Ascal Goes All In

"It looks like Ascals dropping his weapon." I state

"It would seem Ascal found a path to victory that his sword would hinder." Alter replies

Ascal's breathing began to slow down, his hesitation and restraint turned into absolute confidence. Ella gave him no more time and charged at him. She slams down her hammer onto Ascal but she misses. Ascal's body was only inches away from the strike. A near perfect dodge.

"Come on, don't tell me you won the tournament with that kinda aim. If I wasn't sick that day looks like I would've been the champ." Ascal says taunting her.

Ella again pays no mind to his remarks and continuously swings her hammer all over the place. Her swings cause massive damage to the surrounding floor but Ascal skillfully moves around each obstacle. He skillfully moves around her attacks and lands precise hits against her head and body. The impacts barely look as though they hurt Ella as she continues to swing aimlessly.

"Strength enhancement!" Ascal shouts

"So the boy knows strength enhancement. Gabe must have taught him that skill. I wonder what other skills Gabe may have taught him?" Alter says

Ascal's attacks had a new impact on her. Each strike he landed seemed to shake Ella's stance. Eventually to the point where he was now on the offensive. Ella tried to regain her aggression but every move she made Ascal shut down. 

He really is skillful. Had he fought like this against me it would have been a completely different battle. I never would have guessed Ascal had this kind of talent. I thought he was just kind of an idiot. 

The onslaught didn't end and the battle seemed to lean more and more in Ascal's favor. Before Ascal could land a devastating blow Ella jumped back. When she looked up in her eyes it was clear that her mind was calm and her body had recognized that. 

"Holy crap Ascal you're still alive?" Ella questioned

"I told you no matter what happened I wouldn't lose to you. Even in that berserker state of yours. No one can defeat the great Ascal besides the adults of course." Ascal gloats

"Well I'm impressed that was the skill that won me the championship. I don't even remember winning it."

"So? How about we fight for real this time?"

"Alright but I'm still mad at you so don't expect me to hold back."

They both rushed at each other and both Ella's hammer and Ascal's fists met. In the contest of strength Ella overcame Ascal and slammed his hand into the ground. Ascal used his other hand to handstand then double kick Ella in the face. Basically doing an entire flip. 

Ella falls to the ground and even though that kick definitely left a couple of marks Ascal's hand was in way worse condition. He put his uninjured hand to his heart and called out.

"Combatants drive!" A white glow surrounded Ascal.

"That's an elf spell. The boy knows both Elven and dwarven magic?" Alter points out.

"What race is Ascal? I don't think I ever asked." I ask.

"No one knows."

"How could that be?"

"He arrived here as a baby. No bit of information was connected to him. No one even knows his parents."

I guess Ascal has had it pretty rough. Even so he seems to be doing alright for himself. I guess Ascal accomplished something I didn't.

Slowly Ascal's hand regenerated back to normal. They both went blow for blow but in the end they both got too exhausted to move another inch. The fight ended in a draw. 

"Where am I?" Ella said 

"We're at the back of the school. The teachers thought it best to separate both you and Ascal though I thought that fight was sufficient." I responded

"You know we fought because of you."

"What? You know I've been meaning to ask what I did wrong."

"I'm sure you already realized but my mom isn't around anymore. She died back when the wars were more frequent. Some kid made a mistake and caught fire to all of one specific herb we needed to help with wounds and other ailments. My mom decided to go up, sneak around, and grab some. She didn't come back for days, weeks, until a whole month went by. Dad was too worried not to look for her so he decided to go up to try and find her. When dad came back he came back with a corpse holding the herb we needed. I guess when people bring up their ill will towards their parents it gets to me."

"I can't believe I'd say something like that around you Ella. In truth I was just putting on a brave face. I miss my mom a lot. Every day I think about her and my dad, all the others as well."

"I guess we're both miserable, hahaha." She laughed in a more saddened and awkward tone.

"I guess so."

The school day ended with both Ascal and Ella making up. Their fight was something else. Looking at all the other kids in the training school I don't think any of them would come close to these two. Ella and I walked home together and took turns telling stories about our mothers. What they liked, how they acted, and much more.

Ella." Gabe said quietly but still grabbed her attention. He then clapped two times and pointed to her room. Ella took no time and quickly headed to her room but made sure to close the door very quietly.

"Hey kid, did you notice something?" He was still quiet.

"What are you talking about gabe and what was that thing earlier?" I asked 

Instead of saying what he wanted to convey he instead closed his eyes and looked like he was constipated or something. After that failed he grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote in a language I didn't know. Once he noticed I couldn't read it he put the parchment down and put a finger out from each hand. He then put his hands up to his head making it look like he had horns… My sense of life immediately went off. There's a demon right above the underground city. And he is far stronger than those brothers, combined.

"What's he.." Before I could finish my sentence Gabe stopped me.

Right, higher tier races like lesser demons typically have heightened senses. It's possible that one could have a gift for heightened hearing. Even if he couldn't hear us he could probably sense us if we caused a kind of commotion. So Gabe and the others have decided to play it on the safe side. Smart move if you'd ask me.

There's multiple problems here but for now, how do we talk to each other?

"Goddess, is there any way for Gabe and I to talk to each other without speaking?"

"Well he could write something down and I could read it. I know every language after all."

"Why didn't you do that before?" I asked

"Well you didn't ask me to, plus I was looking through your memories." 

"Alright well one stop peeking at my memories and two translate for me please."

I then signaled Gabe to write again. He told me that they had scouts notice the demon enter the area recently but it seems like he's just endlessly wandering. For now everyone's been mandated to keep quiet and stay within the middle of their houses. Gabe, the leader, and other high up members of the community will all gather to write what they want to do about the situation. Finally he said I should join him in the meeting as his family. 

I couldn't write to respond but I stood tall and gave a salute. I can't just hide and do nothing. The others might need me to help so not going would be a waste of time for everyone.

Gabe and I made our way over to the meeting hall which was the building to the right of the hospital. The others were already there and writing to each other. The meeting hall was large with a big round table in the middle of the room. On the walls were paintings and other types of artwork. Armour stands, weapons, It would be easier to list the stuff that wasn't in this room. 

"So now that Gabe accompanied by his demon slaying friend are both here, how about we commence the meeting." The leader of the city suggests.

"I concur, what we have here is a classic scenario of waiting in silence." A man to my right suggests.

"But how about luring the demon away. We could create a loud noise in a distant forest." The man across from me writes.

"No, no, no that won't work. These guys are sharp. Instead of tracking down the noise he'll track down the person that made it. That would land all of us in danger." Gabe shuts the idea down.

"What do you suggest we do Gabe? I believe you would be best suited for the planning of what to do next." The leader wrote with a confident look.

Gabe gave me a look. Without a word I could tell what he wanted to know from me. I gave him a nod only a couple seconds later.

"I say.. We will take this beast down ourselves!" Gabe declared in writing.