Chapter 3: The Fight At The South Tower

A lot has happened since Bobby and Isaac separated from the rest of the group but we will be rewinding time to right after Caleb and the others left them.

Alarms sounded as the 9 of them emerged onto the meadow. Flat circles appeared everywhere as mages zoomed out on broomsticks ready to wreak havoc. It was as if these people came from a different world, dressed in black robes, all with a mask on, and all carrying broomsticks.

The chaos amerged anew as screams and yells sounded from within the castle. Caleb surveyed the situation and knew that a large group attracted more attention as more mages zoomed overhead. He decided that blending in with the students would be better so he led them into the South Tower quietly. The entrance to the South Tower was gone as smoke surrounded it. It smelled of burnt wood as they pinched their noses.

"Jolly gee, this smells like my mum's piss," Edmund said with disgust as they walked in a single file line.

Eleanor chided him as the blonde girl next to him laughed, "Is this really the time, people are dying," Eleanor emphasized the last word.

"Not dying, I could sense it you know," Kai mumbled as the passage led to a glamorous hall where numerous large chandeliers hung. The candles in them illuminated the hall giving it a splendid look. A first timer would have ooed and awed at its sight but the nine of them had seen it numerous of times throughout their time there so the initial excitement was dampened. Crowds of students were running over each other, scrambling for an escape as booms and explosions occurred distantly.

One of the guys herding the younger students noticed them, yelled loudly, "can you guys help me over here, I can't do all this myself."

The guy had a badge pressed on his robes, his features a mix of adolescence and adult.

Edmund saw him and grumbled, "Oh shucks, Otter Rolfe, captain of Weathercliff, best boy in our year."

The girl with the blonde hair next to Edmund blushed at the sight of Otter and tried to hide her face as Eleanor giggled.

Marielle who was quiet the entire time suddenly joked, "Emelia, your boyfriend doesn't notice you but he notices Edmund, what a pity."

Emelia's face got even redder from embarrassment as she squeaked, "Oh god, he's coming here."

Edmund glared at the oncoming figure of Otter as Kai looked with disgust, not pleased with the memory when Otter once ignored him. Adam looked in anticipation while Takumi looked coldly at Otter.

Caleb reached out to him and said, "Otter, I'm kind of in a rush right now so I won't be able to help you but I am sure Emelia would love to help you."

Otter, who disliked Caleb heavily due to his association with Emelia sneered, "Don't talk for her, what she does is her own will."

Emelia looked nervously at the two and said, "Otter, I can help but I would need Kai and Adam for their powers," at the last word she hesitated almost blurting out something unacceptable.

Otter's smile melted when she mentioned Kai and Adam then proceeded to mutter, "Fine, let's get this over with."

Kai and Adam looked at each other with confusion as the rest went separate ways, leaving them alone with Otter and Emelia. What a great way to leave them with a disgruntled couple, Kai thought to himself.

Otter, who was standing next to Emelia, cleared his throat, said, "Most of the students coming this way are gone, let's follow them."

"What about the people chasing them, are you not going to stop them," Adam replied with a condescending tone as he looked up at Otter who was almost a head taller.

"What can we do, our job is to lead them to safety not fight," Otter responded with annoyance, clearly frustrated at the turn of events.

"Well, I'm not a rule follower so good luck on that," Adam said impatiently as his boots flared up in blue. In a moment, he was gone, disappearing into the corridor that connected the hall.

Otter shook his head in disbelief as Kai and Emelia shrugged. They knew this impulsive side of Adam. He was always quick to rush at things head on without a moment's thought.

They were about to follow him when the vast windows surrounding the hall exploded as glass shattered everywhere spraying them with it. Otter pulled Emelia into his chest as he summoned a bronze wall around them to deflect the shards raining on them.

Sunlight flooded in from the broken windows as they heard the rustling wind, seemingly not in place during the eve of summer. The bronze wall blocked their view on the event but the cold still affected them as Kai felt the temperature drop.

"What is this, winter," Otter snarled under his breath as Emelia shushed him.

Then they heard a huge boom as the bronze wall was pierced in half as a spear made of ice appeared in sight, flying towards them. Kai barely dodged it as it soared past them embedding itself on the mantle with a thump. Otter and Emelia were on the other side, unscathed too as a young man appeared in front of them.

The man was about 22 with icy frost hair, his eyes sky blue as he stared emotionless at them, a crest was on his white cloak as he projected royalty to them.

Otter squinted his eyes at the man while Emelia looked with curiosity. Kai thought the man looked splendid and foreign but all he could was stare.

Alas, the man broke the silence, "My name's Walter Courier and I am trying to find a girl named Marielle Winston. If you can bring her over that would be much appreciated." He stood there with the same robotic face and stature.

"Marielle," Otter asked incredulously, "what do you want her for?"

Both Emelia and Kai knew the answer to that question but they didn't say anything as the man spoke again, "I'm the commander for the Regalia family and they requested her presence."

Regalia, that word would forever be etched into Kai's brain. The royal family of Spade that spawned generations. He knew how badly Marielle was wanted by them.

Otter looked bewildered as he replied, "Yeah, I don't know what you want with her but my job is to protect the students so I can't let you."

The man's face stayed the same as he decided, "Then I would have to force you."

Otter knew that he would be trash for most of the fight as bronze was not very useful on its own, especially with a new grimoire. But he had a secret weapon that he aimed to use in this fight as the opponent was definitely no pushover.

In a flash, the man appeared on the side of the columns connecting the walls. He jumped off the column and launched himself at Otter who was putting his arm over Emelia. Otter's instincts were not fast enough to detect the man so when he closed in a scythe blocked the movement of the man's sword. A clang sounded as both weapons collided echoing over the large hall. Kai stood in front of them trying to hold his tance as he panted. The man looked at him then twisted his blade over his head pulling the scythe with him as he swung the scythe over his shoulders. The scythe clattered on the ground as it went behind the man who turned to face him.

Kai knew he was screwed as no one, not even the sword masters had done that to him once. This man was on another level. The man did not take his time as he blasted forward again, sword out ready to pierce Kai as he sidestepped and pivoted behind. Otter who came out of his shock produced his grimoire where he summoned a bronze transparent cannon containing himself and Emelia in it.

5 cannon balls blasted towards the man who immediately stopped and put both hands on the ground, freezing everything instantaneously except them. The cannonballs clanked on the floor like frozen popsicles as Otter and Emelia looked with wide eyes. Kai whimpered as his legs shivered whether from the cold or from the fear. This guy was a monster and Kai, who hadn't yet gotten his grimoire, knew there was no chance of winning until Otter used his optimizer power. But Kai knew deep down that Otter would get killed before being able to use it. He didn't want to die, he was too scared to die. They needed a plan but there was no time for plans as the man lunged towards Otter like a cheetah.

Otter's cannon which can serve as defense too could not hold the momentum of the swing as he slashed downwards above them shattering his defense to pieces. His swing was about to hit Otter when Otter gripped it with his hand, his face contorted into fury as he glared at the man. A cornered rat could be scary but a cornered cat protecting its offspring was even scarier. This was the case for Otter as he shielded Emelia with his arms who looked at Otter with concern.

Blood dripped from Otter's hand as he gripped the sword, the man looking mildly surprised. Otter then stretched his right arm back letting mana flow through his arm as he unleashed it, coating his whole arm with bronze scales. The knuckle region contained spikes as he gripped his hand into a fist. He pulled back his fist and tried to slam it in the man's abdomen as he roared in rage. The man tried to release his sword from Otter's grip but couldn't as his fist sunk into his stomach making him cry out as he soared into the icy wall.

Otter looked in triumph as Kai tried to figure out where the man landed. As the man was about to hit the wall, blood on his lips, he pushed his legs back on the wall horizontally, and blasted downwards toward Otter again as he sent hundreds of ice needles toward him. Otter pushed Emelia away as he took the damage. Hundreds of ice needles pierced Otter but he grinned. It didn't affect him as a thin layer of bronze surrounded his body formulating underneath his robes. The ice needles unsticked from his body as they clinked on the floor. Kai stood there motionless with surprise. If he could be just like him, he thought, then life would be so much easier.

Emelia looked in horror as she yelled, "Otter, you didn't have to do that, you could've been hurt."

She thought of the blue flames in her mind, the memory made her shudder as she thought Otter pushing her away reminded of that.

"I'm fine, it will take more than that to kill me. How can I call myself a captain if I lose here. Have faith in me," he shouted back, still concentrating on the man who landed softly in front of him.

"Impressive, that you could hold on for this long," he observed with intellect as he readied his sword.

"Heh, I'm just getting started," Otter said with a forced grin to keep down his fear, the sudden adrenaline all gone now after the man recovered from the punch.

The man did not reply as Otter summoned the 5 fates of swords as 5 bronze swords encircled in front of him aiming horizontally at the enemy. With a wave, two swords flew at the man as they both swung at a 45 degree angle. The man produced a sword made of ice and started using both to parry them. Otter, annoyed by the progress, sent 3 more swords to join the fun.

It was fruitless as the man created a sphere made of ice around him as the swords hacked at it with no use. The sphere then rolled towards Otter who ran out of ideas, could not move as he fell down while walking backwards. Emelia who had been absent the entire fight decided to overcome her fear and intrude.

The strings appeared on each of her fingers as her grimoire flipped to a page. She only had one puppet for now but this should do for now. A figure with a blank face and long white hair and robes flew out of her grimoire as it appeared in front of her. Kai looked at it in wonder remembering the time she first summoned it, how much ruckus it caused within the group.

"A pure summoner type, interesting," the man remarked while Otter scooted back in terror.

"E-Emelia, w-what," he stammered, unable to get the words out as she looked at him with a reassuring smile.

"It's fine Otter, let me be the hero too," she said sweetly as she willed the puppet in front of her to open its palms at the man. Two condensed mana air blasts were sent towards the man as he could not see it, he could not dodge it. But he could sense the mana as he shielded himself with the sphere as it took the hit.

The sphere shattered into pieces as the man felt the blow of the blast as it pushed him into the nearest wall causing it to crack. A hole appeared in his robes as ice covered it, smoke covering it as it rose up. The man grunted in pain as he hoisted himself into a standing position.

"Alright, no more playing around. I acknowledged you guys as serious opponents," he said as he felt the mana zone vibrating around him giving him a new colour to look at, everything vibrating around him.

A flick of his hand was all it needed as gigantic spikes of ice, the size of a 6ft man, erupted from the ground as it continued its path towards Otter who was still sitting down. The spike pierced the bronze plate from underneath him as his feet took the damage, blood flowing from under his soles, his eyes clearly in pain. He tried to keep it in but couldn't, the pain overflowing his senses as he almost blacked out.

Kai, who was hiding in the shadows the entire time, thought with a mixture of awe and dismay. The speed of those spikes were just incredible. This guy might even be on the same level as Professor Janson and yet this guy was much younger.

Otter cursed silently as he thought furiously, the spirit says it would help him if he needed it but it has not appeared yet. Just what does he need to gain its help! His feet was stuck to the spike as he tried to pull it out but felt something wrong on his feet. He could not feel them, numb from the cold as he tried to tug on it.

"It won't work, once those spikes pierce your skin it freezes it creating frostbite. You might have to cut off your feet after this," the man said matter of factly.

Otter who tugged again felt a sense of hysteria as he roared in rage, "WEATHERCLIFF IF YOU EVER LIKED ME COME NOW OR I WILL FUCKING HAUNT YOU IN MY AFTERLIFE!!!"

The man ignored him as he launched himself once again at Otter who screamed in terror, "WEATHERCLIFF!!"

In a different context, it would've been hilarious to see the Captain of WeatherCliff scream his name in terror but now all Kai would feel was dread.

Emelia, who understood the context of things, immediately commanded the figure to project an air barrier in front of the man who crashed into it breaking it to pieces. But the damage was done as the man stopped to check his bleeding. Blood flowed from his head upon the impact of the thick air and he thought with annoyance of air magic and how he could not sense it properly due to the unique flow of mana in the figure. The girl was essentially giving mana to the figure as the figure was using it, tuning it to air magic. He had to get rid of the girl first as he changed his direction, summoning numerous ice spikes underneath her, attempting to pierce her. Otter screamed again as he saw the spikes piercing in her direction but in a flash the figure placed itself under her, spreading its body like an eagle as the spikes pierced through the barrier and into its body. Blood blossomed from its chest as Emelia looked in with a horrid expression, her eyes wide.

"H-How did you, I didn't command you," she struggled to get the words out as she looked at its red back, wet with blood. In a sense she never felt that it was an organism of some sort. Rather it was an object, a puppet with no life. She was so wrong as it turned its head at her smiling before providing a gentle breeze to carry her down. After that it dissolved into flecks of paper drifting into the air. She felt a sense of disgust at herself for treating it like an object rather than a living being. She also felt a sense of dread as she realized her mana was all gone as she slumped to the ground unable to move. The man looked at her with curiosity and some sort of pity as he started to walk towards her.

Otter let out a strangled screech, "Don't you lay a hand on her!" He struggled hard to remove his feet but it was futile as he moaned in pain.

Kai's heart beat loudly as he realized the extent of the situation. The man was walking towards Emelia with his sword out ready to use it at any second as Kai was watching from the corner not able to move. He forced his hands on his scythe trying to regain the courage he had when the first attacked.

But he stood frozen as the man approached closer and closer to Emelia, Otter frantically trying to free himself. A grimoire would be nice now, Kai prayed to himself as the man kneeled down next to Emelia.

Emelia, who was perhaps one of the people who recognized him for who he was, changed him. He was narrow minded and in hindsight to his problems until he met her. Without her, he wouldn't have been friends with Caleb and the others. He always admired the charisma and leadership qualities Caleb and Edmund possessed but he could not be like them. He did not have the dominant qualities to succeed and he knew that so his insecurities grew as he kept comparing himself to them. He chided himself for that but he could not control it.

The only person that realized his inner turmoil was none other than Emelia herself who sat down with him one day to confront him about it.

They were 4th years just finishing off their grimoire selection when it happened. The sky was a spotless blue as the heavy sunlight poured through the curtains of the living room in their hideout. They were alone as Emelia sat on a red sofa across from him sipping tea. He clutched his fingers nervously awaiting her response.

"So I heard you didn't get a grimoire," she said, her blonde hair shining brightly in the sunlight.

He nodded glumly as he replied quietly, "I was the only one in my class that didn't get one. I felt so useless when everyone stared at me with pity." His tone was laced with bitterness as Emelia caught on.

"You know some people are late bloomers. You might get it later on," she said nonchalantly as she continued sipping her tea.

"Easy for you to say, Edmund told you got a summoner type grimoire," he said angrily as he did not meet her gaze. He fully knew how bitchy he was being but he couldn't control it. The bitterness was too much.

She put down her cup roughly, spilling a bit as she responded, "Stop complaining, be grateful that you have high mana levels. Some people would never have enough mana to be a mage."

"What's mana when you don't even have magic, might as well become a leer," he grumbled, his face dispirited.

"And?", she pressed on.

"And I will never be as strong as Caleb and Edmund," he stated with finality refusing to look at her.

"So what if you aren't? Stop comparing yourself to them. You are you, they are them. We are born differently for a reason, we all have goals we strive to succeed. But forcing your path to be like someone elses would only hinder your progression. When you try to be like someone, you slowly erase your own identity until you are merely a speck of yourself. I experienced that myself when my older brother Itaewon burned down our house. I still have trauma from it and I hated myself for what caused him to leave. But that should not be the case. You aren't meant to be built like Caleb or Edmund. By forcing a triangle into a circle it only damages it in the long run and that's you right now, the triangle. Instead of being them, you should progress yourself," she finally finished as she took a huge sip from her cup.

Kai thought about it for a moment. Then he thought of the triangle and the circle. As crazy as it sounds, he could see himself as the triangle with rough edges while Edmund and Caleb as the circle with smooth edges. She knew him so well and he could not comprehend how she knew.

He sucked in a huge breath and asked simply, "How come you know me so well? It's as if you are reading my mind," the mana link only provided thoughts they wanted to reveal so he knew it didn't work like that.

"It's written all over your face, the insecurity whenever Caleb or Edmund did something. The admiration on your face and the bitterness when you talk about them. I just never brought it up because I was scared that I would lose you," she finished hesitantly as she looked sadly at him. They had been childhood friends and yet this was the first time that they were talking about their inner emotions.

He always had a fat crush on her but he didn't realize it until that day. The feelings that were kept dormant in him were finally unleashed on that day, the last straw. He felt an immense sense of connection to her since then and they would usually have chats after that. Just the two of them and he felt grateful for her company. He always felt that without her he wouldn't have survived. He relied on her like a drug and he felt that he would have to get strong so that he could protect her one day, impressing her. But those thoughts were dashed away when she started seeing Otter right before summer break began. He felt betrayed and offended that she chose Otter of all people! Otter the guy who looked down on him, Otter the golden boy, popular with both guys and girls. It was like a slap on the face for him, dating the type of person he felt most insecure about. He did not think lower of her whatsoever instead he directed all those negative feelings towards Otter, making him despise Otter even more.

To be honest, in the beginning of the fight Kai secretly felt a twisted sense of giddy at Otter being in trouble. It satisfied his desire to see a guy like Otter fail and reveal his vulnerability in the face of trouble. But he also felt a sense of guilt and dread as the death of Otter would affect Emelia heavily and he did not want that. He felt shame too as the one person who did nothing to contribute. He also felt pain, pain in not being able to help, pain in seeing Emelia and Otter in trouble, pain in hating himself for being so afraid. And pain in seeing himself feel pain.

He also felt resentment, resentment in Otter who Emelia loves, resentment in the man who was causing all of them pain, resentment in Emelia herself for not loving him the way he loves her, and last but not least resentment at not having a family and being alone for the most of his life.

He also felt anger, anger at himself for being so weak and cowardly, anger at not having a grimoire, anger at the state of things, anger that Emelia was about to perish, and finally anger at being unable to save himself .

Pain.

Anger.

Resentment.

Those three made up the main components of him, a failure and he couldn't keep it anymore. He let out a scream so ferocious that a gust of wind blew the man back a few steps. Otter at this point was staring wildly at him while Emelia looked at him with tired eyes still unable to move. The whole hall was frozen in ice as he came out of the shadows and revealed himself. He felt like someone was controlling his body as he took out his scythe. On his left hand, a black magic circle glowed with light as he glared at the man with utmost fury, all cowardly emotions gone now as Otter's jaw dropped in shock.

Xanthus's blessing can't be, Otter thought to himself in horror as a grimoire suddenly appeared in front of Kai. The grimoire was pure black with a 0 leaf clover, something that no one has seen before. Dark smoke surrounded the grimoire as Kai grew two curved black horns on his head, his eyes turned red as his teeth became like vampire fangs. He grew two gigantic leathery bat wings that flapped with energy. His fingernails grew longer now like claws as he grinned maliciously at them.

"Haha, it's been awhile since I entertained myself with a human body," a voice unlike Kai said while laughing.

The man who kept his composure asked, "Who are you, state yourself."

"Heh, Xanthus of course, the boy checked all the requirements for him to become an optimizer," he answered casually, still excited about being in a human body.

The man stood silently as he flicked his wrist once again as a pack of spikes erupted from underneath Xanthus as he immediately dissolved it with black energy.

"You aren't a match for me human, the boy's magic lives strong in me," he said as he flew upwards near the ceiling causing the entire floor to turn black as black smoke started rising up from it, the only part not covered in black was Emelia and Otter who both looked on with stunned faces. The man covered his forte with ice as two gigantic ice chunks appeared above Xanthus ready to crush him when needed but those chunks were too slow as Xanthus melted into the darkness and then formulated under the man grabbing his feet sturdily as the darkness started rotting away his life force. The man jumped out of the way feeling the corrosion as he knew that an SS tier spell was needed to end this.

He at first wanted to conserve more mana for more important fights but at this point he had no choice as he opened his grimoire once again and flipped to the last page where a grumbling occurred from below. With an up gesture with his hand Ceberus, a monstrous three headed wolf made of ice erupted from underneath destroying a section of the hall leaving a huge hole in the middle where all they could see was darkness.

The Ice Cerberus instead of attacking them flew upwards into the ceiling destroying it in the process as chunks of rocks the size of a car rained down on them along with the numerous chandeliers that were destroyed to pieces, candles falling towards them.

Xanthus quickly muttered his breath, "Black hole," as a vortex in the middle started sucking all the rocks in, crushing it in the process. But the man was not done as he flicked his finger down as Ceberus with it's growling and snarling filled up the hole in the ceiling as it came soaring down towards them. Before Ceberus could come down any further Xanthus prepared a web of dark threads shaped in a net to capture him but the man had other ideas as he snapped his fingers.

The seal inside Cerberus was broken as it enlarged mutantly as if someone was blowing air into it. Soon enough, the ice and frost spread throughout the Southern Tower and its counterparts freezing it. Cerberus kept growing until he could not fit the hall anymore as the man clapped his hands. He changed his mind and instead of escaping which was next to impossible he would do a kamikaze move where he would take all of them down including this castle. Cerberus exploded blasting everything in its path to cinders as light surrounded them, blinding them with white. The man's last thoughts were it's all over and….

I'm sorry Kori, I'm sorry I would not make it back for your 13th birthday….I love you

The whiteness engulfed them.