Chapter Eighty: Taking Revenge
How's it going, readers? I hope you're ready for the first week-long update of 2023. I'm really excited about this five chapters, and think you will be too once you see them. So let's start with Day 1. Cya.
"That should do it for that knight,"
It was nearing the afternoon in the Clover Kingdom, lives went on, and things got back to normal for the Magic Knights. Perspective shifts over to the Rossiu Household, the sun's light peeking through Sylvester's room window, finding him at his desk.
The lunar mage got up from the chair he was sitting on and stretched. "Progress is going pretty well. I better send this one to Julius ASAP,"
There was then a knock at the door, getting his attention. "Hey, Sylvester, you in here?" a voice spoke from the other side.
Sylvester walked to the door and opened it, coming face to face with a familiar man. "Oh, dad. Hey, need something?"
"I was wondering where you were," Marcus replied. "You're usually around the estate at this time, but I didn't see you. It's not often you're cooped up in your room during the day,"
His son nodded. "Yeah, I was just getting some more Royal Knight evaluations done. I thought I'd be able to work more efficiently from my room today,"
Marcus leaned on a nearby wall. "You're still doing them, aye? It must be a lot of work, the exam was two weeks ago," his face then contorted into a mischievous smile, and he rubbed his hands together. "Y'know, I bet you'll get it done a whole lot faster with an extra pair of hands,"
Sylvester could only chuckle. "Dad, you know this is classified information, and while I trust you, I promised to not let anyone uninvolved see the results,"
"Okay, okay," he surrendered.
"Now, I better bring this latest assessment to Julius, he'll be waiting for it, and after I get that done, I can move on to my daily routine,"
"Hold up," Marcus stopped him. "What kind of father would I be if I didn't help you out, I'll bring it to Julius," he volunteered, but saw his son about to say something, so he beat him to it. "And I won't look at it,"
"Alright then," Sylvester agreed.
"I've been meaning to test out a new creature anyway, this will be a perfect chance," the older Rossiu took out his grimoire, which was majorly red and orange, the front cover lined with different animals, with the three-leaf clover resting comfortably in the center. "Chimera Creation Magic: Summon - Wingspan,"
At his call, a small red circle spawned from his tome, and out of it flew a white kitten with a flaming tail and two wings, the one on the right being that of a falcon, and the one on the left being that of a bat.
The creature rested on its creator's head. "Now don't just sit there you little rascal, go say hi to my son Wingspan," he politely ordered, and was obeyed.
The creature flew over to the lunar mage, rubbing its cheek against his. "Hey there, buddy, it's nice to meet you,"
"You can give it your letter of evaluation," Marcus said as Sylvester wrapped up the sheet and handed it to Wingspan. "Okay buddy, bring it to Julius,"
Soon, the chimera was on its way, leaving the father and son alone once again as they left the lunar mage's room and started walking down the hall.
"Y'know, sometimes I wish I inherited more traits from your attribute, it's so cool," Sylvester commented.
Marcus laughed. "You better not let your mother hear you say that. Besides, my attribute isn't all that,"
"Nonsense, it's super cool. Your traditional spells let you harness the power of chimeras in such amazing ways, like having them fight for you, do other roles, or even take on their traits to use yourself. Then you have that unbelievable spell which lets you make chimeras like Wingspan," his son retorted. "Describing your magic as 'not all that' has got to be one of the grossest understatements I've ever heard,"
Marcus couldn't help but smirk a bit. "I guess it is quite awesome when you put it like that. But when it comes to the case of Chimera Magic: Amalgam Forge, there are times when it doesn't seem worth the effort. I have to go around, searching so many places for pieces with sufficient DNA, then there's finding good magic samples. It took me two weeks to acquire the materials to create Wingspan, and don't even get me started on how long it took to make Braille,"
"But Braille is so cool, a blind goat-wolf with 360-degree sensory magic, plus he's adorable. I'd say it's worth the effort," Sylvester responded.
The chimera mage crossed his arms. "Something like that is easy to say when it's not your effort,"
"You have a point there," his son agreed.
The two continued walking until they reached a specific spot, causing Marcus to stop in his tracks.
"What's the matter, dad?"
His father pointed to his right at a familiar door at the end of the hall. "Now that I think about it, I haven't seen Richard leave his office all day. I wonder what that older brother of mine is working on this time?"
Sylvester stared at the door, narrowing his eyes. "Yeah," he muttered, recalling a question he was asked not too long ago.
"Tell me…have you seen Kenos around anywhere?"
"Uncle Richard, just what's going on between you and Kens?" he thought before bringing his focus elsewhere. "I had better be on my way, those merchants aren't going to deliver products to themselves,"
He walked over to the outer part of the courtyard and grabbed his broom, mounting it as he took off.
"Helping out both little kids and simple merchants alike. I have the best son," Marcus remarked to himself, whistling as he walked back, passing a kid who greeted him.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Marcus,"
"Good afternoon there, Nathan. Nice flowers," he greeted back before they went their separate ways.
The young boy walked onto the grass and to a part behind the estate where a medium-sized headstone was placed, courtesy of his magic. He then set the flowers he had in front of it.
"Hi, dad, I know this isn't where you were buried, but, I just needed a place to talk to you. Life for Sonia and I is going really well, we live in this huge estate now with some nice nobles that took us in," he began before backing up and firing some magic bullets along with basic earth attacks.
"One of them has even been training us and some other kids with our magic, and he's the coolest teacher ever. I'm getting stronger each day, well, as strong as I can get without a grimoire, but either way, I'm going to do it, I'm going to get as powerful as I can, then and only then…," his eyes flashed with fiery anger.
"...Will I get my revenge,"
"Okay, can anyone tell me the answer to this question?"
Miles away from the Rossiu estate, within the Green Praying Mantises' HQ, Glynda was standing at the front of a section of the base designed to serve as her classroom, with her students seated at their desks.
"Um, Ms. Goodwitch, can you repeat the question?" one of them asked.
"Of course," she replied, directing her attention to the chalkboard some feet from her. "If we're trying to find the value of the variable X and we take the equation 2x=6, what does X equal?"
A student then raised her hand. "Yes?" Glynda let her speak.
"X will equal 3," she answered.
"Correct," the telekinesis mage used her crop to move a piece of chalk, writing down the answer on the board. "Very good, Ria, and since you got the first part done, let's see if you can get the second part. Now that you know the value of X, what's the answer we get when you input it into our second equation of 4x+5?"
Ria gave it some thought. "Well, if X equals 3, I'll multiply it by four, which gets me twelve, then I add five, which gets me seventeen,"
"Correct again, well done," the teacher praised.
"Thank you, my brother has been giving me some pointers in his free time," she told her.
"Really? Then I must say, En is a good older brother indeed, I'm jealous," she remarked before looking at the clock behind her. "And Math class has come to an end. You have five minutes before we start Literature, we'll continue our analysis of the second book of the Worlds of the Damned series, the Land of Night,"
Just as she finished, a knock was heard at her door. "Come in," the door then opened, revealing one of her subordinates. "What is it, Sekke?"
"I hope I'm not interrupting, boss lady, but Jack says he wants to talk to us,"
"Alright then, I'll be right there," she turned to her class. "I will return, please have your books out when I get back,"
"Yes, Ms. Goodwitch!"
The two walked out of the classroom, seeing En standing close by. "Oh, you're here too?" Glynda asked.
"Yeah, Sekke said the captain needed me too," he replied as they all started walking towards his office. "So, what do you think he wants with all three of us?"
The bronze mage fidgeted with his fingers. "I don't know, I just hope we aren't in trouble,"
"That wouldn't make any sense," the woman doubted. "After all, what did we do?"
"Nothing that comes to mind," En gave his two cents. "I suppose we'll just have to see when we get there,"
Glynda nodded. "You may be right. Also, I hear from Ria that you've been helping her out,"
"I have. She told me she wanted to get a little tutoring on her algebra to surprise you, so I taught her what I could when I was available. Were you surprised?"
"I was, granted, she is the oldest student in my class, so I wasn't too surprised,"
About three minutes passed before the group arrived at the door of Jack's office, and upon knocking, they heard his voice on the other side. "It's not locked, come inside,"
With that, they opened the door and walked in, surprised to see that of all the things the severing mage could've been doing, he was filling out paperwork.
"Now that's something I'd never think I'd see," Sekke mused aloud.
"Really? Then perhaps I should instead be doing some target practice like the good ol days…and you can be the target," Jack fired back menacingly, fear rising in the blonde man.
The captain then started to laugh. "I'm joking, of course. Getting to business, I've been meaning to talk to you all for some time. Congratulations,"
This earned confused expressions from the three knights. "Excuse me?"
"I know it's been two weeks, but I wanted to congratulate you for your efforts during the exam," he clarified. "You bunch lasted the longest out of the members of our squad, each of you at least made it to the semi-finals, and in En's case, to the finals. That's a very impressive accomplishment, and I'm proud of you, nice work, nice work indeed,"
Glynda allowed a smile to grace her features, but upon taking a side glance at her squadmates, she noticed them looking even more surprised than before. "Is something the matter?"
Sekke, who was utterly slack-jawed, somewhat regained his composure. "It's just that…the captain has never done this before,"
"He hasn't?"
"Not that I can ever remember, sure there were times he congratulated us as a group, but never in a more individual way for our respective merits," En added.
"Is that so?" Glynda crossed her arms, turning to the man. "Care to explain the change?" she asked, adopting her soft and neutral tone of voice.
Jack began darting his eyes around a little nervously. "Oh, well, you see, the reason was that, um…I thought it's something…you would do,"
She gasped for a second, but like before, she smiled and walked to him. "Really? Jack, that's sweet," were the words she told him before reaching up to give him a peck on the cheek. "It was a very thoughtful thing to do,"
At that moment, Jack was doing his damnedest not to burst out in a huge blush in front of everyone, and while he succeeded, there was something else he couldn't stop no matter how hard he tried when he faced his vice-captain.
It was a genuine, cheerful smile. "Oh, don't mention it,"
Sekke and En found themselves flabbergasted for the second time. "What the hell is going on today?! First, the captain is doing paperwork, then he congratulates us personally, and now he's smiling in a way where it doesn't feel like he wants to kill you in the most brutal way possible! I'm so confused!" the former was mentally screaming.
However, in the case of the telekinesis mage, she wasn't confused, but instead was stunned by the sight she beheld. It was like a light was right behind him, illuminating his every feature. Between the two leaders of the squad, one tried his best to not blush, while the other found it forming on her face.
"I-If this is everything, I'd better get moving," Glynda stuttered a bit, her blush dying down as she backed up and made her way to the exit. "I have to go start Literature with my students, then I have to head out to the market to pick up some materials for their Magic Training class,"
She left the office and was speed-walking, creating a fair distance before she slowed down, her blush flaring back to life.
"I must say, I didn't know how…handsome Jack could be when he smiles like that. Wait, what am I saying? Pull yourself together, Glynda, he is a captain, and you are his vice-captain, things are supposed to stay professional, I shouldn't be thinking thoughts like that. Besides, even if I were allowed to think that way, Jack most likely doesn't view me in that manner, so I shouldn't continue pondering on this,"
Back in his office, the severing mage could only hold his cheek and stare at the door. "I can't believe that just happened," but it didn't take long for him to notice his two subordinates instead staring at him, brows raised in a comedic fashion.
"My talk with you is over! Get out before I cut you into ribbons!"
"Yeah, okay," they said in unison, not sounding even the least bit scared as they left his office, leaving Jack alone.
"So…that's what a kiss feels like?" he mused as his face burned a bright red, but it died down once he sat on his chair and resumed his work, however, it wasn't before he let one more thought about it enter his mind.
"It's a nice feeling,"
The section of the capital where the merchants were selling products found itself to be fairly packed, at least, that's what Sylvester thought as he landed where he usually did and dismounted.
"I think the best thing to do right now is visit Ms. Ronett. With how things are now, everyone else must be quite busy, I'll collect their pay afterward," he walked along the open path, maneuvering around people before reaching his destination.
As he walked behind the stand and set his broom somewhere, he saw the old lady at work. "It's quite crowded out there," he commented.
"I'm inclined to agree, I suppose it's just one of those days," she replied.
Sylvester clapped his hands in anticipation of his starting task. "Okay, so what do you need me to do first?"
"First? Not today, I only have one delivery you need to make and you're finished for the day,"
The lunar mage was shocked by what just came out of her mouth. "Excuse me?"
The lady turned to face him. "I've seen that for the past two weeks, you've been coming in later than you usually do,"
"True, but that's because I'm helping with the Royal Knight selection,"
She nodded. "Yes, I'm aware of that, that's why I've taken it upon myself to handle most of your deliveries,"
Sylvester's face shifted from shock to worry. "Leila, you shouldn't have done that, it's too much strain on someone of your age,"
Leila waved her hand in a carefree manner. "Oh no, I didn't do any lifting. Luckily for me, Zeke and Marilyn were able to help before the rush of people came in, and until you finish what you need to, that's how it's going to be. You're always there to help us out, Sylvester, let us help you for once,"
"I, um, I don't really know what to say, I'm relieved, but at the same time, I'm touched. It's so lucky having people like you in my life," the lunar mage smiled. "Okay then, who's my delivery for?"
"Mr. Aldon, just his usual order of sugar,"
"He already paid in advance?"
"Of course,"
"Alright then, off I go," Sylvester grabbed the box of sugar with one hand, and retrieved his broom with the other before heading south for the usual ten minutes, arriving at the man's stand.
"Ah, Sylvester, good to see you," Hanz greeted. "How are things going?"
The Rossiu placed the box down before answering. "Things are going as well as they can be. My evaluations are almost complete,"
"Great, I have even more confidence in the Royal Knights knowing you're helping to form their ranks," the man stated.
"Thanks, and who knows, perhaps that girl you know in the Golden Dawn will be a member,"
"Sadly, that won't be the case, she wasn't selected to participate,"
"Oh, that's gotta suck," he said, deciding to change the subject upon noticing something strange. "Wait a minute, I just realized you have no one here. With the rush of people, you'd think your stand's line would be so long, one couldn't see the end of it,"
Hanz chuckled. "Yeah, I decided to keep it closed until everything dies down a bit. I'm the only worker at my stand, plus, I'm getting a little old, no way in hell I could handle an influx that large,"
"I see,"
"Hey, Sylvester!" the lunar mage turned and found Zeke and Marilyn coming his way.
"Hey there, you two,"
Zeke stretched his arms. "Damn, this has been quite a day," he groaned.
"Tell me about it. I like the business just like any other merchant and at the end of the day, the yul will be worth it, but that doesn't make the work easy," Marilyn added.
"I take it you're on break then?" Hanz asked.
"Yup, got some co-workers to take over for us," the woman replied. "We got about two hours,"
"I'm glad that you have a break, it means I don't have to do this separately," Sylvester walked up to the two and pulled them into a hug.
"Woah, what's this for?" Zeke wanted to know.
"For helping Leila with my usual job. I totally owe you,"
"What are you talking about?" Marilyn raised a brow. "All the things you do for us just because, and you actually think this is enough for you to owe us?"
"I'm with her, you don't have to repay us at all,"
Sylvester broke the hug. "Really? Are you sure?"
"Of course we're sure,"
The lunar mage pulled them into another quick hug. "You guys are the best,"
"True," Hanz interjected. "They are the best, that's why they won't mind helping me for a bit as they did with Leila,"
"Woah there Hanz, we said we're on break," Marilyn protested.
"Yeah, we didn't just leave work at our stands so we can do it at another one," Zeke added.
"Is that so?" the old man gave a smug grin with a raised brow. "How about this: if you help me for the two hours your break lasts, I'll treat you to free food from my stand for a week,"
"Deal,"
Zeke rubbed his hands together. "Haha, boy, I can already taste the free cotton candy. What are we waiting for? Let's get this started,"
Sylvester raised his hand. "I should be free for a good amount of time, I'll help out too-,"
"Mister Sylvester!" he was cut off by a united exclamation, following the sound as best he could in the crowd, he saw his students.
"Oh crap, it's time already. I gotta go, cya,"
"Cya!"
"I hope I didn't make you wait," he said as he reached them and they made their way to his estate, arriving there soon after.
"Okay, you all know where to go, I'll meet you there once I put my broom back," he continued as they went off towards the courtyard and he entered the hall, taking a few steps before placing it against a wall.
"Awesome, I wonder what stuff I should add to class this week?" he mused to himself until a sound coming from ahead caught his attention.
Sylvester carefully walked forward and reached an intersection, peeking over, he saw Richard furiously punching a wall. "What's up with him?" he thought curiously, deciding to find out.
"Are you okay, Uncle Richard?" he revealed himself before asking.
It was safe to say the older man was startled, quickly straightening himself. "Um, yes, I'm perfectly fine,"
"I don't know, you don't look fine. Did something happen?"
"Well, it's more of what didn't happen. I've been expecting news regarding something…personal for some time, and I've still gotten no word. It's begun to worry me," Richard confessed.
His nephew perked up. "If it's worrying you so much, I can see what I can do about it. What's the news about?"
The phantom mage quickly put a hand up. "It's nothing I want to inconvenience you with, seeing that matter is a bit…complicated,"
"Complicated you say? I wonder…," the lunar mage pondered. "Uncle Richard, there's something I've been meaning to ask you,"
"And what is it?"
He was about to open his mouth to answer, but then he paused and started to think for a few seconds, all before shaking his head. "Actually, now that I give it some thought, it isn't really important. I'd better attend to my students,"
"Alright then," Richard watched his nephew walk away, once he was out of sight, he grit his teeth. "Just what the hell happened to you, Zaxon? You better not have failed,"
Sylvester arrived near the courtyard not long after. "Sorry it took a while, I was-," he cut himself off once he saw that instead of being on the grass preparing, his students were instead crowded together in the hallway, staring at something.
Their teacher came up to them. "Is everything okay?" he inquired, but as he did, he caught a glimpse of what had their attention.
It was Nathan, on the grass, doing a rapid quintet of push-ups before shooting himself up and blocking an attack sent by Sonia with his magic, to which he got down and repeated it.
"Well well, it looks like someone is excited for class to start," Sylvester quipped as they all stepped onto the grass.
"You can say that again. He's been doing this for about fifteen minutes," Sonia explained.
"I see, very impressive. You better rest then, Nathan, you can rejoin the class once we get to the sparring section,"
"No, I'll be fine," he declined the offer. "I'm in the zone, resting would just ruin that. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about,"
"If you say so. Let's get started," the lunar mage said as they went through each of the preliminary exercises, reaching the sparring portion.
"Get with a partner, for today's objective, try to keep the sparring kinetic. In a real battle, there's always likely to be a lot of movement, so don't get used to duking it out in a semi-stationary fashion,"
"Yes sir!" was the response he was given as spars began.
"You ready, Nathan?!" Sonia called to her brother.
"Yup," he replied, watching as his sister fired a magic bullet his way, causing him to cartwheel to the west, evading it.
He launched a medium lump of earth her way, following up with the two magic bullets. Sonia managed to dodge two of the three attacks, but couldn't react fast enough to stop the second bullet from hitting her arm.
"Not bad, try this on for size!" Sonia conjured a multitude of pebbles, firing them all at once.
"It won't be a problem," Nathan retorted, forming a small earth wall, and kneeling down to remain within its protection. Despite how many pebbles hit the wall, it never once faltered.
"That's a sturdy wall you got there," she complimented.
"Thanks, but I don't intend on staying here forever," the boy broke into a sprint east, curving slightly before running up north at full speed.
Sonia began to panic a bit at how fast he was moving, but got her head back in the game, firing whatever she could while in constant movement, but Nathan wasn't slowed down by any of it. Whether he either dodged the attack entirely, blocked it without much effort, or met it with an attack of his own, his advance couldn't be stopped.
With one last action, he would come out victorious. Using his magic, he spawned a stone from underneath him, propelling him into the air, allowing him to land right behind his sister, trapping her feet in earth, rendering her immobile.
"And it looks like I won. You did pretty well, sis,"
"Thanks,"
Nathan crossed his arms. "Although, while you certainly were impressive and I mean this in no way to insult you, I need a more challenging spar,"
"I guess that's a fair concern. It's obvious you're the best student here, you've improved the fastest out of all of us, wanting something more challenging is natural," Sonia agreed.
"Great to see you understand. Now, what person can fulfill that challenge," his head turned in multiple directions, not finding who could help, but that was when he spotted the head maid walking through the hall with a basket in hand.
"Eleanor!" he called. "Are you busy right now?"
"Not at the moment, I'm just here to deliver lunch for the class when you're all ready," she answered.
"Then, as a fellow earth mage, could you team up with Sonia to spar against me?" he requested.
The woman shrugged. "Sure, it wouldn't hurt," she placed the basket down and made her way over to the kids.
Nathan released Sonia and backed up as Eleanor joined the girl. "Alright, bring it!"
Sonia began, repeating her pebble attack, but this time, she was accompanied by an array of magic bullets.
The boy weaved around the attacks, and just like he hoped, he was finding that doing so was more difficult than before. "Now we're talking," he thought before firing a set of stones.
Eleanor found herself surprised for a few seconds. "Impressive, those attacks are moving at a decent speed for someone of your age," she commented before raising two fingers, spawning a wide wall of earth, blocking them, then proceeded to undo her action. "Although, it's going to have to be faster if it wants to get past me,"
Nathan grinned. "It's okay, I intend to do just that,"
"But first, try to stop this approach," Eleanor raised a hand, conjuring stones and lumps of earth above their heads, commanding them to drop.
"Don't think that's all there is! Take this as well!" Sonia declared, launching the biggest stones she could create.
Nathan did his best to encase himself in a round shelter as attacks from both angles made contact. He strokes his chin. "Not a bad offensive strategy, but I should be able to get to them, all I need to do is wait for an opening when they let up, then I can charge forward and win like I did the last time. Genius, now I just have to wait for-,"
He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound that entered his ears, he gasped, seeing that cracks were forming in his defense. "Crap, this isn't good, I won't be able to stay protected for much longer. I can't wait as I planned, I need to move now!" he undid his shelter and broke into a sprint toward them, doing his best to dodge the attacks coming his way, noticing that they were slowing down.
"This should work as the opening, I have to take advantage," he repeated his prior winning move, propelling him into the air.
But to his shock, he saw Eleanor preparing an attack aimed right at him. "Oh no, if I don't move, it's going to be a direct hit, I have to evade it. But how do you evade an attack while in mid-air? It's nearly impossible…unless,"
The maid sent the attack his way, but Nathan quickly conjured a large, flat slab, planting his feet on it and rocketing himself east, dodging the strike. That wasn't it though, in about 5 yards, he made a second slab and used it to boost himself west at a downward angle.
"Here I come!" landing softly on the grass, he lunged for his sister, coating his palm in earth, but instead of striking her, it hit a small earth wall courtesy of Eleanor. And speaking of the maid, she sped over to him and made a motion to back-slap him, fortunately, he backed up just in time before lunging for her instead.
"Say, Nathan, would it be okay if I try a little harder?" she asked.
"Be my guest," he allowed.
"Good," the older earth mage created a boulder in front of Nathan's torso and thrust it forward, taking Nathan with it, sending him down with a thud.
The young earth mage got up. "Dang, that was such a cool move, I ought to try that myself some time," he praised before getting ready to sprint again…but that's when he dropped to his knees and was breathing heavily.
"Nathan! Are you okay?!" Sonia called out worryingly.
"I'm fine, keep going, we can't…stop!" Nathan responded in between breaths.
His sister shook her head. "But you don't look good right now. You were already doing a lot of work before class started,"
"I said I'm fine!"
Eleanor was on the girl's side. "Nathan, we should stop, from what Sonia said, it seems you may be reaching your limit,"
"Trust me, I'm okay, just a little winded," he forced himself back up. "C'mon,"
Sonia's eyes softened. "Nathan,"
"Sonia, please,"
"...Alright, if you say you're fine," his sister created a medium-sized boulder and launched it.
"Thank you," he started running again. "You won't-,"
The boy didn't finish his statement as he felt exhaustion wash over him, causing him to slip, but that wasn't it as the boulder, instead of being blocked or dodged, hit him dead on the right side of his face.
"No, Nathan!" Sonia screamed. "Mister Sylvester, come quick!"
The lunar mage along with the other students heard her cry, but the teacher acted fast. "The rest of you, get back to your spars, I'll go see what's up," he raced to the hall where Eleanor carried Nathan, when he arrived, he was taken aback by the decently-sized bleeding wound on his face.
"What happened?"
"Nathan and I were training, and he beat me in a minute or two so he asked Eleanor to team up with me, but during that time, he looked like he was getting tired, so we tried to get him to rest, but he said he was fine, so I used an attack, which ended up hitting his face," Sonia explained. "I'm really sorry,"
"No, if anything, this is on me," Eleanor interceded. "I was the adult here, I should've never let them continue,"
"No, neither of you is responsible," Nathan spoke up, wincing in pain. "This is my fault, I should've reacted faster, I need to train more so it doesn't happen again,"
His sister began fuming. "Are you crazy?! Can't you see training is what caused this?! You're pushing yourself too hard, and what's worse, I don't even know why!"
"Nonsense. Sure I have been going a bit hard lately, but that isn't the cause of my accident, it was just a tiny slip-up," Nathan denied.
"This is serious. Sonia, Eleanor, you two group with the others and prepare for lunch, I'll heal Nathan," Sylvester said.
"Okay," the two walked away.
"Alright, let's get you patched up, and afterward, we'll have a talk," the Rossiu took out his grimoire and opened it on a page. "Lunar Recovery Magic-,"
"What's going on here?" a voice said behind them. Sylvester turned around to see Reyna.
"Mother, what a surprise. Nathan hurt himself, so I'm taking care of it,"
The woman looked at the boy who only looked back at her before she scanned his wound. "I'll take care of it," she took out her grimoire, which was amber, with black lines coming from each direction, converging in the center where the three-leaf clover rested. Opening it, she knelt at the kid's level.
"Night Recovery Magic: Bountiful Umbra," she placed a hand on the injured side of his face as a black mass covered it, fading away seconds later to reveal the wound was gone.
"What an amazing spell, thank you, Miss Reyna. However, I'm guessing there's a huge scar on it instead,"
"There isn't," Reyna plainly replied. "Bountiful Umbra is one of my best recovery spells, and your wound was small, so it appears as if there was never an injury there to begin with. Now, Nathan, if you would allow us some privacy, I wish to speak with my son,"
"Sure, thank you again," he said as he left them, but instead of walking in the direction the others went to wash up, he walked towards his dad's memorial.
"Damn it, that was just a fluke, I know it was, I'm fine, I just…need to vent," he muttered, crossing by the entrance of the estate on his way.
And that's when he heard it.
"Hey, you have your payment ready?"
Nathan froze in place. He could've sworn his ears were playing tricks on him, there was no way he could've heard that voice, but once he turned his head to the right, he realized it was no trick, and that the one he heard was truly there.
Levi.
The distance was decent, but Nathan could see it, Levi along with some other guy who spoke up. "Yeah, I got the pay right here," he pulled out a bag of yul and handed it over.
"Perfect, thanks a bunch, I'd better be off, got things to do,"
The boy watched him walk away, a range of emotions went through Nathan's head: sadness, over the loss of his father's remains. Helplessness, at how little he was able to do anything against Levi during their previous encounter. But one was much stronger than the others.
Anger. Waves upon waves of anger.
Nathan shifted his gaze forward, where his dad's memorial was not too far off, then he looked behind him, noticing no one was there. "Fate has given me this opportunity to make things right," he said to himself, clenching his fists tightly as he exited the estate.
"And I won't waste it,"
Reyna stood up and put her grimoire away. "Thanks for that, mother," the lunar mage said.
"No problem, it wasn't very hard,"
"Um, I see. So, what did you want to discuss with me?" Sylvester asked.
"I heard from your father that you helped Julius regarding the Royal Knights," Reyna mentioned.
Her son nodded. "I did, right now, I'm doing assessments for potential candidates and sending them to Julius to evaluate,"
"I see, I suppose that is impressive,"
Sylvester faced her. "You suppose?"
"Yes, while it's good you can help select the Royal Knights, it'd be better if you were able to join their ranks," Reyna clarified.
The younger Rossiu groaned. "Mother, in order to be a Royal Knight, you need to be a Magic Knight. I thought we already talked about this, I don't want to join them,"
"It would be more beneficial for the family if you did," she doubled down.
"It might be for you, but that isn't going to change my mind," he protested.
"Why?"
Sylvester's eyes widened. It was a rare sight when his mother spoke with much emotion to anyone else but Ellen and Marcus, and now was no exception. "What?"
"From the beginning, every noble who's part of the Rossiu House has been a Magic Knight, from the oldest in Ezekiel, to the youngest in Kenos, but you, you seek to be the odd one out. Why don't you want to be a Magic Knight? Do you have something against it?"
"No, I don't have anything against it, not in the slightest," he began to answer calmly. "They don't help people in the way I want to help people,"
"But they do so much for the kingdom,"
"That's right, they help the kingdom, but not the community. Magic Knights handle big and dangerous problems, even the ones who patrol areas do so with the purpose of mitigating and stopping potential threats. They don't help people like I do, they don't assist people who are just peacefully going about their lives, like helping merchants, or teaching kids, maybe if they were more like that, I'd consider joining their ranks,"
"Those living peaceful lives already have others to help them, it doesn't have to be you, someone with your potential needs to put it to good use. Being a Magic Knight is a path you must take,"
"It's my turn to ask questions now," Sylvester stated, his voice slowly getting angrier. "Why is being a knight the path I must take? There's a motto I teach my students: It doesn't matter where you're born, if you work hard enough, you can be whatever you want in this world. That motto applies to me too, just because I was born into the Rossiu House doesn't mean my path in life is decided for me, I understand the importance and value of the knights, really I do, but with how they are currently, that's not what I want for myself,"
Reyna made a motion to speak. "You aren't getting it, Sylvester, you-,"
"No, you aren't getting it!" Sylvester cut her off with a raised voice. "You aren't getting that this isn't what I want to do, you may be my mother, and I'll always be grateful to be your son, but you don't get to tell me how I should dictate my life!"
The night mage was about to say something, but she relented. "This always ends the same way, doesn't it?" she said before walking away, turning at an intersection.
Sylvester was still breathing heavily from the outburst, but soon he calmed down and started to rub his arm, already feeling remorseful. "That yell was uncalled for, I better go apologize," he made his way over to the intersection. "Mother, I'm-,"
He stopped himself and quickly backed up out of sight as he heard his mother talking to herself, clearly annoyed. "Why do you have to keep doing this? All I want is to put you on the right track, but you have to be so stubborn and refuse it. Helping merchants? Teaching children? Admirable acts indeed, but I can't be proud of a son who does just that when you're destined for so much greater,"
That last sentence hit hard for Sylvester, but what she said next hit so much harder.
"Y'know Sylvester, there are times I wish I had another child, one who would just do what I tell them to do, but unfortunately, I'm stuck with you,"
The lunar mage didn't wish to listen anymore, silently walking off, a shadow over his eyes. He couldn't help but think back to a memory of when he was eight years old and had participated in a magic shooting competition, the first competition he was ever in, and had come in first place.
"I'm so proud of you, son, that was incredible!" he recalled Marcus saying with enthusiasm, but when it came to Reyna, he was met with different words.
"That wasn't too bad," was all she said in her plain tone of voice.
Fast forward a year later, he found himself in another competition, this one being a broom flying competition, and like the last one, he came out victorious.
"You have no idea how proud I am of you, even I wasn't able to fly that well at nine years old," his father praised along with his uncle.
But from his mother. "A decent display, it could've been better though,"
Finally, his mind took him to the day he received his grimoire, despite most praise being from Kenos, he'd never forget his father's reaction as the man cried tears of joy.
"My son finally has a grimoire of his own, and it's a four-leaf! This is one of the happiest days of my life!"
But unlike before, Reyna said nothing to him about it, she just gave him a simple nod before walking away. The young Sylvester looked down at his new tome and back up at her as a thought entered his head.
"Are you proud of me too, mom?"
The lunar mage pulled himself out of his memories as he halted and spoke quietly. "For as long as I could remember, all I ever wanted was for you to tell me you were proud of me, but things are different now, I'm older, I have beliefs and my own perspective on things," tears slowly began to fall down his face. "Still, I…I want to hear you say it one day, just once,"
Silence reigned around him for a few seconds, but it was broken by a strange sound. The sound of buzzing.
Sylvester noticed a fly near his ear. "Go away," he swatted at the insect, but it only flew closer to him. "I said, shoo!" he clapped the fly in between his hands, wiping the gut and blood off. "Stupid fly,"
"Mister Sylvester!" Sonia exclaimed, running to him, her voice exceedingly laced with concern. "There's a…are you okay? You're crying,"
He quickly wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. "Oh no, something just blew into my eyes," he lied. "Is something wrong?"
"Yes, it's Nathan,"
"What about Nathan? Did he get injured again?"
"No, he's missing!"
"Hm, this doesn't look too bad," Glynda said to herself as she scanned products while walking through the merchant district.
Soon though, a certain stand caught her attention. "That seems promising," she motioned over to the stand. "Are these magic items you're selling?"
The young man she spoke to had his back to her when she asked, so he turned around. "Yes, I-," he was momentarily stunned upon coming face to face with her, but regained his voice. "I do. Is there anything here that you're looking for in particular?"
"I'm looking for an item that will help with magic training," she replied.
"Ah, you're in luck, I got tons of those," the man pointed to a gold orb with black markings sitting at his left. "This one is a promising item, it draws in surrounding mana and uses it to construct dummies. There's a setting on it which allows you to control how much mana it takes in, the more it absorbs, the stronger the dummy, an excellent tool for continual training,"
Glynda peered down at the orb. "Excellent indeed," she commented.
But as she did, she never noticed Levi walk right past her.
"Um, it sure is," the merchant muttered, his gaze drifting elsewhere. "Goddamn,"
"Is there a limit on the amount it can take in and repurpose?" she asked, her gaze still fixated downwards.
"Oh, um, yes, in terms of capacity, it can hold a maximum of mana equal to that the average common adult can hold,"
"I see, then this will be the perfect thing to start some more advanced practice with," the telekinesis mage thought, lifting her eyes up, but that's when she noticed where the merchant was looking. "Excuse me, young man, my eyes are up here,"
"U-Uh, I'm s-sorry," he stuttered, embarrassed. "I didn't mean to stare,"
Glynda stood up straight. "It's alright, just don't let it happen again if you would be so kind. I'll take the orb," she handed over the appropriate amount of yul.
"Of course," the young man took the money and handed the item. "I apologize once again,"
The vice-captain placed the item in her satchel and strolled away. "I suppose Jack had a point, I do have sexual appeal, men must find me really attractive," she mused quietly as she blushed ever so slightly. "But I wonder…does Jack find me attractive?"
It didn't long for her to realize what she just said. "C'mon Glynda, what are you doing? We just agreed we weren't going to think about this anymore. If I can't stop, perhaps I should talk to someone, but who? En and Sekke? No, I don't want to burden subordinates with this, especially since both parties are their superiors. Yami? That won't work either, he and Jack have some rivalry going on, and I'm not sure if he'll be unbiased. Vanessa? Hell no, that will just be opening a can of worms I won't be able to deal with. Then who should I-,"
She was pulled out of her thoughts as she bumped into someone, that certain someone being Nathan. "Oh my, I'm so sorry. Are you alright, little one?"
"I'm okay, but it was my fault, I wasn't paying attention," he replied.
"I guess you could say neither of us were," she giggled. "What was catching your eye?"
"More like who, there's someone I was tracking," he answered.
"Tracking?" the teacher crossed her arms. "I hope you're not spying on this person,"
The boy nervously waved his hands. "Not at all, I'm just trying to reach him, but he's far from me," he fibbed.
"I see, well, I hope you reach them," she said, watching him run east. "Now, since I'm here, might as well see what other stuff I could use before the next class starts,"
"Damn it, I didn't lose track of him, did I?" Nathan thought as he slowed down, scanning the people in front of him, but he eventually noticed Levi and continued following him.
However, that wasn't the only thing he noticed. "Is it just me, or are there just fewer people around here?"
Suddenly, Levi halted, making Nathan jump as he sped to hide by an alleyway, peeking his head out. "Why'd he stop? Is something on his mind? Has he noticed the low number of people too?"
But then the azure flame mage spoke up. "So, are you just going to remain hidden, or are you going to tell me why you're following me, Nathan?"
This caught the boy by complete surprise, seeing no point in hiding anymore, he revealed himself. "How'd you know I was spying on you?"
"You know what I used to be, sensing your mana was easy, that and you're terrible at stealth,"
"Crap,"
Levi turned, looking him in the eye. "It's been a while since we've last seen each other, you look different, but you look well. Now, why are you following me?"
Nathan clenched his fists. "You want to know why?" he repeated. "It's your turn to follow me then, I want to explain in a more private place,"
The man shrugged. "Sure, lead the way,"
Twenty minutes later, Sylvester and Sonia landed in the merchant district.
"You're positive this place is a good place to start?" the girl asked.
"I am, I can ask some of my merchant friends if they saw Nathan," he told her. "Let's hurry, we'll start with Hanz, then move onto Leila,"
The two wasted no time running to Mr. Aldon's stand, but once they got there, they were taken aback momentarily by the size of the line.
"Do we have to wait in line?" Sonia inquired.
"Hell no, come with me," the lunar mage curved around the line and approached the stand from a different direction.
"Here you go, enjoy your cotton candy," Hanz smiled, handing a customer their food before he saw the Rossiu in the corner of his eye. "Sylvester, what a surprise, I wasn't expecting to see you again today," he then eyed the girl beside him. "And who is this? A student I presume?"
"Correct, I'm Sonia, nice to meet you,"
"Likewise,"
"Hanz, I need your help, one of my students went missing. He's a young boy, eleven years old, has short dark brown hair, and is wearing a long-sleeve gray shirt along with some khakis. Is that ringing any bells?" Sylvester said.
"I'm sorry, I haven't seen anyone with those features, I've been busy with customers, and I'm especially busy now since Marilyn and Zeke had an emergency at their stands," he replied.
The lunar mage stared down at the ground in frustration. "Alright, then I'll go ask Leila,"
"Wait a minute, that description sounds familiar," a voice said, the three turned to the person who said it: the next customer in line.
Sylvester recognized the customer. "I know you. Glynda, right? You were on Kenos' team during the exam,"
"Yeah, and you're his cousin if I'm not mistaken," she said back. "I ran into the boy you're talking about when I was shopping for a magic item. He said was trying to catch up with someone he saw nearby,"
Sonia was excited by the news. "You know where he is then?"
Glynda's expression fell. "I'm afraid I don't. I bumped into him about twenty to twenty-five minutes ago,"
"Damn, then he can be anywhere by now," Sylvester punched his palm. "Sonia, you're Nathan's sister, do you know any place he could possibly be?"
"A likely place?" she began thinking, and then it hit her. "Yes, there is one spot,"
"Then we'll be off to that spot, you'll direct me," he set his broom as the two mounted it. "Thank you so much, Glynda,"
The telekinesis mage kept her eyes on them as they took off, turning to Hanz. "Y'know, there isn't really anything I want right now," she left the line and pulled out a communication device, opening it, and a projection of En appeared.
"Is something wrong, Glynda?" the fungus mage asked.
"Not exactly, tell my students they have extra recess time, I won't be back for a while longer," she stared at the sky.
"There's something I need to do,"
"I take it you know where we are?" Nathan and Levi were currently standing across from each other as the former made his statement.
The latter glanced around the location. "Oh yes, the meadow where your dad's body used to be," he answered plainly.
This plain tone angered Nathan as he pointed at the former vice-captain. "You remember, that's good, so my explanation to your question should be a no-brainer, but I'll explain it anyway in case you haven't caught on: I'm here to get revenge for him, by taking you down here and now, once and for all!" he assumed a battle stance.
There were a few ways Levi could respond to the declaration, he could burst out laughing, or he could simply walk away, instead, he chose to cross his arms and give the boy a look of total indifference. "You're serious?"
Nathan's stance faltered. "W-What?"
"I can't believe you're still hung up about this. You shouldn't even be wanting revenge, the fate your dad's corpse suffered was justified, he had a debt to pay and he couldn't pay it," Levi plainly admonished him.
"I told you I was willing to work it off!" Nathan yelled.
His nemesis was calmer. "And I told you I'm not letting someone else take on his debt for him,"
"Perhaps you did, but burning a corpse is going too far, and I intend to make you pay for it, the hard way," the young earth mage threatened.
"I'm not going to be paying for anything in any way, because I don't plan on staying here to listen to your sentimental nonsense,"
"It isn't nonsense! Stay here and fight!"
"Nah, I'll be on my way, don't be a stranger," Levi was getting ready to turn around.
Nathan could no longer keep his cool. "I said, stay…and…FIGHT!" he hurled a stone with his magic, scratching the man's cheek.
Levi passed a finger over the cut, inspecting it, he was surprised to see blood. His gaze shifted from his finger to the short enemy. "You really want this fight to happen, don't you?"
"What do you think?!"
The azure flame mage faced him. "Fine then, I'll entertain this little revenge battle of yours, and to keep things as fair as they can be, I won't use my grimoire, not like I'll need it though. I do have another thing to tell you,"
"And what is it?" Nathan asked with narrowed eyes.
Levi's expression became one of rage. "Don't start crying for mercy or any shit like that once I'm done beating the crap out of you!"
Nathan's expression matched that rage. "We'll see who'll be asking for mercy!" he exclaimed, firing an array of magic bullets.
His opponent effortlessly evaded the barrage. "Look, I know you don't have a grimoire, but is that seriously the best you can do?"
"Of course it isn't. You think I'd challenge you if I didn't step up my game?!" he answered with a swift motion that created a number of medium-sized stones before launching them.
"Same strategy, different ammo, but the same result," Levi opted to leap into the air, launching a blue fireball.
Nathan rapidly constructed a wall to protect him, but upon the fireball making contact, the wall crumbled soon after. "This isn't good at all, just one hit can take out my defenses. No matter what, I can't let him assume the offensive!"
The azure flame mage was only getting started as he used his fire to thrust himself at the boy. There was nothing Nathan could do to react during those, but luckily for him, Levi touched the ground behind him, rotating his body to strike with his arm.
The young earth mage now had a chance, ducking and quickly backing up as Levi lunged forward, firing punches and kicks that so far, were hitting air.
"Okay, I can see what you meant when you said you upped your game, you're doing better than I initially thought you would. Did you train yourself?"
Nathan made sure to keep himself out of striking range as he replied. "No, I have a teacher, it's thanks to him I have what it takes to stand here today!"
Levi smirked. "I wouldn't exactly say you 'have what it takes', don't forget that I'm currently handicapping myself. If I decided to bust out my grimoire from the get-go, you'd lose even faster than those two idiot kids who you were with the last time we were here,"
"They have names y'know! Mark my words, I plan to defeat you for Kenos and Zuka as well!" his opponent exclaimed, throwing a punch, only for it to be easily caught, so he threw another punch with his second fist, and the same result was reached.
"There you go again, saying you'll defeat me, get with the program, kid, it isn't going to happen," the man said, tightening his grip as Nathan tried to break free.
The boy grit his teeth, seeing escape from the predicament was unlikely, but it was then that his gaze fixated itself below Levi's waist, making him grin. "I beg to differ!" he performed an upward kicking motion with his leg, but before anything could happen, Levi released him and backed up, just as a pillar rose in the place he just was in.
The azure flame mage was wide-eyed for a time. "Shit, I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting you to go for a low blow. Is that what your teacher teaches you?"
"No, and to be honest, if he was here, he'd very likely reprimand me from trying something so underhanded, but if it will lead to beating you, I'll gladly bend a few morals,"
"I see then, I suppose I can respect resolve like that, however…," he began, boosting himself forward again at a faster speed than before, punching Nathan in the gut.
The younger combatant could feel the air rushing out of his lungs as he dropped onto the grass below, writhing in pain.
"...That doesn't mean your resolve is enough,"
Nathan could only continue to groan, clutching his stomach as the enemy stood over him. "Don't tell me you're done already? I didn't even punch you that hard. If you're truly serious about getting revenge on me, get up," Levi mocked.
More movement came from the boy, the movement of his head turning to face his opponent, defiance clear in his eyes. "As you wish!" he swiped his hand, a lump of earth moving with it, unfortunately, the former vice-captain established distance and evaded it without a scratch, giving Nathan a chance to get back on his feet.
"T-This isn't over!" he screamed.
"It most certainly isn't!" the azure flame screamed too as they both charged at each other, but once they were a yard from each other, Nathan raised his hand, forming a well-sized stone in front of Levi's torso.
"Man, do I owe Eleanor a lot for showing me this move. I'll catch him off guard and increase the pressure once he's on the ground, then victory, and revenge, will be mine," he thought to himself, ready to execute the action, but to his shock and dismay, the stone was destroyed by a burst of blue flame.
Levi laughed and readied his hand for a punch. "An impressive attack concept, but I'd never let a move like that do me in,"
With his plan derailed, Nathan was on an inevitable collision with the mage's fist, but he saved himself at the last minute by using earth from below to boost himself into the air.
"That attack didn't work either, I'm running out of things to try. All I have is one more tactic, it has to work," using his last resort, the young earth mage created a slab in the air, and like before, he jumped west and formed another slab, repeating the movement once more to the west.
"I should be in Levi's blind spot, if I strike fast enough, he won't be able to react," he mumbled, thrusting himself downwards, extending his hand as earth coated his palm. "This is it!"
However, it turned out that it would be it as Levi quickly turned his head to eye him, not surprised in the slightest. Saying nothing, he blasted himself up with fire and rotated his body, his current position no longer being in Nathan's favor and instead his own as he kicked the boy's face with his heel, rocketing him to the ground.
"N-No way, it f-failed," Nathan tried to get up, but his body wouldn't let him.
Levi landed, his arms crossed. "Two hits, all it took was two hits to take you down, what a joke, at least you weren't begging for mercy. This battle of ours is over,"
"Nathan!"
The boy in question did his best to look behind him where the sound of unified voices came from, and lo and behold, those voices belonged to Sylvester and Sonia.
"We're here!" they exclaimed, kneeling by his injured body. The lunar mage opened his grimoire and turned to a page. "Lunar Recovery Magic: Half Moon Resurgence," he placed his hands on him and began the healing process, but that didn't stop him from glaring at Levi.
"What the hell did you do to my student?!"
The other man raised a brow. "Student? Oh, you must be the teacher he was talking about, I gotta say though, you're a decent one, he may have lost, but you don't see skill like that from kids without grimoires every day,"
"Sylvester. Sonia," Nathan croaked, attempting to stand.
"Don't stress yourself," the Rossiu said. "Who is this guy, and what were you doing fighting him?"
"His name is Levi, a former vice-captain, I have a score to settle with him, he incinerated my dad's grave and he hurt Kenos and Zuka when they tried to stop him,"
"Excuse me?" Sylvester wasn't expecting to hear those names, directing his attention to Levi. "You fought Kenos and Zuka?"
"Yeah, so? What's it to you that I beat those two idiots?"
"What's it to me? For your information, those so-called idiots you're referring to are my cousin and his potential girlfriend," he spoke in his mind, but he gave a calmer verbal response. "I know them,"
"Is that so? You want to get revenge for them like Nathan?"
The lunar mage stood up and marched ahead. "No, but I can't just let you hurt one of my students and walk away unpunished,"
"Fine by me, I wanna see how good your skills are, or is your expertise only in teaching?"
"You're about to find out,"
Levi quickly took out his grimoire. "Azure Flame Magic: Swirling Combustion!"
"Lunar Creation Magic: Tsukuyomi's Safeguard!" he blocked the massive fireball, not letting up. "Lunar Creation Magic: Moonlight Armaments!"
As the armor materialized, he drew his sword and charged straight ahead. "That attack could've been better. You better have something stronger that tome of yours or else this will end quickly,"
"You better believe I do! Azure Flame Magic: Brilliant Volley!"
Sylvester observed closely as the numerous fireballs came his way, but he was undeterred by them as he cut each of them in half, zooming forward to punch Levi dead in the face. "A stronger move, but still manageable, it appears you're a little on the rusty side. Nathan said you were a former vice-captain, why did you quit? You don't look old at all, and getting to a rank that high is the dream of a lot of mages,"
Levi wiped the mix of blood and drool dripping down his mouth as he got up. "It may be their dream, but it wasn't mine. I didn't even want to be a Magic Knight in the first place,"
Sylvester's eyes widened. "You didn't?"
"Yup, my folks made me join, I was young back then, I didn't get a say in the matter. I hated it there, but since I was stuck, I thought I'd try to make the best of it. I thought 'hey, maybe if I can climb up the hierarchy and attain a high position, I'd get some more freedom and privilege that could make this crappy situation more bearable',"
"And I take it it wasn't like you envisioned?" the lunar mage guessed.
"Bingo. Instead of freedom and privilege, I was stuck doing paperwork day in and day out along with having to be near a captain that drove me nuts, I couldn't stay any longer, I just couldn't. So I quit my squad, cut myself off from my family, and became what I wanted to, and life has been good ever since,"
"...I see, and you never regretted it?"
"Not yet I haven't. Anyways, storytime is over," Levi turned to another page. "Azure Flame Creation Magic: Twin Severing Blades of Ignition!" he exclaimed, equipping the bladed gauntlets.
"Be careful, Sylvester!" Sonia called.
"I will!" he told her as he and Levi charged at one another again, engaging in an exchange of sword fighting, ending it with a struggle of blades, both sides pushing with all their might.
Sylvester was the one to end the struggle, backing up and lunging forward with a wide horizontal slash, but Levi blocked it with his right gauntlet, using the left blade to strike his opponent, but the lunar mage was able to spin around behind, opting for a vertical slash.
The azure flame mage was quick though, turning his body and crossing his blades in time to protect himself. "That was close, too bad I'm faster,"
"A bold claim, let's see if you can back it up," Sylvester retorted, ending the struggle once more, this time jumping up. "Lunar Magic: Crescent Bladedance!" the daggers shot out from his leg holsters.
The former vice-captain didn't look worried. "I could try to dodge that, but why dodge when I can just block. Azure Flame Creation Magic: Inferno Column!" spiraling blue fire spawned from the ground, protecting him from the hextet of daggers.
"Don't think a spell like that will keep you safe for long!" the daggers returned to their place as Sylvester began falling back down, gripping the handle of his sword with both hands, ready to cut the column in two upon landing.
But the action never happened as the column extinguished itself and its caster got out of the way, opting to have his own moment of air time just as the lunar mage landed. Levi copied a page from his opponent's book and brought his blades together, reeling them back for a vertical slash.
The Rossiu had no time to dodge, so he used his sword to defend himself as the strike made contact, placing his available hand on the face of the blade near the tip to reinforce his defense. Unfortunately for him, the weight behind the attack was proving to be much.
"I hope you don't mind if I borrow your move," Levi smirked.
Sylvester smirked as well. "No problem, it's not going to change much. Lunar Binding Magic: Selene's Confinement!" he declared as two ropes shot out of his grimoire, with one wrapping itself around Levi's wrist and the other around his feet, catching the mage's attention, that distraction giving him a chance to push him off to the ground back-first.
"Now I'll end this!"
"No, you won't!" Levi spread his hands out to the best of his ability, creating a wave of blue flames around him, burning the rope and halting Sylvester's advance.
The azure flame mage rose up, observing the ignited grass, he clenched a fist and extinguished it all before sprinting forward. "Azure Flame Magic: Vivid Spiral!"
Sylvester sheathed his sword and entered a lunging position. "Lunar Magic: Striking Moongazer!" the two attacks clashed, leaving neither combatant unscathed. The former vice-captain had a bleeding cheek, while his adversary had patches of his shirt burned.
From afar, Nathan sat up, watching the two men battle, being virtually evenly matched. He thought back to a few minutes back and how little he did. "This isn't fair, it just isn't fair, I was supposed to have my revenge. Why wasn't I strong enough?"
Levi stood up and took a breath. "Alright then, I've found out what I wanted to, you're good, real good, so I'll end this with the best I got!" he blasted himself into the air and created a large shapeless mass of fire.
"Azure Flame Magic: Bonfire Conflagration!"
Sylvester looked up at the descending mass, his grimoire turning to a page. "If you're going to use your strongest offensive spell, I'll meet it with my best defensive spell. I don't use this very often, but I'll make an exception! Lunar Creation Magic: Full Moon Asylum!" he declared, forming a massive hexagonal dome that spanned half a kilometer, even managing to protect Nathan and Sonia.
"What the?" Levi was flabbergasted at the spell's size, and even more flabbergasted when he saw his attack wasn't damaging the dome at all, so he added more power. "C'mon!"
Within the dome, the lunar mage just stared up, no worry present on his face, and his lack of worry wasn't ill-founded as the mass soon extinguished, and the asylum remained spotless.
"I-It's not possible. No, it can't end like this!" Levi created another mass. "Azure Flame Magic: Bonfire Conflagration!"
Sylvester commanded the dome to fall. "It will end like this. Lunar Creation Magic: Luna, the Moonknight Wyvern!" they both took to the air, with Luna cutting the fiery spell in half, the force from the action shooting Levi further up, sending him crashing down with a loud thud.
The armored wyvern vanished as Sylvester landed next to the azure flame mage. "It's over,"
"Not yet!" Levi shot his body up, trying to attack, but suddenly, he found himself unable to move.
Even Sylvester was confused. "What happened?"
"That would be my doing,"
The two saw someone approach them: Glynda.
"It's you. What're you doing here?" Sylvester asked.
"I got a little worried when you said a student of yours was missing, I'm a teacher as well, so I followed you, but it seems you had everything under control," she explained, shifting attention to her bound target. "As for you, Levi Aflouma I presume?"
"Yeah, and you are?"
"A pleasure, I am Glynda Goodwitch, vice-captain of the Green Praying Mantises, your successor, I just joined recently,"
"What?!" he exclaimed. "Miss, listen to me, leave that squad while you have the chance, don't wait until it's too late. Take it from me, a lunatic like Jack isn't worth it,"
"I must say, if it was my first day being a vice-captain, I would have agreed with you, but I've helped Jack and he has made a great effort to change lately, he's becoming a better captain, and a better man, and I'm glad to work under him,"
"Bullshit! I put up with him for so long, I did all his paperwork, managed all the other responsibilities, I virtually ran the squad and he never changed. What could you have possibly done?!"
Glynda crossed her arms as she replied to the question. "You answered your own question, you put up with him, I believed in him," she turned to Sylvester. "You should leave, I'll release him once you're gone,"
"Okay, thanks again," Sylvester headed back to the kids as they mounted his broom and flew off.
The telekinesis mage released her victim and began walking away. "Take care, Levi,"
Twenty minutes passed until the three landed back at the Rossiu estate, dismounting. Eleanor noticed them and hurried to where they were, embracing Nathan. "You're back, I'm relieved,"
"Are the other students still here?" Sylvester asked.
"No, shortly after you left, your father and I took them all to their homes," she replied. "I'll go tell Marcus you found him," she walked inside.
"This sucks," Nathan said aloud in disappointment.
"What are you talking about? We were able to find you in time, and Mister Sylvester was able to beat Levi," his sister told him.
"That's exactly why this sucks, I was supposed to beat Levi, I trained as hard as I did for that one goal, and in the end, I stood no chance, even when he handicapped himself, I still couldn't land a single hit on him," he grit his teeth, punching his palm. "I'll wait till I get my grimoire then, once I do, I'll train even harder than I am now, then I can beat him, then I'll-,"
"Nathan!" the boy was almost frightened at how Sonia screamed his name. "I'm tired of you talking like that! You need to let this Levi stuff go!"
"No way, he burned dad's grave, his body is gone and I know you miss him too. This has to be done!" he protested. "Sylvester, you agree with me right?"
"Sort of, I understand that sometimes revenge is a necessary thing, but you need to think about what it costs," he answered seriously, kneeling to his level. "You pushed your body too hard, you almost collapsed from exhaustion which got you injured, you snuck out of the estate without permission or telling anyone and worried both me and your sister, all to fight someone you had no chance of beating. So tell me, was trying to get revenge worth all of that?"
Nathan now stared at the ground, holding his arm. "Well…I guess it wasn't. I'm…I'm sorry for worrying both of you, I was just so obsessed with this, I didn't really think about how it'd affect everyone else,"
The lunar mage placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "It's okay, and hey, if by the time you're older and you still feel like this is a wrong you need to right, then go and right it, but do it in a more healthy manner,"
"I will, promise,"
"Good, now go get some rest, you need it," he said as the kids headed inside too, leaving him outside by himself, his mind drifting to another topic.
"So, Levi never wanted to be a Magic Knight. How many other people are forced into it? This isn't how it should be," he then started to walk inside too.
But as he was in thought, he never noticed a new fly resting on his shoulder.