Scorching! Scorching! Scorching!
The sound of magic from two sides clashed violently inside the covenant room after midnight. Mariel, Beatrix, and Mania booked together for practicing with cloned Mariel.
Mariel remains at the vanguard in fighting with the cloned Mariel. They slam their fire, water, wind, and ice elemental swords at each other without giving up. The wounds received from this clash were quite serious, but she continues to attack the opponent without ever backing down.
Beatrix casts a close-range magic spell and shoots the cloned Mariel. The advances in researching new methods and strategies from advanced textbooks allowed Beatrix to deal considerable damage and reduce her opponent's speed. It still wouldn't cause serious injury, but it would at least cause the cloned Mariel to worry about the magic that she was continuously receiving.
As for Mania, after practicing the secret training from the Vice Principal, Elizabeth. The accuracy of casting healing spells for Mariel and Beatrix has increased by more than 80 %. She has also better calculated the time to cast various support skills, making Beatrix and Mariel more accurate. They had time to recover enough energy to attack the opponent continuously.
"Not bad, you all do a lot better, all three of you." the cloned Mariel praised.
"Thank you for your praising, but it's not over yet." Mariel said, pushing her power to the max.
"Wow! Are you going to finish me with all your power? Let's do it!" the cloned Mariel accepted the challenge and also boosted her power to the max too.
Clang!!!
The sound of 2 sword powers colliding with full force until a white light sparkled brightly throughout the covenant room. This caused Beatrix and Mania to stop moving and raise their hands to cover their eyes.
When everything returned to normal, in front of the two of them was Mariel who had collapsed on the ground and was spitting out blood. The cloned Mariel stood panting from exhaustion but did not appear to be as seriously injured as Mariel.
"Good effort but you're still inexperienced." The cloned Mariel said.
"One day, I will defeat you!" Mariel said with determination.
"I'll wait for that day, darling." The cloned Mariel said as using the energy to heal until both completely cured, then she gently caressed Mariel's left cheek with affection. Her once harsh gaze suddenly changed to a surprisingly gentle one.
"All of you must practice more. This world is very cruel. Many people are careless because they are confident in themselves that they are good enough. In the end, only a lifeless body was left that died alone on the side of the road. You want to be like the legendary warriors from the past. You must train more diligent than this." The cloned Mariel reminded and encouraged everyone.
"We'll do it." Mariel knelt and accepted the cloned Mariel recommendation.
Mariel stood up and looked into the other's eyes. Some thoughts came into her head unexpectedly and it was as if the opponent sensed what the other wanted.
"How's about the main event? Darling." The cloned Mariel asked.
"It's up to you." Mariel said with a smile as if she knew the opponent's intentions very well.
"What is it?" Beatrix and Mania asked curiously.
Both Mariel and the cloned turned to look into the eyes of their two friends with smiles.
"The Illusory Shadows will fight for you." Both Mariel and the cloned Mariel said.
Then both Mariel and the cloned Mariel slowly let out loud noises. Dark magic spread from them until it covered the entire area.
When the black smoke disappeared, there appeared two illusory shadows of Dark Mariel and Dark cloned Mariel, standing and proud with enormous power flowing throughout their bodies.
"So, you used up all your power again?" Beatrix asked.
"We will definitely carry her back to our room." Mania added jokingly.
"You carry her, I am done." Beatrix said.
"I can crawl back to the room myself." Dark Mariel said, turned around and smiled.
"Don't waste the time, darling. Come and fight me. Time didn't wait and Men won't wait for you either." Dark cloned Mariel teased.
"I don't interest in men!" Dark Mariel refused and charged at the opponent with the full power of dark magic.
Scorching! Scorching! Scorching!
The sound of two dark magic powers colliding with each other so violently and hard that the walls of the covenant room could not stop shaking. They moved so fast that other people could hardly see them. The sound of the claws tearing the other's flesh gaping throughout the body was terrifying but beneath the wounds, there were only smiles of two people who were enjoying the battle this time.
Beatrix and Mania watched this fight in shock as it was like the most terrifying battle scene they had ever seen. Two crazy people who are determined to kill each other without caring that they will be seriously injured or even disabled.
"If it was me who fight with Dark cloned Mariel, I put my wand on the ground and surrendered myself to the slaughter." Beatrix said in a trembling voice.
"I would like to teleport back to my room as soon as possible." Mania said.
"You're a cheater." Beatrix teased.
"Ouch!" Dark Mariel received a claw in the middle of her stomach, causing a large wound. This caused her to quickly retreat until she was out of range of the opponent's attack and used her magic to heal the wound before preparing to fight back.
"You are too slow!" Dark cloned Mariel said while sticking out her tongue and licking the black blood stains stuck on her claws in a good mood.
"It's not over yet, let's do it again!" Dark Mariel said after recovering and charged at the opponent again.
Scorching! Scorching! Scorching!
The dark magic energy clashed non-stop until the floor of the room shook.
"Let's finish this!" Dark Mariel challenged the other as she clenched her fists with all her strength.
"If you ask for it, I'll give it to you!" Dark cloned Mariel accepted the challenge and prepared to fight back as well.
Scorching!!!!!!!!!!!
The sound of two fists colliding together caused a rumbling sound that shook the covenant room. This made Beatrix and Mania bounce off until they knocked on the door.
Dark Mariel crouched on the ground helplessly, but Dark cloned Mariel was standing there while watching with admiration in her eyes and no expression of contempt like before.
"You're better than before. I sincerely appreciate it but...you're still inexperienced." Dark cloned Mariel returned to her normal form just as Dark Mariel returned to her original form as well.
"I will train more and one day I will be able to win a duel with you." Mariel said with confidence.
"Then I'll wait for you." The cloned Mariel said, then she made a gentle kiss on Mariel's right cheek.
"The same two people kissed each other on the cheek." Mania said.
"Do I have to be jealous?" Beatrix teased.
"Do you need this kiss too?" The cloned Mariel asked the others.
"No, thank you!" both girls rejected.
The three of them said goodbyes before leaving the covenant room. The cloned Mariel looked at the whole thing out of sight before revealing a sad look in her eyes.
"It's coming up. The day they will face a big chance." the clone Mariel said before slowly disappearing.
Today is a day off after 5 full days of studying, Mariel, Beatrix, and Mania are all walking around the city to buy various supplies as usual. For example: vegetables, fruits, and meat are filled in large baskets that Mariel pulls on wheel's bag. Mania will keep track of expenses and Beatrix will pay the bills.
"Look at this, these sweets look delicious." Mania said while telling her friends to look at the pile of colorful sweets on a dessert tray in a store.
"You can choose as you wish, sweeties. If you buy a lot, I'll give you a bunch more." the sweet shop sister said with a smile.
"Thank you very much." They all said thank you and chose several snacks, like candies. A wide variety of cakes and snacks.
While choosing snacks to put on the tray, Mariel noticed the eyes staring at them from the dark corner behind her and then she quickly turned to look.
Mariel caught sight of a boy who was very thin and wore torn clothes. When the boy saw Mariel turning to look, he immediately turned around and ran into the corner of that small, dark alley.
"Wait!" Mariel shouted but it was too late.
"What's the matter? Mariel." Beatrix asked with curiosity.
"How about buying more snacks?" Mariel thought for a moment and immediately asked her two friends.
"But we didn't expect to eat that much, and it costed doubled." Beatrix replied.
"It's okay, I'll pay for this 2nd set." Mariel said, pulling out her personal wallet. Beatrix and Mania also added one more set of snacks to another basket.
When they received the two large bags of snacks, the first bag was placed in a wheel's bag and the other one, Mariel held in her hand and hurriedly walked into the dark valley.
"Where are you going? Wait for us!" Beatrix and Mania said in unison, running closely behind Marielle.
They walked in and found that there was a small house. The condition of the house was very old and close to decay. It was also built with old wood so that it was not thought that anyone could live in this place.
"What are you doing here?" A boy's voice shouted from the door of the house. Then, children around the age of 5-10 slowly appeared one by one. In total there were about 10 kids.
"We come to see you." Mariel said, walking in front of the house, but the children fled into the house in fear.
"Don't be afraid. We won't hurt you." Beatrix said.
"We definitely won't do any harm to you." Mania said.
"Look, we have some snacks for you." Mariel said, opening a large bag of snacks.
All the children, whether male or female, ran out to receive their hands full of various kinds of snacks with joy.
"Thank you very much, sis." The children thanked them and began to eat the snacks with hungry.
"Aren't you going to eat some?" Mariel asked the boy who they had just met in the valley.
"I'm not hungry." the boy said, but his stomach growled louder.
Growl!
"Don't be afraid. I bought it for you. Please take it." Mariel said with a smile and handed over a piece of vanilla cake.
"Thank you very much." The boy said while receiving the cake and ate it with a hungry expression.
"Is it delicious?" Mania asked all the children.
"It's very delicious!" the children answered in unison.
Suddenly, an elderly woman emerged from inside the house. She seems like a kind person. Her hair is white and looks like she's about 70 years old but still looks energetic. The clothes she wore were quite old as well.
"Grandma are taking care of the children here, right?" Beatrix asked curiously.
"Yes, I am taking care of these 10 orphans, my dear." Grandma replied.
"What is your name?" Mania asked.
"My name is Helen." Grandma replied.
"Nice to meet you, Grandma Helen." the three girls said.
"Nice to meet you too. What are your names?" Grandma Helen asked.
"My name is Mariel. My friend's name is Beatrix. The other is Mania." Mariel introduced them one by one to Grandma Helen.
"Mariel, Beatrix, and Mania. Thank you very much for giving snacks to all the children because we haven't eaten anything today." Grandma Helen said with sadness.
"Does Grandma have enough income to take care of the children?" Mariel asked.
"I got a little income from the government, but it's not much and… " Grandma Helen said with a sad expression on her face. As for the 10 children, when they saw Grandma still standing still, they also became silent.
"What happened? Can you tell me more about it?" Mariel asked, feeling strangely uncomfortable.
"Soon, this place will be taken by the government because I don't have the money to continue paying the rent." Grandma Helen said in a trembling voice.
"Where are you going to live after this?" Mariel asked.
"We don't know yet. We might have to move out of town instead and find somewhere to live." Grandma Helen replied.
Mariel and her two friends were shocked by what they heard. How could this happen to Grandma Helen and these poor children.
"Can you tell me about everything in the past?" Mariel asked because she wanted to know the information about Grandma and these children while she wanted to help they as much as she could.