Hello there everyone! I hope you all have been enjoying the back to back Slice of Life chapters in Spellcasting Swordsman lately. I just wanted to give a heads up that the next chapter will be the start of a new little "arc" or adventure for Everett and co. I hope you all have a good day/night and enjoy this chapter since it's all about the homies in this one! Take care now.

Chapter 29: Stuck With Me.

As of this moment I think I'm finally beginning to fall for one of my best guy friends.

I'm kidding of course… I think. Anyways, it's been a week since our amazing barbecue night we had. Everyone had lots of fun, especially me and my girls of course but that's for another time. During the past week snow has begun to fall! And surprisingly enough I love the snow way more than I thought. Hell, I'm currently outside standing in the backyard of the Greyrat Manor with Anastasius and Leo. Anas doesn't really like the cold it looks like, so that sucks. Leo on the other hand is obsessed with snow.

I heard Anas groan while he was lying down in the snow, face first of course.

"Eve, why the hell do you have us out here…" He mumbled.

I acted like I couldn't hear him and got closer to him and did my best old man impression, "Huh? Did you say something sunny boy?"

"I said…" He mumbled, "Why do you have us out here in the damn cold you long haired idiot!"

Anastasius got up from the snow and tackled me onto the ground. Leo was too busy trying to build a snowman while I was being harassed by Anastasius. That high-energy piece of shit was doing something so out of character I don't know if I should laugh or punch the shit out of him. He was tickling me while trying to get me to say we can go inside, but of course I won't give up just like that.

I pushed Anastasius off of me with what strength I had left, and started to make a snowball. Once it was finished I held the snowball up in the air and chucked it at him. Next thing you know, it's a clean hit! Right on his face too, let's go!

"Everett Anemoi Asura."

The second I heard that chills ran through my spine. I thought Kathlyn had finally spotted us having fun without her but I was dead wrong. The minute I realized who said my name, sweat started to run down my face at an uncontrollable rate. Hell, I even almost called out for Leo out of pure instinct. It looked like I finally pushed him over the edge. The one they used to call the "Bloody Dragon Knight", Anastasius.

He had two snowballs in his hands and launched both of them at an insane speed that wouldn't be possible without the help of touki. Luckily, I was able to dodge it at the last second but Leo on the other hand. He didn't dodge it at all and he was pissed off. Actually, he was so pissed off that he kicked the snowman he was building and tried to make snowballs with magic. Kind of scared me though since this meant we wouldn't be able to tell if it's ice or snow.

Either way, I quickly built myself a little wall of defense and hid behind it.

"Attack Anastasius, I had nothing to do with this Leo!" I tried to plead for my life but Leo wasn't falling for it.

He threw 2 of his "special" snowballs at me, and they ended up hitting my barricade. It definitely took some damage but I was perfectly fine nevertheless. Anas was completely open without any type of defense around him, so I decided to take advantage of this situation. I made two snowballs and chucked them at him with the help of touki. That little shit was able to dodge them surprisingly so that means he's on high alert. Guess I'll need Leo to distract him before I can make my next move.

Leo continued his assault on the both of us while throwing a mix of his special snowballs and regular ones. My barricade was finally starting to fall apart and Anas was starting to get tired. With how things are looking right now, Leo might actually end up winning this whole entire thing if he doesn't run out of mana and end up tiring himself out physically. It's all a battle of endurance at this point, which means that I can actually secure the win.

"Stop acting like a coward and get out from behind that stupid wall!" Leo yelled.

I didn't respond to him, but Anas did.

"Oh come on Leo, can you just give up now? It's clear that you're getting tired at this point! Plus if you want Eve that bad you can just either charge at him or have me get him first! You have to think about it sometimes without letting your emotions get the best of you." He said, while throwing one last snowball at Leo.

Leo stood there, carefully listening to Anastasius' words before he was suddenly sniped by a snowball. It was almost like we heard a deep and menacing voice go, "Game Over" and some dramatic music started to play or something. I quickly made my way to Leo and held him in my arms.

"LEO NO!" I dramatically yelled while pulling him close to me.

Anastasius slowly made his way over to the both of us with his hands loaded with snowballs. He had a disgusting smug look on his face as he saw both me and Leo in the same place. It was almost like he was planning for this to happen. I should've anticipated this to be honest. Instead though I let my heart get in the way of a duel and it almost cost me a victory. This is something I can't let happen in a real fight, or else someone close to me like anyone in No Name will end up dead right in front of me.

"This is the end, Everett Anemoi Asura. You should've just let us all go inside when you had the chance. Now you have to go inside while you're completely drenched in water and passed out. This all could've been prevented. Leo would still be ok right now." He laughed menacingly as he got ready to end me with his final barrage of snowballs.

"I guess this is it, Anastasius… I knew this day would come, just not this soon."

Fake tears started to run down my face as I looked Anas in the eyes and let Leo drop to the ground, while he's unconscious of course. I held both of my arms up like I was trying to reach for his face and smiled a little bit.

"It was fun playing outside with you. See you later, friend."

"Goodbye, O' King of Delusions."

And the last thing I saw was snowballs flying at me. It took about 30 minutes for me to wake up until I felt something warm near me. I sat up as quick as I could and saw Anas and Leo making some roast or something over a fire they made outside. Honestly I was so confused until I realized that they found some way to move the snow from this one area and dried off the wood so it can be used as firewood.

"Oh hey you're finally awake sleeping beauty." Leo said while reaching for the food they were preparing

"Hey there Eve! Are you hungry man?" Anas asked. He was also holding out a plate for me to eat from.

I made myself a chair and grabbed the plate that Anas offered to me. I took a bite of the food and let out a small laugh. They both looked at me with a curious look on their faces. It was almost like they were trying to read my face to see what the hell I was trying to think about. They of course failed though since I am not an easy person to read according to Kyra and Eleanor at times.

"Yo sleeping beauty what the hell are you thinking about?"

"Yeah, this grey haired idiot is actually right for once. Just what are you thinking about Evie?"

I finished eating the food they made and looked at both of them before saying a single word, "Oh it's just nothing you two. I was just thinking about how the two of you are just stuck with me. Especially Anas since I technically own him from when I beat him in a duel."

"We'll have a rematch soon Eve, just you wait alright? Once I even out the score, I'll beat you fair and square, and turn you into my personal slave!" He laughed. It is a funny thing though.

"Yeah right. Like hell you'll beat me again if we were ever going to duel again. I'm the leader of No Name for a reason pal!"

"Only because Eleanor hates being famous, or seen as the leader of a big time group…" Leo mumbled.

"What was that!?" Anas and I yelled at him at the same time.

"I-It was nothing, don't worry you two! I was only mumbling a boring joke alright." He looked away nervously in an attempt to get us to back down. For the time being we decided to calm down for now.

"Well enough scaring Leo now. Let's all head inside so we can actually warm up and have some tea alright? I'm sure the other members are inside waiting for our miraculous return right now. Plus we have to get out of these wet clothes and get warmed up before we come down with a cold." I said while getting up from my chair.

"Good idea Evie."

"Right on like usual princess." Leo laughed, but immediately stopped once I shot a glare at him.

The three of us made our way into the Manor and to my surprise, almost no one from No Name was inside the Manor except for Victoria and Kathlyn. That's a duo you wouldn't expect together now. The two of them scolded Anas and I before Vicky grabbed Leo by his ear and dragged him upstairs into one of the empty guest rooms. I just pray that everything turns out fine for him. Anas and I on the other hand managed to escape from Kath's scolding and made our way to the bath so we can hurry up and rest up soon. Can't ignore the rule that Grandpa has for when it comes to taking baths in the manor now.

Other than that whole mess that happened after our big campfire , this day will definitely be worth remembering since it was such a nice day outside, and because there was just enough snow down on the ground for us to have a snowball fight. Leo, Anastasius and I were all having fun together without someone having to fight the other person for real and there was no pointless bickering going on. If we can find a way to translate this type of chemistry onto the battlefield or in the middle of a monster extermination, then I have a feeling that the three of us could be the greatest.

Because there's one thing I'm certain about. The three of us will be best friends and I'll love them forever.