-Lexia-

  My consciousness snapped back, and I jolted from my back in confusion. Bit by bit the storm I had just faced settled over me. I looked over the ruins of our battle; it was unlike anything I had ever faced before. Father’s education had included a summary of common fighting styles and typical limitations. The way the entire battlefield bent to his will was unlike any feat I had heard of. Earth, wind, water, lightning, and even prebuilt traps. If it was just the elemental powers, maybe he could be some kind of exotic affinity mage, but the traps and the sudden manifestations suggested he was a space affinity. However, space affinity is notoriously hard to use in combat and even more so to affect space beyond someone’s personal reach.

  The only mages who can use elements outside their natural affinity are those who don’t mind expending excessive mana. Father had described the process as ‘imposing one’s will upon reality,’ which he considered a waste of effort except in cases of showing off to lesser people.

  My hands curled at that thought. ‘Lesser people’ It wasn’t hard to find his presence among the crowd. My anger simmers out as I remember just how easily I was crushed. Finally the reality of the situation settled on me. Callen might be just as unbeatable a presence as father. I finally found the perfect companion to show off to my father, but how am I supposed to convince him to serve me if I can’t establish my authority? To make matters worse, both Callen and his sister have shown they can sense me even when I’m using my ‘perfect stealth’ skill!

  My thoughts are interrupted by the healer girl as she offers me a hand. I’m not sure why she’s offering to shake my hand, but I hesitantly accept. With a superior predator here, I need to rethink my attitude. I grab her hand, and she pulls me up from the ground. Immediately I don’t quite understand her intention. Did she offer the hand just to help me up? I’m clearly capable of getting up myself! Irritation surges, and the impulse to rip apart the impudent girl rises, but I strangle that desire. Callen’s still watching, and he doesn’t understand this girl had insulted someone vastly superior to her.

  Like the incompetent she is, the girl has to run across the fallen tower to safely exit the minefield. Meanwhile, without the onslaught of falling rocks, I walk out of the field with ease. The sister Callia immediately greets me as I cross, congratulating me on an impressive fight, but it feels like meaningless chittering. I’ll admit she was an equal, but I was confident I would overcome her with time. Her dependence on that bow would eventually limit her.

  I don’t linger. Losing was already humiliating, and my plans will have to shift dramatically going forward. As I leave, I notice the healer girl jumping onto Callen and embracing him. That insulting little fly not only casually mocks me as incapable but also clings to Callen? It’s only a moment, but the blood dripping from my palms snaps me back into focus. Something unfamiliar to me was deeply disturbed. I walk my way into town intent on finding an inn. This matter won’t be as simple as I hoped, and I needed time to observe and figure out what I’m feeling.

  -Callen-

  As Lexia walked off towards the town, I felt a great deal of relief. When she first got up I almost thought she would lash out. Her expression conveyed just how upset she was, and the way she silently brushed off everyone’s consideration didn’t bode well. Giving Lexia some time to calm down before talking felt like the right choice for now. Watching Lexia leave was interrupted as Crescent finally crossed the pillar and jumped onto me in a big embrace.

  “Callen! That was amazing! You were all like, Whoosh, Bang. Meteor swarm! Thunder Wave!” Crescent’s hug had been brief, but her animated antics acting out the fight were adorable. The energy of her imitation seemed to die out as she realized just about everyone who had watched the fight was now watching her. All around were amused smiles or teasing smirks as gazes shifted between me and Crescent. When her face shifted from flushed with excitement to nearly glowing red from embarrassment, I stepped up. Shielding her from everyone’s gaze, I spoke up.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Ok everyone, the match is over, so please head back to whatever you were supposed to be doing.” My statement elicited some chuckles, but the crowd soon scattered. Soon it was just Callia, Crescent, and me. Crescent seemed to still be struggling to function, so I gently pulled her into my arms and led us towards the town. Since the fight was over, she would need to go back to work, but since her brain was short-circuited, Sis and I walked with her back towards the hospital.

  “How did you do all of that?” Callia asked out loud. It would be rude to exclude Crescent with silent twin communication.

  “It’s the affinity change. Even before it became a Greater Affinity, I could shift things with a couple seconds' focus, but now it’s so easy I can do it subconsciously. Still, covering the whole area in my mana zone was hard.” My thoughts reflected on the whole ordeal. Most of the previous fight had been improvisation, but it was definitely a radical shift from my more conservative efforts in the fort defense. Mana Zone, concentration-type skills, and my arsenal were the key limitations of my new style. I almost felt disappointed as I accepted that most of my time for crafting would have to be put on hold. Proper training to fight was something that I had agreed to after the chaos of the past couple months.

  Crescent had stopped hiding herself in my arms from embarrassment shortly after we began walking her back, but she continued to nestle in, listening to me and Callia discuss our training plans. We were both a bit reluctant to part ways after she finally got back to the hospital, but her coworkers eventually managed to drag her back inside.

  Looking up, I saw the sky was still before noon. According to the weekly training schedule, it was Callia’s turn to teach me fighting. From the looks she was giving me, I already knew I wasn’t going to get off. It wasn’t magic combat training either; that would have to wait for my personal time. Instead, she tossed me a training hammer while getting her own training spear.

  The rest of the week was a blur of training. Lexia hadn’t bothered us since the duels and was instead reported to have left the town on a hunting trip. Despite what my instincts called a scary predator being gone, my week was more than sufficiently uncomfortable as Callia applied Grandpa’s philosophy of learning from pain. Still soon it would be my turn as the teacher again, and it was time for my first date with Crescent. Callia, despite my expectation of planned interference because of her gremlin-like nature, didn't seem to hold any malicious intent other than secretly watching.

  I adjusted the ‘nice clothing’ that Mom had eagerly prepared when she heard about my new relationship with Crescent. I couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous as I hesitated to step out the door.

  “Remember, don’t make me a grandma before marriage.” Mom’s comment suddenly banished any coherent response as embarrassment took the wheel, and I ran off to escape any more teasing.

  Hunting Trip

  After a night's rest, Lexia felt restless. Her thoughts kept moving back to the fight. All kinds of excuses came to mind. The fight was in an open field, giving her no cover or handholds, he wasted large amounts of equipment, and other excuses. However, her father always insisted failure was solely the responsibility of effort. Even if she tried to ignore it for some reason, her thoughts kept drifting back to Callen. She was sure it wasn't an attraction, but something about him made her feel the need to possess him by any means necessary.

  The thought of the healer girl stealing something from her also burned in her, but it was overshadowed. With great effort Lexia snapped her mind clear of the increasingly predatory craving. She got up without hesitation and went to the gate. A guard asked her purpose but didn’t interfere as she dismissed him with a comment about a hunting trip. In truth her savage inner nature was riled up by something, and Lexia felt she needed time to blow off some steam in the manner that felt most natural.

  This region was far from the hunting grounds she grew up in, and out here the conflict would be real. Her fingers clenched in anticipation; this was why the twins could match her. They had real consequences, while her father had procured and sent her prey all through her childhood to facilitate her growth. Everything she had known was fake, but out here it would be real. It might be a week or a month, but when she came back, she would crush Callia and claim Cal. . . a moment of confusion cropped up as a strange thought jumped to mind. Finally she recognized the strange feeling she had. It was a craving, a hunger deeper than any she understood.

  She put the thought in the back of her mind as she seamlessly blended into the forest setting out in search of worthy prey. Once she was strong enough, nothing would be denied to her, and nothing would steal her Callen.