Past.

‘You won’t let those “insignificant” standard define you?’ Flamme said. ‘And how exactly are you going to overcome the impossible?’

‘With this.’ Latla showed a ring.

***

Present.

Latla overtapped two rings; magic surged within.

There’s no extra round, she thought. She understood the limits of her own body, knew that this was her last stand. The damage and poison had imposed an unknown time limit on her, making the fight disadvantageous. Darkness crept around her vision, devoted to claim her consciousness but couldn’t, for in her eyes remained a fire, burning hot, directed toward the monster looming before her. I don’t need an extra round against you.

This monster had angered her. To her count, it had committed three faults. She would not hesitate to unleash her rage.

Latla and the monster faced against one another. This was their last fight.

The monster stood there with its five legs. As though it was waiting, but Latla could see its subtle movements—could see its tiny adjustments to shift weight. One of its legs was lighter than the rest now. Ready for—

The monster raised and swung down its leg.

Latla threw herself to the side, dodging the attack. The leg pierced and shattered the hard ground.

The monster shifted its weight, using the previous attacking leg as pivot, and raised another leg. It swung diagonally downward this time.

Latla stepped forward and ducked. Dodging the attack, closing the distance.

Not liking that, the monster lifted another leg. This time, it swung horizontally. Latla ducked to the side and dodged.

She could see the monster for what it was now. No longer a monster with no information about, but a monster with predictable patterns. Its main form of offense was its leg: could be used as a cleaving attack or to ambush as an enclosing jaw. Its other form of offense was its poisonous flower. All of which can be reacted upon and countered as long as she was aware of it.

Did the monster have more tricks in store? Perhaps. But that would be a reach, for the poisonous flower, to her, seemed to be its trump card.

The only thing to worry about right now would be hitting her own limits. She had to end the fight before then; to do that, Latla would steal the monster’s mobility.

One of its legs was now within her range.

Flames surged, swirling around her body with a destructive force. Her anger fueled the heat of the flames.

‘Your first fault,’ Latla said, remembering the event that had led her here into this forest, ‘is that you poisoned a kid and used her as a bait!’

Bwoosh! A pillar of flame pillar rose toward the sky. It burnt the monster’s leg to cinders.

***

Flamme. Past.

‘A mana storage tool,’ Flamme remarked upon looking at the ring. ‘It’s a difficult tool—to master. So much so that people would even call it—a worthless scrap of junk…’

The little girl rolled her eyes, as if saying: So what? Fulfill your promise and teach me magic already!

She was looking at a manaless who wanted to become the greatest mage in all of existence. Faced with the absurdity of her ambition, she couldn’t help but wonder… Was this stupidity? Or… was this something else entirely?

She’ll try her hardest for her ambition and her world will shatter before her eyes upon learning the impossible. Flamme thought. Like I had when I failed mine.

Flamme looked at her hookah. She had picked up the item because she needed a distraction from her failure, an addiction that would allow her a sense of bliss. And perhaps—a way to slowly kill herself…

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

She couldn’t let this little girl follow the same path as hers.

Yet, her words had resonated with her. Who decided that an ambition was impossible? No one but herself…

‘Start teaching me magic—’ Latla said— ‘or I’ll break your hookah.’

‘Ha! Ha-ha!’ Flamme laughed at the threat. She wiped her tears. ‘So—scary.’

I don’t think that she will succeed... However, I’d like her to prove me wrong.

‘Very well. I’ll teach you magic.’ Flamme gathered flames on her palm, then melted her hookah. ‘Prove me that it’s possible to overcome the impossible.’

***

Latla. Present.

The monster let out a loud screech. Caused the forest to tremble.

This again, Latla thought, irritated. It was neither an offensive or defensive move, but the sound was startling. Enough to mess with her balance, but if the monster thought that this would be enough to stun her, then it would be wrong. If anything, she would like it to come at her. I’m ready for a counter.

Except, the monster wasn’t going for her. Instead, with a swift movement, it headed for a direction opposite to Latla.

Running away? Latla thought. The monster had lost two legs against her. This behavior wouldn’t be strange. However, as she checked the direction that the monster was heading, she could spot Cirrus hiding behind a bush. In that moment, she realized an observation that she had previously missed. It had no eyes. Meant that to gauge its surroundings it must’ve used something other than sight. ‘It’s safe as long as we’re quiet!’ Cirrus’s word resurfaced in her mind. Someway, somehow, he—or the cat—had known. This monster uses echolocation.

Perhaps the monster was cutting its losses. Knowing that it couldn’t beat Latla, it decided to take away what it could, settling for just a kid for prey. Or, perhaps, it was aware of its advantage. Aware that the poisonous flower had hit because Latla was protecting Cirrus. Made the connection that targeting him would allow a chance for victory.

Latla chased after the monster without missing a beat.

‘Your second fault,’ Latla said, remembering how the monster had mocked her, ‘is underestimating me!’

Latla formed a finger gun with her hand. Flames surged, spiraling, creating a sphere of flame in front of her index finger. She might not be a good shot, but when her “bullet” was this big, she couldn’t miss. She fired the sphere of flame, hitting the monster’s legs, reducing its legs to three. Slowing it down greatly.

Catching up to the monster inside this forest was easier than catching up to the thief inside that bazaar. Latla jumped, and she got atop the monster. Even with three legs, the monster was still capable of moving, and it was heading toward Cirrus.

I’ll end it right here, right—

Darkness enveloped her vision.

The timing couldn’t be worse. She hadn’t lost consciousness yet, but she could feel strength leaving her body, could feel the sensation of falling.

… She had hit her limit.

***

Past – Open Grass Field.

‘You’re angry—all the time.’

Flamme pointing that out made Latla angry. ‘You’re supposed to teach me magic.’

‘There are two school of thoughts,’ Flamme carried on. She created two fireballs, one in each hand. ‘Both believes in emotions, albeit with different interpretation. One believes that emotion is a hindrance to clear thought; therefore, suppresses it, while the other believes that emotion is an assistance; therefore, unleashes it.’

Latla rolled her eyes. She had asked her to teach magic, not philosophy. If there was still a hookah to break, she would have.

‘Watch.’ The fireball on Flamme’s left hand split apart into ten. To which, she moved them in the air, creating mesmerizing pendulum patterns. ‘When you suppress your emotion, you could acquire accuracy and precision. Meanwhile…’ The fireball on Flamme’s right hand grew bigger. To which, she shot it with force, burning the tall grasses beneath that it didn’t even touch, ‘when you unleash your emotion, you could acquire more output.’

Latla, finally on the same page as Flamme, asked directly to the point, ‘Which one is better?’

‘Doesn’t matter. You’re angry—all the time. You’re the latter, the type that unleashes your emotion. The type that uses not cold rationality, but heated emotions to break through limits. Someone who—burns stronger by unleashing your rage.

‘Here’s an advice that you should remember: Should you ever find yourself in trouble, you best put that anger into good use.’

***

Inside the darkness, Latla could see a boy. Not Cirrus, but someone else.

Present – Khiva’s Forest.

Latla pushed away the darkness, “opening” her eyes. Regaining her vision, understanding the situation: being on top of the monster and falling, her left hand reached and grasped the monster’s body. Its texture, that of wood tangled together into one big mass, made for an easy purchase.

The monster was a few steps away from reaching Cirrus. Latla lifted her right hand, clenched a fist.

Her body felt powerless, weak, but she had to have enough strength for this one last move.

Burn.

‘Your third fault,’ Latla said, remembering the trouble that this monster had caused her. How it had almost tore apart Scarlet and Cirrus’s relationship. How, even now, it was trying to tear them apart, ‘the gravest of them all—’

Flames gathered, surrounding her fist. They might not be as big in scale as her fireball, or her flame pillar, but it burned stronger than those two. As if all the flames that should’ve been released was concentrated toward her fist. So hot that it warped the air around her. So hot that it was already burning the monster without even touching.

‘—is that you were destroying the sibling relationship of the people from my guild!!’

Latla swung down her fist, incinerating the monster.