Encounter

Isabella clicks her tongue in frustration, her displeasure clear as day. "Great, just great. They just had to pair me with you losers," she mutters under her breath, her annoyance palpable. Rubbing her eyebrow, her thoughts drift bitterly. 'It would've been nice to have Aira or Isadora on my team, maybe even that damn V, but why them...'

Beside her, Kaida offers a weak, awkward smile, trying to inject some positivity into the grim atmosphere. "H-hey, it could be worse," she stammers, though her confidence wanes as she steps back. 'Isabella is right... I can't do anything, I'm just a waste of effort. No matter how much I try using magic, it just doesn't go right,' she chastises herself internally, her self-doubt a heavy burden.

Then, as if struck by a sudden realization, Kaida speaks up, her voice laced with a hint of newfound hope. "U-um, why don't you contact Aira through your mst?" she suggests, her eyes flickering with the tentative light of an idea.

Isabella responds with a curt nod, already one step ahead. "I was planning on doing that," she retorts, her fingers swiftly navigating the holographic screen of her mst. As she attempts to reach out to Aira, she's confronted with V's contact— a reminder she could've done without. 'I completely forgot he somehow got my contact info. How did he even get an mst? They've been recently released to the public, but with his income, he shouldn't be able to afford it... Urgh, just thinking about him makes me frustrated.'

With a deep sigh, she sends the message to Aira: [We need to meet up. I'll try locating you.] Hesitating for a moment, she finally resolves to message V as well, albeit begrudgingly. [V, we should group up, is there any large landmark around you?]

Seconds tick by, turning into agonizing eternity as she waits for a response, only to be met with silence. "That damn man!" she exclaims, her fist clenching as her anger boils over. "How dare he leave me on read."

Just then, a new message from Aira lights up the screen: [We're currently heading north. Btw V, Oliver, and an elf are in my team, wby?] Isabella's irritation spikes, 'Those two are on the same team? If she responded, there's no reason for him to ignore my message.' She exhales deeply, attempting to calm the storm within. 'Why am I even getting mad over him? He's not worth the effort.'

Composing her final message, she writes with cold efficiency: [My group is filled with nothing but useless commoners. I'll track your location, see you soon.] With that, she turns off her mst, sealing away her frustrations for the moment.

Kaida, ever watchful, inquires cautiously, "So? How is it?" As Isabella starts walking, her directive is simple, devoid of any earlier irritation. "Let's start moving."

Kaida exhales heavily, a cloud of frustration manifesting in the air before her as she watches Isabella's retreating back, a silent symbol of her exclusion. The wind toys with her long wavy black hair, creating a stark contrast against the bleakness of her thoughts. 'I don't get it. Every day, I wonder why and how I got into Class A,' she muses, trailing behind the group like a shadow detached from its source. 'I'm not strong; compared to the students in other classes, I'm relatively weak. And yet, I somehow ended up in Class A, just because of a spirit affinity or something like that. They said I'm special, but after half a year, I haven't achieved anything.'

Her gaze lingers on Isabella's determined stride, biting her inner cheek in a silent rebuke to her own self-doubt. 'Flora is my best friend, and I know she lies to me, telling me how amazing I am, but... I'm nothing compared to people like her and Isabella.' Amidst her internal turmoil, she overhears Isabella's quiet grumbling, a rare crack in her composed exterior. "How dare V respond with 'no', who does he think he is?" This snippet of Isabella's vexation inadvertently drifts towards Kaida, embedding itself in her whirlpool of thoughts.

Kaida exhales again, a ritualistic release of her growing despair. 'V... When the school year started, I heard he was similar to me, high potential but just as weak as I was. I thought maybe I could relate to him, maybe even be friends and struggle together. But unlike me, he got strong quickly... He made friends with Isadora. Aira said Isadora only acknowledges strong people; he even made Isabella respect him.' The unfairness of it all constricts her heart, a vice of envy and self-pity tightening with every breath.

'I wonder if I should just quit my studies. My family is wealthy, so I don't need to work for anything...' The thought, seductive in its simplicity, dangles before her like forbidden fruit. Yet, as her fist clenches, a spark of defiance ignites within her. 'It's not like I slack off. I listened to V, and I started training in martial arts. I'm not the best at it, but I try, so why? Why am I so useless?'

With her hands buried in her pockets, Kaida aimlessly kicks a stone along the path, her motions devoid of enthusiasm. "Flora told me the other day that Arin managed to group heal, which is incredibly rare. And Rai... he can harden lightning around him, like how martial artists harden aura. I'm the only one who hasn't been able to do anything," she laments internally, her blue eyes catching the sun's glare in a moment of introspection. 'I don't want to be the strongest, I just... I just don't want to be seen as a worthless extra.'

Her thoughts are abruptly interrupted as the ground beneath them quakes violently. A sudden burst of flames erupts nearby, threatening to engulf everything in its path. Isabella reacts instantly, her annoyance palpable as she clicks her tongue and summons a protective shield. Tiny octagons coalesce to form a dome around them, repelling the flames that lash out like serpents against their barrier. "Tsk, just my luck," she mutters, her gaze scanning the perimeter for the source of the attack.

Kaida, meanwhile, is left gasping for air, her heart pounding against her chest. "I... I-I almost died," she stammers, barely within the confines of the protective dome. She collapses onto the scorched earth, sweat beading her forehead. 'I-I couldn't sense it whatsoever,' she realizes, a wave of despair washing over her as she covers her face in disbelief.

Isabella spares Kaida a brief glance, her expression one of disdainful indifference. 'V's casting method is helpful, though it consumes more mana, the casting speed is rapid and the spell's stability is not bad.' 

Talen approaches Kaida with a gentle admonition. "You should stay closer to the group; that nearly got you. Were you spacing out? Your reaction time was really slow." 

From the shadows of the forest, a figure emerges, yawning expansively. Clad in the unmistakable garb of a prison uniform, Zelo stretches lazily, seemingly unfazed by the chaos he's stumbled upon. "Huh? You kids managed to live through that?" he muses aloud, his casual demeanor belying the gravity of their situation. 'It was a simple attack but should've been enough to deal with these kids... oh, these are not elves.'

Isabella, her patience worn thin, meets Zelo's gaze with a cold, unwavering glare. "Piss off before you regret it," she warns, her wand held out in a defensive stance, its aura palpable even from a distance.

Zelo, however, seems intrigued rather than intimidated. He spares a glance at Isabella's wand, his interest piqued. "Oh, what a nice wand. I can see it's a very rare artifact," he comments, stifling another yawn, his eyes briefly glowing analyzing the wand's energy.

Zelo scratches his head in apparent frustration, a low groan escaping his lips. "Ugh... what to do," he mutters to himself, wrestling with his predicament. 'We split up so we could find that guy. These four are humans; if I kill any of them right now, I'll be instantly teleported back to the prison, but I don't feel like taking them all with me.' He rubs his eyes tiredly.

Seizing the moment of his distraction, Isabella conjures an orb of fire and lightning, launching it towards Zelo with deadly precision. He barely has time to react, opening his eyes just as the orb hurls towards him. With a casual flick of his wrist, he erects a magical shield, the orb exploding upon impact and scorching the surrounding area.

Emerging from the explosion unfazed, Zelo addresses Isabella directly, "You must be a noble." 

Isabella meets his comment with a cold stare, "So what if I am?" Around her, a chain of lightning crackles with energy. 'His casting speed is faster than mine; he must be at least a stage 7 rank 4 mage.' 

Zelo, seemingly uninterested in a prolonged confrontation, presents them with a different challenge. "Ugh... taking you would only give me a headache. Since you're all human, one of you has to know who this is." He flicks a picture towards them, which Isabella halts with a gust of wind. They all scrutinize the image, but no flicker of recognition crosses their faces. Isabella's voice drips with disdain as she dismisses the photograph, "Why would I know such an ugly man?" Internally, she puzzles, 'What the hell did you get yourself into, V? Why is this man searching for you?'

Disappointed, Zelo clicks his tongue, irritation creeping into his voice. "Tsk, so none of you know who he is?" He continues, scratching his head in annoyance, "This is a fucking problem... Okay, I'll let three of you go, but one of you needs to come with me."

Explosions erupt one after another, a symphony of chaos and destruction painting the forest in shades of destruction. Isabella, with a defiant glare, raises her hands, forming a massive fist composed of crackling lightning and raging flames. Her chains of electricity dance wildly as she ensnares Zelo, pulling him towards the fiery colossus. With a ferocious roar, the elemental fist strikes him squarely in the face, turning the ground beneath him into a cratered mess of rocks and scorched earth.

Miraculously, Zelo emerges from the debris, remarkably unscathed, his demeanor calm as if merely inconvenienced by the assault. "You really should stop this," he advises, his voice laced with a hint of boredom. He effortlessly evades Isabella's subsequent barrage of ethereal arrows, balancing atop a slender stick and riding the wind like a surfer upon the waves, his movements fluid and mocking.

Watching this, Isabella's frustration mounts. She mimics his aerial maneuver, a light bulb igniting in her mind. 'How come I never thought of this? It's super easy,' she marvels silently, even as she conjures a fiery net in an attempt to ensnare him. But with a dismissive gust of high-pressure wind, Zelo disperses her attack as easily as one might blow out a candle.

Below them, Kaida stands rooted in place, her fists clenched in helpless fury. 'I want to help, but there's nothing I can do. I can't even keep up with their movements. Dammit...' Her self-doubt eats at her, even as she yearns to make a difference.

Isabella, now panting heavily from the exertion, surveys the devastation around them. 'How is he this strong? I thought they filtered the criminals...' Her mind races, unable to comprehend Zelo's resilience and skill.

Zelo, stifling a yawn, critiques her efforts with an air of superiority. "You're not bad, but you're only using basic attacks." This only fuels Isabella's determination, a fierce smile breaking through her exhaustion. "Basic? These attacks aren't basic in my family. Let me show you what Mother considers 'basic'," she declares with a mix of pride and defiance.

Clapping her hands together, she invokes a colossal magic circle between them, flanked by two additional circles above and below, setting the stage for her ultimate move. Suddenly, hundreds of lightning chains erupt, weaving together to form a daunting cage that encapsulates them both. At the heart of this electric prison, two magic circles pulse ominously, threatening to unleash untold devastation.

Zelo's nonchalance finally falters as he recognizes the spell. "Urgh... the Cage of Pain, one of the family spells made by Duchess Aurora... this gives me bad memories. So you must be one of her daughters."