32 - Combination

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Together, we're stronger.

Everyone is fodder when we're right by each other.

-K.

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The moment Grisia was distracted by Aisia, Kairo used the balls of flames from her Fire: Will of the Wisps by absorbing it, leaping into the air, and then unleashing his chakra technique downward while coated in ki.

"Inferno: Flame Resurgence!"

He blew intensely in a hole he made with his right hand to aim the technique.

Using ki in tandem with chakra, the power of a greater fire chakra technique was multiplied and turned into a unique, multi-power finisher in their two-man feint combo.

The flames were so intense that he needed to be in the air for his aim to stay in one place, otherwise, he would be pushed back by its sheer power.

"I can't hold this for long! I don't have much air in me to keep blowing. I have to stop, I can't feel any response from Grisia. I don't want to kill him!" Kairo thought to himself as he stopped blowing and landed on the ground.

Once the flames had dissipated, they saw Grisia shielding himself with his arms in front of him. He completely blocked their finisher without a scratch! The two were completely surprised by his toughness, but on closer inspection, they saw a thin layer of translucent silver surrounding his entire form.

It was ki, he used his ki aura defensively.

"Thank goodness you're not dead," Kairo fell limp on the now wet and charred ground as he panted and laughed in relief. At the center of the technique, which was around Grisia, the land was burnt. Further around it is melted snow, part of which is still evaporating into the air.

Kairo was still a novice at using chakra techniques compared to Aisia, who had greater control and more experience. He thought that he must have wasted a lot of chakra as he was still inefficient. But he thanked his ineptitude that he didn't burn someone close to him to a crisp.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU DODGE, YOU DUMMY?!" Aisia yelled.

Grisia could see her eyes moistening. His heart skipped a beat knowing that she was seriously worried for him.

He ruffled her hair as she sniffled. "I apologize for making you worry. I have many tricks up my sleeve, so it's fine for you two to go all out as I've said. But still, sorry for worrying you two."

She tried to punch him, but she could only weakly lift her arm with a loose, closed fist before it fell to the ground. Maintaining that much chakra twice and then using ki several times must've exhausted her. 

"There were two feints," Grisia thought to himself. "The first feint was Kairo's supposed ki-infused punch behind me. The second feint was Sia's ki rush when I turned around to block Kairo. Then finally, the actual attack was the ki and fire chakra technique Kairo used when I dealt with Sia."

Grisia didn't expect them to be able to execute such a well-coordinated attack riddled with feints this soon. 

"He made use of Sia's flames instead of only making them himself. They weren't fading away earlier because she released it to use ki, they were actually moving towards Kairo. With her fire chakra added on top of his own and infusing it with ki, these two kids made such intense flames that could melt even metal..."

"That was quite the stunt you two pulled off," he said to them. "I never imagined you'd find out about combining two powers together this soon. It's decent, but it's left you two on the ground. A desperate attempt that you have little control over. It was luck that it all worked out in the end."

They both started to form somber looks on their faces.

Noticing that he was being too critical of them for surprising him, he cleared his throat, "But... it was quite... impressive. A high-level technique and teamwork that forced me to resort to using a power. Normally, flames wouldn't be too much of a problem, but those dark flames coupled with the unusually red ones would've hurt without using ki to protect myself. It was my only option that was fast enough to activate apart from simply dodging it, you could say that you cornered me."

Beneath all the sweat and fatigue, they bore such satisfied smiles.

"Kairo already awakened his chakra mark?" Grisia asked.

"Yeah," she panted. "He told me he has it on his pee-pee area. We asked Esmeralda and Tiraga, then read some books. We figured out how to awaken it on our own with the plain method you mentioned."

"As verfris," as he uttered an incantation, green, glowing circles appeared over the two of them. He cast a regeneration spell on them, slowly but surely, they were regaining their strength. Grisia continued, "How was it?"

"Painful," Kairo said. "I had to get burnt with fire, bathe in an ice cold bath, roll around in the mud then in the itchy grass..."

"What?" Grisia uttered.

"What?" Kairo replied.

"... why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"You didn't have to do any of that. That was before it's been found out that you simply had to pour a lot of chakra into an unawakened body. Did you... perhaps read the second edition of the book about chakra in the library?"

"Y...eah? It said 'to be one with nature' by doing that, THEN pour chakra into my body."

"What I just mentioned was written in the third edition."

Both Aisia and Kairo facepalmed.

"I told you we should've read the other book, Kairo," Aisia said.

"I didn't think there would be a change in the next edition about that! It's a big book! I get tired reading sometimes," he pouted.

"Ah, carelessness, Kairo," Grisia said.

"That's what Mr. Jarquis also commented in my arithmetic test."

"The sparkly blonde head of the merchant guild?"

"The very same."

"Quite an exhausting guy to look at."

"I agree."

They rested for a while as they continued to banter.

Kairo asked if they should proceed with the weapons spar afterwards. Grisia insisted that they'd done enough for today and that they could do that some other time. He told them to enjoy their free time and play with each other or work on some other business they may have. As long as it wasn't training.

Kairo was a bit torn. He wanted to devote his time to getting stronger for his revenge, but the childish side in him also wanted to play with Aisia.

Seeing this, Grisia signaled Aisia while Kairo wasn't looking. She received the message and asked Kairo to play with her.

Looking at her hopeful, hazel brown eyes, it was impossible to refuse. Aisia cheered because she also wanted to do something else other than train every day, as well as play with Kairo.

"The more casual time they spend together, the more their bond will develop, and in turn, their teamwork. But more importantly, the more chance Kairo will shift his priorities," Grisia thought to himself. "I need him alive and well after all."

He then focused his ki into sensory mode to look for Remi. She was actually nearby, but now she was moving away. He guessed that she was watching their training from the thickets of the forest. The closest forest was pretty far, but the scope of his ki when it was in sensory mode was wide enough to locate her. 

Kairo couldn't have sensed her because she was too far away that even Grisia needed to actively look for her. Kairo's ki was not at that level yet even if he focused as much as he could, regardless of how much ki training they'd done that Grisia hadn't personally seen.

Grisia could see it by the strength and flow of his ki. Both Aisia and Kairo were improving at an excellent rate, but not abnormally fast. But by now, they could definitely match the kingdom's rookie knights.

"I will be away for a bit. I shall return shortly. You may return home by yourselves or stay here," he told them before vanishing.

"I wonder what power he uses to disappear like that.「 Ki 」?" Kairo asked.

Aisia shook her head and said, "He told me that's just how fast he normally is."

"... eh, I believe it."