บท 170: Practice
(Snow's View)
War.
Snow could feel it in her bones. Even if she had only been fighting for a year's worth of time, being thrown continuously into battle every chance she got, she could feel it.
It wasn't like any other, the same familiar creaking of her bones that ached as if she had arthritis, even though she didn't. Even a hint of blood lingered in the air. The stale air that seemed to creep behind her unexpectedly showed that she was ready for whatever the day or week would throw at her. She didn't know when, but her instincts were telling her to be careful.
Getting up, she finished packing away the monster parts into fine boxes as she stored them out into her storage device. They had to keep moving. They were nowhere closer to finding a dungeon core or the dungeon boss.
The only hint or clue that they had of such a monster were the large footprints that were left behind on the ground.
So far, they were only able to find a few things. The rampage that had happened wasn't the cause of the battle that they were in. It came from a completely different direction, which was odd. If it wasn't the cause of their battle, then the source was somewhere else.
Could it be an Overflow?
Snow didn't think it was from such a thing, mostly because the monsters would have systematically hunted them down in complete blood lust, but instead, these monsters ran away. Which was odd behavior in itself?
At first, she didn't think much of it but to be wary of the monster that left such tracks, but as more and more appeared on the ground, she had a feeling that his hunt wasn't going to be easy. How such a massive monster could allude their tracking astounded her that it made no sense.
Even the best hunter didn't find any clues about where such a monster had just up and disappeared off to.
Three days later, they moved in search of the Dungeon Core. So far, nothing.
There was too much land to cover. The team had broken up into three groups as they moved back and forth from different areas to search for a clue.
Still, they trudged forward. Searching and sending out scout parties to find the dungeon lord. There were no levels but one wide open dungeon, making this level easy but challenging in its own way.
Snow sat down, away from the camping site that they had temporarily built for the past two days since their encounter with the monsters. She needed rest as she tried to recuperate and controll the black box's energy that seemed to continually stay in her body.
At first, she thought the energy would leave her when it was used up ultimately. Instead, it lingered in her mana core, twisting and turning into knots as it burned up. She often had to sit down and work on her control, getting a little bit better than before.
Another week had gone by. Snow's magical ability doubled in size. The burning blue fire became a part of her, giving her an uncanny boost that she did not expect.
Dairen, on the other hand, seemed to scuttle away whenever the blue flames appeared in her hand. He glared a few times but didn't say much.
Compared to Dairen's black fire, it had a softer and hotter warmth. Her flames didn't burn through living plants or animals unless she willed it too. While Dairen's black fire burnt through the same materials it touched like acid.
She played with the fire that she had gained, letting it run through her fingertips. At first, it was difficult to control as it only listened whenever it wanted too. There were times when the fire went out when she called upon it; other times, it raged sporadically that she feared that it would burn down the whole area.
Dairen had stayed close, even though the energy from the fire made him sick. There were a few times when he had to take a leave, throwing up on the side. She had asked him why he kept staying, but the only answer that he had given her was that it allowed him to gain tolerance.
Snow didn't mind, but it was a bit scary to see him so bent on standing in the firing range. Either way, his dedication, and commitment allowed him to keep growing as they both benefited in one way or another.
There were times when Dairen had brought his own Dark Fire that roared with life every time it got close to hers. Fighting over for dominance, her Holy flames completely eradicated him in a second. But as time went by, his Dark Flames fought back and lasted longer and longer before it would be snuffed out again.
Each time, Snow could feel the strain of the magic consumption growing between the two.
Dairen breathed heavily, sweat trickling down his face as he sent out more Dark flames at the ones that she had set up. Over a hundred tiny Holy Flames were surrounding them.
Snow was having a rough time, keeping the magic afloat. Especially with so many that she had to control. It was easy to do the opposite, but her magic depletion would become faster. And the last time, she fainted from overspending her magic.
Compared to most magic, the Holy flames took three-fourths of her magic consumption than her other simple elemental spells she knew.
"Snuff them out, Dairen." Snow was sitting with her legs crossed, closing her eyes. She had a sense where every one of her white flames were situated.
Dairen was sitting across from her, his hand gripping tightly into a fist.
A puff of black flames appeared in front of one of the blue flames that Snow had conjured up. He pushed his black flames towards the first one.
At that moment, Snow could feel the contradiction between the two forces opposing each other. One trying to dominate the other. Already, Snow was having a difficult time controlling her power from leaking. The Holy Flames were growing in size, flaring in life.
Dairen's flames pushed forward. In one burst, he completely snuffed out Snow's fire. This took a lot of effort as he was sweating. He moved onto the next and the next. Pushing towards the thirty.
Both Snow had a rough time keeping control, while Dairen had more trouble overpowering the Holy Flames.
With a grunt, Dairen took out another flame.
Snow hissed. Her eyes furrowed. She could feel her magic retaliating against her.
"33," She said out loud.
Dairen focused again, moving his magic over towards another. His flames flickering, getting weaker.
"34."
Sweating horribly, Dairen opened his eyes. His magic went out, causing him to fall backward and flopped on his back. He was breathing hard, smiling that he was able to push past his goals.
"Not bad," Snow replied. She brought the remaining fire towards her, all converging into her hands. The Holy Fire sputtered, and raged, her control of the power became a battle. Her eyes focused, trying to keep the energy intact. She finally sizzled out the flames that wouldn't listen.
"You're having trouble with your magic again."
"Yea." Snow let out a sigh. Relieved that it went away a lot faster than last time. She was slowly improving. "But, I cut down my time." She reassured him. A small smile appeared on his lips for a brief moment, celebrating her little success.
"Same." Dairen pushed himself up. He pulled out a blue potions and guzzled it down to restore his magic. It took a moment for the blue potions to settle in his stomach. The sweat on his face cooling off. "How about we practice sparring?"
"Now?" Snow didn't expect the challenge. Usually, after they finish the magic practice, they go back to do some other things, leaving exercise to their own devices. Plus, Mike and Dairen would be together, pushing each other to get better.
"Yea, why not?"
Snow shrugged her shoulders. She was stretching, ready to get into a fun brawl. "Sure. it has been a while, hasn't it."
Dairen nodded, he got up, and he stuck out his hand to help Snow up as well.
"True. It's been a while."
"Any rules?"
"None. Anything goes."
"Okay." A crooked smile appeared on her lips. "Let's see how far we can go."
Snow felt her muscles relax. She breathed in and out, allowing her to change her focus. Her whole demeanor changed as they split apart—eyes watching Dairen, paying attention to his muscles and his movement.
Her arms were up, she breathed in slowly.
She was ready.
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