n

n

nAlphie continued to glare at him, and while he was distracted, cruz started to chant once more. Seeing this, he swung his hand to slap her, but she avoided it by stepping back

n

"You don't get it do you? Fighting back is only going to make things worse, besides, can't you hear that? It's been quiet, isn't it obvious what happened? THe party who you were waiting for to help you, are gone.

"

nHearing this Cruz slowed down her chant, he was right. Even if she had managed to get past him now, their whole dungeon trip would have been useless. Seeing this she stopped chanting.

n

"Ah... That expression where all your hopes of crushed... I can't get sick of it …

" Said the man with a wide grin

nBut the expression of despair on her face changed into an angered one as she quickly muttered

n

"Saint-Class Fire Magic: Flos ignea Cretaea

" Translation: Fiery Flower

n6 red hot petals were formed and merged together to form a flower

n

"You little...

"

nThe instant the flower was formed, it unleashed a red beam aimed straight at the man, with no other choice, he let go of Alphie and stepped to the side to avoid it

nThe flower had lost a petal before it quickly moved to shoot at him again when Cruz suddenly shouted

n

"Alphie Now-

"

nBefore she could finish the man avoided the next blast before he suddenly leapt at her, grabbed on to her neck and slammed her at the wall.

n

"CRUZ!

" Alphie shouted

n

"I'm telling you... A magician is useless at close range

"

nSeeing as how Cruz was in danger, Alphie began to chant but before she could finish the guy pulled back his fist and his gauntlets began to glow

n

"Another word out of your mouth and she dies. And cruz, if you don't think I see you noticed your spell charged up and aimed at us, then you're beyond help. Try it, you can shoot it at us, let's see who ends up getting hit.

"

nHearing this, Alphie slowly shut her mouth and gritted her teeth as tears began streaming down her face.

n

"Stop... That's enough... We don't need the reward... Just let her go... Please!

" Alphie begged him

nCruz was trying to say something but couldn't speak as he was squeezing at hurt neck. She had stopped struggling and her Fire Flower spell dispersed into thin air.

nAs she continued to glare at him with her fierce yellow eyes she opened her mouth and began to mutter a few words

n

"Come on now cruz, I'm giving you a chance here, beg for forgiveness. You should know better than to think you'll be able to chant in this situation.

"

nSeeing as how she wasn't stopping and her eyes were about to close, he moved his ear closer to hear what she was saying.

n

"S...cum... Die...

"

nThose were the only words he heard, and it was enough to make him snap.

n

"Ah, is that so, then, I'll grant you your death just like you asked.

"

nHe extended his fist with his gauntlets which had been glowing for a while now, seeing this, Alphie screamed as loud as she could

n

"STOOOP!-

"

n

"Tenebris Fulguranotiem

" Translation: Dark Lightning Flash

nSuddenly a flash of electricity was seen and the man suddenly stopped moving. A split second later he fell backwards to the ground and blood began to spurt out from cuts which had appeared all over his body

nAs he fell down, confused, the man tried to get up, but legs wouldn't move

n

"W-What's happening?

" He asked

nAs he laid on the ground and continued to stare at the ceiling, a boy appeared over him and stepped on his mouth

n

"Hey, old man. It's been a while.

" That boy was john

nWhen Alphie saw john, an intense feeling of relief passed through her, so much that it caused her legs to give out. Meanwhile, Cruz smiled as she slid down the fall and fainted.

nAston was the only one who couldn't believe what was happening. Not only did he not see the boy or his movements, but he didn't feel it either.

n

"W-What did you do to my legs?!

" The man asked

n

"Ah, if I cut it off, then some high-level healing spell might've been able to fix it, so rather than that, I thought, why not just paralyse him? So, I broke the entire Lumbar section of your spinal cord, healed it but misplaced it.

"

nThe man didn't seem to understand so John tried explaining it differently

n

"The spinal cord is generally categorised of the sections; Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar, Sacral, and coccyx. The lumbar cord contains spinal cord tissue and nerves which control communication between the brain and legs. So, by breaking it, you won't be able to control your legs. Easy to understand, right?

" John asked

nThe man listened with a frightened expression as the boy continued to talk about things he didn't understand.

n

"Hm... for my first try the paralysis went pretty well. I wasn't sure if it was going to work out after healing you, but i can get quite lucky.

"

n

"W-What are you talking about?

" Aston asked as he moved away from the wall with a shocked expression

n

"You, be quiet.

" Said john as he glanced at him

nAston couldn't believe that he was the same kid he saw earlier, he felt like a completely different person.

n

"Now, where was I? Ah, that's right, Since I already healed it, you probably won't be able to fix your spine with normal healing magic, although I'm not sure, this world can be messed up at times. Ah, but don't worry, Healing just advances your body to recover, so I'm sure there isn't a healing spell that can fix you.

"

nHearing this the man suddenly lowered his back on to the ground. Tears were now going down the man's eyes as it moved from the side of his face on to his brown scruffy hair. The expression of despair which he loved was now being displayed on his face.

n

"What was it that you said earlier? I can't get sick of it? Or something? Well, I'm sure you'll enjoy looking in the mirror after this.. And since you can't use your legs, you'll have to look for another profession. Win, Win, right?

" John asked

n