Fire And Ice: Part 1

"I will see you later."

Sylvia did not even wait for Lily's response and took off.

"..."

Concerned, Mika looked at the equally concerned Lily.

"You don't have to fight her, you know...?"

He tried to lighten the mood, but she neither replied nor did she react to him.

[Maybe her feeling uncomfortable around you still outweighs the pressure from Sylvia.]

Mika wore a forced smile, but deep down he felt a small sting.

He understood that it was pointless.

Then, the bell rang.

"..."

Mika saw how the others were leaving the cafeteria.

"Are you perhaps still unsure about which path you want to take?"

He became serious as he mentioned the topic the two were talking about last time.

Hearing the question, she stiffened up.

"I..."

Despite opening her mouth, she did not know what she wanted to say.

Mika scratched his head.

"As long as you're in this state, putting you in any fight would be too dangerous."

Voicing out his opinion, he also finally left the table and made his way to his afternoon class.

"Sylvia...?"

When he exited the cafeteria, he noticed Sylvia having a conversation with Ophelia.

Knowing that they would rope him into their conversation, he pretended that he did not see them.

But reality betrayed him.

"Where are you going, Mika?" Sylvia asked.

"Hey Mika, you sure got an amusing team!" Ophelia remarked with a smile.

"..."

With lumped shoulders, he joined the two shortly.

"So you want to use the arena space for your training?" Ophelia faced Sylvia again.

"Yes."

Ophelia pondered for a second.

"Well, since I'm your team's guide, I can give you permission."

"Thank you very much." Sylvia said with a light bow.

"Yeah sure, now get back to your classes." Ophelia dismissed Mika and Sylvia with a small hand wave.

Thus, everything was set for later.

The only thing left to do was to survive the lessons.

Mika was about to doze off during the subject for monster analysis. After all, thanks to the system and his own experience he knew more than enough about monsters' behaviors and weaknesses.

Time passed by in this manner and when the students left the classroom after the bell, Mika headed to the arena.

"Why are following me, Ms. Ross...?" Mika asked nervously.

"A fight between those two could prove to be very interesting. How could I miss that?"

Mika sighed.

Just like last time, Mika walked to the grand stained-glass window at the end of the hall.

There, Lily and Sylvia were already waiting.

With everyone assembled, they entered the portal, which popped up after Ophelia gave the signal.

As it was their first time in the arena, Lily and Sylvia looked around in astonishment whereas Mika and Ophelia went to the sidelines.

"Isn't this cruel? Unlike you, that Lily girl doesn't hide her power meaning that she is only a B-rank. Going against an S-rank student seems rather pointless to me." Ophelia said with her back leaning against the wall.

Mika focused his gaze on the two girls, who began to do some light stretches.

"Maybe there's more to it..." he muttered thoughtfully.

He believed that Sylvia knew better than to challenge Lily just for the sake of fighting.

"Are you ready, Lily?" Sylvia asked when she finished warming up.

Lily nodded.

After they took a distance from each other, the atmosphere became tense as they looked into each other's eyes sternly.

Then, the battle began.

Lily was the first to initiate an attack.

She started off with a fireball big enough to swallow an entire person with it.

However, Sylvia was unfazed by it.

Without even moving from her spot, she just waved her arm across as if she was slapping the wind.

Still, this small movement of hers was enough to freeze the fireball right in front of her.

"Was that all?"

The frozen fireball shattered into fine particles.

Lily could only grit her teeth in response to her provocation.

She proceeded to summon multiple arrows made of fire, which were floating above her.

Those arrows were fired off at Sylvia one after another.

In the meantime, Lily ran in a circle around Sylvia. This way, the arrows would be fired off from different angles.

But despite the rapid-fire, Sylvia still remained indifferent.

One after another arrow froze when they were almost hitting Sylvia.

Fired off, turned into ice and then into fine particles.

This circle was repeated countless times.

"Is this really the power of a B-rank?"

Lily gritted her teeth even more.

"That girl... It looks like she doesn't put her mind into this fight." Ophelia commented sternly.

With both hands emitting flames, Lily rushed directly at Sylvia.

"Aaaahhhh!!!"

Lily let out a shout as she blasted off a fire beam with every ounce of magic power she possessed.

But just in a split second, that great fire beam was frozen.

"N-no way..."

Lily was flabbergasted.

She tried to move away, but her legs did not move as she wanted.

Fog began to spread across the ground as the temperature within the arena dropped significantly.

"I'm asking you again. Is that all?"

Sylvia finally moved from her spot as she approached the shivering Lily, whose legs started to get frozen.

Only able to muster up puny flames in her hands, Lily launched uncoordinated punches at Sylvia.

For Sylvia, there was nothing easier than to dodge mindless and wild punches from a freezing person.

She dodged everything elegantly without unnecessary body movements.

A cold breath came out when she sighed.

Then, Sylvia caught a punch with ease.

"Nnghh..."

Lily struggled to free herself from her grasp.

And within the blink of an eye, Sylvia turned Lily into ice.

"H-hey, Sylvia!" Mika shouted anxiously as he was about to run to them.

"Be quiet, Mika."

Ophelia held him back by pulling on his shoulder.

"But-"

"Just look."

"?"

When he turned his gaze back to the two, he saw Sylvia approaching them.

"Ms.Ross I will leave the rest to you." she said coldly.

"Heh, did you take those extreme measures because you knew I would be here to clean up your mess?"

"..."

Sylvia did not say anything nor did she look at either Ophelia or Mika.

She just walked silently to the portal and before entering it, she looked back to the frozen Lily one more time.

"Hopefully, this is enough..."

And then, she vanished from the arena.

"Jeez, those two girls are really demanding... Hey, Mika. Go and help her."

Ophelia threw a bottle resembling a healing potion at Mika.

"What's this purple liquid?"

"Pour it on her and the ice will thaw instantly. Now get going!"

Following her order, Mika helped Lily.

Lily, after getting unfrozen, fell on her knees.

"Are you alright?"

He offered her his hand.

"Was... Was everything I did pointless?" she muttered while ignoring Mika's hand.

"..."

"I'm sorry, but you can go on without me. I want to sort my thoughts for now..."

Mika retracted his hand and turned his back on her.

During the match, he understood Sylvia's intentions even though the methods were radical.

The answer Lily was seeking was something she had to find for herself.

Nobody had the right to determine her path.

The least they could do was to help her make up her mind.

[That Sylvia girl must have thought that getting overwhelmed in a match would bring her back to her senses.]

"But in the end, even that was not enough."

He passed by Ophelia.

"Will your team be fine for the upcoming quest?"

"..."

Mika averted his gaze slightly.

"Let me be honest with you. Even with me present, I can't guarantee her safety when she remains in her current state."

"I know..."

He bit his lips.

What made matter worse was the fact that not even Mika could protect her due to the likelihood of receiving a main quest from the system during their monster subjugation being too high for his liking.

This meant that he could not use his sword.

He pondered.

What would be the best measure to take?