Chapter 113: Chapter 184 – Practice Makes Perfect

After a long moment, Asterios and Silvia left the shadows and materialized inside Grea’s office. Umbra had checked if anyone was there not to scare their friends with his entrance and it seemed that the demon duo was most likely in the secret lab together. There was no real reason for him to force his way inside the sealed space.

With no one around, all the girls joined them by walking out of the crimson gate so that Grea didn’t catch Tina during the motion. There was no doubt that the peculiar but very observant researcher wouldn’t miss that detail and they hadn’t yet revealed everything to her.

Miria knocked on the trapdoor and the red-skinned demon woman soon came out to greet them.

“You are just in time! Assuming that you came for what I think you did.” Grea glanced at Asterios and he nodded with a soft smile. “Great! We finished packing stuff last night and were just waiting while making sure that we didn’t miss anything. Come on in.”

She led them underground and everyone immediately froze at the sight of an almost uncountable number of boxes littering the ground. Some stacks reached as far as the ceiling allowed and the packages varied in size greatly. They could see through the doorless frames that other rooms were in a similar state.

“That’s… an awful lot of boxes,” Tina commented in awe.

“That's what happens when you are dealing with lots and lots of very delicate appliances and resources.” Grea winked at her. “I have full trust in the quality of your delivery services but it’s just safer to assure that nothing breaks with the slightest bump.”

“Plus, the majority of them hold all the books and scripts you have provided us with,” Radir joined in after walking out of one of the passages. “That’s like two vaults worth of knowledge, isn’t it?”

Selene chuckled softly with her slender hand over her lips. “Certainly true. I wonder if it will soon become three instead.”

“It might not be as useful as the previous ones though.” Miria scrunched her adorable face. “I don’t think we’ll keep finding magic research related to Summoning or Sealing Magic in any vaults we stumble on next if we follow the current pattern.”

Asterios lovingly brushed through her hair. “There’s no way to be sure about that but I agree. In any way, how are things going?”

“Slowly but surely I’m cracking it down.” Radir fixed his glasses. “Grea has been helping me out much more recently so I hope to present you with some valuable results soon, hopefully, unlocking more of your trapped memories.”

“And I feel a little lost right now.” Their ex-teacher put her hands on her hips and sighed. “It’s like I’m missing something, lacking a crucial detail holding everything together. No matter how much I try, I can’t seem to be able to track that thing down. I’m sure it would push my research ways ahead if only I managed to discover that sneaky fuck of a variable.”

“Letting your mind focus on a completely different thing like helping out your father is a great idea,” Silvia joined in. “I always found it useful for clearing your head of the problem and attaining a fresh perspective after returning to it.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s exactly what I’m doing.” Grea combed through her black hair. “Both cases can be helpful to Asterios so I don’t mind working on either.”

“And I have no words to describe how grateful I am for your efforts. You never had to aid me so deeply,” the person in question replied with a warm smile.

“Are you stupid? I would never reject the opportunity to study motherfucking Dragons even if you weren’t one of the overgrown lizards of annihilation and death.” Grea snickered to herself. “You were my favorite student by leaps and bounds. Sorry, Tina.”

The blue-haired Summoner girl giggled. “Damn. I really should have come to you earlier, Professor.”

They wrapped up their casual chatter and got to work. Tina assisted Grea with Silvia in directing the entire operation for obvious reasons. She lent Asterios and the others Hydran’s help since it wasn’t anything new for summons to pass through the gates of other familiars. The living water was very delicate and precise with the cargo, surprising everyone greatly.

Under their watchful gazes, Miria, Selene, Bryn, and Asterios jogged in and out of the portals leading into Selene’s mansion. They had checked if having multiple open wasn’t an issue and found no problems. It was definitely safer than jumping through a single corridor while carrying fragile goods.

Bit by bit, the underground lab was emptied out and Selene’s residence turned into a warehouse for a short while. It took them two-and-a-half hours to move everything. Fully finished, Radir began disabling the enchantments around the room and Asterios suggested transferring Grea and him in the meanwhile.

Seeing the trio of Ast’s women leaving through the gate, the quirky researcher tried to pass through it herself, saying that maybe something had changed after Asterios developed his draconic abilities more, but she bounced straight off the misty surface with a groan. Tina and Asterios shared a glance and smiled at each other softly before she was taken away by Umbra and moved out of their sight, where she could open her own gate.

Then, just as before, Silvia traveled with Asterios as he held her close to make it more bearable for the princess, and they showed back up in the castle, soon joined by Tina and the other girls. Umbra returned to grab Grea and Radir while they headed for the dungeons.

Miria suggested asking Yumi for help and Asterios let her ring the bell to call for their personal maid. Not even two minutes passed before the pretty elf girl rushed to their side with a slightly ragged breath, quickly collecting herself.

“Thank you for calling me, My Lord, My Lady. How can I be of use to you?”

Asterios chuckled. “First of all, you could make sure to take your time getting to us. There’s no need to run for your life at our every call.”

“I can’t do that, My Lord. What if you have something importan—”

“Let’s do it like this, then,” Tina interrupted her gently. “If it’s just one bell, it’s something small and you don’t need to sprint to us. If there’s more than one but they are spread out, we could use your help as soon as possible without having you completely drop what you are doing. And then, if it’s a lot of quick signals, it’s something critical.”

Yumi pondered Tina’s words for a moment and nodded. “I guess we could do that. Thank you for your concern. I’m very happy to hear that you think about me so deeply.”

“It’s only natural,” Asterios responded. “Now, secondly, feel free to use our names for convenience if it’s not something insensitive of me to ask for. We already know how much you respect us and it won’t seem any less if you address us more casually in private or amongst our peers.”

That gave their personal maid a longer thought but she nodded once more in the end. “I’ll try my best then. I might need a moment to get used to it, Lord Asterios. Oh. I did it again.”

Asterios chuckled softly and smiled at the blushing girl. “It’s alright. Baby steps. At least you fit my name there.”

“Was there anything else you have called me for… Miria?” Yumi glanced at the panthergirl holding the bell and tried her best not to call her Mistress.

“Yep! Master needs to choose a good place for our friends to move in. They are going to set up a laboratory and research center in the dungeons. Could you help us pick a nice spot?”

“But of course. It will be my pleasure. Please, follow me.”

They walked behind the maid as she led them underground. Yumi toured them through all the chambers once more, explaining much deeper about their previous role, their structure, best and worst uses in the current circumstances, and everything else she could remember.

It didn’t take them long to find a net of adjacent rooms which felt just perfect for the demon duo even before Grea and Radir arrived by their side. A few minutes after they had chosen, Umbra brought the father and daughter in. Grea agreed that the place couldn’t be better and admitted that she loved the dark aesthetics.

While Asterios and the crew began transferring the boxes again, Yumi suggested going to fetch Keenu so that he could discuss customizing the chambers to the needs of their new residents and she received permission to head out. Grea was on cloud nine after learning that she would have a real construction expert at her service soon.

The Committee member joined them before they even finished and talked to the demons about their needs and wants. They were already done when Asterios and the rest wrapped up the moving and Keenu left to gather men for what he had to do.

The girls suggested helping with unpacking but Radir and Grea said that they would need to place everything in the correct spots by themselves anyway so there was no point in holding them down there to just watch and wait for occasional commands. They didn’t want to argue and left the area, with Yumi staying behind to assist the demon duo as per Ast’s request.

“What do we do now, Master?” Miria asked after they ended up strolling into the garden behind the castle.

“Not sure. We have some time before Mom and the rest arrive. Any suggestions?”

“We could visit Lerisse in the meanwhile, my Lord,” Selene replied.

“I guess we could, but…” He glanced at the princess. “I would hate to leave Silvia behind for who knows how long after I already invited her to join us.”

“You don’t need to worry about me, Asterios. I don’t mind hanging around the town while waiting for your return.” Silvia glanced back at him and showed a tiny smile.

“Oh, no, we certainly can’t do that.” Selene shook her head. “I can imagine how it would feel to get invited on a date with the person I enjoy spending my time with and then end up disregarded for hours just because they chose to do something else.”

“Except it isn’t really a date but yeah, something like that.” Asterios chuckled and exchanged glances with Silvia as they smiled at each other. “So, instead, we could perhaps practice a little. We do have a moment and quite some time has passed since the last time.”

“You mean with me?” Silvia asked with slightly raised brows.

“Yeah. We didn’t get into that many fights recently so I think we could have a little spar to check on our progress, perhaps help it develop a little more. I did promise to assist you with that, didn’t I?”

“I think that’s a great idea, Ast,” Tina commented with a smile. “Personally, I’m very curious to see you in action, Silvia.”

“If you offer then I’ll oblige.” The princess nodded faintly. “Maybe we’ll be able to help each other this time too. I’ve been looking forward to sparring with you again after the exercises we went through together.”

“Let’s move to the training grounds, then.”

They left the garden and strolled towards the garrison inside the castle’s walls. A sizable field had been leveled there and reinforced with bright, sandy earth. Plenty of arenas of various sizes riddled the practice area. Right now, there was a small group of knights training together near the buildings at the far end.

Asterios and his companions stopped in front of the biggest arena with its boundaries marked by lines of black paint on the desert ground.

“We might want to put some barrier up just in case a spell goes astray or something,” Silvia suggested.

“I’ll take care of it,” Bryn replied and summoned her staff.

She grabbed it with both hands and pointed it to the sky in front of her face. Closing her eyes, she began whispering words none of them could recognize and the cross at the top of the weapon glowed brighter with each second.

After about a minute, Bryn spun her staff a few times before returning it to its initial position and hitting the ground with its butt. The sound of a small, glass bell reverberated through the air and two lines of glowing light flowed in opposite directions from the point of impact, following the painted border.

Soon, everything was covered up and the Valkyrie hit the ground once more. The lines flashed with more intensity and golden, ethereal walls rose from the ground. They extended a few meters into the sky and a similar ceiling closed the secure box.

Bryn opened her eyes with a warm smile. “This should last for quite a bit. There’s no need to hold back. I’ll create an opening for you to enter whenever you’d like.”

Asterios and Silvia nodded at each other and went inside, leaving the others on the safe side. They walked to the opposite ends and turned to face each other. With one more nod, they quickly began their preparations.

Silvia reached for her core while bringing her battle staff out. Additional plates of flaming armor materialized over her coat and a small diadem hovered over her head. She spun her weapon and grabbed it horizontally, moving her right hand from one end to another. A serpent of pure fire coiled around the black metal and she took her position right after it was completed.

Meanwhile, Asterios let the scorching hot energy spread through his body without limiting it in any way. He felt his appearance change and all the already known features soon showed up. They were going to go all out and trying to force them in could possibly limit that. As his weapon, he chose to unsheathe the artifact sword hanging on his back and filled it with mana too.

As the two challengers assumed battle stances, the squad of knights who had been training further in the field came closer and stopped next to the women. The girls quickly recognized one of the men as Ted, the military specialist taking a seat on the Committee.

“I can’t believe I get the chance to see the princess in a fight. What is Lord Asterios doing, though? It looks equally fierce,” he asked, rubbing his chin.

“Asterios is a Summoner and just like me, he can borrow abilities from his familiars. He is currently enhancing his body by merging it with… a Fire Drake and a Wyvern of his which aren't accompanying us right now,” Tina explained to cover Ast up since she wasn’t sure how much they were going to reveal to everyone.

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“Bringing out something resistant against fire? Great choice. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.”

The girls chuckled together, knowing well which one of the two could need such a thing, and it certainly wasn’t Asterios.

Then, two echoing thuds traveled through the air and the figures inside the arena disappeared. A fraction of a second later, Asterios and Silvia showed up in the very middle, to the accompaniment of a loud, metallic clang as their weapons clashed against each other. Some of the knights had already gasped at their speed and force, unaware that it was just a warm-up.

Inside the barrier, the two fire users glared at each other from up close. A wide grin could be spotted on Ast’s lips and Silvia’s mouth was slightly curved by a beautiful, excited smile.

“Care for a dance, Princess?”

“I hope you can keep up with me, Dragon.”

They chuckled together and Silvia’s eyes flashed. Asterios immediately broke the contact and an intense inferno surrounded the princess less than a second later. He brought his sword low and made a strong, diagonal slash upwards through the obstruction.

Contrary to his expectations, nothing blocked the path of his blade and the sliced flames revealed pure emptiness inside. He hastily looked up and found Silvia just exiting the swirling fire near the top of the orange-red tornado with seven javelins forming above her head, starting to plummet towards him alongside her.

Asterios focused his spiritual energy in his eyes and right hand, calling the sheath to his left. Pulling it to his hip, he hid the blade inside in a blink and fed the sword more mana. His expression turned serious as he lowered his stance and his mind concentrated on the multiple targets in the air.

Silvia’s eyes widened when she felt powerful energy gathering in Asterios at an insane rate. She surrendered the control of the javelins to pure luck and instantly brought her staff to her front and aligned it with her body, clenching all her muscles.

The world seemed to suddenly turn completely silent for a second until an invasive, echoing clink tore through the air when Asterios unsheathed his blade and swung it horizontally faster than everyone’s eyes could follow. The sounds returned as a mighty arc of dark crimson flames shot towards Silvia and obliterated five of the incoming projectiles.

She groaned loudly as the raging line crashed into her staff and sent her flying to the back. Falling to the ground, she tumbled for a good while from the force of the impact and landed on her stomach. Quickly raising herself up to all fours, Silvia shook her head and glanced at Asterios.

One of the two remaining javelins had hit his shoulder but the damage was minimal. Ast’s dark crimson coat was already regenerating the singed surface. He smiled at her and took another stance. Silvia answered with a grin and bolted forward before he had a chance for a follow-up to his previous attack.

She made a few quick hand signs to assist with the spell since she had no time to draw magic sigils with her staff and pushed her body into a spinning motion as she lunged towards Asterios low near the ground. Fierce amber flames surrounded her and turned the princess into a human-sized drill of a pure inferno.

Asterios managed to put his sword in front of him just moments before that drill slammed into him and groaned as the force began pushing him back. He set his foot hard on the ground and even used his tail to support his body. The heat crashing into him was intense but not completely unbearable. It was certainly irritating, though.

But, before he could do anything, the rotations suddenly stopped. As his confusion grew, he saw Silvia shoving her staff into the ground as the flames were dissipating and she swept him off his feet with her leg. Retaining the momentum, she spun around it like a pole dancer and landed a powerful drop kick right into Ast’s chest moments after she had tripped him. He was sent backward with a loud thud, bouncing off the ground a few times before coming to a stop.

Raising his head, he saw Silvia in the middle of preparations for a much bigger spell, dancing enchantingly with her staff as quickly as she could while shooting him glances to judge how much danger she was in. Instead of interrupting her, he decided to face whatever she was bringing head-on.

Just as he stood up proudly, the princess wrapped up her ritual.

“Drown my enemies in the ocean of purgatorial flames, Hellsea of Final Incineration!” she shouted and her voice shook the air.

A complex, amber-colored array came to life right above Silvia’s head. In a blink, it extended as far as the side edges of the arena allowed. The battleground then roared with what sounded like an unstoppable force of water rolling forward at unimaginable speed.

Then, that water burst out of the formation.

Amber-colored flames surged forward and crashed into the ground in the form of a literal liquid. It was a sight as illogical as it could get but magic often was subjected to its own laws. Asterios watched with a fascinated expression as crushing waves of relentless fire rushed at him with a loud noise.

But, he had no time to admire Silvia’s magnificent creation.

Asterios shoved his sword into the ground and extended his right arm forward, bending his fingers into a claw grip. He closed his eyes while focusing his mana in his palm, listening to the incoming sea of liquid flames.

Then, just moments before the ferocious waves crashed into him, he let out a mighty growl and his eyes shot open. The fire slammed into a barrier of invisible force and flowed around Ast’s body, engulfing his surroundings with a loud humming noise. Fighting against the unforgiving inferno, he groaned and slowly rotated his wrist, bit by bit.

Reaching a full one-eighty, he growled again and closed his fingers into a fist. A powerful pulse of spiritual energy shot forward and cleared the way ahead straight to Silvia’s position. She heard and felt a strong tremor heading her way and the force soon crashed into her from the front like a ferocious gust of scorching hot air.

Silvia’s eyes widened to the brim. A round tunnel had been created in the sea of flames between her and Asterios. The fire continued flowing around it unobstructed. Asterios lowered his arm and she stared at him in terror, watching how he began to slowly make his way towards her while she was locked in place by the spell.

As if to taunt her, Asterios extended his hand to the side and casually dipped his fingers in the fire outside of the protective corridor, mimicking the motion of playing with the surface of water. He scooped a bit of the liquid flames and let them pour out of his palm while smiling at her.

Silvia drew on her mana even further and put more effort into the spell, groaning from the struggle. The tunnel began narrowing, getting pushed in by the hellish flames, and she managed to force a small grin on her lips, scrunched from the strain.

But, Asterios just unhurriedly raised his arm and closed his fingers into a fist again. His draconic eyes glimmered with power and the corridor expanded even more as another unstoppable wave of force rolled through it and slammed into Silvia, causing her to yelp in surprise.

She groaned and just watched him come. It would take too long to recover after breaking the spell. She didn’t have a few seconds, not to mention ten. Asterios could easily reach her in that short span of time before she put her guard up. She might have underestimated him again.

He soon arrived in front of her and stopped, gazing deep into Silvia’s shining, amber eyes. She returned the gesture and stared into his ferocious, crimson irises. Knowing that it was the end, she canceled her technique and wobbled a little.

Asterios stepped closer and gently supported her with his own body as the flaming ocean gradually ran out of water. He held Silvia close with his arms wrapped around her waist as she panted at him heavily. She could feel his heart beating rapidly, and even though Asterios didn’t wheeze as heavily as she did, his breath was certainly ragged from his efforts to fight back.

The firewater receded completely and revealed the duo to the spectators. Miria giggled and started nudging Selene and Tina, who chuckled lightly too. It did not look like a duel from where they stood.

“After two times… I think I’ve learned something important…” Silvia spoke first as they kept staring at each other.

“Which is?” Asterios smiled at her.

“Never use big techniques against stronger opponents...”

He chuckled softly and she joined him with a quiet snicker too. They took a deep breath together and noticed the crimson-amber aura surrounding them. The particles of spiritual energy were barely visible but they could see and sense them.

Locking their gazes again, they nodded at the same time. Without any more words, they lowered themselves to the ground and sat in a cross-legged position as close to each other from the front as they could. 

Asterios rested his elbows on his knees and extended his arms towards Silvia, palms up. She mirrored his motion and placed her hands on top of his but directed them downwards. They curled their fingers in and intertwined them together. Leaning forward, they let their foreheads bump into each other and entered a state of deep meditation.

Everyone watched how the amber and crimson aura surrounding them grew more potent and slowly began swirling around the duo. The colors mixed together and danced in spinning motions, causing their clothes to flutter. A noticeable gust of wind hit the spectators as the duo continued circling their mixed spiritual energies through their linked circuits.

Asterios and Silvia remained still for about ten minutes. Then, the mixed energy swirling around them burst outwards and spooked everyone greatly. But, the spectators felt a really pleasant tingling sensation when the wave passed through them.

The meditating duo opened their eyes with their foreheads still linked.

“I can feel how much my Aura Manifestation has improved. I don’t even need to look at my spiritual armor to tell. And it’s all thanks to our joint practices and spars. It’s so incredible,” Silvia said quietly with a gentle smile.

“Same here. I feel much calmer and more in control, more in sync with my quite extraordinary lineage. I can’t believe how much being around someone with a similar one can change. Your True Sun’s Bloodline is amazing,” he replied with a soft smile too.

They gazed at each other for a moment longer, feeling very comfortable in their current, meditative position. But, they couldn’t just sit in the arena forever and Asterios drew himself back after his enhanced sight began to notice a very faint, rising blush on Silvia’s fair cheeks.

“Thank you for the spar. I hope you had fun because I certainly had,” he said with a nice smile.

“Yeah. I think we should do it more often. If you don’t mind, of course.” She nodded softly with a delicate smile too.

“We should make this a daily occurrence while we are here. What do you think?”

“That would be incredibly beneficial and enjoyable.”

“Great. It’s decided then. Let’s get up and finally join the others.”

Asterios extended his hand to Silvia and they stood up together. He noticed that his features had disappeared, alongside her spiritual armor, most likely during the final moments of their meditation. Exchanging one more nod, they walked to the edge of the arena side by side.

Bryn canceled her barrier and Miria instantly threw herself at Asterios.

“That was so cool, Master! I have no idea what you did after that fire swallowed you but I bet it was amazing!”

He chuckled at her and fluffed Miria’s soft ears as she clung to him. “I’ll let you see it in my memories later.”

Tina approached Silvia and smiled beautifully. “That spell was breathtaking too. I don’t think I would stand a chance against something like that. It was more powerful than that draconic one I’ve heard about, right?”

The princess nodded her head appreciatively. “Yes, it was. I’ve been able to cast it after Asterios helped me so much during our journeys. It is quite devastating to the environment so I can’t really use it everywhere, though.”

“I can imagine,” Ted joined in while rubbing the back of his neck. “There’s now a completely scorched square of perfect shape right in the middle of the training field, hahaha.”

Asterios and Silvia looked back and realized that the man was right. They had razed the ground almost into pure darkness. A single line running through the entire length remained slightly less charred, where Asterios had created his corridor early during the spell.

“With someone as powerful as you around, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about during the next monster attack,” the man continued with a happy smile.

“Monster attack?” Asterios raised his brow at the advisor.

“No one mentioned it yet? I mean, I know it’s not that big of a deal, but…” The man looked between them and everyone shook their heads. “Oh well. I guess that’s my job as the head of security and defense. So, here’s the thing…”

 

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