Looking up at the familiar, ethereal sky, Lieren looked down, at his feet, and took a deep breath.
The air crackled palpably, as if trying to shock him.
'This is really, really bad. What should I do?'
Various motes of mana, varying from red, blue, green, beige, purple, white, yellow, or simply a mix of both hung in the air, crackling and sparking bouts of ominous magic. A woman stood at the epicenter of that horrifying visage.
It was Selen Votum, his magic instructor. As well as his other master. Her eyes were alit with bridled fury, ready to be released at any second. In her hand was a small winding wand with emerald liquid bubbling inside of it continuously. The gaps in what seemed to be a winding, twisting branch allowed him to peer deeper inside of it, and noticed that there was plenty of purified atmospheric mana within, which would power and enhance any spell the wielder would potentially cast. As well allow for higher accuracy, like all wands were made for.
'Oh gods, what do I do?'
Lieren stood opposite of this raging typhoon, his body tense and his nerves screaming at him to turn around and leave.. better yet, just lay down and accept defeat like the coward that he was.
…But he did none of these things, instead choosing to plant his feet, relax his shoulders… and DUCK!
Falling to his knees, he allowed his spine to bend and contort, falling backwards in an angle, with his eyes wide open in apparent horror. Several alarm bells were ringing in his ear canals.
An arcing ball of fire flew atop him, scorching some of his bangs. Immolating heat permeated his skin and made him sweat so much that he almost felt like he has been dunked in water.
'…Water? What?'
And then, he realized, that the scorching ball of fire had been stationary, and he has been atop him for over two seconds now. At least, until it began sinking. Rapidly.
…Only to be met with the plain concrete, which was singed and burnt by the time the fireball was done with it.
Lieren lay a few meters away, one foot outstretched and filled with spent wild mana. There was a look of dawning horror on his face.
…He wasn't in a bad situation, oh… no, he was in the worst possible situation he could possibly be…
On the other side of the stern sage's battlefield.
◇◆◇◆◇
'Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Craaaaap!'
Lierne silently cursed his stupendous, unforgiving luck, as well as his seemingly natural ability to attract unnecessary fights. Over such a small thing, too… or was it?
Pouring a truly exuberant amount of mana into his injured bones and bruiser muscles, he made sure that his internal organs were still functioning, then closed his eyes, felt for the highest concentrations of mana in the battlefield, and analyzed them thoroughly.
He just barely kept his mind together as his mind shuffled all of these things together at once, somehow actually went through with them, and then opened his eyes.
'There are… two, no, seven incoming, four from the right, three from the left. The two I first sensed are decoys meant to fool and bait me. They're might look flashy, but they're hollow, there's no point in worrying about them.'
Following suit, he continuously poured Enhancement mana into his bones to make them more limber, as well as his muscles to make them more resilient. Still, though, with his current injured state in mind, no matter how much Enhancement mana he used to augment himself, he still felt short from his usual performance. Not to mention the innumerable amounts of pain assailing him at all times, especially at the parts where his wild mana were the most abundant.
To be honest, he had long reached his limit, and was now running on fumes.
Glancing at the incoming spells with a critical eye, he willed his Resistance to thicken — it followed suit immediately — hoping to at least mitigate some amount of damage he could, as well as purify any harmful effects it may potentially have… other than the blinding pain he would most likely suffer upon making contact with one of them, let alone two or three.
'Breathe in, breath out — concentrate.'
Which meant he would have to just dodge them all. Which was easier said than done, especially in Lieren's case.
And then, there was fire.
Leaping to the side with an almost explosive step, Lieren let loose a few shots arrows of Invisible Abjuration, destroying two of the of the four concentrated balls of mana, while disrupting the other two, since they were all close by to each other. That didn't disable the remaining two, however, merely disrupt it subtly and slow down its casting time, as well as lower her control over the three approaching balls of fire from his left.
…Which wasn't likely, considering her almost perfect and straightforward way of casting magic, using the most basic casting style there were and further tempering them. It was nothing short of a work of art.
As soon as his feet touched the ground once again, he felt the asphalt beside him sizzle and burn as two balls of radiant fire flew towards them menacingly, with every intent to damage and kill him, in the most sadistic and ruthless way possible.
A cold, terrifying chill ran down Lieren's back. That could have been him.
But he prevented it, and that's what's important. Crouching down, he glanced at the two delayed spells and allowed them to fly by him. It was as though a vicious hurricane just passed by overhead.
'I need to counterattack.'
Pushing mana to his legs, Lieren focused on the raging tempest of mana, as well as the sole figure at the epicenter of it, and dashed away, leaving a dust cloud behind him in a remnant trail. His blue eyes glimmered as he focused Manavision's ocular enhancement to heighten his visual acuity in exchange for lessened magic detection.
The world flew by in a blur as he weaved through various different elements, from immolating fire to freezing ice, the whole world seemingly blending together. To an outsider, it must have looked like nothing short of an astounding show of flashing light.
But of course, there weren't any, Lieren already knew that much.
Clenching his fists, he gritted his teeth as he watched the stern sage construct a half dome barrier made of translucent green light in a matter of seconds. Before Lieren knew it, he was already pushing mana and heat into his forearms and shoulders.
He formed a fist and threw it forward, concentrating Fortification in his entire body — mostly on his forearms and shoulders — so much that he started to both physically and spiritually feel his arms and legs breaking down. A pained yelp erupted from the deepest parts of his soul as his bandaged fist crashed against the translucent green barrier, shattering it instantly. He did not let the ear-piercing sound akin to glass shattering bother him, though, as he continued to push ever forward, his blue eyes wide to the point of being mistaken for a crazy person.
Selen, too, had eyes wide with surprise.
◇◆◇◆◇
A dozen meters away, deep in the shadows cast of the somber mansion, a small figure stood, watching and observing the vicious battle, with eyes wide open with suspenseful concentration. There was a glint of mischief in her eyes.
'So, that's what I'm fighting against… huh?'
Noticing something odd move in the shadows of the mansion, the figure shifted slightly, concentrated, and held their breath.
…It was too fast, she had practically just arrived here: a few minutes ago. Nobody should have been able to detect her this fast, especially with her concentration honed and intently focused as it is.
'How?'
But that question had to wait for later, when she is out of danger.
She needed to leave. Now.
Muttering a soft and insidious chant, the shadows writhed an convulsed, visible only to her and her alone.
And then, she was gone, and another figure appeared amidst the shadows.
A deep, baritone voice muttered:
"So, they've started moving, huh? I guess that means we have to hurry things along."
The very next second, he, too, was gone. Not even a shadow was left behind.