The bird with the beautiful plumage watched Adriel walk away, leaving his group of friends alone. 'Two out of three. Still worth it,' thought the Pheasant.
"Let's attack Elger." The pheasant saw behind him a small creature, a Leprechaun.
Elger moved like a pheasant. His walk consisted of lifting his feet too high to try to match normal people's steps.
"They are not dangerous. The only person worth worrying about is that boy." The Leprechaun said through grunts.
The pheasant's expression hardened. He took a step forward. Then another. Then he accelerated.
Midway he drew his rapier and aimed at Liora's left shoulder. She was eating with the others.
Liora was saved by Nico, who a few seconds earlier had been stabbed in the right side of his chest.
With speed and precision to admire, the Pheasant drew his rapier and drove it into Nico's left chest.
Kael reacted late. He raised his shield after Nico's second stab. He closed his fist tightly to punch the Pheasant in the face, but the Pheasant did not flinch. He tried to stab Kael in the lung, but Kael managed to cover himself.
The pheasant's expression grew more severe. With enviable agility he dodged Kael, knocked out the two girls and hoisted them onto his shoulders. He began to run toward the forest.
Kael looked around in shock. In less than two minutes he had lost three friends.
When he looked north he noticed three figures approaching. Amara, Adriel and Elena were arriving just as it was all over.
"Nico!" Adriel ran when he saw his friend.
The stab in the heart was deep and the light in his eyes was fading fast. Not knowing what to do, Adriel began pressing on his heart rapidly trying to revive him, but it was in vain.
"Adriel! If you hadn't killed Steven, he could have saved him! Or at least given him a few more minutes of life." Kael lashed out at Adriel from ignorance.
Adriel ignored him and kept trying to save Nico, but as expected, he died.
"If I hadn't killed Steven we would have been dead hours ago and the girls would be subjugated and being raped by him. So no, that wasn't an option!" Adriel turned to Kael. Both had tears all over their faces.
Adriel saw the ground blur and found five magnificent colored feathers soaked with a particular smell.
'Your wishes have reached the depths of your heart and psyche. Two skills have been granted to you.' Adriel heard the system again, the voice that gave him his class back and granted the abilities.
'First skill, active, Dash: a dash that lets you move up to five meters. You start at 100 km/h. Usable every 10 seconds.'
'Second skill, Passive on/off, Human Tracker: You can smell and track the enemy.'
Right after hearing this, Adriel put the feathers to his nose and inhaled them like an addict.
A faint illusory line appeared in Adriel's vision. It showed in an intense crimson color.
Adriel was about to run and follow the line, but he decided to deactivate the skill and put the feathers in his right pocket.
Calmer, Adriel grabbed some plants and placed them next to his friend. "We don't have a shovel, so we can't bury him, but we can give him something... and avenge him." His voice softened as he looked at the flowers and his friend.
'Humans live on fuel. For me that fuel is emotions. We live to get them and we want to keep them. There are many types of fuel, like there are many emotions. Among them hate is the strongest, the most lasting and the most sincere.' Adriel looked at his dead friend's face. He had died in a relatively painless way, and supposedly saved the one he loved.
The boy turned and fought with all his strength not to break the feathers in his pocket. "Let's kill that shitty pheasant." Adriel's expression was cold. He did not seem angry, though his actions contradicted that.
Adriel raised his index finger and pointed at Elena, but he was interrupted before he could speak. "I want to go avenge him too. I at least want to help kill him." Kael stared at Adriel. A new determination shone in his eyes.
Elena stuck out her tongue and winked at Adriel. "I can stay and watch the body and Amara. Nothing will happen with me here."
"Hey! I don't want to stay with the bitch next to me." Amara complained. Her gaze fixed on Elena, who sat on the soft grass.
Adriel hesitated. He hesitated a lot. He knew bringing Kael was the worst option since Kael was the only one without a class. Adriel looked at the sky and realized something. 'I must change the focus. If I don't take Kael he might never unlock his latent class, or he might do it much later. The reason Nico died was that he had no class because I kept him away from trouble.'
Realizing this, Adriel sighed and took the feathers from his pocket. "You and I will go. Elena and Amara will watch Nico's body." After saying those words Adriel felt a stabbing pain in his heart.
'This is real life... there is no resurrection or second chances.' While looking at the grass Adriel remembered something: this is a fantasy world. Who said there isn't an element capable of bringing corpses back to life? 'With or without the star of Xyphor I plan to revive Nico. Meanwhile we will get stronger. We will become so strong that no enemy will even dare look at us.'
No matter how wholeheartedly Adriel thought this, he still felt the words were hollow. They had no foundation, no purpose. They only cheered him a little. Very little.