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CHAPTER SEVEN
The sound of grinding stone filled the air as both Al and Shin shakily picked themselves off the ground, their bodies battered and bruised. Shin wiped blood from his eyes with the back of his hand, each movement bringing a fresh wave of pain. Their chests heaved with exhaustion, but there was no time for respite. The deep voice of the commander, Alexandri, rumbled through the air, like the growl of a lion about to strike.
"If you were a mage, you should have fought like one from the beginning," the commander sneered. "No one—not even I—would have believed an alcateen could wield this level of magic. If I hadn’t experienced it firsthand…" Alexandri paused, eyes flashing with amusement. "Now, let’s try this again. Come at me."
Shin shot Al a look of disbelief, his breath ragged. "You’re a mage?". Knowing fully well their elders had been trying to find a way to get back what was lost, but always ended up failing.
Al, equally exhausted, nodded. "I don’t have enough mana left, but there’s something I can do… that's if we time it right."
Shin’s brows furrowed as he leaned on his sword for support. "What do you need from me?"
"I need you to keep him distracted. I can’t do this alone." Al’s eyes gleamed with a mixture of hope and desperation. "I’ll give you support with magic, but it’s up to you to create an opening."
Al reached out, fingers trembling as he inscribed runes along Shin’s blade. "Sharpen," he muttered, and the sword hummed with new power. He moved quickly to Shin's shoes, inscribing another rune. "Wind Dance," feeling the familiar surge of magic pulse through his hands.
Shin gave him a tight nod, his lips forming a thin line. The two boys exchanged a look, silent understanding passing between them. The time for hesitation had passed. They were going all in.
Alexandri, the Iron Lion, watched them with a grin on his face, his aura—a golden, impenetrable tower of defense—still wrapping around his body like an invincible shield. His dark eyes narrowed as the boys straightened, their expressions shifting from pain to raw, focused determination.
“You think you can defeat me?” Alexandri’s voice was laced with a dangerous amusement. "Try your best."
Without warning, they charged.
Shin was first, he swung his sword through the air as if with intent to take the commander's arm off with deadly precision. Alexandri met the blow with his hand, the vibrations of the sword sending a ripple through his aura. There was something different this time. The sword—Shin’s sword—felt sharper, faster as if the wind itself had lent it strength.
Alexandri grinned, pushing Shin back with ease. "Persistent," he muttered, watching Shin immediately close the gap and attack again. Blow after blow, Shin kept coming. Each time he was pushed back, he surged forward with renewed fury, his sword vibrating in his hand, a testament to the magic now coursing through its blade.
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Al, from the side, wasn’t idle. He chanted under his breath, "Cardinal double ice lance" and two glowing runes materialized in the air, forming the shape of ice lances. They were spread across the battlefield, setting them up in all four directions, and prepared to strike. But Alexandri was no fool. His defense never wavered.
"Is this all you have?" Alexandri taunted, watching as the ice lances shot forward, but almost when they were about to come into contact, Al whispered "Axsel". Which made the lances rotate much faster and increased their piercing power. They collided with his aura armor and just when it looked like it was about to get through, the lances got canceled out in a spectacular burst of frozen shards, but his aura remained unbroken.
Al clenched his teeth. It wasn’t enough. They needed more.
The commander moved to strike with a subtle amount of bloodlust. He was already fully immersed in the battle, his excitement having taken control. , but just as he did, a shift in the air caught Al’s attention. A fraction of a second. That was all he needed.
"Shin!" Al shouted, he knew if his friend took the hit it would be very dangerous and could be fatal.
Shin didn’t hesitate. He fell back just as Alexandri’s massive fist flew towards him. The blow landed, but instead of feeling the crushing force he expected, the Iron Lion’s fist connected with what he was certain was Shin’s chest—only to be met with unexpected resistance. His strike was abruptly halted, the impact dissipating as if something had intercepted it, dulling the force of his blow. Confusion flashed in his eyes as he realized his attack had not landed as intended. Shin found himself only slightly staggered. His body buzzed with a strange, foreign power, his chest glowing with a bright white aura.
Shin stumbled back, eyes wide in disbelief. He looked at his hands, his hair now completely white at the roots, his entire form enveloped in an otherworldly glow. The aura wasn’t the same as Alexandri’s—no, this was something more primal, something that brought out his hidden potential.
"What… what is this?" Shin muttered, breathless.
Al, too, was momentarily stunned. He had never encountered anything like this before; it was a completely new experience for him., his voice barely a whisper. "This is it. This is the moment, this is what we need to create an opening and win this"
"Focus, Shin!" Al urged. "This is our chance!"
Shin nodded, the power surging through his veins. He moved with newfound strength, his sword striking with devastating force. Alexandri blocked, but this time, the commander’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. Shin’s blows were landing—heavy, precise, and faster than before.
The commander felt the weight of the attacks pressing down on him little by little, his defensive aura reverberating in resistance. Al’s voice rose again, and with a sharp command, the runes on Shin’s boots activated. "Wind Dance!" The force of the wind carried Shin forward in a blink of an eye, his sword aimed directly at the commander’s chest.
But just as Shin moved in for the strike, Al began to chant. His voice rang through the chaos of the battlefield, his magic pushing past his limits. "Oh heavens that command the winds and watch over everything, fires that burn through the earth and consume everything it touches, come forth and ignite…"
A massive, swirling sphere of fire and wind began to form above Al’s outstretched hand. "Fire Blizzard!" he shouted, releasing the spell with all the strength he had left. Immediately after the spell was released at its intended target, Al Used Wind Dance to help Shin evade danger.
The ball of fire and wind shot forward, a roaring inferno, and Alexandri’s eyes widened as he raised his arm to deflect it. But Al had planned for this. As soon as the fireball neared, a rune activated on the commander’s back—one Al had placed there in their earlier engagement before Alexandri had donned his aura armor.
"Explosion!" Al cried out.
A sudden, explosive force detonated from behind Alexandri. The fireball slammed into his front, erupting in a devastating explosion that sent shockwaves across the entire training ground. The force of the blast was so great that both Al and Shin were thrown backward, the ground beneath them cracking from the sheer power.
Smoke and flames filled the air.
When the smoke cleared, there stood Alexandri. His golden aura burned brighter than ever, his stance firm, undeterred. He had been caught off guard, but the explosion hadn’t harmed him in the slightest. He was unharmed as if the attacks had been nothing more than a fleeting breeze.
Shin’s heart sank. He had given everything he had, and still… it wasn’t enough.
The commander’s booming laugh broke through the silence. "That’s how you do it," he said, a grin spreading across his face. "You’ve both passed."
That last attack managed to push him back, the position of his left foot had changed.
Shin’s voice was barely a whisper. "He’s… a monster."
Al, equally exhausted, could only nod in grim agreement. There was no denying it now. Alexandri was on an entirely different level.