Chapter 101: The After Party

“HAHAHA! I failed this time, but I don’t believe that I can’t capture them again. Let’s see how long you can keep that young-un away from me!” A voice cackled in the air, as a figure sped off into the distance.

Grandpa Thur blinked. During that time, not one of the council-mages had moved from his seat, or said anything aside from Council-mage Syrel and Magi Faerwind. He frowned. Could he have been mistaken?

Several Council-mages took off after the fleeing figure, struggling to catch up to it, but the accursed intruder, whoever they were, was too fast. Regretfully, they could only turn back and return to the stage.

Up on stage, when everyone felt that the crisis was over, both Keith and Briar suddenly felt the hairs on the back of their necks raise up. Immediately, they grabbed each other, as well as the second-place winners, and leapt off the stage.

The second-place winners, startled, grabbed onto the third-place winners, who lost their balance. And so, all six winners fell off the stairs, and, consequently, off the stage right before a new magic circle appeared, covering the whole stage.

This circle was a mana-depletion circle. And even the council-mages couldn’t help but fall to the ground upon being affected by it. Briar and Keith, as well as the second and third place winners had miraculously missed being captured under its effects by a single moment.

“Ho? You managed to escape that did you? Well not for-” His voice was cut off by a blinding flash of light, originating from Madam Rothema, who had been tracking the source of the sound.

“Abdd-difscations!! My researc-I mean, Ahem! I’ll be seeing you fledglings later then!” Briar heard a low hum begin in the air. And swiftly covered her ears.

“Quick! Cover your ears!” She warned the others. As soon as they did so, a large boom sounded from within the coliseum, as a wormhole seemed to open above it. A dark figure swiftly rose up and disappeared into that hole before it closed up.

After that, the magic circle on the stage faded and shattered, effectively freeing the trapped magicians.

“Whoah. How did you know about that?” Laura asked.

“I guessed.” Briar replied. “He was using some method of escape. Judging by the hum of high frequency mana, I guessed he was using a method of transport that needed a lot of power. So, the first thing that came to mind was a makeshift teleportation device, the old kind. But those are usually unstable and prone to making deafening noises, which is why I warned you.”

But, it was yet another half an hour before the magicians council members deemed that the assailant had truly fled this time. Thanks to Madam Rothema’s voice-tracking missile spell, the assailant left while he could. If only he had stayed but a few more moments, Rothema might have finished her imprisoning barrier spell.

Briar could only sigh. Since the attacker hadn’t been captured, there was now a hidden element of danger in any future ventures. There was no telling where the wretched man would appear for his next attempt, after all.

“Why are you sighing! Briar, you’re a hero! You saved us all from that doomed magic circle, and thwarted that rogue.” Laura clapped a hand on Briar’s back.

“But now we’ve lost sight of him. The chances of a sneak attack have been raised significantly.” Briar sighed again, upset at failing to capture the brigand.

Of course, most of this was all an act. Briar had her suspicions that the assailant was, even now, still present. After all, the best way to sneak attack is from up close when no one suspected.

“Oh come on! Don’t be such a downer!” Laura scoffed. “We leave the future to the future. Right now, we celebrate! Later, we make plans. Got it?” Laura acted as if she were explaining things to a two-year-old child. Briar rolled her eyes.

“Fine. I highly doubt he would act again unless he managed to catch us separated.” Briar responded. The whole group climbed up the rope ladder to Madam Rothema’s House, which had uprooted itself from the ground and flown over to right above where they were standing. Then they took a leisurely flight back to the city, where the house tethered itself in the air above Mayor Bradley’s house.

They alighted once more upon the ground upon receiving an invitation to an evening party, which included the names of several highly influential magi, and martial practitioners as well. Princess Claire was also among the list of guests to attend.

Briar attended the party in an evening gown Madam Rothema had magically whipped up. Perhaps she should be grateful her teacher had a somewhat useful hobby? Briar wondered as she now looked more mature than her usual appearance.

Outwardly she appeared to have relaxed, but inwardly she was still vigilant. Kael was also acting relaxed in a matching suit of stunning blue. Every now and then, though, he exchanged glances with Grandpa Thur; a silent way of communicating ‘all’s well so far’. Grandpa Thur was now fully vigilant, silently watching over the rest of the ceremony.

With that, not only were medals awarded to the second and third places for mages and martial artists, but also both Briar and Kael were commended for their quick response to the situation. And, with that, the ceremony was over.

“So, you’re going to head over to Marchand kingdom after this, right?” Laura asked.

“Well, I was hoping to stop by home first and see how things were doing back there.” Briar replied. “It’s been so long since I’ve last seen them, and I want to bring them with me on a vacation.”

“What’s a vacation?” Laura asked.

“Well, it’s like a personal holiday that you take to go somewhere enjoyable, like the sea-side.” Briar explained.

So you’re taking you’re family to Marchand kingdom?” Laura asked. After all, Marchand kingdom was in a dispute with their neighboring kingdom currently. It wasn’t exactly what one would term ‘peaceful’ or ‘enjoyable’.

Then Laura shivered as she thought. Unless Thera’s family members are all fighting addicts from the start! Then Laura shook her head. Of course not! After all, Thera’s mother is the picture of peace!

Little did Laura know, that when Helen became angry, no one was safe.

“But, you’ll be bringing Kael along, right?” Laura asked. “How are you going to explain him to your family?”

“What about Kael?” Briar asked.

“He’s supposed to be your brother? Wouldn’t it be odd if Kael’s supposed parents did not even know he existed?” Laura argued.

“Oh, that? There’s actually a very simple solution to that.” Briar replied calmly.

“What kind of solution?” Laura asked.

“Well, we could just say he’s adopted, because his parents died, and they were related to us.” Briar said.

Laura just stared at her. Then shook her head as her brain restarted. She turned to Rothema and asked. “Can she do that?”

Madam Rothema chuckled. “I don’t see why not. He has the family genes after all.”

Laura then grabbed her head, which was in pain. “You are all crazy!” She moaned.

“You can’t think of him as my cousin?” Briar asked.

“I can, but when I think of how he knows literally everything there was between me and you, it just feels odd!” Laura said.

Briar shrugged. “I’m not bothered by it. Instead, won’t it make things less awkward? At least we don’t have to take half a lifetime to bring him up to speed on everything that he missed.”

At that point, Princess Claire approached Briar, so Laura retreated over by Master Thales to sit down quietly and relieve her now splitting headache. Thales was busy scanning the audience for signs of his errant brother, Miles, attending. There was no party that Miles didn’t find a way to join in. If he was still in the area, he would be at the party.

“Congratulations!” Princess Claire said. “I’m glad to know that I was right to believe that you’d win.”

Briar raised an eyebrow. “Was this before, or after you fought me?”

“After. Of course, how could I put my faith in someone I didn’t know about?” Princess Claire readily admitted it. “To tell the truth, I was simply looking for competent magicians at the time, so my winning was never really my first objective.”

Briar nodded, silent for a moment, before suddenly speaking. “After this, I am going to go home.”

Clare began to panic. “B-but you said you-”

“Hold on. I never said I was going home for good.” Briar interrupted her. “I’m going home to see my family and invite them to come along with me. You said there were a lot of nice tourist spots, right? So, while I’m helping you at the contest, my family can have fun sightseeing.”

“Is Grayell kingdom in such a good situation that one of their main knights can up and leave?” Princess Claire asked.

“Well. Not exactly.” Briar shook her head. “Let’s just say that it’s the king’s orders for my father to take a rest for a bit, before all hell breaks loose.”

“Goodness! You have a gateway to hell there?” Claire asked, concerned. According to ancient folklore, volcanoes were referred to as ‘gateways to hell’ back before the people became more informed about what volcanoes were.

“Um…No, it’s a local expression.” Briar corrected her. “It means before things start getting busy to the point where one might hallucinate they were in hell.”

“Ah. What an interesting expression!” Claire said. “May I use it?”

“Feel free.” Briar shrugged. “I don’t own it. As far as I know, anyone can use a simple expression.”

“Thank you.” Claire said.

“But, because I’m going home first, it’ll probably take some time to get there.” Briar pondered. “Unless I can ask Madam Rothema to bring us there in her flying house.”

“Just so you know, I trust you’ll be there on time.” Claire smiled confidently.

“At least one of us is confident~” Briar joked.

Then Claire looked around, slightly fidgety. “Um…is there perhaps a chance that your brother is here?”

“Kael?” Briar asked. “Sure! He’s right over…there!” Briar pointed over by the grand piano, where Keith was stylishly leaning against the wall, a glass of juice in his hand as he surveyed the crowds.

“Thank you!” Claire curtseyed before she began to make her way over to Kael.

Briar’s face twitched a moment as a thought came unbidden to her head. Maybe…She glanced in between Claire and Kael. As Claire finally reached Kael, her cheeks turned red. He smiled at her, and they both started chatting. Could it be possible…? No, surely not? As the topic began to make her head hurt, she decidedly shoved it into a corner of her head to ruminate upon at a later time.

Of course, after that, there were many young lads who approached her with the intent of dancing with her, and possibly stealing her away to their family. For those young lads, Madam Rothema’s hawk-like gaze managed to deter quite a lot of them.

Instead, they could only manage a bit of conversation before their desire to flee overrode their desire to get on Briar’s good books.

Chapter 100: The Award Ceremony

Upon the martial stage, locked in combat, were Kael and Laura. From the start, Laura had pressed to the advantage, sending the first attack.

Laura was giving her all, sending out a flurry of kicks, punches, and sometimes even bursting out with flying daggers towards Kael. In the past few months, her form had become swift, steady, and accurate. But the things which she had gained the most of was strength.

Briar, who was observing, could see clearly that the force behind Laura’s strikes had become much greater over the past month or so. Even though the muscles in Laura’s arm was still as skinny as ever, the muscles had become more condensed and elastic, allowing her arms to build up more force and a faster acceleration.

And this was all thanks to Master Thales’s regimented training.

—

Huh? Briar looked around the room. Come to think of it, where is Master Thales? While Briar wanted to see what was keeping him, she also felt reluctant to leave and miss seeing the end of the match. She decided to put off looking for Thales until later, after the match.

—

Kael retreated, dodging the flurry of strikes by a mere 5 centimeters. The knives were either dodged, or redirected using a well-aimed kick, or a palm strike. Laura continued to press the advantage, as Kael retreated around the stage in a circular motion, avoiding being cornered against the edge of the stage.

Even when Laura began to use her martial skills and appear in different parts of the stage, Kael was completely able to keep up with her. It could be said that while Laura had become very proficient in Shadow Flight, Kael had become even more proficient in Ghost Evasion. The after-images frustrated Laura to no end.

He could also tell where she would be fleeing to, since she always glanced in its direction before activating the technique. If they were simply engaging in a training spat, he would probably tell her about it. But, since this was a competition, why help her opponent out?

Finally, Laura did the one thing that he had been waiting for: she teleported directly behind him. But, even before she finished, Kael had started turning, throwing a right straight punch at her. It struck her in the left shoulder before she understood what happened, tossing Laura back a certain distance.

Laura landed, sliding back a bit before stopping. She paused, glaring at Kael with suspicion. How was he able to guess where she would escape to? Should she test it out again?

Laura rotated the shoulder that had been struck. Although it wasn’t broken, she was certain that she could only use half as much force with that arm now. It wasn’t worth the risk to test whether Kael could tell where the destination of her Shadow Flight would be. She would have to assume that he had a way of knowing.

And so, Laura decisively sealed away her Shadow Flight. It was better to set aside something that was not working, than to risk exposing herself due to a flawed technique.

Kael raised his fists and struck a boxer’s pose. Then he smirked and pointed his hand out towards her, waving her forward, tauntingly.

Why this little-!

Laura grinned in anger as a vein started to throb in her forehead. Without hesitation, she launched herself at Kael. If she could just get a clean strike on him, she would win!

Kael continued to dodge, and block her attacks, as he backed up. Somehow, always managing to keep away from the edges of the circular stage. While bending over backwards, to avoid a facial punch, he landed on the palm of his hand, and kicked out towards the side of her head.

Laura turned her face, tilting her head in the direction of the kick, which redirected the majority of the energy. She just barely managed to avoid being KO’ed. Surprised, Laura’s eyes flashed with a sense of caution.

Kael flipped over sideways, and landed on his feet again. But he quickly jumped backwards as Laura smashed forward, pounding her fists onto the ground where he once stood. The sturdy stone stage cracked from the force of the blow.

“Is this all you are good for?” Laura raged. “Running away?”

“The term, my dear friend, is ‘strategic retreat.’” Kael replied easily. “Not everything can be solved by brashly charging into a situation.”

“Are you calling me brash!” Laura yelled.

Kael smirked. “Now why would you think that? I certainly don’t recall giving out any names. Or is it that you also think that you sometimes behave brashly?”

“Rascal!” She hissed and threw a punch at him.

“Verily.” Kael agreed, as he dodged.

“Coward!” She booed, shooting a throwing knife towards him.

“Completely.” He replied, as he caught the knife between two fingers, flicking it away in a harmless direction.

Laura then jumped back, and stood there, her eyes turning red.

“You are so frustrating! I trained hard to be able to fight you face to face! I did not come here to watch you dodge around like a dragonfly!”

He paused and tilted his head to the side in thought. “Then you can give up?” He said.

“I don’t want that!” She yelled.

“Then, what do you suggest?” He asked.

Receive the full force of my punch!” Laura cried out, gathering her strength.

“Good! Come!” Kael responded to her vigorous shout. Standing still, upright and unguarded. He opened his arms out.

“Let me see how good you’ve become!”

Laura once more launched herself at him, all of her strength behind this one last punch. Even up to six inches away, Kael stood still, waiting to receive the blow. But, when she reached 5 centimeters away, Kael finally moved.

Falling backwards, he moved in the direction of the punch, grabbing both of Laura’s arms as he fell, rolling backwards onto the ground.

Uh-oh! NOT GOOD! Laura realized, as she felt herself supported by a foot at her stomach, to fly right over Kael’s head, and swing headfirst into the stone ground just past him. All she could do was to clench her teeth before her head struck stone.

THUD.

Laura’s head whirled with dizziness as she fell onto her back, temporarily unable to get up. Kael just stood up, looking down at her with a wry smile.

“You-you cheated!” Laura muttered unwillingly.

Kael chuckled and sighed.

“Silly girl. Did I ever say that I would actually receive that punch of yours?” He replied.

“Of cours-…huh? You rascal!” Laura’s bitter face could pickle cucumbers as she sighed. “It’s my fault then. I should have known better than to jump in headfirst after hearing something like that… I admit my defeat. You win.”

“You don’t want to stagger across the stage a bit more?” Kael asked.

“At this point, I’d be lucky if all I could do was stagger. Your blasted move gave me a concussion!” Laura growled frustrated.

“Then, lie still and wait patiently for the medic to arrive.” Kael replied.

“BRIAR HAS WON!”

The announcement sent shivers through the audience, awakening them from the daze they had been in. The final duel had been an eye opener for some, and a mouth opener for others as they dropped their jaws, with no sound coming out.

But that silence did not remain for long. A deafening, frenzied cheer rose up from the crowds, one which didn’t dissipate even after several minutes, as they cheered themselves hoarse.

“There will now be a half an hour break to recover. Then, afterwards, we shall begin the last part of the martial competition. Don’t think that this is over! There’s still one last round to finish.” The announcer reminded them, as the crowds filed down to the concessions stands for food, and to the stationed outhouses to relieve themselves.

Kael had now been confirmed as the temporary first place. If Laura didn’t challenge him to another match–or was not challenged by the dragon lad and defeated, allowing the lad to challenge Kael for first place–then Kael would be confirmed as the first place winner.

At this point, Briar jumped up on the stage, to go examine Laura.

“She has a concussion.” Kael told her helpfully.

Briar sighed as she got to work, placing her hand upon Laura’s forehead as she chanted “[Heal]”

A blue glow surrounded Laura’s head, and the damage was quickly beginning to be reversed under the effects of the calming blue light.

Kael whistled. “You can restrict the spell to just a single area now?” He asked. Usually, when [Heal] was chanted, the glow would spread to the entire body, unless otherwise specified. To do what Briar did meant that she was able to manipulate her mana to a very high degree. Several members of the Magicians Council were very impressed when they saw this. But, Briar didn’t even spare a glance in their direction.

“Don’t challenge him again.” Briar said to Laura, patting her on the shoulder.

Laura made a face. “You’re just saying that because you want him to win!” She muttered.

“I also do not want to have to heal your bruised head again. Otherwise, if there should be a next time, I might just leave you to suffer through it, Hmm?” Briar smiled cheerfully, but Laura shuddered.

“No, I’ll be good.” Laura muttered, feeling a bit happy that her best friend cared enough about Laura to be concerned about her health.

“Good. My job is to get you in tip-top shape so that Dragon Boy doesn’t have even a chance at first place.” Briar nodded. Laura felt a bit better thinking that she might have another chance to bash that jerk’s face in.

Unfortunately for Laura, the lad was traumatized enough that he wouldn’t dare to face Laura after that. And so, after the half-hour intermission, the first, second, and third places were confirmed for the martial competition.

Of course, Kael was in first place. Laura was in second place. And the dragon lad was in third place. They made their way to the stage that had been erected outside of the double-colliseum under the thunderous cheers that besieged them through the magic barrier around the pathway.

The magician winners were already present up on the stage. Of course, Briar was in first place. Youma was in second place. And Elsa was in third place. On top of the stage was the usual three steps for first second and third place. The two first place steps had been placed together, so that they could stand side by side.

As Briar and Kael stood together, many people began to notice the similarities between the two, including the fact that they shared the same name. But before they could begin to hash out theories about why the two looked so similar, Council-mage Syrel stepped forward, alongside Mayor Bradley.

While Syrel and Bradley were busy with the presentation of the rewards, Grandpa Thur was suspiciously watching the Councilmages behind the winners on the stage. The person who had been observing Madam Rothema’s viewing room had come from one of these men, and Grandpa Thur would be darned if he didn’t catch a clue as to who it might be.

—

“And so, Briar Mikael, I present to you this first place martial medallion, along with the first place prize of fifty thousand gold coins.” Syrel announced, as Bradley beamingly placed the medal around Kael’s neck, and presented the coins to him. Kael bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement as he accepted the coins, placing them in his ‘magic’ bag.

To his and Briar’s great luck, not even one of the magicians noticed the fact that Kael was Briar’s double, allowing the ceremony to proceed smoothly.

“And to you as well, Briar Rose, I present this first place magic medallion alongside this permanent pass to the Great Library of the Magician’s Council. It will allow you to enter anywhere in the Library, of course, aside from the forbidden books section. I trust it shall serve you well in your pursuit of the peak of knowledge.”  Syrel said, personally giving the prize to her this time.

“Thank you very much!” She said with a smile.

“And now-What is this!?” Syrel exclaimed as a blue magic teleportation circle opened up beneath Kael’s feet.

“Magic Dispersal!” Briar shouted. But the magic circle only receeded for a moment before rebuilding itself. Syrel, finally reacting to the situation, slammed his staff down upon the stage. The magic circle shattered with Kael collapsing to the floor, his face turned pale.

“WHO! Who was the blasted fiend who DARED to interrupt this Ceremony!” Magi Faerwind’s enraged voice boomed out like thunder as the wind began to gather around him in a mini tornado.

Chapter 99: Magician’s Stage-Final Match II

The young man nodded. “I see… In that case, my apologies in advance.” He said as he took off his robe, letting the breeze carry it away. Briar glanced at the cloak for a moment, before turning back to the young man.

“Likewise.” She answered, as she smiled and pulled her camo cloak out of her bag.

The large cloth covered her figure for but a mere moment. However, after the cloak had blown away, Briar was nowhere to be seen. The youth’s eyes widened, as he realized she had become invisible. But a moment afterwards, they narrowed.

“You think you can pull that cheap trick on me?” He laughed, sending a magic shockwave through the air around him. Tens of translucent mirrors shattered into nothingness, but Briar was still nowhere in sight.

“Huhuhu~ Whether it is a trick or not remains to be seen.” Briar’s voice came from all around. But the young man still could not pinpoint where she was. His back suddenly was covered in cold sweat. If this young woman were to become an assassin, he would be quite helpless.

Instead of keeping her advantage, though, Briar stepped out into the visible spectrum as easily as if stepping out of a door.

“Magic is like that, after all.” She said, with a knowing smile.

“Ho? Where is your impressive familiar? Are you hiding it in the shadows, too?” The young man asked, looking around.

“Unfortunately, they just served lunch upstairs, and she is taking her afternoon nap. My apologies.” Briar replied as she sidestepped the white cloak that had suddenly made a beeline in her direction.

“Did you honestly think that I would fall for a trick that has already been used once?” She asked.

He shrugged.

“I can only try. Any and all techniques are acceptable as long as no one gets hurt.” He had the cloak try to wrap around her at every opportunity, but Briar swayed and dodged it every single time.

“Hey, is dodging all that you can do?” The youth asked, with a grimace. “Magicians should fight with magic, not dodging manoevers!”

“Is that so?” Briar asked, with a smile before she said. “Then I shall apologize in advance.”

A bright light suddenly exploded in between them, blinding both the youth and the audience with its dazzling brilliance.

Once everyone had blinked the light out of their eyes, they rubbed them again in surprise. Briar was still standing in the exact same spot she had been standing before she left.

“Haha! Do you think I am stupid?” The youth asked, quite annoyed. It’s obvious that this is only an illusion!” He once more sent out a magic shockwave. But, what surprised him was that this time the image did not shatter in the least. Her braids simply waved in the breeze behind her.

“Huh? But how!?” He exclaimed.

“I’m afraid this time I am the real deal.” Briar shook her head. “Can’t you tell the difference between a fake person and a real one?”

His face turned slightly red from embarrassment. “Nng! Try this!” He pointed. But nothing happened. “Huh?”

Briar pointed off to the side. Glancing over, he saw his white cloak had been completely entangled and pinned down by Briar’s camo cloak, keeping it from lifting up off the ground with its weight.

“Good one!” He praised, giving Briar a thumbs-up. “But now, I guess it’s time I stopped fooling around~!” He said with a tehepero[1] as he brought a wand out from within his shirt.

“I’m glad to hear of it.” Briar replied. “I also am tired of playing games.” She took out a simple wooden stave and gently let the end fall upon the ground. Mana rippled forth from it as if that simply touch had been upon water instead of ground.

The audience was mesmerized by the beautiful display, but the youth was experiencing a different kind of admiration. The area effected by the rippling mana had an increased gravitational pull, thus it felt way more difficult to just stand up.

Instead of speaking, the youth was forced to use one of his trump cards to break away from the effects of this gravitational change.

“Zero Gravity!” He spat out through gritted teeth.

Instantly, all the pressure around him vanished. Briar instantly ended her now useless gravity spell, right after she cast the next one.

“Anti-gravity!” She smote the ground as a large magic circle appeared that encompassed the entire stage.

It should be said that, while [zero gravity] was an intermediate level spell, [Anti-gravity] was actually a high level spell. When combining the two together, the results were an accelerated speed of rising into the air that was faster than both spells put together. Thus, before the young man could even understand what she had said, he had shot upwards and smacked hard into the magic barrier surrounding the stage.

The blow to the back of his head jarred him into cancelling his zero gravity spell. Briar, likewise, dispelled her [Anti-gravity] as well, allowing him to fall towards the ground. After all, high spells-though powerful- had a correspondingly high mana cost the longer they were in effect.

A cloud of dust blew up where he landed.

“Ouch! That was a bit brutal!” The youth shook his head as he stood up. Before he had hit the ground, he had been lucky enough to cast [Earth Pillow], a spell which softens the ground for those falling from great heights. It was due to this that he hadn’t ended up in an unconscious state.

Briar narrowed her eyes.

“I would not have to be brutal if you were not taking me seriously.” She replied. “Were you farting out of your mouth earlier when you said that you’d become serious? …Understood. From now on I shall take your words as fecal air.”

“Say, that’s a bit brutal, don’t you think!?” The youth complained.

“Not at all. A Master class like yourself should be ashamed for trying to pull such cheap tricks on me.” Briar replied, a dis-satisfied expression on her face.

“…So you’d noticed?” He asked. His eyes became sharper and more focused afterwards. His general aura changed from that of a smiling idiot, to that of an elite intellectual.

“It’s harder still not to notice.” Briar smiled wryly, as her magic eyes clearly showed her the extent of his mana.

“Hah!” He laughed. “…I had taken this contest for a joke, but perhaps I shall get serious after all, then?” He spoke ponderingly as he began to accumulate his mana.

“That is all that I could ask for.” Briar said while she also began to accumulate mana.

The audience knew what the two were doing. Their next spell casting would be their strongest spells. Their next exchange would be their last. Whoever’s spell gave out first would lose.

Everyone was on the edge of their seats, not daring to close their eyes, or to wipe the sweat that accumulated on their foreheads due to the hot sun. All felt that if they were to miss this next exchange, they’d regret it for the rest of their lives.

Finally, both sides began to move.

“Sword of Annihilation!” [Youth]

“Hundred Hexagonal Barriers!” [Briar]

Both yelled out at the same time. A Great Sword appeared in the air over the stage, falling down upon Briar’s position. But it was blocked by a barrier made up of a hundred compressed hexagonal grid barriers surrounding Briar. The ground around her showed signs of collapsing, but she continued to pour out her mana into the shields.

At this point, whoever ran out of mana first would lose. But this time, Briar was placed in a rather precarious position. If the youth gave up first, then he’d only be exhausted. But if Briar gave out first, then she’d have to bear with the full brunt of the spell, and most likely be highly injured, if not killed. It was a highly suspenseful moment.

But Briar had chosen not to move out of the way, but to face the attack with her strongest spells: Barrier Magic.

The place where the great sword met the shield elicited a rather ear-piercing shrieking sound as the area where both spells clashed began to glow brighter. The air around it began to warp. Both sides were using all their mana to vie for the winning spot.

Briar’s quick emptying of her mana reserves caused her mana veins to start working faster, collecting more mana from the atmosphere to refill the emptying tank. This allowed Briar to keep up the hundred barriers as though they were all one.

But they weren’t. Compressed together, thought they were, Briar still had created a hundred shields instead of one. Instead, the youth only had one spell to concentrate on. And so, because of that, even with Briar’s monster mana capacity, she still ended up only breaking even against her opponent.

But then, Briar’s barriers started to flicker, and the sword began to dip lower, until suddenly, the sword quickly descended, making contact with the ground, and sending up another, even greater dust cloud.

“What happened?”

“Did Briar lose?”

“Did the boy just win?”

The audience murmured amongst themselves as the youth collapsed into a sitting position, sweat trickling in small rivulets down his face as he gasped for breath. It was a good thing the spell ended where it did. If it hadn’t, the spell might have dug into his vitality and continued at the risk of his health.

But when the dust cleared, Briar still stood in the exact same spot she had. Her Barrier still stood around her. The only difference was, now its shape was not semicircular. Instead, it was shaped more like a wedge of cheese on its side, with an almost sheer slope leading down to the ground at the side of Briar.

A Deep crack in the earth showed exactly how much damage that [Sword of Annihilation] was currently able to do. The depth of the cut could not be seen.

Briar approached the youth slowly as she asked.

“So, are you convinced yet? Or shall I need to go on the offensive as well?”

“Hah..hah…no..n-no need!” The youth tried to catch his breath. “I can’t recite another spell….I concede.” He said with a wry, somewhat self-ridiculing smile as he slowly stood up from the ground.

Briar nodded and dispelled her barriers.

“Briar has won the magicians contest.” Syrel announced, as the audience began to cheer the loudest they could.

Briar held out her hand for a handshake. “Don’t let them tell you any different. You are actually quite powerful.”

He shook his head. “Me? I’m average. I can’t even beat someone like you.”

Briar shook her head. “No, I just so happen to be an incredible exception, since I have a reputation to hold as one of Madam Rothema’s monster students. Truth to be told, if I had not been your opponent, you could have easily won this tournament.”

Then Briar curtseyed. “It’s a pleasure meeting your acquaintance. My name is Briar.”

“I know.” He replied. Then a moment later, he realized that he hadn’t introduced himself at all. “-Er, um, I’m Yohma.”

Briar’s emerald green eyes fixed upon the youth for a moment. Yohma, is it? Or is it Ryouma? She wondered to herself. While it was now quite apparent that he was a reincarnator, Briar still retained her decision not to reveal her status.

How did she know he was a reincarnator? Only people from her world knew about ‘tehepero’. Thus it was actually quite easy. And, while she wouldn’t reveal her own situation, she decided to keep on friendly terms with Ryouma-er Yoma.

“Nice to meet you, Mister Yohma. Although, next time, perhaps we should do introductions before fighting~” Briar chuckled.

“What!” Yoma exclaimed pulling a bitter face. “I’ll still have to fight you!? No way! I learned my lesson the first time! Count me out of any fights where I’m opposed to you!” And with that, the elite intellectual aura had once more changed back into the idiot happy-go-lucky one.

“If we ever meet again, go easy on me, okay?” He smiled as he made his way to the stairs, where his little angel girl awaited him. Briar likewise turned around to head back towards Rothema’s side of the stage. The awarding ceremony itself would take place after the first place had been decided for the Martial stage as well, so until then, Briar was free.

At the edge of the stage, Yoma paused and looked back, a rarely-seen serious expression on his face.

Me? Powerful? Hah! His grey eyes seemed to darken as he looked at the retreating figure of Briar. Though our appearances are of a similar age: I, a twenty-one year old man, losing to a twelve-year old girl can be nothing but a big huge joke.

His eyes returned to their original grey shade and he stepped down off the stage.

Facing his expressionless companion, he laughed in a carefree manner. “Well! I suppose I lost! Hahahah!”

The girl, Fiona, nodded, and quietly patted him on the shoulder. “There, there.” When he lowered his head, she also patted him on his head.

Yoma nodded his head, in agreement with himself. “Fee’s comfort is truly the best!”

He grinned, proudly, until Fiona lost patience with him and pounded a fist down upon his lowered head.

“Stop talking nonsense.” She replied in a monotone.

—————

Back in Rothema’s observation room, Briar noticed that no one was on the side that observed the magician stage. “Has the fight already started?” She wondered as she quickly charged through the curtain into the other room.

The sound of loud cheering suddenly blasted her ears as her attention was immediately drawn to the stage.

[1] Tehepero: a motion by which one shows that one is being silly; wink + tongue stuck out [pero] + knocking fist against the head + short laugh [tehe] = tehepero

Chapter 98: Magician’s Stage-Final Match I

At that moment, Briar, who had been close to motionless this whole time, jumped to her feet and dispelled her barrier. Unfortunately, in between Briar and Elsa was still a perfect globe of ice! Being a magician, Briar could not expose her physical strength.

“Hurry! We have to get her out of there!” Briar cried, worriedly. “The air inside has gone bad”

Indeed, Elsa’s perfect ice sphere had done more than get in the way. It had blocked off Elsa’s airflow. Briar’s barriers, though hard, were not airproof unless specified during their creation. But, Elsa’s ice sphere was made of water, thus naturally air proofing the interior. If only the sphere had had a single opening, Elsa would not be facing such a problem.

This was probably one of the only times a magician lost a match because their magic spell was too perfect.  But, the ice sphere was in the way. If they did not manage to extract Elsa within a short period of time, then Elsa could have severe repercussions and could possibly die.

But, the people in charge didn’t understand why Briar was so worried, and so their response was delayed. Moreover, the barrier around the stage hadn’t yet been removed, so no one could enter. The person in charge of the barrier spell had even accidentally dropped the control crystal by accident. He bumbled around to try and find it.

They’re too slow! I’ll have to do this myself! Briar’s eyes narrowed as she brought a hand up to the frigid sphere. The ice is too thick! A fire spell will not make it in time! Briar clicked her tongue. I also can’t use Martial Spirit, or else I’ll be giving myself away! She closed her eyes for a moment, then came to a split-second decision. I guess I’ll have to use that…

Her eyes snapped open, and she quickly brought out a metal staff with a large crystal fixture on one end, and several spikes radiating from the top of it.

“She brought out a staff?”

“What’s a staff going to do to help her get through that?”

The audience watched, curious as to how Briar was going to break open the sphere.

Briar brought her mana to her finger.

“I was going to save this for the final match, but I suppose I have no choice….” She spouted some analogous BS to mislead the audience, while she concentrated her mana to her finger, then outside of her finger.

In a flash, she had swiftly written the formulas for acceleration and gravity enhancement down the length of the staff, then used her magic circle trampoline to jump up above the sphere.

“Support spells?”

“Body Enhancement spells? Why did she write that on the staff?”

Then she swung, instantly activation both support spells by injecting her mana into the staff.

As she had surmised, the staff instantly accelerated, it’s weight growing heavy like a mountain. Sparks flew along it as it faced the friction from air resistance, but it did not stop. At this point, it couldn’t stop.

The staff then met with the ice sphere, and a loud noise echoed through the stadium.

Briar stood on top of the sphere, her staff embedded in the ice, which still appeared flawless. A single spike from her staff had punctured through to the inside. A slight hissing noise sounded, and then nothing.

By all appearances, it seemed as though her plan did not work. But then, Briar sighed and jumped down from the sphere, walking away.

But her performance had shocked the audience into utter silence. It was generally agreed that body enhancements should be used on the body. Thus, while everyone had known about enhancement spells, no one had ever thought about using them to enhance weapons before.

The older magicians then began discussing it amongst themselves while the younger audience was wondering why she had ceased to attempt to break the sphere.

“What?”

“What happened?”

“Why isn’t she trying to break it open anymore?”

“Did she give up?”

“No, wait! Is she perhaps out of mana?”

The audience was now louder than ever.

At this point, the barrier man had found the control crystal and turned off the barrier. At that point, several experts had rushed on stage to remove Elsa from her ice globe. But, it turned out, they weren’t necessary anymore.

Elsa had finally woken up. She sat up, and looked around, groggily holding her head. While she wasn’t in the best of conditions, she could still dispel the ice on her own.

“What happened? I…how?… did I just lose?” Elsa asked.

The experts could only inform her that she had lost. She sighed with disappointment, but she gracefully accepted her loss.

Briar, had already returned to the side of the stage, ready to come out for the last fight. As Elsa was about to pass by Briar, she suddenly paused.

“I know that I lost. But what I can’t understand is…how did I lose?” Elsa asked.

“I told you, didn’t I? Encasing yourself in ice is not a good idea.” Briar replied.

“But, why isn’t it a good idea?” Elsa frowned and tilted her head, not understanding.

Briar looked at her with a measuring gaze. But Elsa was simply honestly trying to understand the reason for her failure.

Then she smiled shyly. “While magic can easily be made flawless, their casters are still human. Water, though highly manipulative, is also highly airproof. Even water combined with the north winds is no exception to this property. Humans still need to breathe air. In that respect, my barrier already had allowances for air. But your ice on the other hand…” Briar shook her head. “If there had been even a single hole in that sphere, you would not have fainted from lack of air.”

Elsa’s eyes wavered, then she sighed. “So that’s it? Looks like I truly have lost to you this time. For you to know more about my ice magic than I do, who could have imagined it?”

Briar scratched at her cheek with a finger. “Just an observation I made. I’m no expert.”

“I see. Then I look forward to witnessing your next performance, Miss Briar. Perhaps we could become friends in the future?” Elsa asked.

“Perhaps.” Briar replied a slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“Until later, then.” Elsa ducked her head in farewell before proceeding out of the contestant area.

Someone who reflects upon their mistakes to learn from them…this one will go far in life, if her path is not barred. Briar noted to herself, before returning her staff to her magic bag.

While others might not know, Briar’s staff was actually just a training staff for one to get a feel for the wind element. Thus, the spell matrix inside of the crystal was simple and harmless. And so, when Briar had struck the ice sphere, she did not simply cast two spells simultaneously, but three.

Briar had used it to force fresh air back into the sphere through that single hole that she had created in Elsa’s sphere. Otherwise, the air would not have returned to normal so quickly. If it was any other staff with any other spell, Elsa may not have returned to the world of the living so quickly.

But, enough about Elsa. Briar stared across the stage at her opponent: the self-taught magician. This next fight would decide the champion of the magician’s stage.

—–Briar’s opponent’s side—–

The magician waited for the fight to be announced. By his side, a girl stood unhindered.

“Ho? Looks like someone’s staring at you.” She noted.

“I’m blushing~” He joked back.

“You better not be.” She replied seriously.

“Alright! I’m not blushing, then!” He replied in the same tone.

“Which is it? I need to clearly know the reason why I’m killing you later on.” She said in a monotone.

“Haha, no need to get violent, Fee~ I was only joking.” The young man waved his hands in defeat.

“That is not something you should joke about.” She said blandly before changing the subject. “That person…it is difficult to analyze the depths of her strength…the likelihood of you losing is over 70%”

“Whoah! That much?! I though it would at least be something a bit closer to 50% !” The man was clearly surprised.

“Even after performing such a mana-draining spell, she has neither lost focus, nor become out of breath. It is for certain that she has more stamina than you do. The only advice that I can give is to aim for a quick victory. You will definitely lose if this becomes drawn out.” The girl said.

“Thanks for your insights. I’ll try my very best up there today!” The magician smiled at her before climbing to the stage, ready for the final battle.

“Yes. Try your very best, so that I can comfort you when you lose.” The girl replied blandly.

The magician almost fell over.

“Hey! Can you stop trying to undermine my confidence here?” He exclaimed, not sure whether to laugh or cry.

“So you really are nervous.” She replied.

“Isn’t it obvious!?” He stared down at the girl from up on the platform.

The girl looked up, and finally her near expressionless face changed. She smiled. “Do your best, young master!” She said, her smile turning her from an expressionless doll into an adorable little angel.

“Count on it!” He replied with a silly grin.

————

Briar witnessed that small personal exchange, patiently. While she wasn’t 100% certain, she felt that this self-taught magician might just be yet another reincarnator from her world. While it could still be possible that he wasn’t, Briar somehow felt that it had to be so. It was far too convenient for a self-taught mage to just pop up out of nowhere, so close to the time of her reincarnation.

If he wasn’t a reincarnator, then he was certainly a rare genius. However, if he was a reincarnator, then that could certainly explain how he was able to master a form of magic that not many had seen before in this continent. Briar calmly observed him as he stood there on the platform opposite her.

He grinned. “I don’t suppose you would simply forfeit, right?”

The whole audience was struck dumb at the nerve and audacity of that statement. To ask someone to forfeit either meant that they were more powerful than their opponent, or that they completely disregarded the opponent’s strength. To say such a thing, either he was way more powerful than he looked, or he was very brash.

Briar smiled and replied with a chuckle. “Well, personally, I wouldn’t mind forfeiting…”

The audience was once more shocked into silence. Surely, she wouldn’t just give up at the last fight? The silence was deafening.

“Okay then-” the magician began, but was quickly cut off by the rest of Briar’s reply.

“But! Unfortunately, I’ve promised my teacher that I am going to win this. Madam Rothema isn’t one to approve of my giving up before I even tried. Isn’t that so for your friend over there as well?” Briar asked glancing at the man’s companion down below the stage.

“Ahahah. I guess you’re right.” The magician replied with a good natured smile. “Well, there’s no use delaying things then. Shall we begin?”

At that, those in the audience breathed a collective sigh of relief. It would be no joke to allow the last match to end in a forfeit before it even began.

“Ah, for that, you should ask the announcer…” Briar turned towards the announcer’s stage, where Council-mage Syrel stood.

He nodded. “Let the final match begin!” His voice echoed through the stands, and the audience broke out into an excited cheer.

Chapter 97: Dangers in Ice

“How’s that?” Kael asked. “How is this a blessing in disguise?”

“At least, you’ll know if someone’s using magic on you.” Rothema said. “Especially if it’s of the more forbidden kind like mind-controlling magic, or curse magic.”

“But I thought those books were lost in the fire?” Briar asked.

“Just because the books were lost, didn’t mean the magicians who read them were. Those who were familiar with the magic would certainly have written a few secret tomes of their own from memory. And those were only re-written so that future magicians would know how to fix the disasters that arise from such a practice.”

Rothema tapped the lip of her cup as she pondered. “I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of the more incomplete drafts trickled out through a crack, somewhere, and ended up in the hands of those who couldn’t help themselves, since there still are people being found using such magic.

“So, what I’m trying to say, is: this is definitely a good thing.” Rothema finished.

Kael thought about it for a moment, then nodded. It really was a good thing. By that time, he had returned to the very picture of health.

“By the way, what was that other spell that you used on me earlier?” Kael asked.

Rothema smiled and said nothing.

Before Kael could ask her further questions, Helen pointed towards the stage. “Oh, look at that! That was amazing!”

Everyone turned to observe the martial stage, where Laura was fighting the Eldest Twin.

Right, I forgot about that. Kael remembered. He also moved closer to watch and to gauge just how much Laura’s strength had grown in the past few months.

———————

Laura lithely jumped backwards, away from the swing of the youth’s sword. While she could easily block its swing with her arm guards, the weight that the youth was able to place behind his blade was shockingly more than she could handle.

To those in the audience, it seemed only like a case where the older contestant was naturally stronger than the younger one. After all, the Dragon Twin was fifteen while Laura was only twelve. A gap of three years was certainly something not easy to bridge. But what they didn’t know was that Laura was a 9^th rank blue class.

To put things into perspective: one didn’t start training until around six or seven years old when their internal vision was opened.  They would then focus on expanding internal energy capacity until the age of ten. At that point, no matter how much they trained, that capacity would remain unless they broke through to the next rank, in which they would acquire a small increase.

Once they were ten, they would then enter the yellow class and start physical training and internal cultivation of the bones until they broke through by condensing diamond bones, which could take anywhere from ten to fifteen years. So, by the time most broke through to the green class, they would be twenty to twenty-five years old.

On a side note, Briar’s father, Sir Maverick, was on the higher end of the scale, able to reach blue class by the time he was 20.

Laura, on the other hand, was only twelve. Moreover, she had already broken through to the blue class, an entire class higher than green class, which was the current class for almost all of the contestants (sans Briar and Kael). Therefore, for Laura to be overpowered by someone who -logically and mathematically- should be in green class, was highly irregular.

Laura was even at the highest end of the blue class, only one rank away from purple class. But, even so, Laura had to decline facing the young man’s attacks head on. Instead, she had been reduced to dodging or redirecting the strikes aimed in her direction.

The youth’s eyes suddenly sparked with a strange light as his sword suddenly flickered. Laura reached up to touch her cheek, only to bring her hand away with blood on it. Somehow, he had managed to cut her face without her seeing it.

Seeing blood, Laura blinked her eyes, were confused. Then she realized what the blood meant, and she began to see red.

How dare this boy attack the face of a lady! Moreover, he marred the face of a Noblewoman! Unforgivable! Laura took on an odd stance as she swayed back and forth. She was pulling out all the stops. This deplorable was headed for hell.

Kael’s eyes glinted with a knowing light. This young man had managed to get on Laura’s bad side. He silently offered up a prayer for the man who had no idea what he was in for.

The youth on the stage smirked at Laura’s odd display, but he was not allowed to be complacent for long. Laura threw out several knives in a fan shape with a swing of her arm. While she wasn’t as good at knife throwing as Briar, she had learned it just in case.

The young lad dodged them in contempt. And the knives harmlessly embedded themselves into the ground behind him, in a semicircular layout. The fact that they were able to cut into the stage was commendable, as the stage was magically protected.

“Is that all you got?” he chuckled. But his expression changed when Laura disappeared.

“Nope.” Her syrupy voice sounded from behind his back.

He spun around and was only just barely able to defend against Laura’s attack with his sword. After which, she threw out knives again. Again, they struck the ground behind him, missing him completely.

He felt confused. Why would Laura use that crummy skill again? But he didn’t have time to think, since Laura disappeared again. This time, learning his lesson, he spun around to block, but he was surprised when he was greeted with an empty stage. Where did she go?

He didn’t have much time to think before he was punched in the side of the head from behind, causing him to stagger sideways as his jaw almost dislocated itself. He spun to face Laura, whose stance had changed yet again into somewhat of a sideways boxing stance. Her eyes glinted with a somewhat dangerous light as she disappeared again.

He quickly spun around, slashing out into his surroundings, hitting nothing but air. Where had she gone this time? He snapped his head around to behind him, only to find another stretch of empty stage.

Unfortunately, his attention to what was behind him distracted him from what was in front. Before he could turn his head back to the front, he was clocked once more on the jaw. This time, from his front, sending him staggering back.

What followed after was a carefully-calculated, one-sided pummeling of the youngster. In which he had no way of bringing out his excellent swordsmanship. Kael shook his head and sighed.

Laura’s attack patterns were built upon the assumption that the victim would learn from the previous attacks. Each subsequent attack was calculated to throw off the tempo of her opponent, creating openings for the subsequent attacks.

Thus, there really wasn’t anyone among the younger generation that would have an easy time dealing with her aside from Kael and Briar, who knew similar styles from earth.

In all truth, he had been asking for it, though. Just because it was a fighting competition didn’t mean that they had to throw all manners and common decency aside. The young women in the audience were cheering especially loud at Laura’s display.

The young men winced as they sympathized with the youth, and likewise offered up prayers that his soul rest in peace. There was no doubt that this young man was surely skilled: skilled at angering people he shouldn’t mess with.

Finally, Laura finished with another punch to the jawline, jogging his brain into the black dreams of unconsciousness.

“Laura is the winner!” the announcer cried. The crowds of young women cheered with respect for their newfound object of admiration.

Now there was only a single fight left: the fight for the championship. By this time, Kael had already finished healing up, and was in top condition. However, Laura had just expended a large amount of energy. Seeing that this was the last fight, both Laura and Kael were given about twenty minutes to rest and recover.

Kael, having little left to do before the final fight, decided to check up on how Briar was doing.

—————————–

Just as Laura was finishing up her final blows, Briar was called up to the magician’s stage. Her opponent this time was the Ice Queen, Elsa von Icht.

“I hope you don’t disappoint me as much as my previous opponents.” Elsa remarked, readily.

“Wow, for someone known as the “Ice Queen”, you sure are heated up today. Is this the rumored ‘firey sunset over the icy plains’?” Briar returned in kind.

“Hmmph.” Elsa snorted, and stood at ready.

Briar stood: her back straight, her arms by her side, her eyes looking calmly at Elsa.

“Begin!” Syrel announced.

Elsa sent her magic into her staff, channeling a frost ground spell in her surroundings.

At that moment, Briar did something that caused everyone to be confused. She closed her eyes.

“What is she doing!?”

“She closed her eyes? Could it be that she’s throwing the match?”

“IS SHE CRAZY?”

“How is closing her eyes going to make her win!?”

The audience volume raised as they discussed in a mutter about why Briar chose to do something so foolish as close her eyes.

Briar then yawned and sat down on the stage.

“Are you trying to make a fool out of me?” Elsa frowned menacingly.

“Nope. It’s just that I have no need to fight an enemy that’s no longer a threat to me.” Briar explained. “Oh, and I’d stop expanding that frost aura, if I were you. It won’t end well.”

“What do you mean?” Elsa asked, when she noticed that the frost on the ground was starting to climb up off the ground and coagulate into a crystalline globe surrounding Elsa.

Her frost field was no longer expanding out from her because Briar had flipped the proverbial cup over the bug and surrounded her in a clear, spherical force field. By this time, the ice sphere had completed itself to perfection. There was not a single inch of the barrier that had not been encased in ice.

“Hah! I may not be able to get out, but that also means that you aren’t able to get in. Are you planning to tie for second?” Elsa scoffed.

Briar politely shook her head.

“Oh no! There’s no need for a tie at all. It’s unfortunate, but there will most certainly be a winner to this duel. I won’t even need to raise a finger.” Briar replied. After all, barriers were her forte. It’s just such a shame that her loss is self-inflicted. Briar shook her head. She had been expecting something more…impressive.

The whole time, Elsa was busy attacking the barrier wall.

“Ice shot doesn’t work.” Briar sighed.

Elsa tried to create a mini blizzard.

“Ice blizzard doesn’t work either.” Briar noted in a bored manner.

Then Elsa summoned ice into the shape of a large icy drill. Briar sat up a bit. “Oh?”

The drill did nothing to penetrate the barrier surrounding Elsa. Briar sighed again, seeing how the competition was pretty much in the bag at this point.

Elsa didn’t understand why her attacks weren’t going through. Barriers normally wouldn’t last more than a ten minute pummeling before they were shattered like glass. But this person’s barrier was seemingly indestructible. Was it getting warm in there?

Briar watched on for about five more minutes before, all of a sudden, Elsa fell over in a dead faint.

“Elsa has fainted. Briar is the winner!” Councilmage Syrel announced.

Temporary Hiatus

My computer had a technical problem and is being fixed, currently. Therefore, the weekly chapter on Tuesday will not be posted until the following week.

In the meantime, why don’t we have a guessing game? Please post about which you think Kael will face in the final round? Laura? Or the Eldest of the Dragon Quintuplets?

Edit: Thank you for waiting. My computer has been fixed and I can now commence with writing the rest of the next chapter.

TAOSAT- Chapter 37 Part 1

The next day they waved goodbye before emerging once more into the open air. On the way back, Sora stretched and said, “Well, that went well, didn’t it?”

Leif nodded and grinned. “Yes. But, if I recall, the last time we were here, you chucked a rock at my head.”

Sora stuck her tongue out. “Yeah, and you deserved it too.” She teased.

He nodded in mock sincerity. “True, but an offense against the royal head is not so easily forgotten.”

Sora rolled her eyes. “Prithee, milord, what can I do to appease thy mighty wrath?” She asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I thought you’d never ask~!” Leif played off her words, an angelic smile on his face.

Sora made a sour face. “I didn’t mean it literally!”

Leif was still grinning. “And yet you did say the words, and I shall hold you to them. In order to appease my wrath, you should sing us a song.”

Sora stared at him, incredulously. “A song?”

“Yes. It’s so dull just walking, so, for our express entertainment, you shall sing us a song from your world.”

Sora’s espression was troubled. “That’s all very well and all, but what shall I sing?” She muttered.

“Anything you want to, you’re the one singing it, after all.” Leif replied candidly.

“Ah~! Maybe this one?” She started singing Pharrel’s Happy, keeping time by clapping her hands and snapping her fingers.

When she finished, Leif looked very contemplative. “So, basically, it’s about someone who’s in a good mood? Quite repetitive, but catchy, like an echo. And what is a hot air balloon?”

Sora sighed. “In short, it’s a flying machine that uses the properties of hot air to keep it afloat. But the singer was using it as a metaphor for how happy he was.”

She shrugged. “It sounded better when he sang it with the chorus anyways.”

“Hmm…” Leif said. “Your world has a very…interesting sort of music.” Sora smiled. “That was only a common song. I suppose you’d enjoy Mozart or Bach’s symphonies better, but unfortunately I can’t sing those.”

“Why not? You have a somewhat pleasant voice, after all.” Leif asked.

Sora made a wry smile. “Because they’re purely instrumental music pieces which require an orchestra compose of more than several instruments which I’m pretty sure don’t exist here, currently.”

“Ah. That would make things difficult, yes.” Leif nodded in understanding.

Around sunset, they arrived at the glamden forest. Sora was looking forward to another ride on the elevator.

Tseng suddenly recalled his sudden and severe illness. “Hey. Do you mind if I wait here whilst you lot take care of things? I-I’m pretty tired. I might just rest up here for a while instead.”

“Why whatever do you mean?” Kenmei asked, wickedly. “As the hero that managed to save the relationship between cities, it would hardly be polite to not make an appearance~.”

Tseng glared at Kenmei sourly. He couldn’t keep denying it. He couldn’t think of a good enough excuse this time.

“A-alright then. Fine. You got me. Truth is, I-I’m no good with heights, okay!?” He hoped the others wouldn’t laugh at him.

All of a sudden, Kenmei could not put up with Tseng’s weakness anymore. He got up behind Tseng and knocked him out with his fist. Then he looked up at the other two, who were looking at him, shocked and surprised.

They all stood there for a few moments. “…It’s the fastest way to get him up there.” He said after the long awkward pause.

“Oh.” Was all that Sora said at that time. Well, that was all she found she could say, since she was not quite sure what to say in this situation.

Leif cleared his throat and changed the subject. “Well, then! We should go before the sun goes down. They’ll stop running the elevator, and then we’ll have to either make do, or use the other way up.”

“‘Other way’?” Sora asked. “You mean there’s another way to get into the city? Like a spiral staircase or something?”

“Heavens, no!” Leif exclaimed. “Stairs would take FOREVER to climb! I was talking about the flying Raccoon squad. They come to pick up people after they’ve missed the last run…or to take care of shady individuals who try to invade.” He sighed. “Honestly, all that happened a long time ago, but my father made it an actual position in the royal court.”

“Oh! Kind of like knights!” Sora said.

“Except none of them would be stupid enough to wear heavy full plate armor while riding a flying rodent.” Leif replied. “While we do have some plate armors which have weight reduction spells, those are far too expensive to make for an entire squad.”

They all climbed onto the elevator, with Kenmei lugging Tseng like a sack of potatoes again.

On the way up, Sora ruminated on the last time they ascended in the elevator. Then she began to realize something. “So, that means everytime we went somewhere high up…” She turned on Kenmei. “You were making fun of him!”

Kenmei didn’t say anything. He just looked off to the side.

Sora pointed. “AHAH! You won’t stare me straight in the eyes. It IS true, isn’t it?!”

At that moment, the elevator lurched as they arrived at the top.

Sora was about to go on attack with a barrage of questions, but Kenmei quickly blocked it by suddenly dumping Tseng on Sora. Then he took off into the city to get some sweets.

“HEY! THAT’S NOT NICE!” Sora yelled after him, but couldn’t do much with the unconscious Tseng weighing her down.

Leif helped lift Tseng. “We should probably wake him up first.” He said, trying to help.

A bucket of icy water did the trick.

Tseng woke up, spluttering and wet.

He coughed and gasped. “Aaagh! I’m drowning! Wait…Where am I?! What’s happening!?”

Sora looked away, inwardly fuming at Kenmei. “You’re in the elves’ city again. KENMEI knocked you out for the ride up. And now he dumped you on us and fled the scene.”

She muttered under her breath, loud enough for Tseng to hear. “Just wait until I find you, Kenmei! I’ll feed you a whole batch of sour qwonkas!” (A.N: Qwonkas are the sweetest fruit ever, unless they’re unripe. Then they’re the sourest fruit ever.)

“Oh…right.” Tseng felt embarrassed as he rubbed his head. It was strangely sore for some reason. Ah, that’s right. He knocked me out. That Jerk!

Somewhere in the city, Kenmei sneezed. “Weird? Am I getting a cold?” He discarded the idea. “There’s no way! Dragons never get colds.” And continued on his way.

Sora grinned. “Let’s get him back together!” She held out a hand to Tseng. “It’s better if there’s two in on it!”

“Make that three!” Leif raised his hand. “I don’t really have any personal grievance, but if there’s any mischief going on in the city, I want in on it!” He offered Tseng a hand so that he could stand up. “Well?”

Tseng grinned and took his hand, pulling himself to his feet.. “Yeah! Why not. It’s about time I got payback on him for all the times he’s teased me. Now that I think about it, I’ve got a lot of stuff to get him back for.” Tseng’s white teeth glinted as he broke into an evil grin.

He also placed his hand in the center of the pile of hands.

“Mission payback is a go!” Sora said as they all raised their arms to the sky.

Tseng grinned wickedly as he turned to Sora. “So, what’s the plan? And how are we going to get him?”

Sora smiled. “First, we’ll need some sour qwonkas…”

Leif grinned. “I could help you with that. There’s a whole bunch of qwonka trees in the castle garden! What then?”

Sora nodded. “Okay. We have the qwonkas. Now comes the hard part.” Sora looked at Tseng. “Tseng, you and I will have to forgive Kenmei.”

“Right. Wait, what?” Tseng exclaimed.

“Why? Why do we need to do that?” Leif asked.

“I thought we were going to get revenge!” Tseng was confused.

“And we are! I don’t mean you actually have to forgive him, but we need to convince him of the fact that we HAVE forgiven him. If he thinks we still haven’t forgiven him, anything we give him will be super suspicious. But, if we pretend it’s all swept under the rug, then he’ll let his guard down.”

“I see then. Eh…fine. So, we give him these qwonkas…” Tseng began to understand.

“Yep~! If we couldn’t find qwonkas, I’d probably go with plan B-getting elvish sweets and stuffing them with spicy Halphetoes (A.N: equivalent of spiciest pepper around). But the qwonkas are actually the key to the plan, because we’re gonna make him apologize to us. And do you know how we’re gonna do that?” She asked the other two.

Tseng looked at Leif, clueless.

Leif looked back, equally clueless. “How?” He asked.

Sora smiled. “By telling him ‘the legend of the qwonka fruit’.”

Leif looked at her, blankly. “But there’s no such legend!” He said, still confused.

Sora shook her head. “No, there isn’t now.” She grinned. “But, by the time we’re finished, there will be!”

“The legend will go like this…” Sora outlined the story that she wanted to tell him.

“In the end, he’ll want the qwonkas to taste good again, so he’ll apologize.” Sora said.

“But they’ll keep tasting bad.” She grinned. “Until we’re done, and that’s what the plan is!”

Leif looked at her, surprised at the well-formulated plan. “I’m glad I’m not your enemy.” He said, in admiration. “Your plots could rival the genius of our greatest strategist groups!”

I pity your strategic groups. Sora inwardly sighed. This was simply a cakewalk for her.

Leif looked at the dimming twilight. “Well, I should head back to the palace and make my report. I’ll see you two tomorrow!” He waved goodbye, then headed towards the palace.

“Ah! That’s right!” Sora exclaimed. “We need to book some rooms at the inn!” They hurried away.

-The next day-

The streets were crowded with people bustling here and there, getting ready for a grand ball that was going to take place. Fairies zoomed about above them like a swarm of dragonflies, carrying invitations. One such fairy landed on Tseng’s head. “Hey! Remember me?” She asked, leaning over so that Tseng could see her.

Tseng smiled. “Oh, hey! Pan, right? It feels like a long time since I last saw you. Looking forward to tonight?”

“I sure am! They say that a great magician’s going to be there, and a brand-new creation by the smith-mages in honor of our renewed alliance.” The fairy’s eyes lit up. “The smith mages always manage to make something amazing! I bet it’ll be some kind of magic device!”

She flitted over to a nearby railing. “I’m going to be there too!”

Sora came out of the shop she had been in. “We’re all set for tonight. The surprise for Kenmei too.” She said, and then turned her attention to Tseng’s little visitor. Truthfully, she had noticed her earlier, but she felt she had to give Tseng the good news, first.

“Hello! You were with him the last time we were here, too, weren’t you? Your name was…” She paused as she realized that they hadn’t been introduced.

“Oh, this is Pan! Pan, this is Sora.” Tseng went through the formalities. “I’m also travelling with a dragon named Kenmei, but he’s not here right now. I’ll introduce you tonight if you want.”

Chapter 96: Blessing in Disguise

The Minstrel, the Eldest Twin, Laura, and Kael stood just below the stage, waiting for the announcer to call out the names for the matches. There were only three matches left: two fights between the four of them, and the last fight between the remaining two. Then after that would be the bonus round, but it turned out that Kael’s grasp of the bonus round was wrong.

He wouldn’t have to fight every one of the last sixteen contestants. Instead, each contestant could only challenge one level above them. So, worst case scenario was that he would have to fight with second place again. For this bit of practicality, Kael was very thankful.

The tense feeling in the air seemed charged with muffled excitement. Even the crowd was infected with it to the point where they couldn’t quite keep still in their seats. Three fights left, and there would be a winner.

Kael stared ahead at the stage in front of him. Three fights left, and they could leave this dangerous place. Three fights left, and he would win. His heart thumped louder in anticipation.

The announcer finally appeared, glancing sternly down at the stage.

That brat isn’t finished yet? He has the luck of a millennial rabbit! The man muttered sourly in his heart. But these last few battles will not be so easy as he’ll expect them to be. Perhaps he’ll be defeated in this round.

The announcer ignored the growing sense that perhaps this lad that he had been despising all this time, may yet be the winner this time. He cleared his throat.

“The next match will be the Minstrel against Briar.” That meant that the following match would be Laura against the final twin. Kael nodded and stepped up onto the stage, along with his opponent, the Minstrel. This was yet another fight that was somewhat difficult.

How does one protect themselves from sound? Sure, Briar could just magic up a sound barrier, quick. But Kael was only able to use martial spirit. How could he defend himself from the distractive mental attacks that the Minstrel was so good at?

At this point, the Minstrel strummed his lyre, and spoke to Kael. “You should just give up while you have the chance. There isn’t anyone that can beat my sonic strings attack. You could even be seriously injured or killed with one attack.” As Kael had expected, the Minstrel was hiding his true power.

Kael simply stood there nonetheless, a polite smile on his face. “Indeed, it sounds very dangerous.” He agreed. “Thank you for the warning.”

“I’m not joking. You should retreat while you still can. Since I admire your strength, I encourage you to step down. It isn’t too late for you to keep your life.” The Minstrel urged again.

“Thank you. But I’m afraid I must disagree. Although you fear for my life, my life is not something easily taken.” Kael replied amiably.

The Minstrel’s face distorted. “I’m advising you not to throw your life away! How can you keep it, if you are so dogged determined to waste it!”

“Many thanks for your advice, but the life of a Martial Practitioner is not one for those who cower in the face of death.” Kael pointed out. “As a man, I know you understand what I’m saying.”

“Fine! Then let’s hope you are as strong as you think you are.” The Minstrel gave up trying to convince Kael otherwise, and positioned his hand over the strings as he waited for the announcer to start the match. I thought he was smart, but it turns out he’s just another fool stupid enough to stand in my way. He thought.

Kael, on the other hand, although he appeared quite relaxed, was actually on high alert. Sonic strings? What kind of an attack was that? Did it use compressed sound-waves to cut through the air? Or was the sound at such a frequency that it directly cut through the brain?

The former type seemed hard to pinpoint. The latter was unlikely, considering how close the man was to the origin of the sound. Either way, he had to be able to avoid the attack first, before he could take the Minstrel down. He had to stop the devil’s music.

“And so! The Third match before the Final with Briar against The Minstrel! BEGIN!” The Announcer waved his hand down with a flourish. But, both sides remained stationary, as if they were frozen in place.

“What are you doing? You’re supposed to be fighting me, right? Why do you not try to get near me?” The Minstrel asked.

Kael flashed a toothy grin. “I could say the same thing for you. Why are you not trying to kill me with your sonic strings? If it is as formidable as you say it is, then this little bit of distance shouldn’t stymie it in the least!”

“If I did that, then there wouldn’t be much of a fight. It’s too pitiful to rob the audience of a show simply for a quick victory.” The Minstrel replied.

From this, Kael had gathered several pieces of information.

1. Sonic Strings definitely had a distance limit-and was at its most powerful in short range.
2. For something to be that powerful, it must use up a lot of Martial Spirit.
3. The Minstrel was unwilling to use it unless he was certain that he had a 100% chance of hitting his mark. And, finally:
4. To win the match, Kael must deal with the Minstrel from a distance.

A challenge, to be sure, but at least Kael now had a plan of action.

“The match has already begun! If no fighting ensues within one minute, the both of you shall be disqualified.” The Announcer said sternly, but inside, he was tickled with glee. Finally! An opportunity to throw this ruffian out of the competition! What luck!

But then Kael laughed. “Indeed, it seems I was overthinking things. Let us fight to our hearts content, today!” And with that, he concentrated his martial spirit into his legs, and used the martial technique: Meteor Charge.

Interestingly enough, even though Kael couldn’t use magic, everything seemed to slow down for him a lot, and become crystal clear. He could see every detail in slow motion. And so, he managed to catch upon precisely what the Minstrel’s Sonic Strings attack was.

Immediately, the Minstrel quickly struck his strings with a swift arm, the vibration of the strings with Martial Spirit cast a sort of vaccuum blade out into the air. It cut through the air, slicing towards Kael, who was barreling towards the blade at a similar sonic speed.

The vacuum blade reached Kael and cut him in two.

In only a moment, it was all over.

The outcome was clear. Kael stood there, then looked at his chest, where the blade had cut through, then looked up at the Minstrel. The Minstrel just sighed.

“I told you it was dangerous, you idiot! Why did you run right into it!?” He asked, puzzled, but then froze as a knife blade was placed against his neck.

“I heard you. That is why I’m still alive.” Kael said from behind him.

“But, how-?” The Minstrel asked, looking back to the Kael in front of him, which vanished like a ghost.

“You must be pretty thick not to see through a simple ghost evasion.” Kael laughed. “You can stop trying to sabotage me. Those strings were severed a moment ago.”

The Minstrel glanced down at his lyre only to discover the absence of strings of any sort. They had been severed completely, leaving the arches filled with nothing but air. Then he sighed.

“I suppose this is a somewhat better end than the one which I had orchestrated.” He said. “All right. I give up. You win.” He dropped his broken lyre and raised his arms in defeat.

“Briar is the winner!” The Announcer affirmed as the crowd cheered.

“Defeat, huh? Well, even if you had won, I’d doubt you could win your next match.” Kael noted in a muted tone, so that others couldn’t hear.

“Ahahah. It looks like I’ve been seen through completely! You’re right. With that last attack, I’ve completely exhausted my martial spirit, otherwise, I might have played a bit longer with you.” The Minstrel admitted in a similar tone, reaching to Kael for a handshake.

“What ‘longer’? You were always intending to finish this in one move.” Kael snorted as he shook the Minstrel’s hand.

“As were you, it seems.” The Minstrel replied.

“You’re pretty impressive, though.” Kael said, as he began to move towards the stairs behind the Minstrel. When their shoulders drew level, the Minstrel heard Kael’s last words. “To force me, a red class, to use two moves to defeat you. If we were equally in the same class, I’m not sure if I would be able to defeat you.”

The Minstrel’s eyes widened as he turned around to look towards Kael. Defeated by a red class? Huh. I suppose that’s not a dishonorable defeat. He smiled helplessly. But, still…a fifteen-year old red class? I’m looking forward to hearing about him in the future! That day, the Minstrel resolved never to get on Briar’s bad side.

—————

“Good Job! You’ve been so lucky with your opponents! Always able to finish so quickly.” Laura teased, as Kael stepped down from the stage.

“Luck is a part of strength, too.” Kael replied. “And yours seems to be particularly bad. Keep your guard up. I’m afraid your opponent is playing the pig to eat the tiger.”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Laura asked. Then Kael remembered that the expression was from her previous life.

“I mean he’s hiding his true strength.” Kael said as he glanced over towards the opposite side of the stage. “If your not careful, you’ll be beaten without even knowing how it was done.”

“Hmmph! Who are you to tell me that I’ll be beaten? Just watch me! I’ll beat him so quickly, you’ll have no time to recover even a bit of Martial Spirit!” Laura argued as she jumped up on stage. “”Then I’ll definitely defeat you!”

“I’m looking forward to it. But first, you have to finish your fight against your opponent.” Briar pointed towards the eldest of the dragon twins, who had stepped onto the stage. Laura looked at her opponent disdainfully for a moment, but when she turned back, Kael was already walking away from the stage.

“Good luck! I’d be careful not to take my eyes off him, though.” He said.

“What do you mean?” Laura turned back and blinked. Since when had that boy gotten to the middle of the stage?

Kael jumped up into Madam Rothema’s booth, directly, again. But, once he was out of the sight of public eye, he collapsed on a nearby chair.

“Remind me never to do two martial techniques simultaneously!” He said with a bitter face, as his legs twinged with pain. Doubling up on leg techniques had definitely torn several muscles in his legs. But that final jump had been the icing on the cake. Kael was unsure if he’d be recovered before Laura was finished.

“Heck, I could’ve told you the same thing beforehand, if only you’d asked.” Briar said. “I’m sure you tore a lot of muscle to do something stupid like that. Let’s fix that up.” As Briar concentrated on the spell, a magic circle appeared underneath Kael, with healing light glowing from it.

“Huh?” Briar was confused. Usually, unless it was physically drawn, a magic circle would not appear. “That’s definitely new…” She pondered. Kael grit his teeth as the feeling of muscle and tendon being knit back together was not actually that pleasant. It felt like an army of red ants had decided to crawl up his legs.

Rothema was also interested in the unusual phenomenon.

“Perhaps, is it because he is your double?” She asked. “Using a magic circle to create him might have induced some sort of restriction that any magic used on him be visible to him.”

“Really?” Briar asked Rothema. “Then, would it be different if you placed a spell on him? Or is it just me?”

Rothema snapped a finger and a second magic circle appeared, floating just above the first magic circle. “It appears that it’s the same for other spells. How odd! Well, I can definitely say that it may yet turn out to be a blessing in disguise.”

TAOSAT- Chapter 23 Part 1

A blast of cold air suddenly assaulted them. “Brrrr…w-what? That was too quick! I didn’t expect magical transport to be so fast.” Tseng rubbed his arms and sat up, looking about them “…Nor the first destination to be so cold.”

Since they were there, there was something here which was necessary, but those three sure weren’t dressed for weather like this. Tseng felt his stomach churn, upset from the sudden journey though time and space.  The temperature had dropped drastically in the last 10 seconds. They had landed on a bed of snow.

What is all this cold white stuff? Tseng wondered, grabbing a handful of it. Could this possibly be…yes, it’s snow! He briefly remember it from childhood. Once, just once, he had seen it from a distance as had journeyed to the mountains to visit relatives. When was that? …Back when my mother was still alive I think.

Even though Tseng was cold, he was still grinning. He had never seen so much snow before. Pulling himself up, he grabbed some snow and shaped it with his hands, then threw it at Kenmei. Both Kenmei and Sora were both still pulling themselves off the ground.

“Come on slowpokes!”

Kenmei winced as it slipped down his coat collar. Since he was a dragon, he was perfectly fine in cold weather, but it still was an unpleasant feeling to have snow in your collar. “I’ll get you for that!” He muttered. Sora was stuck in the snowbank, flailing her arms around as she tried to free herself from the snow, but to no avail. “Hey! Help me out! I’m stuck!”

Kenmei stood up, and made his way through the deep snow drift to where Sora was stuck, about four steps away, extending his hand for her to grab. She came up, snow clinging to her clothes in clumps, which she tried to brush off, but it smeared, getting her clothes even more covered with snow. Giving up, she grabbed a snowball and lobbed it at Tseng, with excellent aim. “Who’s the slowpoke now!” She ducked behind Kenmei as Tseng returned fire.

“AAAH! NO STAY AWAY!” She shrieked laughing as she ran away, but she ran into a patch of deep snow, and tripped, landing face first. Struggling to get up, she spit snow out of her mouth. Somehow managing to flip herself face up, she stiffened. Where was Tseng? A huge blob of snow came from behind, half-burying her as she tried to get up. “HEY! NO FAIR!” She cried.

Kenmei once more rescued her from the snowbank. Even while giggling, Sora was shivvering with cold.

“For goodness sakes! Can’t you stay out of the snow? You must be freezing cold by now!” Kenmei fussed. A well pronounced sneeze from Sora served to prove his point.

“See? We need to find somewhere where you two can warm up, and possibly get some warmer clothes.” He said. “After all, I may be fine, but you two can’t go running around the place like this! You’ll freeze in less than a day!”

Sora knew he was right. That brief contact with snow had already made it so that she couldn’t feel her fingers. She rubbed them together, trying to warm them up. In the end, they wrapped themselves in the blankets they’d been using for tents, but it was nowhere near warm enough.

“T-then, Kenmei, w-where do you t-think we should go? I c-can’t see anything like t-that around here.”

Kenmei closed his eyes. “There’s smoke on the wind, so I think that way is our best bet.” He pointed North, into the breeze that had started up.

“Achoo!” Sora sneezed again.

“And from the sound of that sneeze, we’d better hurry. The sooner the better!” Kenmei added.

“Hey, Sora, if you’re cold, why not just make a fire or something? What’s the point of having all that powerful magic if you’re not going to use it in situations like this?” Tseng was shivering like mad now. He’d never felt this cold before, which is why he was walking much slower than he usually did. The uncertain footing underneath the snow did nothing to help solve the problem, either. He wasn’t quite sure if he still liked snow all that much anymore…

“She can’t.” Kenmei answered.

“Unlike us dragons, Sora’s fire magic takes its heat from the surrounding area. And this place is far from warm. If Sora tried fire magic now, it would take it from within herself, which would make her freeze while the rest of us were warmed.”

Sora sneezed again. “I’d app-p-preciate it if-f you did-dn’t make it-t sound s-so us-seless, K-Kenmei.” She chattered through her teeth. “I c-can understa-stand my own p-problem, b-but w-what keeps y-you from m-making f-fire?” Sora’s shivering was getting worse.

Kenmei’s ears drooped. “Well, I would, but I’ve never breathed fire before. I don’t have my spark yet. You have to be old enough to breathe fire as a dragon, and, since I was on my own for the most part, I never really learned when that was.”

Sora pushed further, “W-well, h-have y-you ev-ver t-tri-tried?” Sora wasn’t accusing Kenmei, but simply asking a question.

“Yeah! I mean, you’re a dragon, if you can’t do it, who can? Why not try reciting a spell like the magicians do? And does this mean you’re still technically a child, in dragon terms?” Tseng added. He thought it felt weird thinking about Kenmei from a dragon’s perspective. Kenmei was already way older than Tseng was-but to a dragon, Kenmei was really no different from a hatchling in age?

“I don’t think it works like that. Dragon magic is…different from human magic.” Kenmei said, not precisely able to find the right words. “And yes, I have tried, but…not recently. I wonder if It’s even possible in this form?” Sora was starting to walk slower as she grew colder, her footing less secure.

“I-I C-changed y-your s-shape, n-not y-your n-nature.” Sora mumbled through chattering teeth.

Kenmei was worried about Sora.”Are you okay? Would it be better for me to carry you?” Sora shook her head, but about fifteen minutes later, she slipped on a patch of ice and fell into the snow again.

“That’s it, up you go!” Kenmei said, hoisting her up. She made a feeble gesture of resistance, but gave up when it was clear that Kenmei wasn’t going to let her down.

Kenmei turned to Tseng. “The smell of woodsmoke is stronger now, it shouldn’t be too far away now. Can you keep walking until then?”

Tseng was still shivering, and couldn’t keep his teeth still. They kept chattering, which made it hard to get a full sentence out. “Sh-sh-sh… sure. S-s-seriously th-though, d-do we h-have any s-s-spare b-b-blankets? A-anything? I-I can’t f-f-f-feel my f-feet anymore, I th-think.”

Just then, he spotted a wooden hut in the far distance. There didn’t appear to be any other huts around though. This couldn’t be the next village just yet, but huts on their own would need a nearby supply point, which meant that a village was definitely close-by. Tseng just wasn’t sure if he could walk much further in this cold. Maybe it was best to stop there for a short while…

“O-over there! A h-house!” Tseng pointed.

Kenmei looked to where Tseng was pointing. “It’s closer than the village, so it’ll have to do.” Kenmei sighed. “We have to get Sora out of the cold anyways. It would do no good for either of you to get frostbite.”

After what seemed like forever, they arrived at the hut, and Kenmei knocked on the door. No one answered, so he tried it and it was unlocked.

“I hate intruding, but this is an emergency.” he grumbled as he opened the door, carrying Sora inside. He put her next to the fire, which had burned low until it was almost coals, and threw more wood on it, quickly bringing it up to a blazing flame.

Tseng held his hands out to the blaze.” We should hurry up and leave as soon as we’ve warmed up. I don’t feel right intruding into someone else’s home like this, even if we do need to stay here.”

Kenmei nodded. “Me neither, but we couldn’t risk it. It’s best that we warm up and leave for the village as soon as possible.”

As soon as he said that, the kitchen door opened to a snow-covered figure wearing furs.

He’d noticed the entrance door was slightly ajar when he’d trecked back from the woods with a pile of logs. It didn’t look like an animal broke in, or there would have been more damage. But who else would be out here in the snow right now? No one from the village had any reason to be here, especially when a storm was expected, which is why he’d finished chopping wood early.

Suspicious, the man grabbed a pan from the kitchen and tiptoed towards the living area. He could hear muffled voices ahead. So, it was people…let’s hope it’s not unwanted company. He held the pan in a defensive mode, and slowly opened the door, only to be surpised by the sight of two small children and a man.

Trying to get a grasp of the situation, he asked gruffly. “What’s going on? What are you doing in my house?” He could see the taller one begin to move. “No need to get up. You can stay right where you are. But I expect an answer. I’m not afraid of getting rough.”

The threat of attack didn’t really bother Kenmei much, but he decided to do as the person said in order to seem not so threatening. He sat down on the ground and raised his hands to show that he had no weapons.

“I’m sorry for intruding, but we suddenly found ourselves in this frozen place without the proper clothing or preparations. And the young ones were in danger of frostbite, so I had no choice but to enter the first hut that we came across. And you weren’t in, otherwise I would have asked your permission first.”

The man narrowed his eyes, inspecting the three, cautiously. The two kids really did look very cold, and, looking around, they hadn’t touched anything aside from the fireplace. “Alright…fine. It looks like both of us were surprised at this turn of events. Although your story sounds suspicious, I’ll overlook it for the sake of those two kids.” He placed the frying pan down nearby.

Kenmei nodded his head. “Thank you. As soon as we’ve warmed up, we’ll take our leave.”

“That won’t be possible.” The man replied.

“Huh? Why not?” Tseng asked. As soon as he said that, the house shuddered as a howling wind brought a blinding snowstorm to cover the house.

TAOSAT- Chapter 20 Part 2

Kenmei started towards the crowd.

“Sora, will you be all right?” He called. She was just a hatchling, after all. It was too young for her to engage in territorial disputes. The huge man turned towards the new voice.

“Is this brat yours?” He growled, his face a deep shade of red as veins popped out on his face. Sora waved at Kenmei. “It’s okay, Kenmei. Everything’s perfectly fine!”

The huge man grinned savagely. “So, she IS yours. I don’t like to whale on children, so you’ll have to take responsibility!” He growled as the group of men moved to surrround Kenmei.

“One-on one until one of us collapses!” The man announced. His mates cheered him on as he advanced on Kenmei.

“Wait! I don’t want to fight you!” Kenmei protested as he easily avoided the man’s fist. Large though he was, Kenmei could easily predict and evade the man’s straighforward attacks. After Kenmei evaded a few more swings, the man lost his patience and roared out.

“Fight me like a man, you coward!” Kenmei awkwardly put up his fists, and dodged again. Then he thumped the man on the back of his head lightly so that he wouldn’t kill him. The man dropped, unconscious onto the cobblestones.

“IF YOU ALL ARE QUITE FINISHED.” Kenmei said in a calm but solemn manner, his eyes flashing bright green.

“Here they are, Mister Guardsman! A whole bunch of them fighting in this back alley here!” Tseng called out to someone outside of the alley. Hearing that, the group dispersed quicker than you could say ‘Guard’, and soon the alley was emptied.

Tseng grinned, since he had somehow managed to trick a whole crowd of grown musclemen into leaving. Kenmei walked up to where Sora and the lady were standing.

“Sora!” He said sternly.”Why in the world would you do such a dangerous thing?!” Sora looked up.

“Hmm? Isn’t it because we found the time traveler?” She asked. “If we had left her alone, we would’ve never found her again, I’m sure.”

The white-haired lady laughed. “Oh my! Such an observant young girl you are!” She chuckled. “And why would you think that?”

Sora looked up at her, unabashed. “It’s because I caught a glimpse of your magic just now. You fixed a pot that had been broken earlier while everyone was concentrating on the fight. But the way it was fixed is what caught my eye. It was as if I was watching time rewind. Therefore, you must be a time traveler.”

The Lady smiled. “Oh, my, you saw that? How bothersome! All right, I suppose I could listen to you three, since I got to see something good.” She glanced over at Kenmei.

“After all, it isn’t every day that I see one of the dragon-kind walking the streets.” Kenmei’s eyes grew wide.

“But-how-?”

Her eyes narrowed as she smiled wider. “All will be revealed in time. But, please, you must be tired from your journey. Come to my house so that we can talk.” She turned and led them through the several back streets, arriving at a cozy-looking stone house in the upper section of the city.

Once they were all settled inside, she brought a tray with three cups of steaming liquid to the table.

“Tea?”

Sora accepted, blowing carefully on it before sipping. it tasted like sunshine. Sora had to check to make sure she wasn’t glowing. Kenmei accepted a cup, but didn’t drink it immediately.

“So” He began. “What gave it away? -the fact that I am a dragon, that is.” He asked.

The lady smiled. “Well, judging from the construction of the spell, and the dragon-like features peeking through, it wasn’t too hard to guess.” Sitting down at the table, she took out a scroll of paper and placed it on the table before her. She then summoned a quill pen from one of the inkstands on her desk across the room, and placed a pair of spectacles on her nose.

“Now then, on to business! What is it that you wish me to do?” Sora and Kenmei looked expectantly at Tseng, the one whose grandmother was friends with this lady.

Tseng had never met a time traveler before. Glancing around, her room was decorated with scented candles and exotic fabrics. Everywhere else was packed with magic tomes, herbs, and magic knick-knacks. Some items looked very old, whilst some He’d never seen before. In his admiration, he’d quite forgotten what to say. Finally, he remembered.

“Oh…Oh! That’s right! Granny Elder, my grandma, is an old friend of yours. We were wondering if you could help my friend, Sora, to get back to her world. Since we knew you were into time travel, I thought you may know how to travel to…”

Tseng struggled to think of a word to describe where she came from.”…Lands, but ones that can only be reached through special methods. That don’t exist under the same sky. Sora came through some kind of “portal”, but now she can’t return that way home…”

He glanced over at Sora again…was she still holding hands with Kenmei? That strange feeling hit him again, right in the chest. Wait…I couldn’t possibly be jealous of HIM, could I? He wondered. Nah, that can’t be. There’s no way. He made a conscious decision to avoid looking at those two, in order to reign in this strange feeling of his.

“A tall order, indeed.” The lady mused. “If you were a normal customer, then I would have refused. But since you’re Elder’s grandchild, I’ll tell you the truth. A portal of the caliber that you are speaking of is made of special materials which are usually scattered throughout time and space. While I indeed have the knowledge and the power to create such a portal, I do not have the materials.”

The words hung in the air for a moment or two. “However,” The lady added “I will make a bargain with you. I will lend you a certain item which will draw you towards the items I need of you. If you will go and gather them up, I will make the portal you ask for.”

Sora stood up, accidentally letting go of Kenmei’s hand.

“You mean it?!” Sora grinned.

“Sora…” Kenmei gently reminded her.

She turned back to Kenmei. Green scales were now appearing on his face and hands. “Oh!” She gasped and grabbed his hand again. The scales disappeared. The lady smiled.

“I’ll also give you a catalyst for that spell you’re using, Sora. It will help to maintain it even while you aren’t in the vicinity.” She got up and murmured something, waving her hands at the shelves. Sora heard a rustling sound before two things flew out from the shelves, neatly landing on the table.

The lady picked up one of them, a golden ear cuff. “This will help to stabilize that spell you’re using. It will make it so that the spell will work if the dragon is wearing it. You should consider adding a word-switch that would make the spell able to be used repeatedly.”

The lady then held up the other item.

It was a small-handsized wand-shaped object. “This is a magical compass. It will lead you to that which you need, even if it is scattered through time and space. Please stay the night, and you can be on your way in the morning. The guest rooms already have your names added to them.”

Sora nodded, then looked up again. “I have a question!” She announced.

The Lady smiled. “Very well, then. What is your question?”

“Sometimes, when I use a lot of magic power, my hair will grow really fast! But sometimes, when I’m using spells like invisibility, or Kenmei’s human appearance spell, it doesn’t grow at all. Why is that?” Sora asked.

Camilla’s eyes sparkled as she asked. “Oh? So you are one of the ones who have magic hair then? How unusual!” She looked out the window, considering things before answering.

“It isn’t really well known why some people have their hair grow after casting spells. Some magic theorists think that it’s a sign that you have surpassed your Mana capacity, and the hair growth is the body’s way of ejecting the excess power before it causes you harm. But there are still many magicians who surpass their capacity without having their hair grow. We’ve come to call those who have this phenomenon as ‘Possessors of Magic Hair’ but since those who have it are few and far between, it’s quite difficult to get down to the true reason why their hair grows.”

Camilla glanced at Sora. “But, there is one theorist that says that spells that have continuous effects, or spells that are well within the magician’s capacity will not trigger the magic hair growth. And several separate studied incidents have been made in which this theory has been proven correct. It has also been proven that Possessors of Magic Hair growth have greater capacities to do more powerful spells than usual magicians.”

“Huh. So does that make the hair a storage compartment for magic power?” Sora asked.

“It looks like you catch on quick. Yes, the quick growth isn’t the only reason why it’s called ‘Magic Hair’. It’s also been discovered that the hair itself is able to store magic power inside of it. There have been cases where Magic Hair has been used to supplement magic power in the creation of certain potions and magic items. So, I wouldn’t let others know about your situation, if I were you.” The lady smiled craftily.

Tseng went slightly on alert, seeing that smile. If magicians really did want to get their hands on magic hair, could he guarantee that Granny Elder’s friend wouldn’t do the same?

“Ah! In that case, I have something for you.” Sora said, remembering something. Digging her hand into her bag, Sora brought out her half of the hair that had been cut off in Chief Guo’s village. It had been gathered together with a string wrapped around the middle.

“Oh? Are you trying to buy my silence by giving me all of that?” The lady asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No?” Sora tipped her head to the side. “Granny Elder’s friend isn’t someone that needs bribes to keep quiet.” Camilla’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. Tseng facepalmed at Sora’s seemingly naïve trust in this mysterious person.

“But,” Sora continued. “You can probably put this to good use, right? Time travelers must need a lot of expensive magic items. And I also feel a bit bad about you helping us so much without any payment. So, I thought, if this is such a rare item, then surely it can help cover the costs for your help, right?” She beamed a dazzling smile.

Camilla closed her eyes and smiled. Then she chuckled and laughed out loud to the point where she had to wipe tears out of her eyes.

“Not bad, little one! There are many people who expect my help without payment, or trying to downplay my work. But I’ve never had a client that considered my help expensive! But…You don’t really know how valuable that hair you’re holding is, do you?” She asked Sora.

Sora once more tilted her head to the side, looking at the hair in front of her. “Hmm…I dunno. But taking into account the rarity and random occurrence, it should be something that only nobles or the king could purchase, I think.” Sora replied.

“That is one smart head on your shoulders.” Camilla grinned. “You’re correct. Actually, it’s something so expensive that even the kings of small kingdoms can’t even get their hands on a single strand of it; it’s that valuable. The value of the amount that you have in front of you is enough to buy this entire kingdom, the next one over, and another small one besides it. It’s that valuable. And here you say that you’re just giving it to me?”

Tseng’s eyes widened the more he heard. But what he heard next shook him at his core.

“It doesn’t matter to me.” Sora said.

“Huh?” Tseng reflexively said. WHAT IS THIS PERSON SAYING? He had thought that by now, he couldn’t be surprised at anything Sora did anymore. It turned out, he was mistaken.

“Value differs from person to person. Therefore, in your hands, it’s that valuable. But to me, it’s just a handful of hair. I can’t use it, and it takes up space in my luggage. I can’t sell it because normal buyers couldn’t afford it. So, instead of letting it rot in my hands, I think it’s better off in the hands of the person it can shine in. If you think so highly of it, then why don’t you consider it an investment in your research?”

“But, Sora! You can buy a whole country with that! A whole country!” Tseng burst out.

Sora looked at Tseng. “What do I need a whole country for?” She asked. “Can a whole country get me home? Can I carry it back with me? Instead of holding onto something that I can’t use. I might as well put it somewhere where it can be of good use instead. Besides, Granny Elder’s friend knows a lot more about magic than I do, so she’ll know what to do with this.”

Tseng sighed and smiled lop-sidedly. This was Sora. She could own a fortune without knowing about it, but she would still give it away to someone she appreciated without reserve. Camilla, upon seeing that Tseng had also agreed to the transaction, snapped her fingers and the hair floated up, disappearing around a corner.

“Well, now that we have concluded negotiations, I suppose I have some work to do.” She smiled as she excused herself from the table.

After the lady had left the room, Sora picked up the ear cuff, and turned to Kenmei. “So, what word do you want to use as a trigger? It should probably be one that isn’t used in normal conversation so that you don’t accidentally activate it.”

Kenmei gave a small smile. “I think I have one that fits perfectly. It’s ‘ghalhasper’. It’s a word passed down in ancient dragon tongue. It means ‘changeling’.” Sora nodded, concentrating on adding it into the spell before giving him the earcuff. As soon as he snapped it onto his ear, Sora let go, admiring the now-stable transformation.

“This is waaay better than the red string method that I was using earlier! You can’t use a red string in crowds, after all. That lady really knows her magic!”

Tseng just sighed. The only person who could be so calm after giving so much away could only be Sora.