-Callen-

  Seeing Callia limping around with her leg shredded was frightening, but luckily, even though her leg was torn up, it was still treatable. Lexia’s injury was less apparent, but the fact she was still standing fine even though her spine was a stiff push from snapping spoke for just how similar her and Callia’s pain tolerance was. I already considered it one of Callia’s regrettably best talents. (Not much could stop a determined childhood Callia, and pain was not on the list.)

  Getting the two of them treated wasn’t an issue. Crescent wasted no time getting them both back into peak shape. From the way Callia was staring at me, I couldn’t help but feel a bit shy. It seems she caught on to the change in my feelings for Crescent faster than I had anticipated. Still, in-person emotional intelligence was Callia’s strong suit, even if her life choices left much to be desired. That was something I could live with. Just some more teasing from Sis, and life would go on. Lexia, however, was a challenge all of her own. She just gave me an intense look that was hard to decipher. I was about to ask what she wanted, but she just demanded I fight her. Then she ran back towards the training ground.

  I looked to Callia, trying to decipher if she had any idea about the odd behavior, but she seemed just as confused as me. The loud declaration, however, did have another effect. All around us the townsfolk started whispering conspiratorially, and Crescent came up to me.

  “Um, should I come along? Just in case she gets hurt?” My heart warmed a bit at Crescent’s comment with her faith in me, which was kind but also felt a bit misplaced. To be fair, from her perspective, Callia had a mild injury to her leg that needed cleaning up, and Lexia’s injury was far more risky, so she thought Callia had a minor injury while nearly crippling Lexia. I almost wanted to say no, but having Crescent on hand to fix me might be a good idea. Lexia didn’t seem to know much in terms of nonlethal force, and healing myself might not be possible.

  “It might be a good idea. Though don’t be too disappointed if it doesn’t go the way you expect.” I blushed a bit, looking away from her confused face, but she seemed happy to be invited. She took a moment to step over to the hospital supervisor and inform them she was off to supervise a high-risk training session. Honestly, I had no idea they had started offering things like this, but it made sense to have a system for healers preemptively accompanying dangerous training sessions.

  I took my time walking back to the forest with a bit of apprehension, but I’m sure from the teasing pokes of Callia into my side she would claim it was me enjoying holding Crescent’s hand. I said nothing, but my feelings betrayed me to Callia as her smile grew. It wasn’t going to make me let go, but I was a bit embarrassed. Finally I arrived at the grounds, and it wasn’t just Lexia waiting. Word had spread about the fight, and a lot of curious townsfolk had wandered over intending to watch.

  Most of the spectators were friends I had made, like the town's construction crew, the earthkin, the mayor, and even Mom and Grandpa. Mayor Hew in particular looked a bit disheveled from what I can only guess was a late night of work? Regardless, it seems the sparring was now going to be a spectacle. Everyone moved to the edges of the clearing, and soon it was just me, face-to-face with the predator.

  “Sorry about the excessive attendance. Word must’ve spread when you demanded the fight back in the hospital.” If I were to guess from her high stealth, she might be uncomfortable with crowds or attention. She, however, didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. I sighed uncomfortably as all I got from her were narrowed eyes that looked very displeased. I started pulling out all my basic combat gear and faced off against her.

  I squared her up and took a deep breath. There was no signal to start. She just bent low and broke the confrontation with a charge. No time for fancy measures, I immediately formed an energy rune like the one I used on the bear. It shimmered in the air between us, sparks of energy crackling ominously while I held it out threateningly. In truth I barely fed it any power. After her unpleasant surprise with the light wand, I imagine she will be on guard against similar tricks.

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  Indeed, she immediately closed her eyes and leapt backward like a startled cat. I took that chance to seize control of the mana and spread it out in the largest mana zone I have ever projected. It was thin, but it gave me access to the entire field to utilize my follow-up. I reached into my space and immediately flooded the grounds with various traps. Landmines, explosive logs, and even bear traps. Using my stone, I rapidly built myself a tower by summoning it under me while I repeatedly jumped, Minecraft style. Down below I heard cheering from all the spectators and saw Lexia's confusion at the sudden change in the battlefield.

  I quickly reigned in my mana zone as my total mana was bled by nearly half. Not giving time for Lexia to adjust, I summoned a large boulder and launched it using an air blast rune. She dodged to the side, contorting awkwardly as she desperately adjusted her footing to avoid the numerous traps scattered about the field. The boulder hit the spot she just escaped, and the impact triggered mines around it, blasting the rock to bits and sending shards of stone in every direction.

  Some more traps were triggered in a chain reaction, and even Lexia, for all her skill in evasion, was hit by multiple smaller stones. Already her skin shone with bruises as she hissed in frustration. My heart secretly bled at the thought of having to remake all these traps, but practice against an opponent of this caliber was rare. Since the last boulder had a great impact, I prepped another, blasting it down. However, Lexia had finally adjusted to moving through my minefield. With urgency she immediately shifted from the flight path of my boulder and was well clear before the follow-up explosions from impact.

  Seeing the large rock lacking effectiveness, I switched tactics. I expanded my mana zone again in a small area around me and started summoning numerous smaller stones while creating air blast runes to launch them. I tried to coordinate my shots, but my Will was stretched to the limit at inscribing the runes around me to launch the rocks. Down below Lexia was trapped navigating a minefield in the middle of a meteor shower. Again and again she was clipped by residual blasts, but she adjusted again, and instead of dodging the smaller rocks, she cleaved them apart with her claws. The fragments were knocked aside and easily clear of any threatening range.

  My barrage continued as she slogged through my relentless barrage. Chips of stone left small cuts on her as they flew by, but nothing stopped her. When she finally reached the bottom of my tower, my mana was only at a quarter left. I stopped the barrage of stones and concentrated on building up the charge on an electricity rune. I prepared to attack when Lexia tried climbing, but contrary to my expectations, she cleaved into the base of my tower. Instead of a finger blade aura, she coated her whole arm and sliced through the stone foundation like a hot knife through butter. Immediately I felt the whole structure shift and knew it was going to tip over.

  In the short time I had opened my void space, pouring out all the water in my space, forming a sudden wave washing down towards Lexia. As it fell, I discharged my built-up electricity. I didn’t have time to witness the results of my assault as the tower tipped over. Before it crashed into the minefield, I jumped off, summoning my glider and riding it to the edge of my minefield. Lexia lay at the base of the tower spasming from the electric tide. Without hesitation Crescent jumped onto the fallen tower and ran along it all the way to Lexia and began treating her.

  Most of the townsfolk around me were in stunned silence, and even Callia seemed to scarcely believe what had just happened. I briefly looked over everything I just did and felt no small measure of excitement. It seems my dream of fighting with magic powers has finally come true. I see Crescent give a thumbs up to the spectators, confirming Lexia was ok, and let out a sigh of relief.

  Fae

  Luna spun in circles, dancing with her sisters. Time stretched and crawled in accordance with the queen's whims. Their realm lay in the boundary between realities. On a whim they would visit as they pleased and play with the silly mortals. Luna thought back to one of her past visits to a pitiful realm of mortals. So desperate and in a world that reeked of bloodshed. The queen didn’t really like that realm, so they didn’t stay more than a year, but Luna at least got to pull her favorite prank.

  Seducing an innocent man and leaving him with a child he would never know. His heart belonged to her, and his child would grow among the abandoned. She felt the connection she left on his soul go slack as the man died. With a giggle she whispered her secret to him as his soul desperately cried. Such colorful emotions!

  Luna flew back to her sisters to share the story of the man whose whole town was eaten by worms. The changeling left behind lingered so the town hadn’t been completely wiped out, but Luna didn’t mind! If the queen someday chose to return, Luna wouldn’t mind visiting her child. Maybe she could play a prank on her! Like stealing her lover or cursing her with something exotic and fun! Luna’s sisters giggled in excitement and began brainstorming fun curses to give the changeling. Each curse was both cruel and fitting in nature, but always with an ironic twist that would see it undone.