“No... No, it was a mistake!”

Elius said with a shaken voice.

“That is right.”

A smile formed on Joel’s face.

“Were you full of yourself just because you are his disciple?”

“Yes, yes, I mean, how can he be this weak? It is boring, just finish it and let’s go. It was a waste of time.”

The girl behind Joel said while checking her nails. She seemed disinterested.

“I’ll show him that it was a mistake to reject me. He rejected me and chose someone who can’t even enter flow.”

He slowly walked towards Elius, who was on his knees.

“Pfft. I don’t even think he knows what flow is.”

The girl said with a smile. Then her smile disappeared, and flames appeared in her hand.

“I told you to be quick, or I’ll burn him to ashes.”

Joel stood in front of Elius, put his feet on his shoulder, and pushed him back. Since he was in the flow, his physical traits were stronger than usual, even though he was a wizard. So Elius drifted backward a few meters. Now, he was lying on his back. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was half naked, and his body was covered in wounds.

“What is up with the bandages on your arms anyways? Let’s start with your hands. At least they might have a use then.”

With a smirk, he began to walk towards Elius. Elius opened his eyes, but he saw a face looking down at him instead of the blue skies.

“There you are. What are you doing?”

He asked with a confused tone.

“Oh, messing around, killing some time. What are you doing?”

Elius asked back. His worried expression was nowhere to be found now.

“Look at that! Are you here to save your disciple?”

Joel asked with an excited tone.

“We both agreed to this duel, do not interfere!”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“You don’t remember me? Like every other promising young wizard, I also asked to be your disciple. I even offered tons of gold! I had potential! But why! Why did you choose someone this incompetent?!”

Joel shouted, but he began to talk again before waiting for an answer.

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’ll show you that you made the wrong decision by turning your disciple into a rag in front of your eyes.”

Joel said, but he wasn’t aware that nobody was listening to him.

“Dude, remember the meat we had at the Dwarves Empire?”

“Yes?!”

Elius said excitedly.

“We found a better place! Plus, Cassandra’s team is also there. That place is a little expensive though.”

“Nice. By the way, what’s up with this disciple thing? People began to challange me out of nowhere since last week.”

“Oh, since you disappeared without saying anything, I wanted to punish you by declaring that you are my disciple. It’s not a lie, though. You are my disciple.”

“What kind of punishment is that?”

“Wizards around your age should’ve come after you, but you know... You came back a little stronger than I anticipated.”

“Hey!”

A vein popped up on Joel’s forehead.

“Are you ignoring me?!”

The man raised his head to look at Joel.

“Oh, Who were you again?”

Then he shook his head.

“Whatever.”

And he turned back to Elius.

“Be there in five minutes, or you have to pay for the meal! We can’t stop Liam from eating.”

Then he disappeared into thin air.

“Okay, playtime is over.”

Elius said to himself. He pushed himself from the ground and stood up instantly.

“Hey, what were you again. Rank-B? Rank-A?”

Elius asked casually while picking his nose. He had a blank expression.

“What now? Acting li-”

*Snap*

Before Joel could say anything, he felt like his head exploded, and his vision blurred. He looked where Elius was while falling on the ground, but there was no one.

‘What the hell? What just happened?’

The girl behind Joel didn’t understand what was going on. Elius appeared next to Joel suddenly and snapped his fingers. That was all she saw.

‘Huh? Where did his wounds go?’

Elius’ body was completely healed, and now he was looking at the girl.

“Now, now, I still have 4 minutes and 55 seconds. You are the type of person I hate the most. So I’ll show you something.”

The girl flinched. For a second, Elius looked like a demon smiling at her.

“W-what is this pressure?! D-don’t mess with me!”

She took a step back, but Elius was already in front of her. With his index finger, he tapped her forehead. As soon as he did that, the girl felt like she was falling into an endless pit. She stood there like petrified.

“The effect should last for around an hour. Good luck dealing with your worst fear over and over~.”

He said with a playful tone. A yellow jacket appeared, he was directly wearing it without any t-shirt. Then he began to head towards the city center while whistling.