“Both of you ready?” Elwyn asked to which Alice and I flourished our swords and nodded.

Alice closed her eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before opening them up again, gazing into my eyes with a determined look.

“Good luck, Alice,” I said, taking up my stance with my right foot taking the lead.

“You too.” She showed me her smile one last time before we started.

“Remember, stand proud and grow together regardless of who wins.” Elwyn took a few steps back, giving us room to fight. “Good luck to both. Begin!”

We both itched our lead foot closer but refrained from making a move. It had been so long since we dueled, and even a slight mistake could’ve led to defeat.

What spells did she learn? Did she get better at sword-fighting? How much mana does she have? All these questions weighed on me, but the thrill of learning more about her after months of training by ourselves was intoxicating.

Alice had the upper hand from the moment we first met up until now, and considering how incomparably harder her training was, it was unsurprising. Talent could get us only so far, and the rest of it was hard work that we put in daily. If I looked back at how I’d spent my time in Thysa, there wasn’t a single thing I regretted, and this duel was my last chance at victory before ending my training and returning home.

“Stride.” I was the first to take the initiative, empowering my body with mana to make myself faster.

Using Blink against her was just a waste of mana, so instead I tried closing the distance by running toward her before she started casting Wind Slice.

Alice didn’t hesitate to meet me halfway, lunging at me as soon as I entered her range. She was an expert at determining distance, but my defense wasn’t as frail anymore.

Sidestepping her thrust, I counterattacked with a downward swing which she ducked, and with neither willing to commit, we hastily created space between us.

“Twinned Magic: Wind Slice!” Alice swung her sword twice, sending two thin air currents angled awkwardly, making it impossible to dodge.

“Shield!”

Conjuring a barrier around me, I braced for impact. The first crashed into it, cracking the shield but failing to penetrate as the energy dispersed; however, the second managed to break through my defenses, slamming against me bluntly and pushing me back a few steps. Luckily the barrier reduced some of its power, or I would’ve been in trouble.

“Blink!” Alice teleported to me, closing the distance while I was still off balance. “Sword Burst.”

Despite having only a split second to react, I somehow managed to redirect her attack toward the ground, which on impact, unleashed enough energy to cause a thunderous boom and create a dust cloud.

Skipping backward in an attempt to distance myself, I was surprised to see Alice maintain pace with me, showing me she was unhindered by the dust cloud as we engaged in a prolonged melee. Her flurry had both precision and power, making it difficult to avoid, let alone counterattack.

“Blink.” We cast near-simultaneously, as her impeccable reaction time allowed her to recognize where I was going, preventing me from running away just as I expected.

“Paralyse.” Attempting to restrict my movement using magic, Alice clenched her fist, hoping to score a hit with a follow-up thrust.

Paralyse was a spell that manipulated mana naturally coursing through someone’s body, similar to charm spells. Those who possessed a mana core had a greater chance of resisting as they could maintain control of the mana within, but it required a great deal of effort and skill.

Of course, the stronger the spell, and the more mana it utilized, the harder it became to resist. However, for someone like Alice and me, who possessed an immense talent for control, it was unlikely for us to overpower the other with such spells so long as we were within the same circle.

Alice knew that, yet still chose to cast it.

The spell naturally failed, but it still managed to stagger my movement long enough for her to get a hit in. Luckily, I was able to predict that I wouldn’t defend on time, so I dodged the best I could, making her strike barely graze my shoulder. Had the sword been sharp, I’d have a hindering cut, but nothing that would prevent me from continuing the fight.

“Blink.” Alice teleported away, clicking her tongue, knowing I was looking to grapple her.

Despite her skill, the difference between us physically was severely in my favor. Not only was I bigger and stronger naturally, but I also possessed a martial arts core that enhanced my body simply by existing.

“Arcane Arrows.” Pointing my finger toward her, I cast a new spell I learned as three spectral arrows appeared above my head.

They flew toward her as if shot out of a heavy crossbow, and as expected, Alice was quick on her feet to dodge them; however, it wasn’t a dodgeable spell as the spectral arrows looped around and tried hitting her again. It was a first-circle spell boasting power comparable to an adult’s punch, but no matter how much Alice tried to avoid them, they wouldn’t stop until they hit their mark.

“Shield!” Alice blocked after realizing what was happening, taking deep breaths as dodging took a lot of effort.

I expected her to say something after seeing a new spell, but she was focused only on fighting.

She charged toward me again, winding up an attack as wind gathered around her blade. Her attack was predictable, but that didn’t make it any easier to dodge.

“Wind Slice!” She swung her blade, sending another blast toward my upper chest, against which I decided to duck underneath while running toward her, relying on Stride for speed while trying to preserve mana. Alice predicted what I was going to do, and while my focus was on Wind Slice, she readied herself to cast again. “Gust.”

Bracing myself, expecting her attack to come from the front, she again outsmarted me, showing off her proficiency by having the wind hit me from behind. The momentum I built up reduced the effectiveness of her spell, but hurting me was never her intent. Instead, Alice focused on forcing me off balance, making it easier for her sword to connect.

“Shield!”

“Sword Burst!”

We used more mana than usual, trying to overpower the other, but knowing I was likely to get hit, I took a dive. Her attack missed despite penetrating the barrier, which made falling prone a good tradeoff, even if it was a far cry from where I wanted to be.

“Blink.” I teleported away but was already prepared to roll out of the way, expecting her to follow.

“Earth’s Grasp.”

I was so absorbed by the rising roots attempting to restrain me that I couldn’t even see what Alice was doing anymore. Luckily I encountered her spell before when Aymon used it against us, so I was able to utilize Stride to its maximum efficiency, rolling backward and dodging thanks to Mana Sense. Her attack was comparable to the time I fought the monster in the garden.

While looking at the ground, catching my breath as continuous casting tired me out, Alice suddenly appeared within Mana Sense’s ten-meter range, ready to attack again. I was certain Alice’s willpower alone controlled the pacing of our duel, knowing there was no way she wasn’t breaking a sweat under such intensity.

I couldn’t help but wonder if Alice wanted to win more than me, but I still had tricks up my sleeve as well.

Swirling my finger across the ground while infusing mana, violet-glowing arcane runes appeared on the ground right as she was going to reach me. “Darkness!”

Everything within a five-meter radius of the runes was engulfed by a magical sphere of darkness, preventing any form of light from passing, rendering Alice completely blind. It was possible to cast Darkness from a distance, but I wasn’t good enough to do it yet. However, it was still the perfect spell for me since I could sense her using Mana Sense.

She was lost, caught off guard by my trick, a perfect moment for me to strike.

Without hesitation, I pushed myself up and swung toward her.

“Shield!” Alice blocked my attack despite being blind. I must’ve made too much noise, but the timing was still down to luck. Had I known Sword Burst, the victory would’ve been mine. Still, I was confident the next one would connect. “Jump!”

Darkness made it impossible for her to cast Blink to get out of dodge, and reckless moving opened her up for an attack, so she gambled it all on the spell’s range being less than that of Jump.

It wasn’t.

Alice backflipped around three meters, tumbling backward as she couldn’t see the ground to land. She was still within the sphere of darkness, allowing me to attack her freely.

I cast Blink again to close the distance before she tried escaping again, but before I did, I noticed she was preparing to counter with Gust. Knowing she couldn’t see me, she had to guess where I’d appear, and a mistake would’ve meant my victory.

Appearing to her flank, I swung my sword with a slight delay in case she tried pulling off another miraculous Shield, but Alice once again showed her brilliance. Instead of aiming her Gust at me, she blasted herself, causing my attack to miss and her to tumble painfully out of the Darkness.

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Alice began uncontrollably coughing as dust entered her lungs, but she still got up on one knee, holding onto her rapier.

Stunned by her actions, I failed to follow through, and since she was out of range of Mana Sense, I was forced to dismiss Darkness.

Alice stood up again, coughing up the last bit of dirt plaguing her before flourishing her blade for round two. It was impressive she was still standing, having used up likely twice as much mana as me, but she was soon bound to hit her limit.

Even though she had the upper hand the entire fight, I endured and was in better shape than her. Now all I had to do was hit her with Arcane Arrows a few times to drain what little mana she had left to cast Shield.

Knowing she was in trouble, Alice took a deep breath and charged toward me, and while her speed wasn’t as impressive as before, her eyes never lost their ferocity.

“Arcane Arrows.”

Alice surprised me when she dodged again despite knowing only Shield can stop Arcane Arrows from chasing after her, but whatever her reasoning was, I was going to teleport away.

“Silence!” Alice extended her hand toward me as a shimmering barrier formed where I stood, causing all sound to disappear.

I tried casting Blink, but my voice was gone, making me unable to cast spells.

Readying my blade, I knew I still had the upper hand as she hadn’t dealt with the arrows chasing after her. However, my eyes went wide after Alice allowed herself to get hit from behind, causing blood to gush out of her mouth as she nearly fell over on impact.

Believing it was my moment to strike, I took a step forward which turned out to be a fatal mistake. Alice grinned, sending a chill down my spine.

I couldn’t imagine she had enough mana for another close-range Wind Slice, a second circle spell, but as it turned out, that was never her plan. In exchange for getting hit by Arcane Arrows, Alice saved up just enough mana to cast Gust one more time, aiming toward my feet from behind.

Without magic to defend and no sound to identify the spell she cast, I fell backward, hitting the ground quite heavily, causing air to escape my lungs. Soundlessly grunting, I tried pushing myself up, but before I knew it, Alice managed to reach me with her sword stopping at my neck.

Silence dispelled as she likely lost control over it, allowing me to hear how heavy her breathing was while we stared into each other's eyes. No matter how I looked at it, the determination behind her gaze was frightening, as if she was fighting with her life on the line the entire time.

“You win,” I whispered, allowing her to let go of her sword as she collapsed to her knees.

“I did it. . .” she mumbled under her breath. “I–”

She couldn’t even speak anymore. The amount of mana she forced out of her would’ve shattered my core already, and while I thought I had more than her, it appeared I was wrong despite having two cores.

“Dammit.” I started laughing, falling on my back. “And here I thought I finally had you.”

It didn’t matter that I had more mana at the end if her sword sliced my neck before I got to use it. Darkness made a huge difference, giving me a chance to turn the whole duel around, but it wasn’t enough. Still, I was satisfied with my progress.

“You two okay?” Elwyn asked with a low voice. “To think two second circle mages could fight like that. . .”

“No other mages were trained by you, Master. It’s to be expected, is it not?” I pointed out, lifting my head off the ground only as far as I needed to look at Alice. “You okay?”

Her hair prevented me from seeing her face, but she was still gasping for air.

“Alice?” Elwyn called out her name.

“I– I’m fine,” she claimed, pushing herself up in such a way that we couldn’t see her. “I’ll. . . be in my room.”

Elwyn and I quietly watched her walk away, each step looking heavier than the other.

“Is it really okay for us to let her go alone?” I asked.

“Alice. . .” He uttered to himself, letting out a sigh, never answering my question.

----------------------------------------

Walking up to her bedroom, I thought about my conversation with Elwyn. He complimented my progress and the fight itself despite Alice winning. I asked him about the mana difference, and he explained that no two mages were the same. Elves naturally had more mana than humans, so it wasn’t unsurprising that Alice, an extremely gifted elf, had so much.

Funnily enough, Elwyn admitted that he had very little mana when compared to other ninth-circle mages, while his wife had more by the time she reached the seventh circle. The Royal Family of Thysa wasn’t to be messed with, each one of them a monster in their own right.

Taking a deep breath, not knowing what to expect, I knocked on Alice’s door and waited. When she didn’t respond, I knocked again, but nothing changed.

“Alice, you asleep?” I raised my voice, looking around to see if I was alone before doing something potentially dumb. “Alice!”

Worried she might’ve collapsed on the floor, I had no choice but to open the door and walk into her room. Considering how she always stormed into my room, it was only fair. However, when I opened the door and looked inside, she was nowhere to be found.

“Alice?” I asked as if she was mystically going to appear out of nowhere.

The thought of something happening to her on the way worried me, but I passed along the route she’d taken to her room. My only other idea was that she went somewhere else, and only one place made sense to me.

Walking into her mother’s garden, I saw Alice slouched next to the fountain.

“There you are. . .” I said, taking a seat next to her.

Alice’s eyes looked teary while exhausted and barely able to keep them open.

“You went into my room, didn’t you?” Alice whispered, still trying to catch her breath.

“Guilty.” I chuckled, looking at her worriedly. “You okay?”

“No.” She straight-up admitted it.

“Talk to me. Is it because I’m leaving?” I asked, reaching for her cheek and wiping away an escaped tear. “If so, just know I am too, but we’ll see each other again soon.”

“Promise?” She whispered, looking at me finally.

“What? Of course I do,” I reassured her, in utter disbelief that she was doubtful.

“Say it.”

“Say what?”

“That you promise. . .”

“Huh?” I mumbled, but her pleading eyes had me beat. “Fine, fine. . . I promise.”

“Promise what?”

“You. . .” I growled jokingly. “I promise we’ll see each other again, and if it comes to it, I’ll break you out of here to take you on an unforgettable adventure. There. How does that sound?”

“Eh. . . Okay, I guess.”

“Okay?!” I looked at her as we both started laughing innocently a second later.

Moments passed as we sat in the garden alone without saying a word. There were so many things I wanted to ask but were just difficult to bring up. However, one question plagued me more than any other.

“Alice. . .”

“Hmm?”

“What the heck was that duel?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for one, I think I stopped breathing halfway through. . .”

“How else am I supposed to win? You recover mana during the duel and have two cores. You also knew all of my spells apart from one and are physically stronger than me.”

“Okay, I get that, but. . . why did you look so determined to win? God, I thought I wanted it desperately, but you. . . There was no matching that energy.”

“What can I say? I didn’t want to disappoint,” Alice mumbled, but it felt like she wasn’t being truthful.

“Just tell me. . .” I demanded, even though I considered not pushing any further. Alice became quiet, averting her gaze again. “Alice. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

“It’s–” She stopped herself.

“Alice.” I reached for her hand, making her look back at me. “Please? I know something’s wrong, and I don’t want you hurting.”

“It’s silly. . .” she mumbled.

“Doesn’t matter,” I reassured her.

“Promise you won’t laugh?” She barely managed to look me in the eyes while asking.

“I promise.”

Alice looked at me and sighed, knowing I wasn’t going to back off.

“I. . .” she paused again, taking a deep breath. “I thought you wouldn’t train with me anymore if you beat me in a duel–”

I messed up. I snorted.

“Sorry. . .” I smiled.

“You promised you wouldn’t laugh. . .” She averted her gaze.

“I choked on something!” I defended myself.

“Now you’re lying to me too. . . Great.” She looked away again, feeling foolish.

“Hey, hey. . .” I held her hand firmly. “I’m sorry. It’s just that– Why would you think that?”

"Let's face it. Once you're strong enough to beat me, I'll never catch up again. What's the point of training with me if that happens?"

“Before I even begin ripping into what you just said, let me ask you this. Why do you train with me if you win all the time?”

“Because. . . You know. I enjoy spending time with you, and it’s super fun,” Alice mumbled meekly, pulling her knees to her chest.

“And you think I don’t?” I furrowed my brows, letting out a sigh as I noticed her shrugging her shoulders. “I’m not sure where this silly idea came from that winning one duel makes me stronger, let alone the belief that if I surpassed you at any point, you’d never catch up. Without you, I’d still be sitting in that room trying to figure out how to strengthen these damn things in me. Also, what happened to that goal of being the youngest ninth-circle mage? Don’t tell me you gave up?”

“I still want to do it,” she raised her voice slightly. “It’s just. . .”

“Hmm?”

“It’s been years since I’ve awakened my core, and yet you’re right behind me, ready to surpass me at any moment. I can't even blink, let alone take a break for a day. . ." she explained, wishing to lower her head before realizing something. Panicked, she looked back at me. “Please don’t misunderstand! It’s not that I don’t want you to get stronger or be better than me–”

“Calm down.” I chuckled, caressing the back of her hand with my thumb. “Breathe. . .”

“I–”

“I know what you wanted to say,” I reassured her. “Just relax.”

“Sorry. . .” she dropped her gaze. “God, my mind’s a mess. . .”

“Puberty, huh?” I joked, getting a chuckle out of her. “Alice, listen. . . The only reason I’ve done so well until now was thanks to your father’s help and well. . . you, obviously.”

“I don’t want you to get bored and leave me behind. . .”

Until now, I believed that what Aymon did to her and her group of friends damaged only Alice’s confidence when meeting new people, but I never imagined she had developed a fear of abandonment. Knowing that made leaving that much harder, but staying wasn’t an option anymore, and I certainly couldn’t take her with me.

“Remember how I first took you by surprise when we started dueling? When you held back and used only as much mana as I had?”

“Yeah?”

“Would you say you learned something from that?”

“How to deal with your nasty tricks. . .”

“See? Even if I become stronger, don’t you think we’d still have so much to learn from each other? Besides, your swordplay dwarfs mine, and had you used Silence on from the start, I wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“Maybe. . .”

“You worry too much,” I whispered, pulling her hand to my mouth before planting a gentle kiss, going along with how we messed around before. "Besides. . . How could I leave you behind, Princess?"

Alice managed to hold back her tears as we gazed into each other's eyes, pulling me in for a hug.

"I'll be counting on you, Sir Hero," she finally cracked a joke, holding me tightly.

“Does that mean we can go wash up and then spend the day together like we planned? I wanted to get some sweets down at the shop.”

She smiled, whispering, “I’d love that.”

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.