"Hey, dude!" Zack called out, recognition dawning on his face. "That's a beautiful blue moon tiger you've got there. Oh, it's you, Chuck!"
"Who's he?" Robert inquired with curiosity as he observed the plump black-haired boy dressed in summer clothes.
"Oh, he's Chuck, Suzy's brother. Their father is a wealthy business man and also the brother to the head of the Hart family, which is one of the top 10 potion-producing families in Bening, the city where I live. The Hart family has many branches in Bening city and some towns in Heiss like Horseville and Prixeo. I heard they're planning to expand into Axille, but the population in this deserted place doesn't seem to be attractive. You know the potion market is quite competitive, so sending supplies into a place like Axille is like pouring heaps of grains for a small group of young chickens," Zack explained casually.
"How do you know all this?" Oliver asked, clearly impressed.
"Lots ot of newspapers," Zack replied. "And if you weren't in a boarding school, you'd probably know more about what's going on in the world too."
"Cut the chit chat," the boy barked, riding closer on his blue moon tiger. "Which one of you is Robert Manuel?"
"That would be me," Zack said with a slight grin.
"Oh please, everyone in Heiss Magic School knows who you are," the boy said, dismounting from his blue moon tiger. "You're Zack, the guy who skips class but aces every assignment. I admire your intelligence, but there's something you did that really got under my skin." The tiger was nearly as huge as a small car despite it's age and level.
"I'm guessing he laughed when your sister challenged this guy to a spell casting competition and ended up making a fool of herself," Oliver said, gesturing towards Robert. Robert had already told him a lot about his exploits at Heiss magic school, so Oliver knew the story well.
Chuck's smirk widened as he turned to Robert. "So you're the one who got Suzy suspended from school? Well, she's been holed up in her room ever since, too ashamed to show her face after losing to a lowly peasant like you."
"Am I supposed to feel bad or something?" Robert said, feigning a look of concern. This caused the other two to burst into laughter, the tension momentarily forgotten.
Ignoring Robert's mocking tone, Chuck pressed on. "You know, it really hurts me to see my sister so down. So I asked my dad's men to track you down. They told me you were living in Axille and that you were in this very street. And as luck would have it, I was taking my blue moon tiger for a walk, and my apartment just happens to be twelve blocks away. To be precise, my father purchased a lavish apartment twelve blocks away, so I thought I'd pay you a visit," Chuck stated as he affectionately pet the tiger.
"Guys, I highly suggest not engaging with him," Zack cautioned Oliver and Robert as he stepped back, noticing Chuck's aura soaring dangerously.
Chuck was a fifth-rank common plant wizard, and he was also in the elite plant class. Zack couldn't help but wonder if magical talent ran in their genes - after all, Suzy was already a fourth-rank common lightning wizard, while most of her classmates were struggling with the second rank. And Chuck was an even stronger wizard, one of the most powerful students at Heiss magic school. Some even compared him to Alexander.
"Don't worry," Chuck said, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "I'm not going to kill you two." Two seeds appeared on his palms, they seemed tiny and harmless. He stood at a safe distance from Robert, Zack and Oliver, watching them closely.
"What do you mean 'the two of us?'" Zack stammered, his eyes widening in disbelief. "I had nothing to do with Suzy's suspension!"
"But you laughed!" Chuck shouted, flinging the seeds towards Robert and Zack. The seeds hit the ground and sprouted into two long, flexible branches, which lashed towards the pair like whips. Oliver whipped off his sleeves, and a cloud of ice dust exploded outwards, freezing the branches solid.
"Let's see how your puny spells would save you! Go get them, moon tiger!" Chuck yelled, and the magic beast let out a ferocious roar, its claws bared and eyes glowing. The rune on its belly, which resembled a crescent moon, began to glow, and the creature lunged forward with terrifying speed. Its formerly adorable face was now contorted into a snarling, intimidatingly cute expression.
"Zack, you take on the moon tiger - I bet your new inventions can help you fight it off," Robert ordered. "Meanwhile, Oliver and I will practice our new spells on that jerk over there." He shot a fierce glare at Chuck, his aura growing menacingly as lightning flashed across his skin. Oliver's lips curved into a smirk, and a ball of golden light appeared in his palm, glowing brighter by the second. His expression was chilling in its calm, dangerous intensity.
"Blinding light!" Oliver shouted, launching the ball of light towards the Blue Moon Tiger. Just in time, Robert erected a wall of earth to shield them from the blinding light that followed. Even though the sun was high in the sky, the spell's radiance seemed abnormally bright, overwhelming their surroundings.
After the ball of light exploded, a blinding radiance filled the street. The blue moon tiger was temporarily blinded by the light, and Robert and Oliver used this opportunity to move forward, sprinting past the dazed beast towards Chuck, who was standing a block away. The blinding light spell had the power to blind any creature with sight for a limited duration, determined by the strength of the victim and the caster. Although Oliver was a 2nd rank common light wizard, Solomon's amplification made his spell as potent as a 4th rank common wizard's, just like Robert. In contrast, the blue moon tiger was a level 3 beast, so the spell only blinded it momentarily. Once the beast regained its sight, two of the boys had already dashed past it, while the third was hurling a shiny red metallic sphere-like object at it...
KABOOM!!!
In an instant, the red metal ball detonated with a thunderous boom. The blast sent the magic beast hurtling through the air, where it collided with the side of a building with a sickening crunch.
"Hahaha!" Just as Zack was laughing at the sight of the beast being thrown through the air by his fire element bomb, the blue moon tiger burst from the wreckage of the building with a roar. In the blink of an eye, it was in front of him, its silver claws slashing at his head. But before the claws could connect, the silver ring on Zack's finger glowed, and a suit of thick, ruddy brown armor materialized around his body. It covered him completely, forming a protective barrier between him and the beast's attack. The armor's surface was rough and textured, like the hide of a wild animal, and it shimmered with a faint metallic sheen.
Just as the moon tiger's claws made contact with Zack's armor, he was sent hurtling backwards. His body was flung through the air like a rag doll, and he crashed heavily on a building. Robert and Oliver, who were in the midst of their own fight, looked over in shock. Their eyes were wide as they wondered if Zack was still alive.
"I'm fine!" Zack exclaimed as he got to his feet, his adorable face contorted with pain. The armor was already showing signs of wear, despite being made of metal. His silver space ring, used for storage, glowed as a blue version of the fire element bomb materialized in his hand. He gazed at the beast with a menacing look.
"Let's dance..."
---
Oliver and Robert were beginning to feel the strain of their battle with Chuck. While their ancestor souls allowed their spells to reach the power of a fourth-rank common wizard, they found themselves hard-pressed to gain the upper hand against their fifth-rank opponent. Chuck's experience and skill were clearly putting them at a disadvantage.
Chuck's voice was filled with arrogance as he taunted his opponents. "Your spells may be stronger than they should be, but you'll never defeat me!" he yelled. At his command, a shower of thorns flew towards Robert and Oliver, their sharp points glinting in the sunlight. The boys braced themselves, preparing to fend off the attack.
"Your family must have wasted a fortune training a lapdog like you," Robert taunted, his words laced with bitterness and scorn. He raised his hands, and a crackling barrier of lightning sprung up around him and Oliver. The shield absorbed the impact of the thorns, but not without taking some damage of its own. The boys' had bloodied cuts in their faces and palms, and their faces were set with grim determination. Chuck also had bleeding cuts on his face and arm too.
"You're not wrong, you see, after each school session, my father would hire one of the most skilled wizards in our family to train the younger wizards, including me," Chuck boasted. "As a result, even newly advanced sixth-rank common wizards don't stand a chance against me. My skills are simply too great!" As he spoke, roots shot out of the ground, forming a protective barrier around him and blocking the lightning strikes and light spears that his opponents sent his way.
"Oliver," Robert said with a grin, "let's show this scamp that no matter how good he thinks he is, he can't outmatch a trickster like me." He winked at Oliver, who nodded in agreement. Robert had already told him about his previous battle with Isa and Parker, the boy who had hurt Zack.
"Do you believe we could take you down with one move?" Robert called out, his right hand aglow with purple magic energy.
"Ha! You're dreaming!" Chuck scoffed, causing sharp, hard leaves to rise into the air around him like a swarm of angry hornets.
"Watch this, thunderbolt!" Robert shouted, pointing at the clouds above Chuck's head. His magic energy gathered, causing the cloud to darken ominously and flash with lightning. As soon as Chuck saw the cloud, he reacted instinctively, weaving a complex shield to protect himself from the impending strike.
"Wooden pyramid!" Chuck exclaimed, drawing his hands away from each other in a semi-circular motion. The air around him crackled with magic energy, and logs of wood materialized out of thin air, quickly stacking themselves into a pyramid taller than a human.
It was common knowledge among wizards that any lightning wizard capable of casting the 'thunderbolt' spell was already at least fifth rank of the common realm or higher, so when Chuck saw the darkening clouds above him, he immediately cast his strongest defense, just as any normal person would instinctively move out of the way of a thrown stone. The idea was to get out of the path of danger as quickly as possible, and for a wizard, that meant summoning their strongest barrier.
After his fight with Isa, Robert had learned just how intimidating the 'thunderbolt' spell could be, and he had decided to use it to his advantage against stronger opponents. So far, the spell had worked flawlessly, and it was clear that it was the most powerful spell a common wizard could cast.
Chuck tensed, anticipating the crackle of lightning that would surely shatter his defense. His plan was simple: allow the 'thunderbolt' to shatter his wooden pyramid, and then immediately counter-attack with his 'leaf daggers' spell, putting the boys on the back foot. But all he heard was a small buzz of electricity, and then nothing. A wave of fury washed over him when he finally understood the situation. Robert had tricked him, and he had wasted a great deal of his precious magic energy on defending against a spell that was weaker than he had expected. Now he could hear the sound of lightning approaching, and then...
Well, there was no then.
The street became alive with the crackle of lightning strikes and the flash of light arrows and spears, all raining down upon the wooden barrier. Within seconds, the layers of wood began to splinter and thin, but the barrage of spells showed no sign of letting up. The shield would not last much longer.
Chuck quickly realized the predicament he was in and closed his eyes, a grin playing across his lips. His magical energy was nearly depleted after the intense battle, and the wooden pyramid had almost completely drained him. Regrettably, he had underestimated the strength of Robert and his friends and had not brought any magic energy potions. As the reality of the situation set in, he knew that continuing the fight would only lead to his total exhaustion. He had to end this, and fast. Summoning all his concentration, he shouted, "You're not the only one with tricks up your sleeve! Beast contract: return!"