Chapter 88: Crimson Storm Challenge

“The arena is finished, and I’ve recovered my mana,” I announced out loud, looking over at the saurians standing underneath a water barrier on the edge of the reinforced arena.

“Do not worry about your attacks affecting the surroundings, Hestia,” Mister Kushlek’zar announced with confidence as he took out his pendant. “Shoot as many spells as you like, they will all falter before my Goddess’ wall of water.”

“Mamph! Yeah, give us a damn good fight, lasses. Nothing better to resolve some conflicts among warriors than in the arena!” Krim-Slak shouted out with a mouth full of meat and tea.

Ewwww.

“We’ve watched two duels today but neither of us participated in them,” Grazlahta complained with a sour face. “Krim, want to give it a go after theirs? Watching others fight makes my tail restless.”

“Graaaaaaaaaaah!” Akasht gave a bestial roar, either saying he wanted to fight too or that we should start fighting already. It could also be something entirely different, I dunno, I can’t understand him, but it seems the saurians could as they began talking to him.

“Hestia, catch.”

Hearing that womanly voice. I turned around and caught the object she threw at me. Even without her warning, [Foresight] would have warned me. Releasing my fist, it revealed a crude iron bracelet with a blue gem in its middle; Saori’s party bracelet.

Strapping it on my left wrist, I activated it to see if it was still working as normal, which it did. This reminded me of how I destroyed mine during my rampage in the bandit camp. The bracelet itself was just made out of iron, and was super old to boot, so it shouldn’t be surprising to see it literally melting off my arm after activating [Dreadflame Aura].

Luckily, my clothes didn’t just vanish like my bracelet. I would die from the embarrassment, dude…maybe. At least, I now know that mana fabric was difficult to burn, especially when my body was exuding mana to repair it.

“Same rules…but are you two sure I should actually fight seriously today?” I asked the two women standing before me…well, one was standing on the ground and the other on the former’s shoulder. “Until now, I’ve always gone casually and you two never won against me.”

“We have done it only twice, you know that, correct?” the wolfkin woman responded with an armor of pure black shadows. "And in both cases, we narrowly missed it. If you are going 100% now, we will show you that we can go 200%.”

"Please, allow us to show you that we can stand by your side, Lady Hestia. We do not want to be burdens," the blue-haired fairy declared, wearing the same green-blue fairy dress since the first day I met her, instead of her elven dress.

It’s been a while since I saw her as a fairy. She can’t do it in the village due to the spies, so this must be her first [Humanization] in over two weeks. The saurians never could guess she was a fairy, heh.

Saori and Tasianna stood there, confidently proclaiming they can beat me today in our usual sparring method. The flames of determination was flaring in their eyes, staring me down to cajole me into believing their words.

However, I was skeptical. They should know how strong I was and be able to measure up their own strengths compared to mine, but they were still recklessly demanding me to go all-out? Don’t they know what that meant? That meant I would use all my parallel minds, all my spells, all my tactics, all my dragon abilities as best as I know how to.

They’ve seen me fight; they’ve seen my body fight. How can they request this fight, despite knowing those things? That’s idiotic. As if I could do that…

Shaking my head in exasperation and worry, I attempted to persuade them once again, “If you want to show me how strong you guys are, then couldn’t we do this without me going all-out? This is reckless, especially from you, Saori.”

“‘Never venture, never win’, I know that very well Hestia,” Saori said with a wry smile, expressing the irony of the situation. “I complain about your tendency to dive head-first into a situation, but here I am challenging the dragon. At least, I know perfectly well that as monsters, I could never defeat you in my current state.”

Mystified at her last sentence, my mouth opened up again, “Then why are yo-”

“The same case cannot be said about our beastman forms, though,” she stated assertively, without a hint of doubt. “Until now, you have rampaged twice. Once due to [Battle Frenzy (Moderate)] and the second time due to Danterno’s influence. In both cases, you never transformed into your dragon form once, not even when Mister Kushlek’zar was pushing you back."

True enough. I had a front-row seat when my body went crazy and if I saw somebody push me back so much, then I undoubtedly would have resorted to my dragon form if I thought my life depended on it. So, why did my body not do it? Could I not do it when I was berserk? The sample size was too low to actually make a conclusion, in my opinion.

Saori suddenly giggled, waking me up from my thoughts, “Hie hie, that face. I should be happy to see that you are deliberating everything but from the way I’ve got to know you, anytime you overthink a subject, I have to worry. What have I told you to do when you’re constantly monologuing with yourself?”

“But I was just-” I intended to respond but…

“You worried that you would hurt us if you were to fight seriously, you wondered if what I said had any merit to it,” Saori guessed my inner turmoil correctly, showing a caring smile when she did that before forming a telepathic link with me. ["Before I became a teacher, I deliberated a lot about my future. After getting my degree, I contemplated on either continuing my studies or enter the workforce. Managing the four years of studies with a part-time job on the side, was no easy feat, especially when my mother herself still hasn’t fully accepted my father's death yet.”]

Oh right, she practically had to do everything once her father passed away. Her mother’s health deteriorated, so she wasn’t able to contribute to the household, on the contrary, she had medical bills to pay.

[“In the end, I chose my mother, instead of advancing my dream, and decided to pursue a different career. I needed a well-paying job and, hopefully, one where I could use what I learned,”] Saori said with a grin. [“My passion is history, as you know, but I only had a bachelor, needed to live close for my mother, and my alma mater was not the best so that limited my options. It took me so long to decide, especially when even my friends thought taking the job at Shirako High was impossible.”]

Saori nodded with a satisfied expression, reminiscing her past, [“Frankly, I would have continued if it were not for all the bills that were piling up, ha ha. I took the highest paying job, the teacher position at Shirako High. I went to the interview expecting to humiliate myself and not getting the job, but somehow receiving the position in the end.”]

[“…So…that’s cool?”] I asked, not knowing what she was trying to tell me.

[“What I am trying to tell you is that you should listen to the wisdom of your elders and stop thinking too much about the future and live in the present,”] Saori said with a wry smile. [“What use is it to think this battle is useless? In my opinion, at the very least, it is training for you but for us, it is a chance to show you that you should not worry about our progression. We promised to support you, did we not, Tasianna?”]

[“Yes, and I will keep to my word to you, Princess Hestia,”] Tasianna added with vigor. [“I am your retainer, your maid, and my highest priority is your life and happiness. How can I do this when I am nothing but a burden right now? I made my conviction clear, so I beseech you to allow me to show you my determination, Princess Hestia!”]

Conviction?

“Hey, what are you three-mamph-staring at each other at, huh?” a loud, rowdy voice suddenly interjected into our telepathic discussion, pausing to munch on something. “The sun already set and it’s getting darker and darker. Do us a favor and fight already!”

Krim-Slak…

“…Heh, well, I guess he is right about that. Guess I should make it less dark, right?” I cackled as I looked at Saori and Tasianna, who both showed a smile as I said that. “Honestly, why do I always need a motivational speech from you when I’m like this, huh? I’m hopeless.”

“Wrong, you are still a kid so you are allowed to do that. A teacher just has to help you focus your thinking a bit more,” Saori stated, assuming a combat posture. “So, let me do just that. Let me show you that you can trust me enough for you to evolve.”

“Agreed, watch us, Lady Hestia! Witness our strength!” Tasianna loudly requested me.

…They definitely got something prepared if they are this confident. Should I take a peek at their status board? No! I don’t know what they did, but if they want to show me their power then why should I spoil it for myself? Besides, chances are high that they will be blocking a good amount of their profile with their own [Identity Blocker Lv. 10], anyways.

“You guys ready?!” I shouted, using [Humanization] to regain my wings. “My win condition: Take both of you down! Yours: Steal this bracelet! Understood?”

“Affirmative, Lady Hestia!”

“Ready!”

“Begin!” without a second delay, I closed the distance between us in a mere second. If they want me to be serious, then I’ll end this immediately! Blitzkrieg them!

“Tch!” Saori clicked her tongue, having enough time to step back from my claw swipe.

Using the momentum, I strike my pair of claws against each other, using one of them like a flint to release a burst of fire against my companions. Aside from a few singed hairs, Saori and Tasianna successfully avoided most of the flames, giving me enough room and time to have my parallel minds fully buff me.

Relying on my parallel minds to cast all the necessary spells, I pressed onwards, relentlessly chasing them with searing-hot claws and tail. I might have lost the individual skills like [Spark Claws] and [Spark Fangs], but they all merged into one powerful, fusion skill: [Hellblade Edge]. Aside from [Symphonie des Feuergottes], I have fully lost all my fire and inferno spells, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t “spark up” an inferno, right? The crimson fire inside me won’t die out that easily!

Slashing ferociously, a twister of crimson flames began to light up the darkness, searing through the air as Saori’s body quickly accumulated small amounts of damage. She was evading my claws and tail themselves, but looking at her sweating forehead, being this close to this intense heat must be incredibly uncomfortable.

Come on, show me why you’re being so confident, you two! This can’t be all, right!?

Normally, fire would just die out if there was nothing for them to feed on. Oxygen might keep them alive, intense heat to start things at the molecular level, but they needed fuel to burn from. And what better fuel can there be but mana?

Controlling all the produced flames with [Pyrokinesis] into a long, sharp spearhead, I wrapped it around my right claws, piercing right through the air towards Saori.

“Huh?” however, instead of hitting her, my arm stopped moving, feeling like something was clumping my blood vessels.

“Jeez, would you stop melting Tasianna’s ice, please? It feels like I am having a fever,” Saori smirked, having constricted the movements of my arm with a spiderweb of red mana threads. Looking at her hands, they weren’t wrapped in shadows anymore, instead, it was white-blue ice.

“[Glacial Protection], the level 4 spell of [Ice Magic]. I had to spend all my remaining 700 SP to level it up and also buy [Synergist’s Oath] for this to work, Lady Hestia,” Tasianna explained. “[Glacial Protection] has the effect to automatically defend yourselves from damage, similar to your [Draconic Barrier], but it, unfortunately, has a lower effectiveness rate. It would also be uncomfortable weren’t it for your fire, Lady Hestia.”

I guess having your hands surrounded by ice wasn’t the most pleasant experience.

“Well, excuse me for this, but I will need your party bracelet, HAAA!” shouting, Saori gave me a swift kick into the gut.

“Urgh!” [Draconic Barrier] might have blocked a normal kick, but Saori’s limbs were wrapped in her [Shadow Armament], meaning every kick was infused with dark element, one of my weaknesses. “Verdammt nochmal, Saori!” After receiving another kick, I readied my tail and shot it like a bullet at her, but she simply jumped over it and landed on my shoulder, still holding onto my right arm with her threads.

With a quick movement, she twisted my arm with a loud “crack” sound, “Argh! SAORI, YOU BROKE MY ARM!”

[Broken Arm (Right)(Major)] inflicted on [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]

HELLFLAME BREATH!

Ignoring the pain coursing through my arm, I turned my head upwards and opened my mouth, releasing a destructive dragon breath large enough to consume Saori’s body whole. However, her [Prediction] probably warned her as she released my arm and jumped away, swiftly dodging through the air due to Tasianna’s [Wind Blast]

Tch, she even leveled up her [Wind Magic]? And she’s even using my strategy against me?! You’re on, girlfriends!

Melee might not have been the best idea, but how about long-range spells, huh?

Invoking [Bedrock Blades], I kept the duo on their toes while using wind magic to prevent them from ever landing on the ground again. Saori tried using [Dark Tendrils] in an attempt to land, but unfortunately for them, once they entered air space, I wasn’t about to let them regain back an advantage by being on the ground. Shooting [Sacred Smites] at the tendrils, they quickly dispersed without being useful.

With blades of earth attacking them like a chainsaw, wind spells disrupting their movements, and holy magic destroying any dark spells. It was a stalemate, as I wasn’t hitting them, but in an endurance match, I had the advantage. I even had the time to fix my broken arm with a [Major Heal].

Heh, so that’s what she meant with my dragonewt form being beatable, huh? But breaking one arm isn’t enough to win this!

Looking at her distressed expression, I followed her eyesight towards a specific shadow where a black magic circle began to form. Smirking, I was already readying a white magic circle to counter it but that was when both [Foresight] and [Danger Perception] warned me of something coming from my back.

Turning around, what came into view was an even larger black magic circle, rotating and shining as if it was just activated. With a wild roar, a massive shadowy wolf pounced out of the magic circle, fangs bared at me.

Eeeek!

But before it could maul me, I used my tail to slap it away with enough force that it could split a tree apart. The wolf flew through the arena and crashed onto the wall, but immediately stood up without any damage.

“How do you like my little magic trick, Hestia?” Saori conveyed, showing a hint of smugness.

“Y-You…when? N-Not only was that two magic circles…but…w-was that a dark spell or…a custom spell?” I asked her with widened eyes, grinding my teeth together as a single cold sweat bead dropping to my cheeks.

Landing on the ground as my onslaught of spells momentarily stopped, Saori showed me a “peace” sign as she snickered, “It took me almost three weeks, since we arrived in Artorias, to finish that custom spell. Thankfully, Mister Kushlek’zar did give me a ton of support, especially explaining how I could use [Shadow Clones]’ magic circle as a foundation for it. I learned [Fluid Cast] and [Multi-Cast] after we defeated the bandits.”

Her custom spell [Shadow Pack] was finalized a few days agao. Apparently, Mister Kushlek’zar advised her to copy the chant and magic circle of [Shadow Clones] as the foundation of her spell, replacing certain words to construct an entirely new spell.

I dunno how she hid this from me, but it seems she sneakily did a ton of magic training while I wasn’t looking.

“Training and studying do not just end after the sun has set, Hestia,” Saori proudly announced, summoning a shadow clone of herself. “You use your evenings to practice your singing, writing your songs, and creating your choreography. Your idol concert is more important to you, and that is something I respect as you are giving it your all. So, do not be so surprised that we were spending our time with training."

Now that I think about it, in our week of stay here, Saori and Tasianna always disappeared in the evening. After having dinner with them, I would engross myself in my prep for the concert, ignoring my surroundings. Morning was always busy for us, so I never had time to work on it after breakfast.

They always gave the excuse that they were spying on the spies or speaking with the village watchmen, so I never doubted them. Hiding the whole picture under a veil of truths?

As I was thinking that, Saori equipped both herself and her clone with shadowy daggers, both were made by morphing [Dark Bolt]s with her [Shadow Armament].

“Gahahaha! You’re showing the daggers now, Saori? Show her what you learned from us, lass!” Krim-Slak shouted, positively radiating anticipation.

“Don’t forget that weapon abilities use up Stamina, Saori. Use your ‘dagger’ and ‘unarmed’ abilities with care,” Grazlahta gave his support. “The young scale’s attacks are dangerous so your need to conserve energy to dodge her attack. Pierce her defenses only when you know you can hit her. That is how a true warrior fights!”

“Wait, you learned weapon abilities too?! F-Fuck, I forgot,” I responded, staring at the two carnosilian warriors with astonishment, having completely forgotten to ask them to teach me about “weapon ability”.

“Well, I am still not an expert with these daggers but a rogue without one seems unnatural, right, Miss Gamer? Tasianna, now!” dashing towards me with Tasianna’s [Wind Blast], Saori imitated my first move with her own flurry of blades.

She and her clone deftly attacked with their daggers, not with the skills of a master but with the instincts of a beast. Like an extension of their claws, those blades were like my own, although they could elongate themselves compared to mine.

In a melee brawl like this, I was in the advantage with my flaming claws and tail but with Tasianna’s and the shadow wolf’s help, they were pushing me back. As Tasianna wasn’t attacking, purely supporting, she wasn't too affected by the fact that her stats were dropping when her Mana was being expended.

It was a four vs. one right now. One supportive fairy with wind, water, and ice magic; two shadow-clad wolfkins with daggers whose stats were the closest to mine; and a massive shadow wolf as large as Saori’s cadejo form; were assaulting me here.

I would call this unfair…but I had nine “mes” ready to help.

Terra Wall, Lava Stream, Sanctuary, Earthen Shackles.

Bombard them with spells, that was the idea to get them off me. I might have been capable in a melee brawl, but not against four enemies. Saori, her clone, and Tasianna both began jumping and dodging around me with [Shadow Dash], melting through darkness and shadows like water. Slippery was an understatement with how skilled Saori was with that spell.

Well, if I can’t hit her with my spells and my [Sanctuary] was ineffective against her [Shadow Dash], then I’ll deny her shadows! Shine!

Flaring the area in an intense holy elemental bright light, the darkness was banished around me. Saori’s shadow wolf couldn’t enter my [Sanctuary] but it was now cowering, stepping back from the holy light, almost like it was scared of it.

Now, the only shadow left was the one under me. If Saori wanted to attack me, then she will have to come from that one. [Shadow Dash] always has a small delay depending on the distance traveled as the user has to traverse the shadow world, so she should be aware of the lack of shadows around me. She’s smart enough to guess what I might have done.

Rattling my wings a bit, I activated [Foresight]’s ability, looking into the future until Saori’s figure came into view. Stepping to the sides the moment Saori jumped out, I strike my claws against each other, igniting the scale-dust like gunpowder, engulfing Saori and Tasianna in fire.

What came out from the smoke was the pair hiding behind a shield of ice, Tasianna’s [Frozen Shield], with parts of their clothing burned away as Saori’s clone “died”. The shield protected them from most of the explosion, but I could see burns on both of their bodies.

“Rumbling Might!” casting a huge brown magic circle, my new terra spell began rumbling the very earth like a miniature earthquake, disrupting their footing. With my [Shine] still active, the only place she could escape to was her shadow.

Taking this as my chance, I jumped into the air and started levitating with wind magic and [Air Walk]. Although my wings were incapable of helping me fly due to my injury, I can still do it with magic. Where there is a will, there is a way.

Bombarding them with spells, I began doing what I did when I fought Mister Kushlek’zar. Wind for movement and fast counters, earth for defense and disruptions, lightning for extremely fast attacks, and magma for slow but powerful spells.

The only difference was my usage of explosive scale-dust, shooting them with [Pyrokinesis] controlled fire, and using dragon breath to keep them on their toes. You come into my arena, my BOSS arena, then you better be prepared to play by my rules, Saori, Tasianna!!!

As I was speaking, Dark Tendrils suddenly came out from my shadows, but it quickly dispersed without me looking. If Saori mastered [Multi-Cast], then I’ll just use my [Delayed Cast]. I’ve littered the interior of my [Sanctuary] with magic circles, all ready to shoot.

The idea was very similar to my firebombs where I would delay the cast with [Trap Creation], but I was now doing it the correct way, by expending more mana to keep them from activating. If I kept the mana flow, they could stick around for an eternity, really. The only problem was the Mana and arcane corruption costs.

Still, could I continue doing this until Saori was too exhausted to move? Sure, easy enough.

“Haaa!” whether it was desperation or not, Saori threw one of her daggers at me like a throwing knife.

“Oh, whoops ~" I snickered as I just sidestepped it with [Air Walk]. “Come on, Saori, what was that su-WOAH!”

In a complete surprise to me, Saori was in the air, launched up by Tasianna’s [Wind Blast]. But what truly surprised me was the pitch-black mana thread she was wielding like a whip, throwing it at my right leg, wrapping around it before the dagger attached to its end lodged into my thigh.

“Argh!” dark elemental spells could easily pierce through my [Draconic Barrier], reducing the damage only minimally.

I activated all my delayed spells, targeting Saori with them but that was when I forgot that Saori too had [Air Walk]. Standing on the air, she tugged the mana thread roughly, pulling my lighter body towards her, where she caught me.

"I'm sorry, I'll treat you to whatever later, I promise, Hestia! Shadow Pierce!” Saori anxiously shouted out, before using what seems to be a dagger ability to pierce a dagger into my left thigh as if my flesh was made out of butter.

“ARRRGH!” I screamed out, but before I could do anything, Saori dispelled her [Air Walk], free-falling down as she began wrapping mana thread of different colors around my body.

My arms and wings were bound together, a purple mana thread, probably lightning element, around my neck, and the rest of my body was covered in red and brown-red threads. Pain was coursing through my thighs as those daggers sunk deeper in my thighs while black mana threads were wrapped around my legs like [Dark Tendrils].

S-Scheiße, now I understand what she meant!

It wasn’t just the ability to dislocate and break my limbs, but when we fought in this form, Saori could use her daggers and mana threads effectively while bits of my body were not protected with scales. My thighs were just pink, human skin, and as I had low Vitality in the first place, her higher Strength could easily overpower my defenses.

S-Scary!

[Terror (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]

Her red predatory eyes glared down at me as she struggled to get my party bracelet. Saori is s-scary! Scary! Scary! Scary! Scary! Scary! She’s able to hurt me this much without hesitating! She’s scary! Scary!

As my spells clashed against each other above, the shockwave pushed us even further towards the ground.

If I’m on the ground, wrapped around these threads, then I’m gonna lose! I can use as many spells as I want but all she needs is to activate these mana threads and I’ll be attacked by lightning and ice! I can’t let this happened.

“Dreadflame Aura!”

“WHAT?! Ahhhhhh!”

Seeing no other way out, I activated the ability I got from my racial skill [Dreadflame Dragon]. Like a miniature bomb, an aura of inferno exploded from me, sending both Saori and Tasianna flying away, fully enveloped in fire.

Compared to my rampage where I left it activated for an extended time, causing my body to overheat, I only had it on for a second to get those two pesky Dummköpfe off me.

Tasianna quickly doused themselves with water magic but looking at Saori’s and Tasianna’s terrible state, it looks like being in the GROUND ZERO was a bit too much. Burns scars riddled Saori’s pristine, white skin, even shortening some of her hair, while Tasianna looked pale and fatigued, almost like she was close to being out of Mana.

“Graaaaaaaaarrrrrrr!” I roared out, breaking through the mana threads, pulling the daggers from my thighs, as white flames began healing up all my wounds before beginning a chant. “O, gather with me, o tiny embers

Weave yourself in my divine mana

Oh grow, oh feast, never smother your potential

From darkness you grow, shining brightly to cast your origin away”

“Shit, Tasianna! Take my Mana!” Saori ordered as she held on tightly to Tasianna.

“T-Thank you, Icicle Gust!” she meekly called out, blowing a chilling wind with icicles in my direction.

Constructing a Terra Wall, I continued my cast without delay,

“O, Inferno, your form so mighty

Dance with my melody, my song

Hear my voice, hear my decree, your ruler of crimson

Blaze in power in a sea of red and yellow

Oh dear flames, listen to my music, my grand orchestra!

Symphonie des Feuergottes!”

The huge red circle hovered above me, engulfing me in a waterfall of flames, spreading like water around the arena, destroying my recently made [Terra Wall]. Compared to the first time that I used it, I’ve managed to control its output.

No matter if it was [Hellblade Edge], [Spark-Dust Veil], [Hellflame Breath], [Dreadflame Aura], or [Symphonie des Feuergottes], my first goal had to be to find a way to use them effectively. Yes, I might not have trained as much as they did, but I hadn’t neglected my own training. The only two new skills I haven’t fully mastered yet were [White Flames] and [Corrosive Fire], so I didn’t plan to use them in this fight, aside to heal myself.

[Symphonie des Feuergottes Movement (Allegro)] inflicted on [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]

Feeling the heat of my flame veil running through me as if it was a part of my body, I felt like a ruler of fire. Whether a cape or a dress, I was able to transform my flames so easily to my image that it felt like I was commanding it through my will alone, instead of controlling it with [Pyrokinesis]. This feeling was…addicting.

“You are bringing out everything now, huh, Hestia?” Saori asked with a smile, despite clutching the right side of her face in pain.

"Yeah, your fault for literally scaring me, Saori," I said with still slightly shivering legs. "If you want 'my all', then you'll get 'my all'. Before, that was the first phase of a boss battle where you learn my combos and moves, but I hope you’ve planned to come at me in my second phase. You had your chance to get my party bracelet, but you failed. And now, you will lose, plain and simple.”

Still can’t go too hard. That [Dreadflame Aura ] was a close call.

“Hie hie,” Saori snickered with weary breathing. “I am used to being strict to my students but I never, ever hit them before. Even hitting you with those daggers felt terrible…but that is what I had to do. I personally believe that a teacher should do her best to educate and protect her students, help them advance to the next phase of life with everything they need. A great teacher would do that, at least.”

Her exhausted sigh suggested she was very close to her Stamina’s limit, trying to recover it as she spoke, “…I do not want you to hold yourself back for us, Hestia. You are your own person. If you cannot see that, then as a former teacher, it is my job to educate you, whether through words or force. Don’t think you’ve won yet, Hestia-chan.”

“…Tasianna, how about you. You’ve been so assertive ever since we finished that bandit Quest. I know something happened, and I do miss my old Tasianna. Do you want to share something?” I asked my fairy friend, having regained some of her Mana by absorbing Saori’s.

“…I will do anything for you, Princess Hestia,” Tasianna said with teary eyes. “If I have to stain my hands with blood, then so be it. I do not wish to hold you back, I want to stand beside you as you walk into the world. You cannot understand how much it pained and humiliated me when you told me that you would slow down just because of me. My life is yours, my Princess, so if this could persuade you to think of Miss Saori and me more highly, then I will fight with my life on the line!”

“…Then come and show me that determination. Hope you two can still hold on for the second phase,” I challenged them with a Korean “heart” sign, grinding my claws together to create a flaming heart. “I’m wasting the time limit of my spells, so let’s do this already HAAAAARRRGH!”

Saori produced another clone as she conjured up new daggers while Tasianna was readying to defend them with her spells. Bombarding them with my own spells, Saori and her clone nimbly moved through the artillery, only receiving damage when it was a wind spell.

Once again using her dark elemental mana threads she attacked me with them, as her clone went up close and personal to fight me. With the increase in speed from my custom spell's "Allegro" stage, speed was in my favor right now, but that was when a dark magic circle appeared around my body, sapping red particles from my body into it.

Enfeebling Winds

A dark spell that constantly saps the Health of a target while healing the caster by half of the amount. Also drains their Strength and Vitality by 5%/10%15%

Tch, if you can’t hit me then use a targeting spell, huh?

“Claws of Darkness!” she called out, conjuring up huge black claws from my shadow, carving up the air and earth where I stood as it retreated back into its magic circle.

Level 10 [Dark Magic] spell? Then doesn’t that mean that she has-?!

“[Tenebrous Magic Lv. 1] spell: Umbral Pendulum!” invoking a black magic circle in the air, a deathly-black humongous double-sided scythe so tall as a tree materialized, swinging side to side, scaring the earth with an unstoppable blade.

“What?!” baffled by the sheer strength of this spell, I could only watch as it pierced my [Sanctuary], destroying it into tiny fragments. “That thing won’t disappear!?”

"Not if you stop it yourself, HAAAA!" taking advantage of my distraction, Saori and her clone teamed up and began assaulted me with daggers, while Tasianna concentrated on keeping Saori away from my claws and spells. "Shadow Descent!” Even with her daggers, Saori didn’t forget her unarmed abilities, somersaulting to drop her heel down. The shadow armament of her body elongated her attack, nearly stomping me if I hadn’t dodged it.

“Fuck, how about this!” unable to cast fast enough, I allowed my [Storage Magic] to shoot out a few of my bombs like a cannonball.

Although I couldn’t make my old bombs anymore, as I don’ have any simple fire spells, I managed to figure out another way to do it by stuffing my scale-dusts inside them. They were like nitroglycerin or gunpowder, activating when they came into contact with friction.

However, there was a small problem with this method as the hull couldn’t stop man from leaking, causing the bombs to explode prematurely. Storing them inside my storage was the only way to delay the explosion as time literally stopped in there.

Compared to the other version, all these bombs needed was an impact stimulus and it goes boom. The mana inside would even increase the explosion.

As I shot them out, Saori’s clone accidently hit one of the bombs as they flew out, causing a chain reaction to create a major KABOOOOOOM! As we were close to the explosion, Saori’s clone died while I was completely unharmed by it. [Draconic Barrier] and my incredibly high fire resistance only made that feel like a sauna.

Shrouded in the dust, my vision was completely obstructed, so I had to rely on my hearing and [Detection Sensor]. However, nothing being pinged for me. Where was Saori?

She must have used [Shadow Dash] to hi-woah!

Shrieking, I dodge after both [Danger Perception] and [Foresight] ordered me to. Although my [Detection Sensor] still wasn’t telling me where they were, I could confirm that Saori attacked me as my skills kept telling me to dodge and dodge. Even activating [Foresight]’s ability to look into the future was useless as everything was obstructed by the smoke. It seems I’ve found a weakness in this skill.

“How was she able to see and sense me here,” I thought, but I quickly remembered her [Heat Vision]. My body temperature was higher than a normal human being due to my biology as a dragon, and this affected my dragonewt form, too. She could see me through this thick smoke with ease.

While she was able to see me, I couldn’t detect her at all. Not one bit. If I couldn’t detect her, then she must have activated her stealth skills.

I need to get this smoke away now! I can’t win in here.

I wasn’t taking any damage due to my increased Agility, but I can’t fight back inside this smoke. Flapping my wings, I blasted everything away, regaining my vision of the area but not Saori.

“Shine!" I cast, banishing the shadows.

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Only place to come out is from my shadow, Saori. Come on, I dare you.

I waited.

…

…

Why are they not appearing?

“Hey, Hestia. [Bloodlust] activate!”

“EEEEEEEEEP!” a voice, followed by a bone-chilling feeling assaulted my body, prompting me to turn around as a purple mana thread caught around my left arm, where my party bracelet was. “BrrrrrBrrrrrbrrrrbrbrbrbrbr!” Before I could see who was behind me, lightning suddenly surged through the mana thread into my body, shocking me like a taser gun as I fell on the ground.

Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Lightning Resistance Lv. 1] gained

“Tasianna!”

“Yes, Miss Saori! Aqua Prison!”

As my body started to get used to the weak lightning, I was about to rip through the threads, but a blue magic circle appeared before me, encasing me completely in water. Being surrounded by water, I couldn't use my scale-dust. Just like gunpowder, if they got wet, I couldn’t ignite them.

Turning my head up, I could see Saori and Tasianna standing next to the [Umbral Pendulum] that still hasn’t disappeared. Seeing as Saori had an arm inside it, did she just use [Shadow Dash] to appear out from that!? You can do that?!

With me on the ground, Saori began pulling me towards her. [Draconic Barrier] might defend me from attacks but it had the weakness that grabs couldn’t be blocked. Bear hugs, [Aqua Prison], Saori’s mana threads, were perfect counters to a barrier. If you only had to abduct me, then even my powerful [Draconic Barrier] was ineffective…well, it’s not like it had any use today against two people who could abuse my elemental weaknesses.

Seeing as my victory was literally being pulled away from me, I couldn’t help but began casting spells before experiencing an excruciating pain ravaging my arm.

“Good boy! Hold her down, Shadow Wolf!” Saori praised the creature blocking my sight.

“Grrrr!” the shadow wolf growled, sinking his fangs into my right arm while helping the two pull me over. It was even blocking any spell that I was launching at the two, aside from Earth-type spells.

“Dark Tendrils, Slithering Serpent!” Saori cast, conjuring up tendrils of darkness and a single serpent, swirling around like an octopuses’ tentacles.

[Shine]! I need to use [Shine]!

Flaring away everything, even the giant shadow wolf, I couldn’t help but feel relief, but that feeling quickly was replaced by agitation as both Saori and Tasianna rushed over me. They cast the [Aqua Prison] away, entangled my arms with mana thread, and were about to take my party bracelets.

“Omnic-!” I tried to shout out but stop before I did.

W-What am I doing?! That’ll kill them!

With that last thought occupying me, my wrist suddenly felt lighter as I could only helplessly watched my pair of friends flash the metal bracelets.

“We won, Hestia,” Saori proudly announced.

“We won, Lady Hestia,” Tasianna responded also.

“…,” I was speechless, baffled, astonished. “…Y-Yeah, you guys just did…”

“We…got your back, Hestia. Always. We won’t stagnate too much, we promise; we will become strong enough to stop you one day,” Saori spoke, stuttering as she swayed back and forward. “So…go evolve…” Before falling down.

“Until tomorrow morning, Lady Hestia…,” and so did Tasianna.

“Saori! Tasianna!” I quickly jumped on my feet and caught my two friends, having fallen unconscious after the battle.

Identify!

Saori's status board

Profile:

Name: Saori Segawa

Level: 19

Race: Young Shadowstalker Cadejo

Age: 3 Months

Status:

Health: 1980/5428(+1043) Mana: 321 /2386(+808) Strength: 3421(+767) Intelligence: 1228(+278) Vitality: 2510 (+501) Wisdom: 2495 (+557) Agility: 4507 (+932) Stamina: 0 /3918(+1056) Effects: [Exhaustion (Moderate)] [Arcane Fever (Minor)] Skill Points: 4650 (+3600) Unique Skill: [Shadow Armament Lv. 5] (+1)

Skill: Magic skills

[Mana Efficiency Lv. 6] (+2)

[Arcane Mind Lv. 8] (+1)

[Mana Control Lv. 10] (+2)

[Dark Magic Lv. 10] (+2)

[Dark Amp]

[Dark Magic Efficiency]

[Tenebrous Magic Lv. 1] (New)

[Space-Time Magic Lv. 3]

[Space-Time Efficiency]

[Chant Revocation Lv. 10]

[Mental Stability Lv. 5] (+2)

[Mental Warfare Lv. 5] (+1)

[Silent Casting Lv. 9] (+3)

[Fluid Cast Lv. 1] (New)

[Multi-Cast Lv. 1] (New)

Physical skills

[Unarmed Technique Lv. 7] (+1)

[Unarmed Mastery Lv. 3] (+1)

[Dagger Technique Lv. 2] (New)

[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 6] (+3)

[Piercing Enhancement Lv. 4] (+1)

[Crushing Enhancement Lv. 2]

[Lupine Claws Lv. 1] (New)

[Lupine Fangs Lv. 1] (New)

Movement and senses

[Primal Senses]

[Silence Lv. 1]

[Prediction Lv. 9]

[Concentration Lv. 5] (+2)

[Detection Sensor] (New)

[Danger Perception Lv. 9] (+1)

[Tracking Lv. 6] (+1)

[Heat Vision Lv. 3] (+1)

[Night Vision Lv. 8] (+2)

[Presence Killer Lv. 9] (+1)

[Evasion Lv. 10]

[Acrobatic Lv. 10]

[Air Walk Lv. 1]

[Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 6] (+1)

Resistances

[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 3] (+1)

[Absolute Pain Tolerance]

[Bleed Resistance Lv. 6] (+2)

[Poison Resistance Lv. 6]

[Paralyze Resistance Lv. 10]

[Torpor Resistance Lv. 4]

[Fear Resistance Lv. 1]

[Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 10]

[Ice Resistance Lv. 2] (+1)

[Lightning Resistance Lv. 1] (New)

[Holy Resistance Lv. 4]

[Fire Resistance Lv. 8] (+2)

[Earth Resistance Lv. 6]

[Water Resistance Lv. 4] (+2)

[Wind Resistance Lv. 5]

[Dark Resistance Lv. 6] (+2)

Stats and others

[Health Recovery Lv. 5] (+1)

[Mana Recovery Lv. 4]

[Stamina Recovery Lv. 5] (+1)

[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 5]

[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Mana Growth Lv.´4]

[Enhanced Mana Capacity Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 6] (+1)

[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 5] (+1)

[Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement Lv. 2]

[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 4]

[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 6] (+1)

[Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 5] (+1)

[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 6] (+1)

[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 5]

Others

[Dancing Lv. 1]

[Identify Blocker Lv. 10] (+7)

[Identify Lv. 9] (+1)

[Terror Aura Lv. 4]

[Bloodlust Lv. 2] (+1)

[Battle Mind Lv. 5] (+2)

[Lifetaker Lv. 3]

[Mana Weave Lv. 9] (+1)

[Sewing Lv. 8] (+1)

[Elemental Mana Weave Lv. 3] (+1)

[Royal Etiquette Lv. 2]

[Cooking Lv. 8]

[Dismantle Lv. 5]

[Humanize Lv. 7]

[Telepathy]

Ability List: Unarmed

[Just Blink]

[Shadow Descent]

Dagger

[Shadow Pierce]

Spell List: Custom

[Shadow Pack]

Dark

[Dark Bolt]

[Dark Tendrils]

[Shadow Dash]

[Dark Slash]

[Shadow Clones]

[Shadow Snake]

[Enfeebling Winds]

[Claws of Darkness]

[Umbral Pendulum]

Space-Time

[Haste]

[Storage Magic]

Titles:

[Belzac’s Successor] [Otherworldly Reincarnator] [Hestia’s Retainer]

“Holy Scheiße, Saori! Why did you push yourself so much! Major Heal, Major Heal!” shock and fear filled my head when I saw how low her Health and Mana were.

Not only did she push her body to the absolute limit but she was so close to actually contracting both [Mana Stress] and [Arcane Fever], which would have been brutal for her remaining Health. With a few casts, I was able to fully recover it but that still didn’t exactly take away the shock.

...Saori, you've pushed yourself too much.

After that was done, I looked at Tasianna. I knew she couldn’t accumulate arcane corruption so she shouldn’t be in much of a danger. Which was proven correct when only [Exhaustion (Minor)] was there.

Her Health was quite low, but fairies supposedly didn’t die if it reached zero, they simply fell unconscious. What concerned me was her Mana but filling it up with my own Mana was enough. I had enough to spare anyways, compared to these two.

“Well, that certainly was a duel, he he he he,” Mister Kushlek’zar snickered joyfully.

“…Jeez, and you knew about their improvements, right? They did train with you,” I accused him, showing my annoyance of being left out of the loop.

“Don’t scorn me too much, young scale. Your two friends wished to keep it a secret from you, so they might surprise you with it, and I believe it certainly should have,” he responded. “They wanted to show you that they were strong enough to be with you. What wonderful companions, I believe.”

“…,” I looked at their sleeping faces, remembering what they told me today and why they even wanted to fight me in the first place. They said I should have been serious, but that would have meant your death, guys.

Imagine me spreading my scale-dust around even more than when you were inside my [Sanctuary]? Imagine if I had cast [Omnictus], my new [Sacred Magic Lv. 6] spell? Imagine for a moment if I had aimed for your heart, head, or organs instead of your limbs…

“Dummköpfe,” I uttered with a wry smile.

“Hestia?” Mister Kushlek’zar spoke up, unable to understand what I just said.

“Nothing, forget it. I should probably carry them home, midnight is approaching,” I stated as I picked Saori up in a piggyback, while I placed Tasianna under my clothes to hide her from the watchmen. “Hey, Mister Kushlek’zar, don’t go before I evolve, you hear me?”

With that, I went back to our home in the village of Carine village. I placed them in their beds, made sure that the heating system in our garden was still working so our plants didn’t freeze to death, and then took a bath with the water and shampoo in my storage.

“…Life is so complicated,” was the only thing I said as I enjoyed my evening bath, cleaning myself from all the sweat and dirt from today’s fight. Of course, I made sure to always keep healing Saori, after all. Until her ailment disappeared, I think I’ll stay in the bath and enjoy the night with myself.

Don’t risk your life for my sake, again, you two. It would be unbearably lonely…

…Evolution…Yeah, let’s do it. For them, for myself.

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