"Next time, I won't be so nice," said Iris with a little huff.
"And you need to learn some control. You used elemental magic in public, someone could've gotten hurt."
Meaning someone besides him. The mid-level ice spell had dropped his body temperature well below that of a living being. Sad as he was to admit it, it hadn't been the first time he'd earned the wrath of the eleven girl. It probably wouldn't be the last either.
The two sat in a nearby alleyway, chatting after the incident. Iris had cast a low level fire spell to warm Bryce up. She held a small flame in her palm, slowly restoring the lost heat from his body.
"Elemental magic sure seems nice," he said longingly.
To his dismay, one of the things he'd learned about this world was the clear distinction between races. Each had things they excelled at, and others that were out of reach entirely.
Take the vision enhancing magic he'd learned from the harpies. While casted, his sight could triple in effectiveness.
Cool, right? Well, a harpy using the same magic could result in ten times the effectiveness. Their anatomies made the difference.
As a human, Bryce didn't have anything abnormal about him. His five basic senses were just that, average. Having learned various sense strengthening spells from harpies, werewolves, orcs, vampires, and dryads, he was able to enhance each aspect a bit.
However, without stronger body parts to utilize them it just wasn't the same.
"Good! Just like that!" the old giant who served as the village's guard had bellowed at him.
During their training, Bryce had picked up a boulder, easily three hundred pounds heavy. He'd even felt pretty good about himself… until his teacher had bench pressed a mountain. But, that was just how his training went.
"Do you really need it, though?" argued Iris. She extinguished the flame, resting a hand on her cheek. Her matching turquoise eyes seemed intent on freezing the freshly thawed boy.
"You're plenty strong alrea-."
"Iris, do you know anything about the demons?" he interrupted her. His face darkened as he stared seriously at the girl.
"Not much. My dad doesn't really talk about them. And it doesn't seem like anyone in town does either," a shadow of worry crept onto the girl's pristine face.
Bryce suspected that the little she had heard wasn't very reassuring.
"Ascalon told me a bit about them, but I'm sure it wasn't the whole story."
It was when he'd turned ten. By that point the dragon had gotten into the habit of human birthday traditions. He'd asked the Salamander who ran the bakery for a cake, and he'd offered Bryce a birthday present. Anything he wanted.
At that age he'd seen many of the townspeople. And although there were only two elves, Iris and her father, it couldn't be said that they didn't exist. However, there was a race he'd noted absent from the incredibly diverse village.
"Are there any demons in this world?" he asked, full of childlike innocence from both this life and his last.
The creature he'd begun to recognize as a father didn't answer right away. Eventually, he did, albeit in an uncharacteristically gruff and subdued voice.
"There are."
Seeing the unsatisfied look on Bryce's face, he had divulged a bit more. Only another sentence.
"If you see one, run… they're far more powerful than me."
He refused to elaborate further, and on subsequent birthdays when Bryce had repeated the question the dragon fell silent until he asked for something else. That was how Bryce's fear of demons had begun.
Ascalon was tremendously strong. Even with his many skills, Bryce understood that his strength paled in comparison. If he wanted to overcome his fear, he needed to become stronger.
He once again admired Iris' figure in the dark alley.
I want to protect her.
"Everyone seems scared of them," she said.
The somber mood permeated through the alley like a dark smog. Suddenly, Iris grabbed his hand, his still numb and cold, her's still warm from the fire magic.
"Let's stop talking about this." A smile returned to her face.
Damn, I'll never get over that expression, he thought whilst taking his thousandth mental snapshot of Iris' beauty.
"Besides, there was something I wanted to tell you." she said, their hands still intertwined.
Oh my god. Is this what I think it is?
With his free hand, he clutched his chest. The rhythmic beating doubled, then tripled, though he wasn't using an enhancement spell on it.
Her lips parted, Bryce taking the time to admire yet another of her impeccable features. The love he'd felt festering for the past couple years was at capacity. At the same moment, he opened his own lips. Only a single thought in his mind, or rather a jumble of thoughts:
Is it possible that she likes me too? Oh god. Wait, is she about to confess? No, no, no. No way. Absolutely zero chance. I mean she just froze me solid.
Unless… is she a tsundere?
As a sixteen-year-old man there was only one option. He'd meet her confession head on.
Simultaneously, the childhood friends exchanged words.
"My dad said he'll teach you elemental magic."
"I love you, Iris!"
Huh?