“Sylvester what is the meaning of this? Why are you doing this?” Rossa once again asked, confused as to why Sylvester was now purposely putting himself through a world of hurt. “Don’t worry! Inanis Orbis have healers anyway, a facial injury isn’t going to be much when we’ve got some people who can use healing magic!” Sylvester replied, purposely missing the point of Rossa’s inquiry.

“That’s not what I meant!” She continued to complain however Sylvester continued to ignore her, prompting Estelle to intervene using another method. “Artian!” She called out. “Will you stop this already!” She begged, however Artian too ignored her plea.

“Huh, I think I know what you’re planning with this.” Artian commented as he looked at Sylvester who was now giving him a knowing smile.

“Are you really sure about this?” Artian asked one more time.

“Yes my friend. Now give it all you’ve got! After all, no pain no gain!” Sylvester yelled out.

Artian once again let loose a wild swing, this time Sylvester didn’t take his eyes off the closing fist. Once again, he gathered mana and tried to time a spell but his calculations were still off and was thus hit smack in the face. A red swelling was now starting to appear on his left cheek as he ate his 3rd punch of the day, but even so, he didn’t fall to the ground. With defiant eyes he looked at Artian and yelled.

“Again Artian!”

Another fist was let loose, but there was a slight change in Sylvester’s action however it was still not enough.

“Telepo-UGH!” His spell was interrupted mid swing as he finally fell to the ground on the 4th punch. However, he forced himself to stand back up, revealing a bloody nose. Rossa’s mind was now racing, she didn’t understand why he was doing this and yet strangely she could feel that her friend was trying to send her a message. However, it all became clear once Sylvester spoke again.

“Damn it!” Sylvester yelled out. “I’m used to fighting, but I didn’t expect that I would still get trashed like this.” He suddenly blurted out as he weakly walked towards Artian.

“See? Even I, who is good at dodging and weaving, can get destroyed when trying something new!” He declared as he looked at Rossa, bloody nose and all.

“Look at how pathetic I look right now. I’m getting beaten to a bloody pulp! Really not something you’d expect your great leader to look like right!? A sad sight of a proud magician and performer.” He continued. “You see Rossa, there will be times you will fail even at the things you thought you were good at. There will be times where you will stumble and fall in a pathetic fashion, revealing your weakness to all.”

“However!” Sylvster paused as he faced Artian again, within punching distance.

“Weakness is not something you should be ashamed for. A weakness just shows where you lack, it shows that you still need to grow. And most importantly, it shows that your journey is still far from over!”

“Now come on Artian! Hit me!” Sylvester yelled as another fist was sent right towards his face. However, this time there was something else in Sylvester’s eye. There was a certain cold calculative gaze mixed with a calm demeanor. As the fist came in Sylvester gathered the mana needed, while also preparing to shout the name of the spell. In the short time from Artian’s pull up motion to the swinging motion, he has formulated his plan of action.

As the punch came closer and closer, Sylvester timed his spell chant just right this time.

“Teleport!” Sylvester yelled and then his body disappeared as it deformed into tiny particles of light, causing Artian’s punch to phase through. However, his body would soon reappear at the exact same spot just as the attack was done. Sylvester and Artian were silent for a moment, trying to understand what just happened until Sylvester put his fist out in the air and letting out a yell of victory.

“Yes I did it! And it took only 5 tries!” He then sat down and touched his now swollen cheek and felt the blood running from his nose.

“Heh, totally worth it.” He proudly declared.

“Man, you are too insane for your own good.” Artian said with an amused tone.

“Nah, I mean this injury won’t mean much since we got some good healthcare here! Plus, a leader sometimes needs to take one for the team!” Sylvester blurted out, however it seems that Rossa had things she wanted to get off her chest. “You complete and utter fool! Don’t you dare think you can just brush it off with a haha just because people can heal you easily!” She yelled out in a very angry and irritated tone, standing up and walking towards the now downed Sylvester with furious eyes.

“First you say we’re all going to have a lovely picnic then the next second you force me to watch a brutal beating!? Is this your idea of a sick joke!?” Rossa yelled, voicing her grievances. “Isn’t your entire little gimmick about “giving a great performance”? Well? Was that a good performance to you?” She continued to berate the now silent Sylvester who understood why Rossa was now yelling at him.

Truth be told this sudden display was a spontaneous idea he didn’t give much thought. He simply gave his message through action, but he didn’t think about how he should go about it. Though he maybe a calculated person, he isn’t above doing very risky and stupid sudden ideas especially if it sounded good in his head.

“Did you really think I would enjoy seeing someone get the daylights beaten out of them? Is this what passes for entertainment in this world, or were you mimicking someone?” Rossa continued to scold Sylvester who looked very small meanwhile Estelle and Artian remained quiet as the verbal assault continued.

“Well to be fair, there was this one very famous magician who supposedly died to a punch in the gut, but that was more of hearsay than fact. Houdini didn’t die due to the punch but rather due to pancre-”

“Be quiet and don’t try to be smart with me. I do not care about this Houdini person you speak off!” Rossa cut him off. “You ruined our picnic, and you ruined my day! Well, is this what you wanted?” Rossa asked as she folded her arms and looked down.

However, it seems Sylvester still has something up his sleeve. Looking up towards the fuming silver haired girl, he let out a big grin before speaking his side. “Well, I did say that you would still fail even if you’re good at something right!? Failure is the mother of innovation!” He suddenly blurted out. A response that caused Rossa’s face to go completely red.

“You, you utter foolish man you-you! Fine!” Rossa let out a yell of resignation as she caught her breath. “I give up, you win! Your twisted logic is going to give me a headache if we continue down this road.” Rossa said as she sat down on the grass in front of Sylvester.

“Look, I appreciate the sentiment. I understand what you were trying to tell me but please, don’t do any of these kinds of dumb spur of the moment decisions but this time you actually failed in more ways than one. I know what your quick thinking and risk taking has done for us during that mission, but-” Rossa then paused, and for a moment it seemed she reached an epiphany as she seemed lost in her own thoughts. “Hmm I guess that works out.”

“What works out?” All three other people all suddenly asked.

“Be grateful, because from here on out I will be the one to reign in your actions and hopefully tone it down. I was sort of starting to see this ever since we first fought together during the trials and even the festival. You tend to do things on a whim though you do think about it for a bit.” Rossa started to explain as Sylvester felt something stab his ego.“I think we simply got lucky during those times where your unpredictability gave us an edge. I know you aren’t stupid and you have shown yourself to be really capable. However, given how your mom greeted you when she visited you earlier today-”

“Wait? What’s this about meeting Sylvester’s mom? What’s going on? Give me details deta-” Estelle blurted out but she was immediately silenced by one glare while Artian firmly planted a palm on his face.

“Ahem. As I was saying, it seemed that your parents loved you very much and I also remember that you mentioned traveling with them during the past. So that goes without question that you fought alongside you and they were probably watching over you weren’t they? Doing their best to keep you in line so to speak. Am I correct?” Rossa asked as she gave a soul piercing gaze along with an icy smile.

Sadly for Sylvester, her speculations and conjecture rang true.

“Yup, right on the money I guess.” Sylvester replied, not even bothering to defend himself.

“Oho, no resistance huh? Good. From here on out I will be your advisor and stop you from doing anything stupid. Is that okay with you? This is the consequence of you showing such a pathetic performance oh self proclaimed great magician.” Rossa said as she continued to smile while giving off an air of condescension.

“Well, I think that’s a good arrangement. Artian is Artian and Estelle already has her hands full with him anyway.” Sylvester replied, causing Artian to react.

“HEY!”

“Heh, anyway.” Sylvester was now speaking in a very pained tone as he touched his cheeks again. “Can we go to the clinic now, I want to fix my face and it's starting to hurt real bad.” he complained. Rossa then let out a sigh as she moved closer and touched his cheek. “Uh what’s the big deal here Rossa? You’re making me blush!” Sylvester said in a teasing tone, only for Rossa to quickly respond in a more serious manner.

“There’s no curse or some kind of magic interference now right?” Rossa said as her eyes were once again sullen. “I think I can fix this much at least. Lower blessing." A light then radiated from her palm as Sylvester’s swollen cheek slowly returned to normal and the bleeding from his nose stopped. Once his face was fully restored, Rossa removed her palm and stood up. “Now, if you get yourself into some stupid situation and get hurt like this again I will not heal you back.” Rossa sternly declared as she offered Sylvester her hand of assistance.

“Yeah sure.” Sylvester said as he took the offer and got back on his legs. “You won’t need to worry about that. I mean if Artian and I were seriously fighting, I think he’d be the one ending up with a bloody nose.” He suddenly declared. “Ohohoh dem be fightin words there mister. Want to test that out now that you’re all fixed up!?” Artian declared as he cracked his knuckles in a half joking and half serious manner. But before Sylvester could reply, Estelle stepped in.

“Okay that’s enough. Let’s stop this conversation before it leads to another unpleasant scenario brought about by a measuring contest.” Estelle said as she dragged Artian back into the picnic cloth.

Sylvester and Artian looked at each other and then let out a laugh before Artian was forced to sit back down and eat a sandwich. As Sylvester started to walk, Rossa then spoke in a soft voice.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”