Kaedros watched both fight with a small smile of pride. To think they were so helpless weeks ago, yet now they had grown this strong. Although he didn't know their exact strength in earth terms, he liked to think they were at least level 50.
But his shield and sword, Taria, was the one he was most proud of. She had dedicated her time to training with a focus she'd lacked back on earth.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Nyra purred, floating in front of him.
They had been staring each other down for some time now, neither making a move.
Kaedros nodded. "The two of them are powerful now."
Nyra fixed unblinking eyes on him. It was hard to read her expression, but he was sure she was frowning. "You all need to be powerful. You won't survive without it."
Kaedros shrugged. That was the general rule of life — among demons, among humans — it was the same everywhere. The ones with power always stood above the rest.
"We should fight," Kaedros said, still not materializing the formation playing on his mind.
"We should," Nyra agreed, "but I will lecture you first." She raised her voice so it carried across the room to Taria and Rauk. Even Gold was listening. "You all should be careful when you use your cores for spells and techniques.
"When you use a spell or technique, you're drawing from the reserve of mana or essence stored in the core. But what happens when your core is dry, or you try to power a spell beyond what it can handle? You start to burn your core — cracking it until it shatters."
Kaedros flinched. So that was what he had done when he used that spell, he had started to burn his core. A shudder ran through him, his stomach tightening.
With her explanation done, Nyra relaxed and eyed Kaedros. "Why didn't your companions use silver stone in their fights just now?"
Kaedros shrugged. "Maybe they wanted to see how well they'd do without it, using only their own power?"
Nyra snorted. "Stupidity. Anything you can use is your power. Anything at all. So… are you going to fight me without silver stone too?"
Kaedros hesitated, then nodded. He wanted to fight with nothing but his own strength too.
Nyra sighed. "How should I fight you? My power is telekinesis. Maybe I should just pop your head off?"
Kaedros blinked. He hadn't known that was her power. "You can do that?"
She purred a laugh. "Sure. But Thalso said I should fight you at your own level. Well, let's see."
Then she clawed at the air. Kaedros felt the wave of power from the simple gesture and lurched sideways just as the air ripped apart, five deep gouges carved into the floor where he had been standing.
That would have shredded him to pieces.
First, he activated his fire cloak, watching in satisfaction as his body glowed blue. Then he hurled himself forward, materializing [Flametongue] as he moved.
Nyra slashed the air again, but this time he met it with a swing of his fire sword. It was like striking a wall of solid metal with a wooden blade.
Kaedros slammed back to the floor, the invisible claws pressing him down until the ground cracked beneath his feet, and still the crushing force didn't stop.
Nyra held her paw suspended in the air as though smashing a bug. Kaedros gritted his teeth. He had to act.
He triggered a small explosion in front of him, blasting himself free, his sword scraping against the unseen claws. Before Nyra could strike again, he was already running.
He zigzagged across the battlefield, making himself hard to pin down, bright flaming sword blasts of rolling heat keeping Nyra occupied.
She swatted them away with ease, not moving from her spot since the fight began , and that grated on Kaedros's nerves.
He decided then and there that he didn't like her type of magic.
Dismissing his sword, he spread his hands back, explosions at each palm launching him upward and forward.
Looking down at Nyra, he brought both hands down. The room filled with heat as two rolling sheets of flame collided midair, raining a whirlwind of fire down on her.
The black-and-white-furred Nyra seemed unbothered, focusing her energy into a defensive translucent sphere of telekinesis that covered her as the flames swallowed her whole.
Her shield blistered under the onslaught, and to her surprise, it nearly burned away. "Would you look at that?" she murmured.
Nyra smiled. She had chosen her opponent well.
She poured all her energy into defense. Now it was a contest of endurance, her shield versus his fire.
Nyra's pride wouldn't allow her to admit his flames burned too fast, too hot against her barrier or that she had been using more than high Pawn-rank arcane to keep it up.
But before long, his fire weakened, then died out. Nyra stood untouched, though the space beneath her was blackened and molten, the air shimmering with heat.
"Good thing my shield is stronger," Nyra muttered.
Kaedros was breathing hard, brows furrowed, back on the floor. That shield was absurdly strong. He wouldn't mind having something like it himself.
Still, when he looked at the scorched battlefield around her, his face stretched into a smile. His fire had done that — and though it stung his pride to have lost, he couldn't deny the strength in his own hands now.
He bowed to Nyra, his voice carrying both spoken and unspoken meaning. "Thank you."
Thalso called the three of them together then and made them sit in a crossed-leg position as if they were about to do the Flow, but they were not gathering mana this time.
Their three instructors stood in front of them with eyes that were trying hard to conceal their pride. Not Thalso though, he stood proudly in front of them, and they could feel satisfaction in the way he leaned forward and sighed.
The Castle focused on them, and they felt it, what they hadn't felt in a long time. The eyes of thousands. The Castle's inhabitants that hadn't shown themselves now focused on them.
But this time it wasn't bad, and they didn't feel uncomfortable as they had felt when they first came to the Castle.
"Tell them what all this candidate stuff is all about anyway. They might die, but at least they got to know why," Chef said with a crackle that didn't reach her eyes.
Thalso sighed. "I admire your courage and dedication that made you stay through the training even though you didn't know why you had to stay."
They tried to keep their expressions even. Dedication? They would be dead if they hadn't agreed to train, and they were so dedicated because of the promise of power.
Thalso cleared his throat and continued. "First, I have to tell you about Aetheria."
"Aetheria?" The word sounded strange to Kaedros's ears, but why did his heart leap at the mention of it?
"Yes. It is our corner of the universe."
When they stared at him blankly, Nyra sighed in resignation and took the explanation from him.
"Think of Aetheria as a place where different worlds exist. Like your Earth now, but different," Nyra said.
"Like Throne of Ruinlight?" Taria asked.
"Ruinlight is a stronghold. But yes, different worlds exist on their own, but everything is inside Aetheria," she said.
Of course, since they came to the Castle they had learned about different worlds, but they hadn't been told before.
"Is Aetheria a world?" Rauk asked.