Ciaran was a little surprised by his victim's attitude but he didn't spend any time thinking it over, mostly because he was teleported away.
Verdania had come right after the Mage had taken his last breath.
"How was your first fight with a real mage?" She asked with a smile. She got curses and whining in return.
The dryads suspected this would happen when he was able to push Eleftherios. He was far weaker than a Grand Mage of his level, but if it was someone weaker, probably at the bottom of the Rank, and they were old and feeble, the boy could fight them.
Regular Mages just weren't strong enough for the boy, but then again, he wasn't going to fight only regulars here.
"Ok enough complaining, it's time for your treatment." She said and teleported them to a familiar pond, where Eleftherios was waiting for them.
"Hey kid, congratulations on your first Mage." He said, getting the same treatment as his sister. Unlike her though, he was much more sympathetic.
"Yeah, I was majorly disappointed in my first as well, but then I ran into a competent one, and was left on the brink of death. Don't worry for the dud; you will get a hit in on your next hunt." He said, trying to appease the boy.
Ciaran sighed and took off his clothes before he jumped into the pool. It was time for his next bloodletting.
"Hey guys, can I try something before we start, and you tell me if it is viable." He asked.
Without waiting to get an answer he called the Storm in his body, by first 'eating' the world mana around him. He did not empower his body, he just allowed the Storm to exist within him.
"See if it will help or bother you." He said, and the dryads began. They were aware of what the boy wanted to do. His body was never supposed to be of the Water element, and now that he had a proper element assigned to it, the wraith's influence was lessening.
The Storm wanted to devour her whole, but it would take time for the body to adjust to the new element. Ciaran wanted to push the process by making use of the mana around him.
"Good idea, but there is a reason we didn't teach you that. If you take imprinted mana into yourself it will end very badly." Eleftherios said, and the boy stared at him stoically.
The dryad chose to keep his questions to himself, and the operation began. Strangely, while Verdania still cut him, and his body and soul still bled, the boy didn't even flinch. He was too focused on guiding the Storm around, searching for any corruption.
Whit both the dryads and Ciaran working on the infection, soon a new layer was cleared. There were ten layers on his soul, and each one represented a connection to his body. Now that the two were completely clean, he could safely work on his body.
That being said, they didn't stop and began on the third. Here the boy lost his calm. He didn't scream, as he was able to hold it in, but barely five percent had been cleared when he passed out.
"He is getting better, but each time I do this I feel like shit," Verdania said, tired and distraught. She hated cutting her boy up, but only she could. Her brother was a great healer, but he was needed in closing up the wounds.
"He doesn't blame you for it Nia, neither do I. I suspect the brat curses us out for not cutting him more frequently. He has that insatiable thirst in him." He said, startling her a bit.
It had been centuries since he called her by her moniker. She was happy, but she couldn't ignore the boy's recklessness either.
"After he wakes up we need to talk to him about his safety." She said, and the man nodded.
-----
At the same time Diana, or as she was now known The Silver Knight, was fighting on the Battlefield. She was going through soldiers as if they were made out of paper.
She was still working on her battle arts, and more importantly, on a particular weapon art she called Moonlight Vortex. It was supposed to draw in all her enemies and kill them with a series of unseen slashes, but it failed every time.
It never drew them in, the slashes were always made of weakened moonlight and kept at around sixty at most. The worst part was that it was big and showy, meaning even its surprise factor was compromised.
Diana saw endless frustration out of this, mostly because no one could tell her what she was doing wrong. Without Ciaran holding her back, she was able to fight enemies at or even above her level daily, but she could never talk to anyone.
The other soldiers, she found dull. The people above her level were usually condescending, and unhelpful. With each passing day, she missed her partner more and more, but that was also why she had to work as hard as possible.
'Knowing him, he is probably gunning for becoming a Grand Mage before the six months are up. He wants to desperately be on my level so I would view him as an equal, the damn fool. I already do.' She was angry just imagining what he was going to do to speed up his growth.
Deep down, however, in a part of her heart, she refused to acknowledge existed, she didn't want to be his equal. She wanted to stay above him, at least for a few more years. She was older than him by five years, but the boy was smarter than her.
He was more mature than her as well, and unlike her, his introvertness was by choice. With every passing year, he also looked a lot older than his actual age. Even now he looked at least sixteen. If he was to even reach her level of power, she would run out of excuses.
She liked the boy, but the idea of being romanticly involved with someone so young was, in a word, disgusting to her. She knew she couldn't but she also knew she wouldn't nessaserly stop herself if he kept growing at this rate.
Her internal struggle brought her endless frustration, and she had no reason not to let it out on her enemies.
Like a meat grinder, she spun and danced on the battlefield, chopping everything up.
Finally, the Kingdom couldn't take it anymore and they sent out a Lieutenant Colonel to deal with her, along with his entire squad.
The man had the Earth element, but he was an evolution of it, the Coal element. He used it to fuel his soldiers' weapons and together they blasted through most regimes. Diana was more than happy to take them on.
She danced and slashed at them, but their leader intercepted her, blocking each attack with a shield that ended up exploding in her face.
She was a Warrior that relied on speed, precision, and power to overwhelm her enemies, it had been a while since someone gave her trouble.
'Ok let's try it again then.' She unleashed her moonlight vortex.
Her weapon art was based on the basic weapon art she was thought in the Academy, her Moonlight, and one of the most beautiful things she had seen in nature, the Storm.
She knew her element wasn't a liquid, so creating a vortex out of light would be difficult if it was even possible, but she liked the idea and it resonated with her. She tried her best, but once again, it failed.
But it wasn't a complete failure, as it was able to take down, ten of the Lieutenant Colonel's men. She was about to try again when he erupted with power. He smashed his hands in the ground and a giant coal bolder appeared, then another, and another. When he was done, there were at least thirty such boulders all around him.
He then made them all float around him and charged at her. She was about to interrupt him when a rock hand formed on the ground and threw her backward, with massive force.
She was about to curse out, but then a giant explosion was heard. The Coal manipulator had blown up every last piece of coal he had.
"Nasty trick he has there ended a lot of good soldiers. Be careful with it." The Brigadier had intervened.
As per the rules, he shouldn't have, but he was permitted by the enemy General. She borderline ordered him to help the girl out even, which confused him to no end.
He wanted to know why General Mira Avery of all people was so concerned with the safety of the Ranger, but he didn't ask, mostly because they were on a battlefield, and because he knew he probably didn't want to know anyway.
The girl was strong, but she wasn't a schemer, he could see that much. Her partner, however, was always thinking nine steps ahead of everyone and was a magical prodigy. There was no doubt in the old man's mind that his grandson had connections in the Kingdom. It was just that the old man did not want to think about it.