Chapter Thirty-One: Light of the Moon
Hey readers, just a quick message, I'd like to thank Guest DCDGojira and Sherry Muhammad for reviewing nearly every one of my chapters, whether it's short or long, it never fails to brighten my day, so thank you once again. Now onto the newest chapter. Cya.
"Well, better get ready, I got quite a lot to do today,"
The sun rose over the Rossiu household as a new day came, a warm breeze passed through the kingdom, rustling the leaves of bushes and trees.
A ray of sunlight shined into Sylvester's room, the lunar mage was already up, standing a few inches away from his bed, a smile was on his face as he stretched. "That wasn't a bad night,"
He grabbed his towel and exited his room, heading to the bathroom, ten minutes passed before he returned, he dried himself off before putting on his light blue collared shirt and black pants.
"Oh, can't forget these," he continued as he put on his satchel and placed his grimoire into it, he then walked over to a small desk and took the violet wyvern pendant before putting it around his neck.
"Now I'm ready," he said as he walked out of his room and began sprinting through the hallway, he soon arrived in front of a large, familiar door, he caught his breath before knocking.
"Come in," a voice said.
Sylvester opened the door, a smile was on his face as he saw two people. "Good morning Uncle Richard, Aunt Ellen," he greeted.
Ellen smiled too. "And a good morning to you too, Sylvester, you're up early,"
"He's up early every day, especially with the responsibilities he has," Richard added with a small grin.
"You know me, I'd better get moving," Sylvester said as he closed the door and kept on running, he saw Eleanor in the distance.
"Good morning, Eleanor!" Sylvester called before he passed the head maid.
"Morning, you sure are in a hurry, young sir Sylvester," Eleanor said back, but the lunar mage was out of earshot.
"I better get my broom and head out," Sylvester said as he arrived at the entrance to the household, he turned to see his broom leaning against the wall, he walked over and grabbed it, preparing to mount it.
"Sylvester!"
A voice called from behind him, he turned around and saw a boy with dark brown hair, he wore a gray long-sleeved shirt with khaki pants, beside him was a taller girl with long dark brown hair, she wore a short-sleeved red shirt with khaki shorts.
Sylvester slightly smiled as he walked to the two children. "Good morning Nathan, Sonia, is something the matter?" he asked.
"Are you heading out again?" Nathan asked back.
The lunar mage ruffled his hair. "That's right, I head out every single day. Have the servants given you breakfast yet?"
Sonia nodded. "Yeah we have, but it's been hard getting used to living here, it hasn't even been a week before Nathan brought me here,"
"True, I'm not used to living the life of a noble, but I'm grateful to be here," Nathan added.
Sylvester knelt down to their level. "Well, it's like you told me, you have my cousin Kenos to thank,"
The lunar mage remembered the first time he met the two siblings, he had been training closeby to the entrance of the household when he felt two weak signatures of mana, he went over to the entrance and saw the two there, with torn up clothes and dirty faces, Nathan told him that Kenos had sent them there and recited the keyword to the Rossiu. Sylvester smiled, glad his cousin was helping kids in need, he welcomed them in without a second thought, not a person there had a problem with their presence despite the fact that they were commoners.
"Sylvester, have you had breakfast?" Sonia asked.
"Not yet, but that's alright, I usually get something to eat when I go out," Sylvester replied as he mounted his broom. "Make sure the two of you help Eleanor with the chores, I'll be back, cya," he said before soaring into the sky.
Fifteen minutes passed before he landed somewhere around the capital, dismounting from his broom, he began walking around, passing by an array of different stands selling different kinds of things, food, clothes, jewelry.
As the lunar mage walked past a certain stand selling fabrics, a young lady raised her hand and waved, she had long blond hair tied in a bun, she wore a long-sleeved navy blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. "Hey Sylvester, thanks for coming,"
"No problem," he said as he walked back and entered her stand, leaning his broom against the wall behind him. "How's the business going today, Marilyn?"
"It's going great, I have to thank you for your help yesterday, you really did me a big favor," Marilyn replied.
"It was nothing, you were sick yesterday, so I just took over," Sylvester said humbly as he handed some fabric to a customer.
"Just? You took over for nearly the whole day, you even brought in more customers than usual, I suppose that's the perk of being a Rossiu," the lady said.
"I guess it was a pretty big deal, but I'm just glad I was able to help," the navy blue-haired teen said. Half an hour passed as Sylvester and Marilyn continued selling products and chatting with each other.
Sylvester took his broom and walked out of the stand. "Gotta go, Marilyn, I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Bye Sylvester!" Marilyn called back.
The lunar mage continued walking, as he did, nearly every merchant waved and greeted him, soon, however, he noticed a rather large stand without any customers by it, behind the stand was an old lady holding a clipboard-like object, and an assortment of boxes.
Sylvester entered the stand and placed his broom aside before turning to the old lady. "Hello Ms. Ronett, I see you're doing the daily count of inventory,"
The lady spoke up to reply, but she didn't turn her face away from the boxes. "It's a very important job, Sylvester, when your business is merely supplying other businesses with the products they sell, you must make sure you don't miss anything,"
"I know, so what's the first delivery?" Sylvester asked.
Ms. Ronett pointed to two boxes. "That box of jewelry goes to Zeke's stand, and the other box of clothes will go to Marilyn's stand,"
"Oh, I just came here from Marilyn's stand, don't worry, I'm on it," he said as he picked up the two boxes, the old lady turned to face him this time, and a warm smile was on her face.
"Thank you, I'm grateful that you can help me bring these supplies around every day," she said.
Sylvester smiled too. "Of course, you're an old lady, you shouldn't be carrying heaving boxes around, leave that to me. Now, I'd better go and deliver these, I have others to do after this,"
The lunar mage carefully walked out of the stand and started making his way towards Marilyn's stand, a few minutes passed before her stand was in sight.
The girl noticed him walking towards her. "Sylvester, you're back already?"
"Got a delivery for you, from Ms. Ronett," Sylvester explained. "Top box,"
Marilyn took the box and opened it, revealing an assortment of different clothes, all made of different fabrics. "Nice, I can always count on Leila for good products, she might be old, but she's still got it," she said before walking to the counter and grabbing some money, placing it in the boy's pocket. "There, I gave my pay, who's the other box for?"
"It's for Zeke,"
The woman smiled. "Cool, say hi to him for me,"
"Will do," Sylvester replied as he left her stand, he walked up north for about five minutes before he heard a familiar voice to his right.
"Excellent choice, you won't regret buying that pendant, it's beautiful, not to mention it really brings out your eyes," the voice said, it was a young male's, he had medium-sized red hair, wore a short-sleeved green shirt, and was standing behind the stand, talking with a female customer.
The customer smiled. "How nice, thank you very much," she said as she turned around to leave.
Sylvester walked towards the stand, passing by the customer as he looked at the man, the man saw the lunar mage and waved. "Hey there, Sylvester," he greeted.
"How's it going, Zeke?" Sylvester asked as he walked from behind into the stand.
Zeke shrugged. "Just fine," he said before noticing the box in the teen's hand. "Let me guess, that box is from Leila?"
He nodded. "You bet, here you go," he handed the box over. "Oh, and Marilyn wanted me to say hi,"
"Thanks," Zeke said before he slung his arm over Sylvester's shoulder. "Say, when was the last time we went out for a drink?"
"I don't remember," Sylvester replied as he put his hand on his chin. "But regardless, I'm going to be busy,"
"C'mon Sylvester," Zeke persisted. "We can even go to a mixer, I really need to get you a girlfriend, you're so kind and helpful, not to mention you're a Rossiu, I don't know what girl wouldn't want you,"
Sylvester escaped from his friend's grip. "You know I'm not looking for a relationship, besides, even if I was, I wouldn't want to be with someone who only sees my status,"
Zeke moved closer and began whispering. "Then why don't you set your sights on Marilyn?"
"Marilyn?"
"Yeah, you've helped nearly every merchant here at one point, but the ones you're friends with are around your age are Marilyn, and myself," Zeke replied as he slightly grinned. "She looks less at your status and more at who you are, after all, you did take over for her yesterday of your own volition, without asking for anything in return,"
The lunar mage turned around. "No way, Marilyn's four years older than me, it's not that I'm not into older women, but I don't see her like that. Why don't you go after her instead?"
Zeke carelessly waved a hand. "Nah, I already tried one time, but she shot me down pretty fast, it was some time ago, but I guess I can see why, a relationship between two merchants of different crafts might not be the best for business,"
"I see, well, I'd better go, got your pay for Ms. Ronett?" Sylvester asked.
Zeke took out some money from his pocket and gave it to the navy-blue haired teen. "Here you go,"
Sylvester nodded as he walked out of the stand, heading back to Leila's stand, hours passed by as he took boxes to different stands, collecting money from each one and engaging in a quick conversation with them. It was around noon when he returned to Leila's stand.
"Thank you so much, Sylvester," she said.
"No problem, here's the money from each of them," Sylvester said as he took out all the money from his pocket and put it on a counter.
"Not a bad haul," Leila remarked as she walked over, quickly counting the money, she then turned to the lunar mage, her face showed some nervousness. "Sylvester, are you sure you don't want any of the money, you delivered them,"
Sylvester slightly smiled as he gently waved his hand in a denying manner. "Please Ms. Ronett, you don't have to split anything, I'm a noble, I don't need money, I just want to help,"
"Bless you," Leila said gratefully before pointing to the last box on the ground. "That's the last delivery of the day, it's sugar for Mr. Aldon, don't worry about the money, he already paid in advance,"
"Okay," Sylvester said as he picked up the box and broom before exiting the stand, he turned and began walking down south, ten minutes passed before the stand was visible, behind the stand was a man wearing a basic gray attire, his hair was short and gray.
The lunar mage walked into the stand, catching the man's attention. "Hello Mr. Aldon, I have some sugar for you from Ms. Ronett,"
Mr. Aldon happily smiled before it became a bit more stern. "Thank you, Sylvester, but I thought I said that you didn't have to call me Mr. Aldon, I'd rather you call me by my first name,"
"My bad, I have the sugar for you, Hanz," Sylvester repeated.
Hanz smiled. "That's better, so how's your day been, I take it you've been busy helping Leila and some other merchants?"
The lunar mage nodded as he placed the box on a counter. "That's right, but my day won't be done after this,"
Hanz laughed. "I imagined that would be the case," he said before something else came to his head, he looked at the lunar mage as his face grew serious. "Sylvester, do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Of course, ask away,"
"You're a noble, hailing from the great Rossiu house, and I've seen you fight, you're a powerful mage too, I wonder, wouldn't you rather want to be a Magic Knight than helping all of us?" Hanz asked. "I know a girl who I used to care for years ago, and now she's a member of the Golden Dawn, you're young, and have so much potential, wouldn't you want to join a group that will help that potential grow, I don't think any of us would mind?"
Sylvester sighed as he turned to the old man. "Listen, Hanz, you have a good point about the potential, but I don't want to be a Magic Knight, there are other ways to help the kingdom, ways that being a Magic Knight won't permit. I wouldn't be able to help around here anymore because I'd be busy on missions or patrols. I bet this girl you're talking about has enjoyed her time as a part of the Magic Knights, but that's not what I want to do,"
Hanz turned away. "I see, sorry if it was a personal question,"
Sylvester shook his head. "Don't worry about it, I don't mind, I've been asked that question before, and look on the bright side, at least you know that nothing will make me leave you all,"
The old man turned back, a smile was on his face. "Good to know," he said before walking to the grill, taking a large metal skewer with six pieces of meat connected to it. "Here, as a way to thank you since you don't accept money,"
Sylvester grabbed his stomach, he hadn't realized that he forgot to stop by a previous stand for food, he took the skewer gratefully. "Thank you," he said before helping himself, finishing it in a matter of minutes.
Hanz chuckled. "Wow, you must've been hungry," he walked over and grabbed something else, it was a white puffy substance on a wooden skewer. "And here's an afternoon dessert,"
Sylvester's eyes brightened almost in a childlike manner once he saw what was in front of him, grabbing it. "Cotton candy, nice, your stand is the only one here that sells this, I imagine it must be great for business," he remarked, biting into the puffy cloud of sweetness.
"You got that right, which is why I need daily deliveries of sugar from Leila," Hanz said.
The lunar mage finished his dessert and grabbed his broom. "I'm off, see you tomorrow, Hanz," he said before leaving, the old man waved back before getting to work.
Sylvester continued to walk down south, he had finished his work in the merchant district for the day, and as he kept going down, he eventually noticed some kids standing together, in total, there were six of them, three boys, and three girls, their clothes weren't of the greatest quality, signifying that they were commoners, but that didn't stop a smile from growing on Sylvester's face as he approached them.
"Hello there children, I'm glad to see you're here on time again," he greeted, his smile not fading.
The children all had smiles on their faces too as they cheerfully looked at the navy blue-haired teen. "Yay, Mr. Sylvester's here!"
Sylvester patted the heads of each of them one at a time, these children were his students, and he was their teacher. He thought back to when he first met them, it was about a week ago, he was delivering a box for Leila when two of them bumped into him, as they apologized, he asked what they were doing, they replied saying they were playing a game with their friends, they would run away, and their friends would try to use their magic to catch them. The lunar mage was slightly intrigued and told the kids to wait for him, after delivering the last box, he returned to see all six of them, he asked the chasers to demonstrate their magic, all of the kids' ages ranged from 10 to 12, so they already had a grasp on their attributes, Sylvester watched as they did so, they weren't bad, but they could be better, and he felt that he could do something about it.
"Hey, would you like it if I became your teacher?" he remembered asking them, they were skeptical of the teen in front of them, he didn't look very strong, however, after bringing them to his home and demonstrating his Striking Moongazer, they agreed immediately, so he held classes for them every day.
"Alright, you know what to do," Sylvester instructed as his students nodded and into a single file line, the lunar mage told them to do this since their first day in order to make sure they didn't get lost in the crowd. "Good, now let's make our way to my house,"
"And we're here," Sylvester said as they all arrived at the entrance to the Rossiu household.
The kids looked at the building in awe, they had been there a good amount of times, but they still couldn't help but feel amazed at what was in front of them. They excitedly ran in, Sylvester counted them to make sure all six were present, none of them had ever gotten lost before, but he counted each time just in case.
"Okay everyone, you know where to go, straight to the courtyard," their instructor said, they all made their way there in a matter of minutes, upon stepping on the green grass, they lined up horizontally, Sylvester then walked up to them.
"Good, you're all-, oh wait, not all of you, we still have to wait for two more people," the lunar mage said with a small grin.
"Sylvester!" two voices exclaimed, none were surprised though as they turned to see Nathan and Sonia.
"Eleanor had a few more chores for us to do, we're not late are we?" Nathan explained before asking.
"No, you're just in time, come join the rest of the students," Sylvester told them. He had already begun teaching the kids before he met the two siblings, one day they were walking around and stumbled onto the rest of them during class, Sylvester noticed them and asked if they would like to become his students too, and they agreed.
Nathan and Sonia lined up with the rest, getting smiles from the other students, they all then straightened themselves as Sylvester spoke up.
"Before we begin class, please recite our motto," he instructed.
The children wasted no time replying. "It doesn't matter where you're born, if you work hard enough, you could be whatever you want in this world!"
The lunar mage nodded. "Yes, always remember that, you can do whatever you desire, you can become whatever you desire, whether that be to start a business, or become a Magic Knight, don't let others tell you what you should do with your life, just make sure that whatever it is, you're strong enough to keep those close to you safe,"
"Yes!" they said back in unison as Sylvester began class.
"Okay, let's begin with some warmup exercises, magic isn't everything in becoming a strong mage, you have to work your body too," Sylvester said, practically drilling that idea into their heads every day, they did an assortment of exercise, from push-ups to jogging in place, to synchronized sit-ups, all the while joining them to train his own body, but more importantly, to act as an example for his students.
"Nice, now let's sit down, get comfortable," he continued as they all sat down. "We're going to close our eyes and take deep breaths, this will bring your hearts back to their normal speed, but more importantly, it will give you a chance to feel, feel the mana that's around you, that's around nature itself, focus on it, and let your mind come to a state of ease,"
They all obeyed, closing their eyes, they took deep breaths and felt the mana, at the same time, they could feel themselves calming down, ten minutes passed before Sylvester spoke up again.
"Now you can open your eyes," he said as they did so, all of them stretched, feeling greatly relaxed for some reason, almost to the point where they were tired.
"Damn, I have to try pretty hard not to fall asleep," Sonia commented, the others nodded.
"True, but that just means your mind is at ease," Sylvester said. "Now, it's time for your favorite part of class, sparring,"
The class cheered, they always looked forward to the time in class where they could spar with each other, getting a chance to see how their magic worked against others in a fight, the part they liked even more was when the lunar instructor walked around, congratulating them and giving them pointers as to how to master their magic.
Sylvester smiled. "I'm glad to see your enthusiasm, you may not have your grimoires yet, and even when you do get them, you must know how to fight with your magic at its most basic form, now pair up,"
They all did so, forming four groups that were spread out throughout the courtyard, the lunar mage nodded. "Good, now begin!"
At his call, they all started firing their basic attribute attacks at their opponent, who in return either blocked or deflected it before releasing their own attack, Sylvester had his hands behind his back in a professional manner as he walked around the groups, noted their performance, a smile creased his face. He remembered from their very first class when the sparring started, each kid was just flinging an attack at their opponent, completely disregarding defense, evasion, or thinking ahead, just aimless offense, but now, they were truly starting to learn the good of using magic in different ways.
While Sylvester was on the other side of the courtyard, Nathan and Sonia sparred with each other, from the looks of it, they both used Earth magic, which they inherited from their father, their fight included using said magic for offense before quickly changing to defense.
"Take this!" Nathan exclaimed as he launched a boulder at his sister.
Sonia responded with a wall of earth before running to the side, simultaneously launching a cascade of boulders at her brother. "Not bad, but let's see how you handle this!"
Nathan quickly jumped out of the way, evading as many as he could, but one boulder managed to hit him dead in the stomach, that didn't stop him however, as he got right back up.
"Impressive work, you two," a voice said, Nathan turned to see Eleanor standing not too far from them, the head maid walked over to the siblings.
Sonia ran to her. "Is there something you need?" she asked.
Eleanor shook her head. "Oh no, I just came to see how everyone is doing,"
"We're doing just fine," Nathan said confidently.
"That's good, and a piece of advice from one earth mage to another, you're doing good when it comes to offense and defense, but remember, you can also use your magic for support, when you eventually obtain your grimoires, remember to learn a few spells in that category, trust me, it will do wonders," she told them.
"Wow, I never really thought of using our magic for support, I should tell Sylvester, maybe he could add it to our class," Sonia said.
"Um, Eleanor, you're an earth mage, right?" Nathan asked, to which she nodded. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"By all means, go ahead,"
"Well, how good is earth against other attributes, say, fire?" the boy asked.
Eleanor thought a bit before responding. "It's quite good, if you only count attributes, an earth mage has a good chance of beating a flame mage. Is there a reason why you wanted to know how it combated fire in particular?"
Nathan smiled and shook his head. "No, I was just wondering, thank you," he replied as Eleanor smiled and left, the boy's face then darkened a little as he thought to himself. "An advantage aye? Good, if I ever run into Levi again, I'm going to make him pay for burning dad's grave, and hurting Kenos and Zuka, so I have to get stronger, as strong as I can become without a grimoire!"
Sylvester gave tips to the other students as they continued sparring, around 45 minutes passed before the lunar mage raised a hand.
"Okay everyone, that's it for sparring, let's take a break for an hour then we'll begin again!" he called as they all stopped and caught their breath.
"Everybody!" Eleanor exclaimed from the hall, everyone turned to see that the head maid was holding two wooden baskets. "I brought lunch for you all, there's a spot not too far from here to clean up!"
"Thank you, Eleanor!" they all exclaimed as they went over to the spot and washed their hands before returning to the courtyard, the kids grabbed their food and sat down on the grass as they ate, but Sylvester walked up to the hall where the maid was.
"Here, something to drink," Eleanor said as she poured a cup of water, handing it to the lunar mage.
Sylvester gratefully took it. "Thank you," he gulped it all down. "Ah, that hits the spot, oh, and I might need your help, I was thinking of-," he was beginning to say, before footsteps were heard from the other side of the hallway.
The two turned to see someone walking towards them, it was a beautiful young lady of a height around 5'11, she had flowing navy blue hair, she wore a lovely black dress with a white three-leaf clover on the chest of it, around her neck was a violet pendant with the silhouette of a wyvern roaring into the sky, and her face was completely nonchalant.
Eleanor turned to the lady and curtsied. "Greetings, Lady Reyna," she said respectfully.
The woman named Reyna did the same. "Hello to you too, Eleanor," she greeted back before her nonchalant face contorted into a small smile. "How have you been?"
"I've been just fine," the head maid replied.
"Eleanor, can you come help me with this?!" one of the students exclaimed.
"I'm coming!" she called back before curtsying to Reyna again. "If you'll excuse me," she walked over to the children.
Sylvester looked at the woman, she looked right back at him, both of their violet eyes peering at the other, the lunar mage then gave a small smile. "Hello mother," he greeted. "It's good to see you,"
Reyna slightly nodded as her face grew nonchalant again. "The same to you, my son,"
Sylvester felt awkward, his mother wasn't one to talk much, she was the direct contrast to his father, who was incredibly lively, but wasn't around the house much due to having business outside the capital. "So, is there anything you need?"
Reyna looked at him before focusing her gaze on the children on the grass. "I see you're still teaching those children,"
Sylvester nodded. "That's right, they're really starting to progress, if it's possible, I'll try enlisting more kids, children are the future of our kingdom, as a noble, I feel like it's my duty to put them on the right path,"
The night mage focused back on her son. "On the right path, you say? How ironic, seeing that you're not on the right path, if you were, you would've been a high-ranking Magic Knight by now,"
"Mother," Sylvester groaned, he feared she would say that, before Hanz mentioned it, and before Zuka mentioned it, the first person who told Sylvester to be a Magic Knight was his mother, and it only increased when it was revealed that he had a four-leaf grimoire.
"You're a Rossiu, with a four-leaf clover grimoire, you have so much potential, yet you waste it by not joining a squad, look at your father and I, along with your aunt and uncle, we were all members of the Gray Deer, it's because of that that Ellen and I fell in love with Richard and your father, Marcus, and through that married into the Rossiu family and established a relationship with Julius," Reyna said. "But it's not just relationships, being a Magic Knight is important for influence, being just a noble isn't enough in this kingdom, and what's a noble without influence,"
Sylvester sighed. "Mother, that's all important, but it was important to you, I might not have as much influence as high-ranking Magic Knights, but I don't want it. I like everything I'm doing, I like the people I've met, Marilyn, Zeke, Ms. Ronett, Hanz, I like helping them every day, and these students, I like teaching them and giving them a brighter future to look forward to, why can't I just do what I want,"
Reyna said nothing as she turned around and walked away, once she was a good distance from him, she spoke up. "How strange, you are my son, of my own flesh and blood, but despite that, I don't understand you,"
The hour passed and class began again, Sylvester had Eleanor make eight thick slabs of earth, the students would then try to use their magic to break it, it took them each around 20 minutes to do so, but it had left them quite drained as their magic was simple, not complex enough to deal much damage.
"Alright everyone, that's it for the day," Sylvester said as they all stretched. "Oh, and Sonia, thanks for the request about using magic to support one another, we'll begin implementing that into class tomorrow. Now let's head to the entrance, I'll make sure all of you get home safe,"
All eight children followed the lunar mage to the entrance. "Nice work today, I'm proud of all of you, tomorrow we can-," he continued saying before he looked and saw someone at the entrance, it was a young man he didn't recognize, he wasn't too tall, maybe around 5'1, he had green hair, wore a blue shirt and long lavender pants, and around his waist was a satchel with his grimoire inside.
But there was something Sylvester immediately noticed about the young man in front of them. "He's a Magic Knight," he then looked at his robe. "And he's a part of the Purple Orcas," he walked up. "Who are you, have you been sent here on a mission by your squad?"
The young man shook his head as a smug grin creased his face. "My name is Cade, I've come here of my own will. My squad usually has me do patrols around the capital, and I've noticed you day after day around the merchant district, but recently, I've been seeing peasant children around you, at first, I thought they were just following you without you knowing, but here they are right behind you,"
Sylvester's eyes narrowed. "Why wouldn't they be, they're my students, and I'm their teacher, I teach them how to get stronger with their magic,"
Cade focused on the kids and gave them a disgusted look. "I've heard of you, Sylvester Rossiu, the eldest Rossiu child of your generation, and the wielder of a four-leaf clover grimoire, all of that, yet you choose not to become a Magic Knight, instead you waste your time training a bunch of filthy commoners, take my advice and join a squad, that's a role truly fitting for nobles like ourselves,"
The children behind him frowned at being called filthy commoners, but even more at being told they were wasting Sylvester's time, the person who helped them become stronger, however, Sylvester extended his arm in front of them, his eyes filled with anger. "You can say whatever the hell you want about me, but...DON'T YOU DARE MOCK MY STUDENTS!"
Nathan and Sonia were shocked, they had never heard Sylvester yell with so much rage before, Cade was taken aback too before quickly composing himself. "I'll say whatever I want about these commoners, they're below me,"
"Is that so? You said your name was Cade, right?" Sylvester asked as he looked at the pompous noble. "I challenge you to a battle, one on one, you against me, if I win, you're going to apologize to my students,"
"Fine then, I accept, but if I win, I'm going to enjoy mocking every single one of them, and you won't be able to say or do a thing to stop me," Cade said back.
"You're on," the lunar mage agreed, his voice devoid of hesitation. "We can fight on my courtyard,"
"Then, by all means, lead the way," Cade said as they all walked back into the estate, Sylvester made sure to keep his students close to him as he led the Magic Knight to the courtyard, upon arriving, he and Cade walked to separate sides.
Sonia walked forward. "If you don't mind, I'll call the beginning of the match,"
"I don't mind," Sylvester said, Cade said nothing, merely nodding.
"Ready…," the girl began, Sylvester took out his grimoire, and so did Cade, it was green, a three-leaf clover was in the center, an image of a meadow was behind it, and a green aura surrounded it.
"Fight!" she then exclaimed.
Sylvester was the first to act. "Lunar Creation Magic: Moonlight Armaments!" he exclaimed, becoming armored as his daggers appeared and his sword formed, to which he gripped tightly as he charged forward.
"Charging straight forward aye, let's see what good that will do you," Cade said as his grimoire flipped to a page. "Grass Magic: Leaf Blade Shootdown!" he exclaimed as multiple blades of grass floated up to him, each one jagged sharp, with a hand gesture, they were sent right at the lunar mage.
"Look out, Mr. Sylvester!" the students exclaimed.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Sylvester called back as he switched from charging forward to running up the sides, evading the straightforward attack and still being able to close in on the opponent.
"Don't think dodging me will be that easy," Cade said as he fired more leaf blades, but the lunar mage used the same strategy to get away.
"You talked a big game earlier, and here I thought you'd be an actual challenge, but you're just a joke," Sylvester mocked, which was something he had never done before in a fight, it was clear that he was enraged.
"Joke? I don't want to hear that from the person who's only dodging, come here and fight, unless you're scared!" Cade launched a taunt of his own.
Sylvester didn't reply, he merely moved in, Cade grinned. "That's more like it, time to show me what you can do, Grass Creation Magic: Greenery Blades!"
At his call, grass gathered and formed into four blades, but unlike his opponent, Cade didn't hold his swords, they each floated around him, one blade protecting one main direction.
"Let's see how you do against this spell, a combination of offense and defense!" Cade exclaimed as he made a rising motion with his hand, as if on cue, the blade guarding his west side floated higher than the others, once the lunar mage got close enough, he brought his hand down, at the same time, the blade came down.
Sylvester, however, looked unphased as he used his own sword to meet the attack.
"You look unimpressed, so why don't I kick it up a notch!" Cade exclaimed as his other hand made a horizontal slashing motion, prompting the blade guarding his east side to do that very motion to attack Sylvester while he was busy with the west blade.
"You're going to need more than that if you want to beat me," Sylvester said, ending his struggle with the blade of grass before quickly jumping into the air, dodging the east blade.
"Lunar Magic: Crescent Bladedance!" he continued with an exclamation as the daggers left their scabbards and raced towards Cade.
"I can handle that," the grass mage said confidently as he crossed his arms, prompting the north and south blades to cross together in front of the incoming daggers, but to his surprise, the daggers moved around the blades. "What the?"
The lunar mage said nothing as he landed on the grass softly and zoomed forward while his opponent was busy with his daggers.
"What the hell is up with this spell," Cade commented as he used his blades to strike the daggers, but they evaded his attacks and made one of their own, putting the grass mage on defense. "Once I'm done with these, I'll-,"
He didn't get to finish his statement as Sylvester got close enough, but instead of striking, he bent down and skillfully swiped Cade's legs, sending him down, the grass mage looked up to see the lunar mage with his sword in the air, ready to strike.
"Victory is mine!" he exclaimed as he brought the sword down.
"Not yet," Cade said in retaliation, crossing his arms together as the two blades protected him once more, he then used that as a chance to roll away, quickly doing a starfish kip-up to get back on his feet as the daggers returned to their scabbards.
"Okay, I'll admit it, that wasn't a bad move, now it's my turn!" Cade exclaimed as he jumped into the air. "Grass Creation Magic: Greenery Whiplash!"
At his call, the blade guarding his south side separated back into grass, before reforming into a whip, the grass mage wasted no time sending the whip Sylvester's way, he quickly used his sword and elbow armor to guard himself before doing a backflip to create this distance.
Cade landed on the grass as his grimoire flipped to a new page. "Grass Binding Magic: Pasture Restraints!" he exclaimed as he slammed the ground, he then smirked. "This spell sends magical blades of grass to restrain him, since we're standing on a whole patch of physical grass, he won't be able to see where it'll come from," he thought.
And sure enough, three blades of grass sprouted up out of nowhere and coiled around Sylvester, binding him, Cade then ran forward. "Here we go, this match is mine!"
The lunar mage smirked. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Lunar Magic: Crescent Bladedance!" he exclaimed as the daggers shot out again, catching Cade by surprise, this time, they got a solid hit in, marking a cut on the mage's cheek, Sylvester could feel the restraints loosen, allowing him to free himself before launching two punches on Cade, he then jumped and kicked at his chest, sending him a few feet back.
"Go, Mr. Sylvester, you can win this!" the children cheered.
"Now it's time I win this, you'll regret what you said about my students," Sylvester said as he slowly approached the grass mage.
Cade slowly got up, some blood trickled down his mouth from the punches. "Damn, this isn't going well for me, I used all my best moves, I'm going to have to think of something," he muttered as his grimoire came up to him and flipped to a blank page, text then became inscribed on it.
"Never mind, that something just came to me," he smirked before looking up at Sylvester. "It appears I've unlocked a new spell, what perfect timing, so I guess you're wrong, because I'm going to win this," he said as he prepared to cast his new spell. "Grass Magic: Leaf Blade Hurricane!"
At his call, an enormous tornado formed behind him, accompanied by numerous blades of grass, Cade laughed. "What a spell, let's see if you can survive this!"
Sylvester had some trouble evading the spell, he had to worry about the strong levels of wind coupled with the blades of grass, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle eventually, all he had to do was get close enough.
"AH!"
The ear-piercing scream cried out, Sylvester's eyes widened in fear as he turned around and saw Sonia, yards away from him with the other children, down on the ground as a blade of grass cut her shoulder.
"Sonia!" Sylvester exclaimed as his grimoire flipped to a page. "Lunar Creation Magic: Tsukuyomi's Safeguard!" he raised a hand at the children, and suddenly, the Japanese moon god appeared, creating a shield to protect the children from further harm.
The lunar mage looked at Cade. "Damn it, the range of his spell is ridiculous, I can't maintain both Tsukuyomi's Safeguard and my armaments at the same time for very long, I need to finish him now, I don't think Striking Moongazer can do enough damage...which means I'll need to use that spell," he thought.
"What's the matter Sylvester, can't get close enough?!" Cade laughed.
Sylvester pointed his sword at his opponent as his grimoire flipped to a page. "Just shut up, we've only just met and I'm already sick of you, Lunar Creation Magic: Luna, the Moonknight Wyvern!"
As he exclaimed his mightiest spell, a large light blue humanoid wyvern appeared behind him, the wyvern was clad in navy blue armor with an image of the moon on its chest and a sword in its hand, with blinding speed, Sylvester and Luna moved in, the lunar mage made a striking motion with his sword, at the same time, Luna did the same movement with its sword, cutting the tornado in half.
The wind stopped and the grass fell as Cade dropped to the ground in defeat, the aura on his grimoire disappearing as it fell on the ground beside its master.
Luna and Sylvester's armaments disappeared as the lunar mage ran over to the children, he bent down to Sonia. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I think I'll be fine," she replied.
"Let me see the wound," he instructed, Sonia removed her hand, revealing the close to severe cut on her shoulder, Sylvester hovered his hand above it.
"Lunar Recovery Magic: Half Moon Resurgence," he spoke as blue light appeared, healing her injury. "How's that feel?"
Sonia smiled. "That feels better, thank you,"
Some time passed and everyone was standing at the entrance, Cade reluctantly bowed his upper half down. "Please accept my sincerest apologies, you aren't a waste of time," he said before walking away.
"All's well that ends well," Sylvester said as his students came up to him.
"Thank you so much for defending us!" they exclaimed as they all embraced him.
"Don't worry, I'll never let anyone say anything bad about you, that's a promise," the lunar mage told them with a smile, but then he looked up and saw her, yards away, Reyna was leaning against the walls of the hall, her arms crossed, face nonchalant, looking right at him, she said nothing as she eventually straightened herself and walked away, the smile on Sylvester's face faded, replaced by a small frown.
But unbeknownst to everyone there, a fly flew around and landed right on Sylvester's shoulder.