"I've humiliated you because of a test score? How fragile is your ego?" Christian asked. He wondered whether everyone named Aurelius was a douche: first was that bastard Evershade, and now, this Ignitus.
"Fragile ego?" Aurelius chuckled, but his eyes or demeanor contained no humor, just bone-chilling anger. "A snot-nosed brat comes out of nowhere and scores better than me? Do you know how long I've been preparing for that test?"
"And do you know how long I've been preparing? Do you know how much that test meant to me?" Christian asked. "You don't know the first thing about me, but that doesn't stop you from believing I didn't deserve that spot. You don't really believe that you four are the only exceptional wizards of this generation, don't you?"
Christian had one purpose: to buy enough time for Xin'er to run far away from the battlefield's center, and it appeared he was succeeding. Aurelius' eyes turned red as he stared at him.
"By the Curator's beard, you do, don't you?" Christian said with his mouth open. "The world is so vast. Hasn't it occurred to you that some people do not like the spotlight, so they remain anonymous? What about those who don't care about the library and choose not to participate? The people who live isolated from the world?
"Haven't you ever stopped to think there were people as talented as you, somewhere out there in the world? How much of a narcissist are you?"
"Enough!" Aurelius roared. "I was only going to scar your face, but now, I've changed my mind. You will not leave here alive." He opened his mouth to fire a brilliant jet of flame, but Christian countered with a small tornado of water that he released from the tip of his wand, canceling out the attack.
However, Aurelius was just starting. His mouth started firing small fireballs the size of a tennis ball. These fireballs released intense heat, but more importantly, they were extremely fast. Christian's body accelerated to his right, evading most of the fireballs.
Aurelius was relentless, following him for more than sixty meters. Christian noticed the latter was guiding him away from something, probably the river, not far from their location. However, he did not care.
As his body reached its destination, the last fireball reached him. Christian concentrated, ensuring he timed his next time correctly. The Shield Charm manifested at the perfect time, allowing him to bounce the fireball to its creator and doubling the speed.
Christian has been training this Double Counter-Charge Skill for over two years, ever since his mother first showed it to him. And he only became proficient in this technique after his battle with Quirrell.
Aurelius was caught on guard. He did not mind the heat of the attack, as he had high flame and heat resistance. However, the fireball's speed would create enough force to damage his internal organs. So, without hesitation, he released a flame shield. The fireball broke through it, but it bought him enough time to evade the side.
Christian took this opportunity to control the rhythm of the battle. He summoned more water with Aguamenti before controlling them with the Water Controlling Charm. He created these sharp water arrows before firing them at Aurelius. The proud member of the Golden Treasure summoned his red gauntlets and punched these water droplets into nonexistence.
A small cloud of steam was released when Aurelius' flame touched the water, blocking his view. Christian knew this was not enough to hide the latter's sight since he had already admitted to sensing people's body heat. So, Christian used this opportunity to summon five small flames before casting an illusion around these flames.
Aurelius used a jet of flame underneath his feet to fly into the sky, but as he looked at the steam cloud, he saw six heat signatures. Christian's approach was ingenious, but he underestimated Aurelius a little. In his heat vision, Aurelius saw five people with the exact same heat signature and one person whose temperature was that of a normal human. So, he targeted the anomaly.
Luckily, Christian's plan was to buy time. Without anyone watching him, he summoned the water from his backpack and condensed it into lances before firing it. Aurelius punched the first one that reached him, but immediately regretted his decision.
Those were not ordinary water lances. The speed of these lances had imbued them with great force, but that was not the deadliest aspect. The lance's tip was composed of high-speed rotating water that added a penetrating force to the lance. Suffering from that penetrating force annoyed Aurelius to no end, but he controlled himself and learned from his mistake.
Instead of blocking, he evaded these lances as he rushed toward Christian, intending to punch a flaming hole through his body. Sadly, he underestimated a prepared wizard. The water lances seemed endless, and the closer Aurelius reached, the faster they became.
'Why does he have so much water?' He immediately realized the crux of the issue. His opponent hid to prevent him from realizing how much water he had control over. 'Water is the antithesis of my Flame Magic. I can't play around.' Under normal circumstances, Aurelius's flame would boil or steam any water magic sent toward him. However, he suffers from elemental weakness when facing an opponent with spell potency on par with or close to his.
Aurelius gritted his teeth. Although he did not want to admit it, Christos was a worthy adversary. 'I can't lose—not anymore.' Aurelius flew to the sky, and his feet released a sea of flames that temporarily blocked all of Christian's water lances. He raised his hand above his head to condense an enormous fireball.
Beads of sweat dripped from Aurelius's forehead as he held what resembled a small sun. Then, without hesitation, he dropped this large fireball. The flaming ball first absorbed the sea flame to increase its size before hurling itself toward the steam cloud on the floor.
An explosion similar to a grenade echoed in the forest, followed by a flaming sea that incinerated everything within a fifty-meter diameter, leaving dark scorched earth and small embers of flame.
Aurelius was panting heavily in the sky, but did not lower his guard. 'Is he dead?' he thought as he sensed the surrounding heat signature. After not noticing anything, he slowly landed.
Boom!
The ground exploded, revealing a Christian who flew from the ground. Before Aurelius could react, a small river surrounded him and encased him in a water prison. "Glacius!" Christian chanted, freezing the water and turning it into an ice coffin.
"Oh, that was closed," Christian muttered. This was the first time he saw a spell with such high potency or pure destructive capabilities. If he had not reacted in time to enter the ground and even hide his heat signature with the Glacius Charm, the subsequent sneak attack would not have succeeded.
He looked at the small iceberg he created and sighed to himself. 'Another opponent lost due to their arrogance.' Aurelius knew he was there the first time he arrived, but he did not take him out with a surprise attack. Instead, Aurelius allowed Christian the time to prepare enough water for this fight, resulting in his defeat.
"Now, what to do with you?"
Christian hadn't finished his words when he sensed a chill behind him. His instinct kicked in, and his body accelerated to the right. However, he was too late, and his left leg was now encased in a piece of ice as beautiful as a crystal.
"Incendio!" Christian stated, releasing a flame to melt the ice. He looked at the upcoming enemy. "Aurora."
"There is a saying: never underestimate a prepared bloodless wizard," Aurora said with her icy voice. "I never believed it until today."
"You've been here the whole time?" Christian.
"What do you think?"
Christian's brow furrowed. He had used Vitalis Revelio: that's how he knew where Aurelius was while underground. However, his spell never detected this woman's presence.
"Are you also here to protect the honor of the Four Golden Treasures?" he asked.
"I'm not a hot head like Aurelius," she replied. The Ignitus and Crystalia family were the opposite due to their magic: one was hot-headed and bold, while the other was cold, composed, and highly rational.
"Then, why are you here?"
"Hand over his body and you can leave this place without an issue," Aurora declared, making Christian frown. "You should understand that your water is useless to my ice magic, and without any preparation, a fight between us won't be easy. Don't forget you must also protect your group member over there."
"What are you going to do with him?" Christian asked.
"That is none of your concern."
"It is, especially if whatever you do will forcefully involve me in your blood crest family disputes."
"You're quite politically savvy," Aurora chuckled. "But I promise it won't involve you."
"And I'm supposed to take your words for it?" Christian sneered.
"What choice do you have?" Aurora replied, her eyes becoming colder and more indifferent. Christian looked at her and immediately removed any thoughts of asking her to sign a magical contract. Then, after a brief consideration, he cast the Acceleration Charm to leave the area.