No Deal

Amil tried his best to stir his internal Alm to break free from what he assumed was an ancient fairy with tremendous power but was not able to. Even though he couldn't move and wasn't able to see, he was still able to sense his surrounding and more importantly, how Brenner still seemed to be fishing. 'Is he not affected by the fairy because it's stopping me? If I can still sense him, that means I still have some Alm control. Sorry Brenner, I can't control it very well, but I hope it doesn't hit you.'

Amil thought and apologized in his mind before suddenly forming what appeared to be letters made of condensed wind Alm. With much effort he was able to form them above Brenner and launched it right in front of him, leaving a small and short-lived splash beneath his feet and the words "green collar" etched into the ground underneath the water.

"Bahahaha, to think you could still control Alm while being paralyzed, and a wind element user like me, I knew there was something I liked about you. Trying to attack that kid after just hearing my offer, very admirable." Said the echoing voice in Amil's mind.

"You underestimate me, stupid old fairy. If you want to make a deal with me, you'll have to do as I say first." Said Amil in his mind before being blown back a few dozen feet from Brenner's kick.

Flying back and being unable to land properly because he was paralyzed made Amil skid on the rocky ground.

'Ha… That hurt much more than I thought it would.' Amil thought to himself as he began to be able to move his body.

'Shit, even though I can't hear that stupid fairy anymore, how do I deal with it? Brenner's mind goes blank until he runs out of Alm whenever we start sparring. If that dumb fairy comes back and paralyzes me again while we're sparring things will get dangerous.'

As Amil got up, he glanced up and saw Brenner with his eyes wide open and staring into the sky. But what scared Amil was the shadowy figure craning behind Brenner.

"That's a fairy?! Yelled Amil out of fright. Its body was surrounded by a shadowy mist, and its long arms were gently hanging on Brenner's sides. Nails that looked more like needles were piercing the ground and looked as if they were ready to pick him up. But the most terrifying thing was the smiling face that was looking straight at Amil. White snake-like eyes with blood red hair and long black tinted shark teeth that were sporadically placed inside its mouth. Amil regained his composure as his brother began to scream.

"Get away from him, you damn ugly fairy." Amil said as he grabbed the dagger hanging from his makeshift leather belt and threw it with wind reinforced Alm. The dagger was aimed at the face of the shadowy creature, but it just passed straight through it and continued flying.

"Even if I can't make a deal with him, I can at least influence the actions of a mindless puppet." Said the shadowy figure within Amil's mind.

As Amil's Alm filled bloodlust shot out, the fairy stabbed his needle like nails into the inside of its mouth and completely ripped out its own jaw. Even though Amil was filled with rage, he could not help but be surprised at what he had just seen. While there was no blood coming out and only a pit of darkness remained from where his jaw used to be, it was still gruesome enough to stop Amil from charging in. The fairy then lowered its arm and placed its ripped-out teeth in front of Brenner. Without hesitation, Brenner grabbed the teeth from one end and they completely pierced through his hand, wrist, and fingers. As blood began to drip on the ground, Brenner clenched his left hand and the teeth began to change shape. The teeth near his hand began to shape into an inverted ribbed shell swept hilt with teeth pointing outward and a long fang-like blade began to protrude from the middle of the hilt. As the fang-like blade began to emerge, the surrounding teeth all began to shrink and merge onto the blade. A spiked razor shark blade.

"Whispering fairies, huh…" Amil said with a baffled tone.

"You know, it doesn't matter what you are, an ancient fairy or a demon, I'm going to cut off the other half of your face. It doesn't matter, you're just some rotten wind that I have to blow awa-" The fairy once again spoke in his mind and interrupted him.

"So he's your brother?" With a simple question, Amil felt a shocking chill throughout his entire body and his mind went blank. "Interesting." Continued the voice in his head.

"How about you make a deal with me, or you can die at the hands of your own brother." The fairy reached Brenner's hip with its nails pulled and out the short sword out of its sheath while forming a deformed smile with its leftover jaw. As it tossed the short sword in front of Amil's feet, it began to laugh and said, "Good luck."

Amil reached for the short sword in front of him and quickly tried to jump back but Brenner had catapulted himself towards Amil by using his Alm on the rocks underground to propel himself forward. Amil coated the sword with Alm and the condensed wind lengthened the short sword's reach. Brenner rocketing towards Amil swung the shark blade horizontally with tremendous momentum and Amil swung the short sword downwards onto Brenner's swing to try and propel himself upwards and parry the attack. But as Amil's wind blade manifestation hit the shark blade, it started to be absorbed and the short sword return to its normal state. Amil didn't expect his Alm to be absorbed and one of spikes on the shark blade grazed his forearm as his swing continued its path. Once again Amil was blown back a few dozen feet, but this time he was able to land on his feet and quickly swapped his sword to his right hand while creating wind spears above him. Brenner dashed towards Amil but rather than fighting him head on, Amil launched the spears straight at him just to see them being absorbed by the shark blade as Brenner parried them.

'Does that spiked sword absorb Alm? No, that can't be possible. The demon said its element was also wind, which probably means his Alm control is far better than mine and he's neutralizing my attacks.' While trying to think of a strategy to counter the sword, Brenner began to form wind spears above him as well.

"What the hell! How!?" As Amil screamed, the spears were launched directly at him. Unable to dodge, Amil strengthened his body with Alm and tried to put a wind barrier in front of him before the spears hit, but the wind barrier was not able to block all of them and one of the spears broke through his Alm boost and pierced his right shoulder. 'Fuck! How can Brenner use long range wind attacks when he's an earth elemental conductor? Is it the sword?' While Amil was trying to figure out a plan of attack, he had already been injured twice.

"Are you surprised? This is the power that I can give you, stop your pointless struggle and accept my deal." The voice echoed in his mind again only to infuriate him further. 'Wait, a deal? That means he needs something from me, I can make him leave Brenner alone if I agree to his deal.' Amil began to think of a plan after hearing the demon's words. But all it took to dissuade him from making a deal with the demon, were the tears rolling down his brother's face.