As soon as Platina saw Taíra in the street amid that chaos, she put her inside the store with some civilians. She was being cared for by a girl her sister had left to protect her while she went after Enrico.
"What's your name? Do you know my sister?"
"To tell the truth, no, but I think I know your brother from afar, in class S."
The girl in front of her had blonde hair in two long braids down to her waist, with bangs covering her forehead. When the bangs shifted a bit, a mark was visible in the middle of her forehead, but she couldn't see it clearly.
"Class S? What rank are you?"
"Already asking my rank before my name? My name is Alenya Solvere Aurens, and you're quite bold."
"If you're not strong, how are you going to protect me?"
"Wow… do you have to talk like that, girl? … Fine, my rank is 6, and I was supposed to be his next opponent."
If she was rank 6, that meant she was stronger than her useless brother, so that was good enough for now. Sitting down, she stayed away from the civilians hiding behind the counter or shelves.
"From the looks of it, you must be about thirteen. Since you're not fifteen yet, what percentage are you at?"
"Yes, I'm thirteen, and I'm a prodigy, so I'm at seventy percent of circle zero and I already have two spells."
"Oh… amazing. Normally, people your age don't even reach half a percent. Could you show me those two spells?"
Taíra stretched out her hand and created a fireball, while in the other a sword of iron was formed. Alenya was surprised.
"You have two magical affinities at that age."
"I told you I'm a prodigy."
"That's incredible—"
An explosion was heard outside, so Alenya took a protective stance at the door. She heard battles happening, and then the window beside her shattered as the body of someone about her age crashed inside, nearly dead.
'That's the boy who ran to help the guards? As far as I know, he's almost circle two.'
"Well, what do we have here? So you were hiding."
"You bastard."
Another hooded boy entered through the window, and the boy on the ground tried to stand but couldn't. Seeing that the opponent seemed strong, Alenya placed her hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Life Magic: Full Heal."
Feeling his body recover, he thanked her and quickly stood up. Both of them took a stance to cast spells. The hooded boy raised his hands before them, surrounding them in earth that burst from the ground, tearing through the floor.
"You're not on my level, so just stay still while I kill everyone here."
"As if I'd let that happen."
Catching the hooded one by surprise, a light burst from Alenya's body, breaking the earth around her. She created a spear of light and hurled it in a swift strike, cutting the opponent's shoulder.
"Damn brat."
"Light Magic: Multiple Shots."
Around the opponent, several beams of light began striking him, piercing his body a little. Forming a protective skin, he charged at Alenya. The boy tried to defend with an earth shield but was thrown back by the strength of the hooded one's punch.
'From what this boy is showing, his level is quite low for someone who's reached that stage. And besides, his body is very thin.'
Dodging a punch, she crouched and covered her leg in light, managing to land a kick. It was her first time ever using that spell, since she normally fought from a distance.
'I panicked and must have used one of my predecessors' spells.'
Taíra appeared behind the hooded one with her iron sword, trying to slice him in half, but her blade couldn't even cut through the earth skin he had formed.
"What's this? A brave little girl?"
Taíra's face was struck by a punch. Weak for him, but for her it was like being hit by a carriage at full speed.
"Aahhh!"
Crashing into the wall, she couldn't move her body. That was the huge difference between someone who hadn't reached the first circle and someone who had surpassed it. Seeing that, Alenya dashed forward, leaving light behind, and knelt down, placing her hands on Taíra's shoulders, who could barely breathe.
"What are you doing? Didn't you say I should protect you? Your sister will kill me if you die."
"Ah."
She was healed, but she still seemed to feel the pain of her bones breaking. Seeing the hooded one approaching, fear took over her, and she hid behind Alenya, who only sighed at the sight.
'She may be a prodigy, but she's still not ready.'
Neither the boy nor Taíra would be of help in that fight for obvious reasons, and to make things worse, she still had to protect the civilians. It seemed luck wasn't on her side today.
"So this is the place your sister said she put you? Doesn't seem safe."
"At least we got here before anyone died."
Or maybe luck was on her side, as she turned and saw Enrico carrying a woman with another girl beside him. The boy who had been thrown into the wall stood and ran to the woman.
"Mother!"
"So you're her son? Good, hold on to her while we deal with this mess."
"Thank you so much."
The hooded one looked at them and summoned a larger earth fist in his hands. Before he could attack, two figures left fiery trails behind and kicked his back, sending him toward Alenya. Realizing their intent, she created her spear and threw it into his stomach, managing to break that iron skin.
"Guh—!"
Thrown far, he found himself against the wall. He was circle two, and now in front of him were three strong circle twos. Removing his cloak, he revealed a dark forest symbol on his chest.
"If I'm going to die, then you're coming with me."
Before he could go further, another hooded one with the same brooch appeared behind him, which relieved him since he wouldn't have to blow himself up.
"You'll help me get out of here—"
Receiving a cut on the back from the hooded one's water spear—since he had dropped his earth skin and was caught off guard—he turned in disbelief. Seizing the moment, Enrico, the only one not surprised, pierced his chest with a zero impact combined with his flame fist.
"Bastards—"
Watching the body fall to the ground, Enrico gave a discreet signal for the new hooded one to run out of the store, and he did so without looking back. Kaela came up behind, asking Enrico a question.
"Who was that guy? Aren't they allies?"
"Maybe someone was just using a disguise and simply picked up a brooch off the ground."
"You're right."
'That's good.'
In truth, that was a water elemental clone Enrico had created, disguised with the cloak of the body they had left behind. He had also left the brooch there for it to pick up. He would use that clone as Kael, switching from time to time.
"B-Brother?"
Hearing Taíra's voice, he saw her nervous and… a little afraid? She approached, and it seemed she wouldn't be calling him useless for a while. Looking around, he saw that nearly everything in that store had been destroyed.