Or his blood, one must say.

‘’Master!’’ Boris cried out in panic, his voice succumbed deep in panic and exhaustion could only manage one word out of his mouth. Yet, he couldn’t say anymore. With his severed arm, Windblade smashed Boris on his chest and sent him flying back, meanwhile raising a small wall of tempest to slow down the other spear stab.

‘’A bit slow indeed,’’ man in the shadows uttered, ‘’Still shallow!’’ then he sent another stab towards Windblade’s throat. No damn! Windblade cursed in his heart and tried to retreat under the continuous stabs and slashes and smashes of the spear and its pole.

He managed to put a distance of seven meters, a relatively short distance for veteran warriors and alike soldiers. This did not mean, however, the enemy stopped from advancing. Just that little retreat could enable the Windblade to regain the momentum, which was on the favor of the assassin and did not seem to stop this early; and indeed, it was really enough.

It took half a second for Windblade to pop a pill in his mouth and another half to swallow, quite a contrast to the speed of incoming spear that took a bit of a longer time. Bending the invisible flow of air and supplementing the form with a enveloping Qi, Windblade created a reverse tornado. The extraordinary revolution speed did manage to stop the spear in its place but not the dagger that spawned behind his head.

His instincts kicked in and with a momentous and incredible movement Windblade kicked the ground alongside the support of his Qi. The dagger slightly missed the target and stabbed at the lower back of his chest. Pain was bearable for a man of thousand battles like him, but side effects were not. The Qi showdown began on the outer layer of his skin. A brown colored surge of Qi tried to swallow the opposing green, with a tinge of grey, Qi like a snake. The exaggerated amount of wasted power left the already restless and powerless Boris, once more, unable to do any action other than simply sitting down.

Master...how did we not sense him!? He watched in amazement, and in fear, as the invading surge of Qi was repelled after a short moment with his third eye. Bright colors exploding and clashing like motes of light and firecrackers, whilst admirable, could only give him horror now. Terrified of the outcome of this engagement, which he surely knew would end in an unfavorable outcome or them, Boris grit his teeth and poured down all the pills he had in his storage.

From first mortal grade to third immortal grade, just one grade lower than the only known peak of medicine in the current realm, all kinds of them were available. Yet most seemed useless in this predicament. He had another way to help, however, to ensure the safety of his master and possibly the relic. Or so he thought, if it worked, and if it didn’t then everything would lead down the same path.

Meanwhile, Windblade and the unknown warrior continued their blows and blocks with more ferocious and dangerous spells and strikes. Windblade did not fare well, considering the disadvantage he had at first surprise. Yet he felt it in the deep parts of his heart that, even if not surprised, he had no more than a little chance against a man of this level.

He was a god damn Essence master! A quarter one at that with one of the most affiliated elements, air. Yet this didn’t even seemed important in front of this treacherous person. His path, from what he could detect in the instant showdown of Qi, seemed to be related to earth or land; or more possibly and terrifying, Mountains.

What was he expected to do against a man like this? All he could do was stall for time, wait for a miracle or something momentous to happen and distract this seemingly inexhaustible machine of fight, as his talent and experience was enough to reward him such a generous compliment.

He dodged a small bash and slipped down the hard shaft of the spear, tearing away his clothes in the process, and slammed his wizened fist onto the stomach of the man. With a grunt from both parties they seperated, one with a small trickle of blood on his stomach, other bleeding from his arm and back. The pain of wounds were both insignificant, for people that saw more hideous ones at past, and more pleasurable than the scars of mental ones. Like the one Windblade was bearing now, as the peculiar opponent could discern.

‘’Another one in the well,’’ He mumbled and approached his prey again, ‘’Why none can deal with hatred and misery!?’’ His spear glowed with a brilliant light and, as all three in the marvelous showdown could see, surges of Qi started to be swallowed by both man and his weapon.

‘’This is dangerous!’’ Both master, who hardly could deal blows, and disciple, who just smashed all pills into powder and swallowed, could discern the huge threat. ‘’Here goes the sailor of sea!’’ Man muttered, and charged. Like no charge Boris had ever seen till this point, like no leap of mythical tigers or wolves he had taken care of or killed before.

Windblade took a slight step back and moved his hands in front in a cross shape. ‘’Righteous ones we are, souls are none like the other!’’ He chanted, clinging to the words of his old master like a beacon of hope. Two different streams of Qi flowed from his meridians and the incense flames atop the bone pillars shivered, like a small canary in the cold winter. The fire was...afraid?

‘’Where hope does lie, so does the victory!’’ He shouted, looking at the tip of the incoming spear, like the once hot blooded young of past, and released the Qi of Amethyst Tempest. Purple and black mix of winds picked up the ground and flew upwards his forearms. Layers upon layers of revolving whirlwinds covered his front as he stood ready. But he prepared for wrong.

The man, whilst mid air, suddenly increased his momentum by releasing a wave of Qi in a circular manner from above. His body turned into a horizontal line with the spear facing the ground, and stabbed through the hardened ground. His spear and body shook alike like the banners in the storms, so as the ground.

‘’No sailor greets the sea with his body,’’ Man uttered, seemingly confronting the Windblade with his words, ‘’What loves the sea is heart, so it shall be it who greets the love!’’ He pushed the spear to the ground once more while Windblade instantly leapt off the ground to the man, defenceless for now, to seek a chance to take his life.

‘’HEIST HOO!’’ Man cried and bent over his spear to face the Windblade and rumbled the earth. Boris shook once more, both from the trembling ground and his trembling heart. The ground shattered like a web of flowers under the stomp of giants and a huge boulder, size of a house, flew out of the ground. The spearhead and shaft under it was visibly bearing the brunt of the huge weight quite hardly.

‘’Here comes my-heart!’’ Man grunted for a second from the, ultimately, huge pressure on his now bulging shoulders, and waved his spear in front, right towards where Windblade appeared! ‘’Curse the spirits!’’ Windblade’s momentum ceased instantly and he retreated back while holding the purple-black whirlwinds of barriers in front.

Huge Ihlas Steel boulder flew in the air quite monstrous, yet gorgeous, and slammed down onto Windblade’s withered arm. The only arm left immediately bent over in reverse and blood gushed out like waterfall from the joints! Windblade grit his teeth whilst trying to push up the messenger of death above him. My bones aren’t enough! His meridians were still intact to an extent, so was his chance of survival.

What was he to do in this situation? The choice came up to him in a moment, either from experience or from instinct.

Windblade retracted his left hand and bursted the Qi flow in the meridian to a overexhausting level. His amputated arm started to get swollen with power and heat whilst he heard the incoming steps of the man, with his, notably, horrifying whispering of some incomprehensible language. Then he released the other arm and let the boulder fall in, at the exact time when he punched with his left.

The breeze in the split second turned into a cyclone of fire and exploded right at the rock’s surface, shattering it into countless small pieces. The cloud of smoke and the wild release of Qi, which did not allow any sensory organs, including the third eye, to inspect further, forced the anonymous man to charge into the center of explosion.

He broke through the whirlwind and slashed at the ground. He parted the barrier with little resistance and saw the broken arm of Windblade return back to its shape again in seconds. ‘’Such a waste.’’ He muttered and picked up speed again with another Qi blast, sending himself and his spear as a whole like a dart towards the Windblade.

Their fight was getting into its last phase.