Richard Ironblood, someone who was known as the Ironblood patriarch, twisted just enough to let a blade made entirely out of glowing water cut past him , Making a deep trench in the ground behind him, all without touching his shirt.
His normally blank face was now almost bored as he looked at the man standing across from him, the man had distinct emerald eyes and long, sapphire hair, his face was all sharp lines and pointed angles.
The man was Rico, the patriarch of the Coso clan, and he was who the iron bloods have been fighting against for the last few years.
"Is this all you have, because if it is, I should just leave fighting you up to my eldest son, because it's obvious you're not my opponent."
On any other day, those words would have shocked anyone, considering the Ironblood patriarch didn't talk much.
Yet now, with the smell of blood in his nose, and the sound of blades clashing and people screaming with both effort and pain he felt at home? Yes, the right term was at home in the cacophony.
"Oh are we getting serious, I didn't notice, considering none of your attacks even landed."
Richard narrowed his eyes at that, everyone who knew Richard Ironblood New insulting his skill was only second to insulting his clan.
He didn't say anything as he began to draw something in the air with ether.
Normally Rico would have stopped him, but it had all happened too fast for him to move, and suddenly a blade of wind nearly 10 feet long was shooting towards him.
He just managed to slide aside, but he wasn't fully unscathed, a gash have been torn in the forearm of the black leather jacket he was currently wearing, and considering the slow trickle of blood down his forearm, it had also hit the skin beneath.
"It didn't seem like that won didn't connect, wouldn't you say?"
Richard curled his lips in a smirk as Rico's eyes narrowed in anger.
Remembering the symbols, Richard had drawn in the air, Rico tried to think back to just how many stars have been used in that spell, cause it had most definitely been a spell he was sure of that.
"It was three star peak, or maybe even four star."
As soon as we go reassure himself of this, he regained some of his confidence.
"I can't fail to kill this arrogant bastard, not with all the cards in my favor like this."
Rico thought, his mind flashing back to a deal he had made with a being that possessed unfathomable power.
"Take this, no one under the seventh ring will be able to escape alive if you activate it."
The man, or at least that what he look like, have given him a star that seemed to be made entirely out of black painted porcelain.
He had given him that along with another gift, something he was intending to use to show just how superior his clan was to the Ironbloods.
He was forced to focus back on the battle. He was currently fighting as Richard spoke again.
"This has went on for long enough."
His voice had grown bored again, and then reaching over his shoulder, he drew a spear from his back.
It wasn't intricate by any means, if anything, it was plain, it seemed to be made from a nearly black alloy, yet the edge looked sharp enough to cut stone.
The inscriptions right below the head of the spear only made Rico more weary.
Wasting no time, Rico also reached back and pulled out a staff the same color as his hair it looked to be made entirely out of sapphire and glowed with an inner light as he poured ether into it.
Richard's eyes narrowed as he focused on the softly glowing staff.
"So it is true, the Coso family actually does have a rank to enchanted weapon."
Rico didn't bother to answer, he just searched forward with a downward swipe.
It was blocked easily by the half of Richard spear before he redirected the sapphire staff downward before thrusting for Rico's chest.
Rico jumped back quickly, whirling his staff in a circle to slap aside the spear before launching a kick at Richard's stomach.
Richard slipped the kick away using the but of his spear, and for the brief seconds that Rico was off-balance, he lunged.
As soon as he did, Rico had to bite back a smirk. "These I am bloods and their damn pride, they're just too predictable."
Stabbing his staff into the ground, as if the packed dirt was nothing more than sand, his foot, that was still in the air slammed into Richard side.
The force of the blow lifted him off his feet as he was tossed wi3 yards away, where he rolled to absorb the impact and came back up on his feet, but by that point Rico was already in front of him, his staff aiming for his throat.
Richard leaned backwards, letting the staff swipe to the air where his head had been before stabbing for the opening under Rico's arm that have been revealed when he had executed the throat strike.
Rico didn't try to block, if anything, he opened the gap between his arm and his ribs even more.
As soon as the blade of the spear came close enough, he stepped forward before clamping down on the spear shaft right below its head, when Richard tried to pull his spear back, it didn't work.
Grinning viciously, Rico slammed the staff up into Richard Chin while he was focused on the sphere.
The move only dazed him for a second, yet when you move as fast as them that could be the equivalent of a whole minute.
Slamming a elbow into his throat, Rico watched as Richard staggered a step back, he grinned with satisfaction.
"What's wrong oh great Ironblood patriarch? Is it a little hard to brea."
Hese words were suddenly cut off as Richard suddenly let go of the spear and head butted him directly in The nose with enough force to make a loud crunch sound as Rico's nose broke.
This time it was Rico's turn to stagger backwards, yet years of training, in both for real fights and spars, kept him from letting go of his staff.
Richard twirled his spear before approaching Rico at a leisurely pace.
Even now Rico was still dazed from the head but, he heard Richards words, loud and clear.
"I know you other clans think we're arrogant, you think that one day it will lead to our downfall, but you see unlike every single one of you we actually have the power to back it up."
With that as the only warning, wind began to spin around Richard's body before he slashed forward in a blur.
Rico raised his staff out of instinct, but it only managed to deflect the spear slightly instead of moving it away entirely, leading to a slash that would've taken off his head, cutting a deep cut from his left temple to his chin.
The cut was so deep that his bone could be seen
The entire left side of his face was drenched in blood in know time.
The wound seemed to focus Rico instead of making him even more unstable.
He leapt nearly 20 feet backwards, to gain space from any attack Richard Wood throw next, the distance was negligible for people of their rank, but it will still take Richard sometime to reach him from here.
Besides, Richard didn't even look like he had any attack prepared, he just sat there both hands in the pockets of his black slacks, his expression board.
His spear was stabbed in the ground in front of him, looking as ordinary as physically possible.
Rico took all of this in less than a second, then deciding it was the right time, ether began to pour out of his body.
Richard's eyes narrowed as he felt the monstrous amount of ether Rico was using for, whatever he was doing.
"He can't be funneling this much ether into a spell, Kenny? Maybe he is, but what spell would it require, or even be able to take that much ether without collapsing?"
Richard didn't know of any common rank spells that could, his blood ran cold as he saw the bright blue lines. Rico was drawing through the air.
His casual stance was gone as he launched forward, snatching his spear out of the ground, and using all of his ether to reinforce his body..
He chastised himself for underestimating the Coso patriarch. " Of course a common rink spell, can't take that much ether without collapsing, but a elite level spell can."
Richard didn't bother questioning where Rico had got it from, there would be time for that later.
Yet, even with all of the speed he used to shoot towards Rico, he was still too late. He was exactly 2 1/2 feet away from Puerto Rico stood when a spell finally snapped into being.
He had just enough time to think "six stars, the damn spell is six stars." Before everything changed.
First, the ground, that had been firmed under foot before suddenly became brittle.
Next the trees within their vicinity suddenly under with the same treatment, Richard felt that if someone was to light a fire and drop it any piece of vegetation close by, the forest would burn until it became ashes.
Then the moisture drained from the air, making everyone's mouth and eyes suddenly very, very dry.
It didn't take Richard Long to realize where all of that water was going to, because right in front of him, standing with the sapphire staff glowing from within, Rico had a miniature whirlpool swirling around him, it stretched 2 m in diameter, normally something that size would have barely caught his eye before, but considering it had to come from a sixth star spell, Richard didn't dare take it lightly.
The grin on Rico's face stretched from ear to ear.
"After today, the Ironblood patriarch will be no more, no scratch that, by the end of the month, even the Ironblood clan will be no more."
With that, as the only warning he launched forward, the whirlpool that had been up to his waist following his movements, and if what Richard suspected was happening, even increased to speed.
Richard's eyes narrowed in caution, he had stopped moving forward after the spell had already taken affect, there was no point in wasting ether, especially when it will be useful to the fight.
"This just became a lot more difficult."
Deciding it was time for his own Trump cards, he quickly poured ether into his hands before drawing lines in the air, but Rico didn't intend to make the same mistake. Richard had.
He lunged even faster, the whirlpool, lifting his feet off the ground as he did.
Richard smirked at the incoming patriarch. "You really think that's enough to stop me, a six star spell is dangerous, but it's only truly dangerous. If you know how to use it, and something tells me you don't."
The words caused Rico's sudden surge forward to Holt for a moment before continuing with more speed. "Stop your jabbering, I will fucking kill you."
Even as Rico approached, Richard looked unimpressed.
"Not the first time I've heard someone say those words, and it damn sure won't be the last."