Leona opened her eyes and found herself back at the crossroads. The sun shone brightly above her as the blue sky expanded towards all directions her eyes could see.
The wind whistled quietly as the bushes and foliage brushed against one another. The earthly scent of dew hit her nose and a refreshing feeling spread throughout her body. She raised her staff and tapped it against the ground.
"You can start. Robert."
She said as she turned around to face him. Instead of replying, he simply raised his index finger towards her and started to count down.
"One."
Leona pointed the tip of her staff at him and focused on creating the first step of the barrier that was a simple frame of the protective spell.
"Two."
The half-sphere formed in front of her was the size of a buckler. Definitely too small to protect her against a large area spell, but big enough to intercept a missile type spell if she was accurate enough with it.
"Three."
By his last count she poured a lot of mana through her staff and the magic barrier thickened into a bright blue half sphere. His hand shone brightly with mana gathering at his fingertip before he chanted shortly.
"Megido."
It was like time came to a crawl as she raised her staff higher in order to intercept the spell. She knew instinctively that he was aiming at the middle of her chest but what she didn't know, it was that her barrier was too small to fully deflect the spell away from her—which made the ray of concentrated light magic to hit the rounded part of her barrier and nick the top of her forehead. She flicked her head back from the sharp pain but the damage was already done.
"Augh!"
Blood dripped down on top of her left eye blocking part of her vision.
"One."
The countdown started again but Leona couldn't see him and no matter where she turned her head to, Robert was nowhere to be seen.
"Two."
'Wait… he's…'
She flicked her head to the left and caught a glimpse of him walking sideways around her left. He was aiming to be in her blind spot the whole time.
"Three."
She threw herself on the ground and aimed her staff at roughly where she had last seen him. Although without time to deploy a fully formed magic barrier, she simply covered as much of her body as she could before she heard his short chant.
"Fireball."
Her teeth clenched as she knew how bad it would be to get hit directly by it, but thankfully her instincts were right for once and she managed to avoid most of the spell as it only lightly singed the ends of her hair. Her barrier however was completely destroyed in the process.
"Seeing how well you're going, I'll stop counting out loud and instead I'll just say the chanting part."
She slowly stood up with the help of her staff and grunted in pain.
'Dammit… it was already difficult knowing when the attack was going to happen…' Her eye darted around searching for the sage but as much as she tried to rotate to her left, she couldn't find him. 'And now he's even toying with me…'
She took a wild guess and flicked her entire body while pointing to the southwest of where she was facing, but in the middle of turning around she noticed Robert standing on her right just barely outside her field of view before hearing his voice utter one word.
"Blast."
This time she didn't even have time to feel pain as her entire upper torso was blown into smithereens. A shower of flesh, bone, blood and sinew splashed across the center portion of the crossroads as her lower body tilted forward before falling backwards completely alongside the destroyed wooden staff.
"Hmmm…" He approached her remains and shook his head while sighing. Her legs were still twitching from dying spasms. "Are you not using what I taught you?"
"Ah!" Leona gasped awake as she tried to calm down her quickened heartbeat. She noticed Robert frowning in front of her. "I… I died again, didn't I?"
He sighed before standing up.
"Yes and it could've been easily avoided if you were using your senses."
She frowned at him.
"You know it's considerably easier to do that when you're not being attacked by someone right?"
"Are your foes going to patiently wait for you to sense them? Of course not, you need to get used to doing this and fast."
"Ugh…"
"If you can't make a barrier that consistently protects you from all directions, you'll need something that will make sure you don't lose a limb or two while doing so." He pointed his open palm towards her and made a single hexagonal plate of mana the size of an apple. "Instead of deflecting, you need to stop the incoming spell completely. Go ahead, cast your most powerful spell."
She stood up and raised an eyebrow while hesitantly lifting her staff.
"Are you telling me you can completely stop a spell with that?"
"I'm a master of the magical arts for a reason."
That tickled her off as she started to concentrate every ounce of mana into her staff. There was a dangerous blue tint under her irises as the very air started to shimmer from the magical haze.
"O chains of light, shine with a brilliance of a thousand bolts as you tear their flesh asunder…!" Mana that had gathered on her staff started to crackle with arcane energy as a purple glow started to grow more intense as she finally chanted. "Chain Lightning!"
A violent roaring thunder echoed across the training area as Leona unleashed her spell. It was a blinding display of magical prowess that would have certainly reduced anyone else into ashes.
All mana that had gathered on her staff was used to fuel the arc of lightning strikes that were aimed at Robert. However, they were absorbed the moment they made contact with the hexagonal plate, resulting in an eerily silence only broken by the breeze brushing against the foliage of the trees around them.
The blast of lightning was so intense that it left a few strands of Leona's hair standing from the static electricity, but Robert on the other hand didn't show a single sign of being hit by the volatile spell.
"Wha…" Leona tilted her head back, disbelief was plain on her face. She wasn't exactly adept at lightning magic, but as far as firepower was concerned. It far surpassed all of her other spells in sheer magical power. "How did you…?"
The hexagonal plate seemed unscathed before he dispelled it with a snap of his fingers.
"If you apply equal force against a spell, it ends up being dispelled the moment it makes contact with mana. That is how you defend yourself with a small magic barrier." He scratched the underside of his chin before continuing. "Though, I advise against going with this method. It's far more difficult than pulling off a one time use barrier like you did in our training."
"Then how is that going to help me?" He let out an exasperated sigh as he flicked her on the forehead. "Ow!"
"It's so you stop using that small barrier. You only need a barrier that stops a spell, nothing more. Don't try to be fancy when your life is at a stake. I already went through some trouble to teach you, so don't make my time be wasted by killing yourself."
She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand while she held the staff.
"You know, your teaching methods could use some work."
"My pupil should use some work."
Leona huffed while still rubbing her forehead. She was about to retort but a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks. It was Setsuna. She raised her hand in a greeting as she stepped out of the trail leading to the house. There was still a slight hint of hangover on her face but she appeared to be in much better spirits.
"Hey, how about a mock battle? I heard your spell from inside the house—thought you might want to train a bit more."
She wore her usual shrine maiden attire consisting of a white robe with a thick red sash around her waist. Right behind her was Miyamoto, he carried his sheathed blade on the left side of his hip while resting his left hand on top of the handle. He raised his hand as he noticed Leona.
"Good morning."
Leona bowed slightly as she replied with a polite tone.
"Good morning."
Upon hearing their voice, Krieg stopped swinging his practice sword and gave them a short nod without saying anything.
"Good grief…" Robert shook his head. "You just want to play around don't you, young lady?"
The shrine maiden smiled as she materialized her staff within her grasp by snapping her fingers.
"It's not everyday I get to practice with someone my age."
He clapped upon seeing her teleport her staff.
"Very well. I'll serve as the judge." He glanced at Leona. "You should take this match seriously."
"Huh? Isn't this a mock battle?"
"Yes, but I want to know how you'd fare in a real battle. Don't worry, even if you cast a spell a bit too powerful I'll just cancel it out."
She narrowed her eyes before nodding firmly once. Setsuna hopped sprightly as she threw her left arm around Leona's neck before dragging her away to the more spacious area of the training grounds.
Miyamoto stopped in front of Krieg and flicked his head towards the two mages. The knight responded with a single nod as he walked alongside the swordmaster.
"I have to say, your lightning spell was very powerful." Setsuna commented as they stopped walking. "What was my father trying to point out?"
"Oh, it was about barriers. I'm not great at them yet."
"Those take some time. Tell you what—I learned a different method for visualizing it. If you're interested I can teach you later."
Leona smiled.
"Yes, please. I know your father is a good teacher but the way he explains things can be… confusing."
"Oh I know how you feel."
Miyamoto stopped a few meters away from the two mages, but Krieg kept walking until he stood beside Leona. Meanwhile, Setsuna turned and joined the swordmaster's side.
Robert placed himself between the two groups and raised his right hand.
"Ready…"
Leona tightened her grip around her staff and Krieg lowered his stance while putting the shield at an angle in front of his body. Setsuna glanced at Miyamoto—who remained with his hand on top of the handle—and asked.
"Are you going all out?"
"I have to. Can't you feel the pressure?"
Her eyes darted to Leona but aside from her significant improvement in mana capacity, nothing seemed different. Looking at Krieg on the other hand felt like she was staring down at a young dragon. The fierce gaze from his crimson eyes were enough to send chills down her spine.
"I see… you meant from him. I think I'll have to take this seriously as well."
He nodded as he took out the entire sheathed blade out of his cloth belt. He used the same cloth to tie the scabbard together with the guard of his sword and readied it parallel to his straightened body.
Robert lowered his hand and took a step back as he shouted.
"Commence!"
Setsuna flicked her staff forward and started to chant as she accumulated mana into her staff. However, unlike before, Leona targeted her directly with an almost instant cast of a spell.
"Wind Bullet!"
Upon noticing the tactician aiming for her, Setsuna instead directed her mana to make a barrier that covered her entirely from the front which nullified the fast green orb of mana into wisps of green energy.
Krieg dashed at Miyamoto while keeping his shield in front of his body as he launched rapid slashes and stabs, his footwork was remarkably fast for someone of his size.
"You're pretty fast." Miyamoto commented as he parried his attacks while keeping up with his footwork. "But this is nothing like your mother's!"
The swordmaster avoided his lunge and swung his blade with one arm in order to catch Krieg's exposed right shin. As he was about to hit his leg, Krieg's foot shot up and stomped down on the sword—trapping the weapon beneath his heel.
"Wha-!" In that single moment, Krieg stepped in with his left foot and slammed the shield with the full weight of his body against Miyamoto's chest. "Ugh!"
The swordsman lost all air in his lungs as he was thrown all the way back to Setsuna. Krieg sheathed his own training sword in his makeshift cloth belt and put his right foot beneath Miyamoto's weapon before tossing it in the air before grabbing it to make it his own.
"Tsk." Setsuna clicked her tongue. Leona was moving on the left side as if to remain out of her sight and Krieg was starting to run directly at her. "This isn't good…"
She grabbed the staff with both hands and sprinted to the right. Leona stopped in her tracks when she noticed what the shrine maiden was doing.
'Trying to put Krieg between you and me aren't you, Setsuna?'
After a sharp deep breath, Leona shouted.
"Run towards her left side Krieg!" The knight's feet quickly darted to the right as he was catching up to Setsuna. Meanwhile Leona raised her staff forward and started to chant as mana quickly gathered at her wrists. "Northern winds hearken to me, freeze those who oppose me, Ice Wall!"
As mana transferred to her staff the very air became colder as a wall of ice began to erupt from the air in front of her curving around Setsuna's right side.
The shrine maiden bumped against the large wall of ice and the moment she turned around Krieg was just a few steps from getting into sword range. However, as opposed to his expectations, Setsuna wore a wide grin.
"Great Teleportation!"
"Hargh!"
As Krieg swung down his father's weapon, Setsuna vanished from thin air as she appeared near where Miyamoto was.
Seeing the shrine maiden appear right before her made Leona attempt to cast a wind spell but her opponent was much faster.
"Wind Blast!"
The concentrated wind attack sent Leona flying on her back and she would've hit a tree with full force if it wasn't for Robert's gravity magic that slowed her in the air.
Following up to her attack, Setsuna turned around and pointed her staff at Krieg who was still a couple of meters away from her. The moment he saw Leona unconscious in the air—he simply let go of his sword and raised his hands.
"It's my defeat."
Setsuna lowered her staff and kneeled beside Miyamoto—who was still in the process of catching his breath.
"Nicely done…" He said while gasping for air. "I knew he improved his speed… but that caught me… off guard…"
"Same here, I didn't think he would knock you down in one hit."
Robert approached them as he gently lowered Leona on the ground. Once close he tapped him on the shoulder and with a thumbs up, said.
"You did great. Now…" He turned and kneeled beside the unconscious tactician and put his hand on her head. "Heal."
A soft green glow started to emanate from his hand and said energy began to permeate her body. Krieg kneeled beside her and looked at Robert in the eyes as he asked.
"Do spells normally knock someone out?"
"No. But physical trauma caused by said spells can cause a person to black out if they aren't used to fighting in close quarters." He explained without taking his eyes off Leona. "If Setsuna hit you with it, you might get a bit dizzy but it wouldn't have knocked you unconscious."
"Hmmm…"
The knight glanced over his shoulder at the shrine maiden for a while as she was in the process of helping Miyamoto to stand up. He then slowly turned back and noticed Robert staring at him.
"I won't give you my daughter."
"What are you talking about?"
"Ugh…" Leona had just regained consciousness and was met with a hand over her face. "What the…" She brushed the sage's hand off to the side and tried to sit up but she still felt dizzy. "Argh… my head…"
"Leona!" Krieg grabbed her before she could hit the back of her head on the ground. "Are you alright?"
"The world feels like it's spinning…"
She closed her eyes but the sensation of motion was still there.
"That is called a concussion." Robert stood up and adjusted his clothing. "If you managed to rock your opponent's head fast enough it might knock them out."
"Ugh…" She held the side of her head. "So that's what she was aiming for…"
"Of course, excess force might kill them outright but thankfully it was Setsuna you were going up against." He spoke with a smirk forming on his face. Obviously proud of his daughter. "Since she has remarkable mana control."
"Yeah… well…" Leona's voice felt a bit strained, yet she threw her arm over Krieg's and forced herself to stand up. "What could I have done to prevent that in the first place?"
"If you were constantly checking for mana with your senses, maybe you could have seen it coming. On the other hand, since you knew she was capable of using teleportation, you should've anticipated her using it in the first place."
She clenched her teeth. Obviously she knew that, but trying to make the most out of her spells made her miss the bigger picture.
"What a great princess tactician that I am…" After she felt her strength returning to her legs she used the staff in order to walk towards a nearby tree to sit down under its shade. "Hah…"
She left the staff on the side and leaned against the tree. A faint breeze brushed her hair around her face as she took a slow and deep breath.
'I would have died there…' There was a lingering cold sensation in her stomach. An uneasiness that she could only confront by being hard on herself. She indeed could have died, after all, as per Robert's words. 'It doesn't take much to kill someone with magic…'
Her eyes closed as she started to recall the fight in her mind. Krieg watched her with a faint smile on his face before he went to talk with his father. Robert on the other hand decided to go for a walk to the city.
Meanwhile, Leona pondered about the mock battle. Her first attack felt like it was correct—going for the mage at the back meant she would afford Krieg a one on one duel against Miyamoto which he triumphed. On the other hand, instead of closing the gap, she could have just made an ice wall behind Setsuna as opposed to putting Krieg at risk of chasing after a magician.
"No…" She muttered to herself. "She would have used the teleportation spell regardless to reach me. Then… what could I have done…?"
Her eyes aimlessly trailed upwards and from the corner of her vision she noticed Krieg swing his training sword with sharp precision. There it was. No time for spell casting—a reaction faster than thought itself.
"Something faster than casting a spell…" Her gaze then fell onto the staff on her side before she chuckled to herself. "No I couldn't possibly consider striking someone with-"
At that moment she reminded herself of the days she spent in Londria. If she were to survive, no method of defending herself was off the table.
"Right…" She shook her head slightly with a bittersweet smile on her face. "I shouldn't waste the precious time Phoebe used to train me."
She grabbed the staff and stood up. The brief respite had done wonders to calm her nerves as well as recover from the dizziness she felt from the practice.
Seeing how she was up and about made Setsuna approach her with a hand extended to her.
"Sorry, I think I went overboard with that one…"
The act caught Leona off-guard as she raised an eyebrow before gently lowering her hand with her own.
"Don't worry about it. You only did it because Robert was there." Leona's genuine smile put the shrine maiden at ease. "Although I have to say—you are one scary spellcaster. Mages don't normally approach their enemies like you did."
"Always think outside the box, or so he says." She had a nostalgic look on her face. "But regardless of what happened, your precision with spells is truly incredible. Were you always this accurate?"
"Hm… not really. In the beginning I was very bad at landing spells on targets. But my accuracy improved after getting the hang of wind spells." She stopped for a second as her eyes narrowed. "Come to think of it. Most of the offensive spells I use rely on wind magic."
She looked at her hand and mana started to gather around, swirling around her palm like a light blue dust devil. Leona seemed in a daze for a moment before she finally snapped out of it and turned to Setsuna with sparkling eyes.
"But enough of that, you said you'd teach me a way to make barriers right? What is your secret?"
"Huh? Oh, it's not much of a secret and more of a different method to visualize."
"Here we go again with this visualization thing…"
The tactician became somewhat dispirited.
"Haha, it's just a way to describe it but I'm sure you'll figure it out." She walked beside Leona and pointed her staff the same direction she was facing. "Here. Let me show you."
Faint blue light started to seep out of Setsuna's body as it concentrated onto her wrist before finally passing onto the staff where a semi circle barrier formed. Her method was very similar to how the tactician made her own barriers which left her wondering how that was supposed to help her. The shrine maiden turned to her and asked with a tone that she already knew the answer.
"Now, this should be the way you also learned how to make barriers, right?" Leona nodded in return. "You must have already experienced how fragile this actually is then. However, my method of creating a barrier stems from this way. Instead of making intricate hexagonal patterns you simply focus your mana where an opposing spell will hit."
She turned her head forward once again and narrowed her eyes. For a very brief moment Leona witnessed part of the barrier become a darker shade of blue before returning to its dull color. She then turned back to the tactician.
"There. Did you see it?"
"I did… but it's not exactly very protective, isn't it?"
"Hmmm… it would be easier to think of it as a pizza. The extra mana are the toppings that serve as an extra layer that even if broken, can be replaced with more mana if you need it." She held her staff back and opened her other hand. "Most mages can only cast a few spells before needing to take a breather."
"Are you telling me it's like waiting for someone to swing their sword at you before going for a counter attack?"
That sentence made Setsuna raise a surprised eyebrow.
"Oh? I didn't know you trained in swordsmanship."
Leona scratched the back of her head with an awkward smile.
"Phoebe taught me. Though it's mostly from an assassin's perspective."
"No, this is great actually. To summarize, every caster has a delay period after casting a spell. The more consecutive spells they cast, the longer this time becomes."
"Can they feint this delay or…"
She shook her head with a satisfied smile.
"Unlike bladework, there isn't a way to hide mana from a spell being cast. The moment there is intent, there is mana."
Leona leaned on her staff and furrowed her brows. She was deep in thought.
'Is this what Father felt when I asked him about magic back then?' Setsuna smirked discreetly to herself as she continued to observe the tactician. 'It is quite nice to teach someone else.'
"Then is it always better to make a barrier once I sense a spell being cast?"
"Yes. Always. You rather be safe than sorry when it comes to magic. After all–"
"...a well placed spell can kill just as well as the sword."
Leona continued asking questions to her newfound mentor. Krieg kept an eye on his liege from the other side of the training grounds as he practiced swinging his wooden blade.
"She really is everything to you, isn't she?"
Robert's voice made him turn his eyes towards him.
"She is my liege after all."
"This level of loyalty goes beyond just duty, Krieg." He shook his open palm seemingly in disdain. "Tell me, what made a knight of your caliber—to work under an experienced leader such as Leona?"
After hearing his words, each of Krieg's swings became quicker and more precise. A sense of restrained anger loomed in the air.
"I always believed—a leader can be taught to lead, but the person doing so will never truly change their nature."
Robert raised an eyebrow as if he was genuinely surprised by his answer.
"So you do believe she is fit to rule."
"Yes, without a doubt."
"I see…" He folded his arms and tilted his head slightly down. Deep in thought. "I wonder if she would truly be able to end the persecution against demonkind in Arcadia. It may prove a bit too much for someone as inexperienced as her."
Krieg stopped swinging his blade and turned to Robert with a serious gaze.
"What do you believe to be important then?"
"Me? Hah. It doesn't matter what I think. People from this world will have different values than where I come from." He held his own chin as a confident smirk appeared on his face. "I'm more curious on how she'll do it. A philosopher back in my original world once posed a question, whether it was better for a ruler to be feared or loved." With a few loose steps. Robert turned over his shoulder and locked eyes with Krieg. "I wonder which one she'll be now."
Krieg's fingers tightened around the handle of the wooden blade as Robert walked away.
"She'll choose the right path when the time comes." He muttered to himself as he turned around to continue his training. "I'm sure of it."