'As Saphos explained Aetos's abilities to Finn, Ais the others moved into position, while Silver started his assault on Aetos!'

'Aetos shook his head as he saw the boy's smile as he rushed towards him. Was he having that much fun? Was he a masochist perhaps? Getting pleasure from being beaten up?'

'Nevertheless, he applauded the boy's courage for being able to show that face under these circumstances, to fully focus on this fight, despite the difference in their power, and the people spectating on him.'

'If previously the boy did not have a proper gauge towards Aetos' strength, now he has, and yet, his expression did not change.'

"..."

This is more than simply courage, but a form of recklessness.

The worst companion one can have in the Dungeon is not someone who is overconfident or cowardly, but someone who is reckless, putting the lives of their companions at risk.

From what he showed me, he wants to grow stronger, no matter what. He sees me as an adversary that can raise him towards a new height...

But is he under the impression I will take it easy on him? Because I have no such thoughts.

'Aetos thoughts came to a halt as Silver halberd approached him.'

Previously I tested with you, now, I will see how far I can force you.

'To test his own limits and how far could he go... How much potential was hidden within him?'

/Clang!/

/Clang!/

'To the people watching from afar, the battle between Silver and Aetos was nothing but pathetic, Silver fiercely tried to combo his moves as he used every single tactic he knew to trap the Elf.'

'He tried to lead him to traps, to make false judgments, and even to mix and match some strange abilities like telekinesis and marking his weapon ethereal, but every time he tried Aetos broke through it with his immense strength and speed.'

'No matter what Silver did, from Aetos perspective, Silver was just as slow as he was before, his every move was clear under the massive gap between their stats… The difference between the two was clear.'

'Despite this, Aetos kept pushing Silver, he increased his strength bit by bit, wanting to see the limit of the boy as he was also curious as to what the boy hid inside of him.'

"Oh child, are we going to repeat our little spar all over again?"

Your strength is the same while mine is not, your stamina is waning while mine is…

'Aetos gazed at Silver, his eyes now a bit tired, they didn't have the same fire as they once had a few minutes ago, Aetos wasn't tired from fighting Silver, he was tired due to something else.'

But why do you keep charging at me?

'Aetos gazed upon the sweat that slowly fell from Silver's forehead, as his muscles tensed and his mind gears rolled non stop...'

'Seeing someone struggle so much to keep up with him was surprisingly fun for Aetos, especially when he saw Silver slowly but surely getting used to his pace and in a sense, improving.'

"I was just warming up." Replied Silver

/BAM!/

'The air suddenly snapped around Silver, green energy now surrounding his body. Many recognized this phenomenon, it was something Silver had already done.'

'But this time, his skin did not tear, his body did not crumble, the energy was only released from his body, but not fast enough to damage it.'

"Oh? Was this what you did in the War game? I can't say it's a sensible idea, putting your own body under such pressure will only harm it if used so frequently."

'Aetos immediately understood what Silver was doing.'

He poured more mind into his magic to forcefully raise its power, it's effective in some circumstances but losing control of it will only cause a mage's death.

My magic or example, does not allow me such freedom of Mind usage, it consumes a certain amount and that's it.

'If a mage loses control of his magic, it causes a small phenomenon called Ignis Fatuus where the magic power explodes around the caster dealing heavy damage to him and his surroundings.'

'This can be caused by a myriad of ways depending on the conditions around the caster and on the caster himself.'

'From Aetos' perspective, if Silver was to lose control of his magic, the explosion that would result from it would definitely kill him just deeming by the amount of energy surrounding him.'

'And even then, Aetos would survive, even if he was to stand still at the heart of the explosion.'

"..."

'When Silver heard what Aetos said, he smiled slightly and said:'

"It's up to me to do what I wish with my own body. And besides, if I can't even do this I may as well give up my dreams and open a bakery."

I know very well he must be thinking about the possibility of me losing control of my 'magic'.

Just a shame my Plasmids can't be placed together with conventional magic since it's something deeply connected with my own body and not something that needs to be conjured through a chant.

However, if I were to lose control of it, it would still damage my body slightly, like when you punch too hard in a bad way and end up cramping your muscles…

But come on, if I were to lose control I wouldn't be able to show my face around anymore...

'The green energy around Silver started to be released into the atmosphere, making an incredibly beautiful scene of green light shining in the night's sky similar to an aurora.'

'As the sun set, this rising green wall of energy became more and more visible to the people in the area. Even from the other side of Orario, a faint glowing light could be seen. But just as suddenly as it came, it disappeared.'

'The green energy condensed back into Silver's body, only making it glow slightly.'

Since last time, I learned a bit more about how magic power works and how it affects my Plasmids. I won't waste so much of my already limited stamina just to look cool.

Besides, it hurts like hell to let the magic power tear my body, the after-effects are also pretty big...

But if I don't do this, this situation will never change, I will keep trying everything only to have my strategy be destroyed by him.

Even if I can only last 10 seconds, I will make my fucking best!

(Can you say the same with such determination?... I may only last a minute, but that minute will be the best of your life!)

"..."

"..."

'Silver did an honest smile as his eyes glowed green.'

/Fwush!/

'In the blink of an eye, Silver disappeared from his location, appearing directly above Aetos.'

"Hum?"

'Aetos raised his head almost immediately and prepared to counter-attack when he suddenly felt an immense force pushing him downwards as if gravity had increased 50 fold.'

Gravity? No!

Telekineses!

Interesting! But it's not enough!

'Aetos raised his head without much trouble, but when he gazed at the sky Silver had once again disappeared.'

"Oh!"

Behind me!

'He felt something touching his back, so he immediately moved his back but the feeling was still there!'

!

'Funny enough, Silver's hands did not move, as if they were stuck.'

'Silver would not wait for Aetos to shake him off, and almost immediately after Aetos turned around, white light was released from Silver's hand.'

'For Lefiya, it seemed as if Aetos was engulfed in pure white light, but for Finn and the others, Aetos' body was suddenly shocked with a white lighting bolt.'

"I see it now."

'Aetos immediately felt his body tremble a bit, he felt slightly dizzy as if he drank too much. He closed and opened his hand to test that, and it felt slightly burdensome.'

'He looked at the side to see Silver, now incredibly pale, looking at him with serious eyes. This scene made Aetos sigh.'

"Did you try to make me unconscious? Or did you try to alter my senses?"

"My body feels a bit sluggish, but unfortunately for you, I am a wizard and Magic is one of my highest stats."

Be it an ice spike, a wind blade, an invisible bullet... All of it will be negated by the magic resistance I cultivated over my lifetime.

However, how much Mind did he put into it to affect me? No wonder he looks like a ghost.

"... Heh."

It doesn't matter...

'Silver smiled, taking a step forward once again.'

/Bam!/

'Silver reappeared in front of Aetos, this time with his halberd! Swinging it down horizontally.'

'His teleportation was perfectly timed so his halberd made contact with the enemy's neck within a split second, but for Aetos, it was still as slow as a snail, worse than that, it was as if the halberd was locked in time.'

'He lifted his rapier to block it, but he felt it heavy and slow…'

"..."

'He turned his head to the side, avoiding Silver's blow as he tried to figure out what had happened to his rapier when he suddenly felt a strange force in his body.'

'He looked behind him to see a dark sphere sucking in the air, dust, and rubble! The road started to break as the stones were sucked into it. And as the dark sphere spun in the air, Aetos felt a weak yet annoying force trying to pull him in!'

"An interesting trick!"

So it's gravity magic this time... I'll play with you…

'In a turn of events, Aetos allowed himself to get sucked into the sphere to avoid another blow from Silver, but in a display of overwhelming might, Aetos struck the air near the sphere with all of his physical might…'

"Shit." Exclaimed Saphos as he predicted what was gonna happen

/BOOOOOM!/

'Aetos fist clashed against the black sphere, completely distorting it.'

'The air pressure was of such immense proportions that the road in front of his fist was completely peeled off together with a large chunk of stone several meters wide.'

'The houses on the sides of the road were also blown away due to the impact...'

'Like an air cannon, the airwave drilled into the road, making its way towards the houses in the distance.'

"Oh no, you don't!"

/BOOOM!/

'Gareth who was in the direction of the airwave took out his shield and pressed it down on the ground, and with a step forward, he created an equal force to negate the air pressure and prevent the terrific damage that would've been dealt to the surroundings otherwise.'

/BANG!/

'A large crater was left behind in this clash, but at the very least, Gareth stopped an immense disaster from hitting many homes and minimized the damage to Orario's infrastructure.'

'Although as time passes, the road became more and more trashed...'

"Urg…"

'Despite his heroic act, Gareth was now covered in dirt, including his prized beard that was now a shadow of its former glory…'

…

'In the middle of the crater caused by the punch, Aetos looked around as he looked for Silver.'

"Kid, stop trying, I can hear your breathing from miles away."

'Aetos couldn't see Silver in the dust cloud caused by his punch, nor could he hear him for some reason, but Aetos felt the air around him change and from it, he inferred Silver's overall location.'

Around 15 seconds have passed since we started, he can't possibly last longer than this under that state.

'And Aetos was right, but still, Silver pressed his body forward for one last attack.'

"I was waiting for this."

'Aetos moved his head to the left, evading Silver's backstab. He did a small jump and kicked backward, but Silver managed to teleport before the kick connected.'

'Although Aetos didn't know it was a clone and not teleportation, the effects of a cloning disappearing are rather similar to the after images Silver leaves behind when he teleports.'

"Enough freebies, I won't allow you to teleport again."

'With an arrogant yet honest declaration, Aetos waited for Silver to do his next move.'

'Sweating heavily from his forehead, Silver dashed forward as his legs glowed red. His speed now being compared to that of a Level 4!'

'His expression was devoid of any emotion as his entire body glowed with red light, he was pouring his soul into this last move!'

Slow…

'Aetos also dashed forward, catching Silver mid-dash and in an awkward position, he kicked him in the stomach and punched his face before he could react, making Silver catapult back from where he came.'

"Arg… Cough!"

'Silver grumbled on the stone-hard floor as blood flowed out of his mouth, those strikes caused quite a substantial amount of damage to his body.'

'His nose was broken, his arms were sore, and he probably fractured a few ribs too...'

"..."

'Aetos looked at Silver and was ready to sheath his rapier when the ground crumbled below his feet!'

'A large hole, several meters deep, going straight into the sewers suddenly appeared bellow his feet!'

'And while Aetos was distracted with this sudden situation, a flash of white came from the sky above his head!'

/Fwush!/

'Aetos reflexively raised his arms to block his face as he saw a silver arrow being released from a white bow, the same one Hephaestus had gifted Silver a few days ago!'

'Aetos found himself in an awkward situation, he couldn't evade the arrow but it was not like the arrow would cause any substantial damage even if it did…'

'But the humiliation of being hit despite a 5 Level difference didn't feel good in his mouth either!'

/Cut…/

'But as Aetos attention was fixed on the arrow, a small cut suddenly appeared on Aetos cheek, as if the arrow had bypassed his defense!'

The arrow… It's still there… So what hit me?

'As he dropped his arms, he saw the same arrow slowly making its way towards him, what had just happened?'

/Cling…/

'The false arrow made contact with his arms, but it turned into sparkles of light, it was nothing but an illusion…'

/Bam!... Thud…/

'As the sounds receded, Aetos jumped from the hole and back onto the street, his left cheek still bleeding a bit.'

'This greatly surprised everyone, did Silver manage to wound his enemy despite their overwhelming difference? Or had something else happened?'

'Aetos looked around, setting his eyes on Silver show was currently sitting on the ground semi-conscious.'

'Silently, Aetos walked towards the place Silver was sitting and he immediately noticed the fatigue on the boy's face, as if he would fall at any moment.'

'So before the boy dropped unconscious, he said:'

"Congratulations boy I'll give you this one, but tell me, what did you do?"

"..."

'Silver breathed in and out for a few more seconds before…'

"... Hehe…"

'Silver laughed, albeit with difficulty, but he still laughed, contrary to Aetos' expectations...'

"...F…Fo…Fool." Said Silver with a smile as he raised his left hand to give him the middle finger

'But as he said that, Silver fell unconscious, without being able to raise his hand, he had used the last remnants of his stamina to stay conscious just so he could utter that single word..'

"... So that is all you have to say…"

'Aetos' expression was deep, he knew Silver's last word held some hidden meaning within it.'

'He thought and thought, and eventually said:'

"How arrogant…"

So I am just a fool to you?

…

'Aetos thought deeply about something before he removed the red scarf from his neck and dropped it on Silver.'

"It's useless now anyway, I'll give it to you in case it still has any power contained within it."

You deserve it, not because you are a Hero, but because you worked hard for it.

... I grew soft...

'He turned his attention to Saphos, who was now looking at him with mixed emotions.'

'Aetos' expression did not change this time as he kicked Silver in his direction, making Saphos' expression distort.'

'Seeing this, Finn stepped forward and asked:'

"I will only ask you one thing, were you the one behind the attack on our Manor one month ago?"

'Finn's expression was calm, but it contained within his anger.'

"..."

'Aetos dramatically stared at the moon as he recalled something.'

'He did not reply to Finn as he started to whisper something under his breath.'

'Tione's face distorted as if she saw the most disturbing thing on the planet.'

"Not going to reply to the Captain?" She said as anger started to consume her

"Sis, calm down… It's not the time for that..."

'Finn felt as if something was wrong…'

"What is he… DAMMIT! EVERYONE! STOP HIM FROM CHANTING!" Exclaimed Finn as he rushed forward

"NO NEED TO FUCKING TELL ME!"

'Out of nowhere, Bete appeared from the sky, doing a down kick towards Aetos head.'

/CRACK!/

/BAM!/

'Aetos evaded Bete's kick, his kick ended up hitting the ground, creating a large crater that went from one corner to the other, but this was not the end as even more attacks started to come his way…'

'Aetos punched Bete's face and made his fly backward to Gareth, who grabbed him and patted him on the back as he continued to run.'

'Bete wiped the blood on his face and focused as he once again started to run.'

'There was no more room for talk, the true fight had started!'

…

.

.

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