Aono somehow managed to get out of the Outpost when Drake and the others had left.
She hid behind a tree, her breath coming in ragged heaps as she pushed her sweat-painted glasses up by the brim. Surrounded by monsters that could easily find and kill her should she make a wrong move or make too much sound.
Thankfully the scene that was playing out was more than good for a distraction.
It was art.
Her breath began to strain once again, this time from the pure euphoria she was receiving watching the battle in front of her.
"Elegance…." she whispered, her glasses giving off a quick glint from the sun as she poked her head out from the tree just a little bit more to get a better view. In one hand a pen, in the other a faintly glowing piece of paper.
She looked on at the scene, wildly beginning to sketch onto the paper the action unfolding in the form of pure unadulterated violence.
"My sparkling knight in shining armor is killing the foul beasts left and right! The magic! The punching! The stabbing? Oh?! Ohhhhh?!?! This spell?! Is this an ultimate move?!" Aono began to squeal with fangirl jubilation.
She looked as Drake muttered his spell, his staff appearing before him as multiple spells began to form and lash out in all directions.
"Now that is magic! Yes, continue your great deeds, my Knight! I shall document them passionately and precisely!" she giggled looking down at the page.
On the faintly glowing paper a figure, supposedly Drake, stood his chin upwards lit in the color of his spells as they killed throngs of monsters in his way. The only thing that seemed to be misrepresented was Drake's face. It missed his iconic mask, instead replaced with a chiseled jawline and an incredibly handsome face with equally sparkling teeth.
"It's perfect…" she whispered, then her head snapped as she heard the horn of more monsters sound.
She gazed at the unfolding fight, amazed once again by the quickly disappearing monsters and equally elusive Drake who seemed to move so fast he was teleporting, forcing Aono to scrunch up her face.
"Well, a little Artistic Liberty is always required I guess…"
Looking on, her hand drafting the page at a feverish pace as she tried to take in the entire scene second by second.
After what felt like hours and her face pooling with sweat, Drake had finally stopped. Something in the air washed over the surroundings even reaching her as she felt a chill, her drawing hand stopping momentarily as her face shook in its position.
Her gaze locked on the still Drake in the middle of an army of green statues.
The next moment seven magic circles formed in front of him, and she heard him utter his spell.
"Heretical Endowment of the Elementalist! Septenarius!"
Drake lit up in an assortment of cascading colors, glowing in the bask of the elements as they infused him with their power.
Aono couldn't help but sob her next words as her tears would not stop falling.
"Ele-ruh-granceuuu….!"
This is the end of Volume One or Book One or Arc 2? Idk... But it has been a wild ride and I've enjoyed every moment of it! I want to thank you all for sticking with me for it, and hope you will come back Friday for the start of Volume 2! Cheers and have a wonderful week everyone.