Inferno was already waiting for him.
"That was an impressive throw. You caught me off guard.", the Fire spirit remarked as he casually sat on a boulder.
"That was payback for what happened earlier.", Seventeen replied.
"I am hurt. You know that the feral side of the half-blood did that to you.", Inferno said.
"So.", he jumped from the boulder and landed, releasing a strong magia wave that made the trees tremble, "I wonder why you wanted to separate me from the others?"
"Is it to keep them safe when you are fighting me?", his lips curled into a menacing smile, "Or is it because you don't want them to know your secret?"
Seventeen didn't react but Inferno knew he hit the right spot. He can see it in the instructor's eyes.
"So it is the latter. No wonder you froze when I called you a doll back then.", he slowly approached Seventeen and looked up at the tall man.
His bright blue eyes glowed, "Just what are you? I can smell the scent of Eravon on you. One of his handiworks? But you are not a Homunculus. You are more like a Dragon Knight, like a doll."
"But I can say one thing for sure. You are not human, Seventeen. You are not even supposed to exist in this world."
"What?", a female voice asked along with a blast of cold air and a familiar presence. Ruth Aeva emerged from the darkness of the woods, looking puzzled.
It appears that she had heard everything.
Inferno was amused, "Ah. Ruth Aeva. The descendant of Kryos. Your ancestor and I were good friends back in the day. You have his eyes."
Ruth just frowned and took out her daggers. "I am aware of your history with Kryos. Your name was mentioned many times in his records."
"What I am interested in is how my partner here is going to make you give our student back to us."
Seventeen's serious face suddenly broke into a smile, "Yep. That is an interesting question."
He looked at Inferno, "Let's make a deal, Blu."
"Huh?", the Fire spirit was confused before he quickly tilted his head. A thin needle just brushed past his eye.
"You crazy bastard.", he grinned before walking backward.
Seventeen was still smiling as he held the glass needle where his student's eye was a few seconds ago, "Let's make a deal after I test your capabilities."
Ruth came behind him and smacked his head.
"You want to give Arthur an eyepatch?", she snapped.
"Jeez Popsicle. I knew Inferno has a good reaction time and besides, Arthur is a dragon half-blood. He can easily heal himself.", Seventeen replied, rubbing his head.
She narrowed her eyes, "That's quite optimistic, coming from you. Are you sure about this?"
He smiled and assumed a stance, "Trust me, partner."
"Not at all.", Ruth sighed, crossed her daggers, and enveloped them in ice. Her blue eyes glowed with power.
Inferno grinned, "Two against one? I like the odds. Let's do this.", he beckoned to them.
The instructors did the first move. In a flash, Seventeen appeared in front of Inferno and used Volcanic Fist, aiming at his opponent's side.
Inferno enveloped his hands with mid-grade Purity Flames and swatted Seventeen's fist and executed a heel strike at his chin after quickly extinguishing the flames.
The force of the strike was strong enough for a shockwave to form and internally decapitate a person but Seventeen was just blown back by it.
No sooner had Inferno dealt a strike against him, a blast of cold enveloped him as Ruth appeared right behind Seventeen, her ice-encased daggers going for the Fire spirit's head.
"Wow, you guys are ruthless.", he smirked and leaned back, the ice blade just passing him by a centimeter. He grabbed the arm holding the dagger and pulled downward, causing Ruth to stumble.
Inferno drove a fist into Ruth's stomach, forcing the air out of her. She gritted her teeth and launched an ice spear from behind before collapsing on the ground, hacking, and wheezing.
The Fire spirit had to jump back to avoid the high-speed projectile. Seventeen appeared beside him, winds swirling around his arm and he swung upwards.
{Air Code: Swirl Blades.}
The sharp swirling wind made numerous cuts along Inferrno's arm despite his high durability. But they were quickly closed as Arthur's healing factor kicked in.
Seventeen wasn't done. With winds swirling on one hand and golden-red flames on the other, he dealt consecutive strikes which Inferno effortlessly blocked and countered with his hands covered in Purity Flames.
The Warlock and the Spirit engaged in intense close combat with gold and blue flashing with each strike and shockwaves rippling in the air.
In the middle of the flurry of attacks, Seventeen took out a black knife and used it. Inferno quickly changed from attacking to evading.
He dodged a sideway slash from Seventeen and landed a fiery blow to his side.
Seventeen narrowed his eyes. He had deployed a part of the Dragon Knight armor to his side but even with that, he still received considerable damage.
But he was undeterred. Using the momentum from the blow he went to stab Inferno in the shoulder.
Inferno noticed the move and smacked the knife away from his hand.
'Damnit!', Seventeen thought when a familiar presence appeared above him. Ruth caught the knife in the air and threw it at Inferno who didn't see it coming.
He winced as the knife pierced into his shoulder but before he could remove it, Seventeen appeared in his vision and slammed the heel of his palm on the hilt, driving the blade deeper into the flesh.
"Oh, you fucking doll!"
"Language.", Seventeen and Ruth said simultaneously as they kicked him in the chest at the same time.
With a magia pulse, Inferno was blown back. Before he hit the ground, he flipped in midair and landed on the ground, his feet digging into the soil.
He barely recovered when the two instructors were upon him, unleashing a barrage of attacks coated with fire and ice.
Of course, he dodged and parried all of them but they just kept coming.
'They have good teamwork. And the doll, he is still holding back.', Inferno thought, 'But this must end.'
Seventeen nodded to Ruth and they jumped back. Streaming magia into their feet, they dashed to both sides of Inferno, cracking the ground.
{Fire Code: Volcanic Fist}
{Ice Code: Glacial Strike}
The temperature rose on one side and dropped on the other as they appeared on both sides of Inferno and attacked.
An explosion of golden red and blue along with a lot of steam lit up the dark woods. The shockwave blew back the trees around them and steam hung in the air.
"Impressive.", Inferno said to a surprised Ruth and a frowning Seventeen. He caught their attacks head-on and with his hands, one coated with ice and the other burned.
(He is strong, Seventeen.)
'It seems so. What a monster.', Seventeen replied to Prime as he and Ruth jumped back away from the Reaper of Fallen.
Inferno brushed away the ash and ice from his arms as he healed.
"This was a fun test. But I'm afraid that it must end.", he turned serious and summoned a ball of Purity Flames. He threw it behind him and a towering ring of blue flames surrounded the three of them.
Ruth looked concerned and alert while Seventeen looked calm.
"So, Instructor Seventeen.", Inferno ignited his fist and his eyes glowed blue, "What will you do now."
The instructor just looked at him for a moment before his lips curled into an evil smile.
"Me? I will just watch you fall on your back."
"Huh?", Inferno didn't understand those words before noticing something. He was leaning backward and he wasn't stopping.
"Oh shit.", he swore as he fell backward to the ground like a plank.
"Not gonna lie. But that was kind of embarrassing for the strongest Fire spirit.", Ruth remarked as Inferno's flames vanished and he lay on his back, staring stupidly at the sky.
Now that his flames had vanished, he could feel something else. A creeping icy cold spread all around his body.
And its origin?
His shoulder, or more accurately, the black knife that was driven into it.
"Frost venom.", Seventeen stood over the fallen spirit with a casual smile, "It is a powerful substance that is only produced by ice wyverns as a form of defense against other dragons. A good friend of mine gave some in the off chance I face a dragon."
"For any other race, the venom will just make them feel very cold. But for those with draconian blood, this sweet elixir will immobilize them with its sheer cold and prevents them from using magia for some time."
"In your case, I laced the knife with a small amount. So you'll be fine in two hours. And two hours is more than enough time for me."
"Now then.", Seventeen bent over Inferno, his glittering amethysts eyes gazing into the blue eyes of the strongest spirit.
"About the deal. Shall we have a chat?"