The silent elf contorted his back in such a way that he was able to look towards the Dragonheart in the middle of his flip, using his free hand to snap his fingers. In that same instant, emerald mana manifested itself into thorny chains that swept around Emilio.

'Magecraft? Wordless, at that–he's skilled,' Emilio thought. historical

"I can do that, too," the Dragonheart muttered.

With a flick of his wrist, chains of solidified fire burned into the air, spiraling like a hellish weaving of threads as they pressed against the hunter's emerald bindings. Using his free hand to guide the flaming chains, he wrapped them around the others, tearing them away from himself.

Just as he freed himself from the wrath of the thorny chains, the tip of a blackened blade sailed towards his jugular.

He spun to the side, narrowly avoiding the piercing point of the hunter's weapon. A ticklish sensation ran over his neck, having to question for a second if he was actually injured as he felt his own throat.

As he readied himself again, he addressed the silent hunter, "Hey! Don't you talk at all? You're no different from a robot."

"Silence."

That single word was enough to grip his attention, finally finding sound to leave the lips of the lanky hunter.

The Harken stood there with his short, bristly hair of opalescent silver brushing by the wind, staring with those eyes that held no compassion in them.

"...So, you can speak, then?" Emilio asked, breathing out.

It seemed there was no intent for a conversation as the leather-armored hunter faded away into the foliage silently without a response. There was only subtle rustling within the bushes as the lanky figure somehow manages to use the overgrowth as cover.

"Nice moves, but that won't work on me," Emilio said, swiping his sword.

The swing of his blade was extended by a sweeping punishment of wind. Like a breath blowing away the strands of a dandelion, the leaves from the bushes were culled by the sharp air. At the exact moment the foliage was stripped away by the wind, the Dragonheart felt something coming at him from the left, rapidly.

He ducked down, looking up as he witnessed the silent blade of the hunter barely miss a strike originally aimed for his head.

With the essence of a counterattack in mind, he slammed his hand against the soil, commanding the bed of nature to erupt upward with a lance of stone. As the punishing limb of nature extended towards the stealthy elf, he looked up, watching as the black-eyed figure contorted his body to avoid being pierced.

The sound of bones shifting resembled that of stones being slammed together. Like a spider moving its long limbs, the harken elf slid past the erupting spear of stone, falling towards the Dragonheart.

"You're outmatched here," Emilio remarked, pointing his index finger towards the falling harken before snapping his fingers.

Briefly, the air was stifled, secluding from a singular, spherical zone around the plummeting hunter. In that split-second, the oxygen was pulled away forcibly from the man-eating hunter's lungs.

Emilio watched as the breathless harken crashed down into the ground, slamming into the firm soil.

'Physically, I can handle this one without shifting. Still, I can see why–' Emilio thought.

His thought process was intercepted as something pierced towards the air, soaring straight towards the spot between his eyes. With his instincts rising over his rationale, his amethyst eyes shifted into their draconic glow, honing in on the projectile that primed itself for his head.

An upward swipe of his sword caught the sharp-pointed object before it collided with his skin, deflecting it as it flung against one of the neighboring trees.

"...Close, again," he remarked under his breath.

In his mind, he knew that tapping into the stages of his system would lead to a quick victory, but that's not the outcome he sought–not yet.

'I need to learn more. I have to see for myself what these "Harken" are capable of–show your hand to me,' he thought.

It was as if his thoughts were heard as the elven hunter dashed towards him, shifting through the tall grass swiftly. Even when moving quickly, the lanky figure didn't make much noise, creating a creepiness to his movements.

It wasn't just that; the way the harken member ran was as if he was leaning abnormally to one side, almost as if the ground itself was at a different angle for him.

Emilio didn't intend to wait and counterattack, instead taking initiative for himself as he pressed his leather boot against the dirt firmly.

The ground rumbled as if it was awoken abruptly from slumber before splitting up, giving way as humanoid figures of stone and soil rose from its crust.

A dozen of the ravenous golems pulled themselves from the soil they were carved from, lunging and grabbing at the harken.

'--"Resurrection of Death's Soil"--a spell I made myself. I used a bit of inspiration from Husks: these golems are infused with the command to be "insatiable" at the sight of my enemies,' he thought.

"Go get 'em," Emilio commanded with a wave of his metallic arm.

He further enchanted the veracious golems, caressing them in crimson flames as they surrounded the hunter.

For the first time, he brought the harken member to a pause as the unnaturally tall figure stood still, glancing around with his black eyes.

Every movement the thin, towering elf made felt methodical; as if puppeteering his own body with pragmatic actions, guided by unseen strings.

In a graceful stride, the hunter dashed forward, evading the touch of the flaming golems as he spun around with his blade in hand.

A single spin with those long, spider-like limbs gave the edge of the blade enough reach to slice through multiple golems.

'You're kidding me? There's not even an ounce of hesitation from this guy,' Emilio thought.

The effortless technique of the harken member couldn't be understated; there was no strain worn on his expression or sweat that cast itself from his pores.

None of the golems came close to touching the black-eyes hunter, who swiftly cut them apart into pieces as the flames were scattered into fading embers.

"Let's try this, then," Emilio muttered as he held his hand forward.