The mage, who was also a magus, stared at Henry in anticipation.

  Henry stared back. Unlike the girl who wore an apprehensive and expectant expression, Henry’s expression was pin.

  The mage saw Henry’s unchanging expression. It did not sit right with her. “You’re pretty calm.”

  “Should I be flustered or anxious?”

  “How about surprised or astonished?”

  “I wouldn’t know. Is a magus supposed to be something to be amazed about?”

  The mage narrowed her eyes. “You don’t know what a magus is, do you?”

  Henry shook his head. “Haven’t a clue,” he answered honestly. “Is a magus something different from a human?”

  The mage scoffed at Henry’s ignorance and nonchance. “A magus, or magi, are entirely different from humans. We are beings of Murux instead of flesh and blood.” Saying so, the mage drew a dagger hidden in her sleeves and made a small cut on the back of her palm. Instead of blood, a glittering drop of light dripped out. The wound healed in an instant, leaving no scar.

  “Whoa… Well, that’s impressive.”

  “That’s not all. Since we are beings of Murux, we can cast spells indefinitely. We don’t need to eat or drink. The Murux in the air is enough sustenance for us. We are essentially sentient weapons that require no maintenance like a sword or a machine.”

  “Hmm… if you put it that way, I suppose you are a big deal.”

  The mage frowned. “Big deal? What’s that supposed to mean? Some kind of jargon amongst monsters and beasts?”

  Henry chuckled. “It means you are of tremendous significance or importance.”

  “I am,” the mage asserted. There was fire in her eyes, unlike the eyes of someone who was expecting their end.

  “What’s your name?”

  There was a hint of reluctance but it faded off of the mage’s eyes quickly. “Kiera. My name’s Kiera.”

  “Is that your real name?”

  “It’s the name I have been using for as long as I have lived.”

  “I see… Now, what to do with you?”

  Kiera felt herself jumping at those words, even though she had prepared herself for this.

  “You know, I am in need of a… teacher. Someone to teach me about Murux and how to utilise it properly.”

  Kiera raised her brows. “Do you even need teaching? I saw how you… charred all those soldiers. You’re doing just fine.”

  Henry smiled wryly. “It’s just fmes… It’s boring and what if I encounter an opponent who is immune to fmes? More options won’t hurt and more options will definitely be of great use in the future.” Thinking back on his sparring with Vishara, he felt that he definitely needed more knowledge in Murux. She knew his strengths and weaknesses. If they were to csh, he feared that he could only win if he surprised her. Therefore, he needed a teacher and who could be better than a being of Murux.

  “Are you sure about this? I’m your enemy.”

  “You were my enemy and not by your own choice.”

  “How would you know?”

  “You don’t look angry at the fact that I just killed your… compatriots. And you don’t refer to them as ‘those soldiers’. Obviously, you are not attached to them. You have no love for the kingdom you are fighting for. I say you are only doing this for survival. I’m gonna venture a guess here, the kingdom does not know what you truly are, do they?”

  “So what if they don’t? Are you going to tell them?”

  “No, but… isn’t it a very suffocating way to live?”

  “What’s it to you?”

  “Join me. You won’t have to hide what you are.”

  Kiera snorted. “Don’t think that I do not know what you truly want, beast. I’m well aware of my beauty. You want to indulge in my body, don’t you?”

  Henry hid his grin but it was futile. It was simply far too amusing. “If you’re offering, then I’m most certainly taking it. Your beauty and body aren’t the main reason but they are very good benefits.”

  Kiera’s face was full of defiance but there was also resignation. “Will you only spare me if I join you?”

  “Or risk letting you return to the kingdom? You have made your own significance clear enough. If you’re not with me, then against me. And I don’t want someone of your calibre to be against me. What say you?”

  “That’s not much of a choice. It’s either death or become your pything.”

  “That’s a bit harsh and misguided. You will be my teacher and I won’t force myself on you. What do you take me for?”

  “...I don’t want to die.”

  “Then—”

  “But I’ll be a fool to join you. You’re a beast. Why should I trust what you said? How can I even trust you?”

  Henry smiled. “I can just take you with me if I want to, with or without your consent.”

  Kiera grimaced. She spyed her palm open.

  Henry felt the Murux shifted around him. It seemed to be responding to Kiera. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by glitters. Kiera left his vision due to blinding lights that suddenly appeared around him. It didn’t matter, however. He simply cast Gravity around him and then he heard a loud thud.

  When the lights subsided, Henry could see Kiera lying ft on the ground. He saw inscriptions around her, fading away due to the spellcast being interrupted midway. He knew those inscriptions. It was for teleportation.

  “You know, you remind me a lot of a certain someone. Defiant but versatile. I never thought I could come to terms with her but not only have we reconciled, we even went beyond that.”

  “Spare me your delusions. Just kill me.”

  “Oh god… I’m truly getting a strong sense of Deja Vu here.”

  Kiera looked Henry straight in the eyes with defiance fring. “If you don’t kill me now, you will regret it.”

  “Look, I don’t enjoy killing. I killed all these soldiers because I had no choice. You are different. You have a choice. I doubt you would return to the kingdom but I can’t risk that. So please, don’t force me to make the hard choice here.”

  “You are a fool if you think you can convince me. I may not have any love for the kingdom but I can say the same about you. I have no reason to trust you.”

  “You won’t even give me a chance.”

  “Enough,” Kiera snarled. “Kill me now, or let me go.”

  “What would it take for you to trust me?”

  “You can start by letting me go.”

  Henry sighed. “I don’t have time for this. I don’t wish for this but you force my hand.” Henry opened his mouth, the crimson glow welling from his throat.

  Fear was apparent in Kiera’s heart but gone was the resignation in her expression. The fire in her eyes burned brighter than ever. She managed to move her hand and her fingers drew a symbol in the air.

  Henry saw what the mage was doing. He quickened the bze and spat out whatever was already brewed.

  The fme gushed forth and poured onto Kiera like water that was released from an unclogged hose. But instead of crashing into her and reducing her to ashes, a thin translucent barrier manifested between her and the fmes. The barrier withstood the might of the fire. It stood strong and intact even after the fmes faded.

  “How the—” It was Henry’s turn to be amazed after all the time he had surprised his opponent with his nigh-impenetrable skin.

  Kiera gred. Though she was saved from being charred, she was still stuck to the ground. Her fingers drew another symbol.

  The space suddenly whirled and distorted in front of Henry. When it snapped back into pce, the space rippled and Henry felt something smacking into him. It was strong enough to send him tumbling away, though it wasn’t strong enough to discombobute him for long. He quickly regained his bearings and threw an Aura Bde at Kiera.

  She was no longer where she had been stuck to.

  “Where the hell are you?” Henry knew she was still here. He could sense her presence. He looked around him. It didn’t take him forever. “There you are!” he cheered. He shot a bolt of lightning from his fingertip.

  The bolt of lightning struck a pane that was perfectly camoufged. It shattered into a million pieces, revealing the one hiding behind it. Kiera clicked his tongue. She flicked her hand and water came flowing out from nowhere, converging in her palm.

  “How do you do that?” Henry asked. The fascination was clear in his voice and expression.

  Kiera didn’t answer. She threw the ball of water in her hand.

  The water struck Henry in the chest and he went stumbling. “Ouch!” he cried. “That hurts more than it looked.”

  Kiera invoked more water. It flowed around in streams. At her command, the water turned into javelins and shot towards Henry.

  Henry cast a Spell Shield in front of him. The water javelins struck the shield and it shattered with a single javelin. The rest travelled on. Henry dove out of the way to avoid being bombarded. If a single javelin could break his spell shield that easily, he didn’t want to imagine how much it would hurt from being hit by multiple of those javelins.

  Kiera wasn’t done. She was already casting another spell.

  Her lips did not move, only her hands, Henry noticed.

  Glowing tattoos appeared on Henry’s limbs and he sped towards Kiera like a bullet. Halfway through, he was stopped. Blue ropes of light had sprouted from the ground and bound him in pce. They didn’t bind him for long but it slowed him enough for walls of dirt being erected around him, encircling him in a cage of dirt.

  Henry tutted and destroyed the walls with a single Jetstream Breath. He flourished his wings and swept the smoke away. He expected to see Kiera preparing another spell. Instead of that, she was upon him, having leapt at him. In her hand was a weird-looking dagger, seemingly moulded of Murux. For some reason, Henry’s instincts were screaming at him to avoid the dagger.

  And he did, though he barely moved out of the way. He suffered a light cut across his forearm but a cut nonetheless. Blood trickled from that cut. He widened his eyes. In less than a day alone, he was made to bleed the second time.

  Kiera lunged and went in for another ssh. Henry darted for her arm but she moved faster than he expected. She went under his grasp and sshed at his thigh. He tried kicking her but she twirled out of the way and retaliated with a stab. Henry dodged barely in time to spare his head from being bored a hole. For a mage, she was quite good at close-quarter combat. This made Henry even more reluctant to kill her. He wouldn’t have been so reluctant if he wasn’t so desperate.

  Kiera saw the hesitation in Henry and she pounced on that opportunity. She went in for the kill, her dagger aiming for his heart.

  Henry moved fast. He boosted his speed with glowing tattoos and caught her arm like a viper going for its prey. Kiera was not flustered despite being caught. She had anticipated this. She thrust her palm at him. It was a seemingly normal palm thrust but the amount of Murux behind it was beyond what Henry could imagine.

  Caught off his guard, Henry went bouncing and sprawling across a few yards.

  While Henry was still on the ground, Kiera was making preparations for her escape, a teleportation spell.

  Henry hopped back on his feet and charged at Kiera. He assumed his true form, instantly covering the distance between them. He trapped her under his cws. “Surrender! I don’t want to kill you.”

  Kiera scowled. “You’re no different than the kingdom. You want my powers and my body.”

  “I do. But I swear that I will treat you right. I will not exploit you.”

  Kiera smirked. “Too te,” she said. The space around her whirled before closing in on her… and she was gone.

  Henry was stupefied for a while. When his senses had returned, he smmed the ground in frustration. “Damn it!” But the frustration blew over quickly. He had found a potential ally. If he could get her to his side, he wouldn’t need to fear Vishara or the Kingdom anymore.