There were attacks that could bypass Special Magic.

In the rattling rain, atop the roofs, Dunnford kept his stare forward on his opponent afar; and touched his right ear. He twitched, feeling a sting upon contact, and when he placed his right palm in front of him, he saw his own blood.

Dunnford had no words to exclaim his surprise.

His Special Magic, invulnerability, had manifested during his time as a knight. Ever since, he hadn’t ever really felt pain again, not even when he dipped his own hand into a burning fire. There were, however, painful exceptions when his invulnerability—at times when it should have worked—failed him: the fight against Freya, against Ignes, and now against Haze.

‘First-time bleeding?’ Haze, the spear wielder who was his opponent, jumped to the rooftop which Dunnford had retreated to. His landing on the brick was heavy, the footing seemingly becoming brittle by the weight of Haze’s presence.

He’s strong, Dunnford thought.

He had initially underestimated him, thinking that he had the advantage with his invulnerability; and could extract information from his opponent, but the outcome thus far: his bleeding, told him that he would be making a grave mistake if he continued underestimating his opponent.

‘No,’ Dunnford answered, not missing a chance to converse. ‘Not first-time bleeding ever, but first-time bleeding after so long.’

‘“After so long”?’ Haze quoted with disgust and disappointment. ‘How weak were your opponents…’

Mockeries weren’t supposed to have any effect on Dunnford, but Haze’s words struck him right through the chest.

He had contemplated it many times after his defeat against Freya: Had he grown weak in the time he was a knight after obtaining his Special Magic? Dunnford had—replayed the battle against Freya in his head; and whenever he looked back, he could only wonder. What if he hadn’t attained his invulnerability? Would he have been polishing his swordsmanship further? Would he have attained victory against Freya instead of suffering defeat because he had depended on his invulnerability?

I…

Dunnford gritted his teeth.

As Haze approached, Dunnford knew that close-ranged battle was no longer in his favor. He had intended to fight only with his Special Magic and keep his wind Elemental Magic hidden for a surprise attack; but, seeing the situation, he was forced to reveal and use it now.

Dunnford gripped his sword tightly with both hands and pulled back, winding up for a slash, and gathering wind onto the blade. He then unleashed a vertical swing; and following after the motion was a blade made of wind traveling sharp toward his opponent.

If his Special Magic wasn’t working on his opponent, then he figured that his wind Elemental Magic would.

Seeing the attack, Haze boldly thrusted his spear toward the wind blade. When the attack met the tip of the spear, the blade of wind was dispelled and vanished. As the wind dissipated, allowing Dunnford a clear look on Haze’s eyes, he could see a stare full of disappointment.

Again, Dunnford unleashed a blade of wind, but again it was dispelled by Haze in the same manner and caused no harm.

Haze then took the initiative and made a sharp step in, closing the distance until Dunnford was within his spear’s range. A barrage of spear thrusts came toward Dunnford. This was what had caused the cut on his ear, but unlike before, the thrusts now were almost faster than what his eyes could keep up with.

Dunnford dodged by relying on his footwork, but his dodges weren’t perfect. The wet rooftop made his grip on the foothold slippery and—ever since his Special Magic had manifested, he had quite neglected his footwork as dodging had become unnecessary with his invulnerability.

He could not figure out the trick, but his opponent’s attack could bypass his invulnerability. As his attacks grazed him, causing many shallow cuts on parts of his body, Dunnford felt an immense amount of pain. Enough to slow down his movement. All because he wasn’t used to the feeling of pain.

Desperately dodging the barrage of spear thrusts, Dunnford made a retreat backward, but his feet’s hold on the rooftop had slipped. He lost his balance and began falling down to the alleyway.

I… am weak.

Dunnford splashed hard on the now muddy ground, wet by rain. He had fallen flat on his back but had sustained no damage, protected by his invulnerability.

He should have been cautious of his opponent and kept looking up, but Dunnford could have sworn he saw a movement beside him; and glanced there. It was a light splashing footstep that belonged to a child.

SPLASH!

Dunnford’s attention shifted toward the sound and found Haze. He had dropped down into the alleyway to chase him.

Immediately, Dunnford rotated his body, pushing the ground with his hands to get up. He showed his back toward his opponent and began running away from him.

Tactical retreat was a strategy in battle; it was always better than rushing toward death. Or, at least, it was supposed to be better. As Dunnford ran away from his opponent, all he could feel from his action was him admitting his weakness and running away.

Splashes. He could hear them again. Not caused by the rain, nor by him or his chaser, but by a little child. There, in the straight path inside the alleyway, Dunnford could see a boy facing him from afar.

Pain.

Dunnford’s anguished scream was muffled by the rain. He could feel a blade pressing on the back of his left thigh. Losing strength, Dunnford fell forward with his face splashing straight on the mud.

Another pain.

Dunnford glanced over his shoulder, his face dirtied brown, looking at Haze who had pulled his spear from his thigh and was now looming over him.

Is this it? he thought.

Amidst the rain, Dunnford could hear his opponent’s word clearly, ‘Pathetic.’

***

‘You alright?’

As his opponent raised his spear to stab him, Dunnford could hear a voice. Beside Haze, he could see a boy, his friend Kadas as a child. Kadas looked down toward Dunnford and offered him his hand. Dunnford absent-mindedly reached for it.

‘You should learn your way through here if you want to live.’

Hearing those words resonating clearly inside his head, he stopped reaching toward that vision of Kadas. Dunnford shifted his hand toward Haze and showed him his right palm, halting his spear stab before it hit.

‘Before I tell Zen that you’re coming for him…’ Dunnford uttered to Haze. His voice was low, but he was close enough to be heard through the rain. ‘Before I pass to the afterlife… Tell me, what are you—the monster worshippers doing here?’

Haze’s stare at Dunnford was nothing but disappointment. ‘… As pathetic as you may be, consider this a gift for the afterlife. Did you think that the skystorm, which is at its all time strongest, has no relations with the monster worshippers?’

‘… Related to the skystorm. I—see…’

With his left hand, Dunnford threw mud at Haze’s eyes, stealing his vision. His opponent had been convinced that he had given up—Dunnford too, had been convinced of that, if not for the words of his friend—that he wasn’t expecting this dirty trick coming from him.

Dunnford had always been weak. As a child, he was a kid who could’ve died on the street and inside the alleyway of Lune.

But the weak didn’t always lose; strength came in many forms.

A blind spear stab came at him, but Dunnford wiggled, and with his good leg rose and hopped away. Shameful display, but he would cast his pride to live—to win.

Using Elemental Magic, he gathered wind on the blade of his sword.

Haze had cleared the mud from his eyes, his disappointment was replaced with anger.

With the muscle which he had honed and obtained from his training as a knight, Dunnford pivoted on his good right leg and used every fiber of his being to spin a few times in place, swinging his sword as he did, before falling once more to the mud.

Dunnford kept his eyes open and had his sight on Haze, who was pointing his spear at him.

His wind Elemental Magic hadn’t worked and was dispelled by his opponent. But that was only possible when it had touched his opponent’s spear.

With his spin, Dunnford had created wind blades directed toward the buildings that made the walls of the alleyways. As the cut began to form and the building parts began sliding down, he could see the surprise in Haze’s expression.

It was true—after his Special Magic had manifested, Dunnford had quite neglected his basic training and became weaker. However, he had gained himself an invaluable tool at his disposal, and he would be a fool to throw it away so easily.

Here, in Lune then and now, he had to use everything he had to live.

As long as there was airflow, Dunnford would be fine. His invulnerability would protect him from the damage of the falling building parts. The same, however, could not be said for Haze.

I learn it once again, Dunnford thought as the building parts collapsed on him, my way through here.