----------------

/At the same time somewhere near the Loki Familia Manor…/

'Two people could be seen walking around sneakily inside the alleys between the houses, searching for something…'

"Tsk! That kid moves more than a goblin in the Dungeon!" Said one of the two as he walked into an alley

'It was an old man with a sharp mustache and eyebrows…'

"It doesn't help that he disappeared after going with those two Amazons!" Said the old man as he exhaled some turbid air

"He's young and he has a lot of energy, so it's normal for him to do such things. I actually grew concerned back in the village since he always ignored other kids and girls." Said the other person at his side

'It was also an old man, this time, his body was a bit more muscular, but his beard and features were just as sharp as the other one.'

'They looked like a pair of tough old men.'

"When I was younger…" Said the old man as he started to explain how he met his wife, making the other old man roll his eyes

"But despite everything, I didn't expect him to get with two at once in such a short time since we last saw him hahaha! Much less from the Loki Familia." He said as he laughed out loud

"Stop with your perverted thoughts Saphos, I doubt he is doing anything of the like." Said Lington as he took a sneak peek on the corner of a house

"Also, those two Amazons detected us from the beginning, they might have mistaken us for those guys… Don't forget why we are doing this." He said

"I know old fart, I just wanted to have a bit of fun." Said Saphos as he focused his eyes in the sky, as if he heard something

"I'm just as old as you though... Sigh, we've been doing this for a few days already… I don't know how I should feel for spying on my own grandchild…" Said Lington

It's all because of those shadows we saw a week ago…

...

'One week ago, when Saphos and Lington had just arrived, not only did they see their grandson's incredible display at the War game, but they also saw a few shadowy figures stalking him.'

'Concerned, they started to stalk Silver in the hopes of catching the culprits, but to no avail.'

'This has severely tightened their schedule of meeting Silver and talking with him, but they had to otherwise they wouldn't feel safe leaving him later…'

"Saphos? You are awfully quiet…" Said Lington as he looked at the side

"Shhh! Did you hear that?" Asked Saphos

"..."

'Lington shook his head.'

"The sound of stone and wood breaking… It's getting chaotic… It's coming from somewhere near us…"

'Saphos may be old, but he was once a Level 5 adventurer, his age might be catching up to him, but his senses are still way above the Level 3 Lington... Although the latter is also very old...'

"Whatever it is, it doesn't concern us, let's go find Silver, our time is running out after all." Said Lington

"..."

'But Saphos continued to hear the sounds, he couldn't hear it well but it seemed that two people were fighting near them.'

"It doesn't hurt to check, let us take a quick detour, it's on the way anyway." Said Saphos

'Lington's expression fell, but he agreed. He knew that arguing with the old man would do nothing as he was as stubborn as his wife.'

'The two quickly disappeared from the alley, making their way to where Silver was currently fighting with Aetos…'

…

"..."

'Back at the Loki Manor, Ais, who had just finished her bath and had already put on her clothes, suddenly looked at the window as she brushed her golden hair.'

'The fresh wind of Spring blew on her face, making her move her face and close her eyes slightly.'

'Her golden hair moved graciously in the wind as if it was floating on water.'

'But because of this, she managed to see a bit of smoke, rising up from an alley far in the distance…'

'Her eyes suddenly opened, and with a bit of focus, she realized the smoke was not coming out of a chimney.'

'Trouble!'

/Swush!/

'In the blink of an eye, Ais jumped from her bed, running towards her closet where she quickly put on a spare set of her armor and grabbed her sword as she ran down the stairs.'

'Ais had a very righteous heart, she would always try to help others as long as it was within her capabilities.'

"Ais?" Asked one of her Familia companions as she saw her running

"Tell Captain and the others I left." Said Ais as she ran past her

"?? Left?" Said Line as she turned around

(Image)

'But Ais had already left.'

"This can't be good…" She said as she turned around, going up the stairs towards the top floor

…

'Line made her way to the top office, explaining the situation to the executives present.'

"She did what?" Asked Riveria as she looked at Line

'Her expression was as serious as ever, but there seemed to be a bit of concern in it.'

"As I said, she left in a hurry all of the sudden, and I am sure she just had a bath." Replied Line

"... This..." Said Riveria as she turned to Finn who was analyzing Line's words in his chair

'He was extremely focused as his thumb started to hurt a little.'

"Ais is not the kind of person to rush like this, something sudden must've happened." He said

"Riveria, you stay behind, Gareth, let's go see what she is planning." Said Finn as he looked at Gareth

/BANG!/

'The door suddenly opened with Tiona and Lefiya falling on the ground, followed by Tione walking inside the room calmly.'

"Ahhh… Hey?" Said Tiona as she looked at everyone inside the room with an awkward smile

'Finn smiled a little as he shook his head.'

"If you want to go you can, just meet them at the gate within a minute!" Commanded Riveria with a slightly angry gaze

"Yes!" Said the three in unison as they soon disappeared from the room

"Ha! I thought you were going to scold them." Said Gareth

"I'll do that later, it just so happened that now is not that time for that." Said Riveria

"That's right." Said Finn as he grabbed his spear

"What about Bete?" Asked Gareth

"He's in the Dungeon, although it's probably about time for him to return." Said Finn

'They all nodded and left, leaving Riveria and a confused Line in the room.'

…

"..."

'On the rooftops of a house near Loki's Manor, a figure clad in black observed the situation unfold.'

"How troublesome." Said the figure as it turned its head to the side, looking at another area

But I guess peace lasted longer than expected, most security measures are already in place… Just in case things get out of control

But the Loki Familia is moving a bit too fast… Could it be a coincidence?

"I just didn't expect him to show himself like this... Right now in this place."

I bet a bit too much on his patience…

It's just a shame I wasn't capable of hearing their entire conversation.

'The figure took something out of its robe and seemed to whisper something to a small glass marble.'

'The Glass marble soon replied and the figure put it back in its pocket.'

"I hope everything goes as well as you wish for, Ouranos…" Said the figure as it continued to observe

'A small owl started to fly in the sky and observe the situation...'

…

/BANG!/

'As Ais ran on the street, she suddenly noticed the lack of people.'

Were they already evacuated? By who?

It's way too sudden...

'Thinking things might be a bit more complicated than she thought, Ais pressed her body so she could run faster.'

…

/CLANG!/

/CLING!/

'At the same time, back at the place where Silver and Aetos were fighting…'

'Silver's body glowed red as his heart pumped blood madly towards the rest of his body.'

'His eyes glowed as he watched his opponent's every move.'

'He swiftly moved his Halberd around the place, if it came in contact with wood, it would be cut, stone? The same thing.'

'Even some metallic objects in the alley were scratched deeply as he swung his weapon at high speeds around the place.'

'But despite all of this, the Elf in front of him only fought using a single rapier, leaving his strange magic catalyst idle on his other hand idle.'

'Silver did not get discouraged as he continued his onslaught of attacks, trying to figure out his enemy combat pattern.'

'After all, apart from a few self buffs, Silver had yet to use any of his real abilities!'

'Apart from a fireball, he shot at the very start of the fight… Unsurprisingly, the Elf evaded and it hit the wall of a house, painting it black in the process.'

'Because of this Silver realized he had to be really careful so as to not damage the surroundings too much, else this problem would become... Very serious. Especially if someone got hurt.'

"..."

/Clang!/

'Aetos, who had just deflected a downward swing, couldn't help but be amazed at the boy's power and the determination in his eyes.'

Level 3?... 4? Very close…

Wasn't he supposed to be Level 2? What an incredible boy…

Is this… Retaliation from fate for my misdeeds?

The ones who I sought the most ended up having such a talented descendent…

He is the perfect example of why I need to do this.

If only we had time… How much would he grow within a decade or two?

Perhaps then…

/CLANG!/

'The Elf got distracted for a split moment, allowing Silver to counterattack!'

'Silver pulled the ground below him using stone manipulation, one of his basic moves, and used telekinesis to make the enemy float in the air and lose balance!'

'And at the same time, he teleported to a blind spot on his enemy and swung downward!'

"$#[email protected]$%"

'Suddenly, a black chain appeared behind Silver and bound his arms and his Halberd.'

"What?!" Exclaimed Silver as he teleported to the other side of the Alley

'But the chain just went after him and once again chained him up in the same manner.'

"Oh? It's more effective than I thought… This useless spell is indeed good when the difference between Levels is high." Said Aetos as he got up

'Silver tried to move his arms, but they were tightly bound by the chains.'

"Good moves, you forced me to use one of my three spells… Now, can you force the other two out?" Asked Aetos with a thin smile

"..."

'Silver decided that instead of waiting for the spell to dissipate, it was best to force his way out of it!'

'So he placed all of his efforts on breaking the chains…'

/Creaaaak…/

/CLANG!/

'The magical chains broke apart and dispersed into a magical light.'

'This surprised Aetos who smiled and clapped.'

"Congratulations, you managed to escape my low-cost Super short Chant magic, what will you do now?" He asked ironically

"..."

'Silver let out a small smile as he stretched his sore muscles.'

His concentration is inane, he managed to cast under those conditions…

Not only that, I barely heard what he said, he must've muttered in a very low tone, showing his mastery over that Spell.

And to boot, he did it as he moved…

That's Concurrent Chanting, a High-level casting technique.

It sounds simple, but casting a spell while moving, much less while in combat is something completely different.

I can't let him cast it again… I can understand now why Ottar loved to challenge the Zeus and Hera Familias...

Fighting someone much stronger than you is indeed an eye-opener.

'Noticing that the airflow in the alley suddenly shifted, Aetos looked above him, but when he looked down, he noticed Silver's disappearance.'

"..."

Using the airflow as camouflage? It would've worked but…

'Aetos pierced his rapier in the air, the sheer speed of it seemed to be on the verge of breaking the sound barrier.'

'And he was holding himself back.'

(Don't ask how they can identify that, I am unaware if there is a way to prove that or not)

/FWUSH!/

"?!"

Not here?

'Aetos Rapier pierced the air, revealing Silver's body that was pierced on the shoulder, but it soon disappeared with a small smile.'

"!"

A clone?

'Aetos felt the ground move, but when he jumped to reposition himself, the ground trembled as several spikes jumped out from the ground!'

'And at the same time, the air behind his back moved, showing that something was fast approaching him!'

"..."

'But Aetos smiled, he was enjoying this!'

"$#$...?!"

My voice?!

'He suddenly went mute! And this small delay was enough for him to get distracted as Silver's Halberd pierced his back!'

"This!" Thought Aetos as his eyes sharpened

'His body spun with all of his force as he tried his best to block the halberd.'

'Despite the spikes' fast speed, Aetos was much faster, so he easily moved his feet, using the spikes as ground.'

/BANG!/

'The impact sent Silver flying and crashing into a house's wall.'

'Aetos on the other hand dusted his pants calmly.'

"... As I expected, he didn't chant at all… No, it was wordless…"

And the sheer quantity of variations…

I noticed they suffer from the same problems as No-Chant Magic.

That they are weaker than their overall counterparts…

But compared to the time when I was Level 2, my instant magic paled in comparison to some of his abilities.

His Magic stat must be very high for that.

Is that a technique he developed himself? Did he gain a unique Skill for it?

This would be enough to revolutionize magic!

If it could be decoded, it's not every magic that can be properly analyzed…

'Aetos shook his head, it didn't matter what was happening right now, he had to focus.'

Time is running out, a few minutes have already passed, people will soon appear.

'Aetos smiled and made his way to the ruble, he had to deliver the final blow since he didn't believe that Silver was out.'

It was brief, but it was a good fight, Mellios Silver…

/Crack…/

'And as expected, Silver got up from the rubble, his body had a few injuries but it wasn't anything big.'

"..."

I knew it, such a thing isn't enough to send him down.

I would've liked to continue this fight for a little longer but my time is running low…

…

/At the same time, a street block away from their location…/

'Ais was very close to reaching the center of the confusion and finding out what was happening.'

"That's enough." Said a voice from one of the houses' rooftops

'Ais looked above her to see a person jumping out from the roof and onto the street.'

'The person had a silver spear on his hands and his clothes were a mix of light armor and a small metal plate on his chest.'

'He also had a dark visor on his face, hiding his identity.'

(Image)

'His most distinctive feature was the pair of cat ears on his head.'

"Who are you? Do you know what is happening?" Asked Ais as she tried to figure out who her opponent was

'She knew, she could feel it...'

He's strong…

"That doesn't matter." Said the spearman as he placed his spear on the ground

"Whatever you are thinking right now, it isn't it, the situation is already under control and it will end soon." Said the spearman in a heavy tone

"So go back to the Dungeon where you belong and forget about all of this." Said the spearman as he turned around

"Oh, and one more thing, you should stop placing your nose in things you aren't involved with. Don't think you're hot shit just because you broke another record."

'But Ais did not leave, she unsheathed her sword and pointed it at the masked man.'

"... I expected things to get like this." Said the spearman as he turned around

"What a fucking waste of time." He said as he got into position

'Ais did not like her opponent's bad manners, but she didn't let that faze her in the least.'

'It already made her feel strange that such a strong enemy was involved in all of this…'

'Whatever was happening, she has to figure it out as soon as possible!'

…

.

.

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