"How did you defend yourself with such a weak ice blessing?"
It was the following morning, marking Adonis's third day in Mzdrig's Paradise. The streets seemed the same as they were yesterday.
The light of the sky shone down on them, as Adonis remained sat by the cross. Raphilia was on her feet, practising her blessing.
As she shot a miniature icicle the size of her palm at a wall in the distance, her face grew grumpy.
"I-its not weak!" She argued, though making sure to keep her tone respectful. "You're just too strong."
Adonis couldn't help but chuckle as he watched her continue her practice.
Not just strong, He thought to himself. I am the strongest.
But his humility stopped him from voicing the words aloud.
Giving up on the icicles, Raphilia collapsed on a nearby bench and sat in a resting position. It seemed that she had run low on mana, and was trying her best to replenish it.
Adonis' curiosity was suddenly piqued.
"Seriously, how did you escape your partners with your life? Were there not four of them with you?"
After a few moments of Raphilia replenishing her breath, she finally looked up. Her brown curly hair now fell over her face, giving her a cute, yet rugged appearance.
"Only one of them was actually trying to kill me. Harold." Her face snarled in anger. "That brute..."
Adonis, of course, remembered the name. It was the man who had disrespected him before he had stepped foot through the portal. He found nothing impressive about the man, other than his attitude.
"His blessing is an ice type like mine. However, he has a much better level of control. In our fight he..."
Her sentence was cut short as her words turned solemn. The memory of their fight was still a fresh wound.
After a few moments, she continued.
"Whilst I can only create ice the size of my palm, he can use ice in ways I couldn't imagine. Like freezing incoming projectiles, or creating a javelin made from ice."
It was clear that Raphilia found such a feat impressive, but Adonis knew that it was base-level ice magic. It was simply understanding ice as a concept, and forcing it to bend to your will. Once one understood it, they would achieve much more than Harold.
Adonis knew this first hand.
As Raphilia made to rise to her feet, ready to practise her Blessing once again, Adonis lifted a hand to stop her.
Raphilia looked at him with a raised brow.
...
It does no harm helping her. She seems like a nice enough person.
Adonis rose to his feet and dusted off his white suit.
"Come." He said. "I will help you strengthen your ice so that Harold presents no threat to you."
Raphilia's jaw dropped and stayed hanging for a few moments. Afterwards, her eyes lit up and she smiled.
"Really? You would do that for me?"
Adonis looked at her cheerful face, unable to deny that it felt like the right thing to do.
He switched his controlled concept over to temperature so that he could demonstrate his lessons correctly. Like yesterday, no one came close to the plaza after hearing about the fate of the two men who had been erased from this world. They had the space to themselves.
"Of course. After all, ice blessings are simple to control."
———
It did not take long for Adonis to increase Raphilia's proficiency with her blessing. She went from being able to create dull icicles the size of her palm, to crafting sharp ice blades the size of a small sword.
Their shapes and sizes were inconsistent, and she struggled to hurl them at a speed that could cause any harm to stone or marble, but against human flesh, Adonis was certain it would tear through.
The process started with helping her understand her blessing. This was done through simple meditative exercises. Trying to understand the process by which the ice came into existence.
It was long-winded, but after a while, Raphilia gained a new level of understanding. There was no visible difference to her icicles at first, but she had explained how much easier the process of summoning them felt.
Afterwards, Adonis used his own powers to create icicles varying in size and have her mimic them. This was done through constant repetition, and they continued until Raphilia's mana source was exhausted.
She lay on the white marble floor of the plaza, staring up at the night sky with her one green eye. Despite feeling worn, there was a deep level of satisfaction flowing through her.
More noticeably, she also felt an immense level of admiration towards Adonis that she, of course, kept secret. Not only had the mysterious man been selfless enough to help her, but he had also demonstrated incredible capabilities and strengths.
As he sat with his back against the cross, a question floated into her mind.
"Back on the ground floor of the academy, you showed me your flames and said that the reason you couldn't partner with me was because our blessings counteracted each other..."
Raphilia remained on her back, wondering if the man would respond in defence of himself, but he kept his eyes and mouth shut.
She looked over at the man, whose red hair now flowed behind him loosely. His face remained expressionless, as though nothing in the mortal realm could bother him.
Is he really just going to ignore me?
Raphilia sat up and crossed her arms beneath her chest. Her face was grumpy, but Adonis couldn't see this.
"You lied about your blessing." She exclaimed. "Why?"
Silence hung in the air for a few moments. Mzdrig's Palace was void of the common sounds of the world, such as birds chirping, and crickets croaking.
After a few moments, Adonis opened his eyes.
"To make myself seem less than I am." He responded calmly. "I suspect that I am not the only culprit of this. How much can we say that we know about the Five Families and their Blessings?"
Raphilia thought over these words with a finger to her chin.
The Five Families were the strongest bloodlines of Vinterra, the world which they inhabited. Many other families held great strength, but the five families were prestigious enough that they were each granted control over one of the five countries.
Their current heirs had entered the academy years ago, all five of them carrying Blessings stronger than any that had been known in history. Yet still, their true power was unknown to the world.
Raphilia understood Adonis's point. She had heard what the world had said about the red-haired man after his birth. About how he might be the strongest human that had ever existed based on his presence alone.
But just how strong is he in comparison to the five families?
She found herself desperate to know, but of course, she wouldn't probe disrespectfully. For now, she was just appreciative that such a man was willing to help her, and she hoped that she would be able to remain by his side at least for the time being.
Raphilia rose from her back and joyfully made her way over to the Cross Statue and sat next to Adonis in a resting position. The two would remain there until sunrise, marking the start of their fourth day.
Without much difficulty, they were already halfway through the first trial.