"No, that can't be, she died that day..."

Kelvin stood up, dusting his clothes off.

'With how brutal he rolled on the ground, I can't believe he looks so unfazed by it. Did he really sustain no injuries?'

Amelia carefully looked at Kelvin.

'He looked just like in my memories. He hasn't not changed in twenty years... why does he look so young? Shouldn't he be past forty by now?'

"You could be..."

Bringing his hand on his face, his eyes opened wide, and an expression of dementia took over his face.

"That damned child! You came back to kill me after what I've done to Henrietta!"

In response, Amelia smiled, showing all of her teeth.

"What do you think?"

"You wouldn't have brought me here by who knows what magic if not! Are you mocking me?!"

Flames began to engulf Kelvin, as his expression changed to one full of animosity toward her.

"Pff-"

Amelia began to laugh wildly.

"It wasn't even my idea, but seeing your expression right now sure makes it worth the effort."

She formed Vesta in her left hand, and stared at it calmly.

Different from Kelvin, her body accepted the fire, and merged with it. Her blonde hair turned an orange red color, her pearl eyes changed to a mixture of yellow, orange, and red, flames appeared around her arms stopping at her elbows, and on her legs, from her feet to her thighs.

"..."

Kelvin stared at her in disbelief. Who, or what was in front of her.

"Do you want revenge for what I did?"

He placed his hand on the scabbard at his hip. His silver armor unclasped itself and fell in the ground, revealing a muscular body under it.

"I am not easy to fell."

Sand began to accumulate around him too. Not only was Kelvin a fire user, but he was also an earth user, as he showed previously while butting heads with Layla.

"Pitiful. Do you think a muscular body is enough? What now, you're going to say that the armor you were wearing was in fact hiding your true strength?"

His eyes never left Amelia. He was ready to strike at any moment. The moment the blade left the scabbard, a rain of sand bullets fell on Amelia.

'Hmm...'

Aura formed in her other hand, before she pointed its tip forward.

'Make a simple wind shield.'

Surrounded by a layer of wind, the grains of sand were all stopped by the air currents.

"Really, I'm repeating myself, but this is pitiful. I'm not even that strong, though maybe we've gone past the levels of Apostles?"

She taunted him as much as possible. Though, she truly wondered why the previous attack was so lackluster.

Looking at the grains of sand on the ground, the idea of leaving them here felt dangerous to her.

'Orion wouldn't let a potential attack take him by surprise if he could help it.'

She dropped Aura, making it stuck itself in the scorched ground. Instead, she formed Dana, the water dagger.

'Wash this away for me.'

A bubble appeared at the tip, that began to grow rapidly. Once the size of Amelia's hand, it broke free from the dagger, and fell on the ground. Like a slug, it ate the sand around the wind shield.

The bubble disintegrated the grains of sand, and exploded.

"..."

Shocked, Kelvin opened his eyes wide.

This was the first time someone managed to see through his multiple attacks. If someone had a shield, or a protection of some sort, he would wait until they were unguarded, and pierce them from below.

Yet, Amelia having observed how cautious Orion was for years, was not taking any chances anymore.

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She was ready for anything, even before it happened.

'I was right, his face tells me everything. Dana, return.'

But the dagger refused to disappear.

'Dana?'

The strong denial to return was a first. Her water element wanted to be part of the fight.

'Fine. Aura, return.'

With the shield vanishing with the wind dagger, Amelia stood there slightly confused with Vesta and Dana in her hands.

Then, Kelvin took this chance to strike at Amelia.

'Her shield's down!'

Rushing toward her with his hand the hilt, he was ready to draw the sword at any moment.

"Tch."

Amelia clicked her tongue in annoyance while waiting for him to close in.

"Conflagration."

Amelia pointed Vesta at Kelvin. A little light blinked at the tip, before a massive beam of fire traveled at high speed toward him, ready to engulf and burn everything.

He stopped, and unsheathed his sword. The fire covering his body spread to the sword, as he prepared to slash.

"HAAA!"

Kelvin slashed the beam of fire in half with his sword, making it disperse itself behind him.

"Congrats, that was the weakest attack I could muster. You managed to negate it, very good."

As she was assessing his strength, she was also mocking him. This man murdered her mother, so she would not miss a moment to hurt his pride.

His eyes began to glow a red Amelia had seen before.

"Your letting the corruption take over you actions once again? Just like you did with my mother? What a weak person. Compared to a man I know, you are weak."

Once again, she pushed him near his limits.

"Are you done insulting me?"

Gritting his teeth, he sheathed his sword once again, before running toward her again.

"Fine, I'll entertain you for a bit."

'But once I'm done, I'll make your head roll on the floor.'

Her gaze darkened, changing to a predator hunting its prey. She liked her lower lips, and ran toward him with Vesta and Dana ready to attack.

Both of them met at one point. Kelvin drew his weapon, and slashed downward as Amelia caught it by crossing her dagger in a 'X' shape.

"You're the pitiful one!"

His sword pressed on Amelia with great force. Suddenly, he pulled on the sword's hilt, making the blades create sparks. He then took this moment of inattention from Amelia to stab his sword in her stomach.

A smile formed on his face as he enjoyed her expression, but soon realized that there was very little resistance coming from her.

Then, he noticed her body vanishing in flames. And where Amelia stood before, was Amelia again. More likely, she never had left her spot to begin with.

"Did you think I would jump straight in battle not knowing what you were capable of? See? I would have died if I was as hot-blooded as you."

She shrugged, obviously openly mocking him again.

*Grit*

"Come at me! Stop hiding behind your stupid abilities and fight me!"

His anger was getting more and more out of control, which was Amelia's plan from the beginning.

'The ones calm and composed enough rules over the fight. Lose your temper, and you'll make mistakes.'

'Dylan's teachings sure are something else.'

What Orion taught her was what Dylan taught him.

"No."

Slashing Vesta in front of her in a diagonal, a large arching blade of fire traveled toward Kelvin.

'Let's see you defend against that.'

Fire against fire. The fire that took her mother's life, or the fire that was a part Amelia.

Finally, Amelia decided to follow behind her attack. It was time to close in now that she knew what to expect from close range.

Her previous attack was cut in half by Kelvin's blade, and when she noticed an opening, she slid with the help of her 'Sliding' water ability next to his right leg, cutting it through the leg armor.

"You little shit!"

He turned around and went after her, ignoring the damage on his leg. Amelia stood up mid slide and turned around.

She hoped backward three times, until she was ready to accept his attack.

Blocking with Vesta, she made it slid off of the blade, and stabbed with Dana toward his uncovered chest.

But he wasn't going to let that happen. He twisted his wrists, managed to turned the blade the other way, successfully defending the stab.

Amelia used the recoil to take some distance, glaring at him at the same time.

'At least his good with a sword, I'll give him that.'

She looked at her feet and noticed sand slowly slither its way around her feet.

'Is he trying to bind me? Dana, erased those again.'

Multiple bubbles covered the ground, cleaning it of Kelvin's magic.

While keeping an eye on him, she noticed a weird motion with his left hand.

'What is he doing now.'

'!'

Amelia bent her body backward, avoiding a very thin sand spike.

"You're the little shit. Can you repeat to me what you've said about 'hiding being stupid abilities'?"

His smile was all but natural. Slowly, Kelvin was losing his mind during the fight. Half of his reasoning had been thrown out of the window by now.

The pain in his leg didn't help either.

But something unexpected happened.

"Vesta?"

Amelia stared at her dagger, who was beginning to become transparent.

'What is happening?'

Her transformation stopped, making her return to normal. Vesta disappeared from her hand, leaving her with Dana.

*Shrrrrrrrr*

A sound she never heard before echoed in her head. A vibrating sound that became louder and louder.

*Cr-Crrr-Crrrrrrr*

The sound of breaking ice also echoed alongside it.

'Amelia, get ready.'

Ego's voice was all she heard before her mind black out for only a second.

In the middle of battle, Amelia's water element decided to progress to the next stage.

~

"Fuck, I've really done it."

After sending Kelvin through a portal leading to Bandir, Orion fell to the ground with pain similar to the one after using the sixth 'Magic Unlock'.

"My leg is so broken I can't even laugh it off."

He smiled while healing his weirdly bent leg.

'At least it work. Amelia, I'm counting on you.'

Opening another portal, Nylon walked through.

"You're good?"

Worried, Nylon crouched next to him.

"I should be good in five minutes. Don't mind me."

"Then, I'll go finish the job. There's still the ones at the gate to remove."

"Sure. I'll go help Amelia once I'm done. When we made sure he's dead, we'll come back for you."

Both men looked at each other, before nodding. Nylon left Orion to his broken leg.

'Alright, it's already bending back correctly. This ability is sure useful.'

Five minutes later, Orion was back to being in perfect shape. He opened a portal, and joined Amelia.

He looked around, and found what he was looking for.

"What in the world?"

Kelvin was hitting a cocoon of pure ice with all his might, while Amelia was floating inside it, unconscious.

'Amelia is progressing in the midst of the battle, don't you dare bother her now.'

Ego's voice didn't leave room for refusal.

'Sure, I wasn't planning to do that anyway. But she's fine, right?'

Orion was still worried about her.

'Well, obviously. Oh! It's done.'

'Feast your eyes, she is the first one to ever merge with a water spirit, nurtured by a dragon's blessing. I'm feeling quite excited about it!'

You could really feel the excitement in her voice.

The cocoon began to crack. Kelvin continued to hit it with his sword nonetheless.

*Crrrrack*

As the cocoon exploded, he found himself pushed back.

A woman with blue crystalline hair emerged from the mist created by the explosion.