MMORPG : Ancient WORLD

"I don't think so," Alex said, cracking his neck, excited to trade blows against an enemy with unknown and unorthodox magical abilities.

"Wrong choice," Tsolmir said, but unlike before, his voice was extremely loud, with his mere words sending a shockwave through the air that hit Alex like an invisible hammer.

"BOOMMMM"

Alex moved away in time, avoiding the sound shockwave, but Tsolmir was also quick to deliver a follow-up attack as he swung his staff in his direction the moment he appeared.

The rings at the top of the staff clinked together, producing a ringing metallic sound, and with each impact, a wave of visible, distorted sound tore through the air, traveling at unmatched speed.

Alex avoided the sound waves with ease, continuously using the void step. However, by the fourth step, Tsolmir had grown comfortable with his speed and acted a moment quicker, forcing him to stop and face the wave of sound head-on.

Alex finally unsheathed his sword in a quick draw, delivering an elemental slash of darkness that tore through the consecutive waves of sound without facing any resistance.

'He can use sound manipulation, and while his control over it is great, the weight behind his attacks is nothing special,' Alex thought as he observed the ground, which bore long grooves and cuts made by the sound waves.

Tsolmir's execution clearly demonstrated that he had superior, if not outright perfect, control over sound manipulation.

However, his manipulation was no higher than legendary quality, making his normal attacks carry power similar to that of standard Sixth Rank attacks.

But Alex knew Tsolmir's confidence surely didn't stem from such basic power, and then there was still the question of how his magic was any different from his own.

"I have seen you use your darkness and that unknown element," Tsolmir began, his voice dripping with disdain.

"While very different from mine, your connection to those elements with the world order is very deep, both having the potential of the highest grade."

"Yet your application of those elements is so crude and basic, it is almost sickening to see you use them," Tsolmir continued, a deep frown gracing his face, showing his disgust and anger.

'I had a little accident that cost me all my skills, but I believe he is not just referring to the absence of sophisticated skills because if he has been watching me for the past week, he should have seen me use the Dark Sun,' Alex thought but did not say it out loud.

"I will show you what the true application of elements looks like," Tsolmir said as he raised his staff.

A rhythmic cacophony began to emanate from it as its rings clanked in sequence, making the sound grow louder and louder, reaching an almost irritating level before it suddenly disappeared.

As the sound disappeared, the staff began to dissolve into a liquid, its form shifting and molding into the silhouette of a humanoid figure.

It didn't take long before the entity took form, nearly reaching five feet in height, with bone-white skin and a feminine appearance.

She had a long face with a pointed chin, devoid of traditional features like eyes, nose, or ears, but instead possessed only a circular mouth in its usual place, with additional holes adorning her cheeks.

She had lanky and thin arms, with holes lining the lower side, each adorned with dangling crimson rings that once decorated the head of the white staff.

Her hands boasted long, slender fingers, each section of which featured a hole, ranging in size from small to large, giving her a disturbing yet strangely fascinating appearance.

'So he belongs to the fairy world,' Alex thought, instantly recognizing the entity as an elemental fairy.

The fairy was completely different from the little beauties of the ancient world, and rightfully so, because although their name was common, the purposes they served were completely different.

Before coming to the Realm, Alex had been briefed about various powers he could encounter in the ancestral realm. While the knowledge was a thousand years old due to the time difference, it was still better than being clueless.

In Tsolmir's world, ethereal entities known as elemental fairies existed, and these fairies boasted such great elemental might that they died within a few years of birth without a vessel.

Through a ceremony, various races who could not or could barely wield elements formed contracts with these fairies, becoming their vessels and creating a symbiotic relationship that allowed both parties to benefit.

'This could get very troublesome for me, but it is also an opportunity to see what people who are ranked closer to the top of the danger list have to offer,' Alex thought, comprehending that if Tsolmir's world had not regressed in a thousand years, then he was in for a hard battle and he liked the idea of it.

"Rangi, let's show this fool what true magic looks like," Tsolmir uttered to the fairy, who had moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

The fairy spread her arms, and a visible orb of whistling sound started to take shape between her distant palms. In mere moments, it grew into a massive sphere.

Alex delivered an elemental slash before rushing forward, but the fairy was equally quick to react as she released a concentrated torrent of sound from her mouth, dissipating the attack and forcing him to move away.

Alex bombarded her with chaos lances, aiming to disrupt the surrounding air and space to break the orb, but Tsolmir formed a shield, buying them a second to move away.

The fairy and Tsolmir disappeared, only to reappear above the fallen beast, and instantly, the sound orb transformed into beams of visible energy that poured into the massive, bloodied creature.

Alex didn't need to see the end result to know that they were trying to reanimate the fallen Bladeward Lion.

While the sound orb did its work, the duo vanished with a crackling noise and reappeared a short distance away from him.

The fairy waved her hands to create whistling sounds of different pitches while Tsolmir morphed them into a onslaught of attacks directed at Alex.

Alex planned to test their strength, to confirm his knowledge of whether the fairy was physically immortal as he'd been told, and more importantly, whether she could use the ultimate ability of complete symbiosis.

Both the entity and Tsolmir acted as one and were capable of using some form of movement technique synced with the surrounding sound, giving them agility similar to his own, so catching them was hard.

Alex needed to do some real damage to learn these things, but even when he put himself in danger to lure them closer, they did not take the bait and kept their distance, and noticing his tactics not working, he decided that pure strength was the only answer.

"If you have anything hidden up your sleeve, now is the time to use it. At the current pace, you'll be dead in less than sixty seconds," Tsolmir uttered as he narrowly avoided a direct hit.

"RRRROOOOAAARRRRR"

'Let's get serious,' Alex thought, noticing the fallen creature standing back on its feet.

"Tenebrous Shard Enclave"