Five Young Magi Discovering Their Magus Path (2)

A blonde coloured hair woman was sitting on grass. She seems to meditating.

"How is it going?"

The woman opened her eyes and looked at her instructor.

"Sir, there is no progress."

"It's all right Athena. It has only been one month. I heard from Aramis that you have learned how to keep it in check, that is, your attitude problem."

"Yes, sir."

"Only Kronos remains now."

Natsuko could be seen enchanting a shuriken at a building's corner outside. She then threw the shuriken far away in north east direction and then just ran away in west direction such that the building would stand as a barrier between herself and the shuriken.

The shuriken then exploded. Natsuko then came back to look at the result.

"It's off target. I need something that can help me throw these weapons precisely."

Natsuko thought, 'Maybe an enchanted spectacle would work. Should ask someone smart. Let me ask Sir Fauxis first. Even though instructor ain't as smart as Asnor but he still has much more diverse magical knowledge.'

Fauxis could be seen reading a book via mobile on a sofa and he kept laughing for some reason. The book must have been very funny. He didn't even notice that Natsuko had arrived net to himself

"Sir"

"Hmm..?", Fauxis then glanced at Natsuko and asked, "What is it?"

"I need your guidance."

"Tch"

'What? How could the instructor be showing such an repulsive attitude towards me. He is always okay with instructing and being annoyed by Asnor. Ah! I forgot that he came from Gremory Family. No wonder!'

"Sir, I want to make an enchanted item that can help me deduce throwing motion of weapons that Asnor normally uses. I just wanted your advice on it."

"That's too hard for you. Maybe try making a simple glove that will help you in throwing such weapons."

"Oh! I can give it a try."

But Natsuko inwardly thought, 'That is, after I consult with Asnor.'

Inside a special training room, Asnor wore a specially made helmet and suit and was standing on a specially constructed stand.

"Begin!"

Then the world from Asnor's perspective(Asnor's helmet provides a different view) started displaying holographic outlines of landscape that turned into a kind of maze like layout inside a castle.

<You've killed the King using an opportunity that no other human could have utilized. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be that easy to escape. Try trying to escape using everything in your arsenal.>

"He's here.", said some random guy.

Asnor glanced to wards where the voice came from and realized that it was some ordinary soldier.

'Time to run away!'

Asnor then started running towards a wall. The stand on which Asnor was standing also started moving part of it's upper body such that Asnor didn't have to hop out of the stand to keep running.

Asnor then ran upwards on the wall and barely managed to jump over the wall. The wall felt slippery because of the outfit, so it was very hard to utilize his excellent skills. But in real life, Asnor was running normally while running on wall in virtual reality. Asnor had enough experience to differentiate between real world and virtual reality since a beginner would have definitely hurt himself while trying out this stunt.

Asnor kept running to escape the soldiers stealthily. Those who he couldn't manage to avoid stealthily, he would have thrown a sharp pin that had it's tip dipped in poison and kill them. Eventually, Asnor had to face arrows. Due to Asnor's excellent perception and reflexes, he managed to find the best route to run way while barely dodging the arrows. In case of too many arrows, he would have shielded himself with the help of a wall or anything else that would have shielded him from the arrows.

If the situation had progressed as usual, Asnor would have smoothly escaped the castle and be hailed as a hero. At least that's how this game has been programmed to function. Unfortunately that ain't the case.

GROWL

"Finally! It's time to kill you creature. I won't let you kill me a second time for sure. I think."

A few moments later, Asnor could finally witness a humongous creature approaching in his direction.

BOOM! BANG! BANG! CRASH! BOOM!

Asnor could slowly see the humongous creature approaching. It didn't take long before the creature's appearance appeared clearer to himself. It was a dragon, an ultimate mighty beast that no one else could not help but put it in a game, comic, or novel. The dragon seems to be arriving closer to Asnor and Asnor couldn't help but get excited.

Eventually, the dragon crashed out of a wall and appeared in front of Asnor.

BOOM! GROWL!

Asnor smirked and took out what seems to be called a magical bomb. Not just one, he took out several magical bombs and threw it at the dragon.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Unfortunately, the worst case scenario that Asnor had thought of became reality, that is, inside the virtual reality. The dragon had managed to put out a barrier around itself for protection against magical bombs.

'DAMN IT! Last time, I just got ate by the dragon without even having to depend on magic. DAMN YOU, DRAGON!'

Thus, the dragon arrived closer to Asnor and ate him.

Asnor then took out the helmet from his head and the holographic world around him disappeared.

"Phew...", Asnor then proceeded to walk out of the stand and change clothes in the changing room.

A door slid open and Asnor entered a room that seemed like a refreshment room that had many refreshments. He then saw Natsuko sitting on a sofa and glancing at himself.

"What's up?"

"Asnor, I came to ask you for an advice."

"What do I get out of the deal?"

Natsuko sighed and said, "I will help you out 2 times including the one time I owed you for last time to skip out whatever that will happen in future with the help of resources of mine and my family."

Natsuko couldn't help but get terrified of the fact that Asnor had somehow deduced her background by just means of interaction between themselves. In such chaotic times, it's obvious that one of the biggest weakness of a magus is family. Natsuko just thought of it as a lesson to be more wary of magi that had powers similar to Asnor himself.

Asnor then sat on a sofa opposite to Natsuko.

Natsuko told Asnor what she had exactly told Fauxis.

"Hmm...? The best efficient method is by enchanting yourself either indirectly or directly. It depends on how you progress but it's very dangerous. Instructor is too lazy when it comes to you, Kronos and Aramis. I can easily realize that you prefer to take your enchantments on objects to an another level. Instructor didn't even try to think of such possibility. He is truly very lazy. Don't limit yourself. You just need to depend on others for now. But there will come a time when you don't have to depend on anyone else like me. If you don't trust others, just assist me."

Natsuko furrowed her brows, crossed her legs and thought for a while.

"You're right. I have been going against my true wishes ever since I saw how you had made my enchantments so lethal. But, wait a second. What about Athena? Does he advice her very well. I thought it was only you."

Asnor sighed and said, "Well, it's just a matter of time before everyone realizes this fact. Athena is a double edged sword that the people of high authority are extremely wary about. If she supports an organization that is an enemy of Gremory Family, that's too terrifying. Her brainwashing skills isn't something to be underestimated. I am pretty sure of the fact that our instructor was told to guide her in the right path that doesn't bring harm to Gremory Family."

Natsuko's face became pale upon her realization of Athena.

"Why are you so sure that it's Gremory Family?"

"Gremory Family prioritizes stability over anything else. It's the family policy. All though she can only become a very small variable but it's still an variable in the end. As a family that scrutinizes every single variable for the sake of future stability, I am not surprised at all at the fact that they are extremely wary of Athena."

"Stability over anything else... interesting. But is that really the case?"

"Gremory family probably had a good foundation to maintain this stability policy till now. And yes, what I had said was the truth. They truly do prioritize stability over anything else. This is public knowledge among people with power in this nation or any other nation. That's why I had no problem telling you. Besides, I am just a kid, I still can't know family secrets."

"I see. If that's the case, I would rather not waste your time. I better get going. See ya.", Natsuko smiled and waved her right hand as she walked towards the exit.

"Same here.", Asnor also smiled and waved his right hand as he sat on sofa.

"Ugh", Kronos rolled over the ground.

"You're too inflexible. Still can't figure out a way to be flexible?", spoke Aramis

"DAMN YOU!", Kronos had an annoyed expression on his face. Kronos then slowly got up.

"Still a brat! You don't change at all."

Kronos glared venomously at Aramis.

"Glaring?! But what can you do? You can't beat me and you need my help for your own training. Instructor would probably just beat you up rather than truly helping you out in case you had asked his help."

Kronos breathed in and out slowly.

"Oh, a brat trying to not be a brat?"

"BASTARD! Don't tell me that you have become like Instructor Fauxis in having enjoyment by bullying me."

"No, no. I don't enjoy beating people up. I am not like instructor at all. There is a difference, that is, I love educating brats. Never try to become decent or else I will lose a good punching bag. Hahaha." , Aramis couldn't help but have joy in teasing Kronos.

"DAMN YOU! I WILL CRUSH YOU!", Kronos dashed at Aramis but ended getting beaten up.

'Hahaha. Who would have thought that my training to polish my powers would be so joyful. THANK YOU, KRONOS! THIS IS ALL BECAUSE OF YOU! HAHAHA.', thought Aramis while he smiled.

Aramis continued, 'But I truly hope that I can help you in stop being a brat and be a good team mate, Kronos. Even though Kronos tries but habits can't be changed easily.'