Nova had his fist high in the sky.
『It's my win!』[Nova]
『Hah. He let his guard down.』[Derenne]
The barrier was swiftly lowering.
『EXTEND!』[Rai]
『What?!』[Nova]
In a flash, Rai appeared right in front of Nova.
『This is… the calm before the storm!』[Rai]
Rai's open palm closed, and twisted while a large amount of mana was pushed past Nova.
「Oi, kid. This is bad news. Get out of there!」[Reischneid]
『Area!』[Nova]
As he slipped into the Area, a crushing force exerted on his mana shield, damaging it and completely pulverizing the area he was previously at.
『Hey. These kids.. Aren't at the level of noobs.』[Derenne]
『Of course, I trained Nova in conjunction with the top "Genius" of our class.』[Sarena]
Oswald's ears perked up.
『Was that a compliment?』[Oswald]
『I'm starting to think the "Untouchable Queen" is getting a bit soft.』[Hanzo]
The casual conversation was suddenly interrupted.
『WHAT THE FUCK?!』[Derenne]
『What?!』[Oswald]
『What are you guys looki-』[Hanzo]
『Oh, god.』[Sarena]
There Nova was, looking down on Rai, approximately 40 meters in the air.
『You idiots.. Taught him FLIGHT MAGIC?』[Derenne]
『Do you think we could? Os was training him in MANA SHIELD. We had 3 WEEKS to get him ready for this, not 3 YEARS.』[Sarena]
『Then, explain that!』[Hanzo]
Oswald's eyes were already in that shade of deep purple.
『So, keep you hidden Reischneid?』[Nova]
『Yeah. Do that.』[Reischneid]
On the floor, Rai stared up, with a gaping mouth.
『I'm not letting him one-up me like this.』[Rai]
Rai began to hunker down, then lightning began to coil around his legs.
Using his strength in Extend, he jumped straight at Nova.
『You guys taught some crazy things to your student too..』[Sarena]
『Wasn't me. All Derenne.』[Hanzo]
『Damn straight. You didn't teach him shit.』[Derenne]
『...』[Hanzo]
------
Rai came straight toward Nova.
『That stupid idiot!』[Nova]
『TAKE THIS!!』[Rai]
『Area.』[Nova]
A black hole appeared below Nova and Rai entered. He exited about 20 meters above the original hole.
『It's showtime, Reischneid!』[Nova]
『Let's do it!』[Reischneid]
Nova gripped the handle and used both his hands to aim at Rai and poured mana into Reischneid.
『LET'S GO!!!!』[Nova and Reischneid]
A white beam fired off from the hilt and was approaching Rai.
『No way!』[Rai]
He pulled his fist back and grabbed Reischneid.
『That won't work!』[Nova]
Reischneid proceeded to wrap around Rai's arm.
『What kind of spell is that?!』[Hanzo]
『I wouldn't say it's a spell, per say.』[Sarena]
『I believe this fight is over.』[Oswald]
『Not till my student wins.』[Derenne]
『Hah! Shock Burst!』[Rai]
The red lightning traveled down the blade and attacked Nova's already flawed mana shield.
Nova winced a bit.
『You okay, partner?!』[Reischneid]
『Yeah! Just fine!』[Nova]
『Take this!』[Rai]
He punched the blade of the sword and began to fall.
He took a look at the ground and realized why that may have been an issue, 150ish meters in the air.
『I.. DID NOT THINK THIS THROUGH.』[Rai]
『Reischneid!』[Nova]
The blade began to twist and warp into tens of blades growing like a tree.
Before long, Rai was caught again by tens of blades.
『Hah! Shock Burst!』[Rai]
Nova had spread his mana shield onto Reischneid in order to mitigate some of the damage, but it made his thin shield even thinner.
『B..BLESSED FLAME REBIRTH!』[Nova]
Rai was engulfed in blue flames that raged on.
『These flames are.. cold?!』[Rai]
『Isn't this the flames of healing that the kid is known for?』[Derenne]
『What's he doing healing the opponent?』[Hanzo]
『Hahahaha!』[Oswald and Sarena]
『We've won.』[Sarena]
『What?!』[Hanzo]
Upon further inspection, the Extend form was disappearing much faster than before.
『It's sapping my mana! I have to end this fast!』[Rai]
All of Rai's mana turned into a super-dense coiling layer on his right arm.
『OVERLOAD!』[Rai]
A giant strike of red lightning made its way toward Nova.
『CRAP! HOLD UP, MANA SHIELD!!』[Nova]
They both fell to the ground, but one of them landed hard.
『H..ah..haaa..』[Nova]
『I'm out of mana, and so are you.』[Rai]
『Ye..yeah.』[Nova]
『Then.. Let's fight.』[Rai]
Nova fixed his posture.
『Bring it.』[Nova
『Is your student crazy? Challenging Rai to a physical confrontation?』[Derenne]
『No. I'd say it's the other way around.』[Sarena]
Nova and Rai swung at each other, eating hits one for one.
『Go… Agh! Down!』[Nova]
『No...Guh! You!』[Rai]
A spark of lightning appeared on Rai's fist as he swung toward Nova.
But it never reached him.
Grabbing his arm was a man with pale white hair and a handsome face.
『That's as far as you go.』[Reischneid]
『..Who is that?』[Rai]
『Then, I'll leave it to you, partner.』[Nova]
---------------------
『Who is he?!』[Derenne]
『Our ace in the hole.』[Oswald]
『You.. Damn cheater! Who is he, and why is he interfering?』[Hanzo]
『He's our Nova's very own partner.』[Sarena]
Hearing them from that distance, he turned his head to look at them.
『The name is Reischneid. Pleased to meet your acquaintance.』[Reischneid]
『Let.. Go of me!』[Rai]
『Nope. This is your loss.』[Reischneid]
『How? I was about to defeat him!』[Rai]
『Look carefully at his surroundings.』[Reischneid]
After carefully observing, a translucent film could be seen floating inches away from Rai's fist.
『If you hit that, you.. Hah… probably would have been smashed into the ground without your Extend.』[Nova]
A chill ran down Rai's spine, thinking about the alternate universe where he became a pancake.
『Hah.. Fine. That's my loss.』[Rai]
----
『...That's a damn guardian, isn't it?』[Hanzo]
『Yeah.』[Sarena]
『And you knew that he had a guardian, Os?』[Hanzo]
『I found out last weekend.』[Oswald]
『Man, that's after the bet was created too.』[Hanzo]
『So, the goods?』[Oswald]
『Here. 5 mana crystals.』[Hanzo]
『Thanks.』[Oswald]
『Why are you all so calm?! He has a guardian, can fly, teleport, and drain mana!』[Derenne]
『To be honest, they're both anomalies. They were basically equal. I didn't think I could think of anyone other than Nova as a true freak of nature.』[Sarena]
『Man, that's so unfair. You basically fought me 2 on 1.』[Rai]
『You have Zhulong right?』[Nova]
『True power is when I can beat others on my own.』[Rai]
『No, it's when you can work with others to overcome anything.』[Nova]
『How will I get strong if I always rely on others?』[Rai]
『Stop thinking of Zhulong as a separate entity! I know he could have joined in on that fight.』[Reischneid]
The red tattoo flashed over and over.
『...I guess.』[Rai]
『Hey. We're lucky enough not to be on our own for the biggest event of our lives. Use that to your advantage man.』[Nova]
『Haah.. Just when I graduated from you having my back, I move on to a red snake.』[Rai]
『Hey, you had my back too. That was how we rolled. If you lose, Zhulong loses too. Do you think that prideful snake would like any losses?』[Nova]
Rai fell on his butt, tired.
He sat there silent for a few seconds.
『....Nah. We'll get stronger together. Then when you aren't paying attention, we'll sneak up on you.』[Rai]
Nova smiled, then lost balance and fell straight back.
『..Nova.』[Oswald]
『That battle.. Was between two monsters.』[Derenne]
『Truly two gems in the rough.』[Hanzo]
『It's a good thing you managed to grab them before someone else did.』[Sarena]
The entire terrain had changed from that battle.
There were marks everywhere, and if a portion of their battle didn't take place in the sky, even more of the earth would have been destroyed.
Both of the young men had burns and bruises, cuts, and chars.
But they both rested there, on the ground.
Not even getting up to heal their own wounds.
They mutually did not want to break the delicate atmosphere of respect and the bittersweet realization of their overall weaknesses.
『..Hey Rai?』[Nova]
『Yeah?』[Rai]
『..We have a long way to go, huh?』[Nova]
『...Yeah.』[Rai]