The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

 Elmar had planned to play with Zaos for a while since that would make things easier for his army. After all, they would essentially do the same thing with the rest of the country once they win: bully them to death. However, he changed his mind when he saw the look in Zaos's eyes. Elmar thought he was just a kid who happened to have a talent for fighting and some unusual skills taught by an unknown master. Still, then he saw those cold and calculative eyes as if he was waiting for something to happen…

 Elmar dashed toward him, but in the last second, he disappeared and reappeared behind Zaos. Just when he was about to pierce his head from behind, suddenly a Fire Sword appeared in front of him and then flew toward Elmar's face. The mercenary was forced to jump back while he used the weapon to protect his face. He actually escaped receiving critical damage, but the flames didn't dissipate completely, and his hands burned for a few seconds. When Zaos turned around, he frowned when he saw that… he didn't have time to learn the ins and out of that magic weapon, but it sure looked like that thing had some limitations. It could enhance the speed of the holder, disperse magic attacks when hitting them directly, and probably penetrate flesh armor like a hot knife in butter… but it couldn't do all those at the same time.

 Before the enemy could recover, Zaos fired several Earth Bullets toward him. It was the fastest offensive spell he could fire, after all. Elmar spun his weapon and somehow blocked all the projectiles. That sure was a neat trick, and Zaos wished that he could replicate it.

"All right, earth magic is no good… at least not when used like that," Zaos concluded.

 Elmar dashed toward Zaos again, but this time, weirdly enough, he didn't try to appear behind Zaos. He just stabbed Zaos' with lightning speed… apparently, the weapon couldn't just enhance his movement speed. Zaos protected his head and heart with his sword, and he tried to parry the other attacks as well. Still, he failed and ended up getting hit on the border of his arms and shoulders several times. The pain made the blood rush to his head, and he clenched his teeth in annoyance, but that also made him had a certain idea…

 Apparently, Elmar could only attack like that for a couple of seconds, so he had to retreat after a while. However, when he dashed to attack Zaos again, his thrusts were blocked, one after the other with a precision that made Elmar open his eyes in amazement. That kid wasn't fast enough to block or even read his movements ten seconds ago, so how come he suddenly could do that?

 Zaos's smirked when the enemy retreated. If it weren't for the enemy, he would have never tried to boost his arms with wind magic and make them faster. Once again, Zaos confirmed that he could learn a lot more on a single day on the battlefield than months while training alone.

 When the enemy retreated, Zaos charged. This time he used wind magic on his legs, and that boosted his movement speed. Once again, Elmar was caught off guard when Zaos suddenly approached and tried to split him in half. In the last second, Elmar jumped backward, but he still felt the air getting cut, and that wasn't the strength a ten-year-old boy should have.

 The expression on Elmar's face changed once again. He couldn't toy with that kid anymore. It was too dangerous. While he wasn't skilled like Arlen, there was no telling what he might become in ten years' time. Not to mention, his skills were too hard to read. Surrounding him with archers would be the most effective way to deal with the boy, but Elmar couldn't shame himself by doing that. He had to solve the issue as fast as possible in order to recover the flow of the battle to the mercenaries' side.

 Elmar charged once again and tried to stab Zaos's head, but he pulled back his weapon at the last minute, and Zaos opened his eyes widely since he fell for an easy feint. Before Zaos could recover from the surprise, Elmar tried to stab his stomach… Zaos wasn't fast enough to block that, not even with wind magic. So, he clenched his teeth to endure the pain, and at the same time, he swung his sword to cut Elmar's head.

 Elmar would have hit first if he had continued, but he gave up on it in the end. He heard that the kid got shot in the arm and wasn't supposed to be able to use it anymore, but he was swinging his weapon like nothing was on the way. There was a chance that a strike in the stomach wouldn't kill him, so Elmar couldn't take that risk.

 Zaos assumed that the enemy wasn't that fond of getting hurt and wondered if he could use that in his favor. However, before he could devise a plan good enough for that, Elmar dashed again with all his might and aimed his spear at Zaos's head. Was it a real attack, or was it just a feint? Zaos wasn't experienced enough to tell. Since he couldn't, Zaos also decided to play on the enemy's fear. He filled his sword with fire magic and then swung it down when Elmar got close enough. At the last moment, the enemy moved to the side, and Zaos ended up hitting the air… as expected, that speed was a problem, but just a minor problem since Zaos was completely wide open and the enemy was about to attack.

 Using any magic to make him escape that mess was impossible. Zaos didn't have time to cast it. Fortunately, his left was on the way, so Elmar wouldn't be able to kill him instantly. While Elmar's weapon was approaching, Zaos decided to accept the inevitable pain. The spear pierced his left side, but Zaos didn't have to feel the pain of his vitals being pierced thanks to the chainmail and his ribs. Even though he prepared for the pain, it still paralyzed him…