Taking a kick to the stomach, Enrico was sent flying backward, crashing through several trees outside the castle. Jumping to his feet, he narrowly dodged a kick from the injured Firlanda, whose strike shattered the ground with absurd power.
"Double Flaming Shot!"
Two rotating arrows shot from Enrico's fire bow, hitting Firlanda and sending her flying back several meters. Both were heavily injured, neither willing to retreat.
"Chains of the Abyss!"
Already knowing that attack would block his magic, Enrico dodged to the right while his hand ignited in flames, hardening into a red shell with a constantly glowing crimson gem.
"Fire Punch!"
Throwing his fist forward, a large blast of fire erupted from his arm, engulfing everything in front of him at great speed. Unable to escape in time, Firlanda was hit head-on, causing an explosion that destroyed the entire area.
"What a beautiful power. If it were me from two months ago fighting you, I'd definitely have lost."
Vergel approached, looking at the destruction caused by their battle. Taking a few steps forward, he observed his daughter from afar. Firlanda, wincing from pain in her back, asked Marcelo to heal her.
"Damn it, why can't I defeat this human?"
"You should give up, Princess. You've only beaten him once — and that was at the beginning, before he ascended to human Circle Three."
"So what? I won't give up or allow myself to be beaten by a human. I'm sure I'll win in the future. Besides, I haven't lost that much."
"Since you lost to him two weeks ago, you've asked for fourteen rematches and lost all of them."
"Then that's not much. Once it hits a hundred, we can talk about it."
As Enrico had said, he had reached Circle Three two weeks ago after a fight with Vergel in his true form. It hadn't been too difficult that day — he had already reached ninety-nine percent of Circle Two and simply asked to be put in extreme danger by taking several shadow magic hits.
'Good thing I created the magic circle and circular breathing. Otherwise, I'd have been stuck around seventy to eighty percent at best.'
[I have to say, even I'm surprised — but don't get too arrogant. The more circles you have, the harder it'll be to evolve.]
'I know. Even so, I'll keep improving these techniques… Well, let's see how much I've improved today.'
Name: Enrico Solcren Ferreira
Fire Magic: Circle 3 - 5%
Water Magic: Circle 3 - 3%
Mana Quantity: 458
Unique Ability: Elemental Clone / Transformation
Soul: 89
He had reached a high level during his time there, and it wasn't just Circle Three he had achieved — he had also obtained important information by asking about the Nartheis presence within him and discovered why he seemed to be of Ranvil level.
'Now that I know that, I have to be even more careful.'
He also learned from captured enemies who invaded the dungeon that Jago was sacrificing dungeons to create a Kairom-level Nartheis he could control.
'That bastard… Besides gathering Ranvil-level Nartheis, he wants to create something at that level? I have a bad feeling something big is coming soon.'
He had already requested that the headmaster and the king secretly hunt Jago down, but so far, they hadn't found him. Enrico wanted to eliminate him no matter what — but not only was Jago stronger, he was also impossible to locate.
[I have to say, even I'm getting irritated with him.]
'Definitely… That's why I have to find him soon.'
"It seems she's fine, so I'd like to ask — what's the name of that spell?"
Turning his attention to Vergel, who had returned, Enrico rolled his eyes upon seeing the burning desire to fight in his gaze. He didn't know how many challengers had shown up already — he'd lost count long ago.
"It's called Crimson Shell. When I studied earth magic, I saw some similar techniques, so I took inspiration and created my own version."
"Interesting. Could you use it against me today?"
"Sorry, but I have to leave in two hours."
"But what if I take my female form like last week — would you accept then?"
Enrico put a hand on his chin, seriously considering the proposal, but still refused. He couldn't stay any longer.
"That's a shame. You're quite an entertaining human."
"I'll return in the future, so don't worry about that. Besides, don't forget I helped you all increase your power during this time."
"That's something I'll never forget, Enrico."
During those months, Enrico had taught them a different way to evolve — aside from devouring other Nartheis, which depending on the level, didn't increase their power much. He taught them a technique created by a dangerous Nartheis who would be born in the future.
It was a technique that connected three things — the core, the body, and magic — creating a line that synchronized them. It was from this technique that he got the inspiration to create circular breathing, though with differences.
'It's a shame it only works on Nartheis. Unlike other methods, this one has no side effects and seems to promote a more natural evolution, even if it's difficult to learn at first.'
That technique would serve as a foundation for others to learn later, but because of its conditions, humans couldn't use it. Looking at Vergel, Enrico decided to change his mind and train just a little.
"Seriously? Then let's go. I'll take my female form as promised."
"If you insist, then go ahead."
Since he hadn't increased his percentage yet, he would use those two hours to try to raise it while still there. Meanwhile, outside — during that same day — someone else had reached Circle Three due to an obsession with him.
'Damn it, I should've trained less. What if he's still at Circle Two despite all this training? Should I hold back again? No, impossible — and it's all his fault!'
In the destroyed training hall, Lira stood in the center, a white aura surrounding her body — proof she had reached Circle Two in both her magics. But that wasn't all she had achieved.
"I hope he can withstand my new level."