The group’s training quickly began, and they were all divided into their own groups.
They had been training like this for a few weeks now. They would split off in groups, and switch partners every single week.
However, only two of them were having a bad week.
David, the blue-haired teen’s sky-blue eyes, met with his friend’s and romantic rival’s orange eyes. His friend, Zelon, had orange hair that made him stand out as a fire user. Actually, almost everyone in their group was a mage except the blonde-haired teen and Herla’s boyfriend.
The blonde-haired teen’s name was Argon Dalaer. He is a member of the royal family, and despite most of his family being mages, he was one of the only royals to not awaken their core by the age of 7. Actually, he’s the only one in the family who hadn’t awakened their core at all, causing him to be considered by many, his father included, as a disappointment.
In his family’s eyes, he brought nothing but shame to their royal name, and he had always thought that way until he had eventually entered the academy and finally met Syra.
She was one of the first people to talk to him without any disgust in their eyes, nor any hatred either. She was among the first people to speak to him without any preconceived notions despite knowing exactly who he was.
And just like that, he had become part of their group.
And right now, he was about to spar with Syra.
Despite Syra being a mage, she wasn’t currently holding a staff. Her eyes were scanning her opponent as she got into a fighting position.
“Do you want me to use spells again?” Syra asked with a tilt of the head.
“Syra… You do know I’m still a toki user, right?” Argon slumped slightly when he heard her words.
“Sorry. I just… Don’t want to hurt you.” Syra looked to the side slightly while scratching her cheek.
“Don’t worry about it… Okay. I’m going to be fine. Just don’t use any tier 3 or 4 spells please.” Argon clapped his hands together and bowed slightly.
“Of course.” She nodded with a slight blush on her face.
“3… 2… 1… Start!” The crystals on their hips suddenly announced the start of their battle, and without wasting a single second, they shot forward, appearing before each other.
While Argon was covered in toki, Syra had simply placed both of her hands behind her back while already having a spell readied that shot her forward with a gust of wind.
Syra shot above Argon, shifting her body, flipping over him before pointing her hand toward his back, her skirt still fluttering in the air.
“Air Blast.” She simply muttered while a blast of air suddenly unleashed from her magic circle, ripping through the distance between them with utmost ease and appearing right behind Argon.
However, before it could hit the prince, Argon shifted his body while his toki wrapped itself around the air blast, suddenly causing it to change direction.
“wind blade,” Syra muttered, and a wind blade appeared again before her.
The blade made out of air was more of an arch. However, it was simply the word people had chosen to associate with the spell.
The arch made out of pressurized wind sliced through the air and appeared before Argon.
In retaliation to the swift spell, Argon moved all of his toki toward his arms and grabbed the wind blade mid-air.
Cuts could suddenly be seen on his palms, but after using his will to control his toki, the toki suddenly wrapped itself around the wind blade and crushed it instantly, causing it to dissipate.
“You’re doing better than last time.” Syra let out a cute chuckle that made Argon blush.
“What did I say about going easy on me!?” He asked while trying to shake his head from the sound of the chuckle he had just heard.
He was convinced she had done it on purpose, but after seeing the innocent smile on her face, he could only look down with a bit of shame.
How dare he assume such a thing about such an innocent person!?
“Last time I stopped holding back you complained about your back hurting for a whole weak, even after the nurse healed you!” Syra crossed her arms while narrowing her eyes dangerously.
“Come on! It’ll be different this time. Just, don’t use your tier 3 or 4 spells and I’ll be fine!” Arghon harrumphed with folded arms and a chin that was held high.
“Okay… If you say so.” Syra shrugged and got into a different battle position from the one she usually used.
As the spar continued, Syra’s eyes glinted with determination. She knew she had to push her abilities further if she wanted to truly challenge Argon. With a deep breath, she focused her mana, and the magic circle appeared over her palms.
“Air Blast! Wind Blade! Wind Bullet,” Syra called out each spell’s name, her chants becoming rapid and fluid, and so did her movements, almost as if she was dancing while casting her magic. The magic circle hovering above her palms glowed brightly with every spell she invoked, empowering her attacks.
He had to react quickly to keep up with her, utilizing his toki-enhanced reflexes to block and dodge her relentless attacks.
Syra utilized her wind magic creatively, creating small gusts of air to alter the trajectory of her strikes and increase their impact, and this time, she wasn’t just using her spells from a far distance, even though that’s what she was best at doing.
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