The eyes of the masked man lit up in pink. A semi-transparent force leaked out from the corner of those eyes and stopped the arrow mid-flight, tearing it into pieces.
Pink? Is it also Lust Magic? Similar to Lyara’s Eromancy? Siderius pondered. No. It isn’t Eromancy. Eromancy’s color is a darker shade of pink. This is too light. Some kind of telekinesis magic? Probably. A Schizomancer is an expert in mental magic. Telekinesis should be a logical magic they train in.
Siderius moved away from his position. He was hiding himself on a tree branch amongst the thick foliage. The masked man couldn’t pinpoint his location at all, only heard the rustling noise of the leaves.
"Who’s there?!" The masked man roared.
None answered him. Only the noise of winds and trees responded.
The masked man clenched his jaw and clicked his tongue. He raised his hand at Caterina. Caterina immediately turned back and unleashed her black wind onto the general direction from where the arrow was shot.
The trees trembled in front of her magic but no sight of Siderius.
Suddenly, another arrow came flying. This time from a completely different direction from before.
The masked man stared at the arrow. His eyes lit up once more and the arrow was stopped mid-flight.
A second arrow followed right after. It split the first arrow in two and continued blasting at the masked man’s forehead.
"How?!" The masked man blinked quickly. A second shockwave leaked out and diverted the arrow from its flying path. The force of the second shockwave was weaker than the first, not enough to break the arrow at all.
He is weaker. Why? Is it because of repeated use in a short time? Or maybe because of concentration? Siderius assessed his enemy. From how the masked man’s responded, the hunter learned more about the strength and limits of the witch.
Siderius drew another arrow. He didn’t aim directly at the masked man but at a direction that was forty-five degrees to the right. The arrow was held slightly slanted with its bottom going higher.
This was a trickshot technique, allowing the archer to shoot curve arrows from their position. This was used mainly by the witch hunters to attack enemies behind a cover or when the wind direction wasn’t in their favor.
Caterina’s black wind caused the entire area to be filled with wind screams. This muffled the noise when Siderius released his bowstring, helping him to hide his actual location.
The arrow came flying again. This time from another direction.
"How many are there?" The masked man once again stopped the arrow. He expected another cheap shot like before and he guessed right.
Siderius shot a second arrow to follow the first one. This time, the masked man was prepared. He blinked his eyes and shattered the second arrow with the power of the first one.
The second wave has the same power as the first shockwave this time. So it isn’t a time limitation. It is a mental limitation. I should have guessed. With a few tests, Siderius already knew the ins and outs of the masked man’s magic.
A battle between a witch hunter and a witch wasn’t simply who had the stronger magic or sharper sword. It was a chess game where the other tried to figure out the capabilities of their opponent before the other.
It had always been the case for Siderius’ world. But the witches in this world were apex predators. They didn’t face a witch hunter before and didn’t know how to conceal their actual strength.
Siderius had won many times due to the arrogance of his enemies. He, on the other hand, would never make the same mistake as them.
"Attack there, you stupid witch!" The masked man screamed at Caterina. Her body mechanically turned toward the direction of the arrows and the black winds followed her. Fınd the newest release on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦•𝘯𝘦𝘵
This isn’t an effective way to use wind magic at all. Siderius shook his head and thought. The masked man treated the wind magic like an attack on its own. Wind can cut. It can hurt. But it is not what the power of wind lies.
Caterina used her magic better when Siderius met her. The Black Witch condensed her wind to create a stronger wind. She was only trying to scare Siderius away. One could only wonder how she would use her wind magic if she had the intention to kill.
However, Siderius thought that Caterina wouldn’t know how to actually use wind magic to their full potential. He had only met one witch that could make wind as powerful and destructive like fire witches. Nathanos Delirius, a male witch.
Instead of pushing the wind outside, he held it inside and around his body, making him a beast in melee combat. Each of his fists tore out a hole in the tree. Wind carried his feet, making him slippery like an eel.
Compared to that witch, Caterina was a child playing with her toys.
Siderius put away his bow. Now that he had learned about his enemies, it was time to finish this bore encounter.
The hunter put an Explosive Projectile into his sling and began to spin it. The Explosive Projectile had less fire than the Phosphorus Projectile but its explosion bore much more power.
Siderius flung the projectile at the witch. The sling couldn’t make curved shots so Siderius was revealing his position for this attack.
The noise of the clayball screeching to the air was heard by the masked man. He snapped his head toward Siderius’ direction.
Siderius had hidden himself behind layers of leaves. But still, the masked man was able to see him.
"There you are." Killing intention filled the masked man. He was toyed with by Siderius and that made him angry.
The masked man wanted to see Siderius beg for his life soon. The thought of it made him grin widely.
The masked man stared at the clayball when it was close enough, not thinking twice the arrow wasn’t there.
It was his fatal mistake. The telekinesis magic fused the saltpeter inside the Explosive Projectile and ignited it before it even came into contact with him.
The explosion bursted out from within the clayball, sending pieces of clay shrapnells at the masked man along with a cloud of fire.
The masked man widened his eyes at the turn of events.