Aethernea

by Cloe D Frost

  Zor was still sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, showing no intention to participate in the battle. Deora was trying to look awe inspiring in his pool of lava. Nelaira was calmly looking around, trying to decide who to fight next, and Rhur… Rhur was flying in Kiel’s direction.

  * * *

  High up, in the VIP seats of the arena, sat four people dressed in white and purple professor uniforms. If Kiel were here, he’d recognize them to be the same people he had seen sleeping in the egg chairs.

  The first one was a burly argel covered in scars who made the regular professor uniform look out of place on his large body. His crimson hair was styled in a crew cut with zig-zagging orange stripes on the side.

  The second one was a solemn, dangerous looking argel with emotionless gray eyes and black hair with silver stripes tied at the back.

  The third was, surprisingly, a pale-faced elibu female with venomous looking dark blue eyes and wavy chocolate brown hair tied in a loose up-do.

  The fourth was a thin, young man with chestnut brown eyes and a layered hairstyle of which each layer was colored in a different shade of green.

  The examiners carefully observed Kiel, only occasionally glancing at the other participants. When they saw Rhur Rroda stopping to chat with Kiel, the young man with green hair couldn’t help but comment: “Are they teaming up? Is that even allowed? Was there a mistake in exam setup?”

  A burly argel covered with scars started laughing uproariously. “I don’t know if he is really lucky or really unlucky!”

  An elibu female with cold sapphire blue eyes cracked her knuckles. “I’d say he is unlucky. It is only natural to find another examine to team up with. Every year examinees attempt to team up. Having someone from the same family makes no difference in the end. However, what does make a difference is having a near-unbeatable opponent.”

  The burly argel snapped his head towards the elibu, a vein pulsing on his forehead. “What do you mean ‘near unbeatable’?! There is nothing ‘near’ about it. He is unbeatable. Period.”

  Coldness flashed in the female’s eyes. “There is no one that is unbeatable. But, it is true that I’ve never seen anyone manage to beat Zor Arite.”

  The burly man sighed, melancholy flickering in his eyes. “Of course you haven’t. I’ve fought Zor several times back in my Muni days. Never managed to beat him. Such a pity that I no longer have a chance to settle the score.”

  The female snorted derisively. “As if you’d manage to settle it…”

  The burly man’s head snapped back to her direction and was just about the yell “What did you say?!” when the green haired man interrupted him with an exclamation of surprise. “He is that strong? How come I’ve never heard of him?”

  The burly man’s anger was instantly replaced by contempt as he snarled. “He was the leader of the golden generation 20 years ago. All of us old timers know his name but you, the younger generation, were still playing house back then.”

  The green haired man furrowed his eyebrows. “Everyone has heard of the golden generation, but I haven’t heard of Zor Arite.”

  The burly man’s face twisted into a grimace of regret. “If he hadn’t died prematurely there would be no way that there would be people like you who haven’t heard of his name…”

  The atmosphere in the room turned uncomfortable.

  The female was the first to speak up again, changing the subject and dispelling the air of solemnity. “What are your opinions on the boy?”

  “It’s too early to tell.” The green haired elibu commented.

  The burly man disagreed. “He is too green. Earlier he almost got finished off by that sneak attack.”

  The green haired man’s face fell. Hearing the burly man say “too green” always put him in a bad mood. Mostly because the burly man used that phrase often to refer to him, which coupled with his green hair color made it into a pun. He couldn’t help but protest: “I think that he noticed it. However, he chose to ignore it. Perhaps he was sure that it couldn’t pierce his skin.”

  “Regardless if he noticed it or not, choosing not to dodge it was too reckless. The dagger is poisoned. One graze and his exam would be over.” The burly man frowned.

  “Hmmm, I wonder about that. His judgment seems solid. He picked the easiest opponent out of the 9.” The pale-faced female added.

  “He didn’t hesitate to finish him off at all. It’s quite admirable.” A smile graced the lips of the green haired elibu reaching all the way to his chestnut eyes.

  “It’s good that he didn’t let mercy cloud his judgment.” The burly man mused gruffly.

  The fourth examiner, an argel with emotionless gray eyes and an omnipresent dangerous frown didn’t join the conversation at all.

  * * *

  Down in the arena, Rhur had reached Kiel and initiated a conversation. “Well done, little brother. There are only three of them left. How about this, let’s quickly take care of those two…” He pointed to Deora and Nelaira. “And then let’s join hands to beat the third one.” He pointed to Zor.

  “Agreed.” Kiel nodded. “I’ll take the girl and you take the ginger.”

  “No, no, no.” Rhur shook his head. “I’ll take the girl and you take the ginger.”

  Kiel’s eyebrow twitched. “Don’t tell me you are thinking of flirting in such a situation? Older brother, get your act together.”

  Rhur clutched his heart and looked at Kiel with a hurt expression. “You misunderstand. I am only thinking of your benefit, little brother. Bullying the fairer sex is not something to be proud of. But since I am the older brother, I have to look after you which includes taking upon myself the undesirable tasks.”

  How thoughtful… Kiel stared at Rhur speechlessly trying to stop himself from shooting out a sarcastic remark. “Older brother… your worry is unnecessary. Let’s be logical here. The ginger should be a perfect fit for your abilities. If you use your Sparkbloom petals he’d be easily dealt with.”

  Other than the Razorblood petals Rhur had used earlier, he often used another variety of petals that was even more dangerous – the Sparkb(l)oom petals.

  * * *

  Coming up in the next episode:

  Deora looked at her approach but didn’t attack. Nelaira stopped a fair distance away and spoke up. “Those two are plotting how to deal with us.” She tilted her head towards Kiel and Rhur. “We better take them down first, before they manage to come up with a plan.”

  Kiel’s mind felt incredibly sluggish, he was trying to remember the tips for dealing with Deora, but besides the word Firecracker, nothing else came back to him. It was as if all memorized tips evaporated as soon as he saw the endless rain of fire descend upon him.

  What the..?? Do you have something against me?! Did I kill your parents?! What’s with this hate??

  “Should we call Deora over to watch this fight? He is not supervising any of the exams right now, is he? I’d love to see his face when his Replica is beaten down!”

  The female’s smirk only grew. “To be caught off guard by a youngster who isn’t even a warlock. Disgraceful…”

  * * *

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  Episode 102 – Simpleton

  Episode 102 – Simpleton

  Previously:

  The day of the practical exams is finally here and Kiel is inside a large arena created by the Replica Dungeon. Kiel and Nelaira manage to defeat their opponents. Rhur uses Razorblood petals to slice the neck of his opponent open. Kiel and Rhur decide to each take one opponent, however, they can’t agree on which opponent to pick. They end up bickering, neither one wanting to fight Deora.

  * * *

  Kiel stared at Rhur speechlessly trying to stop himself from shooting out a sarcastic remark. “Older brother… your worry is unnecessary. Let’s be logical here. The ginger should be a perfect fit for your abilities. If you use your Sparkbloom petals he�
��d be easily dealt with.”

  Other than the Razorblood petals Rhur had used earlier, he often used another variety of petals that was even more dangerous – the Sparkb(l)oom petals.

  Sparkb(l)oom was a rare flower similar in appearance to a chrysanthemum, discovered (and named) by Alann Farhice, which grew underwater in poisonous swamps. As one might guess by its name, its petals were highly flammable and quite explosive.

  “Ah, that’s true.” Rhur sighed sadly. “However, I am out of Sparkbloom flowers. You should know how expensive and difficult to find they are. I can’t always have them just because I want to.”

  Kiel’s eyebrow twitched again. “What do you mean expensive?! Don’t they grow in the poisonous bog our family owns?”

  “Yes, under the Shield our little bog is the only one with an environment in which Sparkbloom flowers can grow. And since it is such a small bog, the number of flowers is very limited. Most of Sparkbloom flowers I use come from the Forbidden Zone, and such merchandise is hard to come by.” Rhur explained.

  Kiel frowned, cursing inwardly. “Don’t tell me that you are not confident in beating such a small fry? I always thought that my older brother was really an amazing fighter. Have I overestimated your abilities?”

  Rhur’s eyes chilled. “Of course, that’s not the case. I can easily beat both of them, little brother. But there is no glory in defeating an elibu female, so I decided to let you take the glory of beating the ginger.”

  “You are the future head of the family, it is in the family’s interest for you to have as much of the glory as possible. Therefore, I shall take it upon myself to do such an arduous and unrewarding task and let you handle the ginger.”

  “How about this, little brother? I’ll take down the girl, and then I’ll join you in fighting the ginger. It shouldn’t take long for me to dispose of the girl and then we can join hands for the glory of the Rroda family.”

  From the corner of his eye, Kiel noticed that Nelaira had approached Deora and they seemed to be conversing. He had no time to argue with Rhur further. Otherwise, Nelaira and Deora might decide to team up, and the battle would turn into two vs. two, instead of two battles of one vs. one.

  Kiel’s face stiffened, and he gruffly whispered under his breath. “Dear brother, have you forgotten my dislike for fire?”

  Rhur chuckled huskily. “It’s not a dislike, little brother, it’s more of a fear. You need to learn how to deal with your fears. Therefore, this opponent is perfect for you.”

  Kiel’s pupils shrunk and a string of curses almost erupted from his mouth.

  He finally realized the truth of the matter.

  It wasn’t that Rhur wanted to fight Nelaira, rather, he wanted Kiel to fight Deora!

  He was aware that Kiel hated fire!

  * * *

  While the two Rroda brothers were bickering, Nelaira was frowning. She wasn’t stupid. Even before the two started talking she had realized that they knew each other. Let alone when they actually started planning how to team up against her.

  She looked towards Deora, who was standing calmly with a lofty air, seemingly not concerned about the conversation of the two Rroda brothers.

  Nelaira sighed softly, but in the end, decided to approach Deora. If the other two wanted to team up, the only choice left was for her and Deora to team up as well.

  Deora looked at her approach but didn’t attack. Nelaira stopped a fair distance away and spoke up. “Those two are plotting how to deal with us.” She tilted her head towards Kiel and Rhur. “We better take them down first, before they manage to come up with a plan.”

  Deora snorted. “Let them come. I am not afraid of anyone.”

  Nelaira frowned. “Don’t underestimate Rrodas. They might not have a signature magic of their own, but they are rich. Who knows what kind of dangerous items they are hiding inside their pouches.”

  Deora looked at her condescendingly. Nelaira stared back at him speechlessly. After waiting for a few moments for his response, Nelaira couldn’t wait anymore. “Uh… how about this, I’ll take the right one, and you take the left one?”

  Deora’s only response was to look at her with even more scorn.

  Nelaira’s expression froze and, suddenly, a thought hit her… This guy… could he be… an idiot…?!

  As soon as her mind reached that conclusion, her eyes widened, but then they flashed with a crafty light. “…fine… don’t tell anyone I told you this, but I heard those two talking trash about you earlier.”

  As expected, Deora’s scorn was replaced with fury. “They did what!?!”

  Nelaira smiled internally. “They called you flamebrains and said you’d be easy to deal with.” To be even more convincing, she pointed to her long elibu ears and explained: “They might be able to hide it from your short ears but not mine.”

  Deora gaped, and his entire body erupted into flames. “Those bastards!!! How dare they?! I’m going to turn them into ash!!!” He bellowed and without further delay Accelerated towards the two Rroda brothers.

  Nelaira barely managed to restrain herself from chuckling. Moron… her eyes squinted into a crescent shape. But still, that naivety is… kinda cute.

  * * *

  Kiel and Rhur were just about to continue bickering when they noticed a furious looking Deora charging their way with his body covered in flames. To make matters worse, not only was he furiously charging towards them but he also started throwing large fireballs their way.

  Kiel who already knew what Deora’s specialty was, quickly turned tail and ran.

  Rhur, who wasn’t as informed, was caught by surprise. His pupils narrowed, and his jaw stiffened, however, he wasn’t considered as a great warlock for nothing – his instincts quickly kicked in, and he managed to evade as well.

  As Rhur ran, his mind reeled. Fireballs?! The heck?! He is an argel!

  One could increase the temperature of a material, but that didn’t necessarily mean that the material would spontaneously combust. Not all materials were flammable.

  Rhur had noticed that Deora had set his own hair on fire, but he thought that he was probably using it as a way to intimidate others, burning his own hair gel or hair spray. It was one thing to set something flammable on fire, and completely another to conjure fire out of nothing. Conjuring was the specialty of Transmutation magic of elibu. It wasn’t something augmentation magic could do.

  Deora’s casting was fast so others couldn’t see clearly what kind of spell he was using, but even a brief glance was enough for everyone to realize that he was indeed using Augmentation magic. Augmentation and Transmutation spell patterns had distinct, very different styles and one could tell them apart with a glance.

  The two Rroda brothers darted in the opposite directions, forcing Deora to pick which one to follow. For a moment he was indecisive, looking left and right trying to decide which Rroda to pursue. Rhur was elegantly retreating with a stiff smile on his face, while Kiel was accelerating with a slight frown and tightly pressed lips.

  Deora looked at Rhur and his amiable demeanor. That one looks friendly. A good guy.

  Then he looked at Kiel whose eyes were completely solemn. This one looks like a spiteful sarcastic type! He must be the bad one!

  And thus, Deora changed his direction and Accelerated towards Kiel.

  Seeing a furious ginger charging his way, Kiel felt like crying, but no tears would come. If he knew the thought process which resulted in Deora picking him, he might have stumbled in his step and ended up incinerated. He’d probably be forced to bite his lips to prevent himself from yelling out: “How am I the bad guy?!? How can you judge that with a glance?!? Are you a moron?!”

  Luckily, Deora’s unique thought process remained a mystery and didn’t interrupt Kiel’s state of mind.

  Seeing Deora concentrating his barrage on Kiel, Nelaira didn’t stay idle either. She sent her mana Rhur’s way and made her move.

  * * *

  Fireballs obscured the sky as they rained down on Kiel whose mi
nd was preoccupied with preventing the sense of dread and panic brewing deep inside of him from coming to the surface.

  He hated fire. He really hated fire.

  If Deora could turn everything into ice sculptures, shattering them into dust, that would be fine. If Deora wielded lightning that could cause unbelievable agony to its targets before burning them into a crisp, it would be alright as well. At this point, he wouldn’t even mind if Deora was as inconceivable as Zor Arite. Everything and anything was fine. Just not fire.

  Kiel’s mind felt incredibly sluggish, he was trying to remember the tips for dealing with Deora, but besides the word Firecracker, nothing else came back to him. It was as if all memorized tips evaporated as soon as he saw the endless rain of fire descend upon him.

  The fireballs didn’t just come from behind him. Mana could travel faster than he could Accelerate, making it so that no matter which direction he ran towards, fireballs would appear there before him. From all directions they honed in on Kiel, whenever he turned, they would turn as well, sometimes barely missing him.

  Even though Kiel couldn’t feel the scorching air they left behind because he had cast a temperature isolation magic on himself, his clothes still got drenched in sweat and were sticking to his body closely.

  Temperature isolation was a variant of the Temperature spell whose purpose was to retain the temperature of the target preventing it from both increasing and decreasing. As long as Deora’s fireballs didn’t directly hit him, causing a head-on clash between spells, he would not get burned by their remnants.

  Actually, even if he did get hit by a fireball, there was a chance that he wouldn’t get burned. There was a chance that his temperature isolation spell might withstand the fireball, or at least minimize its effects before breaking. However, Kiel had no intention to risk it by getting hit by a fireball.

  After all, Deora’s specialty was fire magic. He was so good at it that he eventually got recruited into Muni. Kiel didn’t think that his temperature isolation was powerful enough to resist an onslaught from a fire demon such as Deora Thayn.