"Alright! Here it comes!"

The sameits dodged a blow from the Golem, its fist slamming into the earth. Before it lifted its massive arm back up, roots and branches spring from the ground, wrapping itself around the Golems right hand and held it in place.

"I got it!" Dora yelled, keeping her hands firmly placed on the ground, trying to maintain her grip on the creature as it tried to free itself. "Hurry! It's really strong!"

"Right!" Rodger spun his hammer around and slammed it into the ground. A massive spike rose up and pierced straight through the chest of the Golem. "Yeah! Alright!"

The golem then broke off its right arm and toppled back. The rock then began to grow back, creating a new arm and covering the hole in its chest. "What?! It healed?!"

The golem then struck down on where Rodger was. Quickly, he erected a rock barrier that only just blocked the palm allowing him to quickly slip out before he was completely crushed, but got blown away by some of the backlash from the golems palm hitting the ground.

"A-Are you ok?" Fred asked, helping Rodger up.

"Yeah..." Rodger nodded to him.

The massive Golem then turned to face the two, preparing to squash them. Rodger smashed his hammer into the ground and created his own Golem, which only came up to the monster's leg.

"Um.... C-Cant you make one bigger?"

"No."

The two leaped out of the way as the Golems fist shattered Rodgers Golem to pieces.

Fred took out his slingshot and loaded it with some of his exploding rounds.

"That's not gonna work! Those are too weak!" Rodger yelled.

"T-This is my new improved one, with extra firepower," Fred said confidently as he took aim on the monsters head. "My special rounds, I designed. I call it the 'Mega shot!'" he then fired on the head. Upon impact, a large explosion followed, destroying the head completely.

Rodger's jaw dropped. "When'd you make something like that?!"

"Y-Yesterday. When my explosive shots didn't do much against that snake guy, I thought I'd increase the b-blast using a special oil I've been saving and a larger concentration of gunpowder."

As the smoke cleared, the head of the Golem began to grow back.

"It's growing its head back!!" Rodger pointed out.

"I-It can regenerate!" Fred muttered in shock.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that no matter what we do, It'll keep growing back," Dora announced. She had both hands planted firmly on the ground. Roots shot out and wrapped itself around the leg of the golem. With considerable effort on Dora's part, the roots tightened and eventually crushed the leg causing the Golem to topple over.

"Rodger! Try hitting it with your magic!"

"Uh, right!" Rodger slammed his hammer into the ground, creating various spikes that shot out through the entire creature, enough to cause it to crack apart and collapse. "Did it work?"

There was then a loud boom as the rocks that had impaled the creature shattered apart. The Golem then rose again, gathering rocks from the round to reform itself.

"That didn't work either!!" Rodger pointed out.

"I can see that!!" Dora countered.

The golem turned round again, swinging its giant hand towards the sameits, trying to squash them like bugs.

"Damn it!!!" Rodger slammed a hand to the ground and created a giant hand before him that caught the Golems hand, both shattered on impact. The Golem brought back what was left of its arm, and as before, the arm grew back.

"Damn, How do we fight this thing?" Rodger asked impatiently.

"Don't rush me, I'm thinking!" Dora snapped back.

"Well think harder!!"

"I said don't rush me!!! Make yourself useful for once and think of something yourself!!"

"What’ya mean 'for once!' That's no way to speak to ya leader!!"

"Yeah, great leader you are! Look where it's gotten us!"

"How's any of this my fault?"

"You're the one who decided we fight this thing!"

Fred tried to interrupt the argument, nervously pointing in front of them. "Um... G-Guy!"

"What?!!!" Both yelled together. They both looked to where Fred was pointing, seeing that the golem was about to stomp on them.

"Oh Crap!!!"

Dora slammed her hands on the ground and formed roots and vines that managed to shield the three from being squashed again. While the Golem tried to break through the vine wall, the three scampered off and took cover in the remnants of a nearby ruined building, thankfully out of sight from the Golem, who was looking around for its prey.

"Ok, we really need a plan," Dora said to the three as they huddled together in the cramped space. She had set some roots up to prevent the ceiling from collapsing in case the Golem gets lucky. "Let's go over what we know,"

"It's really strong," Rodger said.

"Yeah, well can tell that much," Dora responded sounding irritated. "We also know that it can regenerate whatever damage we do."

"Yeah. no matter what we did, it just grew its arms and legs back."

"Um...."

"But it's gotta have some kind of Weakness, right." Dora continued. "There's gotta be some kind of trick behind it."

"I-I think I..."

"Let's just keep smashen it up," Rodger said, interrupting Fred.

"Weren't you listening? It'll just grow back."

"Yeah, but there's gotta be some kind of limit on how much it can restore itself."

"We don't have the time for that. Our Grampa's are been held by Celtic Hoard remember."

"I haven't forgotten!" Rodger yelled defensively. "And I don't see you coming up with anything!!"

Dora gave a slight huff. "Well, I think that thing has something which it uses to put itself back together. You know, like some kind of weak point."

"Oh... N-Na-"

"But where exactly is it?" Rodger said impatiently, speaking over Fred. "It's not in the head, and I destroyed the body in that last attack."

Fred was about to speak again when Dora interrupted him. "It's gotta be somewhere in the main body."

"Well, we just break that thing apart until we find it," Rodger said. "Sounds simple enough."

"If it were that simple." Dora sighed. "Since you broke the thing to pieces last time, the weak point may be something really small."

"So we break it apart again and hope we get lucky."

"We can't just rely on luck for something like this."

The room then rattled as the sounds of devastation above drew closer. The Golem had figured out the three were hiding out in one of the ruins as was destroying each one, getting dangerously close.

"Got a better idea?" Rodger said in a more serious tone. "You're the one who said we don't have a lotta time. And since none of us know where its weak point is-"

"I-I know where it is!!!" Fred yelled out quickly before he could be interrupted again. He was then greeted by stares from Dora and Rodger that started to freak him out. "Wh-When you broke it up I saw a small ball raising from the ground. The rocks reformed around that thing."

"A small ball?" Dora asked.

"Oh man, you're awesome! Why didn't you say this earlier!" Rodger exclaimed with glee while shaking Fred back and forth.

"I-I.... um... please stop shaking me!"

"Ok, how big is it?" Dora asked, shoving Rodger off Fred.

"Um..." Fred lifted his hand. "A-About this big."

"..... That's tiny." Rodger commented. "How we suppose to hit somethin like that?"

"It'll be difficult. Especially since it can put itself back together really fast." Dora said. "My magic definitely won't be able to break something like that." The building then rattled, indicating the Golem was fast approaching.

"....Um..." Fred brought out his slingshot. "I-If you two can break that thing apart, I can t-take out the weak point with an explosive shot."

"You think you can hit it?" Dora asked, feeling a little skeptical.

"Cause he will," Rodger said. "It's Fred after all. He can hit anything." Crawled over to the opening in the wall.

"Wh-Where are you going?"

"To smash that thing to pieces," Rodger replied to Dora with a large goofy grin. "And someone's gotta lead that thing away from Fred right?"

He then scampered out, ignoring objections from Dora ran a few feet away to face the Golem, who had gotten dangerously close to the building where they were hiding.

"Hey, over here!" Rodger yelled as he slammed his hand onto the ground, creating a bolder and launching it at the Golem stuck its hand out and blocked the bolder by sacrificing its entire left arm, which grew back. The Golem itself slowly turned till it towered over Rodger, who stared back with a large grin on his face. "I just gotta break ya apart."

Rodger slammed his hand down on the ground. The ground around the Golem then sank, causing it to fall into the pit. "Got ya!!" Rodger then slammed his hands together. "And seal!!" The ground then started to compress on the golem, sending a massive amount of dust upwards into the atmosphere. "That do it?"

Before the dust set, another blast occurred, followed by a massive hand reaching out. Rodger clicked his tongue. "Tch... Guess not."

The Golem freed itself from the ground and raised another hand towards Rodger.

"Alright, Take this!!" Rodger Challenged, Slamming his hammer on the ground, shooting several pillars at the Golem, which impaled through it.

The Golem, however, remained intact and heaved itself off the pillars, shattering them. The holes that had formed began to close up just as they did before, and Rodger still couldn't see the weak point.

Damn this thing's tough. Rodger thought as he leaped out of the way to avoid being stomped on by the Golem. He then slammed his hammer on the ground once again, this time shooting boulders towards it. The Golem simply took the shots before reaching out to crush Rodger again.

Rodger was about to evade again when roots shot out in front of him and blocked the hand. "Huh? This is..."

"Honestly. You can be really reckless." Dora said with a sigh before placing both hands on the ground. Roots shot up from the ground and began to wrap itself around the leg of the Golem. "If you remember, I can break this thing apart with my 'Plant Life'." The roots then tightened and crushed the leg of the Golem, which toppled backward. Roots then shot out of the ground and began to wrap themselves around the golem. "I'll hold it in place," Dora said, giving Rodger a smile. "Break it apart, Captain!"

Rodger was a little taken back by Dora using the word 'captain' but then nodded. He then slammed his hammer three times on the ground. "Alright," Several large boulders began to form and hover over the golem. "Here's a new more I've been woken on. And thanks to that hair dew guy, I think I got the hang of it!" he then slammed his hammer down the fourth time. As the golem struggled under the crushing vines, Rodger's boulders descended down like missiles, destroying the Golem under its tail.

As the dust began to settle, Dora and Rodger looked over the destroyed earth and roots at the sight of the impact. "Think we got it?" Rodger asked.

"There!!"

Something then burst out of the rubble, a small crystal orb no bigger than a marble.

"That must be the core," Dora said.

On that, some of the broken bits of earth began to rise up towards the orb, as it was trying to regain its form.

"Ready Fred?" Rodger asked.

Standing on top of the building was Fred, aiming his slingshot right at the small orb. "Got it." He then loosed the shot right at the orb. There was then a large explosion from the ball Fred had fired. The rocks that had risen then stopped, and a second later fell back down to the ground.

"Bull's eye!!" Rodger cheered, punching the air in calibration. "We did it!!"

"Great shot!" Dora said, giving Fred thumbs up.

Fred let out a deep sigh of relief as he sank to his knees. "Th-That was scary." He said. Dora shortly followed.

"That's what ya get when ya mess with the Walloping Willows ya bastard!" Rodger said to the pile of rubble that was once the Golem.

"Well, he's full of himself." Dora sighed.

"Th-That's our captain for ya I guess," Fred said.

"Looks that way."

****

"Look out!" Allisa, Cliff and Melvin leaped out of the way as a cannonball shot from the Walker landed nearby.

As the group tried to recover from the blast, the two men with war hammers jumped them, swinging them down on the group. Cliff shoved both of them out of the way and raised his hands to grab the hammerheads as they fell. It was visible that Cliff was struggling to maintain his grip, his feet being forced into the floor by the force of the blows. Following that, the two men backed off, allowing Cliff to catch his breath.

Shit! Felt like my arms were about to break off. Cliff thought to himself as he freed his feet from the earth.

"Are you ok?" Allisa asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about me."

"Those aren't normal hammers, are they?" Melvin asked the two men.

"Ha, quite observant kid." One of the attackers stated, swinging his hammer overhead. Now that they were closing up, the two's features were more apparent.

Surprisingly, despite the large war hammers, one of them was thinly built on the contrast of the other being the same bulk as Cliff. The thinner one wore a cap, keeping back curly locks running down his back, while the larger one was completely bald.

The one speaking was the smaller one. "Like you spotted, these aren't you everyday war hammers."

"You mean their Magitek?" Allisa asked.

"That's right baby." The larger one said, heaving the hammer overhead with one hand. "Juggernaut slayers. Special hammers increase the power on impact, designed to smash through tough wizard barriers and hell, even dragon skin."

Cliff winced at what the man said. "If that's the case, I'm seriously lucky my arms didn't break off."

"I'm seriously getting sick of these guys." Melvin groaned with Cerberus growling at the two attackers. "Where the hell are they even getting this stuff?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." The smaller man jeered as he rested his hammer on his shoulders. "What we want'ta know is why a bunch of kids like you are even bothering to protect that little village.

"Yeah, what's in it for you?" The larger man asked.

"Nothing. We're protecting it cause we want to!" Allisa announced.

"Well ain't that sweet. Kids want’ta play hero." The smaller man mocked.

The Walker then came up behind the two, who both prepared to attack.

"Not that you guys even have a chance against us." The large one said, waving a hand to the Walker. "Blow them away!!"

The Walker took aim and fired a cannonball at the three.

Melvin immediately rushed forward and swiped his wand horizontally. A shield was created which blocked the cannonball, taking the brunt of the resulting explosion.

The two then lunged forwards through the smoke, the shorter man swung at the barrier, shattering through it while the larger one burst through it, swinging towards Melvin.

Allisa shoved Melvin out of the way and blocked the blow with her blade. The impact was enough to send her flying back but was caught by Cliff who skidded several feet to a halt after catching her.

"You ok?" Cliff asked as he put Allisa down.

"I'm fine," Allisa responded, shaking her hands.

Cliff then shoved Allisa out of the way before jumping back while the second man jumped the two, slamming the hammer into the ground. The same man then burst from the dust and continually took swings at Cliff.

"What's wrong?! You weren't that bothered last time!" The large man mocked.

"That was before I knew they could break my arms!"

During the relentless swings, Cliff managed to see an opening. As the man swung overhead with the hammer, Cliff reached up and grabbed the pole with his left hand, leaving the man wide open to a punch to his gut.

"Will of Steel!"

With a large bang, Cliff's fist impacted on the man's abs, and nothing.

What?!

With a large grin, the man let go of his hammer and punched Cliff on the top of the head and sent him to the floor. The man then gripped his hammer with both hands and swung down to split Cliff's skull. Luckily, Cliff regained enough of his senses to evade as the hammer hit the ground with earth-shattering force as he got back to his feet.

What was that? It felt like that ability that Homunculus had.

From the other end, Allisa and Melvin were facing the slimmer man. While his swings had less power than the larger man, he was a lot faster. At one point he was able to catch Allisa off guard and swung at her side. Allisa instinctively teleported back before the hammer hit her.

"Not bad." The man said as he rested his hammer on his shoulders. He was about to pounce again when a strong gust started to build up underneath him.

"Winds of the creator, unleash your wrath upon this land!" Melvin chanted. "Twister!!"

A small and powerful tornado formed around the man, eventually obscuring him from sight.

"That got him!" Melvin said lowering his wand.

"LOOK OUT!!!

The man then appeared behind Melvin taking a massive swing that hit Melvin, who then disintegrated into a mist.

Allisa was nonetheless shocked and confused at what happened. "M-Melvin..."

"Don't worry. I'm ok."

Allisa hired a voice beside her. Standing there was Melvin, and Melvin?

"Wha-What the?! Why are there two of you?!" Allisa blurted out.

"It's a clone spell." Both of them spoke at the same time, but a voice only came out of one of them. "Not the best if I'm honest, but can distract my enemies for a second." One of them then evaporated into mist. "And they don't really last that long."

"That doesn't sound very useful."

"Well.... Yeah but it has its uses." Melvin then addressed the man. "Anyway, that was quickstep wasn't it?"

"Sure was brat." The man saw with a grin. "And a good thing too. That spell would've been bad if I was actually caught in it."

There was then a loud crash behind the two, which turned out to be Cliff who had been launched back from his opponent.

"You ok?!" Melvin asked.

"Yeah..." Cliff said in a strained voice as he got back to his feet. "Took a blow from that hammer. I can tell ya it hits, like a wrecking ball."

From the direction that Cliff had flown from stood the large man, with his hammer resting on his shoulders. In the distance, closing in on them was the Magitek walker.

"Guess this is what you call a rock and a hard place," Allisa said.

"Looks that way," Cliff said, wiping the side of his mouth.

There were also various loud crashes and the sound of devastation occurring not too far from where they were, a fight that involved a certain, hot-headed dragon hybrid going all out and destroying nearly everything around him.

"Let's hope the others are having more luck than we are," Melvin said with a short sigh.

Max vs. Faust

Max launched himself away from Radagast who had formed himself into a spiked ball. He landed on another building as the ball bounced up and rolled back towards him.

"Man this thing doesn't give up," Max said to himself as he leaped out of the way of the runaway ball. Suddenly, a boulder smashed into him mid-air with no time to dodge, sending him skidding through more buildings.

Radagast reverted back to its original form and floated back to its master, Faust, who was walking towards Max as he blasted himself free from the rubble.

"Ok! That was a cheap Shot!" Max yelled at him.

"All's fair in a battle," Faust said, cracking his knuckles.

Without saying anything else, Max launched himself at Faust again, swinging a flamed right hook.

"Will of Steel!"

Max hit the side of his face, but nothing.

"You really need to think your next move more carefully rather than rushing in like a lunatic. Fist of Iron!" Faust threw a punch aimed at Max's gut, the impact sending a large shockwave that blew away some of the debris, but not Max. "Huh?"

Max had caught the fist with his free hand, shooting a large grin at Faust before puffing his cheeks. It didn't take long before Faust knew what he was up to. "Will of-"

Max let out a massive roar that engulfed Faust completely and blew him away.

"What was that you were saying about not thinking things through?" Max said wiping his mouth as the dust settled. Faust stood several feet away with his arms crossed over his body, several scorch marks on his body, particularly his arms. He relaxed and grinned back at Max.

"You actually blocked that with one hand, impressive. Salamanders truly live up to their reputation."

Max then launched himself like a rocket towards Faust, swinging back one flared fist. "Oh I got much more in store!!" Quills then shot into his right arm. Crap! I forgot about that!

Max staggered from the shock of his arm going temporarily numb.

Faust took that opportunity to sidestep out of the way, to allow Max to fall through. "But you're quite hot-headed," Max regained his footing and pivoted swinging his arm towards Faust, who intercepted it with his own arm. "And seem to act on instinct above careful planning."

Both men then turned around and sent punches towards each other, which were both, blocked by the other's own fist. "I don't see anything wrong with that," Max responded as he leaped back, flaring up his fist before punching down towards Faust, who leaped back and called out a 'rock wall' which grew to block him from view. Max simply punched through it. Using the rubble as a temporary cover, Faust punched up using 'fist of iron' to hit Max back. Unexpectedly, Max parried the first to the side while flaring up his right leg, sending a kick towards Faust's exposed left flank. The hit burst through and sent Faust skidding into another of the ruined buildings.

"You should just go with your gut in a fight. That's what I've always done and it's never gone wrong, most of the time."

Faust emerged from the new ruins the two had just made, shooting Max a small grin. "Well, I can't really fault you on that. My older brother fights along those sorts of lines. But rushing in without an actual plan can be a tad too reckless. For example," Faust placed one hand on the ground. "It seems you didn't take into consideration that I'm actually a Wizard." He then shot a quick grin at Max as he cast a spell. "Tremor!"

The entire ground shook violently, knocking over various buildings within a mile radius of the epicenter.

"Oh Crap!!" Max cursed as the ground beneath him began to buckle, nearly tripping him up.

"Radagast!!"

The hedgehog transformed into a spiked ball again, a little smaller than before and began to roll towards Max.

"Not that again!" Max exclaimed as he leaped out of the way before he got hit.

Some rocks then began to lift themselves in front of Faust who shot out his hands. "Stone Rain!!"

The rocks then fired towards Max at the speed of bullets. Still recovering from Dodging Radagast and still a little disoriented from the tremor earlier, Max took the shots, allowing them to pepper him, forcing him back 3 feet. While his back was turned, Radagast rolled right up to him and this time caught him in the back. Luckily, due to Max's hardened skin, he wasn't completely skewered by the spikes but was pushed forward onto his back. While still prone, Faust had launched himself into the air, holding both hands together while descending on him like one of his meteors.

"Fist of Iron-"

"Oh crap-!"

"Double Hammer!!!"

The blow hit Max, burying him down into the earth, forming a crater around where the blow had hit him. When the dust had finally settled, Faust stood by a hole in the center of the crater he had formed.

"And that's the benefit of a plan," Faust said as he looked down into the hole he created. "While not the most elaborate plan in the world, catching you off guard though proved easier than I had thought." Faust then turned and began to walk away as Radagast floated to his side.

To his surprise, Max crawled back out, not completely unharmed but more intact than he had thought.

"Ow... I'm definitely gonna feel that tomorrow." Max groaned as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Faust gave out a small sigh as he turned to face Max again. "Probably shouldn't be too surprised. You're not exactly an ordinary human being are you." Faust then grinned at Max. "And besides, after all this, I'd be pretty disappointed if we allowed this to end just like that."

"You ain't so bad yourself hair dew guy," Max grinned back at Faust as he flared up his fists and slammed them together. "But I'm just getten serious!"

Max then launched himself at Faust.

"This again?" Faust groaned as he looked to Radagast, who shot out quills at Max. To his surprise, Max stopped, taking the quills to the chest while throwing a fireball at Radagast, who took it head on and was blasted away.

"What?!"

With a grin, Max threw the second Fireball at Faust, who crossed his arms in defense. The explosion was large and obscured everything around Faust in the dust.

I can't see anything in this. Faust thought as he looked around. Very clever, using the dust to obscure his next attack. From what I've seen he'll probably try an attack from the sides or the rear.

While mentally preparing himself for the next attack a glow could be seen through the dust, revealing that Faust was 100% wrong.

A frontal attack!!!

Max burst through the dust, swinging a powerful looking flamed fist straight at Faust's gut.

"Will of Steel!!"

Faust only just got his defenses up as Max's fist slammed into his gut. Faust was forced back as the flames left Max and tried to drill itself into Faust's body. What... What is this attack?! It's as though these flames are trying to pass through my skin!

Eventually, the flames died down after pushing Faust to the very edge of the crater. Miraculously, he managed to remain on his feet, still in the same stance, he was in when he took the blow. He slowly regained his composer and stood up straight to glare at Max with something dribbling out of his mouth. He then coughed up whatever was in his stomach mixed with blood, panting as he faced Max again.

".... Quite a nasty attack there. Those flames felt like they were trying to burrow their way through my body." He said to Max, whipping his mouth, his look completely different from what he had on before. "If it weren't for my 'Will of Steel' that would have been quite devastating." He then slammed his hands together. "I think it's time to end this."

The ground then began to shake violently as a powerful aura began to engulf Faust

"You're about to face the most powerful spell in my arsenal, a spell that has been passed down in the Faust family for generations!!"

Max then flared up his fist and charged at Faust again. "Think I'm gonna let ya!" Radagast then appeared before Max in a spiked ball form. "Oh, not you again!"

Max leaped out of the way as the spiked ball shot passed Max before turning and aimed at him again. Max launched himself in the air, but the ball followed.

"This thing's really pissed off!" Max fired up his hands and sent out a fireball then hit Radagast with enough force to send it back. Max landed on what was left of a building near the crater. Radagast, however, was still barreling towards him, growing slightly bigger than before.

Max rocketed himself to another building as the one he was one was obliterated by the rolling ball. It then bounced up again and charged again. "Ah, I had enough of this," Max took in a deep breath and as the ball got closer he let out a massive and powerful fire roar, able to block the ball and keep it in place as the two forces battled each other out. Eventually, the ball began to crack from Max's attack, eventually cracking apart and then exploded in a massive puff of smoke.

"Alright... Finally got it."

Before Max could catch his breath, the ground began to rumble even more violently than before. Large chunks of earth were then displaced and began to rise above the earth towards a small black ball in the sky. "What the Hell...

Faust stood his ground with his hands held together, veins sticking out from his arms and head while a yellow aura coated him. "The mother of nature, goddess of all that this land provides. Father of the heavens that govern the laws of both time and space,"

Max was then caught in some kind of gravitational pull and began to rise with the rubble and earth towards the black sphere in the sky. "What the hell!!!" Max Struggled as he tried to rocket himself away from the pull unsuccessfully.

"The moon and the earth, two heavenly bodies that are forever apart from each other, separated for all eternity, destined to be apart forever. Now rejoice and be pulled back together in holy fire and devastation."

Max was then consumed within a massive ball of gathered earth, forming a mini-moon that hovered above the ancient city consuming nearly 1/5th of the city below.

Faust raised his hand and clenched his fist. "Catastrophic Planetary Devastation!!!"

The ball then descended onto what was left of the city below, crashing through before letting out a titanic explosion.

The shame of the family

The Faust family is one of the noble families in Miltesa, Renowned as a line both warriors and battle mages with several ties to the imperial throne. As a result, a lot of pressure is put on every generation the Faust family produces. I, Quintox von Faust, am no exception. My childhood was taken up by various educational regiments, tied between studies, combat, and magic.

I suppose I just got fed up with all of it all, living the boring privileged life. Being given everything you could possibly need does get boring from time to time. So one day I decided to go on a trip of my own, experience the world before upholding the duties of a member of the Faust family. However, I made a grave mistake, one that would shun me from the family. One night, I was approached by a shady individual who offered me a job. Little did I know that that particular job was the assassination of a noble, a woman whom my brother was betrothed to. After that, I could no longer face my family, so I fled, fled as far as I could, descending into the underworld of our world, until eventually, I came to Dolton Hours and Celtic Hoard, who offered me a place to stay. And so started the life of banditry and sin. And that brings my story to this point......

****

Faust freed himself from the rubble that had come from his spell, looking up at the massive hole he created. "That was far too close," he breathed.

The 'Catastrophic planetary devastation' spell had punched a hole in the city to a large underground cavern located in the bowels of the city, going through at least 50 meters of bedrock above. He had no idea of what damage he had caused to this ageless city above, frankly, he was surprised he was still alive at all, though just barely, finding it very hard to stand up.

The spell he had used as a level 3 spell, which was some of the most powerful, not to mention deadly spells a wizard could cast, requiring a vast amount of mana to even perform it. As a result, Faust felt incredibly weak, having burned through such an enormous amount of mana even before using that spell.

"Well, there's no doubt that the boy is dead. No one could have survived something like that."

Faust looked ahead, watching as the large amount of dust and rubble that was still floating around from the explosion settled down and froze.

"No... that's impossible!"

Before him stood a battered and bruised Max, his shirt and shorts were nearly nothing more than rags, blood running down from open wounds across his body as a result of the spell, but nonetheless still alive.

He survived that?! He took on the full force of the 'Catastrophic Planetary Devastation' and is still able to stand!!!

Faust went pale as Max slowly trotted over to him, gritting his teeth so hard he could run them down to the gums. He was in absolutely no shape to carry on the fight. He had used everything he had to use the Level 3 spell, and here his opponent stood, still in the fight.

Slowly, Faust's face untensed and he let out a big sigh while crossing his arms. "Seems I lose." He said quietly.

Max then slammed his fist into Faust's gut.

Brother.... This will be of no conciliation, but.... Forgive me....

Faust fell down to the ground; face first, losing consciousness before he even hit the ground.

Max then collapsed back, sprawling on his back as he looked up at the sky. "Phew.... I thought I was gonna die back there...." He groaned. Even he had to admit, if it weren't for his powers as a Salamander, he would have died in that spell.

"...Well, Nel and Melvin are gonna chew me out for this, since I kinda destroyed the city." He said to himself with a chuckle. "Hope Allisa's ok. Should probably go back up," Max then slowly lifted himself up, grunting from the pain he felt, looking over at the unconscious Faust. "What should I do with him?"

Before he could think about that, a low growl came from behind. Leaning back, Max saw a glowing pair of red eyes in the darkness, followed by a display of teeth so sharp they looked like they could bite through anything, along with two massive horns with points that could skewer him with one touch.

"That.... Doesn't look good."