Vince, Ronny, and Bobby were kneeling on the ground in the woods, their heads lowered to the point their foreheads touched the earth, they were trembling.
“So, this child mage… he called himself Frey? And he came through here?” a white-haired woman, wearing thick and warm clothing, stood in front of them, her brows furrowed as she interrogated the trio.
“Yes! Yes! Stayed at old Granny’s home for several days even!” Vince revealed right away.
“He disappeared into the forest, we wanted to follow ‘im, but we lost his track.” Ronny explained.
“Please, I don’t want to go to jail…” Bobby sniffed.
Agnes raised an eyebrow but dismissed the sobbing mess of a man just as quickly.
“You mean to tell me that you can’t lead me to him?” she asked to ascertain what she had understood.
“N-No…” Ronny hesitantly answered, fearing that she would kill them, as they were of no use to her.
“Tch.” Agnes clicked her tongue, then sprinted off into the woods.
“Ma’am…?” Vince turned his head to see what she was doing, but Agnes disappeared without saying another word.
“Quick boys! Let’s bail!” Vince urged the other two.
… …
“Sir Hodwan, are you sure you should already be heading out? We only just removed those rocks out of your body…” one of his soldiers worried.
“This pain is nothing compared to the humiliation I have suffered that day.” Hodwan said, he frowned as he looked at his charred arm.
“You two, keep an eye on the boy. He is the only bait I have to lure out my target.” he followed up with an order.
“Don’t worry Sir, with his hands and feet tied up, as well as that gag and the blindfold, he is no threat to us.” the soldier bowed.
Hodwan’s giant horse neighed loudly, causing his men to shudder at the sound.
“Don’t worry girl, this time will be different.” its owner spoke and brushed through its mane softly.
Hodwan glanced at Frey one last time before leaving.
The boy was full of surprises, his fate didn’t really matter in the end, but he had to stay a hostage, at least until Hodwan’s target finally appeared before him, so that he may recover his shattered pride.
… …
Agnes was rushing through the unchanging scenery of the woods, her thoughts preoccupied with Frey’s wellbeing.
The masked man the trio stopped showed her that there was more going on than meets the eye.
She had put little attention towards the investigation of Hodwan’s whereabouts, everything she knew came from several hurried summaries the palace’s staff prepared for her before she set off, and nowhere was there any mention of followers under the man.
She gritted her teeth, but right after her eyes sprang open, her focus returning to reality.
The swift movement of her hand caused several icicles to fly through the air and stab into a thick tree trunk.
Agnes stopped dead in her tracks, focusing on the spot she had attacked.
“A shame, you noticed… I could have given you a swift and peaceful death…” Hodwan’s voice resounded, then he stepped out from behind his cover.
“I am glad we get to drag this out.” his face distorted into a malevolent smile.
More icicles began to form in front of Agnes.
“Where is Frey?” she asked, looking the man up and down.
It had been more than a year since they last fought, his manner of speech suggested that he had prepared for this day.
“The boy is in… good hands. But you should focus on me instead. I need to repay you for this, after all!” Hodwan grew angrier by the minute, gesturing at his burned arm.
“You are conceited. What makes you think this time will be any different?” Agnes’ gaze became cold, her opponent was no more than a collection of runes, worthless in her eyes.
Hodwan’s body began to shiver, he broke out into laughter, “I guess we’ll have to find out!” various runes on his revealed upper body lit up in a bright red.
Some on his abdomen, others on his back, they appeared to be resonating.
His aura grew several times thicker, and the air around him started to sizzle, visually distorting from the heat he was emitting.
Many fire particles appeared at once, with even more underway.
Agnes tried to take the initiative, launching her icicles to chip away at her opponent, but they evaporated before they could even graze his skin.
Hodwan’s signature spell took the stage, unleashing a raging inferno with him at the centre, however unlike previous instances, this one appeared unyielding and slightly out of control, tumbling back and forth, scorching nearby foliage.
The confidence Agnes held did not diminish in the least, quite the opposite, Hodwan’s arrogance caused her own fury to grow stronger.
She wished to put out his flame, and stomp on the bug that he was to her right away, but those annoying runes and their unknown extent of power caused her to approach this fight with a tad bit more caution than she usually would.
Agnes held the upper hand in terms of environment.
A place with lots of life also meant lots of water particles she could make use of, on the other side, Hodwan’s resources were bound to run out with no quick way of replenishing them, aside from his runes, and those few the sun offered over time.
Defending until enough time passed would allow her to win effortlessly… but that was not her style… not. at. all.
Aside from wanting to crush Hodwan with her full might, she also had to worry about Frey’s current state at the back of her mind.
He might be in need of urgent help.
Agnes took a deep breath, then exhaled, a bunch of cold mist accompanying her breath.
She focused back on her actual opponent, when a sudden realisation hit her…
Her eyes snapped upwards, taking in the battlefield in its entirety, only to notice that Hodwan’s firestorm was not just aimlessly tumbling, but setting their surroundings on fire, producing tons of new fire particles to be used, and shrinking Agnes’ available amount.
“Sneaky piece of…!” she cursed yet remained cool.
“...But you aren’t the only one who can do that!” her voice thundered out, the icicles dispersed, formed back into useable particles, and were drawn in, along with many others in their surroundings.
A sizeable cloud of different shades of blue and white bundled up in front of her, quickly bringing down the temperature again.
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The ball of magic exploded, snowflakes littered the ground, covered the air, gusts of icy wind began to form, brushing past the trees, leaving behind nothing but a frozen path.
One gust became a twirl, then more, and more, until everything around Agnes had turned into ice, becoming engulfed in her snowstorm.
Her spell collided with Hodwan’s, fire met ice and their battle for supremacy had started.
The fire that threatened to erode the forest had been stopped, caged in by a vast barrier of snow and wind.
Both particles of fire and of ice annihilated each other en masse, the respective spells slowly burning through their accumulated resources.
The two casters stood on the opposite ends of the battlefield, overlooking the space in between them that had become devoid of all life.
Hodwan’s runes dimmed again, their glowing ceased, and he looked like a normal person once more.
Just like Agnes, he appeared perfectly fine amidst the chaos around them, especially unaffected by their own spells.
His hair was dishevelled, hanging over his face, he truly matched the insanity of the act he was attempting, fighting a rank two mage while they were at an advantage in both environment, and experience.
A great number of magical particles were being culled, both sides suffered huge losses, but neither of them were flustered at their stalemate.
Seeing that she had the upper hand, Agnes lessened the intensity of the snowstorm, the freed-up resources became the catalyst for a different spell.
The particles formed into tiny figures, then fell to the ground, and were practically absorbed by the snow and ice below.
Frozen water started to move and gather into one spot wherever the figures had landed.
Thereafter emerged life-size wolves, and humanoid creatures that wore similarly warm clothing as to which Agnes was wearing.
They wielded improvised spears, and the wolves moved alongside them, like hunters with their companions.
Agnes stood still while her spell’s creations closed in on Hodwan, circling around him in an attempt to cage in their prey.
The ice they were made of melted quicker the closer they got to him.
Although the combination of the ice creatures and the snowstorm appeared to strengthen her soldiers, the great heat still slowly whittled away at them.
One of the wolves pounced at the prey they encircled, its icicle fangs protruded from its mouth, ready to penetrate Hodwan’s flesh and body, but instead it was greeted by an intense flame, almost instantaneously splitting it apart.
Hodwan formed his remaining hand into a fist, clenching at a light blue flame in the shape of an axe.
His smile grew stiff as he watched the destroyed wolf dissolve into water, before reforming back into its original shape some distance away from himself.
“No longer feel like laughing?” Agnes taunted him with light smile.
Hodwan just grunted, his forehead wrinkled, but he wasn’t about to give up with the target of his revenge right in front of him.
The axe dissipated, and a rune on the back of his hand lit up in tandem.
He swung his intact arm from the right to the left, causing a wave of fire to be created, and launch itself towards the ice creatures.
They were decimated without a chance to resist but formed back into their original state just as quickly.
His attack obviously destroyed some ice particles that Agnes was relying on, but he had only just begun scraping away at her available supply.
“Ha! You must truly feel superior, fighting a mage of a lower rank, and having a severe advantage. You deserve to be proud of yourself.” he snickered, then mocked her.
Agnes’ impassive expression turned into a frown, “Don’t you worry, even before you run out of spells, I will show you a glimpse of hell.”
Her storm expanded, drawing upon many more particles to cover and kill off big chunks of Hodwan’s inferno.
“That’s more like it.” he whispered as he suppressed a smile.
A giant ball of white cut off a part of the woods, practically creating a unique world of snow and ice within, caging and confining a singular rank one fire mage, as well as assaulting him with frozen creations, and hailing icicles from all fronts.
Hodwan wore a serious expression, quite literally fighting for his life in an icy hell, created just for him.
Pellet after pellet of hail attacked him, and tens, if not hundreds of snowy beasts and humanoid figures fought and died on repeat.
Agnes was putting her entire focus on controlling the combination of the spells, to harmonise them, and allow them to strengthen each other subsequently.
Her identity as a rank two mage made all of this possible in the first place, without the ability to gather massive amounts of particles, not only would none of the spells be as dangerous as they are now, but they would be unable to be conjoined.
Nearly all of the ice and water particles at her disposal had gathered to form the spells, her remaining surroundings becoming rather barren, this showed just how much effort she put into this fight, into winning, dominating her opponent, leaving him with no room to manoeuvre.
Agnes’ relentless assault left Hodwan with many new wounds and scars, he had been unable to avoid all the icicles, as well as some frozen jaws from the wolves, after they ganged up on him in vast numbers.
His fire, his inferno, had been growing weaker and weaker as the attacks continued, his resources dwindled quickly, forcing him to resort to activating many of the runes spread across his body, draining him greatly.
“Haha! This is it! That’s the thrill I have been yearning all my life! I knew I could never be a mere general! Come! Hit me with everything you’ve got! Ah... but even if you kill me now... that won’t save your lovely boy anymore...” Hodwan shouted as he clashed with some ice warriors, his shouts turning into ridicule towards the end.
“Wha- You! What did you do to Frey?!” Agnes screamed, her voice loudly echoing within the dome created by the spell, but Hodwan merely erupted into maniacal laughter.
She clenched her fists and teeth; her mind began to race to countless possibilities.
Ripping Hodwan apart became her greatest desire, but she knew that he was the only lead she had to get to Frey, no matter what state he might be in at the moment.
Also, in the event that Frey was actually fine, or at least alive, she did not want to rob him of his vengeance.
It was one of the things, if not the most important goal, that Frey had been working towards.
Taking Hodwan’s life could cause Frey to lose interest in magic again, thwarting not just the year they had spent together, but all of the plans and strategies Cykrus had come up with to approach the competition.
Their deadline of three years was already an unthinkable challenge, to get a mage up to a certain standard, so that he might become Aventia’s saviour, but now with just barely over a year left, there was no longer any chance of such a lucky occurrence happening once more.
“HODWAN! WHERE IS HE?!” Agnes yelled; the entirety of her aura burst out.
One ice figure after the other blew apart, turning into white mist that filled the air within the dome.
Hodwan’s immediate opponents disappeared in the blink of an eye, giving him a moment to breathe, but he knew whatever came next would be several times more terrifying.
His hands began to twitch with excitement, never before in his live had he come this close to death, the feeling of adrenaline and his loud thumping heart made him experience an indescribable form of ecstasy.
The white mist clustered together above Hodwan, it became a lot thicker, turning into a milky white.
Then, like branches of a tree, the mist split apart and moved downwards in a flash, impaling Hodwan’s feet and arms, then wrapping around his skin, looking like thorny vines as sharp tips pressed into his flesh.
He had no chance of dodging, for the past couple of minutes he had been fighting using his last bit of energy, and his exhaustion had finally caught up with him.
Agnes walked closer, looking at the man in front of her with scorn.
She sized him up, gazing at all the places that were turning blue from the cold that seeped into his body.
A light layer of ice was spreading on his skin, threatening to turn him into an ice statue.
“Speak. And I might consider giving you a painless death.” she said with a deadpan expression and tone.
Hodwan’s teeth clattered from the cold, “Haha… And if I don’t want to? Hehe, that poor boy, you’ll never see him again…” Hodwan chuckled, laughing in the face of death, his body was shivering and slowly turning numb, he was unable to move the majority already.
Agnes’ fury was reignited, her temper flaring up, and along with it the intensity of the snowstorm around them.
“…There is one last thing that I would like to tell you before all of this ends…” he spoke slowly, his voice full of resignation.
“…This fight… your spells…”
“It went exactly as I had envisioned it.” a smile creeped back onto his face, one of the last areas that had yet to turn into ice.
Every last rune on his body lit aglow, red and orange radiated from beneath the surface of the icy layer that had grown over him.
Agnes’ ears were filled with his laughter, before her hearing became deafened, it was exchanged with a loud ringing, as several devastating explosions occurred throughout her dome, annihilating not just their surroundings, but all of the particles.
The combination of spells she had been controlling broke apart, a huge backlash caused her to stumble backwards, and cough out mouthfuls of blood.
Her eyes were wide in shock, the cage that had imprisoned Hodwan was no more, nothing remained around her.
The ground was devastated, the area around them was barren of trees and other life.
None of this made any sense to Agnes, Hodwan hadn’t cast a spell, she was sure of this, the sight her eyes were showing couldn’t be real… a dream?
More like… a nightmare…
She slumped to her knees, coughing intensely for some time, before the ringing in her ears lessened, and she noticed the sound of footsteps approaching her.
Her head raised to meet the eyes of the blond rank one mage, “H-How-”
Hodwan had burned through the confines, and the frosty coating on his skin, although he was hurt badly, he was still numb from the cold and couldn’t feel the pain.
He stopped in front of her, “Did you think I spent this year doing nothing? Or that I would be stupid enough to let people who have seen me live?”
“You…?!” Agnes finally understood…
“That’s right. I was the one who gave up the hint about my whereabouts.” he pointed his finger at himself.
“And these woods?” he gestured around himself, “They are my domain!”
“A full year I have been planting and hiding defective runes throughout the woods, hoping! Yearning! For this day to come!”
“And the execution couldn’t have been any better! The little demon came running to me, and you were bound to follow suit.”
“Your spells, your strategy, your temper, everything I needed to know I managed to learn from the rumours about you.”
“That’s why you lost. Some well-timed detonations were all that it took to take away your resources and turn you… useless.” Hodwan’s breathing grew rougher from excitement.
With his only remaining hand he reached out to her, “Oh… I will enjoy breaking you.”