Even though Fenris knew that his time with Rifa was coming to an end, the thought of her departure began to weigh heavily on his heart. They had shared many experiences together, and he was going to miss those moments. Rifa's attempts to maintain a strictly master-and-student relationship failed miserably, and she and Fenris ended up developing a sibling-like bond.
Fenris was no stranger to losing someone close to him, but in this case, it was all done with good intentions. However, for some reason, all he wanted was to keep her at the mansion for as long as possible. Yet, he knew that his intrusive thoughts went against Rifa's wishes.
Rifa and Fenris met on an expansive grass field far from home. The rolling hills reminded him of the very first day he trained with Rifa. Shaking his head, Fenris brought himself back from the clouds of past memories, focusing on the present, even though he didn't want to.
Facing Fenris, Rifa raised her finger and pointed it at him. "Alright, Fenris. The conditions are simple: we shall fight until one of us gives in."
While confident, her voice contained hints of somber feelings as Rifa was also faced with having to leave behind her star pupil.
"Understood," Fenris nodded as he took a battle-ready stance, planting his feet wide apart while his arms in their natural position.
Rifa assumed a battle-ready stance. The two stared at each other for a few moments before Rifa raised her foot and stomped it on the ground.
She activated earth magic at the moment of her stomp, creating a line of spikes aimed at Fenris. Startled, he countered with a flurry of wind blades, shattering the spikes before rolling to the side.
Raising two fingers up, Fenris channeled fire into his fingertips, releasing it as a stream of blue fire aimed at Rifa. She narrowly dodged Fenris's attack by leaping into the air and unleashing a volley of wind blades that sliced dangerously close to him.
Fenris countered by sending a multitude of ice spears hurling towards Rifa, but she suddenly vanished, causing the ice projectiles to miss their target.
Frantically searching for where she had gone, Fenris detected her presence behind him. When he turned around, she fired a multitude of small but potent fireballs at him. Fenris countered by sending ice spears after the fireballs, extinguishing them.
He followed up by conjuring three glowing rings and hurling them at Rifa. She dodged them once again as she decided to use more potent magic. Rifa conjured lightning from her fingertips, a feat that few magicians could accomplish, and sent a wave of electricity at Fenris.
He was briefly startled by Rifa's use of lightning magic and barely dodged it in time. Fenris panted briefly for breath. "I didn't know you could use lightning magic!" he exclaimed.
Lightning magic is its own branch, made through a combination of fire, wind and light magic. Since not many magic users had three elements to begin with, let alone having the ability to combine elements, lightning magic was a rare thing to come across.
Fenris changed his strategy and decided to engage in hand-to-hand combat. He used a mix of fire and water spells to generate a thick layer of steam that covered the battlefield. The mist made it difficult for Rifa to see properly, giving Fenris an opportunity to approach her.
When he reached melee range, Fenris launched a roundhouse kick aimed at Rifa's stomach. She conjured a blast of wind that scattered the steam, but it was too late to react to Fenris's kick. The blow landed, sending her tumbling across the ground before quickly regaining her footing.
Rifa smiled, surprised and also impressed by Fenris's ingenuity and use of the elements. She resorted to melee combat as well, quickly closing the distance between her and Fenris. The two engaged in a bout of high-speed hand-to-hand combat, but this is where Fenris had an advantage over Rifa.
She launched a punch aimed at his chest, but this left an opening for Fenris to exploit. He followed up with a sweeping leg motion, knocking Rifa off her feet. This allowed Fenris to grab her by the wrists and throw her. However, while flying mid-air, Rifa partially transformed herself, growing wings from her back, as well as fangs, and her pupils took on a more serpent-like appearance.
She reoriented herself before flying at high speeds towards Fenris, leaving him trapped. With no way to escape, Rifa grabbed Fenris and took him into the skies. After flying for about 30 seconds, she threw him up into the air. While falling, Fenris managed to stabilize himself through levitation, enabling him to engage in aerial combat with Rifa on equal terms.
As the two stared at each other suspended in the air, Fenris conjured two massive ice spears and hurled them towards Rifa. However, she chose not to use magic and instead effortlessly destroyed both spears with her fists.
Rifa started flying towards the nearby mountain, with Fenris closely following behind her. It was like a game of cat and mouse, and with her wings, Rifa flew better than Fenris. There was no combative exchange between the two during their flight, and it appeared as though Rifa was trying to test Fenris. They landed back on the ground and resumed combat once again.
Rifa once again used earth magic to create six large stone golems resembling herself. She commanded them to attack Fenris, and the mindless golems followed her orders, charging at him.
A dark void appeared beneath Fenris's feet, expanding into a multitude of dark claws that impaled the golems, causing them to crumble.
Rifa started to get desperate as she had depleted almost half of her mana during the fight. She retracted her draconic features and resorted to a rather underhanded spell that she had created herself.
She wrapped her arm in a thin veil of mana, giving it a gooey appearance. Meanwhile, Fenris saw an opportunity to end the fight as Rifa had seemingly stopped.
He held his hand over his head as he conjured a gigantic ball of lightning. This action was risky, as a wrong move could result in a rebound that might kill him. Fortunately, he executed the spell correctly and sent the giant ball of lightning hurtling towards Rifa.
Rifa used her mana-coated arm to swat the gigantic ball of lightning, sending it back towards Fenris, much to his horror and surprise. He hastily formed a barrier that redirected the ball of lightning back towards Rifa.
She swatted the ball of lightning back towards Fenris. This time, it returned with even greater speed and power than before. The exchange evolved into a back-and-forth tennis match as Fenris and Rifa continued deflecting the electrifying ball.
However, each time the ball of lightning was deflected, it brought back with it more speed and power, making it increasingly difficult to react to and deflect. Eventually, someone was bound to get hit.
And that person was Fenris. In the last second, Fenris formed a wall of earth that absorbed some of the impact. However, the ensuing explosive discharge from the ball of lightning still knocked Fenris to the ground. The loud crack resulting from the discharge briefly stopped Rifa's heart as she realized they may have gone too far in their fight.
"Fenris!" she exclaimed as Rifa ran towards him while he lay on the ground, groaning quietly. "Are you alright?" she asked in concern, noticing no burn marks on his skin but realizing the lightning may have affected him.
Fenris's eyes flickered as he regained mobility, looking up at Rifa's worried expression with a faint smile on his face. Relief washed over Rifa as Fenris started to sit up. Overjoyed, she suddenly hugged him upon realizing that he was alright.
"I'm glad you're okay..." Rifa said softly as she buried her face into Fenris's chest. His smile widened into a grin as he stroked her hair slowly, appreciating Rifa's concern for him.
"I'm alright, thanks to you," Fenris said. As he tried to stand, a sharp pain shot through his body, preventing him from getting up.
Rifa was quick to act, applying light magic to restore his body to a couple of minutes prior to the lightning ball spell being cast. Within seconds, Fenris felt his energy recover as he started to stand once again.
Fenris and Rifa made their way to a log, where they sat next to each other. "So, I guess I've lost..." Fenris said with a downtrodden voice.
"Erm... yes, but actually no," Rifa corrected Fenris, much to his surprise. His eyes widened in confusion, wondering what she meant. "What do you mean?"
"It didn't matter whether you won or lost, Fenris. I just wanted to see how well you would do. Although... I didn't expect your loss to be due to your own attack," Rifa chuckled, despite the danger it posed to Fenris's life.
He rolled his eyes at Rifa's dark comment. "Whatever..." Fenris pouted at the fact that he still lost to his teacher.
Rifa's smile widened into a grin as she found Fenris's sulky behavior quite amusing. "In all seriousness, Fenris, whether you won or lost, you still graduate as my student. The same goes for Sara, as she follows in your stead."
Fenris's expression brightened after Rifa graduated both him and Sara as her disciples. However, he knew what that meant. "So, I guess you're leaving... right?"
Rifa's smile faded, and so did Fenris's. The idea of parting ways was daunting, but it was necessary for both of them to move on. Despite this, Rifa tried to remain optimistic about the future. "Well, yes... but I hope you will grow even stronger now that you won't have me holding you back."
Fenris was dumbfounded by Rifa's statement. "No, I wasn't holding you—"
"It's okay, Fenris," Rifa interrupted him mid-sentence. Despite her attempt to be optimistic, Fenris noticed tears welling up in her eyes.
Neither of them wanted to part, and it seemed to be taking more of a toll on Rifa. "I would suggest attending the Academy of Argentis, the most prestigious magic academy in the kingdom. There, you can further increase your knowledge. I'm sure you'll thrive there, Fenris," she said shakily, although Rifa tried to hold back her tears as much as she could.
"I understand," Fenris nodded slowly. "Thank you... for everything."
He felt a lump in his throat as he said this. An unexpected gust of wind brushed past the two. Meanwhile, Rifa stared into Fenris's eyes.
She got on her tippy-toes, grabbed Fenris's head by the sides, and pulled him into a kiss. Both his and Rifa's faces flushed deeply as she held the position for a few seconds, which felt like an eternity to Fenris.
Left with a million questions to ask, Fenris found himself unable to speak. Rifa's smile widened as she grabbed her things and began backing away from him. "Goodbye..."
"I hope I'll see you again."
Rifa ran off. Fenris wanted to stop her, but he couldn't muster the courage to do so. "Why...?" he said, looking to the ground, filled with more questions than answers.
