Magic Showing Spark

"What's this?" Alec said, more amused than anything.

 "You did it Roko!" Corissa cried, "You learned how to use magic!"

 Roko looked down at the mana swirling around his hands. This...was abnormal. He was having trouble using magic ever since he lost the Intellect Coronet. And he certainly did not get any better at magic all of a sudden. Yet here it was, mana moving and flowing around to his will with ease. Wrapping enchantments around his sword took mere seconds. What was going on?

 Alder stumbled back forward from his impact with the tree, "You...you can use magic now?"

 "..."

 "What's it matter?" Alder growled, "There's no backing out now. I'm not leaving until one of us is dead!"

 "...Well let's hope it's you." Roko replied, "On account of you being able to come back to life anyway."

 "You're a thorn in our side that will become a knife. I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!"

 Alder flapped his wings and charged at Roko in a low flight. Roko swung his sword and fired a blast of water at Alder, splattering water over his face. Alder continued flying forward as he tried to wipe the water from his eyes. Roko fell backwards, drawing his legs inward as Alder flew over him and kicked into his exposed stomach. Alder was thrown up into the air and began to fall down not far from Roko. Roko spun around, drawing his sword up as he swung his legs back underneath him. Weaving another enchantment as he did, Roko stabbed the sword into the ground and summoned a spire of earth underneath Alder. The rising earth smashed into the falling demon and knocked him back into the air and towards Roko again. Roko stood up and smashed his shield into Alder's face, throwing him across the ground.

 "Go!" Corissa cheered, "You can do it Roko!"

 All that done and Alder was already picking himself back with with hardly a scratch.

 "You're resilient as hell." Roko said, "Are you sure you're not a roach instead of a demon?"

 "And you're just full of surprises." Alder massaged his jaw, "Still...at least you can't use fire magic."

 "About that." Roko smirked, "You just reminded me. Those enchantments weren't the only spells I scanned."

 "What?"

 Roko held up his hand and called upon the surrounding mana once again. And once again the magic gathered readily, weaving a magical seal that burst into a small fireball. Alder's eyes widened as Roko flung the fireball at him. He brought up his arms and blocked the fireball but the flames easily coated his arms, burning away at him. Alder cried out in shock and flapped his wings, frantically putting out the fire on his arms. Roko used analyze to check on Alder's health, mainly out of spite to watch Alder's health begin dropping like a brick.

 "How...how did you do this?!" Alder cried.

 "I didn't know Roko could use fire either." Corissa blinked.

 "Don't worry about it." Roko replied, "Let's continue."

 "You..." Alder scowled, a bit of fear creeping back into his eyes, "I've trained to counter fire attacks now. This won't end the same way again!"

 Roko watched as Alder flew up into the air above him again, sliding another throwing knife out of his belt.

 "Dark!"

 Bullets of dark magic began to rain down upon Roko once again. Roko ran around the ground, firing off fireballs at Alder in the sky. The demon dodged the flames with relative ease, pausing his attacks to focus on dodging them. In this opening Roko threw the knife at Alder. Alder pulled back, letting the dagger fall short of his face. He sneered down at Roko but Roko had already prepared another fireball and flung it up at Alder. The fireball hit the throwing knife and promptly exploded. Alder was engulfed in flames and his smoking body fell out of the sky very quickly. He slammed into the ground, taking a fair bit of damage but still alive according to Roko's analyze spell. With a grunt Alder pushed himself back up to face Roko again,

 "You can make them explode?!"

 "Coincidentally, yes." Roko said as he took out a notebook and flipped it open, "I honestly would have forgotten about it's seal design if I didn't record it and consult it recently."

 "Where'd you even learn magic like that?!"

 "It'd be more accurate to say I stole it."

 "I knew you were a rat you bastard!"

 "Sorry, I'm not going to be taking lessons on ethics from a goddamned demon."

 "I'm so sick of you all."

 "Feeling's mutual kiddo." Roko replied as he pointed his sword at Alder.

 Alder scowled and threw his arm forward, "Smoke!"

 A black cloud burst out from Alder's hand, covering Roko in seconds and obscuring his vision. Roko sighed and fixed his collar, "You know you tried this before right?"

 And following the analyze marker in his eyes, he enchanted his sword with wind magic and placed his sword behind his back. Alder's claw struck out from the smoke around and was immediately blocked by the sword. The wind enchantment exploded outward, clearing the smoke from around the two.

 "Oh yeah." Roko said as he slowly summoned fire to crawl down his sword's blade, "I guess I can also use this to counter curse now can't I?"

 Deflecting Alder's claw away from him, Roko turned around and slashed into the demon's body. Alder cried out in pain and stumbled back.

 "Now that I think about it, I suppose this isn't really good for your trauma." Roko said as he stepped towards the demon, "Don't worry." Roko raised his burning sword, "I won't take your wings this time."

 Roko slashed down and cut the demon in two. Alder slowly disintegrated, his eyes expressing a deep regret and yet a thankful serenity for the end of his service...for now anyway. Roko turned around and extinguished the flames on his sword with a flick of his blade. Unlike in Cordis, the state of his sword now was still completely usable. It's more brief touch with flame had done little to diminish its integrity. And now Roko turned this blade at Alec.

 "Round one ended the same as last time." Roko said, "Will round two end the same way again?"

 Alec sighed, "You really went and defeated Alder a second time. Honestly, what is it about you that lets you beat a seemingly unwinnable fight? Honestly, I'm sorely tempted to just leave at this point."

 "Kyaaa!" Corissa squealed, "Roko actually did it! He actually beat a demon! And I actually got to see it this time! What an amazing fight it was too! As expected of Roko! Roko is so cool!"

 "Then again..." Alec said as he stood up, "I suppose you've earned a rematch."

 "You can still back out if you want to." Roko said.

 "No, I don't think I will."

 "...Can I back out?"

 "No."

 "Figures." Roko sighed, "Then let's get this over with."

 Alec stood up, placing the grimoire on the rock he was sitting on and pulling the sword he was wearing from behind him to the side, drawing his fancy looking weapon from its fancy scabbard.

 "You've faced this sword before right? How did it feel to face a named sword?"

 "I still don't know why I should care if a sword's named or not."

 "A good name that's stuck around has history. It has meaning and significance."

 "So what does that mean when your pet demon got killed by someone with no such history and significance?"

 "Probably that the one who killed him should value himself more."

 "Or maybe the guys talking about history and significance should value themselves less."

 "How did you make any friends?"

 "They're not you."

 …

 …

 "...Well alright, fair enough." Alec shrugged as he raised his sword.

 Roko charged at Alec. He knew Alec was too lazy to attack first so he took the initiative. He swung his sword at Alec who easily blocked his attacks. Alec was a much more grounded fighter with no spells to cast, no tail to whip and no wings to fly with. There was no gimmick for Roko to take advantage of. It was a complete test of skill. Which was why, after several eventful months since their last bout Roko felt like he was still completely outmatched. Back when Roko first scanned him, his stats were greater than even Momo's at the time. Now he has not only somehow gotten stronger, he was almost as strong as Varis at least stat wise. If Alec faced Momo or Varis, they might still win if they used reinforcement magic but without it Alec had a statistical chance of beating them. Assuming he also went 100% percent which was Alec's ultimate weakness. His refusal to put forth full effort was the one thing that Roko had to his advantage in winning this fight. Granted, he still didn't know what his own "stats" were and then there's the fact that Roko wasn't certain where Alec's stats were at any point in time. He may be using 80% of his strength at one point but he could always put forth more. 82%, 89%, even if Roko knew he would never use 100%, his strength was certain to fluctuate according to the flow of battle. This behavior, of course, was applicable to everyone though. Roko himself had plenty of times when he had to put forth less effort than he could and suddenly found strength when he thought he had none left. But there was a difference in suddenly gaining a second wind at the end of your rope and just having a store of strength that someone just wasn't applying but could at any point. To win, Roko had to land a finishing blow at the point where Alec's strength was at its lowest. If he ever forces Alec to put forth any more effort than he could handle, Roko was almost certain to lose even if Alec never puts forth all of his potential. That was if Roko wanted to win of course. But Roko was already expecting to lose.

 Alec was smiling pleasantly as the two traded swordplay. Neither combatant had tried to escalate their fight yet. The two had gotten into a rhythm of attacking and blocking. Or rather, Roko was making all the attacks he could while Alec lazily blocked. It was one thing for Alec to put in little effort but Roko was...suspicious.

 "You're doing better than last time." Alec called, "Though last time you had a melted sword, a stomach wound and barely beat Alder. This time you have a ton of weapons, proper armor and more handily beat Alder! Are you really so tired?"

 "Why put in effort when my opponent is not?" Roko replied.

 "Haha, now you're seeing things my way!" Alec laughed, "See, I knew we could be friends."

 Alec and Roko laughed together until Roko made a quick slash at Alec's neck which he blocked with his sword's guard.

 "That's more like it!" Alec smiled, "I knew you were holding back!"

 "And I know you are too." Roko frowned.

 "I mean yeah but I'm trying even less than last time." Alec said, "Honestly it's a little boring for me. Why don't you use some magic?"

 "Why don't you?"

 "You know I don't know any spells."

 "Then I'm not using any magic either."

 "You're more honorable than some people I know! Well, most people I know actually."

 "Including yourself?"

 "Hey, I'm an honorable guy! Here, I'll show off some magic so you can go all out."

 Roko's blood froze as Alec deflected his sword away from him and raised his weapon over his head.

 "Oath of Burning Armageddon."

 Alec's sword burst into flames as he swung down at Roko, firing off a blade of flames at him. Roko blocked the attack with his shield but the flames burned past him in a ceaseless torrent. Roko could feel every part of his body heating up just from the flames brushing past him but just as he thought he was going to be burned the flames ceased, having heated him to a feverish degree. Roko stood there, unharmed but having been singed a hair too close to burning.

 "See?" Alec said, "Cool isn't it?"

 "What was that?" Roko growled, "You don't know any magic, I know that."

 "Hahaha, I guess your spells doesn't really tell you about swordstyles." Alec laughed, "Though even then, my swordstyle is pretty unique."

 "Explain."

 "It's the Oath of Apocalypse!" Alec grinned, "I'm a Paladin of the Apocalypse!"

 "A...paladin?" Roko repeated, stunned.

 "I mean, it's really by name only." Alec snickered, "The Paladin order of the Apocalypse is supposed to be a force that is meant to combat, well, apocalyptic events. It's supposed to be this super secret and super powerful order but like...when was the last apocalyptic event really? So I got in at a real good time. Their numbers were dwindling and they were offering a sort of training program where I can get their powers and slowly learn how to use them. So I just learned everything I could and just kinda...left."

 "You stole their techniques?"

 "No no, I'm still part of their order...I think." Alec shrugged, "I'm just 'still learning' and not actually meant to fight the apocalypse. Honestly, I can't even remember the last time I met someone from the order. Might all be dead actually."

 "You stole their techniques." Roko sighed.

 "Hey hey hey! It's not my fault they made it so easy to learn!" Alec protested, "All I had to do was take a couple of oaths and do some form training and that was it really. Really powerful stuff too, they don't mess around."

 "You didn't even bother to learn from them properly. I can't believe you're proud of this."

 "Hey, I didn't do anything wrong."

 "I've just about had enough of you."

 "I'm only starting to have fun."

 Roko gritted his teeth and swung his sword at Alec. Alec blocked his wide swing with his sword and pushed it to the side, throwing the brunt of his body forward in a tackle. Roko stumbled back a few steps after getting hit but Alec was already preparing his next attack.

 "Oath of Broken Armageddon."

 Roko saw Alec's sword become sheathed in earth magic. Roko brought up his shield again to defend but when Alec's attack hit, he felt an immense force striking him down. Like a heavy earthen mallet, Roko was smashed down into the ground and nearly to unconsciousness. Whether by experience or out of sheer disdain, Roko hung on and began to pick himself back up even as his mind was reeling from the blow. 

 "Hmm..." Alec looked on approvingly, "That's more of what I expected from you."

 Roko glared at Alec, taking up another stance against him, looking as determined as ever. But Alec could tell he was running low. And while he didn't really want to actually kill Roko, he was curious enough to force a little more out of the young man.

 "What else can you do?" Alec mused as he raised his sword.

 Roko's eyes widened as he saw magic enveloping Alec in a black, fathomless aura. One that was slowly obscuring his figure from view.

 "Oath of..."

 Roko slashed into the darkness, dissipating it but revealing no Alec inside. This darkness suddenly split off and spread into several black spots that hovered around Roko. Roko slowly slid three throwing knives out of his belt and waited. The moment the black spots began to converge on him, Roko threw the knives at three of the dark wisps, piercing and dissolving these decoys as he wound up his sword, turning around and letting out a wide slash to cleave all the remaining dark auras as they came close to him, destroying them all. And revealing no Alec. For behind him, out of his own shadow rose the lackadaisical knight.

 "Dark Armageddon."

 Roko tried spinning around again, trying to slash Alec first before he could but Alec parried his attempt, using his sword infused with dark magic to knock the sword right out of Roko's hand. Roko tried to bring his shield around to protect himself but was a hair too late. As Alec's sword flicked around and slashed deep into Roko's body, cutting right through his armor and right into his body.

 Roko stumbled back, blood spurting out of his body. He was stunned but standing. Bleeding but alive. His sword was gone. Fallen a good distance away from him. Roko's recoil had brought him a good distance away from Alec as well. His mind whirled, the only part of him that seemed to be operating without difficulty. Even then, he no longer had the luxury of contemplating what else he can do differently, what Alec might do, how to trap him or what comes next. All he had was a plan of attack and the only thing left to do was execute it.

 "Fire."

 Roko pulled his arm away from his bleeding body, summoning a small flame in his hands. Alec watched, bemused than threatened. Roko gathered this flame in his hand as he unclasped the whip from his belt, his only remaining weapon. And with a flick, Roko threw the whip out to wrap around his fallen sword not far from him. And as Alec took notice of his whip, Roko reached out and fired the fireball in his hand at him. And when Alec's attention turned to the fireball, Roko swung the whip, throwing the sword forward in an extended slash at his opponent. Alec brought up his sword but wasn't sure which attack to block first. In a short instant Alec decided to simply step back, moving out of the range of the sword while using his sword to block the fireball. However the sword and fireball met in front of Alec and exploded. Alec escaped out of the smoke, only slightly singed and lightly damaged. He coughed a bit of smoke from his lung until he saw something lunge at him through the smoke. Alec thrust his sword forward, piercing Roko in the chest close to his heart. It was only slightly higher than where his heart was but it was enough to give Roko pause, if not for pain then for concern. But when it was clear he wasn't going to die immediately, Roko grabbed onto the sword, keeping it lodged and unable to move. With his other hand, Roko raised his shield...and unlocked the broken blade, swinging it out from under the shield. In the sun that could only be seen in this clearing, Alec could see a complex series of enchantments wrapped around the sizable blade.

 "Wait." Alec said nervously, "Did you actually enchant it with three types of-"

 Roko roared and slashed into Alec. 

 What happened next was kind of a blur as a tempest of dust, wind and water broke out around the two men. Corissa could hardly see anything in the blinding tempest that roared out from Roko's blade but she could see a trail of dust break out from the nexus of magic as Alec was slammed into the trees surrounding the clearing. And once the dust cleared, Corissa could see Roko collapsed on the ground, unconscious. She cried out in concern but wasn't sure which of the two to check on first. At least until she heard laughing coming from where Alec had crashed.

 "Hahahaha! Damn Roko, you always have some crazy thing to pull out at the very end don't you?" A flap of wind dispelled the dust around Alec, revealing the young man standing there with a demonic wing floating around his body, "If I hadn't reformed one of Alder's wings to block the attack you might've killed me! You weren't actually trying to kill me, right?"

 Roko didn't answer as he laid there unconscious.

 "Well, if you don't tell Alder about how I'll used his wing, I'll ignore the fact that you almost killed me." Alec continued laughing and coughing the wing disappeared, "Now then."

 "Alec, Roko's unconscious right now!" Corissa cried, "He's hurt really badly and is bleeding out! We need to get him some medical treatment and-"

 "Yeah sure." Alec grinned, "I think Roko's earned it at this point. I'll just tell the boss that Roko found me and fought me off. That should shut him up for a bit."

 Alec stumbled forward, not even that injured but a slight winded. Compared to Roko, Alec just looked like he had returned from the gym. He stumbled over to the rock where he had been sitting and picked up the grimoire that had been lying there.

 "I'll let go of the space/time magic I've been twisting to keep your friends from finding us. They should be able to find you now. Anyway, I'm glad I got to see you again, Corissa." Alec smiled, "I'll see you again some time."

 Corissa looked at Alec and the grimoire in his hands, an uncertain worry in her eyes, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

 "..." Alec looked down at the grimoire as well before turning to Corissa, "Everything I do, I do for you. Even if you doubt everything else about me and what I do, I hope you can believe this until the very end."

 Alec gave one last gentleman's bow before he raised a hand, summoning a rift in space and stepping through it, giving Corissa one last glance before it closed and he disappeared. Corissa stood there for a moment before walking over to Roko and checking on his condition. Once she confirmed that he was stable for now, she took out her phone.

 "Hello, Momo? Yeah, it happened again."