On the other hand.
Raven had just finished washing her hands and came out of the restroom. Outside, she couldn't see Aruta or Zaka anywhere.
"Huh? Where did they go?" Raven thought to herself.
Suddenly, a crowd of people came running in a panic. From the looks of it, they were coming from the market.
"Someone call the cops! This is way out of hand!" shouted one person.
Others were screaming hysterically.
"What's going on?" Raven muttered.
Raven immediately hurried in the direction opposite to where the people were fleeing.
She kept running straight. Not long after, as she was running, Raven sensed something approaching from her right. She turned her head and a palm was already right in front of her face. But just as the hand was about to grab her, Raven suddenly turned into a plume of black smoke and reappeared right above the person trying to ambush her.
Raven immediately elbowed the person's back, sending him crashing to the ground. She then jabbed two fingers into the person's neck, knocking him out cold. It didn't pierce his neck, so it was safe.
Shortly after, a mob of savage people approached her. Raven glanced to the side and saw several other people being chased as well.
Raven took a quick breath, "Reaper Steps." She instantly exploded into black smoke, moving two meters forward. But she didn't do it just once; she did it repeatedly, propelling herself with terrifying speed, leaving small bursts of black smoke all along her path.
When she got close to one of them, Raven immediately jabbed their neck with her fingers, then turned to smoke, moved, jabbed another, and so on. It all happened in a flash until the last person. That person leaped and aimed their claws at Raven's face. Just as the claws were about to touch her—poff!—their hand passed through nothing but black smoke, while Raven was already coldly staring at them from behind. Raven brought her index and middle fingers together and with one sharp jab to the neck, the person instantly went limp.
An incredible display, but it was enough to make Raven's breathing heavier. Her chest rose and fell noticeably with each breath. But suddenly, a loud boom was heard. Raven turned and saw a large figure in a brown robe shooting towards her at high speed.
Raven immediately drew her scythe, directing the flat side of the blade toward the person. When her scythe made contact, an incredibly loud clang echoed. The person's fist was seen pressed against Raven's scythe. The person didn't stop. He kept pushing their punch, forcing Raven back quite a distance. Raven, trying to hold her ground with her feet, left skid marks on the ground.
In the middle of the person's effort to keep pushing Raven, suddenly a poff! was heard—Raven vanished, leaving only her scythe behind. The person was shocked, and as they turned to look back, Raven was already behind them, aiming a kick at their head. When her foot connected, a shockwave rippled through the air around Raven's leg. But even so, her kick seemed to have little effect on the person. The only result was the person's head tilting slightly from the impact.
"Oh, you're strong, huh," Raven commented flatly.
The person immediately grabbed Raven's ankle, spun around, and lifted the now upside-down Raven until her eyes was level with him.
"Hah! Gotcha!" the person said, spotting the red flame emblem on Raven's collar. "You're a Juntoshi mage, right?" they declared. "HAH! So this is how weak you Juntoshi mages are! I could wipe out your headquarters if this is all you've got."
The person lowered Raven until her eyes were level with his belt, which had a wolf face emblem.
"And you must be a mercenary mage," Raven said, her voice and expression still flat.
The person was slightly taken aback by Raven's lack of reaction and said, "You're not panicking? Oh well. I'm gonna finish you off now anyway. What can a little kid like you even do~?"
"Hah??" Raven's forehead furrowed, and she immediately snapped her fingers.
Suddenly, a noisy sound came from behind. "Huh?" The person turned and saw Raven's scythe vibrating. A moment later, the scythe shot forward, hitting the mage in the back with the bottom end of its handle.
The impact was so strong it made spit fly out of the mage's mouth. Without stopping, the scythe kept pushing the mage, carrying them flying through the air.
"WAAAAAAAHHH!!" screamed the mage.
"Whoa, I'm flying," Raven remarked innocently, her leg still held by the mage.
And so, the two of them flew off towards the forest.
***
On Aruta's side.
Aruta and the mercenary mage teleported far into the middle of the forest and landed tumbling on the ground.
"Damn bastard!" cursed the mage. "He managed to grab me while I was chanting the spell, so he teleported with me. What a pain," the mage muttered.
"Ouch, ouch, where are we?" asked Aruta, sitting himself up.
"I'm gonna teach you a lesson!" yelled the mage, immediately getting up and pulling out some papers with strange writing. He threw them and quickly made a hand sign. Instantly, all the papers turned into junoi.
"Tch," Aruta immediately stood up, coated both his hands with LYNK energy, and charged back at the junoi. Aruta started beating them down one by one while advancing. Several junoi jumped at him, but Aruta gave them a raw punch straight to their faces. Aruta kept darting forward until a large junoi blocked his path. Aruta focused his LYNK energy and jumped. When his punch hit the junoi's stomach, the LYNK energy on his hand exploded, destroying the junoi instantly.
Aruta landed and continued dashing towards the mage. He aimed another punch. Just as his fist was about to hit the mage, a slip of paper appeared in the path of Aruta's hand, and poff! the paper turned into a pufferfish, but with huge eyes and a pair of arms and legs.
Aruta's punch hit the fish junoi, and it triggered a small water explosion. Though small, its force was enough to knock Aruta's hand away.
"Hah??" Aruta was shocked, and in his vulnerable position, the mage immediately coated his hand with LYNK energy and punched Aruta in the stomach. Aruta coughed violently as the blow landed. Not stopping there, the mage continued beating Aruta until blood trickled from his mouth and nose. Bruises were clearly visible on his face, until he managed to block a punch aimed at it. Aruta caught the mage's fist with one hand and, with the other hand coated in LYNK energy, tried to land a punch on the mage's face. But just as his hand was about to connect, another paper appeared and transformed into a fish junoi, blocking it and sending his arm flying back again. The mage immediately kicked Aruta in the stomach, making him cough and stagger back several steps.
"HAHA! Can't fight back, huh?" The mage pulled out two papers, and they transformed into a pair of birds perched on his shoulders. "Attack!" The two birds opened their mouths and started shooting small fireballs at Aruta.
Aruta tried his hardest to dodge all the fireballs. Jumping, twisting his body, and more. One fireball was headed straight for his face. Aruta quickly leaned to the side to avoid it, but shortly after, another fireball fell from above, about to land on his foot. Aruta jumped but not high enough, and when the fireball exploded beneath his foot, he was sent flying.
Aruta fell, and when he looked back, he saw the forest starting to catch fire. When he looked forward, he saw the mage walking towards him. There was no escape.
"Why would the Juntoshi mages recruit someone as weak as you? Are there no other strong mages left that they have to pick someone as pathetic as you?" asked the mage as he approached. The two birds turned back into paper.
Aruta stood up and just stayed silent, listening to the mage.
"Oh, I've heard about you. You have a sibling named Juriko, right? I have to admit, he is a great mage. But how come they have a sibling like you, huh? Can't do anything without your seniors around. Hehe, but you don't need to worry about that. Because I'm going to kill you now."
"Finished talking?" Aruta asked in a sharp tone.
"Huh?"
"I'll prove I'm Juriko's equal. But for starters, I'm gonna beat the crap out of you," said Aruta, his eyes sharp. His face turned red, and veins bulged on his forehead.
Aruta immediately shot towards the mage, his right hand coated in LYNK energy. Just as Aruta reached him and was about to land a punch, a slip of paper appeared in the path of his fist and transformed into the fish junoi.
"Dammit, this fish again?" Aruta thought, startled.
"Haha, just the same. He'll get knocked back, and I can pummel him again," the mage thought to himself.
Aruta's fist began to make contact with the junoi. "I'm gonna get thrown back again... but..." Aruta strengthened the force of his punch. "I really wanna smash this guy... Just push through, then!" Suddenly, the LYNK energy from Aruta's hand flowed outward, still shaped like a fist, but it pierced through the fish junoi and struck the face of the mercenary mage behind it. A bruise immediately appeared on the mage's cheek.
"Huh?" Aruta himself was surprised, but a moment later the fish junoi exploded, knocking his arm back.
"Oww," the mage held his cheek where he'd been hit, but then glared back at Aruta angrily. "You damn brat!" The mage immediately jumped and kicked Aruta in the head, sending him sprawling to the ground. Blood flowed from Aruta's nose.
"Just die!" The mage jumped again, aiming a fist shrouded in LYNK energy down at Aruta.
"Tch, no way!" Aruta planted both his palms on the ground. LYNK energy began to envelop both his hands and both his feet. Aruta kicked his legs up, so only his hands were touching the ground now. "Reverse Explosive Fist!" The LYNK energy in Aruta's hands exploded, launching him forward, sliding across the ground with his feet aimed at the mage.
"What??" The mage was shocked and immediately protected himself by crossing his arms. When Aruta's feet hit the mage's arms, the mage felt an incredible force. The mage was sent flying back. Upon landing, he managed to stick the landing perfectly, though he was still pushed back several meters.
The mage looked back towards Aruta, who had just landed.
After landing, Aruta recalled the earlier event when his LYNK energy pierced through the mage's junoi.
"I managed to hit that mage earlier. But how?" he muttered for a moment before looking back at the mage.
"Huh? Just staying quiet? Fine, I'll attack then!" shouted the mage, pulling out two sheets of paper and transforming them into a pair of birds that perched on his shoulders. "Burn him!" The two birds opened their mouths wide and began shooting small fireballs from their mouths.
Back to Aruta. He thought, "That technique appeared earlier when I really wanted to punch that guy's face. Mr. Kuroto said it's still not fully understood how LYNK energy can be controlled. I really wanted to punch that guy's face... A few days ago, I also really wanted to protect Sako, which let me use a basic technique I'd never even learned. The same thing happened when I protected Juriko long time ago. But once I managed to activate it, I could use it again easily. So, since I successfully unlocked the technique to release my LYNK energy earlier, does that mean..."
As the fireballs were halfway there, Aruta began clenching both his fists and coating them with LYNK energy. "Flying Fist Barrage!" He immediately swung his arms, and at that moment, fist-shaped projectiles of LYNK energy shot out from his hands, streaking forward and hitting one of the fireballs, causing it to explode mid-air.
Aruta did it again, and again, and again, hitting all the fireballs, even hitting the two birds on the mage's shoulders and killing them on the spot.
"Hah? My fireballs got blocked?" The mage was stunned.
"I really wanted to beat him up... I really wanted to protect Sako... I really... wanted to."
Aruta wiped his sweat and, while grinning, said, "So that's how it is. Seems like I've also come up with some pretty cool names for my techniques."
Aruta got into his stance and, "Now it's my turn!" He coated his leg with LYNK energy and detonated it, launching himself straight towards the mage.
"Hah?! Stop him!" The mage pulled out all the papers he had and transformed them all into junoi. But it didn't stop Aruta. "Flying Fist!" Aruta launched LYNK punches that instantly killed any junoi they hit with a single blow. After dealing with all the junoi, Aruta immediately focused his LYNK energy into his right hand, causing the red energy to flare up like blazing flames.
"Eeeek?!!" The mage broke into a cold sweat and pulled out his last remaining paper. "Moonlight Magic: Iron Wallman!"
A wall with a human head emerged right in front of the mage. But Aruta didn't stop at all and slammed into the wall. Aruta's punch immediately cracked the wall. But it didn't stop there; the fist-shaped LYNK energy pierced through the wall and headed straight for the mage's face.
"You're the one who needs to get out of here. Phantom Explosion Fist!!" The moment the LYNK energy hit the mage's face, a loud blast was heard. The energy exploded right on his face, leaving him sprawled helplessly on the ground. Exhausted, Aruta fell to his knees, gasping for breath as he looked at the mage.
As his breathing began to steady, he finally managed to stand up and started hearing the sound of burning wood. When he looked back, the flames caused by the mage had grown quite large and were burning a wide area.
"WAAAHH?!! A FIRE! WHERE'S SOME WATER?!" Aruta ran around in a panic.
But shortly after, Aruta heard a scream from a distance, getting closer and closer. He turned towards the sound, initially confused. But soon, he saw a very muscular person flying through the air.
"Is he... flying?"
But upon closer look, it turned out the person was actually sliding straight towards Aruta.
"EHH?!!"
When the person crashed into the ground, the impact knocked Aruta's feet off the ground, making him float about half a meter in the air before finally falling.