Chapter 41: Chapter 117 – Just Like That

Shortly after Asterios agreed to Silvia’s request, they finished the small feast. She left to get herself ready and the king told them that he would send the maid they were already familiar with to guide them to the training grounds. They returned to their chamber while discussing how to best inform Tina about their small gift during the graduation.

Nola came for them fifteen minutes later and led them through the castle. They passed a few small arenas where they had seen Silvia practice earlier, but it didn’t look like they were going to use any of these as their guide passed each of them without even glancing away from the front.

They had to walk through a slightly more guarded entrance and entered one of the inner areas of the castle. A few moments later, it was obvious they were heading towards more private training grounds, sheltered from the eyes of any passerby.

Soon enough, Nola brought them to a circular arena with high walls and an open ceiling. Asterios could tell from a glance that those were riddled with countless protective arrays that enhanced their structure, raising the concrete’s resistance to both physical and magical damage.

Inside, they found Welrond and Silvia already waiting for them near the center.

The king was in his stylish casual clothes while his daughter had donned a similar protective set as they had seen her wear the previous day. They could tell that it was a little better than that time though. Silvia held onto a black metal battle staff, around her size.

“You are here. Do you need to grab something or do you have everything on you?” the king asked after they came closer.

“No, thank you, sir. This is pretty much all I have and use when fighting. Everything else is conveniently waiting for its turn in Miria’s realm,” he answered and moved his hand to caress Miria’s ear, evoking a warm smile on her lips.

“I see. That’s truly convenient. If our Court Summoner heard of this, he would die out of jealousy. The last time he tried to store something in his Rockrilla’s realm, it didn’t come back in the same state.”

Miria giggled. “When you have an actual house with storage space, things are a little bit safer.”

“Can we begin now, Father?” Silvia asked, joining the conversation.

Welrond glanced down at her. “Don’t be impatient, my daughter. I understand that you are excited about the bout, but let’s proceed with this properly. First, do you need any preparation time, Asterios?”

“No, I’m fine, sir. I thought about it overnight and came to the conclusion that since this spar is meant to stimulate our bloodlines, I should try to rely on my own strength.”

“Aren’t a Summoner’s familiars his strength? If I remember correctly, both of the most popular paths that Summoners can take rely on them. Will you be fine?” Silvia asked.

Asterios nodded. “Yes, that’s true. But, I think this way should have higher chances of being beneficial to you, Princess. I might be lacking in terms of personal combat experience and abilities, but I will do my best not to disappoint you. And honestly, it’s only fair. It’s one-on-one, not four-on-one. If you would like to fare against my companions, we can try that later.”

“I think that would be great. And, don’t worry, I will try my best to control my power properly.”

Asterios smiled. “I’m pretty sure that would be counter-intuitive for this exercise.”

“You are right, young man. Both of you should go all out. It’s only in tough situations during which we push ourselves over our limits where beneficial breakthroughs happen. And that’s why, please, wear this. Both of you,” the king said and waved his hand.

A pair of necklaces appeared from thin air. He held one each towards the sparring duo. They looked very simple with their silvery chains upholding green crystals.

“Oh, are we really going to use these, Father? I guess we can truly go all out then.” Silvia picked one and put it on. A thin green barrier flashed around her body for a brief moment before disappearing.

Asterios followed suit and put the other one on himself. He felt a wave of mysterious energy wash over his body. It was still there, but he could barely sense it, and it didn’t inconvenience him in any way.

“What are those?” Miria asked, unable to hold back her curiosity.

“This enchanted jewelry puts a strong barrier around the wearer’s body, stopping one powerful attack that could potentially be lethal to them. When it breaks, an explosion of force is released around the owner, one that can both repel physical blows and disperse magic,” Silvia explained.

“That sounds expensive,” Asterios commented. “Is it really fine to use them for this? Not that I expect to be able to deliver a blow powerful enough to shatter the barrier.”

“It’s better to be safe than sorry. With this, you don’t have to worry about your opponent and can focus on the fight. These won’t activate from minor injuries so you still will be able to experience a real duel,” the king answered and placed a hand on Ast’s shoulder. “And, don’t downplay yourself that much, young man. Lack of confidence can stunt your growth. Especially when there truly is something special about you.”

Asterios nodded and took the king’s words to his heart. After a whole life of failure, it certainly wasn’t easy to stop believing that he was the weakest. Even now, after everything that had happened, it was hard to believe in his own ability and some shadow of doubt persisted in Ast’s mind, causing him to wonder if it really was his own power that he felt inside.

He took a deep breath and nodded at the king. “Let’s get over this, then. We have a quite important issue to take care of. I’m ready.”

Silvia and Welrond nodded at him. The former was going to turn around and start walking away to increase the distance between them when she was stopped by an unexpected sight. Miria stepped closer to Asterios and hugged him from the front with a visible blush. 

Seeing her upturned expression, he quickly realized her intentions and let his feline companion pull him into a brief but affectionate kiss.

“Good luck, Master,” Miria said shyly after they parted.

He brushed through her hair with a smile. She was getting bolder and bolder with time. It would have been impossible for Miria to do this much in front of strangers not that long ago.

“Don’t forget about me, my Lord.”

As expected, Selene showed by his side and pecked his cheek, chuckling softly. He sighed and petted her ears too.

“Thank you both. Now, please release me so that I can show the princess and the king something other than my embarrassed face. And, Umbra?”

A misty shadow seeped out of Ast’s clothes and his ominous familiar materialized on his shoulder.

“If anything goes wrong, interrupt us. Just in case.”

~As you wish, Master.~

Umbra then disappeared, plummeting into the ground, and Asterios glanced at Silvia with a wry smile.

“Should we start?”

Ast’s question brought her back from staring at the mysterious smile of the white-haired lady, who was glancing her way. “Ah. Yes. Let’s do that.” She turned around and started walking away. 

Asterios lightly bonked Selene’s head and apologized to the king. He also squinted his eyes at Miria, who blushed even more while averting her gaze. She was too adorable and precious, which saved her from the same fate as her vulpine friend.

Welrond laughed at them softly. “Don’t mind it. She is just surprised. Silvia spends most of her time either training her body or her magic. You can imagine how the few social gatherings she sparingly attends look. It’s not easy to be the king’s daughter. Your lack of attempts to court her favor and the casual demeanor of your companions is something new to her. She is not stupid. She knows that she made a mistake showing her interest in you after that accident, expecting you to take full advantage of her curiosity. Yet, you didn’t act according to her expectations. And you still keep doing that.”

“Politics are scary…” Miria commented.

“Yes, they are. The only thing I can do for her as a father is to let her experience this fresh gust of wind, so much different from what she knows. And I hope you can help me with that, young man. She could use a less scheming friend.”

Asterios smiled wryly after meeting the king’s authoritative gaze. He could already see many things that could go wrong there.

“I will try, Your Majesty. Just don’t expect too much from someone who also spent most of his life in books and practice.”

“I’m sure you will do fine. You have managed to befriend such vibrant ladies and that’s enough proof of your social capabilities, even if you won’t admit it. Another one should be a breeze if you just keep being yourself.”

“That’s what I’m worried about…” Asterios mumbled under his nose, causing the girls to giggle.

“Well then. Silvia seems to be ready. Good luck, young man. I hope you can gain something from this exchange too.” The king nodded at him and disappeared in a flash of yellow flame.

Selene sensed the flow of mana left behind it and followed it with her eyes, noticing the man standing now in the safe zone above the arena’s walls. Asterios and Miria looked the same way for a second and he then returned his attention to his opponent. The girls quickly jumped away to join the king.

Silvia stood a few meters away from Asterios with her staff held diagonally behind her back, leaning forward, low enough for her to have to support her body with her left hand on the ground. She was ready to lunge at him at any moment, emitting an orange aura. Her amber eyes were glowing brightly.

He quickly focused his mind. If he didn’t want to lose on the very first strike, he had to do his best. No, he had to do even better than that, as the king had said. Silvia was with no doubt a powerful opponent if she received even a little bit of guidance from her father, and that was granted.

Closing his eyes, Asterios fully connected to his second source, drawing as much spiritual energy from it as he could, opening his circuits to their limits. Scorching hot mana filled him in a blink and crimson mist started seeping out of his body, causing the nearby air to shimmer like in a blazing desert.

Prompted by the king to go past his limits, after finishing filling up his body, he directed that impressive energy towards his eyes. He fed them as much mana as he felt they could take. That would have been all, but Asterios decided to try something else. Something very rarely attempted due to various risks involved.

He started filling all his important organs with that mysterious power, starting with his heart and brain. Normally, overloading any part of a person’s body would result in quite a lot of pain and other complications, but he had already attempted this with his eyes and suffered no backlash. And, if something went wrong, he was sure the king would help.

Asterios partially expected it, but his heart and brain sucked in much more energy than his eyes. He spent over twenty percent of the scorching hot mana to fill them as much as he could. And that was a lot considering that his techniques barely used it. He started wondering if maybe that was the reason he had so much of it. 

After finishing dealing with his organs, he opened his eyes.

Silvia shivered the moment their gazes met and her heart skipped a beat. She suddenly felt small, insignificant, unworthy. Ast’s gleaming crimson irises were even more intimidating than her father’s. And they were much stronger than the last time she had seen them the previous day. She barely held herself back from kneeling involuntarily.

Asterios, in the meanwhile, tried to process all the new sensations. The moment he had opened his eyes, he had noticed that almost everything in his sight was reduced to grayscale. The only exception was, as he assumed, spiritual energy. 

He could clearly see it not just around Silvia’s body, but even inside of it. He could literally follow its flow through her circuits. The orange mana was gathering under her feet. With just a single glance, he knew exactly what it was meant to do.

And that was not all. Albeit faintly because of the distance, he could spot trails of energy of many different colors over the walls. The more he focused on them, the more detailed they became, forming magical structures that shouldn’t be visible without being activated.

For now, though, he ignored everything and refocused on his opponent. He would have to analyze all this at a later date. Including the changes that made his body feel incredibly light right now. He could spot a dark crimson aura all over it after glancing down with his new sight. It was much denser than Silvia's.

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Filled with unexplained confidence, he gestured at his opponent with his hand.

“Come.”

He was immediately surprised by how indifferent and mighty his tone sounded. To Silvia, it felt like an order and she responded immediately. Just as Asterios expected, the mana under her feet exploded in flames and propelled her forward. She covered the distance between them in… much more time than Asterios thought it would take her.

It was obvious that it should have been an instant, but to him, even though still fast, it felt like he watched Silvia fly at a horse’s running speed at best. He dodged the boosted thrust with minimal effort and hit Silvia’s back with his palm after she passed him. He felt a slight ripple under his fingers and watched how she was sent into the wall in front of them at twice the previous speed, crashing into it with quite some force.

To all the spectators, it all happened in a flash. After Ast’s overbearing voice resonated throughout the arena, Silvia disappeared in a cloud of dust. The very next moment, a strong tremor shook the structure and they saw Asterios standing turned around with his palm extended. Everyone followed it and noticed their princess picking herself up from the ground after slamming into the wall, cracking it faintly.

They were as shocked as Asterios himself. Especially the king. No one was able to avoid Silvia’s Firestarter so effortlessly, except for him. He had overseen all of her more serious training sessions and sparrings but that was a first. Blocked or parried with some effort? Yes. Completely dodged and even countered? Never.

A few of the healers that were watching the fight with him and Ast’s girls wanted to jump in but Welrond stopped them. Before they could even ask why, Silvia was already rushing at Asterios again. He smiled and reached for the power of his bloodline to boost his senses. He couldn’t miss any more of this.

Back on the ground, Ast's worries about going too far were quickly eased by seeing Silvia energetically lift herself up from the ground and instantly launch another charge at him while smiling faintly. He noticed her mana gathering in the staff and unsheathed his black armblade.

Watching attentively how her energy filled the weapon and started coursing through it, he attempted to copy that and apply it to his own blade. In the middle of Silvia’s lunge, her staff burst in orange flames and soared towards his head from the right after she closed the distance, digging her heel deep into the ground.

Asterios succeeded in imitating her technique and his armblade was also set ablaze, getting covered in scarlet fire. He blocked her strike in time and a powerful explosion of violent flames pushed them both back after their weapons clashed.

For the next fifteen seconds, they kept exchanging blows, trying to land a hit on each other. Even though Asterios felt like he had an advantage with his unusually sharpened senses and enhanced body, he still couldn’t land a hit on the princess while blocking and avoiding her strikes.

The spectators watched a show of flashes and small explosions of fire in crimson and orange colors that accompanied the loud clashing of Ast’s and Silvia’s weapons. That was all the normal people could see in the arena, alongside the movement of dust and dirt, kicked up by the contestants. Only the girls and the king could follow them to some extent.

Since Asterios wasn’t using the abilities provided by his Spellslinger, fighting with his armblade just wasn’t efficient due to the awkwardness of some movements and its shortcomings in general. He needed any edge over Silvia he could get if he wanted to break this stalemate. 

He understood that he was able to keep up with her only thanks to the surprising effects his energy had on his body, but deep inside, he somehow felt confident in beating her. Beating this insignificant ant trying to challenge him. There was no way he would lose to someone in terms of pure strength. In terms of pure fire.

Silvia noticed a sharp spike in Ast’s spiritual energy even without being able to see more than his leaking aura and quickly stepped back, putting her guard up. Unfortunately, she realized that it was a feint after seeing his smirk.

Making use of that opportunity, Asterios sheathed his armblade and brought forth his artifact sword from behind his back. Before Silvia engaged him again, he poured his scorching mana into it. With his special sight, he noticed how the sword circulated his energy by itself, causing the crimson flames to appear. And, thanks to it also condensing it heavily, they were only present over its single edge instead of covering the whole weapon.

Already somehow experienced in doing it manually after exchanging some blows with Silvia, he added his own control on top of the artifact’s and condensed the mana even more. The flames gradually died down and disappeared.

Silvia observed him very carefully and was ready for a much stronger attack. It was sure to come from the blade she had seen the previous day. But, she frowned slightly when the crimson fire that covered its sharp edge suddenly ceased to exist. Before she could ask herself why, the answer appeared in front of her eyes and they widened to the brim.

Previously, Ast’s proficiency in condensing Aura Flame had been almost on par with hers, and it was close to her father’s when he was using this sword, but, right now, it reached completely incomprehensible levels.

The flames hadn’t died down. They had been compressed so much they became one with the weapon. The edge of Ast’s dark purple blade began changing color and soon assumed the same crimson shade as his fire. And she could tell that this particular metal wasn’t as easy to heat up as iron, steel, or even magmasteel.

Finished with his preparations, Asterios made his first attack with the sword. It sliced through the air while leaving a crimson smudge as its trail. Since it was a simple horizontal slash, she blocked it vertically with some effort. Just after refocusing, her eyes went wide again.

His blade produced so much heat that it was dispersing her own Aura Flame wrapped around her staff, completely nullifying its influence in a radius of around five centimeters. This was unthinkable. Even her father's flames didn't negate her own. Additionally, her weapon, crafted from a metal one tier above magmasteel, was being slowly heated up and Ast’s sword started cutting into it at an unhurried pace.

She quickly deflected his blade and they were brought into an exchange of blows again, but this time, Asterios had a bit more reach and maneuverability than before so he had an easier time striking back. Each time his blade struck her staff, it caused more damage, chipping off some of its surface or creating dents in it. If they continued like this, she would inevitably lose.

Silvia decided to quickly change her approach and slammed one end of her staff into the ground under Asterios after parrying one of his attacks. His enhanced eyes immediately spotted the mana rushing from her body, through the weapon, and into the flooring, starting to form some magical structure.

Thanks to that, he stepped back just in time to avoid getting swallowed by a pillar of orange flames. He expected Silvia to rush through it and take him by surprise, but that spell proved to be a distraction.

His eyes caught her figure running on his right, with five clusters of mana forming above her. He knew what they would become even before they finished condensing and started running in the opposite way. A moment later, five giant Fireballs came into existence and Silvia launched them at him with a swing of her staff.

With his fast reaction speed, Asterios easily dodged the first two spheres, but they additionally exploded on impact, increasing their radius, and the next ones would definitely reach him. Even if he somehow avoided the third and fourth one by stopping abruptly, the fifth orb of violent flames would crash straight into him.

Not having any other options, he did exactly that. But, before the last Fireball hit him, he poured even more mana into his weapon and made a powerful vertical slash.

Just like with Silvia’s Aura Flame, the barely visible arc of heat nullified the Fireball and split it cleanly in half. It exploded on his sides, leaving him out of any harm.

He didn’t have time to marvel over the fact that he had just cut a Fireball in two because Silvia was already finishing casting her next spell, preparing it while he had been dealing with the flaming spheres. Asterios noticed tens of swirling orange points in the air above him. He didn’t even need to analyze their structure to know what he had to do.

Run.

In a blink, countless fiery javelins formed in the sky, covering most of the arena. Moments after Asterios jumped forward, the first one fell to the ground where he had been standing and exploded in a small inferno just like the Fireballs.

As if on cue, it started raining. With fiery spears instead of droplets of water.

Asterios kept dodging from side to side, barely avoiding each attack. He could see Silvia standing still while spinning her staff but it wasn’t as easy to reach her position as he would like it to be. She kept creating more projectiles and upholding this never-ending downpour. And Ast’s sharpened senses paired with the way to see the mana flow could hardly keep up with so many targets.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t even hold a candle to Silvia when it came to the versatility of his magic. Without borrowing the abilities of his familiars, or having them fight by his side, his options were heavily limited. 

But, this was exciting in a different way. He still could somehow keep up with just his own mana. Was that how Selene felt during her Awakening? Was this actually his own Awakening he could have inherited from Kaguya? He had no idea but he could only try to mimic her now.

Asterios quickly gathered a lot of mana in his legs and poured it into his muscles, following some basic principles of Physical Strengthening he had read about in the past. It wasn’t much and it couldn’t compare to his knowledge about Summoning, but it seemed to be enough.

His muscles tensed and the ground cracked under his feet. He pushed himself off it while releasing all the accumulated energy and lunged towards Silvia at breakneck speed. Even with him flying straight at her, she remained unfazed. 

Midway, he noticed the orange flow on the floor around her and cursed in his mind.

「 When did she have enough time to set up a trap in the middle of this? 」

He had no idea but also no time to ponder over it.

Asterios hastily shoved his blade into the ground in an attempt to stop his lunge. He managed to do so just shortly before the magical formations that showed themselves up and glowed in an orange hue, ready to be stepped on and activated.

To his surprise, it was Silvia who tapped them with her feet.

A wall of flames rose from the ground, forcing him to jump back. Shortly after, Silvia’s staff shot through it like a ballista bolt while surrounded by fierce swirling flames, creating a mesmerizing lance of a hellish inferno.

He blocked it in time with his sword but the force behind it sent him tumbling backward.

Fortunately, the sky was no longer raining fire. Unfortunately, Asterios realized why shortly after the wall of orange flames dispersed. 

Silvia was in the middle of a mesmerizing dance and he could tell it meant trouble with how the wisps of her spiritual energy followed her motions. Orange marks appeared over her skin, glowing strongly.

She finished the moment he stood up, clasping her hands together in the front of her and aiming them at him, panting heavily. With his enhanced vision, he could see every single bead of sweat on her exhausted face. And, of course, the immense mana surrounding her.

Asterios watched all the energy Silvia had accumulated for her technique suddenly disappear. For a fraction of a second, nothing happened and he wondered if she had overexerted herself. But, a brief moment later, a gigantic and stupidly complex magical circle appeared behind her, completely out of nowhere, as high as the arena’s walls and glowing with oppressive orange light.

A loud roar shook the whole place and Ast’s eyes widened. A large head of a Dragon, made of violent amber flames, rushed out of the formation, followed by a serpent-like body, flying straight at him.

But, that wasn’t what caused Ast’s eyes to suddenly widen as much as it was physically possible. The moment he saw that destructive cluster of mana, shaped after the lesser form of the legendary creatures, his heart skipped a beat and everything slowed down to a snail’s speed.

A wave of inexplicable heat, even more intense than what he was already experiencing, surged from his core and spread through his whole body in an instant. At that moment, the green crystal on his neck shattered from the forceful fluctuations of blazing mana that began melting the ground under Ast's feet.

His earlier shock was replaced by a cold and unamused expression as he felt something overcome him. He glared at the slowly moving spell with a gaze full of disdain, watching the flaming Dragon slowly soar towards him.

“Pathetic imitation,” he sneered at it while bringing his hand forward. “Begone, worm.”

Asterios snapped his fingers. The sound echoed through the whole arena louder than it should have been possible.

In an instant, the whole flaming serpent was snuffed out like candle flame. An overbearing silence fell onto the stadium.

Silvia dropped onto the ground, losing all the strength in her body. Her strongest spell was gone. Poof. Just like that. With a single snap. She couldn't comprehend it.

Then, she met Ast's eyes again and her body instantly started shaking. Even while being so far, he towered over her like a giant, and his shimmering scarlet irises glowed brightly like two colossal moons with vertical trenches, taking her breath away.

Suddenly, that pressure disappeared and she saw Asterios fall forward while clutching his chest.

 

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