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<02/10/1972 – 18:01 | Route 787, Junon Region, Sprawn Valley>

After cycling the same road for over thirty minutes without any confrontation, Taylor and her friends took in all of the changes in the landscape and the distance traveled so far. Not a single one of them bumped into any anxious Leray fighter, though few enough other cyclists passed by in the opposite direction. Other than this, the cement road was vacant of human life with the rare exceptions of a few traveling civilians on foot. The sun hung a little lower in the sky without its daylight intensifying. Instead, the blinding white rays slowly changed hue to a darker yellow color. She didn't let the light get directly into her eyes, and it allowed her to discover everything about this legendary bridge they have been waiting to see.

Despite the earlier appearance, the three of them eventually entered the noticeable section of road, which had been transformed by the type of concrete used, and the different design in each fence on both sides. The fences were now solid walls with integrated transparent special glass that would allow anyone passing by to see through the material, and before long, the most amazing thing happened.

The road remained afloat about six hundred feet above the sea level, though the water's mass visually appeared to be much closer from up top. Jane let the cool wind massage her body while coasting her bike with her feet at rest. The smell of fresh air mixed with the familiar scent of the shoreline in Tilsit Port brought Jane to a new level of relaxation. The sight of the blue wavy water to either the left or right of her was incredibly massive in any direction, and an amazing sight to behold. The sunlight shimmered on the water from her left, making it more beautiful and impossible to see at the same time. Jane heard about this bridge and how wonderful the sight is, but she never could have imagined this in her head without this sort of perceptual assistance. The sights were captivating enough for her to lose focus on what could be in front of her.

Taylor glanced back behind her, noticing the long linear road fading into the distance while the available space was cut off into the straight line they were on. The sight of Lennith City was now nothing more than a dark hill chain faded into the distance by a very thin fog, and ahead of her, the same type of view from farther ahead had hills much higher blended with the landscape. This is the bridge! She and her friends were literally crossing between two continents within the same country.

His legs were getting tired, but Danny continued cycling, taking in the new information at the same time as a form of distraction and motivation. His bike remained closely behind Jane's, pedaling only to speed up from the loss in acceleration due to coasting. The bridge itself was nothing more than the same road held up by thick support beams drilling all the way down to the bottom of the Hollifax Ocean. How did they get the beams to go all the way that deep, fixing the entire road into a sturdy area just above the water? There had to be a maximum weight limit for this structure, right? Then again, it's not as if Sprawn Valley has any automobiles. Bicycles are not heavy either, so there couldn't be much risk of a collapse.

Taylor glared into the sky above her, noticing several different color shades of the deep blue, getting darker from straight up, and the wind speed was perfect. Not too much force and noise to annoy her, and yet just enough of a brush to cool her body down from the excessive workout. There wasn't a single puff of cloud in the sky.

The air smells so fresh here! Jane still couldn't quit periodically thinking back to her experience in Alpha Zero. She unfortunately remembered every single detail about that place. The way it sounded with perpetual low pitch bass leaks, the intense heat all around, and the smell - the scent of burning biomaterial and carbonizing ashes. Then there is this smell - the scent of the Hollifax Ocean up close, drawing all of its fine salt water vapor into the air around her. The ocean's waves crashed on top of each other, giving an extra ambience of the soothing large body of water in action. It was so relaxing; Jane could swear to herself that she was on vacation from everything.

Danny cleared his throat, preparing to break the silence with a conversation, hoping to keep things from getting awkward. "So..." he paused to think. Danny had to pedal faster in order to catch up to Jane's level, making it easier for her to hear his voice riding up to her side. "That was an impressive battle."

Jane nodded with a flushed look on her face. "Being as something already established, it was."

Jane must not have understood that Danny was going somewhere with this, but he continued trying to figure her out regardless of how cringy his starter lines were. "But what is it all for in the end? What are you planning to do?"

While coasting at the same speed, Jane caught Danny staring straight at her with his sudden demand for a swift answer. He didn't seem nervous or upset, just curious. But what did he mean? "Did you already forget the reason we're out here?"

"Wha— no!" Danny corrected. Jane still didn't get it, but Danny quickly put much blame for that on himself for not being clearer. There wasn't a sure way to ask the right question the first time. "I mean what about your future, after we take care of Alpha Zero? What is it you plan to do?"

Taylor made her location parallel to the others upon hearing the question. "That's something I've been meaning to ask myself. We're just curious you know." Taylor caught up with the same distance aside from Danny and Taylor and kept the pace. She too wanted the answer to her latest questions. "You said you can make an entire career out of Leray magic, but is that really true?"

Jane nodded her head without messing up her rhythm pedaling her bike. Still having to raise her voice slightly to project beyond the ambience of ticking gears, Jane gave them both the summary of her plans. "There is more to life than Leray battles. I always try to find a good hobby on the side of things, but I haven't found one yet." Taking a brief pause to consider what else there is to do here, Jane quickly realized how much she still doesn't know about what lies beyond her small little world. "I plan to become a Leray master."

"You've said that before," Danny quoted.

Jane agreed with him. "Of course! It means I need to learn all of the abilities, use them like a pro, defeat strong wielders fairly, and become top of the line intelligent with Leray magic. But I also want to do all of that the right way, through hard work and a ton of training, not through some stupid marking I inherited from this spell bomb."

"Honorable," Taylor labeled. "I should have known form before that you had that much character. I mean, you've loved Leray magic since you were born, right?"

"I still do." Jane didn't want to confirm her goal while leaving out other important details. "But it doesn't feel like enough."

"Hm?"

Responding to Danny's mumble of a request to elaborate, Jane tried to confess how she felt about the world while figuring it out for herself. She spoke carefully with moderate nervousness in her breath. "You both come from some other country that doesn't have Leray magic, and before landing here, you were on your way to another country that also doesn't have Leray magic. Why is that?"

Danny and Taylor exchanged confused looks for each other. "You must have forgot about the part where we had no prior knowledge to Leray magic before coming here."

"But that's not what I mean." Jane slowed down her bike with the breaks, but ever so gently as to make sure she could be heard with clarity. "You were heading to a place you call New York. What's so special about it?"

"Danny's uncle lives there," Taylor reminded.

Danny finished the thought as quickly as Taylor wanted to drop the subject. "And that's about it. I don't think there is anything special about it, other than the place being different from Kalamo."

"Come on," Jane teased. "There had to be some excitement within the two of you on your way there. Didn't you say you've never been to York before? How could you know what it's like there?" Danny and Taylor didn't utter a sound. Jane took it to mean after several seconds that her point wasn't going anywhere that could be understood. "I want to see that world."

Skid sounds ushered from behind, and Jane had to respond by slowing her bike down with ease. She glanced back to find Danny and Taylor at a literal stand still, using their feet to hold the bike up while waiting for Jane to turn around. What was the big fuss about?

Taylor waited for Jane to come back here before trying to explain how difficult things are outside of Sprawn Valley. "Why? There is nothing special outside of this place."

"And why not?" Jane demanded. She hopped off her bike and set it down on the floor gently. Jane was going to get a straight answer out of them yet. "Because it's not full of magic? Is that all?"

"It's a rather big deal," Danny argued. "No Leray magic, no protection from death, and that's just icing on the cake." Danny held his expression tense and concise addressing Jane, as she paid as much attention to his plight. "You've got so much freedom here as a citizen of Sprawn Valley. Literally, you could go anywhere you want, do anything you feel like doing - I don't even understand what brings real money into this place, but you've got it great here."

"I've never got to explore very much. I have gotten better at this since I've become a Leray wielder, but Sprawn Valley is limited in space."

Taylor rebuttaled, "We get that." At first glance, Sprawn Valley seemed so massive on the maps and while traveling, but come to think of it, Junon, the biggest region of the country is only so large in the sense that most of the space is unused. As big as the nation is, it's like Danny described before; Sprawn Valley is still underdeveloped.

"But think of all the other countries there are out there. I've only seen a world atlas on paper, and I know nothing of the other places. It can't be that bad outside of here. Maybe there is less freedom where you live, but I bet it has amazing places to explore, amazing things to do."

Danny and Taylor exchanged looks again, wondering what they were letting Jane get into.

"You chose to explore America when you got on that cruise you told me about. So what's wrong with having me explore too?"

"It just feels like a downgrade." Danny kept his volume minimal, hoping to keep Jane calm. "Kalamo is not a great place, but I've heard that conditions in America are better by miles. Of course, in comparison, I think this place tops all of it. You would be getting yourself into a mess by leaving your home to see that world, I think."

Jane hovered her eyes to the floor, truly considering his words with weight, but as soon as her eyes lifted again, those solid and focused green eyes, Danny immediately knew that Jane's mind was just now made up.

"I don't care." Taylor seemed as surprised as Danny was with Jane's choice of words. "I'll wait for the right time of course, but after this Alpha Zero mess calms down, I'm making arrangements to travel. I need to see what other options exist off this, this island."

Jane had never used that term before. Danny called Sprawn Valley an island when he and Taylor first arrived in Fronas from outside the continent. He truly thought this place was as small as his own knowledge for the world. Still, Sprawn Valley was still yet to be fully explored by himself or Jane. Somehow, she was listening to things he had been saying before without his conscious knowledge. At the very least, it was comforting to know that she was capable of taking good advice, even if it started with misconceptions. "Okay, I guess." Danny didn't sound sure of himself in the slightest. Taylor gave him a mean look as if he let a timed bomb activate. "Just don't visit Kalamo. You'll regret it."

"I can't believe you're okay with—"

Knowing what Taylor was getting upset about, Danny interrupted her to explain what he knew was going through Jane's mind. Jane has been here her entire life, surrounded by this amazing ability to invoke Leray magic. Why would anyone ever want to go somewhere by which you can't use that magic? Jane is just used to it. The same can be said for anybody. It doesn't matter how good something gets. Change is what keeps things interesting and alive, not staying in once place and doing the same thing your entire life. "Let her make up her own mind. Jane can at least look after herself. She's proven that for us. Personally, I don't see why a person trapped on an island would want to stay there forever, no matter what perks you get for it."

"Mn—" Taylor opened her mouth, but nothing useful came out. What is he saying exactly? Jane just wants to explore the world, and Taylor is... No, she's trying to stop Jane from moving on past one single goal. Other than being a reckless and dangerous move, there was nothing wrong at heart with what Jane wanted to do. She still objected to the idea in general, but there wasn't a way to argue with Danny's logic at the moment... How does he keep doing that? Ever since Taylor got to know Danny, he has never been so capable of calm and collective reasoning with anyone - ever! Immature, impatient, egotistic, and impulsive; those were the qualities she expected, but they have disappeared entirely. Taylor struggled to remember at what point this happened. This would hardly be a first example. It didn't seem to make much since to her, but the fact was splashing her right in the face. Danny has changed!

"Thanks for understanding," Jane honored. After glancing to her left, Jane realized that they were literally going nowhere, off track by stopping in the middle of the road. "Now can we get going? We want to make it to Eldora by dark, right?"

Taylor nodded with Danny, getting their bikes and mounting on them again to continue cycling down the road. Taylor had much more to think about in the process. For some sudden reason, she couldn't stop thinking about Danny in general. Every moment spent together, every memory that involved him was being pushed to the surface of her random thought chain.

After speeding back up, Jane tended to remain silent this time while cycling. Only a few minutes managed to pass by, but a lot was on her mind with their last conversation. Jane wanted nothing more than to travel outside of Sprawn Valley with her two best friends by her side, but in Eldora, they'll be on their way to the airport, getting a ticket back home where they belong. It's a part of Jane's future they can't be connected to. After Alpha Zero is dealt with, perhaps even before that, they'll be saying their goodbyes.

The wind began picking up again, and Danny kept his sights completely forward while letting his thoughts race in every direction. Taylor kept up to his side, holding her bike straight and steady to peek another glance toward Danny. His short brown hair blew in the wind gracefully, and the angled light from the sun lit up his face with a powerful natural glow of which Taylor rarely noticed before. With what began with just a peek, Taylor continued staring straight at him, unable to look away for a moment, the bloom of beauty enticing!

He's handsome, Taylor was certain of that from the start. She had to have several reasons for not dating him before, but she couldn't recall many at the moment. Her thoughts continued racing about all the other times they spent time together. Not one of those moments were dates, nor were they romantic, but they are still memories of gold for Taylor. He's growing up into a man. Taylor had guessed this to be the case with the reasons for his difference lately. He's been more responsible, thoughtful for others, and much stronger than before. Danny was always physically strong, but only when he needed to be. On average, he used to let other people push him around, people he would somehow call friends. Taylor began to consider the scenario of herself trying to talk to Danny, getting him to ask her if they could do something together once they reach Eldora, something non-magical related. Maybe even... Perhaps if she were to try and go out with Danny, even just to try it... Before she knew it, her heart began pounding with violence in her chest, her limbs covertly shaking underneath her skin. She could think of a million ways to imagine the scenario, but to try that in real life would be different.

Danny turned his head from the sun, giving his tired eyes a brief rest. He then discovered that Taylor was mysteriously staring at him; even now she didn't seem to notice him noticing her noticing him. Thoughts from the past sprang up with the same funny feeling he had earlier with Taylor. There were plenty of women Danny tried to hit on in the past, and Taylor was never one of them. He didn't see much logical reason why. She's fairly hot, very smart, and Taylor has to this day never done anything to screw him over like some bitch. But just thinking about the idea of being together with her gave him goose bumps, making him sweat over his sudden chill. They've been great friends for so long now, the thought really didn't come to mind. But why now? Why is it daunting on him that they could be a couple? Also, what would be wrong with the idea?

Saying anything suddenly felt awkward, but Danny risked it, starting with a simple reminder of better days they once shared. "Hey Taylor?"

"Wha— yes?!" Taylor forgot to pay attention to Danny's current actions. He was looking at her now, and she forgot to periodically look away. He knew she was staring at him for that long. Shit!

Danny played it cool, traveling back to the day they first became friends. "Remember that day in the park, back in Burneu?"

Taylor was suddenly rushed to think about everything at once. There were a lot of days at the park, and there were not many days where she was there alone... "Oh yeah!" Recalling the specific important day Danny was referring to, Taylor played the feedback in her head. Burneu is the county section in Kalamo where she lived, the same area Danny moved to when he was younger. But within that county, they lived in a town called Slateport.

Without waiting for her to remember all the details alone, Danny explained what happened that night, as to have something to simply talk about. He suddenly felt a little more nervous, but Danny simply went with his confusing instincts. "What was his name, that asshole?"

"Brandy," Taylor rehearsed. Brandy was an older bully who picked on Taylor after realizing she normally had some money to carry around. Unlike the other bullies, Brandy messed up Taylor's entire reputation then, using manipulation while forcing her to convince her real friends that Brandy was a friend of her own. Then one day, Danny showed up to the park.

Danny noticed the problem multiple times before it really got out of hand. Taylor was just standing there, letting this Brandy jock talk trash to her face. Before - Danny never did anything about it, feeling as if it was none of his business, and the guy was twice Danny's current size in mass and weight. He decided to do nothing, until witnessing the brutality behind the scenes. Though it never happened in public view, Brandy would hit Taylor, beat her with his bare fist, punching her in the face, though only should she ever try to stick up for herself, and that was the day Danny watched it happen firsthand.

"You beat the crap out of that guy," Taylor reminded.

Danny couldn't forget a detail. After watching Taylor get hit twice in a row, Danny's restrictions snapped, forcing him to engage Brandy in combat. It was nothing more than a fistfight, and Brandy was naturally stronger than Danny at first, but he fought to keep her safe, Taylor was but a stranger to him who he had seen on occasions after moving to Burneu. After wrestling and fighting the man though, Danny managed to shake off the first few punches to the gut and hit him back with much more force. He forgot exactly what way and in what order he punched him in, but Danny literally beat Brandy to the ground until he had a bloody face, after which Brandy left everyone alone to hide in the shadows.

Taylor was surprised that night, that someone who barely knew her at all would just stick their nose in front of a guy twice their own size, and surprised yet again to see Danny win the fight. They didn't say anything to each other after the incident. Danny stayed at the park, revisiting what just happened in his mind while sitting on the bench. Danny wasn't beaten up too badly for any need of medical attention, his injuries minor compared to Brandy's. Taylor sat next to him, curious about Danny without either of them touching hands or speaking to one another.

He sat with Taylor, letting her recover from that traumatic experience while they sat on the bench in silence watching the sunset below the hills all the way. The only thing Danny said to Taylor just before leaving the park was, "See you tomorrow." As casual as it was, Danny and Taylor were good friends from that moment on. They didn't ask each other out, nor did anything romantic happen on the night of the incident, but Taylor would always hang out with Danny and his choice of friends, eventually something that took a step to visiting each other's houses just to hang out. Taylor never forgot that day.

"I did what I had to." Danny remained confident in his obligation to help. It felt amazing right now that Taylor was somehow on the same page though. She almost seemed too excited about being reminded of that moment. "Nobody has the right to slam others like that."

Taylor didn't know what to say, but Danny was counting on her to stay cool about this. Keeping her bike steady, Taylor peered back at Danny, changing the subject while keeping it interesting. "Remember the first night on the Tidal Max?"

"Uuuuhhhhg!" Danny sunk his head down and chuckled at the same time. He was being a total idiot embarrassing himself, but at least it was with good impression that he may have had a chance with her. "Stacey was horrible! Should have seen that coming sooner."

Taylor laughed on cue, defining his mistake in detail. "You should be careful what you wish for. Flirting with other women can reveal its own den of monsters."

"What the hell are they talking about?" Jane kept her voice to a whisper, knowing she wasn't part of their conversation, but it just cropped up so randomly. Danny beating up someone for Taylor? Then flirting with other women in failure? Taylor was picking out some juicy topics tonight!

"Aaagh!" Danny cringed at the thought. "I was such a dork! What happened?!" He referenced the moment on the Tidal Max where he tried to ask out several beautiful women, over half were blond. But like most men, Danny froze up or said something wrong trying to directly speak to one of them. He got a close chance with improved confidence with some other girl he can't remember the name to, but she still turned him down, and Taylor was just there to make fun of it, in her own usual way.

Then there was Stacey, who Danny managed to somehow officially go out with. That only lasted for about five minutes, since Stacey was oddly in complete control the entire time, turning Danny into her slave and treating him like the bottom of her shoe. In just five minutes flat, Danny somehow wound up in a situation as if he were married to a control freak, and he Danny signaled Taylor for help, help in that he could get himself out of the hole he dug himself into. Stacey was just a total loser, and wasn't worth the time and effort.

At first, Taylor laughed at him, watching Danny's train wreck of a wrongful relationship explode in his face, but after feeling too sorry for him, she eventually set up an elaborate plan to pretend to be Danny's sister. Taylor was a great actress that day, turning herself into a total hassle for Stacey and Danny, giving the hussy a taste of her own medicine until Stacey decided that she had enough of him and his false sister. For Danny, it worked out in his favor since he wanted to end that relationship as soon as it started. It still never dawned on her why Danny didn't just have it in him to tell Stacey it was over and be done with it.

That was the old Danny, making a fool of himself by mistake, which happened on a daily basis. Those were fun days though, as the situation each time was interesting and fun to watch unfold. Taylor was always there to make sure she didn't miss any of the action, since most of it was somehow humorous or interesting, and at the end of the day, she was still his friend. He could have been comfortable telling Taylor his deepest secrets without so much as an itch. Everything seems so different now.

"I didn't bring you two along with me so that you can just flirt with each other all day." Jane interrupted their gaiety with a risky tease of their own mixed feelings. But it was still true. Stirring memorable conversations like that can count as flirting, and Danny was practically in on it too. Why can't Taylor just see what it is?

"We're not flirting!" Taylor felt destroyed by the mere accusation. Her entire face went red in the instant the thought had been implanted. What would Danny think of her now, if he suspected that Taylor was trying to win him over?

Danny casually replied, "Ah, that's just Jane being Jane." Danny couldn't feel too confident though. He knew he was trying his best to stay calm and collective, to not say anything stupid or cringy. It was hard to gauge what this fluttery feeling was inside, but Danny attempted to do something about it.

Agh! This pushing and pulling is so annoying! Jane slowed her bike to get closer to being level with the others. "Face it! You two are madly in love! Oh! The suspense!"

Jane's tone was obviously there to advertise that she was kind of joking. Danny accepted that Jane wasn't being serious about it, but after staring at Taylor for another brief moment and tracing all of her body with his eyes, Danny only felt the pulse of his heart reach all through his arms and up to his throat. Danny could also see a hint of lingering guilt. That's what it looked like anyway, like Taylor couldn't bear to face him after hearing that. Jane was just pedaling forward again, trying to set this thing up, but Danny didn't need Jane's help or approval to set anything up, nor did she need to be a spaz about it. "Just you wait until Jane gets goo-goo over some hot guy. I'm gonna be there to make it as awkward as possible."

Taylor exhaled silently in relief. Her heart was still pounding, but she couldn't stay on top of things today. It was like Danny had concrete determination and calm sense that was as sturdy as a metal wall, practically unbreakable focus. After Jane's last word of a remark, Danny turned to stare at Taylor again.

"Who said I'd take you with me?" Jane remarked.

Taylor met Danny's gaze in front of the beautiful view of the shimmering ocean behind him. Danny wasn't looking away, nor was he changing his expression to Taylor's stare either. A glow of emotion was shared between both their expressions, confusing as it felt deep down. He's... He's smiling! No way is he being serious. Taylor knew this was some kind of joke to embarrass her. Why is Danny looking at her like that? Stop it!

"In any case, how about it Taylor?"

Taylor gasped silently. He asked her something, but in such a way that wasn't clear at all. "How about what?" Taylor wanted to slap herself for sounding like a nervous wreck. She was never like this before in front of anyone, let alone the friend she practically grew up by. Taylor faced forward again, refusing to meet Danny's gaze less her only last wall be destroyed.

Danny could see the paralyzing look on her face. She was afraid, nervous to consider the thought, and this is the very first time he just realized it. Danny couldn't judge her for this though, since he didn't have the thought to begin with, not until they had reached Lennith City together in search for Jane. He was nervous inside too, though collected just enough to pull through. It was hard to think about anything else back then, worrying about the safety of Jane's own life. But Danny had been noticing Taylor more and more since crash landing on this country. He never told a living soul about it, but after realizing from this very moment that Taylor might possibly feel the same way for him, Danny was incredibly relieved and relaxed, like a sudden weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. It wasn't a total remedy to his nerves, but the idea in his head became far more comforting than before. All he wanted to do now was please the girl he has been traveling with for so long. There isn't any shame in trying this out. "How about us - together?" Danny broke it down to the rawest form of asking a person out. There wasn't a need to pretend to be cool with Taylor, since she would simply see through any type of facade knowing who he is already, but he also had no intention of treating this situation like any other. This is Taylor we're talking about, not some dumb blond on a boat.

"Us?" Taylor repeated with her voice cracking. "Together..." Her face was glowing with a solid blush. Danny just asked her out, right here and now! This isn't right. This is happening too soon! Taylor never expected this to actually happen this way. Despite coasting on a stable concrete road, Taylor felt lightheaded, like the entire world was falling away from underneath her. Her lungs ceased functioning entirely. Her body tingled everywhere, and the sensation of being scared to death was now mixed with some sort of incredible aura, some invisible feeling yet to be discovered by Taylor rushing through her blood in a single instant. Her throat locked in place, and Taylor was literally speechless, unable to reply at all.

Danny sensed the hesitation, unable to conclude if Taylor was just nervous or upset by the offer. "No need to decide right now, just something to think about."

Jane resisted and held back a loud burst of laughter as much as she could, turning it into a chuckling smile with her hand over her mouth. Now that - is not the calm and collective Danny speaking, not anymore. After having denied this for so long, Taylor is finally unable to dodge those questions now. Jane wanted to milk this for everything it was worth, since they would not all be together for much longer, but it felt right to let them at it for a few more moments.

"Shur-sure! I guess, I mean - of course!"

Danny laughed at Taylor's inability to form a single sentence, but it felt great at the same time. She really was okay with this, enough to actually accept his offer. Hopefully she wasn't feeling rushed into it, but she was defiantly surprised or feeling awkward about this in some way. Still, Danny felt that he could even wait for Taylor to answer honestly.

Taylor was stunned, even at her own self for automatically replying at all. What did she just do? Taylor agreed to have Danny as her boyfriend! Her heart was still racing in her chest; her face was still blushing, but this feeling had her energy going everywhere, her mind racing a million thoughts per minute. Taylor couldn't believe this was happening, and at the same time, she was bewildered with excitement that it was happening too. Why does he have to do this now?

Danny dared another stare her way, now noticing a new aura in Taylor's face. She seemed excited, or happy, one of the two despite her alertness. Taylor wasn't even paying much attention anymore. Too distracted by her own thoughts, Taylor couldn't appear to be any more beautiful than she is right now. Priceless! Not only did she say yes, but this was the face of Taylor he wanted to remember forever, the face he wanted to wake up to every single day from here on.

I can't believe it! I can't believe it! I can't believe it! I'm actually going out with Danny! I can't believe it! Factoring in Danny's past experiences only served to confuse her thoughts, which was something Taylor wasn't able to help herself with. She only had a mild crush on him since arriving in Tilsit Port, but this was something totally different. Everything felt unfamiliar and amazing at the same time. What are these feelings?

Jane chuckled aloud again in front of her. She didn't have to turn around in order to see Taylor about to burst from the inside. She has been wanting that to happen forever, only in this case Danny was the one in control, coming out of hiding so suddenly. Jane figured she should have made a bet with someone that they would be going out sometime soon. Danny and Taylor were practically made for each other. While Jane was happy for the two of them, now was also the time to put a lid on it. "Well my work here is done."

"What work?" Danny denied. "You didn't do anything."

"Didn't I though?"

"No, not really." Taylor was quick to knock Jane's insanity out of the air too. It was easy enough to compose herself to do that much.

How dare they! Jane flustered. After all I've done for them... "Now I have to save Lennith City, and keep you two from making out during important stuff."

"Now you're just plain exaggerating." Danny wasn't sure that was the best choice of words. He could tell that Taylor was a bit nervous and frozen by his earlier proposal. Though her shyness wasn't exactly expected to last for this long. Is dating him really that scary of a thought? Jane was only going to make it worse, so best they drop it for now.

Taylor was forced into thinking about the romantic scenario in her head, making out with Danny under a tree or something. His lips pressed against hers...

"Heads up!" Jane called. The sudden warning snapped Taylor out of her trance, getting all of them to slow down a little at the sight of a person up ahead. Technically, there was another adult in the distance, walking away towards Eldora, unrelated to the first person who appeared to be pacing around in the middle of the road. Jane figured it had to be another challenger who was getting impatient, but it was best to stay silent and steady to avoid the confrontation.

Jane hit the brakes on her bicycle, skidding the tires on the cement to a crawl. Danny and Taylor repeated Jane's actions without questioning why, though Jane was still there to explain it. "It's alright. I could use a breather." Jane dismounted from her bike, keeping the stranger in distance ahead in her peripheral. It didn't look like someone who was eager enough to interrupt others to battle, but Jane had a rather comforting idea. After turning to her friends, she announced, "Get a drink or a snack if you need it."

Jane didn't plan to have an entire picnic out here did she? Danny nodded his head and pulled out his personal supply sphere. After the device opened, a holographic selection display appeared, after which Danny used his simple magic to decide on what to rematerialize. After selecting the object, the device shut, pulling an unopened water bottle into his hand from phase. The entire object was glowing with a bright blue aura until the process was completed, and Danny took a few sips afterwards.

Taylor soon realized that the railing she has been leaning on was the only thing separating the road from the nothingness past it. Jumping over the railing would result in falling down hundreds of feet into the ocean. At least the railings have impressive metal bars to prevent someone from jumping the edge, holding to about nine feet tall with a transparent frame robust to damage. She could see the water below through the transparent frame, basically covering the entire structure that had replaced the weak fences earlier. Still peering head up the road, she didn't find anything in the distance resembling a city. While Taylor initially worried that it was getting late, the sunlight beating down on her was still intense, replacing the cold air from before with a grueling heat directly to her arms and face.

Jane didn't have the intentions of eating, filled up from having a snack before departing to this path. While having this break though, it might give that nearby stranger a second thought about rudely interrupting their time to force a battle upon them. Jane wasn't tired, but she knew she was on a clock to get to Eldora quickly. Judging by that dress sphere and the low quality shoes, the stance of the girl, and her constant nerve to pace left and right told Jane that it was just an amateur. There wasn't any good time or training that could be made battling a rookie fighter who doesn't know what they are doing.

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Chapter Theme Shift: Vortex ~ Carbon Based Lifeforms (World of Sleepers)

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"What's with that person?" Danny pointed to the figure Jane had been paying attention to earlier, letting onto Jane that he possibly understood what was not so random about a five minute break. It was still true that his legs were getting exhausted already. They have all been pedaling for over an hour since leaving Lennith City.

Jane carefully focused on the young woman again. Something didn't seem to line up with Jane's theory. This person wasn't looking around for people, nor was she walking on foot towards Lennith City. The girl only risked brief peeks at Jane's group, but was quick to deter her eyes. It's as if she didn't want to be spotted right now. In a minute flat, her pacing was beginning to drive Jane mad. After realizing that being asked to battle is something that may not happen after all, Jane decided to risk learning what the big fuss is about.

Jane stepped away from the rail, leaving her friends in question as she approached the stranger to learn more about what was really going on. Jane however kept a sharp nerve and eye all around her, making sure this wasn't some childish elaborate trap to lure people in. The woman stopped pacing suddenly, facing away from Jane to pretend like she wasn't even there. After several moments of nothing, Jane glanced back to see Danny and Taylor standing just as confused as she was about this. Finally, Jane went for it, jumping into someone else's business at her own risk. "Hey! Is there a problem back here?"

Her muscles jumped from Jane's loud greeting, but the woman turned around to face Jane. An expression of mild surprise haunted Jane's eyes. The woman was only about four years older in age, and not very tall to make her stand out with that fact either. "No problem at all," she reassured.

Jane studied the details of the girl. Brown hair, brown eyes, incredibly pale skin, and the tendency to be so shy. Nothing about this person's actions were making any sense. Where did she come from? Is she traveling or battling? Or did she do something wrong? "You a Leray wielder? That's not a normal dress to be wearing around here."

Already had Jane determined this because the girl was wearing a dress sphere instead of an ordinary dress; she must be a Leray wielder. The woman developed a glint of fear in her eyes, but her expression masked frustration over it. Instead of answering Jane's question, the woman instead took a few steps back towards the other side rail. What was she so afraid of?

"So what if I am? I don't have to fight anyone I don't want to!" The woman raised her voice at Jane.

Clearly she was upset about something that happened earlier. Jane carefully tried to piece together what could have happened while keeping her calm. "You're right," Jane agreed. "Nobody has to fight if they don't want to. My friends and I are on a little break, so I appreciate the discretion."

"Y— you weren't going to ask for a battle?"

Jane nodded her head to a no. "I'm on a timer, and I'm usually the one that gets forced into battles I'd rather not be a part of. We're all going to Eldora. Lennith's only about two hours and a half or so on foot that way." The woman seemed so fragile and innocent. Her legs were frozen in place, like she couldn't cope with some recent traumatic experience. Where is her bike? Why is she here alone? Jane played her cards carefully as to not scare her off.

The woman sighed in relief, her tensions lesser of what they were. "Oh, well... That's good. Did you see any other battlers that way?"

Jane desperately tried to understand in her thoughts. She wants to get to Lennith, hates battling, is afraid to death of Leray wielders, and yet is one herself. Does she think that seeing a Leray wielder means she is obligated to battle against them? Who could have forced that kind of logic down her throat? "A few." Jane quickly changed the subject to test her own theories. "Was someone else here recently, like very recently, bothering you?"

"Why do you want to know about that? Who are you anyway?" She saw Jane's other two friends walking up, now curious to what Jane had gotten them into. She worried immediately that they might just be the girl's henchmen.

Jane held her hand over her chest in gesture. "My name is Jane Venn." Realizing that Danny and Taylor crept up behind her, Jane felt it was right to quickly introduce them as well. "This is Taylor Feer and Danny Mason." Taylor held out her hand for a shake, willing the woman into trusting all three of them.

After thinking shortly on whether these people were nice enough to even talk to, the woman dispensed with her shyness and introduced herself as well, shaking Taylor's hand in trust. "I'm Cass Anderson."

"Cass," Jane repeated. "That's a nice name."

Her voice was so warm and comforting. Cass studied the features of these people. Not a single one of them had an aggressive or angry expression. They seemed content and happy with things so far, and Jane said she doesn't want to battle. "Thanks."

"So what's going on?" Danny nudged Jane.

While Cass was questioning the intellect of the three teens in front of her, Jane made the immediate deduction aloud, hoping it would not offend Cass should she have it wrong. "I believe the last challenger Cass faced wasn't a fair fight, nor was it really a choice for her to accept in the matter."

"Wha..." Cass couldn't piece together how it was even possible that Jane's group could know anything about Cass or what she was feeling right now.

"Are you sure?" Danny worried. By the surprised look on Cass right now, Jane must have guessed such a conclusion. But why?

Jane focused on Cass again, phishing for the right information. "How many strikes do you have on your license?"

Cass hesitated to say anything else, and she was failing to deny what happened to herself, unable to hide anything. "Two," she instinctively replied. There were two strikes on her card, both of them from the same crook.

"I don't understand," Taylor projected. Her misunderstanding made Jane look at her with some disappointment in her eyes.

"Well I do," Jane claimed. "The last guy you fought offered to battle you the first time, and you said no. After putting a strike on your card, he forced you to stay nearby for exactly fifteen minutes, just before revising his offer. He did this to cheat the system in order to force another strike on your card."

"Wait, people are allowed to do that?" It was a detail Danny never thought about before. By making multiple offers to the same person in just minutes afterwards, you can either force them to fight you out of fear of being suspended, or simply get them suspended should they refuse three times in a row. But Danny has always been under the impression that the system had some sort of thing in place to prevent the exploit. How can something that terrible be allowed?

"They are not," Jane corrected. "But a few recent exploits in the system have been discovered by undesirable people as of late." Cass is in a similar position that Jane was in when she faced Patrissa, but since Cass is still fine, that must mean she gave into the demands used against her.

"He only asked me twice," Cass confessed. "I had a strike before meeting him, one I took after losing a battle on this route. I'm from Eldora, but I only graduated with basic."

Jane knew she smelled the skills of a rookie, but suddenly felt bad for characterizing Cass like that. "Let's stay focused on this man. Does he have a name?"

"He forced you to battle him?" Taylor was shushed by Jane immediately after having that epiphany. She too didn't understand that just anyone could so easily go around the system. Of course, if she fights someone without offering anything, or battles someone who has three strikes on their card, it's considered illegal, but she thought there was at least one safeguard in place to prevent that. Then again, they're talking about specific rules that somehow enable anywhere and everywhere within the Leray veil of protection. How can a rule of magic turn into a noun and apply itself to something so physical?

"Gustos," Cass spelled. "He was alone, but too tough for me to beat. I'm just not fit for battling."

Jane sighed with the stress of it all. Cass also has low self-esteem. Fixing this might take a while. "He probably hailed from Eldora and is heading back there right? We'll teach him a lesson."

Danny punched the other open palm with enthusiasm. "Now you're talking! After that last match, I think I can take on any dirt bag in this place."

"Don't bother." Cass turned to the side and sank her head down. She wasn't anywhere close to crying her eyes out, but the truth stung her in the throat. She's a terrible Leray fighter, and a failure at magic. "It's not like getting revenge will fix what's wrong with me."

"Nothing's wrong with you!" Taylor and Jane both replied with the same words at the same time, ignoring their coincidence by letting Jane help her. Jane held Cass's arms together, turning her to face up. "Learning how to fight takes time. You think I was any good at battling when I first started out?"

Danny chuckled at the idea. It seemed so long ago now, but it was only just a few weeks past. Jane might continue to leave out that minor detail. She should have been referencing Taylor and himself, since they haven't been secretly marked.

Instead of keeping the same tone of despair, Cass stared straight into Jane's green eyes when she sounded annoyed in her response. "I suck at magic, Jane. I can't fix that with training if I can't defeat a single person."

"Well..." Jane knew Cass was missing a large picture, and she didn't want to stray from her inspiring topic, but it's not like Jane could just look at Cass and announce that she had been marked by some kind of illegal experiment that fired a beam of pure energy from the moon to the ground on Earth. So she started with the basics instead. "To be fair, this road is mostly populated with level three graduates, people who have advanced training with almost three years of physical hands-on experience. Basics will have some difficulty here."

Cass nudged Jane's grip off of her. "Get off me! You think that matters now? I should have just stuck with the sure thing, working at a business with a solid career. I couldn't hurt a novice if I wanted to."

Jane didn't drop her confident smirk. "Wanna bet?" She could tell without looking that Danny and Taylor were on to what was about to go down, something that would excite Jane to no end every single time. "I don't believe that basic training from one of the richest cities would train a person of your intelligence to fail each time. Maybe there is something wrong with your technique. Or maybe you've overlooked a few details that are important to pay attention to while battling. What say we take a practice round; no spoils, no battling till we drop, and no bull?"

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Cass was quietly hinting glances at everyone. Jane seemed like the person who makes the decisions for the other two, since they had a surprised and excited look on them.

"Uh, shouldn't I battle for a practice round?" Danny protested.

Jane wanted to smack him one, but instead found another creative way to humiliate his strength. "We need to put Cass against someone who can actually take a lot of punishment." Jane turned around to face Danny for the rebuttal. "You don't qualify. You might be strong, but I think even a pipsqueak could beat you up if you lost your balance."

Taylor joined with a sarcastic laugh, while Danny was too appalled to retort anything quick enough. "Ha-ha!"

Cass couldn't explain what was coming over her. She hated Leray magic for failing her so many times, and battling even to practice was the last thing she wanted to do, but Jane, Danny, and Taylor were all people she was immediately comfortable with. She still knew nothing about a single one of them, but Jane and the others seemed trustworthy. Jane was simply offering a practice battle with no strings attached. Even if she didn't agree, it felt like Jane would be totally disappointed. All three of them locked eyes back on Cass eager for their answer. "Fine," she complained with a stretch. "But only for a few minutes, and no Siriean dome either."

"Deal," Jane agreed immediately. It made sense to why Cass refused the use of a Siriean dome for a practice round. If Jane was a lying manipulative criminal, she could just cast the Doom Shield spell and force the fight to go to a full finish, but without a Siriean dome, Doom Shield has zero effect on the environment whatsoever.

"Alright," Taylor clapped. She and Danny backed away, allowing for the two of them to get some room for each other. "Show us what you can do Cass!"

Jane felt a little strange at first, routing for her own opponent instead of herself, but Cass just needs some evaluation on some of her own skills. Jane wouldn't be able to give any advice without first seeing how far Cass has come in her training. "Let's treat this like a slow version of a normal battle. We each take turns deciding which skills to use, and you get to go first. If I don't like what I see, I'll tell you about it."

"Sounds fair!" Cass had to holler after backing away just enough to be at a safe beginning distance for battling. Because there was a lack of a Siriean dome, any magical attack spells could go anywhere. A few stray attacks may hit Taylor and Danny by mistake, though they didn't look too worried. After Cass took her place and stance at one side of the rail, she cast all of her surroundings into her memory. She didn't want to back up or jump into one of the side rails by mistake should she need to dodge any attacks. Danny and Taylor were on the sidelines, keeping their distance while watching this practice battle closely.

Jane could already feel her heart rate rising from the suspense she imagined in her mind. Her limbs were incredibly nervous and ready for anything. Jane simply waited to try and take on what Cass was about to try. "I'll wait for your first move," she announced. Jane decided already that she would physically take the first hit instead of shielding it off. That way, she would be able to judge the damage level of the spell used.

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Chapter Theme Shift: Ropeburn ~ Solar Fields

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image [https://i.postimg.cc/MHpc5fgc/S3-Jane-N-010.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/2ybWmD62/S3-Cass-N-000.png]

Before a swift reply, Cass engaged her energy scope as well. "Okay." Cass drew two daggers from her pockets. They were not her main weapon of choice. Though because the battle was unofficial, each contestant would be able to pull out any weapon they physically have on them without fail. Healing orbs will work too, unconditionally. After taking a careful aim at Jane, Cass lifted her daggers, chanting a spell while expending a small amount of MP energy. "Tri-Attack!" After chanting the spell, Cass tossed the daggers through the air, flying head on towards Jane with a spin. At the same time the daggers left her hands, Cass formed two separate red glyphrings around each of her wrists. She was able to quickly invoke a fiery spell before Jane even took the dagger strikes to her chest.

Jane felt the sharp and painful slit of the blades graze her skin, but it wasn't as bad as several hits she had taken before. The daggers were not infused with any kind of magical energy, so both the pain and damage levels were light. This wasn't the end of her opponent's unique Tri-Attack. A Fire Ball projectile launched from each glyphring aimed at Jane, firing just before she was hit by the blades. Jane wasn't interrupted too much by the pain to lose focus on the rest of the skill set. Cass literally used a combo of double Fire Ball to try and hit Jane with weak fire elemental damage. Fire Bolt would have been a better choice, since Fire Ball is a spell that does not home in on the target the entire time. Following the close call of being slammed with balls of fire, Jane leaped out of the way leaning right. The skid on her shoes against the hard cement came at little cost when Jane narrowly avoided one of the Fire Balls from the left. The other managed to slam into her leg, but it was allowed to only because of Cass's poor aiming on the spell itself.

Cass wasn't finished with her spell yet. After charging in at Jane while she was getting up off the ground, Cass yelled, "Gauntlet Punch!" which formed a transparent gauntlet glove on her right hand. After getting close enough to Jane, Cass let her have it with all her might, hitting Jane straight in the chest.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/zv2ycX1x/S3-Jane-N-011.png]

Jane had every intention of dodging the attacks which were only easy to evade. Out of everything that managed to graze her HP levels down bit by bit, the Gauntlet Punch packed the highest power level among them all. The force from the impact nearly knocked Jane down while blowing the air out of her lungs in a painful bruising sensation. After Jane began recovering from the blunt hit to her chest, Cass also backed away cautiously to await Jane's response and evaluation. She read the stats on her energy scope, doing the math to determine how much health the attack scratched off.

Jane had never before witnessed a Tri-Attack like this one. Tri-Attack is normally a free form spell that most popularly attacks an opponent with three different magic skills at the same time. However in this case, Cass invoked it in the form of a Tri-Cast free form time-based spell. In other words, the skills were not used all at the same time, nor was she very particular about how they were invoked to hit Jane with multiple types of damage. There was the very weak slashing damage from the daggers, fire elemental damage from the Fire Balls, and the blunt damage from that gauntlet, and that was just the base of Cass's strategy. Evaluating her overall strengths and weaknesses could take forever.

Jane summarized as best as she could for Cass what were the pros and cons of the spell, speaking loudly enough for Cass to hear from the short distance of twenty-five meters. "Tri-Attack isn't a bad spell," she commented. "But make sure all three attacks hit the target much faster. Your style isn't bad, but your Knife Toss and Fire Ball attacks were naturally too weak. Try Fire Bolt next time, and infuse some magic into your blades before throwing them. It charges up the power level of those attacks."

"I don't understand," Cass complained.

Jane nodded to revise her statement. "A common way to make Tri-Attack effective is to combine all of the elemental attacks to hit someone at the exact same time in one instance, using three spaced out glyphrings to surround the foe, instead of hitting them from only one firing arc. As you could see, I was able to dodge some of that ordinance you sent me."

"Okay..." Cass took the advice seriously, though she feared that Jane might have meant something other than what she was understanding from it. "Let's see how you attack from a distance. Give me your best shot!"

Jane's eyes opened a little wider. If I really give her my best shot, Cass will be out of the fight in one hit. Jane would have to go light on Cass since she is just a rookie, and she already had the perfect spell in thought. All Jane has to do here was remember her training from much earlier days. People don't normally deal with close hand physical combat the way Jane was capable of, but she had several interesting spells with low power levels.

Once decided, Jane aimed at Cass who stood still and awaited her own chance to try and dodge the attack. Jane formed a bright cyan blue glyphring around her right wrist after charging a tiny amount of MP energy into her hand. "Ice Needles!" An army of frozen shards and icicles formed from the base of the glyphring, all firing like bullets towards Cass. Ice Needles doesn't travel through the air with the same quickened speed of a bullet, though it is still quick and effective in confusing the opponent. The needles all spread out and dispersed a little from the center of their arc, making it impossible to dodge them directionally.

Cass fell right into that description. All she could do was just stand there and take the barrage of freezing needles sticking into her arms, legs, chest, anywhere she was vulnerable. Though the damage done to her immediate health was incredibly light, the pain of dozens of stings is what affected her more, but even Cass made a quick recovery from this. As soon as the glyphring on Jane's arm faded from view, so did the Ice Needles stuck inside of her skin melt away, leaving Cass's body five degrees colder than it was before.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/9067QnwV/S3-Cass-N-001.png]

Jane explained herself before Cass even had a moment to process the attack. "That was a weaker example of magical attacks that cannot be dodged. I managed to deal ice elemental piercing damage to you in a way that would have been too difficult for most to get away from. Make sure you know of such spells and how to take them in the future."

Taylor commented with a whisper to Danny in her current evaluation. "Jane is even brutal on those training in front of her."

Danny responded in an opposite state of argument. "Yeah, but so are those more skilled than Cass challenging her to duel. She has her work cut out for her already."

"I already know about that spell!" Cass seemed a little upset. Jane was basically insulting her own intelligence. Ice Needles was only the second spell her school taught her. Cass still wanted to take the advice, but it wasn't fair that Jane knew everything so easily. The damage was done so lightly, that Cass now felt as if nothing was made to test her endurance at all. Jane was going easy on her, and it had to be on purpose. "How weak do you think I am Jane?"

"I didn't say that—"

"I'll show you what I'm capable of." Cass didn't feel like letting Jane make more excuses. Though instead of giving it up, Cass thought of a better spell, one of a higher level in order to prove how strong she was. At least then she would have proved her point to Jane, that no amount of powerful skills can overcome others in a fight with her style. "Crimson Blade!"

Jane carefully watched as Cass's emotions kicked into an aggravated state. She wasn't trying to upset the wielder, but it was understandable given all of Cass's potential losses adding up to this point. It would make anyone frustrated, and the results showed in her battling strategy too. Cass managed to invoke a spell that takes months of practice for most to successfully master. Blazing Sword is the spell that infuses the long bladed weapon with a fiery aura, adding fire elemental damage on top of slashing damage dealt, requiring magical energy, and the constraint that the long blade is the primary weapon of choice should a Siriean dome be present. On the other hand, Crimson Blade is a total tier higher on damage, invocation time, and movement time. Crimson Blade infuses the sword with fire damage, while allowing the user to quickly use that blade due to the instant infusion time. Cass's main weapon of choice just so happens to be a long sword, one that Jane believed she would never be capable of lifting correctly.

Surprised yet again, Cass got her sword out in no time, creating a fiery mist that only surrounded the blade and its edges with amazing visual effects that actually made the sword look as though it was bursting with red colored flames. Cass took her sword and charged at Jane again. Though she and Jane were distant for now, Cass was running at a quick pace to try and slash Jane with all her might. First mistake! Jane didn't even have to ponder what was already wrong with the picture. You don't use a close combat attack from a far distance unless you have some quick way of getting to the opponent, or distracting them beforehand. Jane would now be miles ready to counter Cass's move, interrupt her own abilities. The spell however was quite impressive to know for a first year student.

"Rush Assault!" Jane immediately invoked one of her higher-level skills, infusing magical energy into her entire body, and allowing her legs to run at four times the normal sprinting speed. Jane was all over Cass in a second of time, flashing a few kicks and punches to the gut, knocking Cass totally off balance to destroy any chance she once had of attacking Jane successfully. Jane knew that while the damage level on Rush Assault would be a little high for a person like Cass, the general idea would be used by virtually any other challenger. Judging from that earlier outburst of a reaction Cass had a minute ago, it was clear to Jane already that Cass wanted more than the brutal truth; she wanted Jane not to hold anything back anymore.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/FF8cp7Wq/S3-Cass-N-002.png]

Cass found herself on her back, her sides and several other places bruised by painful hits Jane somehow managed to strike her with. How did Jane intercept that so easily? There was a lot of time she had to spend to get back up. Jane wasn't continuing her attack, for there was still fair time and opportunity to allow Cass to learn and recover. She kept her sword in hand, still blazing with the fiery aura from the last spell. Apparently, the infusion lasts for quite some time, something Jane forgot to think about.

"Never start your run with a close range attack if you are not already at a close range. Your opponent with have way too much time to intercept and interrupt your run with something else. It makes your attack useless, and their opportunity to hit much more improved."

"And what about the spell?" Cass was still struggling to get back up, but she regained her balance the moment Jane began to evaluate the rest of Cass's abilities.

Jane replied, "Crimson Blade. I like it. Nothing is wrong with the spell Cass. It's how you use it that counts."

Taking it immediately to mind, Cass lifted her blazing sword again, charging at Jane once more. "Charge Attack!"

There were two major differences about Cass's approach this time, and Jane had little time to detect them. First of all, Cass literally just went into another close range spell. Only this time, Jane didn't back away very far after using Rush Assault, which already made the two of them in close proximity. Cass literally took Jane's advice and used it a sentence after it was said. Now, instead of invoking Crimson Blade like before, Cass went with Charge attack, which is a basic version of a close-ranged free style combination skill. Her blade was still infused with a fiery aura though, which actually gave the ability in question a high advantage. Jane was already satisfied with the improvements, but decided to lower the damage to herself to keep this going longer.

After quickly charging her MP energy, Jane crossed her arms outward, projecting the magic around her entire body to create a perfect blue phasic aura that grew in power as it took the form of an auric shield. Jane's personal power shield, capable of deflecting all damage, while using hexagonal energy displacement to show Jane how much damage is done in each deflection. Jane however timed her shielding aura carefully, making sure Cass would try to get one hit just before invoking it. Cass literally charged her blade into Jane's shield from up top the moment the field was fully generated. Instead of slashing through the person, Cass wasn't aware of what happened until after the blade bounced off the aura with an incredible reflective force, forming several small hexagons around the aura in the spot Cass struck her sword into. The screeching unique sound of the anti-aura deflection confused Cass, along with the knockback force the sword put itself through. Cass literally lost her balance again upon striking that unexpected shield, falling towards the ground as the blade already lost its fiery luster. Jane was impressed, after seeing that multiple hexagons appeared in such a small size. Smaller sized hexagons indicates higher damage deflection, meaning Cass put a ton of force into that charge attack. Without her shield just now, she would have landed a devastating hit worth the effort.

Taylor and Danny's teeth showed through their opening bites upon witnessing Jane's hidden power. They never got the chance yet to witness one of the several reasons of which Jane's symbol made her nearly invulnerable. It wasn't just about the skills, it was about that incredible protective aura. They watched as Jane enforced an energy shield around her entire body, with the faint translucent glow of blue light. The blade Cass tried to use was entirely useless, and Jane remained undamaged completely. After moving her arms, the shield dropped and collapsed on its own, leaving Jane to appear as normally as before.

"Whoa!" Danny cried!

"What the heck was that?!" Taylor couldn't believe her own eyes. What is it that Jane just did? How did she invoke that kind of shield with so much energy? Jane's MP reserves barely budged! Taylor wanted to interrupt the match just to ask, but she held herself back, trying to remain as polite and patient as possible. Several thoughts stirred in her head. Is that shield something Jane can invoke constantly? And if it is, is that same shield responsible for her increased survivability?

"What the—" Cass choked. "That's impossible!"

"Relax," Jane eased. "I promise I'm the only one who could do that, and I only shielded myself to keep the match going a little longer. No battling to the death, remember?"

"Why did you block it? I had a good combo going!"

Jane could hear the frustration in Cass, and she reassured Cass that nothing she did that time was off. "I for one agree. You managed to use close combat tactics at close range, and then apply a Charge Attack combo with a sword that was already infused with a fiery aura of magic. I had to shield myself because I thought the damage would actually become immense, and I was right to do so. I have no complaints to give for your Charge Attack idea. It's perfect!"

Cass was hardly able to believe that Jane was already beginning to praise her for the success. But then why the shield? How did Jane even do that? How is it possible to completely block out an attack using magic? Nobody was teaching these things at Eldora's elite academy.

"I hate to say it," Jane pondered, "but it's almost like you think a little better when you get angry. Never thought you had it in you Cass."

"I don't think making me angry makes me a better fighter."

Jane partially agreed. "Well it's not everything, but it sure it a start. Having the right motivation to win any kind of battle is what helps us the most. You just need to find that motivation of yours." Jane charged up a little more energy, putting it all towards her right hand again to create another ice colored glyphring. "Ice Needles!" This time, using Ice Needles at point blank range would increase the amount of stinging pain and number of hits. Jane wasn't trying to teach Cass anything with that ability alone. By using it at all while Cass wasn't ready, it would have to begin making her blood boil. Jane needed to test her theory. How much better does Cass fight when she is actually angry or frustrated? Normally that isn't the key to victory in a Leray match for anyone, but Cass just seems too gentle and shy to be a Leray fighter. If she had some more emotion and courage in her last fight, this may have been avoided in the first place.

After hitting Cass with several dozen shards of Ice Needles, her health declined again on the energy scope, and Cass screeched out in pain due to the close-ranged improvement on Jane's end.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/5NzzRbDt/S3-Cass-N-003.png]

"That was uncalled for!" Cass immediately got herself back up, retaliating against Jane as quickly as she could with a different kind of spell. "Charger!" Cass infused MP energy into her hands, after which she leaped forward and took hold of Jane's arms. For a brief moment it seemed like Cass just wanted to hold onto Jane, but after Cass's hands released their energy, Jane was suddenly feeling the high voltage of the contact-based electrical attack, holding her in place for at least two long and painful seconds. Jane knew it was an electric attack, but she had never heard or seen that ability used before. Somehow, Cass was unharmed, meaning she was the outlet medium of the spell. Despite the pain and damage level of the attack, Jane was in fact most unimpressed by the style it employed.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/L4xgXvZj/S3-Jane-N-012.png]

Cass took a moment to back away, but Jane stood there with her arms crossed, getting over the pain of electrifying shocks quickly. "Now what kind of attack is that? Electrical attacks shouldn't have to be so close-ranged to be used. Cass? I could have interrupted that attack at any moment I wanted to."

"Just shut up Jane!" Cass was already steaming in place, but she hardly changed her fighting stance at all.

Jane took it as evidence that Cass wanted to continue, and that would mean showing off a little more power in her own abilities. Jane knew what to do now, show Cass just how powerful a long ranged attack can remain while conserving much of her own MP energy. "Try something like this! Mako Strike!" Jane lifted both of her daggers immediately, releasing energy from the tips of each blade after aiming them at Cass. The reaction forced blue energy spheres of high power levels to shoot from the tips of the blades and fly towards Cass with a very high speed. She wasn't even able to react or avoid it in time, the quick invocation of Jane's Mako Strike was almost too impressive. Cass's HP took a dramatic fall too because of how refined Jane's skill became with recent practice.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/Vkcty2cW/S3-Cass-N-004.png]

Cass took each hit with the force pushing her back, struggling to keep balance on each leg, despite both two energy spheres slamming her chest or upper shoulder. While being forced to try and recover from the bruising blunt damage infused with the magic, Cass had to hear even more of Jane's constant bragging.

"Simple spell, yet effective at any distance."

Cass didn't reply with words. Instead, she directly repeated the plan of action in her mind. Cass pulled out her long sword from the hilt on her back, and held her hand close to the blade while releasing more magical energy. "Crimson Blade," she chanted confidently. The fiery glow of red flames and Leray energy had the long metal blade glowing again. "Yaaaaahhh!" Cass instinctively rushed in towards Jane like last time, assuming there would have to be some kind of way to bypass any of her tricks. By rushing in with her crimson sword blazing with fire, Cass would be able to strike Jane's body with a ton of damage in her attack.

Jane nodded her head and put her arms apart again. After releasing magic in a way that was too natural for Jane to even think about, her power shield was up and running again, just before the powerful blade from Cass came crashing down from above, a repeated incident like before. Cass was pushed backwards once the entire force put into her sword was reflected back by the shield back into the blade. As soon as Jane successfully shielded herself from the attack, she immediately dropped her shield and counteracted the mistake with a penalty. "Earth Glave!" Jane lifted her open hand upwards to simulate the motion and direction of the Earth Glave attack, controlling the ground's movement with her next spell. As the ground shot up right where Cass was originally standing, the force from that one hit alone launched her off the ground about four feet high, and she landed quite a distance backwards and further away from Jane. The ability was very successful to interrupt Cass's actions and deal a ton of damage to her in the process. Was she going to have to learn how to fight the hard way?

image [https://i.postimg.cc/RZQHvGS5/S3-Cass-N-005.png]

"Damn," Danny cursed. The entire scene he kept such close eyes on only played out in Jane's favor. Did she know to hold back just a little? Cass wasn't getting any second chances for the moment. He also contemplated all of Jane's skills and abilities. Several of which he remembered seeing before, but they dealt so much damage and knockback force that it was hardly believable. She moves so quickly and elegantly. Nothing about Jane was lacking in confidence, and Cass was just getting the floor mopped with her own body.

Jane relaxed her stance, realizing that Cass was trying to pick herself up off the ground. It was clear that she was in a lot of pain from the last attack, since Earth Glave delivers a powerful blunt force of earth elemental damage with severe kinetic force involved. Hitting the ground on this pavement likely knocked the wind out of Cass. Jane began to wonder how she knew of all these little techniques to battle. She did learn them in school, the rest self-taught, but only when they were put into actual practice did they stick with her automatically for battle situations. Such things must be practiced first hand until they become repetitive. Cass needs to learn this the hard way, or she will never learn at all. Jane walked forward towards Cass casually, but also slowly. She didn't charge in or rush ahead.

Cass could see Jane approaching her from her peripheral sight, and as slow as Jane was being, it was really scary. Jane was just casually approaching her while she was down, unwilling to hold back her own power. Cass knew that she would be worm food soon if nothing was done. She quickly thought of the ideas, only getting the right one in her head the moment Jane was but two meters away from her. Cass remained on her knees, not bothering to stand up for the next easy ability. Her invocation was lightning fast, and only required a single percentile of her MP energy. "Shining Bracer!"

Cass's spell was invoked immediately, shooting an omnidirectional aura outward from her body in all directions. Jane was hit by the nearly invisible force from only a meter away, pushing her back far and fast enough to screw up her momentum. Cass immediately took advantage of the situation and stood up while Jane was down, and upon regaining her movement and stance, she invoked her next attack spell before Jane could recover.

But Jane was much faster than Cass previously thought. She figured that using Shining Bracer, (a non-damaging omnidirectional Push Wave) was a good tactic to deflect her odd approach. Instead of landing flat on the ground, Jane braced for her fall, pushing herself back off the ground with her hands and legs the moment of the impact. Instead of falling or taking damage, Jane swiftly flipped back to her original stance, using more energy to counteract the Push Wave before Cass could get a chance for retaliation. "Crystal Arrow!"

Jane heard a slight echo in her voice as Jane invoked her skill, creating a yellow glyphring in her hands to form the bow and arrow. There was little time to think or react; Jane simply drew back her arrow and fired at Cass as quickly as she could. Only after releasing her arrow did Jane realize that the echo was another voice belonging to Cass.

Danny and Taylor watched as Jane and Cass attacked each other with the same exact ability by pure coincidence. Amazingly, both of the released arrows shot from their bows impacted on each other instead of their intended targets. Jane's arrow tip flew into Cass's arrow tip, causing both of the arrows to explode and shatter halfway through the air. Both Cass and Jane were mildly surprised by what just happened, and both of them thought of a rebuttal attack as quickly as possible.

Cass was the first one to the door, immediately releasing a ton of energy into one of her more effective area attacks. "Kill Wave!" Cass could see on Jane's face the surprise and confusion. She must not have ever dealt with an attack like this one before, not that she could dodge it anyway. Cass released her spell, invoking several non-elemental energy spheres to form in six random places, all of which effectively surrounded Jane from different arcs and angles. The attack itself was quick and relentless, giving Jane nothing but confusion while the energy spheres quickly homed in on Jane's location, all six of them slamming into her at the same time from multiple sides. There was never a good method to evade the spheres no matter what. Jane could have used that cheating power shield trick of hers, but it didn't appear as if she was expecting anything like Kill Wave.

Jane was launched off her feet again, and though her landing wasn't very rough; the heated pain and disorientation from the high amount of explosive damage left her wondering where Cass had that strength before. After carefully standing back up in the most cautious form she could try, Jane read the energy scope status on both of them, realizing that Kill Wave takes up a lot of MP energy just for a normal person to invoke. It would make sense to why Cass's skills won't be as effective in a real fight if she runs herself out of energy too soon, but Jane had no advice to give her with regards to energy tracking. She personally has the advantage that nobody else does.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/KYGgjLjK/S3-Cass-N-006.png]image [https://i.postimg.cc/BQtL1Dxk/S3-Jane-N-013.png]

"Now the real fight begins," Jane muttered. Cass did have secret abilities that she had been holding back. The reason wasn't obvious though, other than the original idea that their high cost in energy was responsible for turning the tables against herself. Jane reacted with a quick charge attack, rushing in towards Cass while pulling her daggers. She didn't start out close or far away from Cass, failing taking her own advice with close-ranged attacks, but Jane was confident about her methods of dealing quick damage in the process of her close combat style. After getting close to Cass, Jane infused magical energy into her short blades, slashing them into her opponent's skin after Cass failed to interrupt in any manner. It seemed to Jane already that Cass had some poor evasion training, therefore she also had a rather sorry excuse for a magic teacher. Jane tried not to think about things too much while attacking. Her daggers strikes took off large amounts of health from Cass, coaxing Jane to end this sequence early with a crystal arrow. Instead of standing still to invoke the spell, Jane chanted its name before performing a complete backflip to get some extra distance between herself and Cass. It wasn't as if Cass was good to interrupt Jane's actions. She was too fast for Cass to try it. Jane launched her Crystal Arrow the moment her feet landed on the pavement, successfully piercing Cass's stomach and adding to the damage in the entire combination.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/hG2QdjQ2/S3-Cass-N-007.png]

"They're really getting into it," Taylor observed. What started out as a practice battle was already turning into a real and more official battle. Still, nobody activated the Siriean dome. If Jane or Cass were to accidentally use a full area attack, it would wreck everything in range.

Jane no longer cared about giving Cass advice. She was too involved in the fight to think about everything else. Ironically, Cass was reacting the same way, getting back up even from a painful combo such as that one and continuing to fight without hesitation.

"Tri-Attack!" Cass released more of her MP energy, this time forming three of the common elemental glyphrings in places surrounding Jane from all sides. The skill launched a Fire Ball from the fire glyphring, an Ice Ball from the ice glyphring, and a Thunderbolt from the electrical glyphring, successfully striking Jane in the right places at the right time to prevent her from shielding herself in time or evading a single one of the attacks.

Jane could only stand there and take elemental damage while the Thunderbolt zapped her in place for the Ice Ball and Fire Ball to slam into her body afterwards, rushing a strong sensation of hot and cold successively. Jane didn't expect Cass to so quickly adapt her personal Tri-Attack to the average standards of how it is used. She already missed Cass's first Tri-Attack, except for the Knife Toss and the Gauntlet Punch. Watching Cass shoot two Fire Balls from both arms with two glyphrings at the same time wasn't effective in damage, though it still looked really cool.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/YqV4N9R9/S3-Jane-N-014.png]

Reacting as quickly as she could recover, Jane went into her next long range attack, hoping to scrape off a lot more health from Cass's stamina level. "Tri-Fire!" Jane's glyphring formed instantly, as did the bolts of fire cannon their way from the rotating disk of magic wrapped around Jane's wrist. This time, Cass could see the Fire Bolts heading her way early, and she immediately reacted to the situation. Cass got down to the ground rolling sideways to avoid the first impact. The Fire Bolt burned the pavement where Cass originally was, only for the second one to head her way. Cass rolled to the other side again to avoid the second Fire Bolt, allowing the projectile to fly off towards the sky. The third Fire Bolt however came at Cass too quickly for a reaction, burning her skin as it directly smashed her face in with its powerful force.

Jane was impressed with how quickly Cass dodged more than half the entire spell. While it was a long-range skill, it appeared that Cass did indeed have a good level of training and evasion skills after all. So that means style and application were the issues. The damage done to Cass was very light in response to dodging most of the Fire Bolts. Though the fiery sensation hitting her in the face looked like it had Cass a bit tied up at the moment.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/DZmJdTqn/S3-Cass-N-008.png]

"There's gotta be something I'm not weak against!" Cass begged. She got herself back up, holding her face from the painful burst of fire that threatened to burn her from before.

Jane finally snapped herself out of the intense trance, realizing that she was supposed to be giving more advice to Cass, and evaluating her current skills. "You're doing a good job right now. Keep it coming."

"Okay then," Cass mumbled quietly. While charging up a ton of her remaining energy, Cass thought long and hard about the next skill she wanted to invoke. "I've gotta beat her. I've gotta show Jane that no matter how hard I try, I'm never going to win long fights in the end. Still, I'll pull out my best. I'll pull out my strongest spells."

"What are ya waiting for?" Jane teased. It almost sounded like Cass was mumbling something, but they were both far apart from each other right now. Jane couldn't be certain if she was just hearing things. Right now, Cass, Jane, Danny, and Taylor are the only ones in visual sight.

Cass continued talking to herself, trying her hardest to invoke her best spell yet, but it wasn't easy, and she had only ever managed to make it happen once in front of her instructor. "Come out from the darkness and lend your strength to me. Come forth from the light and bind my will with yours! Massife!" Cass hollered the name of the spell at the top of her lungs while her right hand held high above her own body, trying desperately to make this work in her favor without screwing up the invocation. She began releasing her magic, forming a yellow glyphring in the sky that was so incredibly large and powerful that it momentarily blocked out the sunlight despite being transparent. The glyphring in question was about the diameter of an average Siriean dome, though it hovered aiming vertically towards the ground just above the entire bridge. At the same moment Cass finished the invocation part of her spell, she and Jane noticed on her energy scope that all of her high amounts of MP energy immediately dropped to zero percent.

Jane became frozen by surprise. She had no idea what was going on, nor did she understand why or how a spell like this could even exist. The glyphring in the sky was massive, and its yellow color was an early indication that something from that glyphring is about to form out of nowhere, materializing into this physical realm. And so it happened, after several bright large particles came together to form an ominous shape, the spell materialized a creature unbelievable to everybody's eyes.

Jane refused to believe it. She had never seen anything like this before. Though Jane faintly remembered something about this from her textbooks back at Dakota, and a few legendary spells as seen in collector's movies. This isn't an attack spell. It's a summon!

Cass cheered for her own success, "Yes!" She watched brilliantly and awestruck as the incredibly large scaly drake emerged from the yellow glyphring. The summon glyphring faded quickly, but the large drake did not. Weighing up to several thousand tons in weight, the large flying creature blocked out the sunlight directly as it began to soar overhead everyone. It's a very rare spell, something that Cass should never be able to use at her own skill level, but everyone has a secret edge they can use in battle, something they need to learn to give them their own unique style. This one belonged to Cass herself.

Jane felt if there was ever a time to piss herself during a battle, it was now. What did Cass yell? Massife? Massife isn't a spell that anyone else is supposed to know, not unless the person is one of the elite members of Eldora Tower. Jane knew much less about the spell than Cass did obviously. It's a summon that creates a large drake with its own unique Leray abilities and its own health levels. A person fighting a summon in the middle of battle must watch out for the powers of the incredible creature and the user as well. Right now, Cass is in full control of this dragon. *ROOOOAAAARRR!*

The screeching sound of the beast's battle cry got into everyone's ears while creating an earthquake from the vibrational sound alone, but Cass was smiling with her renewed hope. "Now! Creature of the flame, target Jane Venn with your ultimate powers!"

Jane took several nervous steps backwards. She could not pretend to feel anything or act out to help boost Cass's confidence right now, because her fear became fully real. That dragon is incredibly large and scary, and it powers could range from anywhere on attack power. The beast could literally burp something out that would instantly slay any target on the field, and Cass had already announced who the target was today. Jane also had problems contemplating why Cass never tried to invoke this spell any sooner. How could a person with basic training possess this much power, let alone lose to some dupe named Gustos? None of this makes any sense!

Even more surprising, Cass allowed the monster to support its own energy scope, which is only fair considering it would be impossible to beat. The holographic box displayed above the beast's head, appearing larger to fit the scale and size difference while following and tracking the creature elegantly through the air. The energy scope of the creature has a yellow color instead of standard orange, apparent for all Leray based summons.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/xjB580mv/S3-Massife-N-000.png]

Danny and Taylor were both as afraid for Jane as she was for herself, amazed with their eyes glued to the quick flying dragon with incredible scaly textures for a fortified body. They kept a close eye on the creature and Jane, now hoping Jane would survive this instead of Cass, but they also worried for themselves. Right now, there is no Siriean dome between the challengers, and this gives that Flare Drake plenty of air space to fly around. Even if Cass doesn't target anything but Jane, friendly fire here could be devastating.

Cass was controlling the dragon in real time, which is technically something that doesn't need to be done once the skill has been mastered further. Cass's brown eyes were being transformed in color to bright glowing yellow from the magical connection, another phenomenon related to Leray magic. So it means this ability is in fact new to Cass, but nobody was able to do anything from there. Jane was too shocked to move, and Cass immediately went forward with her next plan of action. She appeared to be dancing, pulling in and whooshing her hands in different directions in odd movements that were familiar only to the Flare Drake. Upon ordering a simple action, the dragon roared again, only to change its course towards the ground and swoop in towards Jane.

Jane didn't know what was about to happen for certain, but the large dragon was now swooping down directly towards her without a glint of weakness in its mobility and dexterity. Jane became ten times more nervous than before, too fearful of immediate power shield failure to go with the solution of blocking out the unknown attack. Instead, Jane ran and rolled into the ground at the last moment, hoping those gigantic razor sharp claws would not immediately incapacitate her.

Taylor couldn't believe what was going on. In the moment Jane attempted to dodge the attack, all she could see next was the gigantic creature fly right over the bottom off the bridge, scraping its claws through the pavement and chomping down its legendary fangs in a failed attempt to literally eat Jane whole. Jane wasn't anywhere near the mouth, but Taylor could still believe that those claws nearly grazed her in the process. The monster was so incredibly strong that without even a slight decrease in its momentum, the claws that scrapped the surface of the bridge drew large cracks into the pavement, immediately weakening the structure's upper layers. Jane was nowhere to be seen until the large creature unfolded its wings to push itself higher again, revealing Jane.

Jane was unharmed, but she could feel the near miss of the rush of wind scathing right by her back as the dragon's swoop missed her my an inch. Jane was sort of safe for now, but it wouldn't be long until that creature shows off some other unique tactic. That dragon can no doubt use Leray magic that has the same power as its jaws. Cass should have just pulled this bad boy out in her last battle. She would have won hands down!

Cass continued her odd hand movements, getting the dragon to gain altitude while turning around towards Jane again. The dragon was quick to react, heating up the moisture in its mouth to thousands of degrees, until it finally spat two large Fire Bolts towards the ground. Again directed only for Jane, she was in immediate danger. The dragon continued circling the field, waiting for the impossible Fire Bolts the size of half the entire battlefield to explode into the pavement. Jane however finally got her nerve back and reacted with her best defense.

"Power Shield!" After shooting the energy from her hands as quickly as possible, Jane formed the powerful auric bubble around herself again, but despite being inside of a magical capsule, the impact of each Fire Bolt shook the entire bridge. Jane nearly stumbled in the turbulence in the ground that threatened to shake this place apart. Danny and Taylor were probably backing behind her just from the residual heat of that blast, which nearly tore down her own power shield too. Didn't Cass understand that she was going to cause damage to the bridge?

The moment each flare slammed into Jane's shield, she immediately felt too weak to keep it up. The ground beneath Jane turned into a bowl of damaged cracks and fractures spreading everywhere. The shield around Jane failed to hold its integrity together, despite that massive attack being done and over with. Jane was immediately weak, after deflecting an impossible attack; the most powerful Fire Bolts anyone had ever seen before.

Jane was trying to recover after shield failure, which occurred not a moment too soon. She tried spotting the dragon in the sky again. It was coming back for another attack run. It was risky and likely prone to not working at all, but Jane prepared herself and her concentration.

Cass continued her hand motions, repeating the first one from earlier. "Hah!" The dragon began to swoop down again, flying directly for Jane while she could only stand there and hope to survive it.

Jane was ready, and after charging up enough energy, she released the power of her refined spell through her own aura. "Quantum Beam!" Jane launched the beam towards the sky by clapping both hands forward and together, aiming for the dragon just as it began to descend towards her. The beam's radius in comparison was only about the size of the creature's entire face. Though despite that, the impact happened fast, pushing enough magical force on the dragon to immediately stop its descent and create a reaction from it all.

Cass was stuck, unable to process what was happening or how. Jane's Quantum Beam continuously pounded on the dragon, pushing it back and making the creature squeal in pain. The stats on its own energy scope declined at a rate so fast it had Cass's head spinning, until the beam attack had finally disintegrated.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/GmCjPqq9/S3-Massife-N-001.png]

Just as the health stats hit zero for the Flare Drake, the creature began to dematerialize back into the particles of light it was before, dispersing into millions of invisible microscopic chunks of dust. In just one hit, the beast was defeated, the summon reversed in front of everyone's eyes. As for Cass, her yellow glowing eyes were forced to return to their dull brown state.

"Noooo!" Cass didn't want to believe that was the end of it. Summons can be used in any Leray match, but there is a catch to the ability. It can only be invoked once per battle, more specific to elapsed time than actual battle numbers. To be more precise, the immense strain it puts on a physical body makes it impossible to invoke the summon again for several hours of time. That Flare Drake cannot be recalled again for a long duration. Once someone defeats the summon, it's gone for the rest of the battle. The only way to win a battle without defeating the summoned creature is to incapacitate the person controlling that summon, which also defeats whatever creature is used in the spell afterwards.

Jane honestly did not expect one of her weaker abilities to so easily destroy the summon that comes from Massife. Quantum Beam is supposed to be powerful, but Jane never really got its power level to live up to the name until now. Either that, or the summon's defense was the weakness all along. Then again, Quantum Beam is technically an aura based magical attack, and there is some rumor that aura spells are more effective against Leray summons than other magic attacks are, alongside of the proven effectiveness of spirit elemental magic versus Leray summons. Jane was still in utter shock that she alone had to face and destroy a powerful summon for the first time in her entire life, but Cass was not celebrating the loss of her most powerful secret weapon. Instead of commemorating the person who had the power to do so, Cass decided to particularly win her own battle, forgetting completely about the match being used for practice purposes only.

Despite much of her energy being totally spent, Cass still somehow found a way through her own rage to charge up another strong spell, one that she had to take some time to invoke. Jane eventually saw it coming, but there would not be an escape from it. "I'll teach you to mess with Massife. Mega-Flare!" After unleashing the very last of her remaining energy, Cass managed to create the conditions for her Mega-Flare spell despite the invocation being slightly underpowered. The aerial glyphring forming the light screen attack began to unleash its might, suddenly flashing everything within range.

Mega-Flare is a powerful and commonly known ability. Jane had seen at least one beginner before Cass being capable of invoking this particular spell, so it wasn't nearly as surprising as the Massife summon. The spell is basically one big explosion of light waves carrying loads of heat. Despite the burning crispy sensation it gives people, the damage type is non-elemental magic. Cass must have recharged her MP in the time she was commanding her summon, enough for this costly spell.

The moment the light faded away, Cass noticed several more mistakes on her part. Jane was perfectly shielded in her bubble again. Only just after the attack was over, the shield collapsed around Jane, making her suddenly weak and fragile. It took Cass several moments to realize that even for Jane, that powerful shield drains much of her energy too, but the other mistake happened in the background. Danny and Taylor were frantically complaining, after trying to rub off the damage done to them as well. Without the Siriean dome in place to protect the spectators, Danny and Taylor felt the full power of the attack too, and they didn't seem too happy about it. Luckily for them, their bikes were somehow left undamaged to say the least. Cass cooled herself down a little for the apology. "Sorry! I won't try that again!" Jane glanced behind her to confirm what had happened, but shortly returned to the battle. What else could Jane really comment on anymore? Why did she still want to continue fighting out until the end, after clearly stating otherwise? Cass still didn't care too much about it. Beating Jane is the most important thing right now.

Jane recovered from her short loss in stamina. That Mega-Flare was a little more powerful than what Jane was used to, and her shield didn't hold up to it very well. After a quick examination, it seemed that Cass was totally dry on MP energy, so she has to be really tired and exhausted by now. She fakes a good expression otherwise. If Cass's movements are limited by fatigue of the battle... Jane already had the next idea for a great attack, one perfectly fit for something that cannot backfire on anyone outside the boundary area, nor will it cause physical damage to the bridge.

"Star of Darkness!" The immediate moment Jane's energy charged into her hands again, they began to glow in their aura of magical build up. Only this time, Jane's hands were letting off a vibrant red glow instead of the usual blue that emits with the buildup of random Leray energy. After casting her spell towards the ground where Cass was standing, the circular star formation began to form again. Jane focused carefully on the creation and control of her own spell, making sure the invocation was successful all the way through.

After the symbol formed under Cass's feet, it was already too late to attempt an evasion. The circle and the star shaped symbol on the pavement suddenly shot out its own bright holographic glow of light, trapping Cass inside of an invisible aura while draining all of her health. Star of Darkness drains one's physical stamina as well, something Cass was already lacking. Cass wanted to try and retaliate, but she quickly realized a mistake. Her MP levels were at most charged to only 1%, and there wasn't an ability out there using only one percent, not one that is useful in this situation.

Jane watched as Cass's health drained quickly in the red circle under her feet; 38%... 37%... 36%... The numbers declined quickly in the health section of Cass's energy scope, while Danny and Taylor watched with much suspense in their hearts. Jane was sure and confident that she had already won. By now, Cass will eventually give up the match. It's kind of hard to help someone and give them advice when they're trying to knock her out, but this last hit should do the trick. Jane finished the long durational move with one last signature Lightning Strike from an aerial glyphring, slamming the rest of Cass's HP down much further. While the circle and the star was fading, Jane could see the incredible drain and stress suddenly placed on Cass, who could no longer fake being tired and worn down.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/1tTgvjH6/S3-Cass-N-009.png]

Cass never felt so drained before. Even in the last match she lost against, no spell worked this way like Star of Darkness. Nevertheless, Cass still felt like continuing, and her health was still far from single digit numbers. Her MP levels were slowly but surely climbing for one more useful technique, something her teacher had shown her in the tight months of training, something effective only after being dealt a heavy blow. "Return Fire!" Having to use all of her MP once again, Cass made sure it was an ability that would work. Though she wasn't even aware of what was going to happen next.

Return Fire is a unique ability, free-form magic styled randomly based on the last few previous attacks taken, as well as power levels based on the same thing in return. Cass had used Return Fire before against elemental spells, only to return a more powerful blast of elemental spells with the same signature of damage in them. What would the response be used just after being hit with a Star of Darkness spell? The trick is to use it when getting close to defeat, in order to maximize its effectiveness. Cass managed to invoke the spell, immediately forcing some sort of shadowy dark aura to fire in the form of projectiles from nearly invisible glyphrings forming in front of her. The projectiles themselves were very hard to see as well, and traveled in spiral paths towards Jane. Cass didn't know what to expect from it, and neither did Jane.

Because of how quickly the unknown projectiles shot forward, and because of how hard they were to see, Jane didn't know how to evade, or whether using another shield would be a good idea. In her own confusion, Jane missed the window of opportunity to prevent taking damage, and was slammed by the invisible force. Though in the form of projectiles, the magical attack lifted Jane off her own feet, making her land on her back again while dealing a severe blow to her health.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/YCWvdHDx/S3-Jane-N-015.png]

It was clear to Jane now that Cass still wanted some more, but she didn't want to incapacitate Cass either, because then it could be a long wait just to revive her. Jane got herself back up, realizing the spell that slammed her dealt a lot more damage than it did to cause any pain, meaning it was pure magical damage with no other properties. After standing again, Jane saw the confident glimmer still in her opponent's eye. Would Cass really quit if Jane asked her to? One more Lightning Strike would do well to be sure. If Cass doesn't back down from less health than fifteen percent, then she's crazy. Then again, Jane would never do the same either after everything she had to face in Alpha Zero.

Jane charged more energy into her hands, causing them to glow with a red radiant color again. While attempting to cast another lightning spell, Jane thought back about the spell used against her in the dark zone. Its technical name is Voltage, something that had a lot of power, and stung at the end. For whatever reason, Voltage and Lightning Strike are practically the same exact spell, other than the spells formation and color. With Voltage, the bolt of electricity is a deep red color instead of the usual blue, but Jane thought nothing of it for now, instead casting her next attack. "Voltage!" she cried. Jane's magic created not one, but two red glyphrings floating high above where Cass was standing, each aiming at her vertically with separate angles. It was just a burst moment afterwards for the red lightning bolts to come flying down from each glyphring. They only zapped Cass for a second of time, only for the spell to end there. Jane believed the spell wasn't cast correctly, but for some odd reason, Cass was already down on her knees, breathing heavily just to struggle through consciousness. The glyphrings faded already, but something was wrong. Jane began with the changed energy scope.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/W3fZQ32d/S3-Cass-Crit-001.png]

Cass felt a dizziness come over her, but the stinging pain localized everywhere in her body was even stronger than that. An electrical attack never hurt like this before, but Cass couldn't scream. She couldn't yell or complain. She could barely lift her head and look straight with all of the weight, she never felt so drained in her entire life. Only this battle had this effect on her.

"Shit!" Jane called. "Stop the match!" A second passed for Jane to realize that asking to stop wasn't a necessary gesture, since there was no Siriean dome to ward away in the first place, but that didn't matter. While jogging towards Cass to help her, Jane immediately thought about the mistake she made in her blind distraction. It wasn't something she fully understood even right now, but the results said something about the differences. Lightning Strike and Voltage can't be the same! Her spell did a lot more damage than intended, and for some reason it set Cass into critical condition. Her energy scope was reacting in a solid red color to warn everyone that she was in danger of falling asleep and not waking back up. Jane suffered something very similar to this, during that battle with Patrissa. Vital Drain and Critical Condition status are both very similar, but the difference for having a critical condition means one is in danger whether or not they take any additional damage, and immediate healing is advised. Though much other detail was mired in mystery to Jane's knowledge of the difference between those two conditions. Cass isn't being forced to fight at all, and she still appears to be hanging on to whatever she has left keeping her awake. She sure didn't look like she could fight anymore.

Danny and Taylor rushed in to help resolve the issue too, though neither one of them could understand entirely why Cass was in serious trouble. Jane fiddled with her supply sphere to pull out more healing orbs, trying to make them work on Cass. "Sorry about that Cass!" Jane apologized. "That wasn't the right spell I meant to use."

While finally coaxing the healing orb to activate in Cass's hands with its potent glow, Danny tried to understand what mistake Jane was talking about. "What spell? What's going on?"

Jane didn't look back or answer to anyone else. She only wanted to make sure that Cass could recover from the last strike without any problems. As soon as the light from the orb began to fade, the numbers on the energy scope quickly zoned into higher levels. The color of the energy scope in question had also returned to its original color of orange a few seconds later.

image [https://i.postimg.cc/PJwC9Q37/S3-Cass-N-010.png]

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Chapter Theme Shift: Mine 24 [A+B] ~ Resonance of Fate / End of Eternity OST

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Cass managed to shake off the drag immediately after she was healed, feeling rejuvenated in just seconds of having a healing orb's magic melt into her body. The sting of that last attack still lingered partially, but not enough to bother her too much. Cass tried to stand up, and she had Jane's support trying to lift her. Cass couldn't understand exactly what just happened, but she didn't remember winning her match at all.

Seeing that Cass was finally making her recovery and already on her feet, Jane decided it was okay to calm down now, and apologized again for her stupid mistake. "I thought that maybe Voltage was a spell similar to Lightning Strike, but I should have tested that on something else first."

"Where did you even learn the spell?" Taylor requested.

Jane didn't hesitate in her answer. She didn't even realize that she picked it up at all, but after observing the matrix of the magic in full use against herself, it became clear as to what kind of magic the turret structure invoked before. "Alpha Zero. Voltage is some different version of a Lightning Strike spell. I'm guessing it's much stronger than I thought."

"You've been to the Alpha Zero?"

Jane, Taylor, and Danny all turned to Cass with somewhat guilty expressions, realizing that Jane forgot to filter some code words. Jane had every intention of hiding her secrets even from Cass as long as this mission seems possible. If Cass discovers what is really going on and blabs it to more people, everything will crumble. Jane won't even be able to try to stop the spread of the evil above Lennith City. Jane didn't know where to begin though. She didn't want to lie to Cass, but how would she be able to now?

Realizing that the question brought up something awkward between them, Cass immediately came to the conclusion for the reason Jane was so different. "No wonder I lost. You're one of those special recon forces they send to Alpha Zero, right?" Still met with no answer, Cass continued making judgments while smashing what was left of her own confidence. "I'm just not cut out for fighting it seems."

"What?!" Danny and Taylor both blurted of surprise at once, while Jane took swift initiative in proving Cass wrong. Though what was said about Jane being a special scout; that one can just slide for now.

"Mhm-hm! None of that Cass!" Jane hugged both of Cass's arms again, wondering if this was making her more or less comfortable. "I think all three of us can agree that you do already have several strong points that even I was not prepared for."

Danny shifted his position slightly to demand attention from Cass. "You've gotta show me how to summon a dragon like that. I'll need some power if I want to defeat Jane soon."

Jane chuckled under her breath at the thought. He's always dreaming big. Massife is an incredible skill to invoke, but Jane thought once again back to how quickly a single attack defeated the enemy. "That must have been your second or third time using Massife."

Cass immediately took the look of surprise. Jane and her friends were simply trying to give her more advice like before, and she dared to hear her out. "How could you possibly know that?"

Jane let go of Cass's arms to explain in detail from her best understanding. "Well the Flare Drake had power. I mean, look at the mess we made behind me." Jane was referring to the large circular cracks in the cement that would have to be repaired soon. Luckily, nobody would have to know who did that damage. "But the creature's defense wasn't nearly as tough as it looked. I've heard about some of the property effects of summons used in battles. From what I hear, invoking a summon over consecutively increases either its attack power or defense over time, depending on what creature calls from the summon."

"You mean," Cass briefly paused to put the details together. "By using Massife more often, your Quantum Beam—"

"Would have been useless," Jane finished. "I would have been Swiss cheese. You've got several hidden spells that are very powerful, spells I didn't think a beginner would have. And the order you use them to change the tide in battle is an effective strategy too."

"Then what am I doing wrong?" Cass begged with a whiny tone.

"You know how to invoke your spells just fine." Jane comprehended the possible reason for every other mistake Cass had ever made, and the truth was obvious. "But you don't know how to fight. Physical combat training is just as important as magical training. Most people tend to pick it up in the same process - and their fine, but people like you and I need that extra kick to give us a level ground."

"Us?"

Jane had no issues comparing herself and Cass; she knew she was correct in her theories. "I had a great teacher for magic, but before that, I learned how to fight physically first. Close combat maneuvers, evasion therapy, coordination mapping, and the basic rules of what not to do in combat, as well as when to do things to not mess up the timing."

Cass continued her arguments straightforward. "But I don't have that kind of skill."

"All you have to do is learn it," Jane encouraged. "After that, just keep putting some of your more powerful skills to use, and you'll be fine on the field. See if you can't get funding for Lennith's academy. There will be a two month waiting period soon, but they have great classes and great instructors."

Taylor kept silent while trying to imagine exactly how Jane managed to squeeze her way into the facility there in the first place. Jane couldn't have gotten enough money to get in, and the same problem might hit Cass upside the head. "I thought your spells were cool, both of you actually."

Jane had forgotten already that there was a long time gap in her new skill development while Danny and Taylor were out. So they didn't know anything about a power shield, or the reason she was capable of invoking such a shield. But it could not be denied that Cass had some potential in her as well. They must teach a tough curriculum in Eldora City.

Cass couldn't believe how low she thought of herself before now. There was only one thing she was missing all along, and it was doable to train herself to acquire that skill. But there was still the matter of money and funds. "I can't get into Lennith without the credits. I had six thousand taken from me by that man who forced me to fight."

"Six thousand!" Taylor's jaw dropped, and she sensed Danny soon to faint.

Jane thought of a really quick plan regarding the best way to resolve this situation. They owe Cass that much since that money was taken unfairly. You can't just force someone or blackmail them into battling to take all of their possessions. It's dead wrong! "We'll find Gustos and get your money back. Actually, I have a better idea. I'll give you six grand right now, and get the six grand back from the man who took from you."

Cass waved her hands left and right. "Oh no-no-no-no! You don't have to do—"

Jane didn't let Cass finish the sentence. She wouldn't accept letting a thief like that go, and it was Cass's money after all. "Too late for me to change my mind. That guy is loaded anyway. I'll challenge him to a battle, make it seem normal with high steaks, and then I'll simply regenerate my own six thousand from the money I'm giving back to you now. This way, you don't have to wait on heading to Lennith City."

Cass stared into Jane's confident eyes, and then saw that Danny and Taylor were back to one mind again with the same subject. They really were with Jane, but Cass could not have imagined that there were so many good people in the world to counter the bad. Suddenly it felt rude to imagine saying no. "Okay, but if you can't find him, I must insist on returning the credits."

"Nonsense." Jane stepped closer to Cass, who gave Jane her license card. Jane held her license card to Cass's, invoking the transfer of funds directly. The cards use technological RFID chips inside of them, along with more invisible magical signature rules Jane didn't understand directly. Her card currently had 7800 credits on hand, but Jane literally drained her own card six thousand credits down to help Cass out. She would need that going to a new place. Jane's card was drained down to 1800 credits after the transfer. But before it started, Jane could see that Cass's card was currently drained to just a hundred credits above zero. Gustos robbed this poor girl blind. "We'll find him." Jane made a promise to herself as she did to Cass. People like that don't deserve a license in the first place. The very thought of that man had Jane quickly burning red in the face with anger.

"There you go." Jane handed the card back to Cass, who now has a lot of credits to work with. Jane had much less by now, but it wouldn't matter in the end. "You go on to Lennith. I can take care of the stubborn idiots on this bridge."

"I can't thank you enough Jane. I'll have to run on now - or I'll be late. Be sure to destroy Gustos for me." Cass wasn't too eager to leave them. She very much wanted to be around Jane's friends longer, but they have business in Eldora City, while she had her own in Lennith. Still, it felt odd that some random girl would be a scout for Alpha Zero, let alone a scout who managed to survive. Nothing about this was put in the news.

"Bye Cass!" Taylor waved. "Don't forget about us now." Waiting for Cass to wave back heading in the other direction, Taylor thought a lot about how strange this day was getting for her.

Cass waved back and proceeded on foot towards the opposite direction her rival would be traveling. She would have a lot more to think about now, but Jane accepted the most likely possibility that she would see herself as something more. Cass could even achieve Jane's pipe dream someday, if luck be on her side, but with this crest inside of her, Jane's dreams are shattered on her own. "Let's get going," Jane edged. She began walking back towards the bikes, which were luckily undamaged by the unprotected battle that just occurred here. "We have to stay on track to make sure people like Cass aren't swallowed by the dark zone."

"It's not even expanding that fast," Taylor reminded. How many months did they say were left for Lennith City? Claudia said something about evacuating the place within eight weeks, right? How fast does Jane have to be to get this done?

"But it will one day. I'm making sure I don't waste a single moment." Never know what could happen. It only takes one day for everything to fall to ruin, much less than that for other situations. Looking blankly at the top of her right hand, Jane knew that better than anybody. "We'll head for Eldora, and find this Gustos on the way there." While mounting on her bike, Jane's followers were doing the same, preparing to ride out further. As the daytime got even older, the sun positioned overhead was still shining brightly while drifting further away in the sky. It felt like an eternity of time had passed, but it couldn't have been a full hour.

Before any three of them actually began to ride off, Danny addressed something verbally to Jane. "I know that you're planning to get that money back from Gustos, if we can find him. Though I'm still a little surprised that you so easily trusted the situation enough to give Cass that much of her credits, especially when you know how important that money is to us as well."

Jane refused to believe that Danny was actually complaining that this was a bad idea, to give six thousand to Cass for assistance. Though he was right to state it was a risk, Jane knew why he said those words. "Nobody deserves to have their credits taken, and I do trust Cass enough for this."

"I know that," Danny repeated. Jane was still missing the point. "I just think it's honorable that you did that without even hesitating. Yet before this Eldora business we now have, you told us that you were behaving in the opposite manner."

Jane's throat tightened while she maintained her expression facing away from Danny and towards the path to Eldora. Danny wasn't wrong. Jane did a good thing, and she was going to carry out the second half of it by destroying Gustos. But when her mind was dead set on reversing this spell bomb curse of the prototype symbol, Jane knew that she would have never done that, sacrifice the potential of removing her symbol to help someone out. Did her need to remove this crest on her hand really overpower her entire character as Danny suggested? Is that what he meant earlier in Lennith City during their private conversation?

Jane used to hate herself for being so weak before, losing battle after battle, but Cass was just like her at one point in time. All she needed was more training. For Cass, her dreams are much more possible of becoming true than it is for Jane. Strong now as Jane is, a victory against the champion with this crest under Jane's skin just doesn't count in her books, but it will be enough for one day of leadership. Gustos will have to be wiped out, something Jane will have to search for. After all, that entire ordeal just drained six thousand credits from her card. So now, Gustos owes her money instead of Cass, a big mistake he has made.

Jane's thoughts inevitably returned again to her own future after comparing herself to Cass. After Alpha Zero is destroyed, what will be left of her own career? Jane couldn't say anything about it, unable to think clearly. Instead, she mounted on her bike and signaled for her friends to continue their lost momentum. "Let's keep going before it gets dark. We have a city to reach and a criminal to punish."