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Stella felt her heart pounding as she made footprints in the snow. She fought individually before, but she felt like the hero in this situation. Her battle would end the other battles. She controlled the fate of Kofka. It wasn't that she wanted to be a hero, but she felt happy. She would be able to help her friend accomplish his mission. He trusted her. They all trusted her. Ace will probably think she is the best student. She just has to crush this guy.

"What's the plan?" Ace caught up to her with a slight jog.

"You scared me. I thought you would have stayed back with Luna and sent Tenny."

"I would have just been too nervous watching it and I know she will be okay. Besides, your job requires more brain power than theirs, so I decided to help here. How are you going to approach this?"

"I was thinking to get past the guards at the wall, and then create a large Earth Pillar to climb to the throne room from the outside." Stella slowed down as they approached the gate.

"The throne room is high up. That is a lot of mana. We also don't know if they changed the number of guards outside the castle." They made a full stop in front of the large wooden doors. "It is a good concept though, attacking from outside."

"I don't want to underestimate my opponent, but fighting through the soldiers isn't much of an option, and I don't know any other spells to get up there. I can maybe use water instead to shoot me up. I am better at water magic, and it is snowing."

"That makes more sense, but I don't like it. What we need is a wind cannon. Like Jack used in Nectar village. That's it. Follow me." Ace flashed up to a nearby roof. Stella used Wind Walk to catch up.

"You can't use Wind Cannon."

"Don't need it. I have these cannons." Ace flexed his muscles and raised his eyebrows.

"That is so lame, but you are right. Wait, are you thinking to throw me. No way." Stella back stepped. Her eyes wide.

"No, I plan to push you...swing you...you will get it in a minute, but first I need you to charge a destructing spell. Anything you need but keep it charging. Think class 2."

"Water Cannon?"

"No, that one has a kick back. These conditions are bad, but a fireball will be the best. It has to break the wall while you are in the air."

"That is really tough. I can try but I will need two hands. Can you throw me my spear when I land."

"Got it. Now." Ace took out his cooking knife from the holder. The blade became covered in a dark shadow that took the shape of a sword. The handle extended to the length of a two-handed sword. "Jump on the flat of the sword and I will use it to launch you towards the castle."

"Okay I got it." Stella stabbed her spear into the roof. "Give me a couple of seconds to charge up some fire. I thought Tenny had to be around for that sword. How could you make it without mana?"

"Mystical Techniques are crazy. I have no idea how they did it, but logic isn't a factor for their skills. Tenny just has to be in a certain range, but we never really tested it because he is never that far from me. To get it to work, I just have to think about it and the form I want. It can even come back to me. Anyone can use it, as long as I am around and Tenny is in range, but it only takes the form I think of."

"Where did you get something like that? You have a very grand story that you refuse to tell us, moustache and I want to hear it, but I won't pry. Are you going to tell us after we beat Ira? That feels too long. If I get stronger than you, will you tell me then?"

"You think you can get stronger than me in a couple of years? Pretty high goal." Ace smiled.

"If you are training me then yea. I will prove to you tonight, how far I have come. Launch me moustache. I am ready."

"I love it. I can't wait to see. I will distract all the soldiers outside, so only those in the throne room are yours to handle. I believe in you." Ace extended his sword to the side.

"Thanks." Stella jumped into a crouch on the flat of the blade. Her hands extended in front of her as they both held on to a large red orb.

"3...2...1."

Stella flew through the air and approached the wall at a remarkable speed. Probably too fast. She should have released the orb sooner. Her hands in front of her shot the orb as it tore through the wall. Bricks cutting through the air of the throne room, while some decided to leap towards the ground. A cloud of stone dust obscured the contents of the throne room, but she was sure she was aiming for the scattered light.

She placed her hands over her head to ensure no delinquent bricks took an attempt at stopping her. Her eyes covered to pass through the dust, but she was going too fast. In the time it took to open her eyes again, she drew as much wind wisps as she could and was glad she could land on the wall with her legs and not her face.

Her feet touched the ground and her eyes focused on the startled expressions painted on the king, princess and their lone bodyguard, although Wall's expression did come with a slight smirk. That must have looked really epic. She wished she could have seen it from their eyes.

"Wh...What...How...What are you doing here?" the king exclaimed. He ran to the side of the room as he pulled his sister with him. She pulled away and stood her ground, but he ensured he had the comfort of his back against the wall. Stella laughed to herself. What good does a wall do? She was tearing through them.

"Darius told us what you are here to do. You were a guest here, and now you are full of yourself. Wall, execute her," Maio growled.

Wall drew the short sword at his side. A smile on his face this time. "I would have much rather spar with a hero like yourself, but you heard the princess."

"Don't call her a hero, Wall. They are villains." Meo screamed from the side.

A dark spear cut through the air and stuck into the wall Stella just landed on. Stella smiled as she grabbed it and readied for battle.

"That is an interesting weapon. It isn't made from Wisps. Is it a Syng tool?" Wall said approaching. Stella was excited but him walking towards her with such confidence shook her nerves slightly. He had a strong aura to him. His eyes looked focused. The slight grin removed any thoughts of him being an anxious soldier. It was like he wanted this fight. He might have wanted a fight like this for a long time.

"Do you like it? It is speciality of Lun...our team. You can have one if you want to join us, we aren't too picky about our members but anyone protecting corrupt royalty that only thinks of themselves isn't allowed. Not too late though." Stella walked towards Wall with a confidence of her own.

"Thinks of ourselves?" Meo cried from the corner. "How are we selfish? Why would you think we are selfish? We are trying to create great heroes! Heroes that can give them a great future! Sis tells me that they don't even have to work, and we give them so much back."

Maio slammed her fist onto the table. "Don't listen to her Meo. The name Ice Queen must have gotten to her head. She has no idea what royalty is. What it takes to rule a kingdom. You don't even know, King. None of you know what it takes to build a kingdom from the scraps those idealists left it in. Wall! This is killing my high. Hurry up and clean up all this mess."

"Wall. Before you clean up this mess." Ace caused everyone to face the exit door. "I was standing outside for a while and could hear you all, so I struggled to find a right time to come in. I would just like to sit down if possible. Princess, is there anymore in that pitcher?"

"What are you doing here Ace?" Meo spoke the groups mind.

"I came to watch. By the way, your guards all left. I went just walked up like nothing. Looks like Wall is well the last wall." Ace laughed as he found another pitcher close by.

"It's over, your highness." There was no trace of Wall's smile from earlier. "Quinn and Darius told us about you. They said you don't fight, and I believed them, but I know you won't sit idle there. It is best we get out of here your highnesses."

"No, they were completely right. I am just here to make sure that no o...that they don't die." Ace smiled again. "You are the strongest in the kingdom. Those trainees aren't going to win, but I am sure that they won't get hurt either. Darius is probably getting his ass kicked right now. I do admit that Noa and Jack are pretty tired and if you can beat her then you can probably beat them."

"So, I don't have much time then." Wall turned before his sentence ended. His sword arced ferociously towards the centre of Stella's head. She stepped out of the way, but he was already in a full swing to cleave her in half. Stella could only react by bracing with her spear. She slid back on the ground, using her weapon to keep balance.

She looked up to see Wall holding a broken blade. He released a sigh. Ace seemed to be holding the blade in front of Maio. It looked like he was going to stab her with it.

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"Did you?" Stella questioned.

"No, no. It wasn't me this time." Ace tossed away the sword blade before going back to his seat.

"That is a mighty weapon." Wall tossed his broken weapon to the side. "It looks like I will need the entire armoury for this battle."

"Oh, just use this." Ace tossed his chef's knife with dark blade already attached to the warrior. "That one shouldn't break, but it is dull, cause you know...no killing."

Wall hefted the weight in both hands, then inspected the shape from all angles. "Its heavy, but this will do. It doesn't matter if it's dull. I will crush her."

"What are you doing?" Stella screamed at her mentor. Her brows dipping into her eyes.

"Now it is like you are fighting me." Ace smiled but the next sentence was calm and chilling. "Get stronger than me. Don't question it too much, just do what you have to do. Besides, we don't know how long those guys will take, and I know you want to be the one they count on. Crush him before they get here."

"Oye Oye, this is getting out of hand." Wall had a smile on his face but the vein on his forehead told other stories. "I am all about teaching and improving, but don't talk about walking over me. I guess there is no point in talking. I guess it's time to carry out the princess's ORDER!"

Wall dashed forward in sync with the last word. His sword play was fast and troublesome. The strikes kept coming from awkward areas to protect with a staff. Just below her right shoulder. An upward slash towards her hip. Stella smiled. It must be a lucky coincidence, but he was attacking in a similar way to Ace. Ace had more fluidity in his style. Wall's attacks seemed to hammer down more. Nothing lead to anything else, as each one was meant to shake her down. It had its own benefits, but she much preferred fighting this style because there was time to breath between.

Her footwork kept her at a distance she felt comfortable, but she wasn't a fan of constantly backstepping. A lean from a strike would guide her towards a sidestep to keep from letting him circle around. Stella didn't stand firmly for the next attack. The blade clashing against her spear carried her to the left a little, but it allowed her to release an arm. Blue with yellow swirls formed in her palm and fired at his chest. He jumped out of the way, but they were at the initial distance.

The smile on her face seemed to grow larger, and her opponent's face matched. The royal siblings were on edge about the sight and her mentor was enjoying the pitcher while keeping an eye on her. Ugh. This is supposed to be important. She is fighting for a kingdom here. What if it was Cartina she was fighting for? She isn't supposed to be enjoying this so much, but it is that damn moustache's fault.

It was clear to her that she lets her emotions overtake her in a fight. Ace says that is okay once two requirements are met. It isn't anger, and her body has ingrained the fighting process. Jack made it clear after training sessions that he thinks a lot about the fight, but that feels uncomfortable. She learned to fight at a young age. Physical precautions as a royal heir, especially after what happened to her parents and what they thought happened to Luna. It might have been a punishment to some other kids, and her instructor even told her the dread his other students faced but she looked forward to it.

Her days were filled with routine studies of business and etiquette, math and language, geography and history, for a good cause. It was all essential to being a 'great leader'. She studied and focused and it was to great result, but fighting became a much needed break from it. She let her instincts carry her as her body learned better ways to address the situation. She didn't want to be like Jack and Ace understood that. He would help her practice techniques and combos thousands of times, before sparring in a way to let her use it. She would just get ideas and feel the situation as she reacted. She could get more ideas of victory by not having to focus on techniques. Sometimes, victories came from just completing her combo.

Even now as Wall tried to get past her defence, it was easy for her to keep up since they were both still reading each other out. The problem was that she knew this was serious, but she kept feeling like she was going to fight Ace. Due to the nature of their training, and Ace being a freak of nature, she could never have a match with him. It was always a learning experience, but this was different. Wall wanted to crush her, and she needed to win. Ace wasn't expecting her to learn anything, this was a test. She was going to past his expectations. She was going climb heights and shoulder more expectations of her crew.

"Why are you smiling so much? Overthrowing a kingdom gives you thrills?" Wall asked during his latest attack sequence. She wasn't sure what he was waiting on, but she knew his attacks didn't carry the same impact. He couldn't be getting tired.

"Between me and you, I could care less about who ruled the kingdom. I don't like what is going on here, but I never had to worry about that. I know my friend would burst his brain and give his all to fix it. I am happy to be able to make his goals come through. I am happy that with my strength I can show them that they can set higher goals."

"Ugh. That was cool," Meo said, "You guys suck, for being villains."

"That was cool right. You can't teach cool speeches." Ace laughed.

"I know, I had a class that didn't last long."

"Ha, you are the muscle? Then your team is doomed," Wall calmly replied as he began his flurry again. The impact was stronger than when he started, and the rhythm was different, even more rigid. The latest horizontal slash pushed her spear a bit, but his sudden kick smashed into her ribs. He body dragged on the ground. She hovered her hand above the ground while moving to create an earth wall in front of the already leaping enemy.

He smashed through the wall like it was made of glass, but Stella was off to the side charging her ice magic. Spikes ejected from her palms at a strong speed. Wall used fire on some and dodge the others. She scoffed. He knew that her spell had the advantage, and since it was ice, water wouldn't be enough to stop it. He needed the fire, maybe a strong wind, or a water jet spell. He had experience for sure, and it seemed the time he spent as a teacher didn't dull his combat sense. What if it did? What if he is pass his prime? This world is exciting.

She rushed forward behind her spells. Her spear fighting allowed her to keep enough distance, but he was confidently glancing her pokes away. It felt like he could close the range instantly, but he was waiting for a solid mistake to capitalise on. She even felt that she was being cautious in her attacks. Woah. She can't win if she doesn't commit to an attack. Her foot inched forward in the next poke, and she turned the thrust into a swing. Wall stepped in and aimed his slashed at her skull. She barely raised the back end to ease the impact of the sword crashing into her shoulder. His fist plunged into her cheek and was only eased by the mana flowing through her body.

No teeth came loose. That is good, but the taste of blood in her mouth was strong. She spit it off to the side before raising her spear again. Wall danced past her attempts causing her to jump back, but she failed to realise the room was on Wall's side. Her back pressed against the brick as Wall's knee crashed into her stomach, but her spear stayed in front of her holding back Ace's sword. It couldn't stop the elbow from coming above into her eye. She fell to the side and Wall swung a kick into her stomach that sent her across the room. Before she flew, she twisted just enough to get the end of her spear to hammer into his cheek. He buckled to his knees and spit blood, his weight resting on his hand.

Stella slowly got to her feet herself. She wiped the blood from her eye. It barely staying open. There is no doubt that would swell into a mountain. "No way, you can't take a hit."

"You were a striker!" Ace commentated. Meo shrugged his shoulders, but curiosity was painted on his face. "They normally worked together with a tank. They would focus mana to their arms and legs and neglect other parts of their body to gain an advantage on offence. They say that strikers can find difficulty in strengthening the parts they neglected if they rarely do it."

"Ha! So Wall as you nickname was a total bluff." Stella readied her stance. She felt the side of her face swelling. She probably won't get much more sharp banter in. He was strong, and that made sense as to his intensity in his strikes, but there was hope.

"You are all talking like she is going to get another hit on me. You luck runs out now."

Stella blast ice spikes at Wall but he easily manoeuvred through the obstacle. Stella tried to keep her distance, but it was hard to gauge how fast his step in was, since he took advantage of her half-closed eyes. She never expected a blind spot to this dangerous. Green filled her palm as she tired her best to gain as much distance as she can. Time was running out and the situation felt more and more dangerous. It seemed foolish now, but she never imagined herself losing.

"She can only run. Looks like we win mentor. We are the better mentors. We are going to have the better heroes! You lose!" Meo cheered from the table. The recent exchanges gave him a confidence to join the pair at the table.

"You might be right. Huh, do you think I can get a job here? As a mentor, in case this goes sideways," Ace questioned. Stella clenched her teeth. She is going to kill him after this.

"Well, you are strong. I think it will be a good idea. We can fit you in."

"He is joking, you idiot." Maio threw wine across the table. "How can you be so confident? You plan on stopping us yourself, right?"

"No. I really mean that I am not a fighter. If they lose, they lose. Once they aren't dead, then we can have more adventures."

She knew that there was no lie in his words. Fight Ira. That was the reason they were gifted strength, but Ace never stopped them from using the strength in ways they wanted, besides murder, but they all agreed on not doing that. He wasn't their secret weapon, just their safety net. She didn't think she made an assumption but the grave feeling in her stomach made her feel like some mistake was made.

"Ugh. What do I do? How do I win?" Stella called out, while her whole body was focused on keeping the distance from her opponent.

"Umm...you aren't using your ice mimics to its full potential."

"You always say that, can't you just tell me how," Stella pleaded.

"No way. I know you will figure it out, just think about what you want your ice to do."

"I want it to hit him, but he is too fast."

"Just make it hit him."

"You two might be the rudest enemies I have come across." Wall tried to get closer, but his opponent forced him to dodge ice mimics while she retreated.

That useless moustache should just tell her what to do. How can he just say 'make it hit him' like that is the answer to everything. How is she going to make it hit him? If she can predict his movement, and force him into taking a wrong step, but that seems too risky to the plan, and it isn't her fighting style so Ace wouldn't recommend it. Does he mean that she should Mimic Manipulate? That is even harder than Mimic Sharing and she can't do that yet, but if she could get her ice to curve then it would help a lot more. Why does it have to be ice though, when they say water is the easiest manipulate, and ice is compound. It can't be that, but curving feels like an answer somehow. Ugh it is hard to think with her face pulsing like this.

Huh. Hard. Ice is a solid. Her eye focused on her opponent's hand as he slashed the ice spells that were in his way. Stella looked down to her own hands. She thinks she can do that. She made spikes and there was no need for spikes, and swings are technically curves. Understood moustache. She will give it a try.

Stella waited for the next rush forward. She knew Wall's eyes were keen to the path of the ice spells, but this was different. Stella raised her left leg and used it to plant her weight on her twisting body as she launched the spear at Wall's direction. The bottom end barely missed him as he kept his eyes on it as it brushed past Meo and bounced off the wall.

"That was reckless to get rid of your wea—" Wall was startled as he turned to face his opponent that was well within his range already.

Stella gripped the dull dark blade pulled it forward across his body. She spun around the motion as blue with yellow swirls called to her hand. The blue gathered far from her palm and settled in the shape of a broad sword with large crystal shapes for the guard and a beautiful yellow swirl through it all. The weapon arced as an extension of the swing and smashed into Wall's shoulder. The magic blade shattered into hundreds of blue shards while he fell to his knees. Stella called another ice sword and destroyed it across the chest of her opponent. She called another one and hovered over Wall with her sword above her head, but it returned to her side. She couldn't see out of her right eye anymore, but it was better than having her eyes rolled back in her head like her opponent.

Meo tried to make a dash around the table, but Ace kicked a chair into his path that resulted in him falling just in front of Stella's walk. Maio clicked her tongue and took another large drink. Stella walked directly past the fallen king and took a seat in front of Maio, placing her sword on the table.

"Kofka is mine now."