***
The soft crackling of fire filled Zadius' ears as he embraced the warmth of the thick blanket draped over him. He clutched it tightly and enjoyed the comfort he experienced on that cold night.
He tiredly opened his heavy eyes to a well-crafted campfire made of surrounding sticks and bark. The flame casted an orange light across the small encampment, silently battling against the shadows of the forest.
Faintly, he could hear water crashing against rocks and the flowing of water.
On the other side of the campfire was another figure adorned in simple iron armour, his handsome face and jade eyes were lit up by the light from the flame.
It was the Jade Tempest.
He sat atop a thick log, his hands interlocked, and his gaze focused over to Xaryus, who was wrapped in a similar blanket and his back was turned to the campfire.
Noticing Zadius had woken up, Velmo turned his attention towards him.
The moment their eyes met, Zadius gently moved his hands through the blanket and down to his side.
"I already took away your weapons." Velmo spoke, raising a bundle of weapons into the air.
Zadius gently threw his blanket to the side and sat up, keeping his attention on Velmo. He then glanced over to Xaryus before Velmo continued to speak.
"I found you two laying at the side of a waterfall; I assumed you fell from exhaustion." Velmo added.
"Something like that." Zadius replied, the events that occurred within the cavern now reduced to a hazy memory.
He had tried to recollect what had happened, but his thoughts were once again disturbed.
"I didn't expect you both to get this far whilst so injured... Well, injured is a strong word now... Regardless, you're both very talented for inept rank sorcerers." Velmo continued in a friendly tone.
By then, Zadius had already realized that the burns across his body had been healed, yet he couldn't remember how. He didn't really care either, because another threat was sitting right across from him.
Ever since they'd left Rosa, danger had followed them without pause. Zadius was starting to get tired of it… tired of running, tired of fighting.
"What do you want?" Zadius asked abruptly, his eyes still glancing towards Xaryus.
"…Not one for small talk huh." Velmo chuckled softly at Zadius' forward reply.
"To be frank, I don't know what I want from you as yet. The princess asked me to find and bring you two back to Rosa… But I still haven't decided if I'm going to honour her request…" He continued.
However, his last sentence had sounded like a threat to Zadius.
As such, before Velmo could continue, Zadius suddenly pushed off the ground and swung his leg through the campfire, launching coal and soot towards Velmo.
Simultaneously, Xaryus erupted with movement, hurling his blanket towards Velmo like a heavy net.
A flash of surprise and excitement covered Velmo's face before it was drowned by a deep composure.
As the remnants of the now destroyed campfire hurled towards Velmo and the thick blanket threatened to obscure his vision, Xaryus and Zadius were already rushing towards him.
Velmo could feel a connection with law form in Xaryus' direction; he had used his [Solar Augment] ability to enhance himself greatly.
Whereas, in Zadius' direction, Velmo faintly sensed his mana as it circulated through his body.
Velmo's entire body suddenly surged with wind for a moment before the protective torrent dissipated, rushing away from its master.
The dispersed wind scattered the debris and threw the thick blanket to the side.
However, Xaryus and Zadius had expected no less from a named sorcerer such as the Jade Tempest.
They also knew that their efforts were in vain against such an accomplished individual, but they weren't going to just sit and let another person decide their fate again.
"That's enough." Velmo ordered, grasping each brother's fist before they slammed into him.
Before Velmo could continue speaking, he was interrupted once again. Not letting up, Xaryus and Zadius lurched their free hands forward with resounding speed.
To avoid their follow up attacks, Velmo released his grasp around their wrists and leaped backwards, flipping through the air and gracefully landing on the ground.
He jokingly whistled in awe as Xaryus and Zadius' fist slammed into the thick log where he sat, breaking the hard wood in half.
"They possess positive core dilation." Velmo noted briefly.
"Just let us go, we don't have any malicious intent towards you or the Lionheart family." Xaryus said, grabbing his short sword from the bundle of weapons Velmo had left near the log.
Zadius had retrieved his long daggers as well and assumed a battle-ready stance.
"Crap, I forgot to grab the weapons!" Velmo thought jokingly, scratching the back of his head.
"You know that I can't let you go."
With those words, Velmo soared towards the brothers with blinding speed, the wind that encased his body almost falling behind.
If he pleased, he could have split Xaryus and Zadius in half, but instead he stopped himself right in front of them.
It took a moment for them to realize that the Jade Tempest had crossed the distance between them. As they did, the wind that struggled to chase behind Velmo had finally caught up, crashing into Xaryus and Zadius.
The strong wind, threw Xaryus and Zadius into the air, kicking up the ruined log and various debris with them. The force of the blow wasn't very painful; however, it did demoralize the brothers.
"That wasn't even a direct attack from his spite!" Zadius thought.
"That wind ability follows its user, he intentionally moved faster than it could catch up and allowed it the slam into us!" Xaryus analyzed as he soared through the air.
Crashing into the ground, Xaryus and Zadius had tried to get back up as quickly as possible, but Velmo had closed the distance between them once more.
"You two are really a handful. What do you need to see before you give up?" Velmo spoke, his killing intent seeping through his words.
Unlike the pressure they felt from Balki, Velmo's intent was different. He was exuding pressure using both his mana and his killing intent.
He had used reiki.
***
Reiki was a debilitating technique that allowed the user to immobilize others by exuding a strong pressure. The pressure was born from combining the mystical power that mana exuded and pure malice that came from one's intent to kill.
***
Valon had showed that ability to Xaryus and Zadius but never developed the idea because he believed it was a waste of mana for an assassin. Yet even his reiki was child's play compared to the Jade Tempest's.
Seeing the brother's willingness to fight dwindle away, Velmo retracted his reiki and coughed awkwardly; He was a bit ashamed that he had resorted to scaring the two young boys.
"It seems that you're finally ready to listen." Velmo said.