“What?!” Warm cried.
The appendages he’d been dodging until now were now larger and much greater in number; they had become a trial to evade, even without my spells. Warm must’ve decided that he could no longer just dodge, and used his spear to fight back; his weapon, imbued with lightning, aimed right for my shadow familiar. With a swing of his spear, Strafe’s tentacles burst open.
“Hmm?” I muttered.
Lightning, unsurprisingly, emitted light, categorizing it close to the fire and light element. It was highly effective against my dark element. I was honestly facing a bad matchup, but even so, a single swing blowing away Strafe’s tentacles was an impressive feat. When it comes to type matchups, I haven’t been blessed at all these days. If Warm continued to chip away at these tentacles, I’d naturally be at a disadvantage; I could channel my mana into regeneration, but it would be best to save what little I had left. Regenerating shadow familiars took a lot out of me.
If I’d been in better condition, I might not have been so reluctant to use my mana liberally, but as things stood, I simply couldn’t do as I pleased.
Just then, I thought I saw a sliver of sunlight appear in the corner of my peripheral. When I turned toward the horizon, beyond the mountains, I saw that a white light was slowly rising upon the land.
“Huh?”
I took out my pocket watch and checked the time—4:30 a.m. I’d gone way past my time limit. At once, my passion and fury faded away like I’d just been plunged into cold water to cool off. Crap... I’d told Yusurika that I’d be back in an hour, but it seems I’ve gotten a bit too excited. My dark feelings of anger and envy settled down, and I no longer really knew why I’d attacked Warm in the first place.
Sure, I didn’t like him, but to basically throw away my precious mana into the ether was laughably ridiculous. Even I knew how foolish I’d been; it was as though I were controlled by someone else for a few moments and lost my own sense of will. As for who pulled my strings, it was none other than myself—I realized that I had some deep-seated emotions slumbering within me. I let out a weary sigh, closed my pocket watch, and turned back to Warm. Admittedly, I’d lost my cool, but since I’ve gone this far... It seems like a good opportunity to decide who exactly is stronger between the two of us.
“Playtime’s over,” I told him. “I suppose I’ll go all out, Warm.”
As though to agree, Strafe’s tentacles shot out toward Warm in one go. Even a capable warrior like him couldn’t physically defend himself when he was so vastly outnumbered, and Strafe attacked him from all directions. But Warm thrust his spear forward so quickly that my eyes could hardly keep up, and he miraculously destroyed all the tentacles that came at him. Strafe, unable to handle all this damage at once, turned into mist and vanished into the air.
“Hah!” I laughed. “You’re a monster yourself!”
I boosted my mana as much as I could and coursed it through my veins. In a flash, I dashed toward him.
“What the?!” he gasped.
He was caught off guard, not expecting me to approach—just as I’d hoped. While he was surrounded by Strafe’s tentacles, I’d taken cover and hid behind one of their shadows, effectively shielding myself from his view. Since I’d been fighting from afar until now, Warm must’ve been doubly surprised to see me so close to him—that was exactly the opportunity that I was searching for. I created a Dark Scythe within my hand and slashed at him. Warm defended himself with his lightning spear, and the two of us clashed on the back of his wyvern.
“Aren’t you a mage?!” he yelped.
“I don’t recall saying that I couldn’t fight up close,” I replied.
Our type matchup aside, my Dark Scythe was a spell that specialized in cutting things down, so it was impressive that he was able to block it. His lightning magic might be more advanced than I expected... As an aside, I was capable of some close combat thanks to Carlos giving me some private lessons. Still, when it came to raw power and skill for clashes like these, Warm had the clear advantage.
Our clash lasted only for a moment. My scythe was easily pushed aside by Warm’s skills, and though I swiftly struck thrice, hoping to somehow get a blow in, he managed to parry me with minimal movements before pushing me back. I’d hoped that the difference in our weapons would give me the upper hand, but it seemed that was just wishful thinking. As I was pushed back, Warm took his own opportunity to launch a counter.
“Take this!” he roared.
He rapidly thrust his spear forward, but I was unfazed, for I knew that his weapon would never reach me. My magic barrier hindered his attack, and Warm, realizing that his mighty attack had been stopped, gave a forced chuckle.
“You’re tougher than I thought,” he muttered.
“Not too long ago, I learned just how much of a pain magic barriers can be,” I replied.
I was right to make my barrier several times tougher than usual, and with his weapon stopped, Warm was out of tricks. I created a Dark Hand in lieu of my left arm and grabbed him, the corners of my mouth tugging upward triumphantly.
“Don’t worry,” I assured him. “I’ll heal your wyvern later.”
“I’m...grateful for that,” Warm replied.
He closed his eyes with resignation. I took my Dark Scythe, slashing Warm and the wyvern. Blood sprayed in the air. The wyvern cried and fell from the skies as I chopped off one of its wings, and the three of us plummeted to the ground.
✶✶✶
The foot of the mountains was layered with thick snow which helped cushion our fall. However, I had my magic barrier to protect me anyway, and Warm somehow managed to break his fall, so neither of us took much damage. After I’d slashed the wyvern’s wing off, I used my mana to immediately regenerate it until it was as good as new.
I reached into the pocket of my mantle, took out a mana potion, and downed it. I also tossed Warm a potion for his wound.
“Here. Drink,” I said.
“Thanks,” he replied.
He popped open the bottle and downed it without a second thought. The potion was expensive and of the highest quality, healing the gash on his shoulder from my scythe before my eyes. Warm’s face twitched with disbelief.
“This potion’s gotta be high-quality...” he muttered. “I don’t really have that much money on me.”
“Why would I take money from you?” I asked, confused as to why that was his primary concern. “And I recommend you be a bit more doubtful of others. How in the world could you just drink something your assailant gave you?”
“You think I’m worried about poison after all we’ve done? If you wanted to kill me, I would already be dead.”
I laughed through my nose. “You sure know how to talk. Not once did you aim your spear at any of my vital areas. Your last attack was aimed for my shoulder as well—clearly, you’re too soft on your enemies.”
“Right back at you. I didn’t feel any sort of murderous intent from you during that entire battle. Besides, I’ve got a lot of questions for you.”
“I suspected as much...”
He proceeded to pepper me with questions. How did I know his name? Why did Flugel seemingly rise from the brink of death? Why did I attack him? His million whys were annoying, to say the least, and I had no reason to answer them all. But I had to admit, this had all stemmed from my impulsive actions. I couldn’t deny that I was to blame for being unable to suppress the ugly feelings in my heart, compelling me to compare our strength through battle. It was childish and silly. However, this time around, I had to prioritize my own circumstances. I wasn’t going to patiently give him all the answers.
I told Warm that all of his queries would have to wait until another day; he clearly looked dissatisfied, but he gave his questions a rest. In exchange, I briefly told him why I’d come to Stelia and what had led me here.
Frankly, meeting Warm here was a stroke of good luck for me. If memory served, his father was a magistrate who ruled over some plot of land in Stelia; if Warm was here, it implied that his father was in control of this area.
I told him that the citizens of Lightless had been purchased as slaves by a certain pudgy man in this area, presumably a merchant. I decided to foist all this responsibility—I mean, entrust Warm with how to deal with this merchant.
After giving him a brief rundown, I handed him a small token inscribed with the Lightless family crest. This item was vital as proof that I made these accusations with great conviction; it signified that my words were honest and my assertions were in good faith. If Warm’s father received this token, he could no longer turn a blind eye to this matter.
Warm looked shocked when he saw the emblem.
“Lightless...” he muttered. “The heir to the house was the same age as me. I think his name was...Lofus. Are you him?”
“You know me very well,” I replied. “Studious, indeed.”
“Everyone knows who you are. You’re famous!”
Am I, now? I’m a bit curious to learn why I’m famous around this area...
“In any case, now you know,” I said. “I need a mode of transportation to return to my fief. Give me your wyvern. Once that beast delivers us, I’ll free it from my spell.”
I gazed at the wyvern as Warm pondered over this demand for a few moments.
“Free Flugel from your spell?” he repeated slowly. “What happens when you do that?”
“I suppose it’ll no longer be able to cling onto life,” I replied. “It won’t die immediately, but it won’t last long.”
“Can you undo that spell on Flugel whenever you want?”
“Huh? Well, yes... I can.”
This wyvern had a strong sense of will and refused to act under my orders. Since I couldn’t use it as my shadow familiar, it was dead weight that just sapped my mana away. I wasn’t opposed to undoing my spell on the spot, but it was a precious mode of transportation to take me back to Lightless. I needed this wyvern until then.