Phineas Rothshire

Phineas clutched his stomach and hurried to his feet, fighting the growing urge to upend his breakfast of pheasant and stew. He trembled slightly when he discovered that majority of his freshly formed team had eyes were him.

The beautiful mage who rejected him stood beside a blond freckled lady. They both mocked him from afar: he felt it. Though their lips didn't move, he'd saw it in their eyes. They looked at him the way his brothers did whenever he failed to cast a spell or lost a spar.

He was sure they were just as rotten as his brothers, and he'd make sure to make them suffer. He'd do all the horrible things he planned for his brother and father to both of them and every other member of the team. Though the women were the culprits, the rest were just as guilty for standing by and watching.

He saw that the Ice mage and his partners too looked at him. Once he was back from the scouting mission with Garond, he'd make them both pay too. Garond was one of the Rothshire's honorary family members, so he'd spare him and timid mage he'd taken a fancy to, but the hunter. The hunter's judgment wouldn't be delayed. He'd come first. The women could wait. The hunter committed the unforgivable sin of not sparing him so as much as a look when he fell. "He's just like Father," he growled.

One look at him, and Phineas knew what to say. "What are you doing here peasant," Phineas snarled at the hunter. The Hunter turned to him with a tilted head. 'I wonder what he knows.' His mind was only on the mission, and he didn't seem the least bit concerned, which only fuelled Phineas's anger

He drew closer, only stumbling once. With a face flush red with rage, he roared and drew his wand. "I asked you a question?" The Hunter still remained calm with a wand pointed at his face. He hardly saw the pudgy mage as a threat.

"Phin, what are you doing?" Garond reached out to lower his wand, but a flash of red light pushed him back.

"He doesn't belong here," Phineas spat through his grit teeth with his wand still fixed on the Hunter. The wand was crafted by the Rothshire house forge master. It had an Alderwood shaft scrawled with gold runes and a large red stone on its tip.

"And you have your wand pointed to him because of that?" Garond stared at him incredulously. "Calm down, Phin. Get a hold of yourself."

"Don't defend the peasant. He'll be a liability when we're hunting. I don't want him here," he defended, rationalizing his sudden dislike of the mage, but he didn't fool anyone but himself. He even internally smirked at his own wit.

A few feet away from Phineas, Tula, who stood beside Sera, watched the round man flare and rage with an eager smile on her face. "Who do you think will win? I know Atreus has been on a losing streak lately, but I still put money on him. Want to bet?"

"Um…Tula," Sera began, taking care to remain respectful yet direct. "Shouldn't we help him? Put a stop to this? Do we really need all this attention?"

Her words caused Tula to pause. She furrowed her brow for the briefest moment before she said with a shrug, "A duel amongst teammates is nothing special. Atreus needs more experience. Besides, that noble is rude." Sera's eyes still pleaded with her, but Tula hardly noticed. "You never answered my question. So, are you in?"

Seth looked at Phineas with rage rising in him, yet he uttered no words nor retaliated. 'He's hardly worth my time. He might be an adept, but he still uses a wand. He's no genius. Sera could take him down with a single spell.' Seth sighed as he faced the boiling mage in front of him. He hoped the party leader would put a stop to things before they escalated even more.

The boisterous Ice mage raised an eyebrow at the scene. Despite Phineas being the fool that he was, he had a point. The hunter had no magical talent to speak of, and yet he chose to remain. 'Perhaps he was hiding something.' No matter, he'd already decided to let the noble have his way. The Rothshire guild was paying handsomely to give their young lord a real taste of battle.

"We don't have time for this." The Ice mage voice shattered the mounting tension. It pulled the attention of every mage in the group and revealed the not so amiable side of their captain. "Test him if you think he's not worthy, and make it quick. If we need any later, we won't be back before dark."

'Shit,' Seth cursed. 'He's testing me too, isn't he.' Clearly, the temperamental fire mage was not the only one who thought he didn't belong there.

Phineas was stunned briefly by the Ice mage's word but recovered soon enough to smirk, spread his torso, and prepare a spell. A growing murmur rose from the party as they parted for the exchange.

"Why is he using a wand? Isn't he an adept?" Sera asked Tula, eyeing the mage. She knew Seth could handle the mage if he managed to get close enough. But he used fire, not wind. It was not as forgiving. One well-placed spell could kill him.

Tula scoffed, "He is barely one, and so he depends on mana crystals and wands to consolidate his power. He's doomed to fail. He uses them as a crutch and doesn't meditate enough," She said with disgust.

"I'm glad you decided to remain. I will make sure you regret that decision. You have no idea who you're dealing with." Phineas seethed. 'After I make an example out of you, I'll go after every single one of them.'

Seth rolled his eyes, "Let's get this over with. I would not like to waste any more time." After training with Ren for days, he felt ashamed crossing swords with a pampered brat.

"Alright, enough of that. No death blows. It would be a shame to lose either one of you before we face the spiders." The Ice mage warned.

The noble's face piped hot, and Seth could swear steam rose from his ears. He had with fire-red hair, a large nose, a goatee, with a tight robe wrapped around his round figure. "Flame strike," he chanted as soon as the Ice mage waved. A large serpentine flame burst out from the gem of his wand, swirled once. It radiated heat and drew the attention of passing mages, but only for a second. A moment later, the fire serpent zipped towards Seth at an alarming speed. Phineas smirked at the streaking flame. The magic-less hunter had insulted his pride, and he'd intended to make him pay with his blood.

"Shit," Garond cursed at the sight of the flame serpent, and Vilia gasped in awe. Sera, too, was startled by the power, but Tula only raised a brow, curious to see how Seth would upturn the battle.

Gus, the Ice mage, sprang into action as he saw the serpentine flame swirl.'That fool. What was he thinking releasing a full-powered spell here?" 'I asked him to test him, not kill him. The city lord will have my head if he found out I sanctioned this.' Gus roused his mana to cast, unsure if his spell would reach in time, but it appeared he worried for the wrong man.

[The spell is poorly constructed, expensive, and flamboyant. Dealing with it should be a simple matter.] The system weighed in, and Seth concurred. His mind flashed back to his duel with Sera and his spars with Ren. He learned so much from them both. The spell reminded him of her air cannon spell, and he deployed the countermeasure he thought up to deal with it.

He drew one of his daggers from its sheath and hurled it with every ounce of strength in his body with a sharp whistle. It traveled to meet the fire snake and exploded mid-air in a cloud of heat and smoke that spread in all directions. The explosion sent his thoroughly charred blade in a random direction. Before the flame fizzled out mid-air, Seth capitalized on the obstruction and loosed a shot aimed at Phineas.

The listless noble stared in absolute shock when his spell exploded mid-flight. 'how is he doing this.' Confusion gave way to terror when an arrow pierced the smoke left in the wake of his attack and travel for his head. All his training left him as he muttered inaudible spells and flailed helplessly.

Slick with sweat from the residual heat of his spell, he fell backward, and he shut his eyes in anticipation, but the arrow never hit. Instead, it fell to the floor with a clang frozen. A soft blue mist rose from Gus's outstretched hand.

A round of laughter burst out around them. The remaining teammates laughed and applauded. Camille laughed too. It had happened again. Phineas eyes slightly watered as he glared at the hunter.

"Satisfied," The Ice mage asked with a steely glare.