Prodigy by seven, a demon slayer by nine, became A-class at eleven, captain of the royal guard by thirteen. Kai had done many things during the thirteen years of his life. Now at fifteen, he faced an S-class who was also the youngest and only existing S-class in the kingdom of Alteria.

The gap between B-class and C-class was a large divide of 3,000 which is 1,000 more than twice of C-class. It was one of the big hurdles in mages and regular knights stop along this border. But the gap between B-class and A-class is immense with 7,000 points worth of difference, 25,000 magic power, it is where most talents stop just before reaching.

But those are all just beginning stages compared to the gap between A-class and S-class which is 100,000 points. Four times that of A-class. If Kai was at A-class, fifth step then he had at least 80,000 points and 99,999 at the most.

(A/N: Just a refresher about this, although these numbers are rarely used, they are still part of the story. F-class = 100, E-class = 500, D- class = 2,000, C-class = 5,000, B-class = 12,000, A-class = 25,000, S-class = 100,000)

Years ago, Hyosuke reached S-class. Although he hadn't improved much since then, even a difference of a single point still made one stronger than the other. If Kai was at 99,999 and Hyosuke was at 100,100 then Hyosuke will still hold the advantage. Once Kai reaches S-class, the council will come for him and deal with him depending on their joint decisions.

A single S-class has the power of a kingdom, Kai didn't want to fight them if necessary.

"Even if you look down on humans, I can do the same to you. A higher being? I killed your kind when I was nine, you aren't a big deal."

Kai disappeared from his spot and reappeared in front of Hyosuke with his sword thrust forward. Hyosuke's eyes contracted and a rapier of ice formed in his hands. But the rapier was different from Erina's rapier, it was obviously stronger than hers and made better. The design was also different, it was as if it wasn't made of ice but rather of pure steel. Ice looks so frail that if this was Earth, it would be impossible even with the best sculpting.

Hyosuke's rapier and Kai's sword hit and canceled each other out. Kai who was the moving force was forced to raise his sword because of the rapier's thrust but before it could get very far, the sword bounced back like a rubber ball hitting a wall. Hyosuke's pupils contracted and he leaped backward.

"...What sort of magic is that?"

"In the first place, what do you refer to when you say magic?"

Kai suddenly stopped attacking.

"The attributes, this is common knowledge even for a human."

Kai sighed and shook his head.

"This is why you're all idiots. Magic isn't that simple, it's omnipotent yet it's not, it's difficult yet easy to understand, magic is a boon yet a bane."

Kai raised his sword and when he let go of it, it floated in the air. Then, several more swords appeared around him and all pointed at Hyosuke.

"That's telekinesis!"

Hyosuke immediately created more walls of ice.

"Also..."

When about two dozen swords were floating around him, he snapped his fingers and ten magic circles appeared around Hyosuke and Kai.

"Magic circles! To think you've reached this level!"

"I reached this level when I was only beginning to learn. You don't understand what magic is, it's not so shallow that it only adheres to the attributes and elements. You can probably create magic circles on a surface given time but I can create them without a surface in an instant, you should know the amount of power this would give me, right?"

If Kai creates magic circles that have mana storages, he can attack from basically anywhere. But Kai was tricking Hyosuke, it was impossible for a normal person to create magic circles in the air. Kai could absorb mana from the surroundings and make them his own, so he thought 'why not do the reverse?' and it worked when he was only a child.

He didn't know the true potential of the skill he made but Reo knew. It was a skill above the realm of S-class.

"Ha! Creating magic circles will require enormous amounts of mana, don't think you can bluff your way out of this one. You're using a lot of mana to supply your 'gun' and now, the magic circles. You must be desperate to end this fast."

Kai smiled lightly and pointed his gun once more. A single shot and Hyosuke was forced to dodge. But he wasn't done there, Kai pulled the trigger again but instead of the gun firing, a magic circle appeared in front. Hyosuke felt alarm bells ringing in his head as he quickly cast a wall of ice which surrounded him.

The magic circles in the air all rotated and shot the attack that was supposed to be fired from the gun. With the power of the bullets separated, the ice wall held out.

Kai smirked.

"[Rending Bullet]."

At the same time the mana bullet fired out, the swords that were surrounding Kai flew forward and slammed towards the ice wall. There were [Ice Blades] and normal swords mixed in them but the [Ice Wall] that Hyosuke had made couldn't hold out for more than three seconds.

"[Soul Call]."

With the dust and the smoke covering Hyosuke's position, Kai quickly used [Soul Call] to find out that Hyosuke had disappeared from within.

But how could Hyosuke completely evade Kai's [Soul Call] which could encompass nearly half of the kingdom?

Kai quickly found Hyosuke from under the floor, using the water that flowed down below as a means for escape.

"Escaping? I don't think so."

Kai pointed his hand towards the water and in an instant, it froze. The ice quickly spread until it reached Hyosuke's position.

Kai dropped down and pierced through the ice.

"An underground water reserve, it's all frozen now though..."

Kai stood alone on a massive place without a single crack. The walls and ceiling were covered in ice and Kai only had a few tens of meters of moving space. Hyosuke burst out from one of the walls covered in ice and quickly attacked.

Kai's gun and sword vanished before a red gauntlet covered half his arm. It had a yellow orb on the back of the hand.

"Enchanted Gear: Thaw."

"I see, so it's another Enchanted Gear but even with that, you're dead!"

Kai didn't speak but his expression darkened as he neared Hyosuke.

"Form: Empyrean."

Clanking sounds of metal could be heard and Kai's gauntlet changed shape. It simply looked like a giant hand with claws instead of fingers but now, it extended all the way to Kai's shoulder and a giant spike was protruding from the top. It also turned golden in color, the orb in the middle of the back of his hand rotated while shining in golden light before turning red. It also became thicker and Kai's arm looked thrice as large as before.

"[Empyrean Flames]!"

Hyosuke's eyes widened and the demonic aura around him surged. Then, purple ice quickly covered his right arm as he met Kai's fist.

BOOM

A single punch from the two created a huge explosion of fire and ice. The golden flames around Kai's arm surged and cold violet air became so thick that it was visible to the naked eye. The explosion destroyed the entire water reserve which was enough to be called a modern-day dam.

The floor beneath them also crumbled but there were no more gaps beneath them, the floor under them held but the floor above them which had lost all support quickly began to fall on them.

Of course, this wasn't a threat to either of them. Kai's golden flames melted any rocks before they could near and Hyosuke's cold violet air turned them all into ice before shattering.

But Kai couldn't keep it up for long.

"HAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Kai roared and with a stomp of left foot, forced Hyosuke to fly backward at a speed so fast that he had barely any time to react before crashing into the wall. Kai stomped the floor once more and leaped upwards. The floor above them was all but destroyed.

Kai had a goal of escaping even though he knew Hyosuke was still fine. Erina was still locked in a cage with her magic sealed and poison rampaging.

Kai quickly found Erina trying to stand up. He broke the cage without any effort and carried Erina in a princess carry.

"...I suppose you'll forgive me for this one, right?"

"..."

Erina glared at Kai but it quickly turned into a warm expression.

"...Idiot."

The corner of Kai's lips raised as he prepared to jump. His goal today was to subdue the demon and to get Erina away. If he could fight without caring for Erina in the background, then he would have a higher chance of winning.

But before Kai could even try to leap, his foot was suddenly stuck in place.

"You think I'll let you go that easily?!"

Hyosuke's voice echoed and Kai had to unleash the golden flames around him to block the incoming attacks. But that didn't hold for long. An icicle passed through the flames and stabbed into Kai's right leg. Kai's eye twitched and he removed the flame to toss Erina out.

He enveloped Erina in a bubble of water and made her travel through the door towards Yoko's position.

Kai removed the icicle and held the wound.

"[Heal]."

But the expected scene of instant recovery didn't happen. Instead, the wound slowly healed.

Kai clicked his tongue.

"Corruption. Looks like you've managed to demonize part of that body."

Hyosuke's laughter rang out as he appeared atop a giant ice pillar.

When Kai saw that, he crouched and placed a hand on the floor. Instantly, tens of magic circles appeared around Hyosuke.

"[Bombardment]."

The magic circles all rotate and mana fired like light bullets. The [Bombardment] lasted for about ten seconds before Kai stopped it. The smoke cleared from Hyosuke's position and revealed a sphere of violet ice with vein-like lines inside.

Then, the sphere opened as if it was alive and revealed Hyosuke safe and sound.

"Corrupted ice, can your golden flames burn this?"

Hyosuke raised his arms sideways and the pillar of ice began moving. Two pillars formed on the sides, and into five smaller pillars. It became an arm with a hand.

"[Ice Golem Arms]."

The ice moved like it wasn't an inanimate object but rather, a real arm. Then, the hand balled into a fist and with a force so strong that the winds were enough to send someone flying, the fist shot out towards Kai.