Northern got what Cal was trying to do, and really, that was smart. He had been fighting for so long that he had lost track of time.
The sky above was beginning to get bright, which meant that they were probably nearing morning.
If he was to evaluate it, he'd say that he had been fighting all night.
'It's just like that time…' his mind drifted towards the time he fought with monsters all night back at Lotheliwan stronghold.
This was a similar problem too.
'How do I increase my stamina…?'
Northern was beginning to consider basics which he had missed from the beginning, those drills and exercises that increase stamina.
'I would definitely do that should I leave this place right now. However, right now… I need a miracle…'
He was not even worried about fighting Cal; he could decide to just bring Koll into this fight and head to Raven.
But he wanted to fight Cal; he needed the experience.
'Then maybe I should send Pangu to Raven then,' Northern thought.
He straightened his back and summoned:
Cal watched as black flames danced in front of Northern, and within their embrace rose a horned lithe figure with charcoaled body and red inscriptions running across its skin like tattoos.
The creature looked only at Northern and was on one knee.
"Find Raven, in that cave, and help her."
Pangu, however, knelt there, not moving.
Since the summon did not know who Raven was, Northern had thought that it would have a hard time executing a command like that.
He had decided to try it to see Pangu's reaction. Apparently, there was no reaction at all.
Northern then pointed forward.
"Go to the depths of that mountain. Anyone trying to harm the black-haired girl with red eyes there, fight them back. Do not kill them, and your priority should be protecting the girl."
Pangu nodded, then stood up slowly. He turned towards the mountain and raised his head a little.
At once, he pressed his entire weight down in a crouch and, like a spring, pierced into the air, his force of leap leaving a webbed crack on the ground.
It happened so quickly that Cal was signaled only by the force of movement.
Northern then turned back to him.
"Alright. Now, we can fight well."
Cal chuckled lightly; that chuckle, however, was strange. It seemed like a horrifying cry at the trouble he had gone ahead and put himself in instead of an actual chuckle.
He looked into the air where Pangu had leaped. Then he brought his eyes back to Northern.
"Wait, you had a card like that and didn't use it against me. That's a maelstrom rank monster!"
Cal could feel it immediately because he had met Sura and seen how strong his presence was.
Although Pangu's was sort of inferior, there was a likeness comparison to both their presences, one that made Cal so sure that the monster that just left was a maelstrom rank.
He looked at Northern for a while and looked down. He then looked up again, this time his expression seemed contemplative.
"What other cards are you hiding?"
Northern stared at him for a while, then shrugged.
"Well, if I wanted, I could surround myself with a horde of monsters, and I still have one more monster I can summon, my strongest in fact, but I won't do that. Since I want to savor the experience of this battle with you."
Cal let out an exhausted sigh and allowed his sword to slip down his hands.
Northern raised a brow.
"I give up… you are stronger than I am. You win this fight."
Northern narrowed his eyes to a slit.
"What are you doing? What are you trying to do? You're a Sage, do you know? I'm sure you still have lots of tricks up your sleeve apart from your abilities."
There had to be something he couldn't copy about a Sage, something that set them apart from every other rank.
Cal smiled, "While I do admit that there are still tricks, I also have to admit that they will be completely useless against you."
Northern gritted his teeth.
"You're giving up before this fight gets anywhere. I've not even drawn blood from you at all."
Cal looked nonchalant and just shrugged again.
Causing Northern to boil with more anger, he clenched his teeth and snarled furiously.
"I expected more! Don't give up just like that!!! You are a fucking Sage, damnit!!"
Cal solemnly looked at Northern, his expression was neither a smile nor a frown.
"Look, North. You are strong; it'd be pure stupidity to continue a battle that I know I will lose. Any Sage would face the same fate against a Master that can copy talent abilities."
Northern frowned and cocked his head with a grim glare.
"You're mistaken. I am no Master."
Cal looked at him. "What?"
"I am a Drifter rank. I'm not a Master… yet."
"There's no need for you to reduce yourself so low. There is no way a Drifter would have been able to match my movements and block my strikes like that."
Northern stared deeper into his eyes.
"Exactly, so please put up more fight, okay, and don't give up this time around."
Cal's face, as he realized Northern was being serious, only contorted into that of horror.
He, a Sage, had just lost to a Drifter rank?
He couldn't have lost to a drifter, could he?
He looked at Northern one more time—who had a furious frown etched upon his pale facial features.
Cal could somewhat see it again.
He had mistaken him for a Master because he was able to stand his ground and had thought that Northern was just hiding his power and masking himself to be of lower rank.
But that was actually not the case. He really was of a low rank.
He was three ranks away from him. And yet…
Cal chuckled eerily with his hand shamefully covering his face.
"Ashhh…. This is so humiliating."