“Hey, you.”
“Hmph. What?”
“…Tch. Never mind.”
Cain started to say something to me but stopped.
If it were anyone else acting like Cain, I might’ve probed further, but with this guy? Eh, wasn’t in the mood to give him the time of day.
‘Urgh.’
I don’t even know how many sighs that was at this point.
Turns out, I ended up here in the Training Forest stuck with Cain on my team.
Surprise, surprise—Professor Amillion’s team assignments were exactly what I expected:
Cain and me, Elaine and Anes, Emily and Marie.
Cynthia, being the odd one out, opted to join the professor.
No one really seemed thrilled about this exercise—so much so that no one even bothered complaining.
We just all silently prayed for this ridiculousness to end as quickly as possible.
—
Of course, Elaine was a different story amidst all this.
When paired with Anes, she gave a polite bow and was the only one here exuding any ounce of enthusiasm.
Thank goodness Elaine had some spirit—someone had to if we were to find this “shiny rock” or whatever and get out of here.
—
“Alright then, let’s get started.”
Professor Amillion declared, putting on his best serious voice.
As his announcement echoed, everyone awkwardly shuffled off in different directions.
“This way.”
“Huh? Oh, okay, sure.”
‘Huh, what’s with him being so cooperative all of a sudden?’
Honestly, I half-expected Cain to just sit down and declare he wasn’t going to lift a finger, but instead, he surprisingly took the lead from the get-go.
“Did he finally get his head out of his posterior or what?”
With every step, Cain’s pace started to quicken.
‘Is he actually a fan of treasure hunts?’
He looked like an overeager kid determined to be the first to snatch up the shiny rock.
It almost made me wonder if Amillion’s methods had some merit after all.
We must’ve ventured pretty deep into the forest before…
Nothing. Not even a glimmer of the mysterious “rock” we were supposed to be hunting for.
“Alright, this should do.”
“What? You see something?”
“Yeah.”
“Hoh?”
I glanced around, expecting to have somehow missed something, but there was absolutely nothing in sight.
“Nothing but rocks and dirt, as usual.”
“Tch. Searching for rocks? So typical of a commoner like you.”
‘Ah, that explains it. Was starting to wonder if he’d actually changed.’
Turns out, that thought was asinine on my part. People don’t change that easily, do they?
—
“Gurrrgh.”
Cain suddenly brought a flask of something to his lips, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand as a sinister smirk spread across his face.
“And what do you see now, hmm?”
“The back of your head as I crush it into dust.”
“Ah, charming.”
—
Cain suddenly unleashed a burst of flames from his hand—a bigger, more intense flame than the last time we’d clashed.
“Doesn’t feel hot, does it?”
—
“Today is the day, I’ll finish you off.”
“Really? You think that’s possible?”
Cain’s voice dripped with genuine malice this time. There was no denying it—this guy seriously wanted me dead. How had things escalated to this point?
“Whoosh.”
Seeing him escalate his fire magic, I summoned a gust of wind around me in preparation.
This kid had been on the receiving end of my wind magic just days ago—and yet, here he was again, lunging straight for the same strategy. Foolish? Maybe. But there was no denying his bravery.
“Whoa!”
He wasn’t rushing in blindly like before. With a flick of his wrist, a swarm of fiery phoenixes floated ominously around him.
Last time he summoned three; now, there seemed to be at least double that amount.
Eight fiery phoenixes hovered, each pulsating with intense heat as they glared at me with glowing eyes of molten fire.
“Looks like you weren’t holding back the last time.”
All in all, he had summoned eight phoenixes this go-around—and they were larger, more intricate versions of what I’d faced before.
“d*e.”
With a single word, the fiery phoenixes surged toward me from all sides.
‘Uh…’
Hoping to deal with just three or four, I quickly prepared my own magic, creating sharp blades of wind.
Whoooosh—Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four of the phoenixes exploded upon collision with my wind magic.
‘Whoa, this is intense.’
But the remaining four phoenixes barreled through my defenses and kept heading for me. I must’ve mismanaged my mana distribution.
—
“Aaaaagh!”
With half his forces still alive, Cain howled with renewed vigor.
More berserker than wizard at this point, he appeared almost pitiful—but I wasn’t feeling sorry for him.
‘Tssh.’
Whooosh!
Wind rushed toward the incoming phoenixes but only managed to deflect two of them.
Fists encased in swirling currents, I punched forward to intercept the remaining two phoenixes.
Boom! Boom!
One, two.
BOOM!
The last pair went down in one swift blow. Recalling the Golem hit test, I took the remaining four head-on with bare fists.
It got a little warm as the flames came close, but the wind kept the heat manageable.
—
“Hmph. Done for the day?”
“Y-you… you CHEATER!”
“What…?”
Cain’s face was flushed a brilliant shade of red as he hurled accusations my way.
“Like I said, magic meets magic.”
Technically, the wind encircling my fists was still magic—so I felt I’d given him a fair fight.
—
“AAARGH!”
Crimson phoenixes once more exploded into being as Cain screamed in frustration.
‘What is this guy? A human flamethrower?’
This time, nine. Not eight.
I thought eight was his limit from earlier—obviously not.
‘Whoosh!’
Unlike before, their forms were less precise and more erratic, but the sheer force they carried felt stronger.
Whooomph!
From a distance, I managed to down two phoenixes before they got too close.
The remaining seven descended upon me like vengeful avenging spirits.
Bang! Bang! Boom!
But no matter. I let my wind-encased fists do the talking, and each fiery creature shattered into embers.
—
“Alright, you’ve got skills.”
Cain didn’t respond, merely standing there, still as a statue.
The flames flickered out, revealing the extent of his effort. He must’ve given it his all in that last attack.
For a student-level mage, it was undeniably impressive. On-par or better than that Bernstein girl we’d met in the dungeon challenge.
In terms of raw heat, though—Cain’s flames didn’t stand a chance against Bernstein’s inferno, sure. But technique-wise? He was more than capable.
“Okay, that’s enough for today. No point pushing it and ending up flat on your back again.”
Cain remained silent, an uncharacteristic calm settling over him. His normally sharp-tongued demeanor was nowhere to be seen now.
Cain Hover… standing there, eerily calm and silent.
“Huh?”
Then he laughed. A cold, unsettling laugh.
—
Something about this whole scenario felt off. The air grew heavy, and I watched with cautious unease as Cain brought his burning hand to his chest.
Amidst the flames, he retrieved something—a transparent glass vial containing an unknown liquid.
‘Some sort of potion?’
Without hesitation, he uncorked the bottle and downed its contents in one swift gulp.
“Hey, maybe save that for—”
“…”
—
Cain just stared at me, the air thickening with every passing second.
Whatever he’d just consumed had definitely altered something within him.
“Yo?”
“…”
“Yo?!”
Cain remained silent, unmoving.
‘What the hell is with this guy today?’
—
WHOOSH!
“ARGH!!!”
Cain suddenly screamed, his flames flaring violently skyward.
“Oof, got me there!”
The flames erupted, so high it seemed to challenge the heavens themselves.
—
“AAAAAHHHHH!!!”
The heat, despite maintaining a distance of over ten meters, was nearly overwhelming.
I instinctively shielded my face with my arms in an X formation as the shockwave from the flames surged outward.
When I finally opened my eyes, every patch of grass around me was scorched black.
—
“URGH!!”
My instincts screamed for me to leap back just as another wave of heat radiated outward.
The entire area was engulfed in flames, and Cain… Cain wasn’t a person anymore.
He was fire incarnate.
It was the most shocking sight I’d ever seen—more so than the first time I spotted a Ghoul or a d*ath Knight.
Standing there in front of me wasn’t Cain Hover. It was a human-shaped ball of inferno.
—
A single bead of sweat rolled down my forehead as the sheer heat became almost unbearable.
‘This is… serious.’
