Chereads / Mariel: The Goddess of War / Chapter 9 - The first step towards being a partner.

Chapter 9 - The first step towards being a partner.

"I slept really well last night." said Segal, who slept on a soft bed in the living room. He began to feel awake; he didn't sleep well like this for a long time because he usually slept alone in an old bed at home. The feeling of loneliness that he was accustomed to, now he was like being reborn again, he felt like living in a house with a perfect family again. When he finished stretching, he went into the shower and dried himself off completely on the 2nd floor. Claudia also prepared a set of white round-neck shirts and black three-quarter pants for him. She holds the belief that guests who come to sleep at home must be prepared, whether it be many different types of clothes, whether they are children or adults.

When Segal came down to the ground floor, Claudia had just finished preparing breakfast. The aroma is appetizing and makes his stomach growl louder and louder. 

"Segal, please help me to tell Mariel that breakfast is ready so we can eat it together." Claudia said.

"Yes, Mother Claudia." Segal accepted and immediately got up from his chair and walked straight up to the 2nd floor.

"Mariel! Breakfast is ready." *Knock.... * Segal walked to the door and knocked loudly on the door.

But the door didn't completely close like he thought. It seemed to be revealed a little, causing the door to slowly open into the bedroom. 

In front of Segal was Mariel with her back and wearing a light green round-neck shirt, allowing him to see her smooth, white skin in full view.

"!!!!!" Mariel turned to look at the sound coming from behind and met Segal's eyes.

"Uh...Sorry…" Segal said.

"Get out of here, you idiot!" Mariel shouted and threw a small box of item at Segal's forehead.

"Ouch!" Segal cried out in pain and hurriedly closed the door and came down to the ground floor.

"Why do I have to be so shocked like this?" Mariel thought.

(Even though I am a girl, but my soul is a man. Normally, all of men saw each other, which was a common at the orphanage. When we bathe together, we always take off our clothes and bathe together. But this feeling is strange.) (Chai thinking)

"Lol! I forgot that Mariel often forgot to close the door completely. When she finished her taking bath, she tended to rush to push the door, causing it too not close completely. Deric said and laughed. 

Mariel remained silent while eating her breakfast. But Segal apologized several times and said that he would be more careful about this.

"I'm really sorry, Mariel. Please forgive me. I will be more careful next time." Segal said.

(I was surprised why I had to be irritated or angry for this long. I also am a man, but just in the body of a girl. What exactly is this feeling?) (Chai thinking)

"It is ok, just be careful next time." Mariel apologized but was a little annoyed.

After everyone had finished eating breakfast, they went to clean dishes and feed the animals in the barn and did other activities in the morning.

After that, Deric then took Segal and Mariel to gather ingredients in the forest near their house. Then they fished together until got some and then came home. Segal felt very happy and alive because it's like being with family together again. Deric and Claudia also feel affection for Segal, they felt like having another son who joined their family as well. They saw that two children who loved to play together felt happy that at least Mariel didn't have to be lonely when she was alone while her parent had to do housework and various quests assigned from village or capital city.

"Come on, let's practice a little." Deric said after everyone finished eating lunch. When the afternoon arrived, the three of them immediately went to the back of the house.

In the wide area behind the house, Deric stood across from Mariel and Segal whose both held a sword and Deric held a magic wand.

"We have to use fire magic to fight at first. Let's do it and don't hold back, both of you." Deric said.

Segal and Mariel looked at each other and turned their fire magic power onto their swords, then they charged at Deric at the same time.

"Burning Fire Sword!" Segal shouted.

"Fire Magic Sword!" Mariel said.

"Fire Wall Protection!" As Deric finished speaking, 2 large fire magic pillars approximately 2 meters appeared to protect against danger from both fire swords for him. The power of the fire magic collided violently until a force bounced back at the two children until they were blown away.

"Incredible! Master Kehal once said that Deric was the best wizard who used various magics on his team. It was an honor to see." Segal praised.

"Dad was using advanced fire magic skill, this was fun." Mariel said and was even more excited than before.

Mariel accelerated herself even more. As for Segal, he was there to reinforce her attacks. Despite how hard the two kids tried to find a weakness in Deric, they couldn't get to him. With their different experiences, Deric saw the movements of both children as if he knew in advance, and he could block every attack from them.

"Hey! It's been an hour already. Haven't you done anything to your father yet, kid?" Deric said and tried to provoke them.

"I was not going to give up!" Mariel said. But she didn't be fooled by Deric's words because it could let him know about her vulnerabilities.

"There must be a way!" Segal said and tried to find a way to attack Deric to the utmost as well.

Mariel and Segal fought for a long time, then they began to lose all their strength, but Deric was just a little tired.

Mariel suddenly remembered something. So, she backed away from the fight and stood still for a moment.

"Mariel, what are you doing?" Segal asked curiously.

"Are you exhausted, daughter?" Derrick asked mockingly.

Mariel didn't answer any more. She stood with her sword and concentrated while watching the battle between Deric and Segal with suspense.

The scene in front of Mariel was when Deric defended the attack from Segal firmly, without panicking. It made it more evident that Deric's vulnerability was barely visible. But...a while passed; Mariel was beginning to catch on to something.

Segal once again gathered his strength and slammed into Deric with violence, which Deric used his magic wand to absorb the attack again as usual...

Suddenly Mariel rushed to Deric's side and prepared to use her magic fire sword to attack him immediately.

"That won't work!" Deric already knew in advance and quickly set up a fire pillar to protect him.

Then Mariel drew her sword back and ran to the back, jumping high above Deric's head. Her fire magic sword slammed down as Deric who did not expect to encounter such a situation.

"No one can see the attack in all directions. Dad!" Mariel said happily.

"Wow! You had done well." Deric, who was already fighting with Segal, was about to take a damage from Mariel's fire magic sword because he couldn't protect himself from the blind corner in time.

Deric suddenly used his fire magic power to push Segal back as Mariel's fire magic sword was about to strike only 5-10 centimeters more on his head.

Deric hurriedly planted his magic wand on the ground and said loudly...

"Frost Barrier!"

Suddenly A semi-circular ice barrier appeared, covering Deric's entire body.

Clunk!!!!!!

The sound of the barrier and sword clashed violently which caused Mariel to stumble back so far that Segal had to rush to block and support her until they both fell to the ground.

In front of them, Deric's expression became even more serious. His eyes looked terrifying and merciless. His smile disappeared and he stared at them with a fierce and frightening look.

"Great! You made me use ice magic which is a type of magic that clearly defeats fire magic. In fact, at first, Dad didn't think to use this magic because I planned to have more fun playing with the two of you. But what Mariel did just now make me realize that my daughter's skills had developed much further than I had expected. From now on, I'll deal with you to the best of my ability." Deric praised and conjured ice magic around himself, preparing to fight.

"Let's go, Mariel." Segal said fearlessly, ready to deal with the situation in front of him.

"Sure! brother." Mariel smiled in response.

Mariel and Segal tried to slam their fire magic swords at Deric's ice magic, but it couldn't destroy because fire magic was defeated by ice magic, and this was easily destroyed. As for Deric, he shot ice magic balls at them without mercy.

 The battle continued, Segal and Mariel became so exhausted that they collapsed on the ground, while Deric stood and looked at them with a neutral expression.

"When I was a child, I used to practice this kind of skill as well. But I'd like to admit that Segal and Mariel's skills were even better than in my era. If you intend to practice more, progress can be guaranteed in the future of both of you." Deric praised.

Mariel looked at Segal and he looked back as if they knew something about each other. Then they stood up and held the other's hand and they both closed their eyes.

They secretly trained in the basics of Primary Mind Coordination from a book that Mariel had read from Deric's old magic bookshelf which although couldn't be fully understood but it is very useful to put into practice.

Deric stood still and focused his mind on their bodies. He could see the two streams of Qi circulating around each other in their bodies while the two lines of Qi were restoring and healing each other's wounds.

"Where did you learn a skill like this? Or was it that book which was kept on the bookshelf?" Deric thought of the magic book on Primary Mind Coordination that he had kept for many years. It is a skill that he had always shared with Claudia. But it might not be used very efficiently because he was in a magic class, and Claudia was in a healing class. Their attack might not be very continuous, but the treatment The recovery of Qi was even faster which is suitable for magic types that support each other.

Segal and Mariel recovered some of their Qi and boosted their fire sword power. Then both charged at Derick with speed in a final attack.

"Very good, come on!" Deric said with satisfaction.

Mariel's and Segal's movements are much more coordinated. Continuously trying to attack Derik's side's vulnerabilities but still unable to harm Deric at all. It could only cause him to be flustered and deal with the attack without being able to immediately respond like in the past.

"Use all the power you have, Mariel." Segal said as he rushed the fire magic power towards the sword to its maximum.

"Ok!" Mariel also concentrated all her power into her fire magic sword.

Then they struck out together and it appeared as a large ball of fire magic that was ready to burn everything in front of it.

"Ultimate Ice Magic!" Deric said as he grabbed his magic wand with both hands and raised it forward. His own ice magic energy gathered into the wand until it appeared as a giant ice block magic in preparation for his response.

Boom!!!!!!

A loud noise echoed throughout the field as the two energies collided so hard that dust covered the surrounding area.

Claudia was so shocked that she ran out to see what was going on behind the house for herself.

"What happened? There was a loud noise everywhere. Did you guys just practice for fun? You're going to get the kids seriously injured, Deric!" Claudia scolded.

When the dust cleared, it appeared that Mariel and Segal were both unconscious. As for Deric, he stood there panting and shaking from exhaustion. He tried to hold himself upright with his magic wand. Then he immediately felt a pain in his back.

"Deric, you must not use too much magic because your old pain will happen again. Go in and recover. I'll take care of the children myself." Claudia said.

Deric nodded and slowly walked into the house to take the medicine and heal himself. Claudia slowly brought the two children into the house for treatment and restoration of their Qi and power again.

A long time passed, both Mariel and Segal woke up with Deric and Claudia sitting next to them and watching with concern.

"Mariel and Segal, please don't use your power beyond your means. It's dangerous, Mommy is worried," Claudia scolded with concern, which both nod their heads in repentance obediently.

"But I am proud of you that Mariel and Segal are very advanced in your skills. You just practice your sword skills for a few months and Segal for a few years. Now you guys can fight against me. This is very difficult to find in this generation. Keep practicing because this is the first step in being a Primary Mind Coordination partner for both of you whose trained together. And if the future goes according to the prophecy that was heard a long time ago..." Deric said, and then stop talking for a moment.

"What is it?" Both children asked at the same time.

"God and goddess of war may be appear in both your generations, who knows." Deric said, staring at them with interest.

"But it's just a prediction, my dear. Don't think about it too much. Let's just keep practicing, don't overdo it." Claudia said and warning then with concern.

"Yes, Mom." Mariel said.

"Yes, Mother Claudia." Segal said.

"Alright, it's almost evening. Let's help me cook. What do you want to eat? You can ask for special meal." Claudia asked.

"Yeah, I want steak, Mom!" Mariel pleaded.

"Whatever. The food that you make is always delicious." Segal said humbly.

"Then follow me." Claudia took the children downstairs to prepare dinner together.

As for Deric, he was still recovering from his back injury for a while. He could only think in his mind.

"Maybe, the future of Mariel and Segal may really be a prophecy. They must practice even more than this. I'm so proud of you, Mariel. And Segal must be the best partner for Mariel as well." Deric said and smiled, slowly got up and followed everyone downstairs for dinner.