His body twisted and spun, his head approaching the stone floor at dangerous speed.
He struck the ground with his enhanced hand, embedding his fingers into the cold, gray stone. He spun his legs in his improvised handstand, his shin colliding with his opponents head. They collapsed immediately.
Liam allowed his body to lean to the side until his feet touched the ground, removing his hand from the floor. He knelt next to the student quickly, inspecting for any injuries.
"Shit. Is he concussed?" He muttered to himself as he gently slapped the boy's face. They came to slowly with a groan, raising their bruised hands to comfort their throbbing head.
It had been two months since his last encounter with his unknown pursuers. Since then Liam had submersed himself in the Clock Tower. He divided up his time efficiently in preparation for any further attacks: 50% of his time was spent on studying magecraft, 40% was allotted for combat training, and the remaining 10% for sleep and any other necessities of living. He had essentially created his own crash course to being a magus.
'There's still flaws, however.' Liam thought to himself as he slowly helped the fellow student to his feet. Together, they exited the training hall, hobbling down the light wooden halls in the direction of whatever clinic was closest.
Over the course of his training, Liam noticed not many people were... skilled in the same kind of combat as he was.
He saw countless people there before. Fireballs soared through the air, curses propelled from people's eyes and fingers, numerous of spells disintegrated the pillars throughout the building, leaving smoking holes within. While Liam studied and begun to develop similar abilities, by far his strongest talent in combat was close quarters.
Hence, why most of his training partners ended up in this scenario.
Liam apologized profusely, promising assistance with any future assignments before exiting the clinic. He jogged back to the training hall to grab his clothes, as currently he was dressed in tighter, black nylon shorts and shirt.
He retrieved his clothes and shoved them into a large, black duffel bag. He wanted to take a shower before getting back into regular clothes-although there was something quick he wanted to ask his teacher.
The boy retrieved his phone from the bag as he walked. While he did talk to his parents from time to time, there was still no news about his mother's family. He scrolled idly through his conversations, passing by texts with Flat and Svin, who used to be a student in the Modern Magecraft department. He stopped on his conversation with Benjamin Carver.
He hadn't heard from his friend in over a week, nor seen him in General Fundamentals. Liam had decided that now was the time to worry and resolved to ask around now, although before he could think of where to start, his heart almost burst from his chest.
He stopped immediately as the person came into view of his peripheral, coming inches away from walking headfirst into a person. He had rounded the corner to the Modern Magecraft classroom with his head in his phone.
"Shit-sorry, sorry." Liam laughed awkwardly as he backed up with several large steps. The girl gave a small smile and murmured some sort of assurance before continuing on her way.
He quickly made his way into the classroom, his face beginning to grow red by the close call. He shoved his phone into his bag before-
"FUCK!"
Liam jumped again, not sure how much more his heart could take with the sudden scares. Slowly, he inched himself more and more into the classroom before his eyes settled on the cause of the shout.
Lord El-Melloi II stood over his podium. His body arched over it while his face laid in his hands. The man had always seemed perpetually tired to Liam, but now it seemed like the Reaper himself had stole whatever fraction of life he still had in him. He approached slowly, although keeping a minimum distance of two meters.
"Sir? Are you alright?" Liam asked, adjusting the bag strap on his one shoulder.
"No. I'm not." He let out a long sigh. After he whispered a few more curses, along with something about being 'insufferable', he turned back up to Liam. One of his thin eyebrows raised as he inspected the boy, still leaning on the wooden podium.
"You've been fighting a lot."
"Hah. After what happened before, I don't know how you could expect me not to." Liam chuckled. "Although frankly, I haven't been getting many good opponents lately. Seems magi aren't very experienced in fisticuffs."
El-Melloi nodded in agreement, but his head froze in one position. Liam recognized it from the many lectures he witnessed by teacher. He usually performed this action as he struggled internally, debating whether or not to bring a topic up for discussion.
"You know someone like that?" Liam asked, hoping he was headed in the right direction. The teachers face soured even more, but he gave in eventually, for the sake of his student.
"The woman who left here. If you beg, that Devil might grant you a sparring session." He explained. He accentuated the title of 'Devil' as he spoke, sending Liam's mind into just what kind of person would inspire this much animosity from his teacher. El-Melloi shook his head as he forced the subject from his mind, returning to his more noble and professional demeanor. "Besides this, what did you come to ask?"
Liam perked up, remembering his original purpose.
"Do you still have that Djinn? The one from when we first met?"
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
El-Melloi nodded, opening a notebook he kept on the podium and retrieving a pen. "Yes, it's in the El-Melloi family storage. I'll call there and inform them you'll be going."
The student smiled and nod, thanking the Lord for his help. He sprinted out of the classroom, turning his head up and down the hall to try and locate the woman he saw before. Luckily, she hadn't exited the department yet, sauntering away to Liam's left. He jogged down towards her, slowing himself as he got closer so as not to be panting like a dog.
"Excuse me?" He called out once he got close enough, coming to a stop.
The woman stopped as well, turning back to Liam. Her jet black hair laid back against her long, crimson cloak she wore. Small bangs hung over her forehead, and her eyes gave a professional, yet kind air to her figure. Her eyebrows raised as if she hadn't expected such a disturbance to befall her at this time.
"Hello? Do you need something?" She asked in a calm and polite voice, but Liam could feel remnants of an accent in it. Was she from Asia? Bringing his thoughts back to the focus on hand he nodded.
"Uh, Lord El-Melloi II told me that you have experience in close quarters? Combat, I mean." He explained. His hand fidgeted with the bag strap that hung over his shoulder as he spoke. "So I was wondering if you could spar with me? Not now, specifically, but just in general?"
"Oh he did, did he?" She said smoothly, a smile growing on her face. While others might have interpreted such a tone as a shade of politeness, Liam could feel the animosity underlying the words. Suddenly his nervousness changed into worry, wondering what he just got himself into.
"Well, I suppose I have some free time. I'll have to go get my training uniform."
"Yeah, of course, I'll just wait in the training hall then."
The two arranged the session before they went their separate ways.
- -
She entered the hall, dressed with a small but similar black top and shorts to Liam's outfit. He stood up once he saw her enter, walking away from the hall and approaching the closest empty square of black and gray stone.
The woman stood across from him, black hair tied up in a lengthy ponytail. A small grin remained across her face as she got into a stance Liam had never seen before. He took up his own, simple stance, raising his hands up to his head and angling off slightly.
During the two months Liam had finally decided on what type of magecraft he wished to specialize in. Due to this, he felt the need to change certain aspects of his magic, such as his trigger and activation spell. Ones that better fit his style now-as well as his newly released nature. With unspoken words, the two begun.
The image of stitches being pulled.
A knife plunging into her heart.
"Collect (Bind)."
"Anfang (Begin)."
With the images in their minds, the two spoke their activation spells. Their magic circuits opened and were flooded, their Od instantly being processed into the required energy to enact Mystery. The woman's circuits were vastly superior to Liam's both in quantity and quality, not to speak of the amount her Magic Crest added.
Her magecraft carried a special trait as well, strongly attuned to the act of "Reinforcement". However, due to her new training, she didn't move from her position, instead waiting for her opponent to strike first. A counter-striker, she was called. Her limbs were strengthened excellently-allowing her to rival the best humans that the race might produce.
The ground beneath Liam burst into dust as he charged forward.
While her magecraft might be superior to his in every way, on top of her Sorcery Trait of reinforcement, this was Liam's territory. The origin of his very being drove this spell. The addition of magical energy to the matter which made up his body, seamlessly integrating with each other. Two raindrops melding together.
He spun his body, swinging his leg up above the girl before bringing it down with such force. Her eyes widened as she was forced to sidestep the axe-kick, which left a crater in the dense floor.
Quickly, she stepped forward, bringing her foot behind his own and sweeping it up. Her magical energy filled her leg and palm beyond comprehension-something Liam would never achieve in this life. She shoved her palm upwards, colliding with his chin as she brought the opponent down to the ground.
Liam cradled his head as he fell to the floor. The shock rang even through his hands, with a more muted vibration flowing through his skull. His heart raced as he swung his left fist up at the woman now towering over him. She swerved her head expertly while punching down on Liam. This time, his head knocked against the stone floor like a bell, sending nauseous waves through his entire body.
"Fuck!" He cried out loud as he raised his arms in front of his head. She beat against his forearms a few times before pulling them forward and slipping her fist between them. His head flew back again, sending a third vibration through his skull.
Liam's consciousness wavered. In response he pushed his circuits even harder, using the pain as fuel to process more and more energy. He pushed his fist forward, but stopped immediately. She dodged her head instinctively, much to Liam's delight, before he brought his hand up and wrapped it behind her head.
He pushed his own head forward, shoving all his energy into his forehead as he head butted his opponent’s un-enhanced head.
She was the one to curse this time, hissing in pain as she fell backwards off of Liam.
He quickly shuffled backwards, holding his throbbing head. His circuits slowed and the energy dissipated. Everything he could see was shaking. Images blurring and melting into waves, pain ringing through his head almost as a warning. Liam thought he could see a group crowding around the edges of the training hall-but they could very well be splotches of colored generated by his bruised brain.
One image Liam knew was very real was the approaching woman. Her mouth was pulled back in a snarl, body and energy embodying rage, prepared to punch his skull in. He raised a hand immediately, shaking it.
"Wait, wait! I give!" Liam cried out. He couldn't help but smile, though, thinking the scenario slightly humorous. "I think you gave me a concussion... or a few."
While he noticed she was huffing for a mere second, she quickly recovered herself. Her breathing steadied, her anger quelled. He could even feel her magical energy being to level out while the reinforcement retreated.
"What family are you from?" She asked immediately with an outreached hand. Liam took a few seconds to reach it, missing it two times before managing to grab it.
"Uh... none, I guess. I'm the first magus in my family."He explained as he stood up. He processed energy through his circuits again just to keep himself standing. "You?"
To say her jaw dropped would be an understatement. Her thin eyes widened beyond normal capabilities as she visibly restrained the urge to shout her disbelief, instead shaking her head while calming herself down even more. She extended a hand as she looked back up at him.
"Rin Tohsaka." The woman proclaimed. Liam nodded with a grin as he shook the hand, adding it to the counter of greetings he's made since he arrived.
"Liam Sinclair." He returned. She waited for a few moments, as if waiting for something, but upon not seeing whatever she wanted to see, she scowled at him. Rin began to walk back to where she stored her clothes, talking to him without turning back.
"You're a Specialist?"
"No? At least, I don't think so."
This time Rin whipped her head back to glare at him. He begun to see part of Lord El-Melloi II's distaste for her, but he tried to brush it off.
"Supposedly it's from my Origin. I've been practicing it since I got here too." He explained, assuming she was referring to his abnormal talent in Reinforcement. Her face lightened as she accepted the appropriate answer. Rin tore out the hair tie that kept up her hair.
A student stepped into the building from a doorway close to the wall the two kept their things, looking around for a moment. Eventually their eyes locked onto Liam and approached him.
"Mr. Sinclair? There's a letter for you."