Clang clang clang
The sound of clashing metal filled the cave as Asta jumped around slashing at Lily.
Both were skilled, none worse than the other to the point even Asta with his many lifetimes of the experience failed to land a decent blow.
He looked at Lily, repelling her dagger with a riposte and knocking her away while tried to sense her position.
Her magic and fighting style were a match made in heaven, A silent Assassin who could vanish right in front of you was something Asta didn't expect to be sent after him so soon.
However he was not panicking, his composure fully calm and collected as he let his instincts take over and grabbed the sword hilt with both hands.
Tip tip , the sound of water drops falling in constant rhythm spread throughout the cave, the world overtaken by silence as nothing was left untouched by Lily except the roof and small stream far behind.
Asta used ki sense and failed to find her, which left him on the defensive while Lily could wait like predator in the bushes( a scientifical way of saying she was a runner during a pvp.)
Asta suddenly felt goosebumps, his senses picking up hostility in all directions. He closed his eyes, tightening his focus on the hostility.
'a fake feint.' Was the Thought that popped up in his head as sensed a dagger coming towards his neck.
He shifted his footing, ducking under the attack as he swung the sword hilt towards Lily who also dodged but it was all within Asta's expections.
Asta let go of the sword, grabbed Lily's wrist and sweeped her legs and kicked her in the guts, making her fly away and crash into the while he grabbed Mugen.
"Quick blade: hastened defence"
Asta shifted his stance, raising his sword to block a kick from the side where Lily just appeared from and the first lily faded away into the darkness.
"Nice try... But you have a lot to learn." Asta told her in cold voice, disarming her with a judo throw as he swung her by the feet and bashed her onto the ground.
Lily's dagger was tossed away by Asta alongside his Mugen while he raised his arms for unarmed fight.
He was calm and collected, his fighting sense completely taking over his actions as he silently attacked with a stomp which Lily rolled out off, only to recieve a knee strike and sent sliding across the floor.
Lily rolled mid-slide, standing up as she wipes the blood off her face and also changed his stance for fight.
Now both fighters look at eachother, ready to charge at a moment's notice.
Savage Boar
Asta was the first to attack, his stance changing to offense as he charged forward, his body speeding up as he lifted his fist and slammed it into Lily's guard.
Then he couches quickly, his hands on the ground as he dodged a punch that hits the wall and blasted it to pieces.
He channels his ki, power surged through his as he slams his fist into Lily.
Asta then followed up with a elbow to the chin and finally chopped Lily at the neck, knocking her unconscious within seconds.
However the fight wasn't without problems as he lifted his hand and pulled three almost invisible needle from it, each was coated with some sort of poison and Asta wasn't a expert in any one of them.
"I have to leave" he said to himself, his hands already moving as he tied up Lily in iron chains and called Goliath and ride out of the cave on it.
He was full throttled, zooming past the forest as he turned towards the town and sped up towards it.
He felt himself going weak, his vision getting blurry but he persists and kept moving, but just as he reached half-way across the forest, he begins feeling dizzy.
The world begins spinning in his eyes,he felt his own body go limp, he tried enduring it but he was getting weaker with each passing second.
"What a nuisance"
Asta brought out redemption and stabbed it into his leg, spreading pain throughout his body that jolted him wide awake in a instant.
Using the pain as a distraction, he forcefully slowed down his heartbeat a little with ki and told Yubin to take over as his eyes.
"We are at the lake, go left-front."
" Left."
" Straight ahead."
Yubin gave Asta the directions, while Asta fought to stay awake and kept fighting against the poison and eventually, they both reach the town.
Asta drops down, falling onto the Goliath that fell like a meteor and came crashing down right in front of the inn.
Two people were standing at the gate, their body wrapped in bandages as they were sipping on some until Asta crashed right in front of them.
"Are you seeing what I am seeing?"
"I am sure we are seeing the same thing but," *sips on the juice* "We told this moron to run."
Gunther and Quill looked at asta who was dead pale and looked like fish out of water with his arms and legs being white.
*********
"Cough... Where am.. I?"
Asta opened his eyes weakly, his body in pain as he tries to move around to see where he was.
He was in a room, a familiar inn room he slept in for days but now having some makeshift arrangement for the walls instead.
He pushed himself up, each movement causing immense pain, his body completely stiff as if made of rubber.
He was covered in bandages on his arms, the anti-magic grimoire lay beside him with the Goliath placed near the bed's edge.
"I guess I survived.. but-", Asta's eyes were filled with fury, the rage directed at the Assassin who attacked him and he will for sure, get his payback.
"ASTA!"
Asta heard Yubin's voice, a reminder for him to come back to reality as Yubin lunged onto him from the window and hid in his collar.
"Save me!" Yubin pleaded, much to Asta's confusion.
" Save you from who? Who is be–"
A figure came flashing through the window, his arms held in front as if ready to catch something.
Asta, who had enough of being lunged on for the week, raised his hand and grabbed the figure by the neck and tossed them back out of the window.
"I hate this already!"
Asta grumbled while groaning in pain and sat on the edge of the bed where he saw a small letter and some soup which was dead cold.
The letter says:
- You moron, we told you to run but you just wouldn't listen. Luckily, despite not knowing why Celes and they are acting like psychopaths but Coach Yamata and Alvina(Charlotte) took them both away.
We will be in our room if you need anything and... If you see that guy called Garde or whatever, just bash him down before he could do some tomfoolery.-
Asta read the note and was left in bafflement.
"I am.. speechless." He said slowly as he turned to the window where Garde was trying to climb up through. "Both you and that girl are nothing but problems."
"Sorry. I was just a little too excited.", Garde stuck out his tongue in a 'Oops' expression.
Asta looks at Garde and sighs, he had no hope in descendants of Luinins, atleast not Garde.
With great effort, Asta stood up with a yawn and streched his body which made crackling sound during it.
He slowly walked towards the window in disappointment, staring into Garde's sparkling eyes as he did so. Not a shed of doubt visible in those eyes.
He stood face to face with him, opened his mouth and said one word " Begone."
Asta slammed down the window frame right onto Garde's fingers, making him wince in pain and fall down to the ground while he himself went to the bathroom and put on his clothes after a quick bath.
The last few days have been a nightmare for him, from having to deceive assassins to dealing with dumb accidents and even being poisoned. This truly was the worst week he had in a while.
Asta felt his morale hit rock bottom. He had enough, he didn't want to be in this town for one more minute.
"I need a vacation... Maybe going gambling with captain and Magna will help. *Slurp* or maybe some seaside place will a good picnic spot."
Asta was already imagining himself sitting on a beach with a coconut in hand and a bunch of snacks and minerals for him for him and Yubin, Far away from the constant problems coming his way.
However his imagination didn't last wrong as a knock came on his door and a small child barges in.
The child was girl of barely seven or something and had a letter in hand which she handed to Asta and left.
"Well well, now what is th-", Asta was stopped in his tracks, the letter shattering any hope he had of a vacation.
It was a repair bill for all the destruction that had happened in town because of them. It was almost equal to 90% of his money including the reward for the Lilith battle.
Asta looked upwards, tears dwelling in his eyes as he cursed his luck with the most insulting words he could fight for a intangible thing.
And just like that, Asta had lost most of his funds in a instant. He was now as broke as captain Yami.