"Get under cover!" shouted Osmond as his staff slammed into the ground, the ground shifting and lifting debris up into the air to form a hardened roof that Guiteau ran under as the defensive spell bore the brunt of the hail lashing downwards from the clouds, the wind mage's Hurricane ineffective against a fellow wind spell of the same class as he smirked, holding his hand to his shoulder where he'd sustained a hit from one of the icy projectiles.
"That Marteau, acting like he's stronger now. It's only been four years since I taught him, but he's gotten arrogant." Guiteau said over the wind blowing through the cavernous space created by the earth spell as Osmond nodded, the 70-year-old man inhaling the air, chilled by the hailstorm that had descended onto them.
"Innocentius, you too!" the earth mage shouted over the wind, looking out where the Chevalier stood tall, looking back with a grin as he allowed himself to be pelted, his skin seemingly untouched by the heavy ice.
"Do you think my Mud Shell is so fragile that this would crack it? I can handle this all day, I'm not as soft and squishy as you two!" He raised his empty hand, turning to Marteau, whose wand was pointed in the air to direct the hailstorm. "You just keep up the wind as long as you can, I don't need that ifrit distracting me. Osmond, don't start using your big spells. I can handle it just fine, but Guiteau can't survive if he's exposed to this weather, and we need Marteau alive. Keep an eye out for the kid too. And, don't call me Innocentius! It's Kent!"
Before getting confirmation, he blinked as he heard a shout of pain from behind him, and as he turned around, his vision was blocked by the debris of what was once a sword flying through the air as Marteau stood close to him, his wrist red as he dropped the handle and jumped back from the man's reach.
"What are you made of?!" Marteau asked, holding his injured hand in the crook of his elbow while he kept his wand in the direction it needed to be in. "You don't have Shield, and you're so thin you can't be casting a shell spell! How could you shatter a sword on your neck?!"
Kent grinned, one eye narrowing as he closed his raised hand into a fist, Marteau stepping back as the old man spoke. "You're smart, getting out of my reach. Your intel tells you I don't have any ranged spells, impressive. And to even know I don't have Chevalier Style despite my position…" He shifted his stance, planting his foot behind him and bending his knee as he pulled his arm back. "It takes up every bit of my willpower to maintain my Mud Shell, what do you think Lady Piper told me when I first told her I'd created it?"
"I don't know who that is!" Marteau shouted, his eyes widening as Kent's knee straightened, launching him forward as his fist sprung ahead, his target shouting as he raised his arms to protect him from the punch.
A few seconds went by before he realized nothing had happened, and he opened his eyes, staring forward as Kent drew back, looking curiously at his hand and the blue flames that had erupted around his knuckles.
"Purgatory Flames." came the voice of Enjya, the child standing atop the earthen roof crafted by Osmond, and Guiteau jolted in surprise, looking up as if he could see through the stone.
"That's Enjya!" he called, turning to Kent. "Innocentius, those flames are-"
"It's Kent." the man stated, and Guiteau's eyes widened at the sight of the man standing still, rotating his hand to inspect the flames. "Hmm…" He lowered his hand, turning to look up above his fellow mages and check out the fire mage he'd been told about, and his grin softened to a smile. "So, you're Enjya. I saw what happened to Yuya, are these blue flames the same as those?"
Marteau's eyes widened, and he stepped back, his uninjured hand raised defensively as he fell back onto his rear, flinching at the feeling of his tailbone hitting the rubble. "What are you? Enjya's flames are able to eat away anything, what is your body made of?"
Kent hummed, glancing behind him at the man. "You're still asking that? You wouldn't just tell us all your plans, would you? Are you leading an army with so little conviction?"
Marteau blinked, before lowering his hand, the hailstorm slowly stopping as he closed his eyes. "I saw what nobles do in the shadows. It's all about who's able to pay each other off, who has the biggest army. Justice is decided by those in power. I don't want to live in a world like that. It's no better than that corrupt system Sahara created!"
He smiled, raising his hand in a fist to show his determination, before his expression dropped at the sight of the man standing before him.
Kent had stopped smiling, a scowl forming on his face as he glared at the water mage. "I'm an old man, much older than you. Not just you and that Enjya, but Guiteau, even Osmond...You're all just children. You're stepping on toys and calling yourselves giants."
"Kent, what are you talking about?" Osmond asked, frowning. "You're not much older than me, and your magic can't be used outside close combat!"
"Osmond, there's more to magic than you think." the man stated as the fire on his hand was extinguished, to the surprise of Enjya, who blinked, the Flame Serpent lifting from his body to slither through the air towards Kent, who by now had completely lost his normal excitement. "This magic of yours, it's strong, but it's untrained." He raised his hand, closing his fingers around the serpent despite its intangibility, and it froze, the flames shaking in the air before dissipating, and Enjya stepped back at the glare on his face.
"None of you know what real revolution is like. Revolution is not the destruction of a city to draw out important figures. It is not scapegoating nobility for all your problems." He raised his hand in the air to point at Enjya, though his gaze remained firmly fixed on Marteau, still sitting on the ground and staring up at the man. "Revolution is when the actions of a single person brings about a change in society. When one man's conviction to fight evil doesn't interfere with his desire to protect the weak, and he gives everything he has to show the world where it has gone wrong. What you're doing is just rebelling, forcing a change without laying the groundwork to show your desires to people who will listen."
The man's words carried a weight that the others heard but didn't understand, the man lowering his hand and stepping forward, leaning over to grab Marteau's hand, the man paralyzed by the forceful aura put out by Kent's rage and unable to do anything but accept the handhold.
"If you want to change the world, do it from a position where people will listen. This destruction is unnecessary, you can still change the world without ever casting a spell." His grin returned as he pulled his arm back, bringing Marteau to a standing position, though the man stumbled, falling to lean on Kent's shoulder.
"...Is this over already?" Guiteau asked, confused by what had happened. "But, Enjya-"
"Why is destruction bad?" the child asked, and Osmond's eyes widened, pushing Guiteau out of the cover of the earth roof as he jumped out himself, just in time for blue fire to eat through the rock.
Enjya's body was once more wreathed in flame as a second Flame Serpent had been cast, and he landed on the ground as the rock fell away under his feet as Marteau shook his head, eyes tearing up as he reached his injured hand to weakly push Kent's chest in an effort to back away.
"I know I'm weak." he said, shaking his head. "But, that child, Enjya's strong. If you start telling him he can't do something, he'll just get angry. Even you can't-"
He was cut off as the blue flames burst outward from the boy's body, the heat disrupting the Hurricane still raging as the air shimmered, and Guiteau blinked, raising his wand and holding his free hand to protect Osmond.
"It's the ifrit!" the wind mage stated as Enjya's form began losing definition, the air around him blurring in a combination of heat haze and a darkening cloud that caught the blue fire and started swirling it in a current around the boy, extending outward as he was lifted off the ground. "He's creating smoke for it to reside in. Osmond, can you make another-"
"It's no good." Marteau said, eyes closing as he let himself go limp, held up entirely by Kent's arm strength. "He's just a commoner, but he has more potential for devastation than anyone since the early nations were founded. That spell is…"
Kent narrowed his eyes, carrying the man with him as he stood behind Osmond, nodding to the other man. "Osmond, you're free to use your big spells now. I'll be fine even if it doesn't work, but this guy's not lying. I don't know what I did, but the kid's snapped."
The headmaster of the Academy was silent for a moment, before nodding, raising his staff to chant. "Feoh. Nyd. Beorc."
As the chant went on for several more seconds, Enjya laughed, the darkening current of air around him igniting as it continued to expand. "I'm not pretending to be strong! I really am strong, Marteau told me so! This Hurricane, you can track people, right? I'll use it, I'll find Philippe!"
Rubble and soil alike packed themselves into a cylinder surrounding the child, Osmond narrowing his eyes as his magic packed the particles together into a dense structure, changing to a dark green as it continued compressing, the structure thin but full of so much material that the area they were standing in began losing its stability, forcing Guiteau to redirect his Hurricane to lift the two up, though Kent wasn't moved, the density of Mud Shell keeping him on the ground despite the sinking dirt.
"Ignore me, just keep casting." the man said, grinning as he crossed his arms, and Osmond nodded, completing his chant at last.
"Gabbro Shield!" he called, twirling his staff as the conglomerate hardened, a tower of super-dense rock extending into the sky as inside, Enjya looked around, humming as at the conical top of the stack, the ifrit-boosted flames angrily pushed against the material.
"Wildfire."