Morning settled over Shadowfall Castle, wrapped in a tense, expectant silence. In the central courtyard, Alexs took a deep breath as he prepared for his training match against Mayuri. The air felt heavier than usual… and the challenging glare of his opponent only increased the pressure.
"Are you ready, Alexs?" Celes asked, watching him with a mix of concern and trust.
"I will be," he replied, trying to hide his nerves behind a determined expression.
Mayuri, on the other hand, looked completely at ease. With a casual motion, she formed a small crystal barrier in front of herself, as if this were nothing more than a warm-up.
"Come on," she provoked with a mocking smile. "Show me what you can do."
Alexs inhaled deeply and began channeling his basic magic. He launched several consecutive attacks, but each one was effortlessly stopped by the crystalline barriers Mayuri deployed with ease. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find a single opening in her defense.
With an arrogant expression, Mayuri materialized a diamond sword in her hand and advanced without hesitation. Her movements were fast and precise. Alexs, sweating and with his heart racing, conjured a wind barrier to deflect her slashes—but the sword cut through it as if it were paper.
"Is that all?" Mayuri said boredly. "If you won't even try, how do you expect to help Andras-sama? You're nothing but a waste of time."
Alexs clenched his teeth.
Give me a break… I'm barely adapting, he thought in frustration. If this keeps up, I won't stand a chance. I need a plan…
Watching her movements closely, he reached a conclusion.
Her critical magic is based on crystallizing different elements.
Quickly, he chanted and created a cloud of gas in the palm of his hand, throwing it straight at Mayuri. She didn't move. Instead, she raised an obsidian force field, completely covering herself. From the outside, it was impossible to see her.
"Seriously?" she laughed smugly. "Did you really think gas would work on me? This field protects me from attacks—and from any kind of contamination."
"Damn it!" Alexs shouted. "How many tricks does this girl have?!"
He fired a piercing spell that bounced off the field and slammed into the ground, creating a crater between them. Then he unleashed a powerful wind blast that swept everything around her away… but it still wasn't enough.
This idiot is just attacking blindly… Mayuri thought. How boring. Maybe I should finish this quickly and prove to Andras-sama that I'm the right choice…
Suddenly, she frowned.
"What is he doing now…?"
Alexs created a fire orb and hurled it directly into the bottom of the crater.
"Ha!" Mayuri laughed. "You can't even control your magic, or are you just—"
"HAAAAA!"
A scream of pain echoed as an explosion rocked the inside of the force field.
---
"Slyther… did he just…?" Andras asked in surprise.
"It seems so, Andras-sama," Slyther replied. "Alexs took advantage of Mayuri's confidence. He used her force field to amplify the piercing spell, guided the gas underneath with the wind blast, and then triggered the explosion from inside."
"Ingenious," Andras smiled. "Even I would have struggled to come up with something like that so quickly. Mayuri's critical magic is truly troublesome… even during training, she forces me to use a portion of my power."
---
Back to the fight
The force field vanished. Mayuri stood exposed, her outfit partially burned and her brow furrowed in irritation. She had been injured… and humiliated.
Frustrated, she conjured an obsidian spear and hurled it at Alexs with fury. He barely managed to dodge, raising an earth barrier that was pierced instantly.
"Are you crazy?!" Alexs shouted. "You almost killed me!"
Mayuri laughed softly before her expression turned serious.
"Maybe I underestimated you… but that won't happen again."
She charged at him with overwhelming speed, diamond sword flashing. Alexs could barely react. Using wind magic on his feet, he dodged desperately, racing across the courtyard without any chance to counterattack.
"What's wrong?" Mayuri mocked. "Run out of ideas already? Don't worry—if you give up, I'll let you carry my things when we go out."
"Oh yeah?" Alexs replied with a tired grin. "Don't tell me you've fallen for me and you're already asking me out. Sorry—you're not my type."
Mayuri stopped dead in her tracks.
"W-What?! O-Of course not! The only person in my heart is Andras-sama!"
Taking advantage of the distraction, Alexs created a cloud of smoke and blasted it with super-cold air, freezing her surroundings. Mayuri shattered the ice instantly, annoyed… but Alexs was gone.
"Where did he go…?"
A burning impact slammed into her back. Alexs appeared behind her, his fists wrapped in flames.
"I'm done being underestimated," he shouted. "It's time to go all out… or die trying!"
He unleashed a storm of spells—fiery blows, dark magic, and the summoning of zombie-like creatures that attacked from every direction.
Feeling overwhelmed by sheer numbers, Mayuri whispered an icy prayer. The ground froze instantly, and sharp ice stakes erupted, destroying the summons. She then launched them at Alexs, who barely survived by raising a wall of fire.
Seeing Alexs completely exhausted, Andras prepared to stop the fight—but she was interrupted.
"Alexs!" Celes shouted. "If you win this match… I'll reward you like last time!"
Alexs's face turned bright red.
Those words, however, triggered something far worse.
"What… did you do to my mother?" Mayuri asked, her voice trembling with rage.
The temperature plummeted.
"You're just like all men… scum."
"W-Wait… it's a misunderstanding…" Alexs stammered, sensing real danger.
"Shut up!" Mayuri roared. "And you, Mother—don't you dare interfere again!"
Crystals of all shapes and sizes formed around her, pointing directly at Alexs.
The assault was brutal. Precise. Relentless.
Damn it… Alexs thought. If I don't do something now, I'll die… without ever seeing Hanako again…
Amid pain and desperation, something awakened within him.
A gentle voice echoed in his mind, distant yet firm.
"This is enough… it's time to act."