CHAPTER 101: OP

Liam rushes outside and is immediately hit with three shocks in a row.

First, there are a lot of haelions.

Second, Aldriana is fighting all of them alone.

And third... he can actually see. Not well, but enough. The faint glow from the plants, the movement of shadows and somehow it’s all clearer to him now.

"Jesus... what the... Aldriana?!"

Aldriana, meanwhile, is having the time of her life.

She’s finally able to unleash her full skillset without holding back. No consequences. No restrictions. Just pure, unfiltered power.

She’s not only using magic; she’s using martial arts Liam knew she had... just not to this insane extent.

She leaps lightly into the air to dodge a charging haelion, spinning with a casualness that would piss off any reasonable fighter. In one hand, a blade of red flames. In the other, a blade colder than ice.

Both blades are terrifying.

The flaming blade slices through a haelion—barely a tap—and the wound erupts into fire that spreads instantly, consuming the creature before it can scream.

The ice blade carves across another haelion; frost blooms over its entire body in seconds, freezing it solid. A wind blade slices through afterward, shattering it like brittle glass.

She doesn’t pause. Not even to breathe.

She moves like a storm, darting, cutting, vanishing, reappearing, completely unpredictable. The haelions grow angrier and more frantic the longer it goes on. They can’t land a single hit.

Watching all this, Liam feels a thought pop into his head.

Even without magic... I’m not sure I could beat her.

And that honest realization only makes him admire her more.

Aldriana notices Liam standing at the cave entrance, jaw practically on the floor. She smirks and drops down beside him, landing like she weighs nothing.

"Hai. Good morning." Her voice is playful. Liam can’t see her smile behind the mask, but he feels it.

Liam just stares at her, completely stunned.

The haelions freeze too, all their attention suddenly snapping to the two of them. If Aldriana didn’t know better, she’d think they were relieved to have a break.

"So," she asks casually, "how was your meditation?"

"It was incredible," Liam breathes. "I never thought I’d say this about meditating, but... I like it. And I’m definitely doing it again."

"Good. Did you find anything during your meditation?" Her eyes sharpen.

Liam feels it immediately, that she means something deeper. Not peace, not calm, not the usual meditation clichés. Something else. Something personal. Resonant.

He closes his eyes, searching for the feeling again.

Trying to describe it without ruining it.

"...Fluid," he finally says.

Aldriana waits.

"Protected," Liam adds. "Calm on the surface... but underneath, so much movement. Undercurrents. Depth."

He opens his eyes. "I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like—"

"So, basically, you just described the ocean," Aldriana says simply.

Liam’s whole face lights up. "Yes! Exactly! Deep, calm, waves, fluid, moving—"

The words spill out of him like he’s rediscovering them.

Aldriana nods, already knowing the answer. She lifts her hand, palm up.

"Do this."

Liam mirrors her, palm up, steady breath.

"Now say, Aqura."

"Aqura."

Something inside him... moves. Not violently. Not painfully.

More like something waking up.

Opening its eyes for the first time.

A tiny ball of water forms above his palm — trembling, shimmering, alive.

Liam’s eyes go as wide as saucers. He looks at Aldriana, but no words come out. His brain has stopped functioning.

The water hovers...

holds... for a few short seconds.

and then bursts, splashing against his hand.

His breath catches.

"That— That was me? I did that? I actually cast a spell?!"

"Congratulations," Aldriana says softly. Her eyes twinkle.

"Your first spell."

Liam is too happy to notice the several haelions suddenly charging at them.

Aldriana lifts a hand, moves it lightly through the air, and a few blue flame arrows appear and shoot straight into the incoming haelions.

Liam jumps at the sight. "Now how do I do that?"

Aldriana laughs. "You’re not there yet. Not being condescending, just honest. You need to be able to hold that water spell, in its shape, for at least an hour before you can use magic to kill anything."

"One hour?!" Liam deflates.

"Well, start training then, Disciple." Aldriana grins and walks right back into the battlefield.

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Arthur opens his eyes slowly.

He feels like a gargoyle waking after a century of stillness — ancient, stiff, but charged. His body doesn’t feel rested so much as ignited. The sensations from his meditation linger under his skin: warmth, tension, something coiled and ready to strike.

Restlessness thrums through him. It isn’t unpleasant. If anything, he welcomes it.

It’s like he’s been sitting on a couch for years and suddenly remembers he has legs.

He rises in one clean, fluid movement. His body feels light. Spring-loaded. Primed.

Then he hears it, the sound of fighting outside.

Arthur doesn’t hesitate.

He moves.

Faster than he ever has in his life.

He arrives in seconds, almost instant.

It startles Liam so much that his water ball splashes all over his palm.

"Arthur! Don’t do that again!" Liam snaps. His longest hold so far was five minutes, and he was about to hit six when Arthur just appeared out of nowhere.

Arthur is actually more startled than Liam. He knows he can move fast, but not that fast. It’s like his body moved with the speed of spreading fire.

"What’s going on? What were you doing?" Arthur asks.

That instantly puts Liam back into a good mood. "Look at this!"

"Aqura."

A ball of water appears again.

"Cool, huh?" Liam grins from ear to ear.

Arthur’s eyes widen. "How do I do that?"

Liam shrugs. "Sorry, man. Can’t help you there. She taught me." He gestures at Aldriana, who is busy "playing."

Arthur turns to watch her "play." And like Liam, his mind is blown.

He notices not only how light she is, she is also fast. She doesn’t give the haelions time to breathe, time to adjust. Her attacks come in waves after waves, relentless and precise.

And something starts building inside Arthur.

A need.

The need to engage.

He wants to be out there, not just watching. The urge is overwhelming, and something inside him begins to stir.

Warmth.

The same enveloping warmth he felt during meditation rises again.

Out of the blue, in the middle of her fighting, she shouts, "Say Fyra!"

Both of her students know exactly who she’s yelling at.

Liam knows it’s not him.

Arthur knows it’s for him.

And he instinctively yells, "Fyra!"

The warmth explodes.

Both his hands burst into fire.

But Arthur doesn’t feel surprised, somehow, he knew.

He clenches his flaming fists and rushes straight into the herd.

"Hey!" Liam is completely taken by surprise. "How did he do that?"

He pouts, now stuck watching two people fighting.

The moment Arthur’s fist connects with a haelion, he feels the impact, the sheer strength of the beast. Its hide is thick. The haelion doesn’t die instantly, but it definitely takes damage.

Arthur keeps attacking with a ferocity he never knew he had.

And the feeling liberates him.

He feels like someone who’s been imprisoned for years and is finally free.

He knows his body will scream later, the blowback from punching monsters bare-handed, but right now?

He couldn’t care less.