Chapter 5

Uncle Flammel looked at me and said.

“Rule no. 1, always strengthen your body. Since you are using Mana and mana circulates inside the body, it is tantamount to strengthening your body. No doubt your body will already be strong passively but it adds another layer of protection by making your skin as strong as steel. You always strengthen your defenses when you are fighting as a close combatant as well as ranged one. It is very basic but quite effective form of protection.”

He suddenly relaxed and kept his claymore rested on one of his shoulder with one hand while with the other hand he open and closed his fist. Crimson color flared off his body. Suddenly he felt more…..dangerous? All the while granny Maria was still looking at Uncle Flammel intently. She seemed to mumble something before white colored words came in front of her and shot towards me. I did not flinch at the sight as I knew granny wouldn’t hurt me in the slightest. But I did find myself in a translucent square barrier.

If I were to hazard a guess then it was supposed to protect me? Granny Maria then looked at Flammel and grinned. She started to float above and suddenly she snapped her fingers. A white bright light flashed once more but nothing really happened. I was still in that field but it still felt very strange. Uncle Flammel looked around as well before whistling, clearly looking impressed.

“You made it in seconds, a carbon copy.”

He looked relaxed but suddenly he disappeared and reappeared in front of Granny in an instant, his clay-more readying for a blow. As if time suddenly resumed, the place he was standing on caved as debris scattered and loud boom was heard. I was shocked to say the least. As not even a second of time had elapsed. I was still in a daze to be more precise. My baby brain still couldn’t comprehend what was happening in front of me. Then I heard a voice, which was Granny’s.

“The barrier you are in is special. It protects you from physical and magical harms as well as fastens your kinetic vision, allowing you to see your Uncle’s movement at the very least. Still this idiot has either gotten very rusty or he is limiting himself for your sake if you can see him. Just to let you know I am speaking very fast inside your head.”

I looked at Granny and saw a smirk as she looked in my direction with her eyes, not minding that Flammel was just inches away from separating her head. As if sensing my worry, Maria eyes turned front. She spoke something and suddenly Uncle Flammel was hurled away from her just as fast as he had approached her. The force from his impact with the ground was so great that it felt like the ground itself had split apart. The dust kicked up a notch but I could see the land looked like it split into two with the straight line that seemed like it stretched for hundreds of meters. I worried a little for Uncle in my heart.

‘How far did she send him?’

While I worried for Uncle, I still stared in awe when I looked at Granny. However, she was looking at the direction of Uncle before speaking.

“I know that’s not even enough to scratch your defense, maybe ruffle your clothes a bit so come out you melodramatic brat.”

Suddenly I could see the dust cloud turn red hue in color before it was split apart by what looked like flame slashes of titanic proportions. I could feel the heat trickle my skin a bit. Then I looked at Granny and wondered what she would do. She just stared at the attack that seemed to come closer and closer before suddenly with casual wave of her hand, the land begin to rise in front of her hovering body and formed long limbs still connected to the land. It numbered from 1 then 2 then 4 and 8 and so on. It seemed to be made very fast as it clashed with the fire slashes. I could see the earth hands at the front crumble and turn into lava from the heat of the slash.

Granny looked nonchalant as she just waved her hands once more and suddenly more hands formed and joins the others. The dust cloud finally settled down near Uncles place. I could see he wasn’t even a bit hurt. He just laughed loudly before slashing the red hot looking clay-more again and again.

“Way to ruin my parade!”

Every time he did that, another titanic flame slashes would join the struggle between the fire and earth, every time it clashed with Granny’s magic attack it would create a loud bang. Granny seemed to sigh as she wrote something in the air so fast that by the time I blinked the word had already shot off towards the earth limbs. I heard her say.

“You are always about firepower more than finesse.”

Uncle just shrugged from where he stood.

“I need to look cool for my niece! What’s more better than dazzling attacks? Though they take more mana than they are worth.”

He then looked at me before shouting at me.

“Listen Adelaide, Rule 2: Always know how much Mana you need to use and conserve it when casting your magic. It will save your life one day.”

Granny just sighed, cutting him off.

“And rule 3: Always keep your focus on your opponent. [Drivsnö: Driftsnow]”

Suddenly, a concentrated laser like thing went straight for Uncle. He just shifted to the side before replying.

“I always did.”

Granny smirked.

“Lost your concentration for a bit.”

Uncle Flammel widened his eye as he looked down at his feet. It seemed to sink on the ground before he tried to force his leg to lift up. The force from him trying to free his leg caused the ground around him to crack like glass. Granny looked nonchalant on the air as she replied.

“Check.”

The Earthen hands which had freed itself from the fire slashes suddenly struck into Flammel, causing dust to rise up once again from the force. I couldn’t help but be worried for my Uncle.

“Uncle Flammel!”

Then I heard a pleased voice from the dust.

“I knew my niece cared for more than the old hag!”

I pouted in relief as from his voice nothing serious seemed to have happened. But the sight that greeted me after the dust settled down was nothing more than amazing. I could see my Uncle covered in red, no that looked like flames. It covered his shoulders and some part of his bodies. I could pick out what he was saying.

“[Knight Armament: 30%]”

“So you finally start to use your [Unique Skill], however partial it may be?”

I looked at Granny, then at my Uncle in awe. He looked so handsome, partially covered in flame but still retaining his cool demeanor. SO what was his skill? Flammel just smiled, no longer bantering with Granny. He just twirled his claymore before dishing out more Fire slashes. However, this time it was way larger than before. Just like before, Granny just sent out her Earthen arms at it but to no avail, it failed to stop it. Granny just narrowed her eyes before sending out more arms but before both of them clashed Granny shouted.

“[Frossen verden: Frozen World]!!”

What it did next shocked me as the whole slew of arms turning crystalline blue like ice and froze everything including the fire slashes. But the sudden transformation caused mist to form from the cooling ice. Me? I was just hyped up and didn’t know who to cheer on. It was like watching action anime fights. My interest in Magic had gone from barely interested to wondering what I could do in the future.

“Go Granny!! Go Uncle Flammel!!”

Granny just grinned as she spoke.

“I will be using more magic now, kid. Be prepared to be blown away. Warm up is over.”

I don’t know if it was for me or for my Uncle but I was excited while my Uncle looked solemn. Kyaa! He looks so cool when he is serious. Granny’s grin turned even larger. Then a dark blue magic circle appeared for the first time in front of her.

“Howl from the four corners, [Frosne Hagal Katastrofe: Frozen Hail Calamity]!!!”

Then all of a sudden the sky seemed to turn bright, or sparkly. I looked up to see huge uncountable chunks of ice covering the sky, produced from magic. They all blasted in supersonic speed towards Uncle Flammel. Uncle just re-adjusted his grip on the claymore causing it to glow even redder. Without even saying anything he slashed the air really fast. As if reality was cracking, the slash formed a cross in the air, clearing the part of the sky it had hit. But not all was cleared as he blurred, dodged and jumped using the ice spikes as they were coming at him in insane speeds. He looked at Granny and replied.

“That was just wasteful and ineffective spell.”

Granny just shrugged before saying.

“Well, I needed to impress someone after all.”

Uncle’s eye twitched a bit.

Suddenly Granny readied her staff in front of her as a moment later, Uncle Flammel came barreling towards her by using the leftover pillars of ice stabbed on the ground as a foothold while still being covered in flames. Granny and Uncle Flammel clashed mid air as the shockwaves erupted from the clash. Just like how eruptions forced the clouds away, their force caused the ice pillars to be blown to smithereens. Suddenly, both of them separated from one another at the ground.

I saw serious Uncle Flammel and a smirking Granny. Uncle Flammel’s focus was solely on Granny Maria while Granny looked nonchalant as usual but I could see glint in her eye. Then I felt the hair rising at the back, as if something dangerous would be unleashed. My premonition almost came true when I heard the word.

“[Knight Armament: 50%]

Then Granny seemed to narrow her eyes as she suddenly glowed, her figure becoming more and more mature. But before they could do any further the world began to crack.

What?

Was I imagining?

Suddenly a light entered and merged with Granny. Her eyes glazed before regaining clarity. She looked at Flammel who was eyeing her in confusion. Granny then said with a stoic face.

“The spar has ended. I have something urgent to do. Also a piece of advice Flammel: you need to release your pent-up thirst for battle. Otherwise you will lose yourself in a battle.”

She said with that, much to the confusion of me and Uncle Flammel, and went out of the crack. O….K…. I wasn’t imagining it and there was a crack in the world. I grew confused and then I was suddenly scooped up by uncle. He then started to tickle me which made me giggle and the heavy atmosphere from earlier was gone.

“So who’s the best??”

He asked with a smile on his face which made me want to bully him.

“Granny!”

I almost laughed at the emotionally-damaged-Uncle face he was showing. I tried to tickle in revenge as I said.

“Just kidding! Both were extra cool.”

Uncle Flammel just smiled warmly as he patted my head with his free arm. Just then, the crack in the world began to grow larger and larger. I poked at Uncle Flammel and when he looked at me, I pointed him towards the crack.

“Ah! It is a mirror dimension.”

I looked at him in confusion.

“Mirror Dimension?”

Uncle Flammel nodded.

“Yes, a temporary sub-space, created using the real location. In simple terms, it is exact copy of the original world but you can cause as much havoc as you want until the copy dimension cannot sustain much longer. It then breaks apart. Just like now.”

I looked around to see and lo and behold, the world was cracking up, making the exact sound of a shattering mirror. Then suddenly, it all shattered and glittered away, revealing the pristine condition the field was before. Then I suddenly noticed the sound of rustling leaves and chirping of birds. It was still noon here and the field was not even a little damaged. I give it to them, I wouldn’t know how much trouble the worker of the mansion have to endure to clean up the mess. Now I worried for Granny. She had certainly wormed her way to my heart. She was the only two people who was the most closest person in my heart. I poked at Uncle Flammel and looked at the direction Granny had gone in worry. Noticing my worry, Uncle Flammel just hugged me closer and said.

“No need to worry, Adelaide. This is Teacher we are talking about, one of the strongest few in the continent.”

He then smiled brightly at me.

“Also I was about to let you visit our Town Blacksmith. We have an appointment with him today.”

I looked at him in confusion as he clarified more.

“Well, since you have the [Unique Skill] Puppeteer, you need to learn how to make your own puppets one day. This Blacksmith will help you in that regard. How to make parts of a puppet, weapons to install and how to inscribe Cores of Monster in the puppet to make it move. Just the basics.”

My eyes twinkled once more. I had forgotten that I had to make my own puppet with the help of my Second Unique skill: Engraver. Also from the fight earlier, Granny said that he was using his [Unique Skill]. I asked him.

“Earlier. Did you use your skill? What is your [Unique Skill]?”

Uncle Flammel just smiled as he replied with a proud voice.

“Your Uncle’s [Unique Skill], eh? It is [Flame Paladin]. It essentially boosts my physical prowess to a ridiculous degree adding powerful Fire to my attacks. Also my control over Flame Magic is insanely boosted. If I use the Armament, I get to wear cool set of Flame Armors which then add strong defense to my body.”

Aww, now I want to see how he would look like in a full armor set!

Maria POV

She went supersonic as she flew over great distance. The light from earlier was a message. She had cast a spell to cover most of the mansion of Bernstein as well as the town near it in a wide circle. It would alert her to dangerous element that entered the radius of the spell. She had gotten more than fifty individuals headed straight to this place in a slow pace from the forest. Some of them were stumbling here and there before others at the front seemed to come back and help the ones who were at last. It didn’t make sense to her until she caught on to the Leader’s Mana.

Now she had to come here.

Within seconds, her loli form caught the eye of the Leader who was staring at her as well. She suddenly stopped and floated above the group who was busy navigating the thick forest.

“STOP!”

The leader shouted. When Maria looked at them, they were all wearing hooded dirty ragged clothes, torn here and there. The sole of their bare feet seemed to be cracked as if they had nary a moment to rest and had been walking for months. They were all confused and when they looked up, they were all stricken in fear. A complex feeling arose from Maria’s heart as she knew who she was dealing with. The leader bristled in rage and fear as he dangerously tried to use his Mana. The wind picked up and the hood fell from the leader back to show a dirty long curly blonde haired man. His blonde hair was filthy and covered in dirt and grime.

The most striking fact was that he had a red cross in the forehead. As did on most of the people’s face when the wind picked up. Maria was still quiet as she spoke for the first time, with no emotion on her face.

“You lot are still not dead?”

The leader did not speak up. Maria continued speaking.

“What about the [Sacrament Scripture]? Has it not been thinned away after generations?”

She got her answer when the man revealed his arms. There were old words etched onto them as it was tattooed, which told enough to Maria.

“Ah…..”

Then the man spoke in a broken voice.

“We just want peace….. Even after hiding, even after generations after generation, the sacrament refuses to go away. Our children and their children and their children’s children have them. It just refuses to go away. We…. JUST….. WANT….. PEACE!!”

Each word carried more emotion than the last. Maria simply looked on to the rest of the group, scared, malnourished body of both men, women and children who looked at her in fear and acceptance of their fate. It made her feel….. pity at them. She sighed in resignation.

“I…. I won’t do anything. After all, I feel whatever they did to you, it was unjust as it was violent. I… will speak to my ward here. He must know whoever is staying here. Also this is the closest you can be in this place. Move any further in, I will eradicate you. I won’t take any chances when they figure out you are here.”

Maria simply flew back towards the mansion. The man looked at the departing figure with complex emotion as he mused to himself.

“She must be Maria, the disciple of that person.”

Before looking at the haven, they had been granted with. He did not know why or how, but his blood cried out in this direction. Like they had to come here. It was not only him, all the others felt like they were compelled to come here. Especially the virgin girls, who still had their purity. Maybe the blood were calling out to her, Maria, as the only person among her group that would show them a little bit of compassion. He looked onto his group with a renewed vigor as they would start to build a little village for themselves for what little peace they would have.