I Hate Being The Protagonist

My sword cut into the concrete ceiling, smashing it to bits. My opponent warped the surrounding space, dodging my attack.

[How is he doing that!?]

It was really uncommon for people to use more than one affinity, since it required immense knowledge and instinct to manipulate more than one.

The guy I was fighting wasn't proficient in any of them, it seemed, as he would use more complicated attacks if he could. This would cause a problem for him, if he didn't have the overpowering manapool. Using different types of magic in quick succession spends mana much quicker, since the burdens it carries are extremely inefficient.

I swung my sword, launching a slash of light magic. Red Eyes tried to protect himself with a magic barrier, but it shattered on impact. This was my cue to attack. I dug my feet into the ground, exploding forth with incredible speed. I swung my sword down, crashing Red Eyes down to the 2nd floor again.

Jumping down, I landed directly on his bloody chest, with my sword resting on his neck.

"Lucidel!!" I yelled out.

Most of the walls collapsed completely, filling the entire 2nd floor with smoke.

As the smoke cleared, I could see Lucidel in a clinch with one of the red-eyed thieves. He was holding the guy's wrists, preventing him from casting any spells at Lucidel. There was a body lying on the floor with its head missing completely. Lucidel brutally blew the head off, leaving no trace of it except the burnt wound on what remained of the neck.

Lucidel looked at me, hitting the guy with a knee to the stomach.

[Am I going to force a kid his age to kill?? There is no other option though... They are too dangerous to handle] Lucidel thought to himself.

"KILL HIM!!" He yells out.

That was the only signal I needed.

I swiped my sword through my opponent's neck, blood spurting out in quick bursts.

My opponent had a crazed smile throughout the whole fight, but now his smile faded away slowly. His open eyelids lowered, his face losing life by the second.

I had his glowing blood over my face and body, having slain my first victim. This was the first time I killed someone. I didn't allow my brain to fog with emotions, so I just joined Lucidel in his fight.

There were 2 other guys left. Lucidel didn't sustain any fresh injuries, but looked a bit exhausted.

"Kid, be ready to jump back on my signal. Take the left."

I listened to my teacher's words, running towards my target. I engaged my target in an armed fight. He had an axe, which he swung like an idiot. I blasted him with a light spell, but he countered quickly with a magic I didn't recognize. The 2 magics canceled out, with sparks flying everywhere.

"The building is about to collapse!!" Lucidel yells out.

Lucidel whistled, and I jumped out of the building through one of the widened window holes. My opponent followed suit, swinging his axe down on me.

I blocked his attack with my sword, but he thrust me back as he released a wave of energy. I coughed hard as I crashed into the floor next to the Central Bank.

I wanted to continue fighting, but my opponent stopped once he sensed what was about to happen.

A pillar of light enveloped the abandoned building, erasing it from the face of the Overworld. The blinding light created a violent earthquake. People started screaming while exiting out on the street. I hope no casualties occur...

The pillar of light engulfing the building quickly subsided, leaving a 20 meter deep crater that almost reached the Central Bank.

I saw Lucidel flying in the air where the abandoned building was previously.

The fight isn't over yet.

My opponent turned to me, swinging his axe in an attempt to decapitate me. I couldn't duck down since he would destroy the entire Central Bank and the block of buildings behind it with this swing. He put all of his might into this attack, forcing me to block.

[Can I block this!??] I ask myself.

I had to.

His axe flew at me with a terrifying speed, hitting my sword like a train. I could feel the explosive power held in this attack, quite literally. I poured all of my mana into my arms, along with my sword. When the axe came into contact with my blade, there was a moment where our power was being measured. Which one would prevail?

Unfortunately, his aura had such strength that it flung my body backwards like a cannonball, causing it to smash into the Central Bank.

"ARGHH!!"

I felt my mouth get filled with blood, but I was still conscious. I had to finish this fight. Despite probably having broken ribs, I could still move with the use of my magic.

It hurt like hell, but I still ran out of the bank with the Adrenaline and my magic dulling the pain.

My opponent was already on the move, walking towards me. I prepared to face him, even in this badly damaged state.

"Rain Swords"

Suddenly, multiple rays of light hit the ground around my opponent. Those were light swords, trapping my opponent in a glowing prison.

"Now Adam!!"

It was Lucidel. He cast a spell from all the way there, using his magic to aid me.

"Don't kill him!!" he shouted.

My sword hurled forward as I stuck it inside the chest of this evil axe-wielder.

This won't kill him, as they are very resilient for some reason. I still don't know what kind of magic they use. They seem to switch between each element, with weird properties.

I jumped back, with Lucidel flying down and landing beside me.

"We have to question him," he says as a beam of light from his fingers hits the axe, disarming our opponent.

I fall onto one knee, but quickly raise myself to finish the confrontation. We're still not out of the danger zone.

"Are you okay kid?" Lucidel asks.

"I'm fine. What is that magic they use??"

Lucidel could see the fresh blood running from my mouth, but he knew if I could stand that it's not anything lethal.

"It's dream magic. Dream magic is an abstract deviation of magic which isn't well studied or very common. Every one in five hundred million people has that affinity. One of the rarer ones, for sure. I've never come in contact with someone that uses dream magic, but this fits the description that a superior of mine told me. Their dream magic is borrowed though, so someone is behind this."

Lucidel approached the red-eyed axe-wielder, asking him who sent him.

"I can't answer that," he says.

"You'll die if you don't," Lucidel warns coldly.

"It's all the same... My master is the..."

His magic runs out, his veins disappearing along with the glow from his eyes. His natural brown eyes show themselves as his head dangles loosely. Because of the light sword prison, his body stays upright.

Lucidel releases him, letting the body hit the ground.

"His magic was the only thing keeping him alive," Lucidel comments.

For a second, I could see his true manapool. It was the size of a full glass, so the dream magic artificially gave him a boosted manapool and magic.

"Wait! What about my sword!!" I yell out, coughing up blood painfully.

"Don't worry," Lucidel comforts me, pointing at the Sunsword flying towards me. Lucidel carried it with telekinetic abilities that advanced knowledge in magic grants you. It is not restricted like flight, but certainly requires mastery to control it.

The telekinetically levitating sword floats into my hands.

"Thank god..."

I fall to the ground, collapsing from exhaustion. Lucidel sits beside me, administering first aid healing spells he learnt in the army. He was a useful soldier, but an even better companion.

My wounds slowly readjusted and healed, while his glowing palms moved over my body.

"Healing isn't as easy as it seems. You have to know exactly what the problem is, which is why ‘all healing spells’ don't exist. I know you sustained mechanical damage to your organs and ribs, so there is a spell that specifically targets those and rejoins your tissue."

"Interesting. You should teach me how to do it," I comment.

"Naturally. It'll be one of the lessons when we get back."

[I opened the doors of Hell for this boy... He is a killer, nothing less than a soldier who went through the experience of committing homicide.] Lucidel thinks to himself.

-

After healing up, we headed back to the arena. An hour has passed already, as the authorities questioned us about what happened. Lucidel took over, filing his report. They just nodded throughout, not even caring about what he was saying. They wrote it down and let us go, since he is the general. Both cops and the detective just silently stood there and listened to Lucidel talk, not asking many questions. He knew exactly what to say, and the cops accepted his expertise.

When we arrived in the arena, my fight has already played out. I was disqualified, with another guy filing my place.

"It's a shame..."

"I'll get you in," Lucidel insists.

"No, it's fine," I stop him, "I don't need that title. I'm here for the experience, which I got a lot of during the fight alongside you."

"You sure?" he asks.

"Yeah."

I asked Lucidel why he didn't use the devastating light spell at the beginning of the fight with the thieves.

"When you entered the building, we've only been fighting for about two minutes. They surprise attacked me with their dream magic, which is why I got my wounds. They could perfectly hide their aura, which they couldn't do without the abstract properties of dream magic. It takes a long time to be able to conceal your aura like that. After that, I couldn't use that spell because you were there. "

"I'm sorry! I didn't know I was a liability," I apologize.

"You weren't a liability, don't worry. I had to have a moment to limit my spell radius, which they didn't allow me to. When you came to help me, you got rid of their numbers, which allowed me to focus my attention on shaping my spell. Thank you for that."

Lucidel thanked me. I was left speechless, just nodding while almost crying. I didn't want to lose my general, and when I saw him wounded, my heart skipped a beat.

"You were a real help, Adam. I can't believe how much you've grown in this past year."

I wiped my tears before they could well up in my eyes, just accepting the gratitude.

"I've still got a lot to learn."