As the hunt was ramping up, announcements appeared one after another of groups who were defeated and ejected, dwindling down their numbers at a rapid pace. It was hard to tell if they fought each other or the Headmaster, but so far, only the different groups of Misfits managed to obtain the Eggs.
At the western side of the forest, a loud explosion disturbed the peace and silence, producing a multiple meters high mushroom cloud, glowing in a dark, blackish light, filled with unnatural, night-like fire. It did not take long for a second explosion to follow it, stirring up a tornado-like column of dirt, broken branches, and leaves, followed by the crackling of lightning. It was the result of a battle between Lucian and the Misfits of Fire, now led by Keily.
The moment they ran into Lucian's clone, Lia and Simbad broke off, heading a different way, leaving it to the surprised group. Yet this time, it was Lucian who was surprised. He was totally locked into place, prevented from moving a muscle, and had to keep up a defensive bubble around himself as the students acted like a well-oiled machine. It was clear from the start they were not about to engage in any kind of close-quarter battles or traditional fights.
Keily ordered them into formation, swallowed a fire seed, and started the initial bombardment from dozens of meters away, casting artillery-like fire spells one after another. When he spent more than half of his mana, he was switched out, another misfit standing in his place, continuing the barrage with his or her own element. They were constantly rotating, blasting the Headmaster with a multitude of elements that many times interacted with each other, resulting in secondary and tertiary explosions.
"Keep it up!" Keily shouted after gulping down a mana potion, waiting to step back in, "Don't let him move; if needed, obliterate the whole forest!"
"I… did not expect this," Lucian murmured, standing behind a wall of mana, his hands stretched out, watching them attack him over and over. For him, the exploding sounds were muffled, like coming from a faraway land. Their violent and flashing lights were reflected in his red eyes every time they went off, drawing a proud smile onto his face. "But this is a welcomed surprise! Let me see how long they can keep it up!" He refocused his efforts, withstanding the student's attacks, determined to see their limits. Without the wealth that they accumulated, that limit would have come already. Before the Egg Hunt, every leader spent almost all of their CPs and bought their subordinates a tremendous amount of potions, fire seeds, and anything that would ensure they would be successful. Lia decided that she would literally go broke to achieve her goal.
While Keily's battle of attrition was going on, at the completely opposite part of the forest, Koadriana and her group were facing a different obstacle. They came across a weird tower that was surrounded by different, ever-changing formations of all kinds of elements. They were going through them one by one, decoding or brute-forcing their way in as at the top of the tower, Lucian's clone was sitting in a lotus position, meditating. Their battle was relatively silent, yet maybe the hardest as it was a battle of wit and knowledge that may be one of the weakest points of Koadriana. Or so would her grandfather say.
"Good." She stretched, wiping the sweat off her face, dispersing another formation, and letting them ascend to the next floor. "Keep your eyes peeled, recover your mana, and let us go! We need to sweep this competition and gather the rest of the Eggs!" Just as she said, another announcement arrived that the Misfits of Metal obtained another egg alongside two other groups, clearly working together. "Damn it, we don't hurry; we will be the last ones!" Koa laughed, not wanting to fall behind, taking two steps at a time.
…
….
……
"Finally!" Lia exclaimed, skidding to a halt while Simbad did the same behind her. They were in a perfectly circular clearing of the forest, facing Lucian, who was standing in the opposite direction with hands behind his back.
"Took you long enough, Silly Girl." He answered with a smile, his white, fluffy fox tail sweeping the leaves away behind him.
"Hey!" Lia opened her mouth but could not say more as a terrible feeling rushed through her.
The next moment, their surroundings changed, replaced by the imagery of No-Space, without the soul-sucking feelings that it usually accompanied with. That told Lia they were not really transported deep into it.
"Don't step out of the edge of the circle," Lucian warned them, watching them without blinking his eyes. "If you do, you will experience the soul-tearing effect of No-Space instantly. If you are not prepared, you will… well… die."
"You wouldn't endanger us like that, Silly Fox!" Lia answered, her hands burning in blue fire, deciding to go out straight from the start.
"None of you are normal students. So…" He replied, raising a hand, and from the top of his fingers, red lightning burst forward in a wide arc, aiming at the two.
Simbad reacted quickly and mimicked Lucian the same way; instead of electricity, the light came out from his fingers in the same arc, canceling the Headmaster's attack perfectly.
"You are one of our best students in the past 30 years." Lucian sighed, watching Simbad, who was also standing readily, while Lia tilted her head between the two.
"You can copy spells?" She asked in the end, and it was Lucian who answered her question.
"Simbad's mind works at a speed I never saw before. He comprehends and analyzes magic in a flash and could reproduce it from his own mana in a fraction of a second."
"Huh!" Lia grinned, impressed, now getting why he always fought the same way as his opponents. "Then how did Olivia beat you?"
"With brute force," Simbad answered calmly, his eyes fixated on Lucian, ready for a sudden attack with every fiber in his body. "She overpowered me on the basis of the strength of our mana."
"Sometimes the simplest methods are the best," Lucian said, already teleporting, a technique that Simbad could not copy, no matter how good he was.
This time, it was Lia who reacted, her elbow going backward, aiming straight at where Lucian's voice was coming from. He caught it with bare hands, surrounded in red electricity that was instantly frozen in mid-air and then broke like a thin web of icicles, sending Lucian skidding backward.
"Incredible…" He thought as even though he was way above their level, Lia's flames still managed to freeze his mana. "Is this the amplified power of mixing different elements? I can't imagine how strong Erias had to be back then…."
As he was thinking about it, he was dodging Simbad's attacks, who was now in the air, spurting angel-like wings, flying high and raining down arrows made out of light in a rapid volley.
"Be careful of the ceiling~!" Lucian joked while dancingly, avoiding his projectiles.
"Same to you, Silly Fox!" Lia laughed, slamming her hands on the ground, and blue fire spread forward, turning the light arrows, those that were stuck into the ground, into ice sculptures that exploded.
"...!" With another teleport, Lucian was once again at a different spot, looking down at himself. His clothes had some holes in them, and everyone could see a few shiny, crimson-colored droplets of blood landing on the ground.
"Oh…" Not just Lucian was surprised, but Lia and Simbad, too, looking at each other involuntarily. They were not fighting a clone… this was the real Headmaster.
"Very nice…" He whispered, looking up, and he didn't look angry at all.
When his lips closed, finishing his sentence, he was gone. Simbad was already punching to his left, meeting the Headmaster's fist head-on, but he was overwhelmed. Lia heard and saw as Simbad's arm twisted and cracked, breaking from the impact. She was sure that if Lucian had used a little bit more strength, Simbad's arm would have been completely blasted off. When Lucian pulled back his hand, striking out with the other, a whip of blue flames sprung forward, coiling around his ankle. The moment it made contact, the Headmaster's clothes were turning frigid, cracking and breaking apart, while the freezing effect was disturbing the flow of mana under his skin, resulting in a numb sensation all over his body.
"Hmph!" With a snort, Lucian waved his fluffy tail, which was ruffled like a scared cat's, sweeping against Simbad. He was swinging a colossal claymore made out of light straight at Lucian. He was gripping its hilt with both of his hands, unfazed by the pain coming from his broken arm, which he forced to follow his will.
The Headmaster's eyes locked onto the blue 'whip' while blocking Simbad without looking. Overwhelming strength burst out from his body, so much mana that Lia's flames could do nothing against it. The outburst broke apart Lia's spell, resulting in a backlash; while he waved a hand, a shadowy claw grabbed Simbad by his leg and slammed him down into the ground. The resulting bang shook the earth and cracked apart Simbad's wings, and Lucian followed it up with the same oversized, black claw trying to slam down on him.
Lia stepped in without hesitation, two hands raised to the air, forming a shield made out of blue fire resisting the claw while Simbad climbed out of the crater he left behind, gulping down a potion; his broken body was healing at a visible pace. They worked together without uttering a word as he summoned his energy bow again, letting arrows fly while Lia's barrier opened up to let them through. Still, before they could hit Lucian, he simply vanished.
"We can't win with raw force," Simbad said, and Lia agreed without answering.
They attacked again in tandem, but now Lucian easily countered Simbad's attacks and dodged Lia's, constantly teleporting from one place to another. As he was doing it, an idea hit Lia as her mismatched eyes wandered to the scenery of No-Space around them. It was a sudden idea, but somehow, she knew this was what she needed. She already realized that when Lucian teleported, he simply let No-Space swallow his body, then walked around them and entered back Real-Space at a different point. The weirdness of No-Space and the completely unpredictable flow of time in there made it look like the Headmaster was doing it in a blink of an eye.
"I feel him doing it." Lia said suddenly, "I feel him enter and exit No-Space. He made the area like this not to scare us but to make it easy for him to travel between two points… he can walk in No-Space…."
"You have an idea?" Simbad asked after they, once again, exchanged a few moves, and Lucian teleported out from being caught in a pincer-like move of the two.
"I have. Can you force him to teleport?"
"Alone?" He asked, thinking for only a second longer, "Sure."
"Okay," Lia said, already casting a spell as multiple blue and red magic circles appeared around her body. "This is something I just came up with… so be prepared."
Simbad only nodded, rushing in and popping a pill as he did so. He exploded with power, displaying his full strength in a blinding flash. A multicolored beam of light blasted out from his pressed-together palms. He didn't need to aim as it was so broad and violent; it swallowed everything in a wide arc before him. Lia acted just then, the exact moment Lucian entered No-Space to dodge Simbad's attack that split the ground below it.
"...!" The moment Lucian's leg stepped through the 'door,' he felt it. Another strand of consciousness infiltrated his gate, recognizing it as Lia's. His face displayed a happy smile as his body went through it completely, leaving behind the battlefield. "Very good." He said, looking backward. From his perspective, the gate was still there but now looked more bluish than reddish as Lia's fiery mana overrode it, canceling it before he could regain control, trapping him in real No-Space. "Your lessons were not in the way, girl. I am proud!" He laughed, ignoring the violent world around him that was churning as otherworldly winds were hacking at his body, trying to tear his soul out of him. Moving his hand, he reopened another door, stepping back into reality, ending up at a different part of the forest, making him laugh out loud.
"Where is he?" Simbad asked, standing in their 'arena,' surprised the Headmaster was not showing up.
"Dunno!" Lia answered, holding her head, feeling an intense headache growing inside but smiling nonetheless. "I severed his connection, so who knows where he comes back to reality!"
"You could do that?" He asked, surprised, his mouth opening a bit wider.
"It seems like! I told you, it was a sudden idea! But that Silly Fox did teach me about No-Space, hitting my head with those books and all! It seems something did transfer over, teehee!"
"Good to hear!" Lucian's voice appeared again as the imagery of No-Space was gone around them, returning everything to normal. "Don't worry!" He hit Lia's head with the edge of his palm before she could cast another spell. "We are good."
"Owie! Don't! It hurts!" She moaned, squinting with teary eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Here." He flicked a golden egg toward Simbad. "Good job."
"Oooooh! So you give up?" She laughed, blinking out the tears from her eyes. "Owie! Don't hit me! My head hurts! Owie! Stop! Owie! I'll- Owie! Stop- Owie! STOOO- OWIE! YOU ARE HITTING HARD- OWIE! OWIE! NO! OWIE!"
Simbad was unsure what to say and just watched as Lucian, with a placid expression, was hitting the top of Lia's head, knocking on it continuously, no matter what she said or no matter how Lia tried to block his hand.
"Why are we not teleported out?" He asked, trying to stop him from 'abusing' his student.
"Let me enjoy the moment a little," Lucian answered flatly, continuing to knock on Lia's head, who now sounded like a parrot, repeating the same word over and over again.
Corty Hey-ho~ We are getting close to volume 2's end. The last arc that remains is the summer break, visiting House Berison and dealing with Sion's future~ Then we are onto their 3rd year and into some undead studies and artifact creating! Lia's artifact is already fixed in my mind, but I am open to ideas for the rest of the crew if you think you have something interesting~!
Oh, and here are some wallpapers of Lia~ For fun!
Spoiler [collapse]You can find more on our discord, in the official art channel~
Thanks for reading and leaving likes under the chapters; it means a lot!
As the hunt was ramping up, announcements appeared one after another of groups who were defeated and ejected, dwindling down their numbers at a rapid pace. It was hard to tell if they fought each other or the Headmaster, but so far, only the different groups of Misfits managed to obtain the Eggs.
At the western side of the forest, a loud explosion disturbed the peace and silence, producing a multiple meters high mushroom cloud, glowing in a dark, blackish light, filled with unnatural, night-like fire. It did not take long for a second explosion to follow it, stirring up a tornado-like column of dirt, broken branches, and leaves, followed by the crackling of lightning. It was the result of a battle between Lucian and the Misfits of Fire, now led by Keily.
The moment they ran into Lucian's clone, Lia and Simbad broke off, heading a different way, leaving it to the surprised group. Yet this time, it was Lucian who was surprised. He was totally locked into place, prevented from moving a muscle, and had to keep up a defensive bubble around himself as the students acted like a well-oiled machine. It was clear from the start they were not about to engage in any kind of close-quarter battles or traditional fights.
Keily ordered them into formation, swallowed a fire seed, and started the initial bombardment from dozens of meters away, casting artillery-like fire spells one after another. When he spent more than half of his mana, he was switched out, another misfit standing in his place, continuing the barrage with his or her own element. They were constantly rotating, blasting the Headmaster with a multitude of elements that many times interacted with each other, resulting in secondary and tertiary explosions.
"Keep it up!" Keily shouted after gulping down a mana potion, waiting to step back in, "Don't let him move; if needed, obliterate the whole forest!"
"I… did not expect this," Lucian murmured, standing behind a wall of mana, his hands stretched out, watching them attack him over and over. For him, the exploding sounds were muffled, like coming from a faraway land. Their violent and flashing lights were reflected in his red eyes every time they went off, drawing a proud smile onto his face. "But this is a welcomed surprise! Let me see how long they can keep it up!" He refocused his efforts, withstanding the student's attacks, determined to see their limits. Without the wealth that they accumulated, that limit would have come already. Before the Egg Hunt, every leader spent almost all of their CPs and bought their subordinates a tremendous amount of potions, fire seeds, and anything that would ensure they would be successful. Lia decided that she would literally go broke to achieve her goal.
While Keily's battle of attrition was going on, at the completely opposite part of the forest, Koadriana and her group were facing a different obstacle. They came across a weird tower that was surrounded by different, ever-changing formations of all kinds of elements. They were going through them one by one, decoding or brute-forcing their way in as at the top of the tower, Lucian's clone was sitting in a lotus position, meditating. Their battle was relatively silent, yet maybe the hardest as it was a battle of wit and knowledge that may be one of the weakest points of Koadriana. Or so would her grandfather say.
"Good." She stretched, wiping the sweat off her face, dispersing another formation, and letting them ascend to the next floor. "Keep your eyes peeled, recover your mana, and let us go! We need to sweep this competition and gather the rest of the Eggs!" Just as she said, another announcement arrived that the Misfits of Metal obtained another egg alongside two other groups, clearly working together. "Damn it, we don't hurry; we will be the last ones!" Koa laughed, not wanting to fall behind, taking two steps at a time.
…
….
……
"Finally!" Lia exclaimed, skidding to a halt while Simbad did the same behind her. They were in a perfectly circular clearing of the forest, facing Lucian, who was standing in the opposite direction with hands behind his back.
"Took you long enough, Silly Girl." He answered with a smile, his white, fluffy fox tail sweeping the leaves away behind him.
"Hey!" Lia opened her mouth but could not say more as a terrible feeling rushed through her.
The next moment, their surroundings changed, replaced by the imagery of No-Space, without the soul-sucking feelings that it usually accompanied with. That told Lia they were not really transported deep into it.
"Don't step out of the edge of the circle," Lucian warned them, watching them without blinking his eyes. "If you do, you will experience the soul-tearing effect of No-Space instantly. If you are not prepared, you will… well… die."
"You wouldn't endanger us like that, Silly Fox!" Lia answered, her hands burning in blue fire, deciding to go out straight from the start.
"None of you are normal students. So…" He replied, raising a hand, and from the top of his fingers, red lightning burst forward in a wide arc, aiming at the two.
Simbad reacted quickly and mimicked Lucian the same way; instead of electricity, the light came out from his fingers in the same arc, canceling the Headmaster's attack perfectly.
"You are one of our best students in the past 30 years." Lucian sighed, watching Simbad, who was also standing readily, while Lia tilted her head between the two.
"You can copy spells?" She asked in the end, and it was Lucian who answered her question.
"Simbad's mind works at a speed I never saw before. He comprehends and analyzes magic in a flash and could reproduce it from his own mana in a fraction of a second."
"Huh!" Lia grinned, impressed, now getting why he always fought the same way as his opponents. "Then how did Olivia beat you?"
"With brute force," Simbad answered calmly, his eyes fixated on Lucian, ready for a sudden attack with every fiber in his body. "She overpowered me on the basis of the strength of our mana."
"Sometimes the simplest methods are the best," Lucian said, already teleporting, a technique that Simbad could not copy, no matter how good he was.
This time, it was Lia who reacted, her elbow going backward, aiming straight at where Lucian's voice was coming from. He caught it with bare hands, surrounded in red electricity that was instantly frozen in mid-air and then broke like a thin web of icicles, sending Lucian skidding backward.
"Incredible…" He thought as even though he was way above their level, Lia's flames still managed to freeze his mana. "Is this the amplified power of mixing different elements? I can't imagine how strong Erias had to be back then…."
As he was thinking about it, he was dodging Simbad's attacks, who was now in the air, spurting angel-like wings, flying high and raining down arrows made out of light in a rapid volley.
"Be careful of the ceiling~!" Lucian joked while dancingly, avoiding his projectiles.
"Same to you, Silly Fox!" Lia laughed, slamming her hands on the ground, and blue fire spread forward, turning the light arrows, those that were stuck into the ground, into ice sculptures that exploded.
"...!" With another teleport, Lucian was once again at a different spot, looking down at himself. His clothes had some holes in them, and everyone could see a few shiny, crimson-colored droplets of blood landing on the ground.
"Oh…" Not just Lucian was surprised, but Lia and Simbad, too, looking at each other involuntarily. They were not fighting a clone… this was the real Headmaster.
"Very nice…" He whispered, looking up, and he didn't look angry at all.
When his lips closed, finishing his sentence, he was gone. Simbad was already punching to his left, meeting the Headmaster's fist head-on, but he was overwhelmed. Lia heard and saw as Simbad's arm twisted and cracked, breaking from the impact. She was sure that if Lucian had used a little bit more strength, Simbad's arm would have been completely blasted off. When Lucian pulled back his hand, striking out with the other, a whip of blue flames sprung forward, coiling around his ankle. The moment it made contact, the Headmaster's clothes were turning frigid, cracking and breaking apart, while the freezing effect was disturbing the flow of mana under his skin, resulting in a numb sensation all over his body.
"Hmph!" With a snort, Lucian waved his fluffy tail, which was ruffled like a scared cat's, sweeping against Simbad. He was swinging a colossal claymore made out of light straight at Lucian. He was gripping its hilt with both of his hands, unfazed by the pain coming from his broken arm, which he forced to follow his will.
The Headmaster's eyes locked onto the blue 'whip' while blocking Simbad without looking. Overwhelming strength burst out from his body, so much mana that Lia's flames could do nothing against it. The outburst broke apart Lia's spell, resulting in a backlash; while he waved a hand, a shadowy claw grabbed Simbad by his leg and slammed him down into the ground. The resulting bang shook the earth and cracked apart Simbad's wings, and Lucian followed it up with the same oversized, black claw trying to slam down on him.
Lia stepped in without hesitation, two hands raised to the air, forming a shield made out of blue fire resisting the claw while Simbad climbed out of the crater he left behind, gulping down a potion; his broken body was healing at a visible pace. They worked together without uttering a word as he summoned his energy bow again, letting arrows fly while Lia's barrier opened up to let them through. Still, before they could hit Lucian, he simply vanished.
"We can't win with raw force," Simbad said, and Lia agreed without answering.
They attacked again in tandem, but now Lucian easily countered Simbad's attacks and dodged Lia's, constantly teleporting from one place to another. As he was doing it, an idea hit Lia as her mismatched eyes wandered to the scenery of No-Space around them. It was a sudden idea, but somehow, she knew this was what she needed. She already realized that when Lucian teleported, he simply let No-Space swallow his body, then walked around them and entered back Real-Space at a different point. The weirdness of No-Space and the completely unpredictable flow of time in there made it look like the Headmaster was doing it in a blink of an eye.
"I feel him doing it." Lia said suddenly, "I feel him enter and exit No-Space. He made the area like this not to scare us but to make it easy for him to travel between two points… he can walk in No-Space…."
"You have an idea?" Simbad asked after they, once again, exchanged a few moves, and Lucian teleported out from being caught in a pincer-like move of the two.
"I have. Can you force him to teleport?"
"Alone?" He asked, thinking for only a second longer, "Sure."
"Okay," Lia said, already casting a spell as multiple blue and red magic circles appeared around her body. "This is something I just came up with… so be prepared."
Simbad only nodded, rushing in and popping a pill as he did so. He exploded with power, displaying his full strength in a blinding flash. A multicolored beam of light blasted out from his pressed-together palms. He didn't need to aim as it was so broad and violent; it swallowed everything in a wide arc before him. Lia acted just then, the exact moment Lucian entered No-Space to dodge Simbad's attack that split the ground below it.
"...!" The moment Lucian's leg stepped through the 'door,' he felt it. Another strand of consciousness infiltrated his gate, recognizing it as Lia's. His face displayed a happy smile as his body went through it completely, leaving behind the battlefield. "Very good." He said, looking backward. From his perspective, the gate was still there but now looked more bluish than reddish as Lia's fiery mana overrode it, canceling it before he could regain control, trapping him in real No-Space. "Your lessons were not in the way, girl. I am proud!" He laughed, ignoring the violent world around him that was churning as otherworldly winds were hacking at his body, trying to tear his soul out of him. Moving his hand, he reopened another door, stepping back into reality, ending up at a different part of the forest, making him laugh out loud.
"Where is he?" Simbad asked, standing in their 'arena,' surprised the Headmaster was not showing up.
"Dunno!" Lia answered, holding her head, feeling an intense headache growing inside but smiling nonetheless. "I severed his connection, so who knows where he comes back to reality!"
"You could do that?" He asked, surprised, his mouth opening a bit wider.
"It seems like! I told you, it was a sudden idea! But that Silly Fox did teach me about No-Space, hitting my head with those books and all! It seems something did transfer over, teehee!"
"Good to hear!" Lucian's voice appeared again as the imagery of No-Space was gone around them, returning everything to normal. "Don't worry!" He hit Lia's head with the edge of his palm before she could cast another spell. "We are good."
"Owie! Don't! It hurts!" She moaned, squinting with teary eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Here." He flicked a golden egg toward Simbad. "Good job."
"Oooooh! So you give up?" She laughed, blinking out the tears from her eyes. "Owie! Don't hit me! My head hurts! Owie! Stop! Owie! I'll- Owie! Stop- Owie! STOOO- OWIE! YOU ARE HITTING HARD- OWIE! OWIE! NO! OWIE!"
Simbad was unsure what to say and just watched as Lucian, with a placid expression, was hitting the top of Lia's head, knocking on it continuously, no matter what she said or no matter how Lia tried to block his hand.
"Why are we not teleported out?" He asked, trying to stop him from 'abusing' his student.
"Let me enjoy the moment a little," Lucian answered flatly, continuing to knock on Lia's head, who now sounded like a parrot, repeating the same word over and over again.
Corty Hey-ho~ We are getting close to volume 2's end. The last arc that remains is the summer break, visiting House Berison and dealing with Sion's future~ Then we are onto their 3rd year and into some undead studies and artifact creating! Lia's artifact is already fixed in my mind, but I am open to ideas for the rest of the crew if you think you have something interesting~!
Oh, and here are some wallpapers of Lia~ For fun!
Spoiler [collapse]You can find more on our discord, in the official art channel~
Thanks for reading and leaving likes under the chapters; it means a lot!
