This was what fights against those of the seminary looked like, not whatever bumbling mess he was displaying. A touch of shame held him. How was he struggling so much against a silver mage? He’d fought silver beasts before.

Not alone, his mind reminded him.

It was true. But even then he’d been better than this. He remembered the Nooman he’d fought during his pastoral year. While his Iron authority teammates had been dying at its hands, he’d been scoring hits after hits, peppering it with enough force to draw its attention. His fight against the lady fighting against the pain of Forlorn’s skill was pathetic when compared to it.

That’s cause you’re not using the twin blades, another mind told him.

As true as he wanted it to be, he knew why he wasn’t using them. They were heavy. Against a silver mage they would do nothing but weigh him down.

You haven’t used any skill, too, another mind thought.

He frowned at that, surprised to find it true. Why hadn’t he used any skill?

The answer came to him as quickly as the question: He was scared it would make no difference. What would happen if he used a skill and it made no impact? What would happen if she caught a blow from [Quick Strike] without even a small cut? What would he do then?

Then you’ll use [Echo Draw].

“And what if she breaks that?” he asked, mind wandering to a phantom grip around his neck and a broken domain.

For fuck’s sake! she’s not a Baron, his mind scolded him. She’s just a silver.

Use [Heart of Winter], another thought gently. We aren’t ready for [Fractured Mind] yet, but [Heart of Winter] should help. Use it now.

Seth frowned at the thought. Why hadn't he thought of it? If he was fighting a silver and needed to be smart, it was the perfect skill. [Fractured Mind] might sharpen his senses, but [Heart of Winter] did wonders to his brain. It made him more logical, less worried. It made him…

…Cold.

That settled it. Cold was better than dead. He’d made his decision and was just in time because the lady was back on her feet and holding her spear in both hands. Gangrene was spreading from her shoulder and it weakened her. Her grip wasn’t as powerful as it was supposed to be but seemed to suffice.

Seth took in a deep breath and activated [Heart of Winter].

The skill suffused him and he lost more reia. The loss didn’t bother him.

He watched the lady through his senses as she stood in front of him and looked around, turning his head from one side to the other. There was a lazy calmness to the action. Anyone would’ve thought him the superior one in this fight.

In his senses, he noticed the woman’s scowl and disregarded it.

Off to the side, Forlorn had brought death to one of his opponents and was battling with the other. Timi fought off his own opponents, showing mild signs of struggling with the task. He struggled against one but beat down on the other each time they rushed in. Barnabas was still a mess of a fighter, hacking away with his sword as though it was a meat cleaver.

Fin was bringing down his broadsword on a mage who was defending with panic in his eyes while his partner kept trying to flee and Jason scored countless blows on his opponent. He continued to watch the events around him surprised that the lady he fought did nothing to attack him. To his senses she almost felt worried. Bothered by something. Perhaps it was his disregard of her.

She was not his focus so he gave it little thought.

“How are they?” he asked his minds as Timi crushed the head of his weaker opponent with the flat of his greatsword, swinging it down on the man with one hand.

The Vambrant is observing now, it answered.

His brow furrowed in thought. There was a touch of apathy in the thought. It was cold and precise where he knew it to come with at least a sense of a personality. Did the skill affect his thoughts too?

It was a line of reasoning he cast aside as useless. There was no doubt one day its answer would be important, but that day wasn’t today. Today, he studied other things.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

While Triton was more than capable of defeating his opponents. Forlorn seemed to only have killed one of his because that one was weak. Judging by how the other continued to survive, he was at least strong enough to retreat once the time called for it.

The sight of Timi struggling told him his brother faced a gold mage. That much challenge was something he could overcome.

Seth stepped to the side walking hand in hand with a sense of preservation where he should’ve been overwhelmed by it. The head of a spear pierced the air in front of him and he ducked and weaved to the side a breath before it turned and slashed at him.

He pivoted on his feet and came up on the other side of his attacker with a frown. [Heart of Winter] made him more calculative but not necessarily smarter. It allowed him to not be guided by his emotions. Such things weren’t necessarily weaknesses but they left a touch of hesitancy. Then again, they also sped up some actions. Fear delayed attack while confidence spurred it.

In this state, such motivations were unnecessary.

Moments ago he would’ve evaded the attack all the same, but there would’ve been a touch of trepidation on his actions. He certainly wouldn’t have evaded it the way he did. It would’ve been something more defensive, more survival based. What he did now was evasion for the sake of it.

Survival was necessary but not a priority. His priority laid elsewhere.

His brothers would not be able to kill off all their enemies, and Triton didn’t seem inclined to do so either. The reason for the latter was beyond his reasoning ability. It was also not a priority. His priority continued to lie elsewhere.

It laid in his quest.

“What’s wrong with you?” the woman asked, and he turned to her with a gentle tilt of his head.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “All you need to know is that I can’t win against you. At least, not without my convergent skill. And I don’t even care to. I have other goals.”

“A silver priest unwilling to fight because he’s weaker,” she laughed.

Seth cocked a quizzical brow. “Silver?” he sheathed one of his sword and held the other before him in both hands. “You honestly believe you face a silver? Am I that strong?”

He knew she didn’t know his authority. But to fight him for this long and still call him silver with such confidence said a lot. Nevertheless, he wasn’t certain if it was her overestimating herself just to feel stronger or overestimating him simply because he wore a cassock.

Was it that hard to believe an Iron could wear a cassock? What would her expression be if he told her he was Iron?

Perhaps it would be amusing.

He opened his mouth to do just that and closed it. Squashing the urge was as easy as breathing. It seemed [Heart of Winter] didn’t take away all the unnecessary thoughts. But it did give him the sense to be aware of them.

“How about you let me go?” he asked her.

She barked a derisory laugh. “Let you go? Look around you, little priest. We didn’t simply stumble upon you. We came to—”

[Quick Step] carried him away from her in the blink of an eye. In the fraction of a second he was ten steps away from the boulder that separated them from the volgars and the Vambrant.

Are you sure? One of his minds asked, as if simply by obligation, as he ran towards one of the boulders.

“Is she chasing after me?” he asked, counting his steps and measuring his speed.

Yes.

“Then you have your answer.”

When he got to the boulders, she was hot on his tail. He slid to a solid stop and turned to her, hand on his hilt. His halt left a distance between them, but she was closing in fast.

“How much reia do I have left?” he asked his mind.

Enough, one of them answered.

He could’ve looked at it but his mastery wasn’t that good. He still needed a touch of focus to guage his reia levels accurately.

As the lady closed in on him he activated [Quick Strike].

His sword came free in a blur of motion. A clang filled the air as it struck her spear and returned to its sheath. He’d expected a bit more but couldn’t say he was surprised she’d blocked it. At one point in time he had feared this happening. Now, it barely fazed him. Instead, he reached behind him and activated the skill again.

The speed of the skill was slower than the previous as his twin blade sang free from behind him to score a blow against one of the boulders. The he fell to the side as the blade returned to its sheath. Falling straight, his opponent’s spear whizzed past him and struck the boulder as well.

Seth frowned as he hit the ground and rolled away. She’d pulled her strength back when she’d missed. If she was determined to do that then his plan would take forever to execute. What he needed was the full force of her attack.

She frowned and activated another skill.

[Wind Missile].

The name rang true in his mind and he stepped aside in one long stride and the air exploded where he’d stood.

She darted forward, spear raised and he stepped away from the attack. Rather than bring down the spear, she activated another skill.

[Wind’s Embrace].

He activated [Quick Step] almost immediately. She’d baited him into an evasion so she could entrap him with the skill. It was a reasonable ploy but every activation had a delay, no matter how small. In all skills it existed between the beginning of its name and the end. [Quick Step] had a faster name, and even for an Iron he knew it activated faster than most skills of his authority.

This time, he didn’t flee with it. Instead, its activation carried him into her and he rammed her with his shoulder. The force of him staggered her back, disappointing him. The pain of something broken in his shoulder disappointed him more as his reia flowed to heal it.

He’d hoped for enough force to at least throw her against one of the boulders. He doubted she would break it, but he’d hoped the force of her impact against it would draw the attention of those behind it. It was all he’d been going for.

Once again, his minds asked, Are you sure?

Again, he answered, “Yes.”

He was going to let the beasts and their rider loose on them. There was something more he needed to learn of the beasts. He knew it. And he couldn’t learn it if he didn’t see them attack.

They were souled and he needed to see what skills they possessed. Only then would he believe he had learnt them.

And what better way was there to see it than to watch it fight.

Would his brothers survive? Perhaps. Would he? Certainly. And his survival was all that mattered.

What of Timi? A mind asked.

His answer was without hesitation.

“What about him?”