Tales of Astora: Legacy

Chapter 81: Let's go fishing!

Chapter 81: Let's go fishing!

With his two bright red eyes, the only thing visible inside that darkness behind the cloak, the figure scanned the boy intensively who clearly showed signs of anxiety and was on his guard. Then it uttered.

"...Edward Osborne...born on the 14th of December ten years ago under the star of the Enchanter....possesses a strong affinity with magic but only discovers his talent after meeting with....Alastor. Interesting! But judging from the brief time you spent together, I am sure he won't miss you that much..."

"What? How do you know who I am?" yelled the boy.

"It doesn't matter. You will be gone soon anyway. Let me free you from this curse!"

"Don't you dare think that I will do whatever you want! <Raging Gale>"

With a single swing of his small arm, Edward created a powerful wind blade capable of cutting anything on its path toward the mystery man.

"Why do they always resist even when they know that they are going to die anyway?" the figure muttered. A dark smoke appeared around the stranger before forming a large obsidian scythe with a huge curvy razor-sharp blade. Wielding it with ease, the figure swung his scythe at light speed and slashed the wind blade in two, letting them cutting down the trees behind him.

But just before the shadow could react, Edward has teleported himself next to him, lunging his flaming fist to the figure's face. "Eat this!" The attack was at point blank. There was no way the shadow could do anything to avoid it. A simple and rather straightforward attack it might seem but quite difficult to execute. The user needed to be able to control the flame around his hand without letting the flame damaging himself. This technique required a very high level of concentration and would normally be available only for those who have mastered the art of magic. The attack itself would result in an explosion upon impact, setting the opponent of fire while Edward could redirect the force released by the blast toward his opponent. In other words, it was equivalent to take on a flaming cannonball fired at point blank that would normally kill anyone.

Yet, something felt wrong. The heat he felt from his flame has disappeared. Instead, his hand was cold freezing in such a way that it was let out in the open during a snowstorm. Furthermore, the boy could not feel any impact at all, as if he has missed.

He didn't. He saw it hit. Or at least that was what Edward thought he saw until he realized that his fist has actually passed right through the stranger without doing anything to him. It was just like the shadow was never there. And was his hand frozen, covered in a thin layer of ice, when it touched him?

"You...what did you do?" the boy, holding his frozen hand, spoke in surprised.

"What a delicious soul! So pure and warm! I was right to choose you for my collection after all. With such a wondrous soul, you will make a fine Reaper." The figure stated in a joyful tone. "Now, come!"

A skeleton hand poked out of the dark cloak and reached out to Edward, catching his frozen arm as it began to pull the boy back to the figure.

"Do not resist, young Edward! I promise I will make this as painless as possible."

"I will not submit to you." Using his other hand, Edward shot a fireball at the ghost, setting it on fire for a moment. However it did not last long as the flame was quickly extinguished. No matter how much he fired at him, nothing seemed to work as they either passed right through him or ended up being frozen in place before disappearing. "Why...? Why don't my attacks work?"

"You are strong, Edward, the strongest I have met so far. And you have so much potential. But unfortunately for you, I cannot die. It is not fair but you will have to forgive me. After all, I cannot deny my nature." The voice gently spoke.