Chapter 8: Battle Among the Tombstones

Shezu and Leopold were staring down their opponent, and vice versa, while Heu and her...companions continued their work of diggin up the graves. Muskel brought out his grimoire in front of him, as mana began to surge around him, preparing to attack. The two members of the Crimson Lions did the same, Leo channeling fire in his palms while Shezu...well Shezu

"The best… well only, attack spell I have up my sleeve is hitting someone with a mass of hardened blood. Not to mention I have to get in pretty close to do it," he thought to himself.

"Well if all else fails, I can at least use my blood shield to defend myself."

Soon, a crackling sound could be heard, and as both of the young men looked towards the source, they saw what was causing it. Hard, white substances were forming around Muskel's fists, practically turning his hands into solid rock.

"You know what I enjoy the most in life? Watching these white fists of mine get stained red."

Salt magic: White Knuckle Guard

The entire top of Muskel's hands and forearm were covered in solid white rock, and it was with that that he lept towards the magic knights. Leo shot out a torrent of flames at him with one hand, but Muskel just dodged, rolling of to the side. Continuing forward, he raised his right fist, ready to strike it to the ground. Both Shezu and Leopold saw it coming, and dashed to the side, avoiding the blow. But that didn't stop dirt and grass from being flung into the air, as the enemy's blow made a dent in the earth itself. Muskel then took a moment to get a good look at who he was fighting.

"Hmm judging from their appearance…" he then rushed toward Leopold, "you would be more fun to crush."

Right then, a flurry of blows were exchanged between the two combatants. Muskel was in close, so any long-range attack Leopold could use against him were useless. Every time Leopold launched a flaming punch towards him, he would simply dodge out of the way, or simply just block it with his forearm guard. While on the other side, Leo was doing everything he could to dodge his opponents blows, seeing the devastating power behind them. But he could only maneuver for so long, as one of the strikes gazed his cheek, leaving a stinging feeling on Leo's face.

"Oh no, he's in trouble," observed Shezu, seeing the fight before him, "but now...I might just have a chance!"

Seeing the opportunity before him, Shezu lept to took it. Remembering the feeling he had when he knocked out his opponent during the Magic Knight exams, he tried to summon his hardened blood ball again. Luckily, he was in combat, with an opponent who definitely had an intention to kill. Because of this, he was able to summon it more easily. As he closed the distance between Muskel and him, he positioned himself to be right behind the adversary, hoping to strike him behind a head for a knockout blow. Unfortunately, the salt magic user noticed him. Just as Shezu stroke his arm through the air to have his blood ball hit him, the attacker spun around, and punched the hardened ball away. There was a sharp crack in the air, as pieces of blood and salt were strewn all over the area. This shocked Shezu, and his body immediately jumped away in reflex to what just happened. Looking, as his blood ball, Shezu noticed that it was cracked with a good chunk missing.

"Well, well, well…"

Shezu looked to Muskel, who was the one speaking. While looking at him, he noticed that his salt armor was also cracked, with a few pieces missing, exposing flesh. But that didn't last for long, as mana began to flow around his arms, and the armor began to repair itself! The salt started to build itself back, covering the once exposed skin, and making the armor whole again.

"...seems like you want to be the one to die first!"

With that, he rushed towards Shezu. The young man's fight or flight instincts kicked in, and he immediately put up a shield of blood in order to protect himself from the incoming attack.

Blood Manipulation Magic: Red Guard

A circular shield floated in front of Shezu, however it was much smaller than the first time he used it, given that a good portion of his blood was knocked away. But despite that, it could still protect him. Muskel knocked back his fist and then brought it slamming forward, hitting the shield head on. The force of his punch was so powerful, that it knocked the shield straight into Shezu, who had to brace himself against it. He even started to slide against the ground the attack was that strong! But the shield still held.

"Damn! I thought the guy looked strong, but even still, he shouldn't be this strong."

And that was all the time Shezu had to think, because just as he finished that thought, Muskel landed another blow against the shield. And another, and another, and another. Just one mighty strike after the other one. Despite all the force against it, the shield still held, but Shezu himself was practically pushed until his back was against a tree. Noticing his position, the blood mage was able to quickly figure out his opponents plan.

"Hah, hah! One magic knight sandwich coming up!"

Laughing while rearing back his fist, Muskel prepared to hit the shield so hard that it would smush whoever was behind it up against the tree. Reacting quickly Shezu leapt and rolled out of the way, taking his blood shield with him. Instead of hitting his intended target, Muskel instead hit the tree. The wood cracked under the weight of the blow, and gravity did the rest of the work with brining the tree down with a mighty boom. Shezu barely had any time to stand up from the ground when the salt mage went in for another hit. The boy was able to bring up his shield to protect him, but his lack of stable footing made that fact almost mute. Once again he was braced up against the shield, only this time he was flung into the air and quickly fell back down to the earth. Now he was laying on the ground. From the corner of his eye he could see his foe starting to come at him.

"Oh damn! He couldn't smash me against the tree, now he's going to smash me against the ground!"

From the way Muskel prepared to attack, it made sense. He raised his fist like it was a hammer, preparing to bring it down on Shezu. He probably would have down it again and again, until either the shield broke, or Shezu did. Thankfully, Leopold intervened. A jet of fire shot out at Muskel, but he was able to block it by bringing both of his arms together to form a shield of sorts. It practically blocked out the flames altogether.

"Don't you ignore me," shouted Leopold, with a look of defiance on his face and both of his arms ablaze.

"Heh, as you wish."

With that Muskel lept once again towards Leopold, exchanging a series of blows once more. Shezu, meanwhile, was still just laying on the ground. All he could do for the moment was watch the fight from the sidelines. To watch, and think. He looked back to his blood ball, which was still missing chunks from when it got punched, and decided that was the first thing he should fix. Looking around for the missing chunks, he finally found them, just not in the condition he expected. What would have been large solid, chunks of blood, were now nothing bet wet stains on the grass.

"Wait? But wh-" Shezu started thinking, but quickly came to the answer on his own, "Oh no! Because it was seperated from my magical source of energy, it must have reverted back to its original state"

Looking back at the brawl between Leopold and Muskel, the Magic Knight was holding his own, but not for long. He was getting tired, getting sluggish, making mistakes. More and more was Muskel able to graze the Crimson Lion, even making a few tears in his sleeves. Sheazu knew in his gut that it was just a matter of time until the salt mage got a good hit on him, and that would not end well. Thinking up a storm, Shezu tried to think up what he could possibly do. Then, it hit him

"Maybe, if I try using my mana on it again, it will come back to me."

Sticking his left hand out towards the blood-stain, he focused his mana into it, trying to make the blood come back to him. While doing so, he could feel a drip onto his right hand, where the blood ball was. Looking to it, he saw that it was starting to melt, the hardened blood turning into its previously liquid form.

"Oh no no no! Not what I want!"

Shifting focus away from the blood back to the ball, he was quickly able to make the blood go back to the hard mass and form back up. He was even able to get the blood that stained his clothes!

"Well, at least I won't have to worry about bloody noses staining my clothes anymore."

Once again looking back to the stain, he tried once again to call the blood back to him.

"Alright Shezu, come on! Try to will the blood to come back, but don't lose focus on the hardened blood you already have, otherwise that will melt too."

It was at this moment Shezu discovered what multi-tasking was, as what he was trying to do was similar to writing in a book with one hand, while holding another book up with the other. It was tricky at first, but he soon got the hang of it, as the blood on the ground slowly started to bead up and go towards Shezu. Being drawn in like a magnet. However, Shezu noticed that by the time that the blood would have reach him, Leopold would already be dead. He was sweating, breathing hard, and had at least several places where he was bleeding from. He wasn't going to last long. This made Shezu sweat, as he tried to find the solution.

"Damn it! By the time this blood reaches me, it will be to late and… wait a minute."

Inspired once again, Shezu stopped willing the blood towards him and instead tried for another goal, to make it hard. He closed his eyes, and tried his hardest to visualize his desire. He tried to see the blood coming hard, stiff, sharp...all through his eyelids. Peaking to see if he'd done it, he saw that the blood stopped moving, and indeed became solid just as he desired. Now that he knew what he was capable of, he rushed over to Leopold, to tell him of his plan.

Leopold was not holding up well. He had multiple scraps across his body, some very deep and bleeding. They were along his arms, shoulders, face, anywhere where his enemy tried to hit him. Muskel on the other hand, was doing just fine. There wasn't a single scratch on him, but seeing his opponent in such a disheveled state did bring an amused smile to his face.

"Well, it's been fun little kitty, but no-"

But just as muskel was about to finish his sentence, and more importantly, Leopold, he heard someone behind him yell.

"Over Here!"

Muskel turned to see Shezu running at him, blood ball in the air, ready to strike. However, he was more than ready to counter said attack.

"Funny, boy! I thought you would remember what happened last ti-"

But once again, he was cut short, as Shezu instead ducked under the throw that Muskel threw at him. He then rolled on the ground, and popped up standing right next to Leopold.

"Alright Leopold, listen, I-"

But Leopold didn't listen to him. Not one bit. It was almost as if he didn't hear him at all.

"Look here recruit, you need to get out of here, as soon as possible!"

"Wait...wha-"

"Just run away as fast as you can! I'll try to hold him off!"

"Leo-I mean sir, there's no need for something that drama-"

"Just run recruit! Save Yourself!"

"No, you're not listen-"

"Just Go!"

"Sir-"

"GO!"

"WOULD YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME!"

Shezu's sudden outburst had everyone shocked, even the person who was trying to kill him. Muskel had in fact spent the entire time just looking at the pair of them, since Leopold was watching him like a hawk and would be wary if he tried to attack them.

"Look," Shezu said with an expression of annoyance on his face, "there's a way we can beat him without either of us getting killed."

"Really?"

"Well...yes."

"Well speak up then, let's hear it!"

"Internal Screaming"

Muskel was watching the two boys with a look of absolute suspicion. They had been whispering things into each other ear for a good moment, and he knew they were planning something. Once they stopped taking, and focused their eyes back on him, he prepared himself for whatever they were planning.

"Eh, doesn't matter, I'll squash them either way."

Both Leopold and Shezu then rushed towards Muskel, making it seem they planned to overwhelm them with a combined attack. However, when Muskel tried to use his protected forearm in order to swat them aside, they simply ducked and rolled under the attack once again.

"STOP doing that!"

Leopold and Shezu then started backing up, trying to put some space between them and their opponent. It didn't work, as Muskel simply closed the distance with a single leap, striking at the Magic Knights. Both of them simply decided to dodge said attacks, never counterattacking. Muskel then switched his tactics, deciding to divide and conquer. He focused on Leopold first, deeming him the bigger threat. It was back to the old routine, a ballad of blows between the two, with Muskel never getting a scratch. However, there was one small difference.

"Have to keep my eye out for that blood user, in case he tries to get me from behind again."

Muskel kept shooting quick shots at Shezu, giving the minimum amount of focus he would need in order to be aware of him. It paid off as Shezu rushed in for a sneak attack. But the attack was to no avail, as Muskel simply block it with his forearm guard, sending shards of hardened blood flying everywhere once again. Shezu backed off, and Leopold stepped in, as he attack the salt mage with a sense of renewed vigor. Muskel was able to block the attacks, but once again the blood mage tried to hit him from behind. He tried this again, and again, and again, until it finally started getting annoying. Even Leopold was managing to get in a few grazes with how good a distraction shezu was being, managing to give muskel a slight burn across the cheek. Shezu went in for another sneak attack, at this point his blood ball was so whittled down it didn't even splinter off blood anymore. It was this one that finally got Muskel to crack.

"DAMN YOU LITTLE FLY! Stop doing that!"

"Sorry...it's just that with the way you bragged earlier, I thought you would've finished us off already."

Shezu was saying these words in as cheeky a voice as possible, which made a vein start to bulge in the salt mage's head.

"To be perfectly honest, the only ones who are going to die of boredom here are us!"

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, Muskel abandoned Leopold completely and came charging at Shezu like a mad bull.

"Oh you are going to die kid! It just won't be from boredom!"

But Muskel should have paid more attention to his surroundings, as he was charging not only at Shezu, but at the large pool of blood that the mage was trying to get to come back to him. Timing it just when his opponent would step over it, Shezu held out his right hand and put all his concentration onto the puddle of blood. He but so much into it that the blood ball he previously had just melted back into blood like ice into water. Put the sacrifice was worth it, because just as muskel stepped on the blood it hardened and sharpened into a nail. A nail that pierced the salt mage's foot.

Blood Manipulation Magic: Crimson Spike

Muskel felt the sharp pain pierce his foot, as he froze from the sudden shock. That moment was all the Magic Knights needed, as Shezu yelled with all of his might, "Leopold now!"

Leopold sprang into action with that call, and rushed towards Muskel with his arms ablaze with flames. As he rushed towards the graverobber, he recalled the conversation that Shezu and him whispered to each other.

"Wait so, how am I supposed to hit him with my fire magic. He's practically untouchable."

"Yes, but if we catch him off-guard, that should leave him open to any attack."

"But attacks from behind don't even work How are we supposed to catch him off guard?"

"I'll tell you how, just make sure that when we do, you hit him with everything you got.

Leopold gave a little sly smile, seeing the new recruit's cleverness in action. Muskel on the other hand, was not smiling. Not smiling at all. Not only was he still recovering from the shock of the sudden pain, but he couldn't even turn around fully to defense against the blow, lest he literally tear his foot from the spike. In short, he was fu #$. Leopold raised both his arms to strike, gathering all the mana that he could, making it look like he was surrounded by a forest fire. He then released it all at once, with a single double-palm strike, right into the person who thought that this would be a walk in the park.

Flame Creation Magic: Flame Cannon

"How's this for boredom!"

Notes: Another chapter done! It was writing this chapter that I figured out how tricky action scenes are to write. Well, next chapter, things will hopefully get wrapped up. Till next time.