Chapter 81: Class (1/2)

“I’m Kyrian. I’m a metal mage and will be able to slow down the enemy.” he said simply and looked down again.

“Can you speak up?” Trian asked in a mocking tone but was ignored by the others.

“My name is Claire, I’m a rune and explosion mage and I’ll be able to trap enemies. Additionally I’ll be your team tactics instructor, nice to meet you all.” she said and bowed towards the others.

Ilea already smirked before Trian even said something about the fact that a team member would be an instructor but to her surprise the man kept his mouth shut and simply looked at the woman with a glare. The last person to introduce themselves was the woman who had joined them mere minutes before.

“I’m Eve and I’m an illusionist and singer. It’s nice to meet you all.” the woman smiled brightly and waved at them.

Joseph clapped his hands then to get the attention of the team. “Alright, now that we all know each other’s names let’s actually get to know one another. You’re team 34, currently the lowest ranking team in the Shadow’s hand, not that I or anybody here should care too much about that. Ilea.” he said and looked at the woman. “How good is your healing? We would have to book one for these trainings if you’re not up to the task.” he asked.

“As long as nobody dies it should be fine, though I need longer to heal others than a full fledged healer at my level.” she said and Joseph nodded.

“Well only one way to find out the extent of your abilities then. We’re gonna do some bouts then. Who wants to face Ilea first?” Joseph said and looked through the group. Before anybody could say something though he pointed to the metal mage. “Kyrian. You two seem like you wouldn’t kill each other immediately. Come on, show us what you have.”

The man nodded and looked at Ilea, his eyes quickly sinking down to the ground again as he turned and walked to the middle of the hall. “Don’t worry about destroying anything, I’ll be able to repair it. Ilea, I hope you know the limits of your powers. If either of you don’t think you can continue the fight simply say so, or gesture if you can’t talk anymore for some reason.”

‘Doesn’t seem very safe...’ Ilea thought as she joined Kyrian in the middle of the hall with a smirk on her face.

“Now try not to go soft on me...I can take it.” she said and switched into a fighting stance. The others walked around the hall to either get a better view or a more comfortable seat.

“I didn’t plan to.” Kyrian answered quietly.

“Ready? Start whenever.” Joseph said from the side.

Ilea watched Kyrian focusing on her, the gray in his eyes seemed to intensify when a needle like object entered her sphere, making her move her head slightly to see the projectile pass. Metal balls, needles and spikes came out of the man’s backpack which he slid off his shoulders a moment later. The spheres started rotating round him as the needles and spikes hovered over and next to him.

The first spike was released and shot right towards Ilea’s chest. Though she perceived that the needle from before came at her back from behind. Something told her that she shouldn’t get hit by the piece of metal, even though it seemed so small and non threatening. With a small turn of her body, both projectiles shot past her, getting an interested look from Kyrian.

‘My turn...’ she thought and advanced on the man, dodging past the needles shot towards her. Her pace slowed as more and more projectiles flew towards her as she moved to the sides and even backwards. As the needles were distributed around the hall it became harder and harder to simply dodge them.

Ilea decided to show her first card as ash extended around her and took the view from anybody that wasn’t able to perceive through the black dust like substance. She was immediately sure that Kyrian had no way to see through it as the projectile attacks became less direct and more chaotic, random even.

It wasn’t a certainty that Kyrian wasn’t simply fooling her but Ilea didn’t have another choice but to advance further. More and more ash filled the hall around the two combatants as Ilea circled against the man. She had to admit that his control of the needles and frequency of attacks was incredibly efficient at keeping her at bay.

At this point there was ash all around the man and Ilea decided then to move in. A blink got her right next to Kyrian and her fist shot out to punch his back. The impact shot through her arm and his back as spikes extended from the closest metal sphere, cutting deeply into her skin. Her destructive mana shot through the man before she jumped away again, holding her side.

Kyrian had stumbled to the side, holding his shoulder while breathing heavily. Ilea on the other hand walked backwards slowly and back into the ash while her smile vanished. The cut on her side refused to heal and she knew exactly what the cold feeling radiating from the wound meant. Her hands started to shake as she perceived the man slowly steadying himself, the pieces of metal that had fallen down around him starting to hover again.

Acting on a whim Ilea unsheathed Aki and cut into her side, through muscle and flesh until she cut out everything around where she had gotten sliced by the sphere of metal. Confirming her suspicion, the wound started healing again albeit a little slower than normally. It took a while of dodging and healing longer before she was ready to engage again, her hands still shaking.

‘Let’s do this then...just a bunch of curses...’ she thought, her shroud coming to life for the first time in the fight and her wings spreading inside the ash still filling the surroundings. Jumping up, she spread her wings, blinking into Kyrian’s melee range to deliver a kick at his head. A needle scratched at her shroud but didn’t manage to get through right before her foot connected and knocked the man down.

She blinked away again before the needles and spikes shooting towards her managed to do any damage. The man got up again slowly, coughing blood this time but he didn’t signal for the fight to end.

Ilea felt as the mana gathered around the man even though she didn’t have her Magic Perception anymore. Suddenly the spheres of metal burst apart and thousands of needles flew towards her. There were too many and too spread out for a blink to really do anything so Ilea simply held out her hands to try and minimize the damage.

Her shroud of ash fought against the onslaught of needles as more and more pierced her defense to try and get through her armor and skin. Some managed to get through and the cold feeling of the now familiar curse spread from the small wounds through her body.

Half a minute later Ilea opened her hands and started to rip the needles out of her body. None managed to pierce too far inside of her. The ash around them was disturbed enough by Kyrian’s spell that she could now see the man panting before her, seemingly struggling to stay on his feet.

‘Used up his mana...’ she thought as more and more needles clanged on the ground with a metal noise, the cold and numb feeling leaving her body slowly. Though some of it remained even with the metal removed. It was not enough to get her down though and Kyrian seemed to realize that as well. He lifted his arms and opened his mouth.

“You win, I’m out.” he said and nodded to Ilea. “Good fight. I’m sorry.” he said, confusing Ilea a little. Until that moment she hadn’t noticed the tears streaming down her face and the shaking hands on her side. Her wound slowly but surely closed as the curse was pushed out of her body.

‘ding’ ‘Curse Resistance reaches lvl 4’

‘ding’ ‘Ash Surge reaches lvl 8’

‘ding’ ‘Ash Surge reaches lvl 9’

‘ding’ ‘Body of Ash reaches lvl 18’

“Not bad, not bad.” Joseph said as he slowly approached the two fighters, standing opposite each other. He completely ignored the tears and shaking Ilea was showing, likely having an idea where it had come from. “So Kyrian doesn’t seem to have enough to push through a heavily agile armored target. You did manage to slow her down and your defense was pretty good considering her ability to teleport right next to you. The spiked metal spheres are very useful but your mana ran out rather quickly.” Joseph finished, coming to a stop a little to the side of the two.