Chapter 62: Sparring with Serie
The second year of their adventure.
"Tsk, she's tough," Rhodes said.
Under the blazing sun, he and Serie faced each other. The other three sat on a rock a short distance away, watching. The numerous craters in the ground were a clear sign that the fight had been going on for some time. It wasn't a real fight, of course, just a sparring match, at Serie's request. She insisted on testing his strength every now and then.
"I'll bet tonight's dinner that Rhodes can't beat her," Eirik said, chewing on a piece of jerky.
"I'm not taking that bet," Somme said, shaking his head. "The odds aren't fair. I can't see any way for him to win." Even he thought the chances of young Rhodes winning were slim to none. Serie was an elf who had lived for hundreds of years, while Rhodes had only been learning magic for a year and a half. The difference in their mana was on a completely different level.
Norne just watched, his attention fixed on the battle. He wanted to know just how strong Rhodes had become.
The fight resumed.
Serie lifted her finger, and three light arrows instantly formed. She couldn't use her arrow rain against him anymore; they both had magical items and defensive spells, and a normal arrow rain wouldn't be able to break through. She had to take a page from Eirik's book, reducing the number of arrows and increasing their individual power. That way, she could still pose a threat to him without wasting her mana.
"Let's go. Round two," she said. Before her voice had even faded, the arrows were already speeding towards him.
Rhodes calmly put up a modified two-layered light shield. The first layer shattered, but the second managed to block the rest of the attack. At the same time, a magic circle unfolded on his left hand, and several vines shot out from under her feet. She countered with her own defensive spell, blocking the first wave, but the vines immediately changed direction, aiming for a spot the shield couldn't cover. Rhodes's magic circle was still active; he was clearly controlling the vines.
Seeing this, Serie conjured a wheel of light. The thick vines were instantly sliced to pieces, and she then threw the wheel at him. Rhodes responded by firing a volley of light arrows, shooting the wheel down.
They were using the same spells; neither of them could gain an advantage. So Rhodes decided to change his tactics. He drove his holy sword into the ground and, using its amplifying effect, poured his ice magic into it. The ground quickly became covered in frost.
Serie tried to move her foot, but found that she was frozen in place.
"Interesting."
She raised an eyebrow. While she had been immobilized, Rhodes had already launched several light arrows at her.
CRACK!
A wall of ice rose in front of her, blocking the arrows. The shattered ice crystals reflected the harsh sunlight, temporarily blinding the spectators.
When they could see again, Serie had already broken free of the frost, a spear of light condensing in her hand. The moment the ice wall vanished, the spear shot forward. Rhodes was ready, and he met it with a spear of his own. The battle grew so intense that the ground itself began to tremble. They were evenly matched, using the same spells they had taught each other: light arrows, light spears, vines, and ice walls.
"Well? Can you do that?" Norne whispered to Eirik.
"Of course not!" he scoffed. "I haven't even mastered light magic yet. Look at them, switching between ice and plant magic so easily. There's no comparison!"
"I suppose you're right." Norne knew his friend's abilities and agreed. "I never knew Rhodes was so strong. I wonder how he does it," he said in awe.
"I guess some humans are just built different. He's just naturally talented, I suppose," Eirik said with a shrug.
He might have once wanted to catch up to Rhodes, to become a partner who could fight by his side. But now, he was content to just let things be. It wasn't so bad hiding behind him.
"Young Rhodes's talent for magic is truly astonishing," Somme added, leaning on his battle-axe. "I doubt even the most skilled of elves could compare to him."
"Do you think he's not really human?" Eirik mused. "Maybe he's an elf that just looks human? Or maybe even a god!" The more he thought about it, the more it seemed possible. How else could a human be so ridiculously talented?
"Don't say such things!" Norne quickly cut off his friend's wild speculation. Rhodes was doing everything he could to help humanity; they had no right to question his identity.
Just then, the battle reached its climax.
Faced with Rhodes's increasingly fierce attacks, Serie was forced to constantly move to dodge. But at some point, Rhodes had sneakily cast a small vine in her path. She tripped, her body falling backward.
Seizing the moment, Rhodes created some distance between them and held his holy sword, 'The Light of Ersten', up to the sky. "Ex—"
"That's enough," Serie's cold voice cut him off. She was now floating in mid-air, her mana swirling around her, clearly not having spent much of it in the fight. "Are you trying to blow up the entire forest?" She had been with him the longest and knew just how much mana he had poured into that holy sword. If he were to release it all, the result would be even more catastrophic than their first test.
Rhodes awkwardly lowered his sword. "Ahem, I got a little carried away."
The three spectators ran over. "That was amazing!" Eirik exclaimed. "But were you really going to use the holy sword's full power at the end there?"
"No, I was just going to try and release it at its minimum power," Rhodes said, stretching his arms. "By the way, Serie, I haven't seen you use that levitation spell before." That was a good one. If she had taught it to him earlier, he might have been able to create a flight spell by now.
"I just created it," she said, puffing out her small chest. She had to show this human that he wasn't the only one who could create magic.
"Amazing!" Rhodes applauded. He hadn't realized that Serie was also trying to create new spells. This was more like it. This was the great Grand Master of the future.
Pleased by his praise, Serie lifted her chin proudly, a look of smug satisfaction on her face.
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