"Light should not eliminate darkness as darkness should not devour the light!" A woman with a voluptuous figure shouted while rushing and throwing a punch to the young man in front of him.

The young man with black hair blocked the fist by crossing his arms, but the impact sent him flying in a distance. His eyes twitched while rubbing his forearms. “That hurts more than usual! I thought this was supposed to be a light sparring session?” 

"Can’t even take a punch? Don’t tell me your lean build is just for display? Quit yapping and fix your stance." The woman replied while bending her knees preparing for another assault. Glittering blue lights started to gather at the young man's palm materializing into a wand. The woman let out a menacing smile as she charged relentlessly causing her long

Vermillion hair to flutter.

My name is Claude. And the woman who looks like she is about to kill me is Vhau Aurr Le. According to her, she found me in a village that was attacked by demons. She is the one who raised me and told me to just call her Valerie. 

Brandishing my wand, I used creation magic to erect a barrier of lightning. If I was a little slower, Valerie's punch would've broken some of my ribs. "Valerie... Why are you acting aggressively..." 

Valerie's fist and my barrier caused minor sparks that influenced the air currents to behave unpredictably. The water in the pond started to ripple, and the tree branches swayed violently.

"I wanted you to live your life away from danger, so I didn't agree when you told me you want to participate in ending the war. But after being upset and raising your voice last night telling me you also want to protect me, all you've got is this pathetic display?!" Valerie's loud voice echoed in my ears, and I thought, so that's how it is.   

With my right hand concentrating on the barrier, I gathered energy in my left hand. Transferring this energy into my wand, I brandished it once again and casted a spell. 

"Magic arts lightning style: True Lightning!"

A bolt of lightning came crashing down in Valerie's location. Even though lightning magic is known for its quickness, she dodged it easily. I've been with her for a long time, but with her warm smiles and caring attitude, I keep on forgetting the fact that she was still the second in command of the primordial demons first generation.

"Oho? So, you finally reached tier 3 lightning magic. But Claude, you have to do better than that!" After dusting her shoulders, she made a fist in both of her hands.

"I'm just getting started!" Valerie and I exchanged smiles while preparing for another clash.

I withdrew my wand and started to gather energy once again. A card materialized between my pointer and middle fingers while emitting a strong light. "Holy knight of the battlefield heed my call!" After my enchantment, a magic circle started to appear right below where I am standing. A spirit manifested right behind me. 

A gentle face with fierce gaze in her sharp eyes. A fair complexion that complements her cream white hair. With outstanding leadership and combat capabilities, she led the Kingdom of Eeden's Vhowe to a successful counterattack during the first dark age.    

"Edah?!" Valerie's Eyes widened with her pupils dilated. You can see that she was really dumbfounded that I called the spirit of the first leader of Eeden's Vhowe, Queen Edah.

"It is nice to see you again Valerie, you're still as gorgeous as I remembered you." Queen Edah smiled.

"Hmph, right back at you. But I'm pretty sure you didn't appear here just to tell me that?" Valerie said while crossing her arms.

"You are right, I decided to temporarily form a contract with this boy. I want to see it myself as to how far his faith and dedication will bring him. It seems that you two are in the middle of something. Shall we resume?" Queen Edah looked at Valerie in a serious manner. 

"Hahaha! This is amazing, Claude. Now that Edah seems to be backing you, I can bring out even greater power without worrying of severely injuring you." Valerie said as she glided her right hand through her hair. 

"Show me what you can do, Claude." Queen Edah said while looking into my eyes. As her spirit image faded, I felt strong power surging through my body. A strong sensation hit me as if my body was about to burst. I thought that maybe it is not trained to contain such energy or because of the possibility that it's my first time performing this Divine Art that I don't have a good grasp of it. Whatever it is, I have decided to show Valerie that I can make a difference.

As my body emits strong light energy, I saw Valerie charging towards me. "Creation magic: Sword and Shield!" Queen Edah is an expert vanguard who has mastery in using both sword and shield. I can't say that linking with her spirit gave me the same proficiency, but I felt a strong familiarity holding these weapons as if I've used them countless times. 

"Dark arts: Demon Blow!" 

Enwrapped with dark and red energy, Valerie's fist was blocked by my shield. This time, I was able to withstand the impact and swung my sword for a counterattack. Valerie took a quick back step dodging my sword. She started to spin with great speed and threw a kick aiming at my right temple. I ducked quickly to avoid a direct hit as I pivoted and performed a spinning sword attack pushing Valerie which made her give an opening.

I took the chance and continued my assault. I sliced through air sending out a sword slice art in a cross manner followed by quick thrusts. All of my attacks connected and sent Valerie flying away. 

It seems that my attacks managed to injure her. It was my first-time seeing Valerie in that state. Thinking that I’ve already won, I quickly rushed towards her without thinking. To my surprise, Valerie was smiling as she gradually stood up. She let out a battle cry which caused dark energy to surge outside her body, healing her wounds. I was fascinated by what I saw but before I knew it, she disappeared in front of my sight only to appear right behind me pointing her hands with dark and red energy in my throat. 

The so called “light sparring session” came to an end with Valerie’s victory. It is obvious that she was sulking that I let my guard down and told me that if I want to make it up to her, I have to make her favorite dish. I apologized and told her that I was just worried. She ignored me and went back to our wooden lodge near the pond.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

The sun has set since my battle with Valerie and ever since then, she was just quietly staring at the moon while waiting at the dinner table outside the balcony. I seasoned the beef with the usual ingredients and pan fried it as it continued to sizzle. The aroma of freshly cooked beef together with its spices started to mix in the air. 

This should be the time that Valerie usually bugs me, but as I glanced at her, she was just staring blankly with her right palm on her chin. As soon as the meat was cooked, I immediately took it to Valerie thinking that it would cheer her up. Contrary to what I expected, she just looked me in the eye while taking the plate in my hand. When I was about to take a seat, the glowing circular blue dotted lights in the surroundings caught my attention. It was always there but for some reason, its color is richer and glows even brighter. 

“Beautiful, ishhnn’t it?” Valerie said as she chewed the beef. 

“Yeah…” I started to slice my beef into portions and switched it with Valerie. “I’m really sorry about earlier, I was just worried about you.”

Valerie squinted her eyes and crossed her arms “You should be.”

“Claude… It is true I am upset because you killed the mood in our sparring, but I do understand why you acted that way. Besides, your cooking is really delicious, so I’ve already forgotten it. But…” Valerie poked the fork in the sliced beef and took a bite. 

“I’ve always known that at some point, we have to abandon this peaceful life that we’re living. The world is still in chaos after all. But despite knowing all of that, it is still scary and a little bit sad. I guess experiencing it before doesn’t make you immune to this kind of situation.” Valerie looked at the moon with a faint smile on her face.

“You probably know this already, but I’m worried about you the most. I thought you would just want to live a life away from all the conflicts of the world, so I created this place. I was willing to protect that life with all of my power if you had only wished. So yesterday, when you told me that you want to go out there and help stop the war, I got scared.” Valerie paused and took a sip of water in the transparent glass which reflected the moonlight. 

“You told me that you are old enough now to be making your own decisions. But to me, you’re still a baby. 17? Pshh, I don’t understand why most humans act confident when they hit a certain age. Compared to demons and other races, you are still a kid. It feels like yesterday when I was still changing your diapers. You cry whenever you piss or poop as well. And now, just because you cook delicious foods for me, you think you already know everything.” I coughed because I suddenly gasped while drinking after being embarrassed by what Valerie had said.

“Do you really have to say thattt!” Valerie and I started chortling.

“My point is, no matter what you say, you are still a child in my eyes. But I also know that you are not completely helpless. I trained you after all. It just feels sudden. When you came to me saying that you decided to help end the war with a determined look on your face, I was surprised, but I had to make sure you have what it takes to survive out there.” Valerie said as she continued eating.

“So that’s the origin of the ‘light sparring’ you told me about.” I squinted my eyes while looking at Valerie.

“Yes, it’s my intention to beat you into a pulp with my first attack to help you realize how scary it is outside!” Pointing her fork towards me, Valerie’s right cheeks were inflated due to the beef she was eating.

“But your movements were fluid, and you were able to cast tier 3 magics. To top it off, you surprised me by calling Edah’s spirit! When did you even learn that?” Valerie raised her eyebrows.

I poured Valerie another glass of water before answering her question.

“You told me that I almost died because my body was being infested by dark energy. You were the one who stopped the spread, but I am still getting weak because of the life energy that was taken away from me. It is when I started to glow and was blessed by Divine energy which helped me recover.” I consumed my last piece of meat before continuing what I was saying.

“As per aunt Shiela’s teachings, one of the Divine energy’s powers is connection. I never really thought that it could be useful in battle, but everyday, I visit Queen Edah’s statue in the city nearby. I told her that I am thinking of venturing outside and helping the world I live in. I just always talk to her about you and ask for her guidan…” Before I could even say another word, Valerie interrupted me.

“Hey! Why would you even ask Edah for my protection! I can protect myself, you brat. She would think that I grew so old that I have already weakened.” Valerie squinted her eyes as I let out a giggle.

“Then today, I told Queen Edah’s statue that I will talk to you about it and asked for her assistance to help me convince you. When I was about to leave, I was surprised when her spirit appeared in front of me telling me that she’ll help me. At first, I didn’t even imagine that she meant it literally meaning that she will tag along. But it just kinda happened.” I scratched the back of my head while smiling.

“Ehhhhh?!” Valerie reacted while looking at me as if she was suspecting me.

“She told me that if it’s me, there must be hope, but she also said that she wants to make sure first, so she tagged along and guided me on how to use her and my power. I was the one who came up with the technique. It is similar to summoners and shamans. Since I’m a magic caster I’ve read books about them. I thought with a little tweak, I’ll try to perform a similar spell and that’s how I came up with the Divine art: Spirit link.”  I saw Valerie letting out a sigh following a smile right after.

“Fine, I’ve always known that you were pretty good during our training, but I didn’t think that you were this good. You’re showing signs of promise. I will contact Shiela tomorrow. As you know, she will be able to help you better with Divine arts. Starting tomorrow, I will help you prepare before we set foot outside. I will be going with you since if it’s just you, no matter how talented you are, you won’t even know where to begin.” Valerie stood up as she thanked me for the dinner. She told me to rest as soon as I’m done as we’ll be going out early tomorrow.

I was happy that Valerie already approved of me going outside. With my emotions high, I ran towards her and hugged her at the back.

“Thank you, mom. You always worry about me but promise me you’ll not disappear on me as well.” I said while hugging her tightly.

“... Yeah, I promise…” Valerie said slowly while stroking my hair.

“Just this once, I'll let you. But don’t ever call me mom again or I’ll beat you into a pulp” Valerie followed up.

“Ha..haha..ha. I’m sorry I forgot about that.” I said in a panic as I let go of Valerie and bid goodnight.

After Valerie went to her room, I took a good look at the environment outside and inside the house. “I will definitely miss these times too…” I am afraid of going outside as well, but I just can’t live in peace either knowing that many people are still suffering and there are people who are struggling to protect us like Valerie. 

After cleaning, I went to my room and buried my face on my pillow. “I need to get stronger from now on. Lord Jei-Sih the God of all, please guide me.” As I turned around and looked at the ceiling, my eyes felt heavy, and I eventually fell asleep.

I dreamed of the days when I was still a kid, Valerie and I used to play cards. She is so bad at it, so she ends up losing to me every time. There was a time when she really wanted to take me to the Edens Vhowe festival, but I told her that I’d rather study magic. She challenged me to a card game and told me that if I lost I`ll be coming with her. I was determined to beat her, but I noticed that she really is doing her best to win. Because of that, I tried my best to intentionally lose without her noticing. I can still see her smile so vividly when she told me to prepare as we will go to the festival.

I want to keep on living like this forever, but I know that there is a bigger world outside that needs help. I am lucky that Valerie was able to find me and take me in. But not everyone had the same situation. I might be insignificant right now, but I’ll do my best to make a difference. I will help stop the war.

I was woken up by the loud sound of an explosion just outside our lodge. It was followed by Valerie’s loud scream of pain. I panicked and hurried outside. I thought that I was prepared to see everything, but what I saw as I opened the doors is something that I didn’t expect to ever happen soon.