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“Retreat! He’s invincible! Everyone, pull back!”
Deowi chuckled as he took a seat on a waxy lump, resting his right foot on it such that his knee pointed towards the sky. Behind him, there was a tunnel leading into a massive honeycomb structure. The fire spirit race man leaned forward and placed his elbow on his right knee, his body shrinking in on itself as he relaxed. “That’s right,” Deowi said and grinned. “Get out of here. This beehive belongs to the Extreme Heat Clan now.”
There was a group of people, who were dressed in the same model of plate armor, gathered across from Deowi. Half of the group was collapsed on the ground, their armor riddled with holes that had melted edges. Broken weapons lay on the ground, the metal ones no longer straight and the wooden ones shortened with charred edges. The people who were still in good condition gritted their teeth and helped their fallen companions up. One of them glared at Deowi. “We won’t forget this, Extreme Heat Clan.”
Deowi burst out into laughter. “Good,” he said. “Very good. Come fight me or my clan whenever you wish. Bring the best equipment and weapons you can find, but don’t expect to get any of them back once you lose.”
“How arrogant,” a voice said, coming from the sky. A man with wings made of water descended, landing in between the group of people and Deowi. The man wore a full set of blue, plate armor. He raised the visor on his head and looked around before his gaze settled on Deowi. “An explorer bullying a small-time clan, how shameful.”
“There’s nothing shameful about having a little bit of fun,” Deowi said as he climbed to his feet, the flames around his body surging upwards. “Some adults still sleep with stuffed animals. Some explorers still fight with noobs. I don’t see a problem with either.”
“Ridiculous,” the armored man said and raised his arm. An amber glow flashed from underneath his gauntlet, and a halberd appeared in his hand. He grunted as he swung the halberd downwards to point the tip at Deowi. The weapon shone with a blue light, and a layer of water coated the weapon.
“Did you pull that weapon out just for me?” Deowi asked, raising an eyebrow at the shimmering halberd.
“Precisely,” the armored man said. “I have multiple halberds, each constructed with the ability to use a different element in combat. A true explorer is prepared for any situation. If you don’t take out your weapon now, I won’t give you a chance after the fight starts.”
“That’s fine,” Deowi said and took a step towards the armored man. “My greatest weapon is right here.” Deowi took in a deep breath and stomped forward with his left foot. His right arm jabbed forward, and a torrent of flames flew towards the armored man.
The enemy explorer took a step forward and thrust his halberd at the pillar, causing an explosion of steam to occur. The flames and water both died away at the same time, vapor rising off the weapon. Deowi smirked, and he took another step forward, punching out with his left hand, shooting another pillar of flames at the steamy area.
“That won’t work,” the armored man said and thrust his halberd again. A large amount of water flowed from the weapon’s tip, coating the halberd in a layer three times as thick as before. The weapon collided with the pillar of flames, creating wisps of steam, but unlike the previous collision, Deowi’s flames consumed the steam, the fire burning brighter and hotter than before.
“What the—?” the armored man threw his weapon forward and leapt backwards, distancing himself from his now-melting weapon.
“What’s wrong?” Deowi asked as he walked towards the enemy explorer. When Deowi passed the burning weapon, the flames surged towards him and combined with the flames that made up his body, leaving a melted puddle of metal behind on the ground. “You don’t look half as confident as you did before.”
“S-shut up!” the enemy explorer said. “You can’t even see my face! How do you know what I’m feeling?”
Deowi blinked and stared at the man’s head. The fire spirit race member’s gaze shifted from the man’s eyes up to the wide-open visor. Then, Deowi’s gaze shifted back down.
The armored man’s face flushed red before he reached up and slammed his visor down with a clang. “Damn! My ears,” he mumbled and glared at Deowi through the slits in his helmet. “What kind of flames can burn away sticky-toad drool? That doesn’t make any sense.” He held out his hand, and an amber flash appeared from underneath his left gauntlet. A red gem appeared in his palm. He pressed it against his armor, and the metal changed from blue into red. Then, a red sword and red shield appeared in his gauntleted hands. “Nothing a little fire resistance can’t fix.”
Deowi narrowed his eyes at the man’s armor, his feet still moving towards the enemy explorer. Deowi closed his hands into a fist, and a few flickers of fire appeared above his knuckles. With each step he took, more and more flickers appeared in the same position beyond his knuckles, stacking inside one another but not increasing in size. The flickers gradually increased in number until they formed a shining cone. By the time Deowi had taken his fourth step the cone had finished forming, the flames giving off a pure-white light. Deowi dashed forward, closing the distance between himself and the armored man in an instant. Deowi shouted, “Blazing leg sweep!” and threw a punch at his enemy’s chest.
“Legsweep?” the armored man asked, his eyes shifting a little lower. He grunted and pulled his left arm back to his body, defending his chest with his shield. “You tried to trick—!”
Deowi’s fist pierced through the man’s fire-resistant shield and armor before coming out of the man’s back. The man coughed out a mouthful of blood and lowered his head to look at the flaming arm piercing through his chest. “My mithril armor, how did you…?”
“Wait, this thing was mithril?” Deowi asked and quickly retracted his hand. “Damn! Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I wouldn’t have put a hole in it if I knew!” He lowered his head to be eye-level with the man’s injury. “Damn, there’s actually two holes. I guess I’ll have to sell it before Yeol finds out.”