Driving through the desert was a breeze with the sand car I formed, courtesy of Jiang's magic. I could see some sort of city in-sight, though I'm not exactly sure if you could call it that. It was more of a hub or a trade center of sorts; it was something I had never seen in person. Skyscrapers bulged into the heavens from all directions. I parked the car outside of the main street behind some traffic cones and stepped out.
๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ฉ๐ถ๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต. ๐๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ.
๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ต๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ โฆ. ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ป๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐.
๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ?
I let out a loud sigh.
"Well I just hope it's not Tempus. They would be a problem."
I shuffled through the traffic cones and strolled into the barren city. There was not a single car in sight which made me think of a parallel universe version of New York City.
๐๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต, ๐ ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ด๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต'๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. I thought back to what happened with Sanguino.
"Well not everyone is like that right?" I said aloud.
I continued my leisurely stroll through the ghost city. I walked up to the nearest skyscraper and inspected the glass door. I reached out to grab the handle and attempted to pull back.
"It's locked."
I headed over to the next one in sight. It wasn't too far away. I tried it as well.
"They must all be locked."
๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐.
I thought so as well. Whoever the last people were; there's a pretty good chance they would gravitate here like I did. So, it's only a matter of time beforeโฆ.
๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
Just as he said that, a figure approached from the darkness below.
๐๐ถ๐ฉ?
I felt a wave of despair and relief wash over me. It was like I already knew who it was. I didn't want to think about it. There was only one person who I admired at school besides Fiona.
I really really really hope it's not him. Or we will be so screwed. But he might take mercy on u-.
๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
No one had ever told me to silence my thoughts before, it was kind of rude. I faced the ominous presence with a grim smile, hoping for the best. His short stark white hair inspired my soul, but crushed it simultaneously. His crimson eyes beamed with the kind of kindness you would find from a parent, but there was also something else in there: fighting spirit. The kind of glare that said "I won't lose to anyone, no matter what." His tall body and broad shoulders made me look pathetic in comparison (even if I was only a few inches shorter). His black uniform and red tie made him look even more like a lady's man, if his brilliant smile that vanquished all darkness already, did not. He was often compared to a famous hero that had an Epic about him. Something to do with Babylonโฆ. I didn't remember. The only thing cooler than his looks was his magic. As I mentioned before, he could summon weapons at will all around him and shoot them like bullets or arrows. This was really the worst time to have another meet up with Gil Fulmen.
"Hey, Viri, long time no see. I'm happy to see you are doing well, but I am very displeased with the circumstances at the moment," he continued to walk up until we were on equal footing, ten feet away.
God there was no way to hate him. He was just too nice and genuine. If I somehow managed to defeat him, I wouldn't kill him and by that, I mean I wouldn't let Shadow do it. If taking his power is all I need to move on then that's the best solution. Of course, he could just kill me, though he seems against it as it is in his kind hearted nature or that's at least what I would like to think. I could judge someone's character pretty well, right?
"Hey Fulmen. I really didn't want to see you here, yet here we are. I do have a solution that could end with both of us living though it involves you giving up your magic. Also, what happened to your hair?"
He cocked his head in confusion, "No worries, I'll take you down, but not kill you. I'm sure they intend for there to be a surrender way out as well. As for my hair, I will explain that at a later date." He flashed his signature smile, full of hope.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ. ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด. ๐๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ณ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด.
I pointed at him, "If you think I'm as weak as I was when we last spoke, think again. I have my magic now and I'm glad I get to go against someone as amazing as you."
"I'm glad to hear it Viri. I always felt very bad that I couldn't help you in any way. You always looked so lonely, but I'm glad you have something that you can call your own. But please, call me Gil."
I grinned, "You can't call me lonely anymore, Gil. Shadow."
His form manifested next to me, the skin covering most of his body was slightly visible.
Fulmen's eyes lit up, "He looks so cool. Is he your shadow or part of your shadow magic? Is he your magic shadow? Now this could yield some fun results."
Red sparks danced around his entire body. Swords of silver appeared above his head, floating while radiating intensity.
"Shall we begin?" He said gingerly.
Swords began flowing in my direction. I countered with an ice wall, stopping them in their place. This was also the perfect chance to try my theory with Jiang's magic. I focused on the ice wall when I summoned my soldiers. Just as I thought, three soldiers of ice sprouted out next to the wall.
"Similar magic to Ben's I see. Well no matter. I'll have to try a little harder, I didn't expect all this from you. I am impressed, to say the least."
More swords appeared in existence around him made of silver, gold and iron. Like a conductor, he graciously commanded them in my direction. They flew like spears, faster even, at me with little time to respond. I meandered around, summing another wall of frost and sending out my soldiers for my first offensive move.
๐๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐'๐ฎ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ?
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ'๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
Spears and arrows followed the swords as I created an igloo and surrounded it with soldiers and trees to block the attack. They were getting destroyed almost as quickly as I could make them.
๐'๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ?
๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐....
๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต'๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ต.
I created an expressway-like opening in my fortress to send out more soldiers to the battlefield. They were mixed with ice, metal and wood. Shadow sent a piece of him into each of them as they went out.
"This is some great defense Viri, I'm impressed. However, you will probably run out of mana before me and what are you going to do then? I hope we can fight face to face, as equals."
I ignored his sappy remarks and continued with the plan. The vision I was able to see through my soldiers was enough to command them forward, even from my fortress. They were getting closer to him, bit by bit. An endless onslaught of spears and swords flew their way, breaking pieces of their bodies off, but still they continued their march. Five were left when they had almost reached him. As they all drew their weapons to cut him down, he uncrossed his arms.
Faster than one could blink they were all cut to pieces by the glowing crystal sword in his hand.
"It seems you have surprised me with these tenacious soldiers. I had to use one of my more powerful creations. Well met."
"Can you stop talking like that, it makes this feel a lot less serious."
"Oh... sure. Sorry about that, I got a little riled up from finally being able to face someone here and you especially"
๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ'๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ!
Dark matter seeped up from the remains of the fallen soldiers, forming his body from the shards. Some of the pieces of the soldiers had fallen behind Fulmen and therefore gave Shadow the element of surprise. His body fully reformed and he went for his spear. He aimed for his right shoulder, the one holding the weapon.
"Grah!"
Multiple searing white spears appeared from thin air in the ground and pierced the shadows body. I felt a tinge of pain in my chest as well.
"A sneak attack. Nice idea, but I'm well aware of my surroundings especially in intense combat. I can also bet that your shadow is weak to light weapons so I don't think he will be moving anytime soon."
I bit my lip, drawing a small amount of blood from my rashness.
๐๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ-๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค. ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค? ๐๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ด๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ'๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ-๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ต. ๐ ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ!
The next time my fortress was destroyed, I didn't attempt to rebuild. I now had a full view of the battle. Fulmen stood adjacent to my shadow, his arms crossed in satisfaction and his body unharmed. Multiple swords of light were protruding from Shadow's chest, I could almost imagine the same feeling on myself. I could only see it from a soldier I had in the back's POV (point of view), but my stress level already leapt up a few levels. I also couldn't see his jeweled sword anywhere.
"Well it looks like you used up most of your mana, right? Maybe you have enough left for an all-out attack? If that's the case, come right ahead!"
I did have a lot of mana left thanks to how many people's magic I had procured and their mana along with it, but that didn't matter. I disassembled my igloo fortress and met my maker with newfound determination.
"You are on!" I screamed.
I summoned forth ice shards and lighting bolts that buzzed like bees around my head and shoulders as well as small shields of blood to cover my vitals. I didn't think they could really hold up against his impressive arsenal, but I had to do something.
"Yah!"
I sent them forward. He answered my call with his own.
"Roh!"
Several swords and spears of different shapes and sizes met my magic, head on. I knew he had the upper edge, but his strength still surprised me. The sheer force of his arsenal was so emphatic that I nearly fell down. As fast as I could create ice shards and bolts, his swords whizzed right through them, forcing me to move out of the way. The difference in power was insane. I could not keep up with someone of his caliber; it was amazing I could even last this long. So, this was a protรฉgรฉ huh? I couldn't move away fast enough every now and then and it cost me. Swords or spears would graze my already torn suit or my arms and legs. Blood oozed from multiple pores around my body. I just couldn't keep up. I would not last much longer, the end was near.
"Now would be a good time to forfeit. I haven't even broken a sweat, but you look pretty beat. It was a good match Viri, but you gotta know when to throw in the towel."
I could spot the sadness in his eyes. He genuinely didn't want to fight me. I wished I could give up, but I knew the results. There were two ways this could end and it looks like I wouldn't be the one getting out.
I shook my head, "I really wish I could Gil, honestly. But I just can't, I really can't, so give me all you got."
I used my left hand to bring up my right next to my face in the form of a fist. His unwavering smile warped into a frown. It was very unbecoming of a master swordsman like himself. He kept his arms crossed, but I knew there was something going on inside that head of his.
"Very well. If you won't submit, then what I'll do is strike you down enough to send you plummeting into unconsciousness. I'm sure the Headmaster will count that as a defeat."
He shook his head as if reassuring himself. I knew when I would be counted as "defeated". I would either have to have no magic or be dead. Neither of those options sounded great to someone who had discovered his magic two days ago.
He summoned over forty different types of swords, spears and arrows. They were really too many to count. He looked so awesome with all of them floating above him like his own personal army. All of them pointed at my body. He snapped his fingers, a defiant gleam dancing in his eyes.
"Welp. Nice knowing you."
I summoned as many ice walls and blood barriers that I could squeeze out in the short time as they flew at me, they didn't do much; just as I expected. The weapons quickly broke through my barriers, the first few missing my body, the rest not so much. My arms and legs were sliced up and down. A large gash around my chest appeared. The next few would definitely kill me.
๐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐'๐ฎ ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ? ๐'๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ.
At last the thirty plus swords flew my way. They covered enough space to nail my entire body to the ground. I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable to happen.
"๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐," Shadow laughed. It had been a while since he had said anything.
๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆโฆ. ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ...๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆโฆ. ๐๐ข๐ช๐ตโฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ?
I opened up my eyes.
"Gah. What the hell!"
All of the swords were just a foot from my body, but they were frozen or I should say, nearly frozen. They were still moving, just at a pace slower than the slowest snail. I was easily able to move out of the way, even in my weakened condition. I looked over to Fulmen.
"Hey Gil, what the hell is going o-."
His body was also nearly frozen, his hands still crossed from his chest, but his face static.
"What is happening? Why was only he affected?"
Because if I wanted to win easily, I would have just let him kill you," said an unfamiliar voice.
Her hair was grey and went down to her ears. She had an oddly edgy look to her with the hair on her left side going down her face past her eye and making a sharp curve back to the top of her hair. On the very top was a flimsy cowlick. Her one visible eye was as blue as the sky
above us. She had the school's black uniform and red tie and a black skirt to boot which made her hair color stand out even more. My eyes kept darting towards her larger than modest chest area, though it didn't hold a candle to Fiona's. Her face was full of youth despite her being the same age as myself. There was only one visible tooth from her mouth and it was weird. I mean with just one canine tooth sticking out, it seemed rather childish and a little feral. Her voice was soft, but cold like ice. I had never seen her before, but with what was going on with Fulmen, I knew exactly who she was.
"Aevi Tempus."
She nodded, "Though I don't believe we ever met."
"Indeed. I only have heard descriptions of you from other students. You are very well known and so is your magic."
She glanced over to Gil who was swimming in something slower than molasses.
"I see your magic allows you to take the power of others. If this is the case, then take Gil Fulmen's magic and fight me at full power.
"What?"
What in the world was this chick thinking? She wants me to take Fulmen's magic and use it to fight her? She seemed fairly confident that it wouldn't matter. Absorbing his shadow would also heal my wounds.
"You heard me," her voice colder than my ice magic.
I heard her the first time, but it still didn't seem like a logical idea. With Fulmen's mana though, I could definitely put up a good fight.
"I know what you are thinking. Why don't I just finish you off now? I mean look at you. You look already about to cave in. There is a reason for this. It's beyond pride too."
I looked at her with a mixture of boredom and pity.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข ๐จ๐ช๐ณ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ.
"If I want to win, I need to defeat you when you're at full power. Otherwise my parents won't acknowledge my dream and then this would all be for nothing."
I itched my neck, slowly recovering from the initial shock, "Does this dream require you to be recognized as a mage?"
She shook her head, "Not in the slightest."
"Then don't you only need to live through this ordeal. It wouldn't matter if you won or, not right?"
She let out a small giggle, "Oh I would love to just give up right here or even just hand over my magic. It has only been a massive wall in the way of my real goal, but it's not that simple."
"How so?"
"My parents," she snapped.
"Sorryโฆ."
"My magic records everything I have experienced through my life and it is linked with their magic. They would know if I gave the win to you and they also know I hate fighting without reason.
"Well...you have one, don't you? To achieve your dream?"
She nodded, "It is true. But, after meeting you, I have finally found a way to get free of my parent's grasp. So, take his magic and fight me. Kill me if you must. Either way, let's give it our all!"
My body started shaking, "H-How am I supposed to compete with that?"
I pointed to Gil whose arms were still slowly moving out of their usual position and .1x speed.
"Well. I suppose that you and that thing over there will have to figure it out.
She pointed to Shadow who was still pinned by the light weapons.
"From all the magic you have already gained as well as this goody goody's, you should have a shot...erโฆ a small shot at least."
I didn't like the way she phrased that. She tried her best to put on a genuine smile, but her face didn't seem used to it, so it just made me more uncomfortable.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ.
I didn't hate either of them, though I felt bad about plotting to take Gil's magic, but he had so many offers for colleges and a career of merit alone and I'm sure he will forgive me instead of killing him.
"Very well, let's both achieve our dreams and hopefully get the desired outcome," my voice was full of conviction. Something I usually lacked.
This time her smile seemed genuine and reminded of a girl I loved. I walked over to Fulmen's nearly frozen body to meet Shadow. The range was now close enough where he could return to his usual spot: behind me. His form made contact with my shoes and flickered out of existence. I turned around to see my shadow back where it belonged.
๐ฐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐พ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐. ๐บ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ?
"Uhโฆ can you get to it? I can't keep him in place forever and hold a conversation. It takes a lot of concentration to hold a spell this big up."
Small beads of sweat were dripping from her forehead.
I snapped to attention, "Right. Sorry about this Gilgamesh Fulmen. Shadow, you know what to do."
My shadow flung from his spot behind me and covered Gil's body. The only part of his body that probably wasn't slow was his mind. He could probably perceive everything that's happening.
๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐.
Gil looked no different, but I couldn't feel an aura from him, I felt way more energized, even with all my injuries. A new button appeared in my mind, that offered near limitless possibilities of what kind of weapon I wanted to spawn. It was like a Build-A-Bear for every type of weapon and metal.
I gave her the thumbs up.
"Finally," she grumbled.
Fulmen's body returned to normal; the swords that were thrown to end me had disappeared.
"So, this is my fate, huh?" He said with distaste, but he didn't seem particularly sad.
He then sat down on the wrecked ground and made a fist with his right hand and put it into his left open palm.
"That's right, now I can commit to fencing full time, I don't need to even consider being a mage anymore. This works out pretty well if we all get out of here alive. My family won't be able to make me follow in their footsteps either."
๐๐ถ๐ฉ? ๐๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐บ?
He turned to me and stood up, "Viri, if you get us through this, then I will have no quarrels with you taking my magic. It was really in the way of my true passion and I'm glad to get one of my many burdens off my shoulders. No more mage army recruiters knocking on my door or Paladin training."
He slapped me on the shoulder, "I'm saved!"
"Uh...right. Well can you move out of the way, it's about to get uglyโฆ. or I'm gonna be turned into an hourglass."
He let out a laugh, "Good luck my friend. My magic takes a lot of concentration to create what you want. It's pretty hard to manage without practice. It's a lot like crafting something as a blacksmith. Lose concentration and your creations get soiled, hahaha!"
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ. ๐๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง?
He moved to the side and was prepared to watch earnestly. I moved back to where I was held down by Fulmen.
"Let's begin."
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต, ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค?
๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐.
I didn't exactly get what he meant. But I did want to try out my new magic. I closed my eyes and focused on creating a basic metal sword from the fantasy books I used to read. I wanted it to be above me like Gil had done previously. I felt the mana being expended and opened my eyes. A silver sword with a dagger-like point floated above my head. The only problem: it was half the size I wanted it to be. It looked more like a first grader's weapon then my own.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต'๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ตโฆ. ๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆโฆ. ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ?
I twisted my head around as far as a human could manage, she was nowhere to be found.
I looked back to Gil, but he seemed just as bewildered as myself.
๐๐ถ๐ฉ? ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต?
Flashes of blue and white light danced around me, appearing in multiple different places consecutively. Then they all dispersed.
I know she can slow others down, but could she alsoโฆ"
"ACK!"
Her fist had slipped into my jaw and knocked me off balance. I hit the floor faster than ever before. I rubbed my injury and pulled myself up.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ?
๐ต๐, ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐.
I kept my eyes peeled and slowly moved around like on patrol.
๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ง ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ?
I cursed myself at being so foolish, but no one had ever spoken about the second part of her magic. Maybe they didn't know. A mage that trains for a long time will unlock great evolutions of their magic. I'm sure that's where Gil's massive customization and her speed up came from. Though I didn't think that was her limit. If she honed it for a few more years, I think she would be able to do much more than just slow and speed up one's time. I didn't want to be there when that happened.
๐ฏ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
I still wasn't sure how to attack her, but defense is the best option so I don't get "ora orad" to death. I decided the best option was to put up ice walls for the time being. Her small hands should have trouble getting through that.
She appeared again and I formed a 360-ice wall around myself to meet her.
"A good idea, but you're going to need something stronger to stop me."
I could hear that she was close to me, but that was all. My clothes were rattling in the wind, but there was no Aevi in sight. A moment later I felt as if she was using a jackhammer to power through. I turned around to see an opening being created by something flying faster than the eye could see. I reinforced it with another wall, but it got chewed through even faster. Everything I created was quickly torn to oblivion just as fast.
"Are youโฆ. punching that... that fast?"
She stuck her tiny head through, "This is too weak for my lightning fast punches, try again."
I couldn't tell if she was messing with me or not. I thrusted out my hand and launched a few bolts of lightning her way. She disappeared almost as quickly as she came. I needed something stronger, some way to keep her in place.
๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ด? ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ต.
I grew trees in a circle around me, making sure their bodies were conjoined together. I then released some of the blood from my body to coat the bark as well as the ice I used as the roof to my fortress. Lastly, I had enough time to now create multiple swords and stuck them right into the bark. This way her punches wouldn't get her anywhere and result in self harm.
"Well this is an improvement. I guess you are more resourceful than I gave you credit for. You have a pretty impressive amount of mana and spells. I won't be able to get through there even with my sonic kicks."
"Time to give up then, right?" I said with a tinge of hope.
"Well now I might have to do what I did to Mr. fencer over there."
"I could see everything, but my body felt as if I was using an old computer and there was a twenty-minute delay to even move the mouse a single inch," said Fulmen.
๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ. ๐ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ข ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ.
๐ฐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐. ๐บ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ.
๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
"It looks like you have trapped yourself. This duel might be short lived after all. "
๐ฐ๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐.
I decided the way I needed to get out. I used Jiang's magic to force the ground below me to shoot me up into the air like a trampoline. I didn't know the size of her time zones (what I named them) so I thought ten feet in the air would be enough. I flew through the air and created a blood pad to cushion my fall.
She clicked her tongue with irritation, "It seems you are going to be harder to conquer than I thought."
I wiped some of the dirt off my uniform, "I sure hope it's that way."
๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ต ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ?
It was hard enough to defend myself in this position. As of now, I could not think of a way to both attack and defend. There was a chance that she could only use one time zone at a time which means she probably can't use her speed to dodge my attacks and attack me with a time zone at the same time. I thought back to when she asked me to hurry up and take Fulmen's magic so she could cancel her spell. My theory is probably on dot.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐น๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ.
I had already run low on time. Sooner or later, my mana would run out and she would catch me.I needed to give this a shot.
๐ฏ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
I repeated my countermeasure again and launched myself into the air.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ต?
Wind spread through my body with force, making this repeating adventure less than desired. I had at least evaded her attack once again. How much mana would I have to expend before I could go on the offense. The only reason I could keep up with her for this long is because of my massive mana pool from shadow's feasts.
๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ .
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ญ๐บ? ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
I needed to change my trajectory and I was falling fast.
This sounds really stupid, but it's worth a shot. I once saw this technique in an old superhero movie.
I focused on my ice magic and wanted to create a wall. It wouldn't be just any wall, one that was long and full of twists and turns.
"An ice slide, I guess."
It coiled around like a strand of DNA as I slid, heading 20 feet off my intended spot.
๐จ๐๐๐๐๐๐.
I expected this. When I was 5 feet from reaching the ground, I created a sword of ice from where I was sliding and flew another 5 feet over to the left.
๐๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ง๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ.
Aevi was a good distance from me now, but I could still see sweat dripping from her young and pretty visage. No, Fiona will always be the only one for me. I needed to focus.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต.
I sent out five swords, all of different materials, to where she was standing. I was really getting the hang of it. She disappeared in a flash again, but a trail of blood followed.
๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ป๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ.
I finally formulated a plan, though it involves me getting a little too comfortable with her magic. I needed to try something else before I did that.
I frantically looked around for the trail of blood, but it seemed to have disappeared. I heard something behind me. I turned around, just not quick enough. She sent a roundhouse kick right into my chest with the force of a brick.
"Gawck!"
Blood spurted out of my mouth and onto the pavement below. I tried to keep my balance so I wouldn't fall over again, but my head was slowly getting dizzy. She appeared in front of me, completely unharmed.
"H... How?" I asked.
She brushed the hair blocking one of her eyes, briefly displaying her other eye before the hair swept back into place as if nothing happened.
"I stopped running to accelerate the healing on my arm. It wasn't that big or anything anyway. Just a small misplay on my part."
I was messed up from that kick. I probably broke a few ribs at least. The only possible bright side was that her skirt flipped up when she launched her foot and I got to see underneath. I slapped myself.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ?
Now was not the time for that. I would have to use that plan after all. I'm running low on blood and magic anyway, why not? I clenched my fists and stomped the ground two times.
"Ahhhhh!" I yelled as I launched myself off the ground and covered my fist's in the blood, I had coughed up for makeshift brass knuckles.
"It seems you have given up. That is a shame."
She easily sidestepped my hail mary with her increased speed. The momentum of my attack made me have a heartwarming kiss with the pavement.
"Well it was fun while it lasted. Looks like we all want to get our happy endings. It can't be helped. Nothing in my life has ever been a challenge. I hoped you would be different."
I tried to pull myself up, but failed. It didn't matter anyway. I knew what would happen.
"Temporal Prison."
She actually spoke the spell as she was casting. Knowing it would be my last.
I spat blood and tried to pull myself up once again, it was too late.
๐ฏ๐๐๐๐๐
That was all I heard from Shadow in my mind. I couldn't move my body now. It was just as Gil had said. My senses were fully aware, but my body hadn't even moved an inch in the last few seconds, even though I willed it to get up. It was trying. It started the action, but its processing speed was so terrible that even the most ancient of devices were ahead by miles. I was trapped inside my own body, like an hourglass glued to the table. My eternity had been sealed.
"I'll try to make it as painless as I can, though I haven't ever killed someone before. I was lucky to not have encountered anyone since I was summoned to this fake world, though they wouldn't have posed much of a threat anyway."
All I could do was mentally struggle and wait for defeat to come, or perhaps the seeds (literally) of my victory would greet me before that happened.
The ground rumbled behind us. I wanted to cock my head to get a better view, but that would be a twenty-minute endeavor so I watched from where I was.
"What was that? You were the tenth, right? There should be no others left alive besides Fulmen over there. I was sure of it when I saw all the different types of magic you displayed."
I wanted to smile or at least show something like I usually did even in the worst situations, but my face of defeat and despair still stuck to me like glue. It reminded me of when I was a child and used to stick my tongue out at my mother. She would always say "It will get stuck in that position if you keep it up." Of course, I knew even then that she was bullshitting me, but at this very moment, I felt like my face was indeed stuck like this.
The ground continued to rumble until four exotic trees grew up behind us. Aevi turned around, but it was already too late. The vines that grew from the trees shot out at her figure and grabbed hold of both of her arms and legs. She still had me inside her magic which meant she couldn't escape.
"What is this?"
"..."
"Oh, that's right you are still frozen."
"...."
"Well I'll just free you and accelerate my body enough to break out of these constraints."
My body was thrown back into the world of moving time; my hourglass was free once again. My grin could finally come to fruition, just like my gamble that relied on her not being able to react quick enough as well as only being able to do one action from her magic at a time. She could probably do more if she had more mana, but slowing Gil's entire attack on me really did take a toll on her. Now was my chance. I had only been stomping the ground earlier to implant some seeds and set them to sprout after a little bit of time, I can't believe it worked. I snapped my fingers.
"You don't have the timeโฆ. uh... pun intended."
I sent a jolt from my trees with my electric magic straight into her body.
"Ahahhhhahhhahhhahhh!"
Her vision faded to black as her eyelids closed and her head went limp.
"This was for the best, now we can both achieve our dreams."
I had the vines set her on the ground next to my battered body. It was finally over, I had survived. We had survived. Gil walked over as well.
"That was amazing Viri, what a strange, but successful plan. Now we can all get out of this alive. You're a really great guy just as I thought. I knew you were just quiet and not some stalker or school shooter type!"
That kind of stung, but I didn't say anything. I craned my neck instead and prepared myself for the end.
"Shadow, take her magic, don't do anything else."
"๐จ ๐ณ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐. ๐ฐ ๐๐๐."
"Shut up!"
I felt heat in my face so hot I imagined it the color of roses
"But he did the same to me,haha," Gil said, happily.
My face returned to normal after another off-putting remark from Gil Fulmen. Shadow covered her entire body and moments later, the aura from her faded and reappeared within myself.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต...๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด?
A movie film strip flew across my eyes, showing me back out the whole battle as well as everything that had happened to me in my life before then. My near-death experience with Gelum Hiemis and obtaining my first new type of magic as well as meeting Shadow. The rush I felt as I out-maneuvered Tor Electri and his disgusting mouth to survive once again. Then my heart died in my chest as I found the body of my beloved Fiona Bellis and watching Caces Giggas and the unknown golem clash against each other before both being taken out by Vlad Sanguino who was the one that killed Fiona. That bastard! My one true love was taken away from me. I saw a future for us together. We could have gotten married, could have had kids. Sanguino sacrificed himself to save me from Giggas's last attack because he couldn't live without magic, but I still couldn't see him for anything more than a killer. He would always be pathetic in my eyes. The film moved to the desert where I once again met up with Benjamin Jiang and his group of made up friends. I thought it would feel a lot better when I got rid of him, but it didn't. All these events led up to my battle with Gilgamesh Fulmen and Aevi Tempus. Looking back on all these events, I felt sadness. I did grow a lot, but I also felt like I lost a piece of my humanity.
๐๐ช๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ? ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ?
๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ญ; ๐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐บ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ. ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ.
Gil picked up her body, she was just unconscious, luckily. A white light covered my field of vision.
"I think we are being teleported back to school. I know I didn't have to go through what you did Viri, but thanks for letting me tag along."
"Uh yea... no problem."
The light covered everything and then my world went dark. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't show weakness now, not with her on my mind.