The instant I finished the countdown, a simultaneous attack, consisting of Kari and Prince Leonard’s spells, came towards me. Their spells combined to form a huge fire blade.

 

Enhancing my body with mana, I effortlessly dodge the combined attack of those two.

 

BOOM!

 

A loud boom followed by a cloud of dust appears. And from within that cloud of dust, appears Kari and Prince Leonard rushing towards me. While doing so, they cast another spell.

 

““[Iron Body]!””

 

It was a defensive spell that would make your skin as tough as iron. Normal swordsmen wouldn’t be able to seriously harm you once it was cast, only leaving a rather shallow cut than a life-threatening gash.

 

However, this only applies to a regular swordsman. A master of the blade could easily cut them in half.

 

 “Double-teaming me right off the bat, huh?”

 

With a smirk on my face, I coat my hands with a thin layer of mana and run towards them as well. I’m going to see how good this teamwork is. 

 

CLANG!

 

I collide with Prince Leonard first. I swiftly deflect his sword attack with my hands and try to send a sharp punch to the ribs.

 

“Hiyah!”

 

But before I could, I noticed Kari swinging her sword at me. Canceling my initial attack of punching Prince Leonard’s ribs to make him lose breath, I moved to get a good hold on the armor he was wearing…

 

“!?!”

 

And yanked him into the trajectory of Kari’s sword, causing her to stiffen up trying to decelerate the momentum behind her attack. 

 

Using this chance, I throw Prince Leonard towards her. After that, I quickly jumped from where I was standing. While in the air, I cast my magic.

 

“[Gahenna’s Flame: Fireball]!”

 

I send a purplish-black ball of flames, the size of a beach ball, at them. I don’t have to worry about it killing them if they get hit. I controlled the temperature to where it’ll only feel like they got a bad sunburn. 

 

They know this very well.

 

“[Wind Blade]!”

 

Seeing the familiar ball of fire coming towards them, Kari calmly uses her sword to send a blade of wind towards it, cutting it in half. 

 

BOOM! 

 

BOOM!

 

The moment the fireball connected with the ground, it exploded, turning everything in its immediate radius on fire.

 

“Sigh, I hate this fire. Can’t you use regular fire magic?”

 

Using what I think is a high-class water spell to put out the flames, King Paul says begrudgingly.

 

At this, I could only land with a wry smile. 

 

If I were to use the elementary fire magic spell [Fireball], it wouldn’t have amounted to much. It’d get immediately snuffed out by Kari’s wind magic. The other elemental magics as well.  Against Kari’s [Wind Blade], they wouldn’t be effective either. 

 

Can I use higher ranked elemental spells?

 

Sadly, no.

 

I can’t cast any elemental spells over elementary level. I get the magic formulas and theories behind higher-level elemental magic but I just can’t cast it, no matter how hard I try.

 

It’s like loving a sport so much that you know all its rules and regulations like the back of your hand and upon playing the sport, you painfully realize you suck at it. 

 

That’s the situation I’m in. 

 

When it comes to elemental magic, I have no talent.

 

Was I sad about it? A little. 

 

If I could’ve learned elemental magic spells rank B and higher, that would’ve made my time as a hero a whole lot easier.

 

I was put into many unfair fights because of my lack of talent. 

 

But looking back on it, it was thanks to this lack of talent that I was able to acquire the skills I have today.

 

Goes to show you hard work pays off!

 

...Even if you suffer in the process.

 

“You guys are getting better and better.”

 

Looking at the duo who were watching me warily, I said full-heartedly. These past few months didn’t go to waste!

 

“Well, it was thanks to a certain somebody that we had to get better.”

 

Kari, with her sword, tightly gripped in her hand, glared and remarked offhandedly. Nodding in agreement, Prince Leonard said.

 

“If not, it’d only result in us getting a beating. You’re not soft against weaklings master.” 

 

“I read this in a book before and it resonated with me, ‘there’s no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.’ No matter how weak, no matter how small, no matter how vulnerable your opponent may look, never underestimate them.”

 

A prime example of this would be the ever-famous ‘David & Goliath.’ While it may be an underdog’s story about the small David defeating the giant Goliath, it also teaches a story about underestimation. If Goliath didn’t underestimate David due to his small stature and used his weapons as they were intended, he would’ve been the one living instead of being dead.

 

“Treat every opponent as if they were the best in the world. What you can do, they can do better. That way, you can come up with contingency plans that could thoroughly defeat them.”

 

If they go to point A, make a contingency plan for if they go to point B. If they look dead, make sure they're dead by double-tapping them. If they’re telling the truth, make a plan just in case they’re telling a lie. 

 

“...Call it overkill but that’s what I learned over the years. It worked for me. You guys understand what I’m trying to say?”

 

I ask the two in front of me and the one sitting in the chair on the sidelines. They don’t have to follow it word for word but I want them to keep it in the back of their minds.

 

“I understand, Master.”

 

“Although you stole a line from Lao Tze there, I get what you’re saying.”

 

“Wow, I never thought you were the person to read intellectual books. Color me surprised.”

 

At Kari’s blatant call out, I said in mock surprise. I thought the only things she read were sports magazines and manga.

 

“Oh, you’re a funny guy. The same could be said about you as well. I didn’t think you read such boring stuff as well.”

 

“What can I say? You have a lot of time on your hands in the pen.”

 

Shrugging my shoulders I said as I tapped the ground with my foot. There wasn’t much for me to do in solitary confinement other than read and patiently serve my sentence. It sometimes got boring to the point that I wished I was put back into the general population.

 

I knew the warden was looking out for me due to my age (and not to have his prison on the front page of the news due to a juvenile) but man, he was killing me with boredom.  

 

“Huh? The ‘pen’? What’s that Master?”

 

After listening to the exchange between me and Kari, Prince Leonard looked at me with a puzzled question and asked. This sudden question caused Kari to giggle softly and catch me a little off guard. With an awkward expression, I told him.

 

“...Nothing much. It’s what people call a certain type of boarding house on Earth.”

 

Except what we pay to stay there isn’t money but time.

 

“I see.”

 

“It also works as a school too. Many 'famous' alumni graduate from them. Ain’t that right Marcus?”

 

To fan the flames some more, Kari suddenly interjected with an expression as if taking great pleasure in my unfortunate situation. 

 

She’s doing this on purpose!

 

“...Yeah.”

 

A little reluctant, I agreed. I can’t deny, while most of it wasn’t exactly helpful (such as smuggling shit in your ass), I did learn a thing or two from my former cellmates and friends in there.   

 

"If it’s a place Master went to...then I wish I could go there at least once. Maybe I could’ve learned something from there.”

 

With a vibrant expression that suddenly turned to one of sadness, Prince Leonard said. At his words, I furiously shake my head and say to him.

 

“Trust me, you wouldn’t want to go there. It’s not a place people like to go...Now, enough with the small talk. This little time out is about to end. You guys ready?”

 "I rested enough to go for a round two."

"Same here. I'm ready to fight!"

Ending the subject before it gets out of hand, I bring an end to this spontaneous break and recommence the spar.

 

“Once again, on three…” 

 

“Try to take this one! I’ve been working hard trying to learn it, [Phoenix Flame: Raging Fire]!”

 

Before I could even finish my countdown, a huge wall of fire came towards me! I don't have time to dodge it since the attack happened too close to me. So getting into the form of taking a deep breath, I stare at the oncoming wall of flames and cast my magic.

 

[Gahenna’s Flame: Hell’s Wrath]!

 

I blow a huge wave of purplish-black flames from my mouth to confront the orange flames of fire. 

 

Our flames were so hot that the combined temperature of the two caused the surrounding forestry to spontaneously caught on fire!

 

Then, just as the two forces of flames were about to collide with each other...

 

“[Glacier]!”

 

A large formation of ice, spanning the same width as mine and Prince Leonard’s flames sprouted forth in-between us.

 

And just like how water lands on something extremely hot...

 

TSSS!

 

BOOM!

 

The ice melted in a flash, steam was formed, and an explosion was created. The explosion blew steam across the entire area, covering everything in mist, making it almost impossible to see anything in front of me.

 

It was during this time that I also sensed movement around me. It was from Kari, Prince Leonard and surprisingly Alice.

 

I thought she wasn't participating in tonight's spar?

 

"What are you guys planning?"

 

Not able to stop the smirk forming on my face, I raise my senses to the max and mumbled.

 

Things are getting interesting!

 

***

Author's Note

 

Hello, my peoples. I present to you, another chapter. I honestly had somewhat of a hard time writing this one. I couldn't decide whether or not to go third person or first person for this.

 

It felt easier doing it in third person but knowing that I'm not all that great at the intricacies of the whole past tense, present tense thing, I said fuck that shit and decided to rock with the challenging first-person. 

 

Unlike how It was in the first fight where I'm standing in my room performing the moves to get a better visual grasp of the fight in my head. It was hard for me trying to choreograph a two-on-one magic fight in my head from one person's pov. I wanted to dive into the thoughts of the other characters but like I said earlier.

 

I'm too lazy for that shit.

 

So, with that said here's an action-packed chapter. I hope you like it!

 

P.S. I went on this rant to satisfy my ever-changing word quota for today. 

 

P.S.S. We're just passed 401 readers! Not sure what that actually means but YEAH! Keep it up! Give me a hunnid more so I can feel good about myself and boast about to my almost non-existent friends.