There was a flash of light, then another, and another. Countless beams of light cut through the air, hollowing out trees and carving new paths. From the coast, it looked as if some kind of lightshow was taking place further inland as the white light was even being fired off into the sky.
Despite appearances, this was actually a wind type spell wherein the user forcefully compressed the air of their surroundings into a small area, usually a double layered sphere and continually rotated the inner sphere that was both smaller and denser until it was hot enough to form plasma.
The flickering image of the now ashen grey-haired boy seemed to be smiling as he dodged the beams of plasma that scorched the battlefield.
Winson knew hitting his target wasn't an easy task, Pyrolux was a powerful attack, but it had three major flaws.
The first was that it couldn't be used for rapid fire, as each blast took about 1.5 seconds to charge. The second being that it required immense mana control to maintain dominance over the searing white sphere, otherwise it was simply a suicide move. And lastly was the intense 54,000 - degree heat being emitted by the shining sphere.
Although it was somewhat contained by a larger layer of rotating air, it was slowly beginning to affect Winson so he couldn't keep this up for long. Buying time was his main objective, so he would keep dishing out attacks for as long as possible, and both of them knew full well what that meant. Winson shifted his heated gaze, his target had suddenly vanished. Searching for the object of his murderous intent on the chaotic battlefield, he then shivered as he noticed the glow of silver aura appear beside him.
"Wha-"
His voice got caught in his throat.
This time Kanon tried to deliver a powerful right hook—Winson fired the plasma sphere, but Kanon swiftly changed tactics and used a simple palm strike to redirect his attack.
The strike shattered the bracers on the chevalier's arms as he lost control of the white sphere and was sent flying. The plasma sphere suddenly exploded in a burst of blinding light, scorching the ground and singing the boy's right arm. Even he would not emerge unscathed if he took such an attack head on. Before Winson was able to crash into the giant tree yet again, he was blasted in the opposite direction by a single kick. Kanon had caught up to him mid flight. He was sent flying over the edge of the fading falls, gravity assisted him in his 50-meter descent as he plummeted to the base of the waterfall.
There was a large splash as the chevalier had disrupted the otherwise calm body of water that had settled below. He managed to find refuge on a floating log, hunching over it and trying to gather his breath.
"That last attack was definitely something."
The voice came from the one who had forcefully changed his location in a matter of seconds. Kanon stood on top of the lake's surface, with only ripples showing beneath his feet. The half dead knight, refusing to go out like this had managed get himself in the air using wind Majic. He was only levitating a few meters above the water's surface but that was enough.
"I'm a bit late but, tell me your name."
"Ack!" the knight groaned as he smiled slightly, one eye shut, never to open again.
"Captain of Lorath's 35th armed combat unit designated as Salamander - Winson Crucible."
"Are you going to go after my comrades?"
The man couldn't hide the dying anxiety in his voice.
"No, right now it wouldn't even make a difference, and besides, they've all run away".
"Heheh, I see".
The chevalier smiled, trusting in the young boy's words and readying himself once more.
"Haaaaaaaaaah!!!"
He charged towards the boy, fully clad in his destructive blue aura, his right fist emitting a blue glow as his last resort. Kanon responded in turn as the literal battle of will versus power reached its climax. A massive explosion erupted, launching steam and mounds of debris in all directions.
****************
"Kanon, I found another spot!"
That ecstatic voice came from a gleeful young girl of the same age as she made her way toward the dark-haired youth. He was lying under the shade of a large tree with his back braced against it, all but ready to doze off. For some reason, there was a peculiar hole shape on the right side of this tree as if it had been hollowed out.
"Eh!? Wait what happened here!?" And what happened to your hand?"
The girl asked as she took note of the boy's only wound and their ravaged surroundings.
"Oh, Nia, you know you shouldn't be coming out here that often. They're gonna find out."
Kanon lazily tried to avoid the question. The girl now standing before him had flowing silver hair that could easily reach down to her back, but right now it was tied up with a headband like accessory. The pelting sun reflected off her pearl white skin that seemed as though it would redden with even the slightest touch.
"I - I was a lot more careful this time."
Nia responded in an awkward manner, timidly looking over her shoulders all the while .
"But more importantly, how did this happen?"
"A little practice."
"Practice with who? Aren't you usually alone out here?"
Taking a bold step forward, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion as her golden Irises scanned him for the truth.
"Just some guy who didn't give up."
Kanon told her with his eyes closed.
He felt a kick to his side.
"Ack!"
(So much for Elegance) he thought.
"Stop trying to act cool, I know you probably just got into more trouble."
"What exactly do you think I am?"
Kanon had a mix of an exasperated sigh and a confused look on his face.
Nia gave him a heartfelt smile before responding.
"Just a kid who's hopeless without me."
She continued
"I've been looking after you for years now you know, if it wasn't for me, you probably wouldn't even know how to walk on water or even survive at all. You really should appreciate me more; you have no idea the lengths I -" she stopped her self-centered monologue after finally taking notice. The boy had fallen asleep on the once bloody battlefield, the peaceful look on his sleeping face made it almost impossible for one to discern the kind of power he held.
"Heh - Heh"
"If only you were a bit more honest like this."
The girl smiled as she sat beside him, both of them being swept away by the lake's gentle melody.
**********************************
Cecilia awoke to a familiar ceiling in an otherwise bland room. She was staring at the ceiling as if in a daze, paying no heed to the wet sensation now seemingly caressing her mind.
There was a damp cloth on her forehead, likely to help with her fever as beads of sweat were rolling down her face in sync with her ragged, shallow breathing. She slowly turned to her right, reacting to the flickering light source in her field of vision.
It was a Lux crystal, a rare and expensive item formed in regions with a high concentration of mana. This crystal had the remarkable ability to store and emit the very same mana in the form of diverse light frequencies.
Back on the continent they were well sought after because of their longevity and practicality, and to top it all off, you only needed one as big as a golf ball to light up an entire room.
(Come to think of it, there were a lot of these back then too). Her first hazy thoughts inevitably drifted back to that place.
She slowly sat up and looked around the monotone space. Her room really was bland, as the only noticeable things here were her bedside table with the lux crystal atop it in the wooden stand-like construct designed to hold it and the mirror on the far-left side of the room.
She had brought a few changes of clothes, and something that resembled a suitcase onto the ship. It was brown in color with the outside seemingly made of leather and had black linings around the edges. This was what she had packed a few research books in, along with some other materials such as mana crystals, staffs and wands.
After getting out of bed, she finally noticed how loosely she was dressed, only wearing a crop top blouse and some shorts.
It was hard to notice until now because of how high her body temperature had been but seeing as she was alone in her room right now, it wasn't a big deal. Walking toward the mirror, she lifted both arms and took note of her right side. While the wound had closed, she still needed to recover from the events of her last battle, both in a physical and mental sense.
Just remembering that brief scene had filled the timid girl with despair, but just then there was a knock on her door, but she already knew who it was.
"Come in"
A woman dressed in rather comfortable nightgown walked in. The pink garments were almost see through and even though it was a little big, you could adequately make out her ample figure. This was Elena, a mid-range combat specialist and another healer in Salamander, who had stayed behind to establish a post 100 meters from where the Leviathan had anchored. Winson had made her stay behind precisely because of her abilities as a healer, and that had ended up being for the best. The man truly had remarkable intuition.
"How're you feeling? You've been out for almost a day"
The late-night visitor spoke, bangs covering one eye.
"I'm a little feverish, but otherwise pretty good...I guess" Cecilia replied in a way that sounded more like a question than anything else.
She was staring at the floor as if her head was too heavy to even lift.
"I see."
With a graceful motion, Elena simply embraced the girl before her, tears had begun soaking the wooden floor.
"Elenaaa... I-I let them all die!"
"Tianna, Erick....I-Its all my fault!"
Elena could feel the girls' slender fingers dig into her thin night gown. Her tears seemed to increase with each passing second. Cecilia had lost sight of herself now that another comrade was in front of her. She just couldn't look her in the eye, not after remembering how helpless se was during all the chaos that took place only a day prior. Elena neither interrupted, nor complained, she simply listened to the girl releasing her pent-up emotions all at once, taking the full force of her tantrum.
The room had gotten awfully quiet, only the slight creaking of the ships' wooden timber could be heard, like whispers of ancient ghosts recounting tales of the sea. It had taken Cecilia well over an hour to settle down, but now that she had, both of them were now sitting on the edge of the bed in complete silence.
"You're not going to ask about what happened?" The fair skinned girl gave a timid glance, her face slightly flushed red.
"Only if you're ready to tell. I must admit that I was surprised when only 20 people came running back, saying we had to leave immediately – well that was the only thing I could properly make out, the others were either in a state of panic or too terrified to give any useful info."
"Yea I couldn't blame them, I was terrified too."
"And the Captain?" Elena asked, not showing any emotion whatsoever.
"........"
"I see......I didn't actually want to believe it"
Her eyes seemed to waver at that moment, clearly losing some of their luster. Cecilia clenched her fist, the soft silk sheets on her bed did nothing to quell her rage. She stood up with a fierce determination in her eyes.
"Haaah" was the sound she made as she released a heavy sigh.
"Gather everyone, they all deserved to know what happened so...I'll tell you everything I can"
"Are you sure?"
"I'm fine now, and besides I can't stay sulking forever"
Elena wore a thin smile before agreeing
"You've changed a bit" She spoke in a small whisper
'Huh? What was that?"
"Nothing, just talking to myself....let's meet in the conference room in 30 minutes"
Said Elena as she made her way to the exit, her pink nightgown swaying freely at the hem.
"Uhm...Elena?"
"Hm what is it?" The figure in pink stopped in her tracks right as she was about to open the door.
Cecilia's eyes were looking all over the place as her cheeks flushed red
"A-Are you going to the meeting...dressed like that?"
Hm? Elena cocked her head to one side and gave a confused look
"What's wrong with the way I'm dressed?"
"Ahh never mind!" Cecilia quickly dismissed it.
"Oh, then see you in 30 minutes "And so went Salamander's best healer, vanishing as swiftly as a nighttime specter.
"Elena's something else."
She couldn't help but voice her thoughts in the now empty room. In the hallway outside Cecilia's room stood Elena, her back now leaning against the wooden door. She was standing in the empty space in complete silence before letting out a heavy sigh.
"So, the captain's really dead huh?"
The voice came from a shirtless young man in his late 20's sporting spiky red hair and crouching down beside her.
"It's rude to eavesdrop you know."
"Heh relax I only just got here"
Elena shot him a sharp glare, but the man nonchalantly brushed it off.
"The conference room huh? I just got done training, so I'll be there in a minute."
And with that he was off, waving his right hand as he walked past her as if to signal a casual goodbye. Elena could only stare at his back as he disappeared further down the winding hallway.
*********************************