MMORPG: Rebirth of the Shadow Mage

I saw my gang members massacred one by one by a man who was wearing a hood.

At first I saw him as an easy prey and sent one of my lackeys to deal with him, but unfortunately he was burnt to ashes.

It didn't amaze, not at all, how could he perform such feats. That staff was not for show, the man had skills.

Even though he was strong, I felt that I could still mop the floor with him.

That thought was thrown to the garbage can as soon as I saw him throwing a weird colored orb that decimated 10 of my men.

' It would be dangerous to be hit with any of those '

I thought while my eyes turned slightly bloodshot. These men were brought in and trained by me. Losing them would be considerable damage to my branch.

' The other branches wouldn't miss this chance as well '

Clenching my sword's hilt I was about to jump in the fight, when another set of my soldiers were decimated by another blast.

' On another note I'll just wait until he runs out of Mana '

I made up a quick excuse to make up for my hurt pride. Even though I had no Education, I was raised in the streets and Sacrificing some lives for mine was worth it.

Even though I said that I couldn't help, but grit my teeth every single time one of my men fell.

' Do you know how much time I've spent raising them? '

I wanted to shout, but kept myself together not to show any weakness to my men.

After ten long and painful minutes every single man on the field was dead, except, of course, the one responsible for the killing.

His dark robe was flickering in the wind, but his face was fully covered. Even around the dead bodies his clothes were clear of blood. All in all I think I fucked up.

His gaze shifted towards me, making my arms momentarily go numb.

After the initial surprise passed the only emotion I could feel was disgust.

' How could I, Hamel, be scared of a mere trash '

Gritting my teeth I felt a bitter iron taste in my mouth, but I didn't care and so did the Hooded man.

On his open palm a lightning projectile similar in shape to the spear materialized and was thrown towards me at fast speeds.

Knowing that this man is no joke, I immediately pulled out my main sword. A sword with a hilt made out of black leather and a blade colored in bright red color appeared in my hand.

Raising it high in the air I let Mana flow into the sword before I used all my strength to swing it downwards. As soon as my weapon and the lightning spear collided I felt the strength of the projectile.

' What the fuck! '

I could only curse as my sword barely managed to split the Spear in half. Trying to hide my expression I acted as if it was easy to cut the projectiles.

It was ingrained in me that showing an opponent your emotions is crucial.

Unfortunately my act did me dirty. As soon as the first spear was pierced the hooded man's eyes became somewhat different. I immediately knew that the man was drooling over my sword.

I'm not that stupid to not notice his gaze only focused on the sword. I swear I could even see a reflection of some kind vehicle in his eyes.

As I was about to make use of the opening the man offered himself he suddenly raised his hand and...

Slap...

Slapped himself?

I don't even know what is happening, but after the slap the aura around the man changed entirely, his previously almost bored gaze turned sharp. He took the fighting stance, before launching a dozen of Lighting spears in my direction.

My eye slightly twitched seeing such firepower.

' He shouldn't have this much energy '

Was one of my thoughts as I sidestepped to the side. Luckily all of the spears were created abruptly and had no particular target allowing me to evade with a single step.

Bam...

I felt something hit the side of my ribs, making me take a few steps back.

Shifting my gaze I saw the man responsible for my members' death holding his staff as if he was a swordsman.

At first I was angry, but now I couldn't help, but slightly admire the man before me. To be a Mage and fight a swordsman in a close range battle is nothing, but brave.

' Or he could be mentally ill '

A thought passed through my mind, but soon was discarded, because another set of spears flew in my direction.

Rolling to the side I managed to evade most of them, but one of them managed to pierce through my calf.

Even though it was painful I suppressed the pain. I had another set of spells to dodge.

With a bleeding leg I dodged and dodged upcoming spells, but soon it turned into a complete one sided battle.

Gritting my teeth, I finally decided to use my skill.

Whoosh...

Mana starter gathering at the tip of my sword, holding the sword in both hands I let the mana go wild right before swinging the sword diagonally creating a Mana arc that flew towards the Hooded man.

The man quickly chanted another spell creating a grey orb and throwing it at the upcoming attack.

Boom...

Both Mana Projectiles connected creating a small explosion. Not wanting to miss a moment I dashed towards the mage before he could chant another spell.

Unfortunately my sword was stopped by a staff that redirected it to the side. Even though my Strength was above the mage's, his proficiency with weapons was superior. Taking a few steps back, I had to swallow my pride and use my full strength against the man.

If previously I thought I could beat him, now it would be a question if I could even escape. Stabbing my sword into the ground I unleashed another skill which threw the mage off balance.

' Sword's Tremor '