The wall in front of Tris suddenly shattered. The cause was a large sword thrusting through from the other side.
The sword flew at incredible speed, heading straight for Tris with a very clear objective: to kill.
At the same time, from behind a row of trees not far away, a volley of hidden weapons shot toward his back.
They were thin blades made of water, flying rapidly while shrouded in darkness.
But the large sword struck nothing but empty air, and the water blades only cut into the house, leaving slashes across the wall.
Their target, Tris, was already many meters away. Standing beside him were magical puppet No. 1: The Twin, summoned to become his reliable bodyguards.
"Your reflexes and movement are astonishing." - Came a voice from behind the trees, praising him.
The man appeared fairly young, likely around thirty, with a tall, lean frame and snake-like, cunning eyes.
Clinging to his body was a piece of magical equipment, or more precisely, a bizarre magical puppet.
It resembled a large centipede, crawling up from his right leg, coiling around his body, with a humanoid head protruding from one of his shoulders.
From the back of the puppet's torso, four long arms extended. Due to the way it crawled, it looked as though he had four extra arms sprouting from his back.
From inside the building, at the spot where the wall had been broken by the sword, a tall figure emerged.
He appeared over forty, with a stern, rugged face radiating the aura of a seasoned Warrior.
However, following behind him was a magical puppet even larger than himself, fully armored and wielding a massive sword, indicating that he was also a Mage.
He didn't speak, only staring intently at Tris, like a hunter watching dangerous prey.
Tris immediately recognized both of them.
After all, magical puppets were a hallmark of his village.
Even though the village had far more Mages than most places, they were still a minority. It wasn't difficult to know all the Mages by sight.
Moreover, from his time surveilling the village with "Feathers", Tris knew these two had direct ties to the village chief, Zyron.
"'Venomous Centipede' Kane and 'Ironclad' Silas, before we start, can you tell me why?" - Tris asked, staring at them.
"Work. Just work," Kane replied, his cunning eyes gleaming with amusement at the question.
Silas, the other, remained silent.
"Can you at least tell me who hired you? I don't recall doing anything to become a target." - Tris continued, probing despite his own guesses.
Your father received the job from the village chief and came here.
Judging from the wounds on Arven's body, it was clear he had been attacked from behind without any warning.
And these two were directly connected to the chief.
The mastermind was obvious—but why?
Why go this far to kill both him and his father?
"You really don't know?" - Kane asked, clearly intrigued.
"Know what?"
"That your abnormal existence is ..." Kane said and then suddenly attacked.
From the four long arms of his puppet, countless water blades shot directly at Tris.
Simultaneously, Silas acted. He commanded his puppet to charge at Tris.
Though heavily armored, it moved with alarming speed.
With a single glance, Tris realized Silas was using a technique similar to his own: enhancing his puppet with combat techniques to make it fight.
'A dangerous opponent for a confrontation.' - He assessed while dodging and blocking the water blades.
Before Silas's puppet could reach him, Tris pulled a small, round item from his waist pouch and threw it to the ground.
A cloud of smoke immediately erupted, enveloping the area.
Both Kane and Silas instantly went on guard and began casting spells to disperse the smoke.
They were veteran Mages and would not underestimate their opponent—especially knowing how this kid had defeated Zarek.
Once the smoke cleared, neither could see Tris at all.
The moment the smoke spread, Tris had already directed his two puppets, and together they dashed into the nearby forest to escape.
Seeing this, Kane and Silas immediately pursued.
Since everything happened in an instant, they quickly spotted Tris's back moving ahead.
As they chased, Kane continued launching water blades.
While Silas chanted, using his magic, Countless thorny vines sprouted near Tris, attacking him.
He simultaneously controlled his puppets to block the blades and cut through the vines, while the distance between them rapidly closed.
Soon, Silas's puppet reached Tris and launched an attack.
With a powerful swing, its massive sword cut through the air.
However, instead of dealing damage, it was blocked by the shield of one of Tris's two puppets.
The collision rang loudly, but using combat techniques, Tris's puppet remained unshaken.
Then both puppets unleashed a continuous series of moves, alternating offense and defense.
The battlefield became a storm of metal. Trees caught in the fray were torn apart, and even the surrounding ground was ravaged.
Kane was stunned.
He knew Tris was strong after seeing last year's competition, but this battle was on a whole other level.
He clearly understood Silas's power and his puppet.
Silas was arguably the village's top mage in close-combat puppet control. Few could withstand the overwhelming strikes of those powerful, crushing attacks.
Yet here was Tris, controlling one puppet with one hand to defend.
Not only that, he was commanding the other puppet to counterattack Kane and Silas.
'He can control two puppets simultaneously at this level!? That damn monster! No wonder people want him gone soon.' - Kane thought in terror.
When someone is talented, people call them a genius.
But when your talent is so high that others can't bear to face it, you become a nail sticking up, someone they want to hammer down.
Tris understood this and carefully hid much of his ability, avoiding unnecessary attention.
However, he misjudged the limits of those around him.
Without warning, they had already moved against him and his father.
In truth, this outcome stemmed from a chain of causes and events that even Tris himself did not yet know.