"Good fight!" Ivan said, standing atop the makeshift arena. "That's exactly what I expected from you."
He laughed in satisfaction while Azriel only smiled.
Simon left the arena slowly under the scrutiny of the crowd of young people, who had forgotten to breathe as they stared at him.
Their eyes were fixed on him, even though he had lost the battle. Simon stopped in front of the crowd for a moment, trying to process that feeling.
"Did I really lose?" he asked Azriel beside him, who chuckled.
"Yes, you lost. But you lost after giving it your all, and honestly, your magic is far more impressive than my sword strikes."
"Is it really that surprising that their eyes are glued to you?" Simon swallowed hard.
"But… I'm a demon's master…" Azriel threw an arm around his neck, laughing.
"Forget about that and just enjoy the moment." The two walked slowly under the silent stares of the crowd.
Lyna shrank in size and quickly ran over to Azriel, climbing onto his head, while Mono trailed close behind Simon.
The healer mages soon approached Azriel to treat the burns he had suffered, while Simon sat down next to Ion, who simply smiled at him.
"Good fight." Ion punched him lightly on the shoulder.
"Yeah, it was a good fight." Simon looked around for a moment. The crowd had regained its energy and was now looking at him in a different way.
"What an intense day…" Simon sighed. "I have to thank him for this again." He muttered looking at Azriel.
On the other side, Lena watched with cold eyes.
'So that's the difference between our familiars.'Lena let out a deep sigh.
'Even someone without family background, without any talent at all, turned into an exemplary mage overnight just by having the right spirit.'
'Hatchlings for the Diligent, Adolescents for the Gifted, and Adults for the Geniuses.' Lena laughed at the irony of fate.
Everyone there had begun cultivating only the day before and knew well the popular names for each realm.
At first, she thought it had nothing to do with their familiars, but now she could clearly see the connection.
'For people like me, the peak of the first realm is the very best I can achieve with all my effort. For people like Simon, reaching the third realm is just expected.'
'What a cheater!' Lena puffed out her cheeks as she watched the prodigy boy.
Lyna soon leapt from Azriel's head and trotted over to her, the fox's eyes studying her deeply as it approached.
Lena bent down at once to pet her.
"The world's unfair, isn't it, Lyna?" The fox gladly accepted the affection.
Lena sighed deeply as the journey through the mountains drew ever closer.
On the other side, the snowstorm grew harsher and harsher, making her feel an overwhelming urge to give up.
Her eyes drifted slowly to Simon and Azriel, she could already picture them crossing the storm with ease.
Then she looked down at her own hands and sighed again. She glanced at her companions and couldn't avoid the pessimism.
"Is it really possible to cross the mountain without knowing magic?" Lyna looked at her deeply before tilting her head slightly to the side.
Lena laughed at the cute gesture.
"Do you really understand us?" she continued stroking her. "I think Azriel was just showing off again… He loves to do that."
"It must be hard, having a master like him." Lena giggled. "Don't you want to trade him for me? I could be a good master for you."
"Much better than that show-off scoundrel. I'm sure you'll be much happier. Don't you agree?" Lyna nodded quickly.
"I will talk to him later, I'm sure I can convince him." Lena giggled happily. "Soon you will be mine."
"Lena," Nell called. "The tournament's ending, we won't be getting new members, and we need to grab a quest."
"Of course, let's go." Lena stood up, and together they slowly made their way toward the mission board, which was growing ever more crowded.
Everyone wore the same tense expression, scanning the board in search of simple, easy quests.
As soon as a group found one, they would snatch it as quickly as possible and guard it like a treasure.
Lena and her group soon joined the crowd and began to read.
"Collect twenty pairs of wings from glacial vampire bats, no… collect horns from crystal-heart elk, no…"
Her eyes darted across the massive board like everyone else's, and she quickly grew discouraged. There were no easy missions in sight.
She looked down and sighed, only to be surprised when she noticed Lyna holding a quest paper in her mouth.
"What is this?" Lena bent down and carefully pulled it out.
"Collect webs from glass-weaver spiders. Looks a lot easier, ranked as E-class difficulty…"
She quickly did some finger-counting.
"That's good enough!" She hurried to gather the group again and presented the mission.
"Perfect! I can't believe we actually managed to get such a good one!" Nyla said breathlessly.
"At least once, we've got to have a little luck." Nell sighed and smiled genuinely. "Where are they located?"
Lena immediately opened up a map and searched for the spiders' territory.
"They're along the route to the academy, on one of the mountains near the peak, inside a network of abandoned mines. It's considered a practically safe zone," she said with relief.
"Practically?" Nell and Nyla exchanged glances.
"It used to be dangerous in the past, but there's nothing serious there now. Only a few common beasts make their homes in that area."
Both nodded, visibly relieved.
"Then that's settled," Nell said with a satisfied smile. "We've found a quest that suits us. Now we just need to head there."
Lena nodded and began charting a route on the map leading up the mountain. Lyna stood at her feet, calmly observing everything.
"Thank you, good girl. I will give you some treats as a reward when we get there. Right?"