As we sat down outside the training facility deep underground, I toyed with my status menu and immersed myself in meditation.
I wanted to make the status menu more efficient while also seeing what types of spells I could use right now.
First, I gave myself infinite skill points.
Then I realized I didn't need to do that and didn't bother fixing it.
After that, I checked the skill activation system.
I modified it so that I didn't have to shout out skill names anymore. Although, there was a setting rooted to the base of the entire system that increased their power by a fair margin if I shouted the skill name.
I decided that I would continue to call out skill names for now. At least until I figured out how to modify it. If I had to kill someone without people noticing, this would be a huge help.
I also didn't bother tampering with Isabella's status menu until I had perfected mine.
She was completely okay with this and instead, spent her time trying out new ways to make barriers.
The Archmage was a very interesting Aspect... I could see magic.
This world was completely devoid of it, but Isabella and I radiated magic like roaring stars.
We spent a few hours just like this and each time I peered into the chasm of magic, I felt excitement run through me.
The power was unbelievable. I even made a few spells.
Although I hadn't named them yet.
The first was a modified arcane ballista that fired like a shotgun blast and tracked targets.
Another was a flight spell... Unfortunately, that one drew heavily on my resources. I would need practice before I could fly.
Hopefully, I would be able to make use of it.
Then I tried to modify Extreme Rage of Iratus. I wanted to make it exponentially stronger, but found that tampering with it could cause great harm to the user if I didn't have enough practice with it.
I decided that I would wait until I had Vengeance to bear its burden.
I also discovered that there was a vision-altering spell...
One that would allow me to look past clothing.
If I was a pervert like Michael, I would consider using it. But regular girls weren't very pretty next to Isabella. And then there's also the fact that she was my wife and I refused to betray her in any way.
But...I could use it to stare at Isabella...
Was that wrong? Was it a crime if she was my wife? She was highly observant, so it could end terribly...or would it? She wouldn't know that I was seeing everything. It could be fun...
Although thinking about it...I suppose I could always just ask...
I saved the spell anyway.
As I was meditating and testing out other spells, I heard Michael's voice.
"This is a bad idea, Iris. I don't care what you say, those two will kick our asses!"
"Michael, shut up and do what you're told...even if the order is a bit...tall..." Leiso said.
What's going on? I can't see anything!
"Mizik? Are you okay?" Isabella said.
Where am I? I can hear Isabella, but...
I felt a hand gently touch my back and I snapped back to myself.
"Mizik?" Isabella said.
"Ah...sorry... I was meditating. I think I got immersed too heavily in magic," I said.
She smiled and hugged me.
"Just be careful, okay? Magic is fun, but also dangerous."
"Right. It seems like we have company," I said as I looked over at Michael.
He seemed nervous about something.
"Hey...buddy! How are ya feeling?" Michael said to me.
"I feel great. I also feel like meditating more," I said.
"Well...that sounds awesome! Why don't you get right on that?" Michael said with a relieved smile.
"Michael..." Leiso said as she glared at him.
He looked at us and Iris shook her head.
"We're supposed to...fight you...and teach you how to use Enforcer Aspects..." Michael said hesitantly.
"That sounds like fun! Let's go!" Isabella said cheerfully.
Michael looked over at Isabella and stared for a moment before forcing himself to look away.
"Hey...dude? Is it just me or is she like...a lot prettier than usual?" Michael said.
Just use my name, dammit.
"She's definitely prettier. Why do you ask?" I said.
"Because he's a pervert and an idiot. Now let's get this over with..." Leiso said.
* * *
"The rules of engagement here are simple: you two are not permitted to use your swords. Instead, you must fight only using your Enforcer Aspects. You should go all out but not enough to kill anyone. Additionally, Leiso and Michael will teach you how to call upon your power. Sound good?" Iris said.
We both nodded and looked at Leiso and Michael.
"Hey Leiso, this is a terrible idea, right? They've got two Ultra Aspects each. Two of them! How do you fight something like that!?" Michael said nervously.
"With...great difficulty... Now shut up and prepare yourself. This is going to be a hellish fight..."
"Hang on! Do you two know how to manifest power for battle, yet?" Michael asked quickly.
That was a good question.
I wasn't sure yet how to rapidly deploy magic and I couldn't figure out how to activate the Warlord Aspect.
Despite this...
It took very little concentration at all. Just feeling the power within me was enough to make it appear.
Immediately, I felt the divine energy coursing through my body.
I felt Isabella's power manifest as well.
"Huh...I guess we do. That was easy. It's just like using magic..." I said.
Michael suddenly looked even more nervous.
"Usually...new people don't know how to do that...do they?" Michael said to Leiso.
"It seems as though even that advantage is taken from us today. At least we have more combat experience," Leiso said as she watched us with her silvery eyes.
"Yeah, that doesn't really help us in the face of overwhelming power, Lei."
"Just be quiet and accept it, Michael..."
Michael looked over to us and smiled nervously.
"Heeeey...Mack...buddy... Can you two be gentle? This is my first time..." Michael said with a nervous laugh.
Mack? I'm going to enjoy this.
I felt my eye twitch and suddenly it was as if my vision locked onto the two of them.
Then I felt a pulse coming from Isabella. I began to feel far more confident about the battle whereas...
Michael looked even more afraid and Leiso was beginning to seem really nervous.
Leiso lifted her arm and several iron thorns shot up from the floor directly at me.
It was strange.
My body moved on its own as I shot straight towards her.
I reached her in almost an instant and she tried to use her martial arts skills to take me down, but...
Each of her strikes missed and I grabbed her arm. Then I swung her entire body around and threw her at Michael.
Before he could react, Leiso slammed into him sideways and both of them tumbled to the floor.
"Hey hey! Watch it! You're too heavy, Leiso...and really soft too!" Michael said with a slight smile.
Leiso punched him square in the jaw and stood up.
"GAH!"
Michael slowly stood up while rubbing his jaw and I slowly approached him.
"Hey Mack, listen, can we talk about this...?"
"IT'S MIZIK, DAMN IT ALL! MY NAME IS MIZIK, YOU IDIOT!" I shouted angrily.
I cast an advanced form of the haste spell and I ran behind Michael.
Before his shadows could protect him, I grabbed him by the neck and slammed his head into the floor.
Leiso simply stood and watched.
As if she was glad he got what he deserved and wasn't about to put herself in the line of fire.
"WHAT'S MY NAME, MICHAEL? TELL ME!!"
"GAH...MACK, RIGHT...?"
I slammed his head into the floor several more times and chucked him into a nearby wall. After that, I created several fireballs and shot them at him with a few bolts of lightning.
Then my body reacted and I dodged an attack from Leiso.
Several beams of light and shadowy spikes shot at me, but I used my speed to move to a different part of the field.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GUY!?" Michael shouted as he shakily walked out of the hole in the wall.
"I don't know...I assume that Isabella is supporting him though..." Leiso said as she looked at her.
She hadn't moved yet, interestingly enough.
Isabella smiled.
"I haven't done anything yet. Mizik hasn't needed my help, so far. So I'm letting him test his powers out."
Michael looked dejected.
"Yo, Iris. Can we tap out yet?" He said.
She shook her head.
At that moment, Leiso fired several jets of water and iron thorns at me, but...
Magnetism and water manipulation weren't very difficult things to understand when you could see the power behind them.
It wasn't magic, but I could use magic to disperse or...
I redirected the attacks and fired them at Michael.
"AHHH! WHY ME!? SHE'S THE ONE THAT ATTACKED YOU, NOT ME!!!"
I teleported over to Michael and grabbed him by the face, then slammed his head into the floor again.
"WHAT'S MY NAME, MICHAEL!?" I yelled.
He tapped the floor rapidly.
I let go of him and he looked angrily at me.
"MIZIK! YOUR NAME IS MIZIK! NOW STOP BEATING ME UP, YOU JERK!"
Light began to pulse around me as Michael was covered in darkness.
He became one with the shadows and the light exploded violently around me.
Unfortunately, Isabella had already formed a barrier and dispersed the light.
I was completely unharmed and Michael was standing a few feet away with pure shock on his face.
He dropped to his knees and put his hands together.
"All in favor of our new gods, raise your hands!" He said
Leiso made a hammer and hit him over the head, knocking him out.
After he collapsed, Iris used her power to heal them both and wake Michael up.
"Lady Iris, I think it's obvious how this fight will continue. Shall we request aid?" Leiso said.
"You may," Iris replied.
"Requesting backup. Send Dante and Gavin immediately."
As soon as he heard Dante's name, Michael's confidence returned tenfold.
"HA! YOU TWO ARE IN FOR IT NOW!" He said.
Isabella walked up beside me and looked over at Iris.
"I am releasing the restrictions on your swords. Isabella, this is an underground facility. Please be careful with Honor, okay?" Iris said.
Suddenly Michael didn't look confident at all.
Isabella nodded and we both took out our swords.
I had forgotten about this.
Justice and Honor were magic swords. I wondered if I could...
[Don't even think about it, Mizik. Vengeance would be very cross with you if you started 'fixing' us right now. You should ask permission first. Also, it would probably be better if you used this power on Vengeance and Bravery instead of us.]
Damn...but you do have a point. Fine, I'll wait.
While I was thinking, Dante and Gavin both arrived in a flash of light via Iris.
"What's going on here?" Gavin said.
"You two will fight Mizik and Isabella. Be careful not to cause too much damage, okay? Michael and Leiso, you two step back."
Michael gleefully got back while a relieved Leiso sat down on the floor next to Iris.
"Dante, don't be afraid to use The Reaper. In fact, you'll probably need it to stand a chance against Mizik and Isabella," Iris said.
"If Lady Iris wills it, I won't hold anything back," Dante said.
At once, the air got colder as he manifested his Reaper Form.
It was quite intimidating to look at it from here, but...
I only saw him as another enemy right now. Additionally, as soon as Isabella stepped forward, there was another pulse of divine power.
Suddenly, Gavin looked nervous.
I couldn't tell what expression Dante had due to his skeletal face, but regardless, he seemed somewhat hesitant to make the first move.
I readied Justice in my newly repaired right hand and manifested the chains onto my left.
I wanted to work out with my right arm, so now seemed like a perfect opportunity.
"You know...I've been looking forward to this. But now I can't say I'm confident..." Gavin said.
"Allow your fear to leave, Gavin. It will only hinder you," Dante said in a cold tone.
Ice began to form in spikes around Dante and he swung his scythe. They all flew straight at me.
It seemed like they decided not to bother with Isabella.
I dodged the attacks easily and threw my chains at Dante's scythe. They wrapped around the blade and handle and I pulled it out of his hand.
Actually, I pulled his entire arm off.
While it was in the air, I pulled the chains and destroyed the scythe.
Dante simply laughed.
"That's been done before, Mizik. It's not the first time..."
Shadows and bone formed a new arm on his body and soon after, a new scythe.
"Oh...that's interesting..." Isabella said.
She extended her hand and a divine aura radiated outward
Dante was cloaked in it and suddenly writhed in pain.
"GAAAHHHHHH!!! WHAT IS THIS!?!?" He screamed.
Isabella relented and he shook himself off.
Immediately, Gavin shot towards Isabella and tried to punch her. As soon as his fist impacted her sword, it violently exploded and engulfed her.
After that, a swirling tornado formed around her and continued exploding.
I would have been worried, except...
I could already tell that she was completely unharmed. Even without Bravery, her defense had risen very high thanks to the Centurion Aspect.
Regardless, I still thought she should be more careful. She didn't have Bravery and that would still affect her...
"COME ON! GO DOWN ALREADY!" Gavin yelled.
"Do you know how hard I work on my hair? Can you stop messing it up!? All this wind is annoying!" Isabella said angrily.
"WHO THE HELL CARES!?" Gavin shouted.
"GET AWAY!!!" Isabella roared.
Gavin was hit by an invisible force that sent him flying into a wall.
"Oooh...so that's how that works," she said innocently.
Dante took the chance and unleashed a barrage of bone spikes at me. My body reacted before I could process it and I dodged.
Then I teleported in front of Dante.
I slashed twice with my sword and wrapped my chains around him before he could react, then lifted him into the air.
Before I could bring him back down, he teleported behind me and I dodged his scythe. Then parried his second strike.
I stabbed at him and then realized that would be pointless for a skeleton and jumped back.
"How does someone fight you with physical attacks, Dante?" I asked.
He laughed.
"You don't."
Dante slammed his scythe into the ground and a wall of icicles shot up at me.
I jumped over them and wrapped my chains around him.
I pulled him close and our weapons clashed.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Isabella toying with a very angry and frustrated Gavin.
His attacks just outright weren't having any effect on her.
It seemed like she was testing out her support and defensive abilities on herself.
I had an idea.
I wrapped my chains around Dante and flung him straight at Isabella.
"ISABELLA! SWITCH WITH ME!" I shouted.
At once, she smacked Gavin with the flat of her blade and sent him my way. I grabbed him with my chains and slammed him into the ground as Dante tried in vain to attack Isabella.
Gavin recovered immediately and tried to attack me with an exploding cyclone.
It should go without saying that I instinctively moved to the side and slashed at him.
I decided that I would injure him and cut his arm off.
"GAH! DAMN YOU!" Gavin jumped back to Iris and clutched his shoulder.
"Gavin, that's your loss," Iris said.
She healed his arm and tapped Leiso.
She sighed, stood up, and lept towards me.
Meanwhile, Dante and Isabella repeatedly clashed and he began summoning shadows to attack her.
She let loose with a burst of white light and they dispersed immediately.
Then I felt Isabella's support envelop my body as Leiso reached me and attacked with twin iron sabers.
I parried them and pulled one out of her hands with my chains, then kicked her in the stomach.
She doubled over in pain and I teleported above her. I planted my boot firmly on her neck and stomped Leiso into the floor. Finally, I cut off her arms.
"That's payback for beating the shit out of us!" I said angrily.
"AHHHHH! DAMN IT!" Leiso screamed. "WHAT THE HELL IS WITH YOU AND CUTTING PEOPLE'S ARMS!?!?"
"Umm...it's effective...?" I said meekly as I got off of her.
"I guess you've been...DISARMED! HA!" Michael said. Leiso slowly went back to Iris and was healed.
Then Iris pointed at Michael.
"But...I don't wanna..." He said.
"GET OUT THERE AND GET YOUR ASS KICKED, YOU MAGGOT!" Leiso yelled.
Before he could stand up, I grabbed him with my chains and threw him into a wall.
"I WASN'T READY!!!" Michael yelled.
Honestly...I was starting to worry. These guys were all very strong, but should it really have been this easy?
Or was it possible that I truly was that much more powerful than them at this point...?
Dante was still putting up a great fight, however.
But truthfully...he was outmatched.
Isabella could have ended the fight at any time if she desired it with her holy magic.
"Iris, let them stay back. They're just going to be in the way!" Dante said.
"YEAH! WHAT HE SAID!" Michael shouted as he shakily stood up.
"Very well...stop holding back now, Dante! Let them have it!" Iris shouted.
"Your wish is my command, Lady Iris!"
"If that's the case then MARRY ME!"
"..."
Really, Iris...?
Dante stood in the center of the room and manifested a second scythe out of shadows.
Isabella stood close and readied herself.
Dante shot towards us like a rotating saw blade and Isabella blocked it easily before swinging Honor to force him back.
I threw my chains at him and grabbed his torso, then slammed him into a wall...
...Or I would have, if he hadn't teleported to me and slashed at my throat.
I continued dodging as I felt my body react again.
I jumped into the air as skeletal hands shot out of the ground at me and Dante followed.
Since I couldn't fly, he had me right where he wanted.
Dante slashed his scythe and removed my left arm, then kicked me into a wall.
That hurt...a lot...
Fortunately, Isabella was already using healing magic to regenerate my arm.
As soon as I was good to go, I fired a barrage of light magic darts into Dante. He just barely managed to dodge them before flying towards me again.
Isabella blocked the attack and slashed her sword through his torso...cutting him in two...
His upper half flew backward with his skeletal wings and he began to grow a new pair of legs.
"I'll need to put my pants back on before I have Iris heal me. That was very rude, Isabella..." Dante said.
"To be fair, you cut my husband's arm off," she said.
"Touché..."
"STOP THE MATCH! DANTE, LET ME HEAL YOU!" Iris shouted.
She was drooling.
Dante teleported over and retrieved his pants, then left the room.
"DAMMIT!" Iris shouted. "Oh well... I guess that would be a little awkward, right?"
"A little?" Leiso said.
"Are we done yet? These two are overpowered as hell. I don't want to be here anymore..." Michael said.
Just then, Dante returned and bowed in front of Iris.
"Yes. I'll allow it to cease now... Man, that was such a cool fight..." Iris said.
Iris healed Dante and he returned to his original form. Then he stood up and turned to us as he approached.
"Both of you are truly impressive. But, thank you for holding back," he said.
"Well, we can't very well kill our captain, can we?" I said with a smile.
"Of course. But still, thank you."
"Well then, what should we do now?" Isabella asked.
"Hmm...usually, the first day is reserved for teaching a new Enforcer to use their power as well as testing them in battle. Something like this has never happened. Not since Dante became an Enforcer, that is. And even then, we didn't have time for this because of the invasion..." Iris said.
"I'm glad to hear you weren't just using us for entertainment again, but we should probably start work as Enforcers now, right?" I said.
"Yes. As I said before, you'll be stationed in Ulkanos. Jallah's home has been host to many Enforcers and it is currently available due to him not being around anymore. I plan to have you two stay there for about a month or two, and then..."
"Yes...?"
"We will finally begin the War of Unity to liberate Nexus. In the meantime, you two need to gain a full understanding of your powers," Iris said.
"Great. When do we leave?" I asked.
"Right now. Follow me," Iris said with a smile.