My legs became light as feathers as soon as I clicked my heels and activated the flash step properties of my boots. I may have evaded the small fireball bullets flying toward me, but I was now much further away than I wanted to be from my target, Seika.

Once she saw I had avoided her offensive spell, her black hair took on a blueish hue and she started chanting a 32-word boon which would grant her sparring partner, Man, greater speed and reflexes.

Since I didn’t have mana of my own, my studies didn’t require me to memorize spells, only to recognize them, which meant that I was able to study many more spells than a normal mage would. Hearing the beginning of the incantation, Kard threw two of his daggers toward my sister in order to interrupt her spellcasting.

Seika had practiced fighting against us enough times to anticipate moves like this and used her right hand to stop the incoming daggers in midair by casting a minor cantrip. By now we were all aware that she was able to dual-cast, but she needed both hands to fulfill the somatic components of the supportive spell she was executing at that moment. This meant that she was forced to stop casting it in order to protect herself.

But she didn’t. Instead, she continued chanting, which took our side completely by surprise. We had no idea that she’d created a modified version of the buff spell, requiring only one hand to cast.

I rushed toward Man to reflect the incoming boon from Seika but could already tell I wouldn’t make it in time. He was holding his dual swords, arms open as if inviting me. The smile on his face was evidence of how confident he felt that today’s match point would go to them.

Just as Seika’s blessing was about to touch him, something thin and fast swished in front of him, taking the faint blue mana glow with it. Krysha laughed as she registered her magic-nullifying arrow reaching its target at the exact instant she was aiming for. As always, she managed to even the odds with a single draw of her bowstring, bringing our practice match back to an even standing once more.

Since I was now extremely close to Manal Im, I decided to engage with him. Though my dual-wielding was not up to par with his yet, the training sessions we had held over the past thirteen months—much like this one—had made me very confident in my abilities. What’s more, I, as well as almost everyone in the tower, had completed our class-upgrade quests on level 20.

This would not have meant much if we were still in old Elysia but as manaless, it meant we were able to use D-grade equipment and acquire a host of specialized skills we didn’t have access to before.

Man’s mundane dual swords were no match against my archangel blades. However, more often than not, ‘it’s the wielder that defines the weapon and not the other way round’, or so he told me on numerous occasions. Seeing me turn my attention toward him, he fixed his pose in order to better defend himself and shifted sideways.

I instantly saw through his attempt to make me turn my back to Seika, something which had proved to be a big mistake for me twice in the past already. I brought my right sword down, trying to strike his shoulder while I thrust my left at his abdomen. As expected, my right sword clashed with his left and he easily parried my piercing attack. However, he was forced to move sideways, which meant I could keep Seika safely in my peripheral vision.

I risked a glance toward her and was almost stunned at how deftly she was deflecting and evading whatever Kard and Krysha were throwing at her. Both of them had magic-nullifying weapons but my sister had found a way to counter this.

A mana field would be easily penetrated by one of Krysha’s expertly aimed arrows, but a stone wall or whirlwind would not have a problem stopping them, even if it was created with magic. A spellcaster of her level would not be taken down from distance and we knew it. However, keeping her busy meant I would be able to face Man without having to worry about him getting magically enhanced or me being attacked on two fronts.

I snapped my head toward Man once more as he was bringing both of his swords down on me, a smile painted on his face. I chose to evade them instead of deflecting, and by doing so, I found myself in a better vantage point against my sister. Even if she somehow found an opening and managed to squeeze in a spell while defending herself against Kard and Krysha, I’d be able to see her cast it.

“Am I not worthy of your full attention now, Adel?” Man asked, when he saw my eyes focus behind him for just an instant.

His next series of attacks were much fiercer and faster. For every two slashes he directed toward me, he also threw a thrust which forced me to step back. I tried to warn Kard as soon as I understood his plan, but it was too late.

He had brought me into the same line of sight Kard was using to throw his daggers at Seika. The two seconds in which Kard missed Seika with his throws were enough for her to cast an offensive missile toward us. Man, of course, jumped away from her spell’s trajectory and attacked me from the side as I struggled to keep my balance.

Instead of absorbing the spell, I decided to use one sword to reflect it toward Man and the other to try and block his attacks. The spell landed on my left sword, but I was too hasty in moving it away, which resulted in it being directed toward the ground. I clearly needed more practice with this new attribute of my swords that was unlocked when I got my D-grade mastery, but at least I was safe from harm for now.

The same did not stand for my right sword though, which managed to block Man’s first slash but I was too slow to turn in order to block the second. As a result, my right sword was thrown to the ground. I tried an offhand slash at Man but he ducked underneath it with ease and kicked me hard on my chest, throwing me to the ground.

A flurry of daggers and arrows were now being thrown at Man in an effort to provide cover while I picked myself and my sword up. This effort gave Seika enough time to conjure a whirlwind around us, thus rendering Man free to go for the win without any hindrances. I heard Kard running toward us as I saw a steady stream of arrows being directed at Seika once more, in a much wider arc this time.

As Man approached me, I heard Kard’s running suddenly stop as I felt a wave of fire form behind me. I dropped my sword and reached out to Man with my hand.

“You could have won,” he said, as he sheathed his swords, “if you managed to reflect the spell Seika cast on me.”

“I need to work on that,” I replied, as he pulled me off the ground with his right hand.

“A wall of fire, Seika?” Kard shouted, spinning a jeweled dagger in his left hand. “Again? What is it with you and fire? We’re in the middle of a forest, you know!”

“What is it with you and not learning from your mistakes?” answered Seika, as she dismissed the high wall of fire burning between me and Kard. “My magical fire won’t hurt the trees, so next time don’t worry about me burning down the forest.”

“She’s right,” Krysha remarked, as she made her sudden appearance much closer to me than I thought she was. “You know she uses fire extensively, yet you still haven’t stopped by my desk in the tower to get any protections against it.”

“Well, I thought she would stop using the same tricks over and over,” Kard replied. “I guess I was wrong.”

“Spells are a means to an end, Kard,” said Seika, who was now standing next to Man. “I use the same spells because they work, but don’t think I won’t have the next spell ready when you decide to counter it.”

“I noticed you casted the hastening spell using only one hand,” asked Krysha who was obviously entranced by my sister’s achievement. “Have you been modifying spells for long?” asked Krysha.

“I’ve been doing some training and research on my own,” Seika replied. “Once you get a basic understanding of how somatic components work, it’s not too difficult to change them or even omit them completely.”

“Do you think there are lots of other spellcasters who are able to customize their spells like that?” I asked with a grim expression on my face.

“It’s a direction taken by mana-wielders during times of war,” my sister replied, immediately understanding that I was thinking about the encounter with our brother a little over a year ago. “I’ve never met anyone who was interested in pursuing it, even during my time at the university. But I don’t doubt that some of the Order’s battlemages are able to do it.”

“I thought the wars all ended years ago,” said Kard. “What battlemages are you talking about?”