A lightning burst erupted from his fingers in every direction, vaporising the ground and everything in its path — thunderous and wrathful.
“Hades!” Friederich gasped, completely perplexed, but the pure instinct screamed as his legs moved on their own,
Too late. The shock of light lashed his back, sending him flying almost a hundred metres toward the far wall. He grunted, numbing pain ran up his spine.
“Magnetos!” Friederich desperately cried out. The semi-translucent sphere materialised just in time, absorbing the impact that would have otherwise caused serious blunt force trauma.
He bounced off the wall, cracking it before falling to the dirt. His helm chimed as it registered the impact.
Thinking the fight was still on, Friederich hastily rolled to his stomach and pushed himself to his feet.
The burning ozone, a sharp, clean, and slightly metallic scent, became almost unbearable. The grey smoke soon faded, revealing a figure standing still, though one of his arms had gone limp.
Upon closer inspection, Zetius’s helm was shattered into pieces, signalling that the sparring match was already over. The returning gust of wind blew through his silver hair and black arc coat, such a serene sight.
Despite this loss, Zetius had excelled into a new realm, wielding his new power in the real world for the first time. In all honesty, its raw power sent a chill down his spine.
“I only channelled a small bit of mana…” he muttered softly.
“This is something else.” An idiotic smile appeared on his face as he looked at the source of his excruciating pain. “Well, I tried to take your advice, Astrid,” he muttered to an approaching tall figure.
She blinked, flabbergasted at the massive damage on the battlefield. The soil remained hot under her boots. “Ugh… you did well. But Friederich is indeed a formidable foe. I must admit that even I don’t want to fight him, especially without arcane weapons,” she confessed.
Astrid then spun to the Virgo mages behind her and signalled with her thumb, “Please, ladies.”
“Hehe, at least he got the wall-smashing treatment,” Zetius joked, chuckling to himself. Overcome with fatigue, he settled onto the ground, letting them perform a healing spell on his busted fingers.
Mana exhaustion was as real as physical fatigue, meaning the mages tired just as much as the fighters themselves. Realising this was why a new group of women was present today, he couldn't help but feel responsible for their exhaustion.
“Heh,” Astrid let out a dry laugh and shook her head. “Sorry to disappoint you, but your steadfast guardian managed to manoeuvre and land relatively nicely.” She shrugged. “Well, if I do say so myself.”
Zetius’s expression soured when Friederich joined them. He looked at Friederich and the small cracks in the far wall’s concrete, thinking his foe had received yesterday’s treatment. Evidently, he was wrong.
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“I guess I did have a lot of practice with aerial combat,” Friederich revealed, dusting off his clothes.
“When!?” Zetius exclaimed, his voice cracking, “What about your magnetos!? When did you develop such essence?”
“When you were asleep, Zetius. I only have two hours of sleep.” Friederich replied calmly. “I thank you for not seeing races.” He quipped with a dead expression.
“See that, Zetius? First, identify your area of improvement…” Astrid lectured with mock strictness, almost mimicking his former master. Friederich remained overly obedient, nodding and agreeing to everything that Astrid said.
“Then, what?” Zetius grumbled.
“Then improve, silly,” Astrid rebutted, her tone condescending.
“Whatever.” With that, Zetius became visibly sulky. The cute Virgo mage wrapped his hands in gauze after the spell. “Please rest for now. Judging from the damaged tissue, you’ll need two days of recovery.”
“Two days?!” Zetius exclaimed with wide eyes. “Is it that bad?”
“My deepest apologies… we don’t have an advanced Iasis to heal it fully,” she said, sucking her lips as she felt a sense of guilt.
“Oh, don’t worry! I didn’t mean to push it on you. I just wanna practise more.” Zetius corrected, curling his hands experimentally. “See? Almost as good as new. Thank you,” he complimented, and the girl smiled kindly. Her red cheeks and earlobes, on the other hand, had more of a story to tell.
Astrid cleared her throat loudly, breaking the moment. “Just do some research, Zetius. You still need to learn more about electricity for your, umm, what did you call it again? Astrapyion?”
Zetius nodded. Everything she said was indeed straight from the textbook, he mused, frustrated, but I just didn’t quite appreciate her tone. It was like… she's been patronising me recently.
After he calmed himself down a notch, letting his exasperation wear off, Zetius joined Astrid’s side. “Right. I’ll do that, Astrid. Thanks for always looking out for me.” He bowed slightly to her, a gesture of respect and appreciation.
Caught off guard, Astrid blushed, her cheeks matching the colour of her red lips. She coughed a few times before returning, “Don’t mention it. I need… your condescending eyes.”
“My what?” Zetius snapped.
“Your condescending glance,” Friederich chimed in with his flat expression. “I think she likes to be abused.”
“Hey! Shut it, Guardian!” Astrid pointed her finger, her entire face turning as red as a tomato.
Friederich calmly brushed her pointing hand away. “From now on, please refrain from pointing at me.”
“Fine.” Astrid instead tugged her hands under her armpits.
“Wait, why would you want people to abuse you? Are you a masochist?” Zetius probed, genuine curiosity in his eyes.
“Are you crazy? I misspoke. You heard nothing, got it!?” she commanded in her deep voice.
“Okay. I’m not sure if you’re mad at me or…” Zetius continued, uncertain.
“I’m not,” she denied firmly, averting his glance.
“Zetius, don’t be so dense,” Friederich added, his smile much wider than usual.
“I did not ask for your opinion!” Astrid snapped, almost pointing her finger again. Then she spun toward Zetius. “Zeta, let’s visit the library tomorrow!” The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the noᴠelfire.net
“Okay,” he replied, not completely following the conversation.
“See that?” Friederich whispered to Zetius, deliberately narrowing his eyes.
Their bickering was cut short when Lunarius Severan Vonhal, Lyra, and a group of people emerged from the entrance. “And here, Empress, we essentially keep our training ground in perfect condition with our standby Renaissances for medical and battlefield preparation,” he narrated, seemingly absorbed in his role as a tour guide.
“Ummm… Lunarius… What is that?” Lyra, in her dark brown suit, pointed out with each word stressed out. Her face was white as a sheet.
Like a Déjà vu or the trickery of fate, his commentary stopped abruptly when he saw the massive rupture in the ground. “What?! Who did this?!” he shrieked, utterly shocked.
Astrid sideeyed as Zetius could only seal his lips and hold in his smile.