[I see what he's trying to do…] Dove thought as she watched Nico stare at Alaric as though he was looking at a dead man.
"Nico, I understand your anger. Even agree with it to a certain degree," Dove said before it could escalate further, "My subordinate indeed crossed a line. "
"But – "Alaric's protest died down the second Dove shot a glare at him.
Turning back to Nico, she continued, "But you also assaulted a Knight's honor. Not only that, but you also made a threat to all our lives with your ultimatum. Let's not escalate this further."
With a scoff, Nico replied, "Yeah, let's not. All that 'guy' has to do is… get off his horse, take his words back, and apologize to Nom-Nom… And we're back to being the best of friends."
[As I thought… At least now we'll get a proper gauge of his strength.] Dove sighed.
"Very well then," Dove said, looking between Nico and the fuming Alaric, "Then we settle this with a duel."
Nico blinked at her suggestion before grinning, "Yeah…"
"I accept!" Alaric announced as he glared at Nico with gritted teeth, "This reject needs to be taught a lesson… Crusader or not, Pantheon doesn't get to insult us. If I win, this reject will lick my boots."
"That's a very big 'if', buddy, believe me," Nico chuckled.
Pointing toward the clearing between the end of the trail and the walls, Dove said, "Let's move there…"
And without waiting for a reply, she turned her horse before galloping it towards the clearing with Vice-Commander Kurogane Masanobu following closely behind.
Catching up to her, Kurogane said with a frown, "Is this really necessary?"
"Yes," She nodded, "We don't know the true strength of that man and his supposed elder sister… And seeing how readily he agreed to the duel, I believe he wanted it from the start."
"Why?" Kurogane asked with a sheepish smile as he scratched his horn, prompting a mock glare from Dove.
"He wanted us to initiate this duel so that he could show off his strength. And that idiot gave him the perfect opportunity," she explained with a sigh.
"But why not just tell us his actual Tier?"
"You can ask him that yourself."
While back at the clearing, after Alaric galloped away with one last glare at Nico, to which he replied by sticking his tongue out.
And as he did, Nom-Nom tugged at his cloak, "Master, let me pommel the bastard."
Nico laughed out loud at that, feeling tension leave his body.
Turning to her with a smile, Nico said, "Glad you didn't take that idiot's words to heart."
"But I did," She replied with complete seriousness, "That's why I wanna pommel the bastard!"
-Pfft! – Haha!
The peal of laughter came from the ever-stoic Peko, prompting both Nico and Nom-Nom to turn around and look at her in shock.
"Each day, I learn something new from you..." Peko said as she gazed at Nom-Nom.
"Same..." Nico added with a small laugh of his own as he turned towards Nom-Nom.
"Nom," Nico said softly as he lifted his hands and cupped her face, "Don't let anyone look down on you. You're the Greatest of the Greater Dragons. And you've only just begun."
"I know." She replied immediately with a nod and absolute certainty in her eyes.
Cackling Nico then turned towards the clearing before walking towards it with the two Chimeras in tow.
And as they walked, Peko asked from behind, "Knowing you, there has to be more than just one reason for that duel."
"There is, I get to show off what I can do, after all, Pantheon supposedly sending in a Tier-1 is kinda insulting," Nico replied before he turned back to Nom-Nom, "And that's why I can't let you pommel the bastard."
Seeing both Nom-Nom and Peko nod, Nico let out a quiet sigh.
[Man, why does the universe keep throwing random bullshit at me?]
But when he saw Nom-Nom's wings curl inward, Nico laid out his ultimatum without thinking about anything else.
In that moment, consequences really could go fuck themselves.
[Luckily, it turned out in our favor…] Nico sighed.
Looking ahead, he found the three knights ready for them.
Aralic had descended from his horse and was standing with a white staff in his hand with an amber crystal at the tip.
While Dove and her Vice-Commander stood a small distance away from him, already having made space for their duel.
[Mage, huh...] Nico smirked when he saw the staff Alaric was holding before coming to a stop at a twenty-meter distance.
"Now that everyone is here, let us begin!" Dive announced before turning towards the trio, "Non-combatants, please make space."
With a nod from Nico, both Nom-Nom and Peko followed Dove's instruction as they walked and stood beside the knights.
Nom-Nom looked thoroughly uninterested in the duel; to her, Alaric was nothing more than a toddler challenging her master.
Peko, meanwhile, didn't even blink as she watched with bated breath. Nico had barely fought throughout the time she had been in the group, letting her or Nom-Nom handle most of the combat. This was the first time she'd see Nico truly fight.
"Combatants!" Dove's voice resounded throughout the clearing, "State yourselves!"
"Alaric Vayne, Tier-4 Perfected-Stage, Class, War Mage!" Alaric shouted, stomping the butt of his staff on the ground.
[Class, huh? Like in the video games?] Nico tilted his head.
[Fine... I'll play.]
"Nico, Tier-1 Mid-Stage, Class…" He said with a grin, "Magus Infinitum."
"What the hell even is that class?!" Alaric shouted, eyes going wide, "Are you insulting us?"
Even the knights, Peko, and Nom-Nom looked confused.
"Oh, no…" Nico chuckled at everyone's confusion, "It's a… niche class, one you are about get very intimate with."
With a curious glint in her eyes, Dove said, "Prepare your spells!"
Alaric moved instantly, sliding his right leg back to anchor his stance as he raised his staff into the sky and began his chant –
O' breath of cinder, O'heart of coal,
Ye ancient spark of the sun's abode,
The reaction was instant. The crystal at the tip of the staff erupted into flames, and the spell began to take physical shape, while Alaric continued -
O' wandering star of the highest sphere
Let your weaving of chaos hereby begin.
From the crust of the firmament's broken land,
Fall with the weight of a god's own hand.
-Sovereign's Ruin!
A sphere of fire manifested high into the sky, hovering and rotating slowly as it pulled rocks into existence that knitted itself together layer by layer into a massive flaming asteroid.
"After all that talk about him being a reject, Alaric started off with his strongest spell…" Vice-Commander Kurogane scoffed as he crossed his arms.
Nico, meanwhile, looked curiously at the spell Alaric was crafting.
[Guess I should do something too…]
With a grin and a thought, Nico pumped 35 MP and activated Ice Reinforcement.
And the effects were instantaneous.
A wave of freezing mana surged through him, binding directly to his physiology, enhancing every fiber of his being.
He felt a rush of raw physical power coursing through his body.
But the most profound change occurred within his mind.
As the cold mana seeped into his brain, a startling sense of clarity washed over him.
Even his heart rate calmed into a steady, rhythmic beat while the world around him sharpened dramatically.
Colors became brighter, sounds clearer, and scents more distinct as every sense was dialed up to beyond peak efficiency.
The most glaring change occurred in his cognition. His mind processed information faster than it ever did.
Upon his body, the power manifested as a fine mist of frost wafting off his frame while a thin, crystalline layer of frost rapidly crept over his skin, encasing his hands from fingertips to elbows, while his irises began to shimmer with an intense, electric blue light.
It was as if the very concept of frost was imbuing itself into his very being.
Slowly, he raised his hand and manifested an AP Ice pebble before him.
"Ice Pebble?" Dove looked at him with narrowed eyes, "He seriously means to use that against a Tier-4 Spell? Reports said he has Nature and Metal affinities. Why isn't he using them?"
"I don't know, but whatever his reasoning is… If he uses a mere Ice Pebble," Vice-Captain Kurogane said, closely watching Nico's every move, "… he will die."
Dove turned to look at Nico's companions and found Nom-Nom now watching the duel with mild interest as she stood there with her hands crossed behind her head.
Even the gaze with which Peko spectated didn't show even a shadow of doubt… just curiosity.
While Nico, with his grin widening, manifested a Fragmentation Ice Pebble beside the AP.
[The increment in my cognition here is insane! I can go even further…]
So, he did, forming another AP Ice Pebble below the previous one. And then another Fregementatio Pebble. And then another.
The very act of guiding mana through his body and forming the Ice Pebbles felt almost instinctive.
The infusion of his body with Ice Reinforcement and its enhancement of his cognition worked in tandem to create the perfect conduit to conjure Ice Magic.
Nico stopped at the fourth pebble not because he reached his limit, but rather his MP Capacity did.
He had invested 25 MP a second into Ice Reinforcement, kept 25 MP for the two AP Ice Pebbles and three inert Fragmentation Pebbles, 2 MP a second for a 2-second Precognition, and the remaining 3 MP of his 55 MP capacity to support any of the six spells he was juggling just in case.
To an unfamiliar onlooker, it would appear as though Nico stood before a Tier-4 Spell with five of the most basic ice spells.
But those who were familiar, such as Nom-Nom, knew better. She had witnessed what that basic spell is in Nico's hands.
Dove watched with bated breath as Alaric finished his chant with gritted teeth, having conjured a blazing boulder the size of a house, and Nico, with a calm smile, and those five little Ice Pebbles hovering before his hand.
With a deep breath, Dove announced, "On my mark!"
"3"
"2"
"1"
"BEGIN!"