Piper and Levi went to a small bakery and bought some items for a picnic. This was the first time the two of them were able to have some alone time. Levi wasn’t sure how this would be, knowing that he had six familiars roaming around his soul. Not trying to think about that in too much detail he pushed that thought aside.
“You know,” Piper said. “You’re pretty charismatic when you have confidence.”
Levi gave a nervous chuckle, “Thanks.”
“Why is your confidence so low?”
“Piper,” Levi said. “Look at me,” he gestured over himself. “I’m tall and lengthy, well now I have muscle but that’s new. My voice is not the most attractive, I’m a total nerd, I didn’t take care of my body too much, but I ate well. Not a lot of women were lining up for me.”
“Nothing you told me was about who you are. Just physical things,” Piper said.
“Hmm,” Levi mused.
“Did no one try to talk to you despite your physical attributes?”
“A couple of people, but we had fundamental differences in what we believed.”
“And what was that?”
“One of them didn’t want kids and I really did, I wanted to be the father to others like my dad was to me,” Levi said sadly.
“You say that in the past tense. Do you not want kids?”
“Right now, I want to figure out how I got here first,” Levi chuckled.
“That’s not an answer Levi,” Piper said folding her arms.
“You’re very persistent you know that?”
“I do. Its apart of my charm.”
“I guess, I still do, raising them in this world will be much different.”
The couple had found a seat under a tree overlooking the sunset and the river. They set out their food and continued their conversation.
“In what ways?” Piper asked. “By all accounts you have mentioned that your world is dangerous and unpredictable. That doesn’t sound much different than here.”
“It is and you’re right. Here, no matter who I have kids with trying to magic them up and depending on who I am with, let’s say you…” Levi gave an awkward look at Piper who’s perpetual genuine smile showed no shift. “Then there is a matter of etiquette that I have never learned in some aspects our kids,” he said slowly again. “Would be better suited than me.”
“That is a fair point,” Piper said, still providing no reaction to his hypothetical scenario. “Is there anything here that you wouldn’t have to teach that you would on your old world?”
“Absolutely,” Levi said. “I’m black which means all my kids would have some black in them. That would have been a lot of teaching and guiding, a lifetimes worth.”
“What does your skin color have to do with anything? You are all human.”
“That’s the question, it's not always bad. But there are moments where it is harder. I won’t discount that. That is not something I’d have to really worry about here. But if I’m being honest, I’d rather form my own legacy outside of your family, if we do get to that point.”
“I’m not sure we’ll have much of a say when we do,” Piper added. Levi noticed her word choice and smiled.
“I guess if it’s when we’re still 3-star, but I plan to reach 5-star,” Levi said.
“You know that most 5-stars operate alone, right?” Piper asked.
“I do,” Levi nodded.
“So, you think that you, me, and Anna will all reach 5-star together? Why?”
“Remember when we were first talking, and I asked why me?”
“Yes.”
“What was your response?”
“Why not?”
“There you go. Why not us? What’s stopping us from being the first or rare 5-star team?”
“That could take centuries,” Piper said.
“We’ll live to be centuries then and, in the meantime, form our own legacy.”
“You have ambitious dreams Levi Winters, what happen to the awkward guy who didn’t believe in himself?” Piper teased.
“Oh, I’m still here, but I am trying this new thing. It’s called striving for a goal. Ever heard of it?” Levi said, smirking.
“No, never,” Piper said sarcastically. “It definitely suits you more than brooding and having no goals. It’s quite attractive. Is it crazy that we are talking about kids, and legacy and we met what five months ago?”
“Only if it scares you. I have goals and I’d be a fool if I let you out of my life. Last time I checked I ain’t no fool,” Levi said, giving her a soft kiss.
“I don’t plan on letting you go either,” Piper said.
“Now as long as I can survive your dad and Anna’s dad, we’re good!” Levi cheered.
“Only a 3-star and 4-star in your way!” Piper exclaimed. “Look out world,” the two shared a long laugh. Levi looked at Piper as she was laughing. The world slowed to a halt; he had not been this happy in a long time. If he had to be honest with himself even before his dad’s untimely death, he truly wasn’t that happy. Not now that he had experienced a different level of happiness; nothing in his old world had even compared. Levi wondered if it was only because of love he felt this way.
There could be an argument that that was the case. However, an argument could be made that this was one of many factors that could have led to his emotional state. Levi chose to believe it was not only out of love but also fun and aspirations. He couldn’t remember setting a goal for himself that was longer than what to eat that day. He took a deep breath, watching the sunset as Piper lay in his arms.
A pillar of fire erupted toward Levi; Willow and Crystal were able to siphon off the majority of the fire. Only little embers reached Levi, which he could easily handle. He moved out of the way as two spears of ice landed next to him. Levi looked up and swore. He was covered in blood and sweat and had been on the back foot this entire fight.
“Serenity and Dameion, mask my aura,” he commanded. “Vapor smoke cloud over this area, Anza take a few embers and knock out that stupid golem.” His familiars did as instructed. Anza led several drones across the battlefield. They had ice columns that were once ice spears from the golem to act as protection. “Willow and Crystal go with them.”
Levi’s aura was now nearly impossible to sense. That would be if he was only fighting someone of his rank or lower. His opponent was not. Thinking he got away another ice spear made his way directly to his new hiding location. Serenity defused and blasted fire to melt the ice spear. She refused to provide extra aura cover.
Anza and team Ember arrived at the massive ice golem. It could conjure spears of ice and was standing 4 meters tall. It wielded a shield of spikey ice. It looked down at the little pests at its feet. Lifting its leg, it went to attack as it’s leg came crashing down to the earth tentacles pulled its other leg. The golem lost its balance and fell right on its back. As it lay on the ground, mouth aghast from the impact, two wisps entered its maw. The wisps started spreading their fire inside the golem. Normal fire would not spread on ice, it would need something burnable. The golem was completely made of ice; it had no organs or skin to catch fire. This was not normal fire; this was crystal wisp fire which could and did destroy everything in its path.
Anza got on top of the fallen golem and started clawing its torso to destroy it from the outside as well as the inside. Team Ember did the same. Shortly, the ice golem looked like it was covered in ants and glowing from the inside. The fire inside was spreading, and rather than melt, it would burn like it had caught fire to the skin. The yellow orbs inside the golem’s eyes flickered and went dim. They had defeated the ice golem.
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Unfortunately, that was not the only golem. There was a fire golem also baring down. The fire golem was a giant creature the same size as the other golem that was not made of fire. It was a coal golem that would catch itself on fire and use mana to maintain the fire around its body. Levi relayed a message to the party that had just taken down the ice golem to turn its attention to the fire golem. Anza and team Ember would be ineffective as the extreme heat would likely melt their metallic exterior. The Crystal Wisps could try to siphon off the excess flames where Anza could do any type of damage.
Levi had already commanded Dameion to siphon the mana of the fire golem. Three mini black holes were taking away the mana from the golem while a swarm of wisps took away its fire. The golem swung its hands to see if it could catch its assailants. That was ineffective. Soon the golem’s coal body was exposed, and Anza and Team Ember pounced. Shortly after the battle had ended as the final golem fell as its body was ravaged by the mimics.
“Well done,” Professor Egret's voice came through the smoke. Levi walked over to her from across the battlefield. “I recognize that you just met Serenity, but you must use her in a more effective way. Along with Vapor, the three of you need to discuss different strategies in which you will be effective. No surprise your connection with Anza was formidable. That was a brilliant way to utilize the fire swarm ability of your wisps. Siphoning the fire is very clever. I believe Dameion was used adequately if not fully used but he is also new. All in all, I am not surprised but satisfied with your combat skill.”
“Thank you, professor,” Levi responded.
“Tomorrow, you will partake in another round of sparring, but it will be a focus on your utility familiars. You are allowed to use spells and attack with weapons. Your familiars are not allowed to attack.”
“Oh boy,” Levi said. The rules for this battle were simple: he could not use his own magic spells, nor could he attack with a weapon. All damage had to come from his familiars. At first Levi thought that his would be easier because he felt like his familiars always did the attacking. He was wrong; this was a lot harder than the barbarians. The fact that he couldn’t interact meant that he couldn’t get close to the enemies because he was not allowed to use any of his spells. They would surely have killed him.
“I would wish you good luck, but I wish it upon myself.” Egret said with a smile. “See you tomorrow, Mr. Winters.”
Levi went back to his room and took a shower. He flopped onto his bed and sprawled out, exhausted. Even though he hadn’t used any direct spells, running, dodging, and avoiding attacks was hard work. He sat up to look at Serenity sitting in the corner with her eyes closed.
“What do you think?” Levi said, not out loud through dragon speak.
“How about you, myself, Vapor, and Dameion describe what abilities we have and how they can be useful?”
“Sure, everyone,” Levi said. He walked out into the main common area in his suite and began strategizing with his familiar. “Vapor, I know I am under using you. What else can you do?”
“I can become a small cloud that you can ride. I can set up clones of myself, and any that get destroyed create a small mushroom cloud of scalding steam. I can raise the temperature of moisture in the air. I believe each of those would be useful in the coming battles.” Vapor explained.
“Nice,” Levi said. “Serenity.”
“I can breathe fire, as you saw. I can also use aura against enemies; it cannot kill them, but it can be used to intimidate them.”
“How does that work?”
“Do you know how when someone or something makes you feel uneasy?”
“Sure,” Levi responded.
“That feeling could be related to a lot of things: their demeanor, their power, the type of clothing or weapons they possess. You see that, and you get a sense. To those who are not magic user, they call it instincts or their gut feeling. To us, we call it aura. If properly trained that aura can be utilized to illicit whatever feeling you want.”
“Oh, so basically, it’s a projection of our feelings?”
“That is quite the undersell, but yes,” Serenity said. “Dragons have a natural ability to use our auras as weapons. Especially being that I am an aura dragon. My aura powers are much stronger than most. I will teach you eventually. For the purpose of the sparring session tomorrow I believe we can use this to our advantage.”
“I think so too,” Levi said. “What about you Dameion?”
Dameion floated up to Levi and then stopped right in front of its face. Although he couldn’t directly communicate with the void avatar, he could understand inherently what was being said. Dameion had the ability to transfer mana from one object to another. It was also capable of hiding the aura of anything it wanted to. One thing that Levi didn’t know that Dameion could do was absorb any magical attacks that hit itself or the orbs. Levi thought that was a bit of a cheat code but elected not to say anything.
“How do you get damaged?” Levi finally gave in.
“Intangible creatures like me and Dameion,” Vapor said. “Can get damaged with a specific form of magic: Definite Course. There are many spells and most good spell casters will have some sort of Definite Course spells in their repertoire.”
“I see,” Levi said.
“It is relatively weak to normal shields and harmless to physical beings... It is really only used as a counter to intangible or incorporeal beings or shields.”
“I might need learn some of those spells,” Levi said.
“No,” Serenity said. “I am able to produce such attacks.”
“Still might be good in case y’all are occupied, I’ll look into it in a couple days,” Levi shrugged.
Levi and his familiars all walked into the battle training ground. Unlike yesterday, there were members in the audience. Anna, Tycen, Declan, Piper, and Professor Bertrum were all in the audience watching this battle. Professor Egret had told Bertrum about how her last fight with Levi went and that she was pleasantly surprised at the tactics. She was worried that he relied too much on his familiars, and that would get him killed if they were unable to be used.
The bell rang, and the battle had begun. Professor Egret summoned ten air elementals, five water elementals, and one creature that Levi had never seen before. Vapor created a wide array of steam to mask the sight of Levi. Serenity used her aura masking technique on him, and he was effectively hidden from the monsters.
“Whoa,” Piper said. “I can’t even sense Levi anymore.” This was the case for all the 3-star guild members. Professor Bertrum, however, could sense Levi and was impressed by the ability to retract and contain the aura that Levi had displayed. Professor Egret was equally impressed, but her summoned creature was not. It was a humanoid lion woman with a large staff. She had the body of a lion with the features of a woman. She also had six wings attached to her back. It summoned several orbs that looked like floating eyes. The eyes started to glow pale tan as they searched the premises for Levi.
“Levi,” Serenity said. “That is a Lion Sage, they have excellent perception abilities. We will not be able to hide your presence.”
“That’s fine,” Levi said. “Dameion, go take drain some mana. It’s time to make my move.” With a deep breath he created seven orbs of chaos. He sent them each to attack their floating spy eyes. Each of the attacks landed and destroyed the eyes. Then Levi was bitten by an alligator made of water; if it wasn’t for Anza, the bite would have gone straight through his leg. The bite stopped short just above the bone where Anza had placed skeletal protection.
Levi attacked the elemental with a lightning attack, and the water elemental exploded into nothingness. Vapor created a small cloud of smoke that he could control and ride. They spent a few hours last night working on the awkwardness of flying on a cloud with no handles. The Lion Sage was taller than Levi but only by a head or two. Levi conjured more orbs of chaos and sent them flying at the creature. Just as he did, several air elementals came swarming down on him.
Swatting the pesty elementals away, he raised his arms and used a new spell that he had gotten from Dameion.
Spell: Void Storm
Summon several orbs of the void from familiar Dameion. These voids will swirl around and create an astrological storm.
Eight orbs that were very similar to Dameion’s, smaller black holes formed and orbited around Levi. They flew above his head and began spinning rapidly. As they were spinning there was a fissure forming inside the circle of orbs. The fissure looked like northern lights inside. The northern lights started shooting beams down at the Lion Sage. The image of the northern lights was beautiful, the Lion Sage was not distracted, completely. It was struck by a couple of the beams of light that did some damage.
It conjured a bubble shield around itself and began chanting a spell in a language that made no sense to Levi’s brain. It was a mixture of ancient words, lion’s roar, and clicking. A ball of Definite Force began forming, it was swirling gray. She sent the ball into the Void Storm. The ball impacted and created a bright flash.
Levi was prepared for this as they had discussed the effect that would happen if the storm was destroyed. The wisps had shielded his eyes from bright fiery explosions. Flying up to the face of the Lion Sage, he swung his staff and struck it in the face. The attack was backed with chaos. Her head snapped backward quickly. She fell to the ground unconscious and unable to fight anymore.
Levi conjured orbs of lightning and sent them after the remaining elementals. In short order, all enemies were either dead or incapacitated. Levi had won in an amazing fashion. Piper looked on with amazement at her boyfriend. She knew Levi could fight but this was different, this was synergy with his familiars to a much higher level. Piper knew that Levi really valued her relationship and his friendship with them, otherwise he would be able to do this fighting thing on his own and be great at it.
“That was quite impressive,” Declan said. “Thank you, Anna, for inviting me to watch.” He leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. Tycen shot a look of anger but remained calm.
“It was,” Anna said. “I have never seen a spell like that.”
“I assume he got it from Dameion,” Tycen said. “That was a void storm that he just used.”
“Have you seen anything like that before?” Anna asked.
“Only in textbooks,” he responded. “That was beautiful to watch in person.” Piper looked at the professor, who was sitting very stoically. He hadn’t reacted much during the entire fight. He was looking at Levi with assessing eyes. She wondered what he was thinking. Was he impressed, was he not? Did Levi do something wrong? She had no idea, but she was concerned.
“What do you think professor,” Piper asked in her best innocent voice.
“Your aura control is good, Lady Vendular, but not great.” He responded. “Levi did well, he will need to improve his efficiency with the staff as a weapon, but he did an adequate job with it. I am impressed with his ability to cast spells without the need to chant anything, that is a good ability and will survive him well in the future. I am proud of him. It is time to make my sparring session more difficult, he can handle it.” Professor Bertrum stood up, “It was great to see you again, Lady Vendular, and thank you for asking my opinion.”