for quite some time and he couldn’t let it go even if he wanted to. Being attacked in your own home wasn’t a pleasant feeling and he couldn’t rely on Lilith to get his revenge every time, although he was going to tell her everything anyway.

A loud booming sound came from the eastern side of the centre, near the canyons. His wind conveyed the message towards him, who were fighting and how many people.

Wind exploded around him, accelerating his speed as he went in that direction.

He stepped over a frozen fallen tree, eyes narrowing slightly. The deeper he ran into the canyon, the colder it became although small waves of heat would occasionally penetrate through the cold. Splintered trees and frozen ground surrounded the area, the damage was extensive to the forest.

It was clear that whoever was fighting was strong.

Another explosion echoed in the distance.

The ground beneath his feet slightly trembled.

’I wonder who they are, I can only identify Igrad from his familiar heat signature’

Branches snapped under his boots as he moved through the forest at high speed. Then the trees ended abruptly and he finally saw them.

Igrad.

Even standing still, a small heat wave surrounded him, the air distorting around him from the small wall of flames surrounding him.

A few meters from him were the two fighters. A dark elf woman wielding a sword and ice. Blood dripped from her left arm, and she seemed to struggle to stand.

Opposite her, stood a beast kin that Atheline was also familiar with. Seven tails floated behind him, perfectly deflecting icicles coming his way. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth and half his arm seemed to have been frozen.

Sandy, the dark elf hunter, and Amerula the rising beastkin. He had seen them during the introductory period and kept them in his mind.

He had not expected to find them fighting and from the looks of it, Igrad seemed to be standing over them as a spectator.

Atheline could only wonder what in the world was going on.

Below, Sandy rushed forward first. She crossed the distance instantly slashing the sword towards Amerula’s throat.

He leaped backwards casually. The sword barely missed him. Then his foot kicked upwards fast.

She tried to block it, but she was too late. The kick caught her in the chin, barely missing her neck. The impact launched her backwards across the valley floors.

She crushed through several survival trees before stopping herself with a pillar of ice.

Amerula walked towards her slowly.

"You can’t beat me," he said, in a rather smug tone.

He slammed his foot down. The ground around him cracked, and blocks of earth shot upwards. He kicked the blocks of earth towards her but surprisingly, the blocks passed through the figure.

’An after image’

The fake afterimage instantly vanished. The real sword appeared behind him, too late for him to dodge the oncoming strike.

The sword pierced through his side. Sandy’s eyes widened slightly, she had actually landed it.

But Amerula looked down at the wound without expression.

Then grabbed the sword, covering her hand with his, and pulled it out. Blood spluttered onto the frozen ground of the forest.

She gritted her teeth.

Amerula clenched his fist. She immediately released her sword and jumped backwards but Amerula had turned and was already in front of her.

An elbow smashed into her stomach hard enough to bend her body around the impact.

Blood burst from her mouth.

Before she could recover, he grabbed her hair and dragged her across the ground. The valley split, leaving trenches behind them as she struggled.

Atheline watched on. He could say how impressed he was by the fight. The fact that he had finally gotten to witness a Beastkin fight against an elemental made him a little excited.

He had heard they were the ultimate Body enhancers but he had never seen them fight. The fight had been enjoyable but it never occurred to him to stop it.

He didn’t even know what was going on and intervening carelessly could lead to a much worse outcome.

But despite this, Atheline noticed something bizarre during the whole fight but he couldn’t place it. Igrad on the other side was barely paying attention and didn’t seem to have seen the disparity he was seeing.

His eyes narrowed.

’This is interesting.’

Eventually, Sandy couldn’t take the humiliating abuse. Her foot planted on the ground and a ring of ice shot around us.

Amerula let go of her hair and skipped back. She immediately stood up and turned to him.

They stared at each other for a while before moving towards each other. The fight continued as ice and pure body strength fought against each other.

The three seemed not to have noticed him and Atheline wasn’t about to reveal himself yet. He wanted his arrival to be as dramatic.

The fight took a dramatic turn a few minutes later, and Amerula fully overpowered her. They broke through trees as he punched her while she barely defended herself.

Atheline sighed softly.

’Guess the excitement is over then’

His bow appeared in his hand. Then he raised his bow.

’Let’s just cool this down a little’

Ice condensed moisture into a crystalline arrow. None of them reacted to the projectile forming above them.

Then Atheline released. The arrow vanished and a split second later it hit the ground in front of Igrad, who had managed to jump back but was a little too late.

Ice detonated outwards instantly.

A blinding surge of freezing energy exploded across the battlefield, swallowing the heat in an instant.

Steam erupted as fire met with absolute cold. The valley disappeared inside boiling mist. Even Igrad’s flames were forced back.

"Found you."

Atheline’s voice echoed through the valley.