“And I decided to use them for a few tests.”

(“This guy… he isn't just a lackey.”) Tibaut thought as he clenched his fist. (“Boy from a failed state!? Is he talking about Albus? So this is where they sent them!”)

“Now I'm not going to pretend it was a success. Out of the thirty under our care, only a handful survived. And based on the Saito reports and how they look I suspect you already know that…”

Tibaut gritted his teeth as he heard this information.

(“Used? Survived? This fucking bastard. So were they just used as guinea pigs for his experiments? Those girls were forced to be either guinea pigs or sex slaves!!!?!!! Albus you fucking bastard, I hope whatever torture you go through doesn't end.”)

The boy continued prattling but that was all Tibaut needed to hear to make a decision.

He threw a fireball at him and the man dodged backwards, as if he had expected it all along.

“I see, this is going to be quite a problem.”

“You bastard? You did what to those women!?” Tibaut shouted.

“Why so mad? They were going to die anyway. Besides, even if the powder couldn't be recovered-”

Tibaut threw a barrage of fireballs this time but something odd happened. As they were about to hit, it seemed they slowed down before the young man. He quickly dodged them and…

“It's sad that two brothers of the same faith can't have a civil discussion.” The boyish-looking man said as he rubbed his forehead.

“The hell are you talking about!?” Tibaut snarled at him.

“Fool, the only way you could go by that woman unharmed is by consuming the divine powder. I don't know why a fellow priest has decided to snoop on my work but it's quite distrustful don't you think?”

Tibaut's face was painted with confusion, so genuine that the man was rethinking his position.

“You're not? No, you have to be. (Hmm, is he someone related to the bishops? I know no priest of his description, though admittedly it'd be foolish to claim I know all priests but I can't imagine the average priest would know our whereabouts. Those bishops always have a few men of my calibre hidden away. Did I catch the ire of one?)” Tibaut threw more fireballs but he had no problem dodging them while in thought. Unlike earlier they didn't slow down either.

“(Thankfully it doesn't seem like he can detonate them at a whim.) Will you not have a civil conversation with a fellow believer?” He asked as he kicked off a nearby wall.

Tibaut gave him no words and continued with his peppering of fireballs.

“Such a shame. But alas, I can't allow you to do as you please. You've even taken a potential prodigy of mine hostage.” He said as he looked towards Agnes. She scurried even further away until she hit a wall.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

As he dodged another fireball he noticed Tibaut had considerably closed the gap between them. With both mid-air, Tibaut tried to land a punch but the short man had no problem jumping over him, using his fist as a springboard. But he might have been too confident in this as Tibaut grabbed his robe and flung him down to the floor.

Tibaut felt an instant stop but no impact. He looked down to see the man hovering ever so slightly above the floor with his hands behind his back looking comfortable. He stomped at Tibaut’s knees and slapped his face after he slumped down from his knees.

He quickly backed away after regaining his footing.

“Listen, you're certainly a decent priest but why don't you stop this already? The gap between us is evident.”

(“Human this is quite embarrassing.”)

(“Shut up you bastard. Help if you're gonna comment.”)

(“...”)

Tibaut rubbed his knees and witnessed the priest get back to his feet. (“How the hell did he do that?”)

He hovered above the floor. But was that his magic? He also saw his fireballs slow down but what would those two things have in common for a single magic?

(“It's really quite obvious but I suppose it wouldn't hurt for a monkey like you to figure this out yourself.”)

(“Just tell me already, my life’s on the line here.”)

(“Hmph, you could have played this smart and listened to what he said, maybe even reached some sort of agreement. You don't have my sympathy.”) The drake answered before going silent.

He slammed his fist on a nearby wall and looked back towards the boyish man.

“Feel like giving up? Don't worry, unlike our lord I'm capable of forgiveness.” He commented before yawning.

(“Don't get pissed off yet. I haven't actually tried to kill him yet nor is he trying to kill me. We just felt each other out. I'll just catch him off guard and get this over with. From the way he talks, this is obviously that Father Daniel, Agnes was talking about. If I kill him then it should be smooth sailing from here.”)

He turned to him and the father looked disappointed.

“It seems you think you stand a chance against me.” He sighed. “Oh well, it seems I'll have to draft a letter trying to justify my actions.” He looked at Tibaut and smirked. “I can guarantee it'll be harder than breaking most of your limbs and sending you back to the motherland.”

The pair ran towards each other and began flinging punches at each other. The thing that surprised Tibaut was how nippy he was. If he was in tip-top shape, they might be evenly matched back; his offence was too erratic for this current Tibaut. His size made his punches unpredictable in their destinations. He could just as easily aim for Tibaut’s gut as he would his face. He would also chain missed kicks into flowing elbows into kicks then a punch, ad infinitum.

He managed to defend himself but there was no opportunity for Tibaut to attack.

If he only had his fists available.

He moved his head to reveal a firelance and due to its unexpected speed, it nearly landed on the priest. But yet again it slowed the moment it reached his face and narrowly avoided it, leaving only a mark on his cheek.

He kicked Tibaut and he had no problem moving back, using a fireball to keep the priest back.

“Hmm, slippery.” The priest stated. “You move pretty well for a man your size.”