Although he had already prepared himself for round two, Nayavu had to stand and watch as his adversary burst into laughter for no apparent reason.
"You make no sense!" he said, holding tight to his stomach. "You said stone… This is ivory… That's not how it works… Phahahaha!"
It was a sorry sight. By now, 'he' had seen three versions of the man in front of his eyes, and this was by far the most disturbing one. Nayavu found it hard to imagine what could have caused him to snap in such a way, but frankly, he didn't care too much.
No, he didn't want to care, yet he had no choice but to get involved with the lieutenant. That was because another attack came his way with no warning.
Calling the ivory knife back to him, Nayavu barely managed to parry a sudden sword strike. When he did so, he felt wind currents passing him. It was only then that 'he' remembered something taught to him by a man 'he' once called "Father."
"Sword magic is not really a type of magic in itself. It's better to think about it as a way of using wind magic. You've also used magic to enhance your sword strikes plenty of times. That's all there is to it! Only, the level is much higher…."
Images of the past hit him for just a second, but Nayavu snapped back to reality quickly, realizing that what he was fighting against was, in fact, highly dangerous.
"Water and now wind? Wasn't controlling multiple elements supposed to be hard? Did that snake water thing help you that much? Or am I not as special as I thought?"
Joking around was Nayavu's way of trying to calm himself down, but the situation he was in didn't look promising. His enemy was much stronger than he had anticipated. Keeping within close proximity was dangerous, but every time Nayavu became energy and stepped away, water jets would bring him right back.
"I must have spent too much time teaching magic to my dumb representative, and forgot to teach you how to use your head during a fight!" a voice resounded. It was a voice Nayavu knew all too well—the voice of someone who shouldn't be there.
"Master!?"
"Haha! It's rare that you slip up and call me that! It feels all the better knowing you see me that way!"
Together with Ayanda's snarky remark, a screech came from beyond the horizon, and in mere moments, the beak of a blue bird struck Giovanni's blade, snapping it in two and pushing the lieutenant on the ground before either of the two caught on to what happened.
"This girl wanted to see you. Who am I to deny her that right?"
Landing on the Inyankaran's shoulder, the thunderbird—or what was left of it—toileted her ruffled feathers, casually pinching Nayavu's cheek while at it.
"What's the meaning of this?" Giovanni asked, his face clouded by frustration, with one eye almost closed and the other wide open. "Is it fair to understand that the gods have taken a side in the war of the humans?"
Although the questions were directed at her, the woman wearing revealing purple clothes barely batted an eye at the one asking.
"What the thunderbird does is none of my concern," she said. "You may continue. I won't intervene in human scuffles."
With the tables flipped upon him, Giovanni took a step back. Weaponless and with another strong enemy in front of him, the situation looked bleak for the lieutenant. To top it off, the last of the soldiers he had brought with him were now convulsing on the ground, having stood no chance against an annoyed Tahu, who puffed his nose after a job well done.
Nayavu had been doing his best not to let the hate he carried for Giovanni leak, but now that he saw his enemy unarmed and vulnerable, the boy let a grin twist his lips. It was the moment he had been waiting for.
One step at a time, he got closer to the lieutenant whose face was twisted in fear—or maybe anger? It was hard to tell since Giovanni's mouth kept smiling while his pupils contracted.
Like a wolf closing in on his wounded prey, the boy was in no hurry. Whenever he took a step forth, Giovanni backed up, one palm facing the Inyankaran while the other hand helped him move back.
"What's wrong with you!?" Giovanni asked Nayavu, who seemed to enjoy the moment for reasons unknown to the Reman. "What did I ever do for you to hate me so much?"
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
"You've done nothing… yet."
"Then what do you want from me!?"
"I want to make sure things will stay that way."
Words that made no sense to Giovanni came out of the boy's mouth. It was unfair. The hate towards the lieutenant that he had only met a couple of times was unfair. Or at least it was unfair for the Reman. However, 'he' had every reason to hate him. Giovanni had betrayed 'him.'
"You should have settled for being a funny old man," Nayavu said when he reached Giovanni, lifting his ivory knife above his head, ready to strike the man down.
"As I thought. A savage until the end. You would kill my dear right-hand man in cold blood without even explaining why you hate him so much. Could it be that, in truth, you have no explanation for it? Could it be that you're just giving in to some animalistic drive to kill?"
The voice resounding from the small trees came from another Roman. It was a voice the ones present knew all too well, for it was someone they had met before.
Upon hearing him, Nayavu stopped his attack, cooling down the homicidal thoughts he couldn't completely let go of. Instead, he looked at the source of the voice. Forseeing that sound attacks would soon follow, the boy had to forget about the lieutenant for a second and focus on defense. That second was just enough for Giovanni to slip between his legs and out of Nayavu's reach.
"Now now, that's one disgrace of a lieutenant, but it's my lieutenant regardless, and I can't have you rid me of him like that."
With an army behind him, light shone on Aurelio as he entered the glade. All Nayavu could do upon seeing them was click his tongue and ready himself. He took a quick glance at his teacher who was standing atop the only tall tree around, but she shrugged her shoulders in return.
"Not even with my life on the line, huh?" he asked his master.
"A representative wouldn't lose to something like this," the woman responded, but the boy was already focused on the enemies in front, a nervous grin blooming on his face.
"Then call in a representative or something…"
*****
Luckily, Giovanni seemed to be out of the battle, but Giovanni was the smaller threat of the two. The one standing in front of Nayavu now was the general of the Reman army that came to usurp Inyankara. Aurelio, he was a crazed man who would raze villages to the ground and kill everyone in search of immortality.
"I take it you're done with your vacation, right?" the boy tried to encourage himself by lightening the mood, but Aurelio didn't bother to answer.
Nayavu clenched his teeth; the situation went from bad to worse. He had yet to truly gauge how strong Aurelio was, but knowing the Reman army, nobody could get such an important position without overbearing strength.
To top it off, it was not only the general he would have to fight. It was a whole army Nayavu had to face off against, and he only had two allies to back him up.
"This is way more than Giovanni's squad. You two stay close! This army is much better prepared."
It was the first time Nayavu saw the general like that. His eyes said a completely different story from before. His arrogance was hidden behind a determined look, as every step he took forward proved he wasn't playing around anymore.
On the other hand, Nayavu's head hurt. He felt himself at the limit of his powers. A fight of attrition wasn't an option, and transmutation could become dangerous were he to get careless. He had to find a way out.
As he thought about an escape plan, the boy's legs felt numb. He tried to move them only a little, but that was enough to trigger an attack. An incredibly fast water jet flew Nayavu's way, and the one who barely managed to push the boy out of the way was Tahu, who looked just as tired.
The next sound made came from the thunderbird, who let out a cry that signaled the start of the battle.
Without as much as a warning, it started. Soldiers started shooting, the animals Nayavu had with him dived into the crowd, and what was a situation that seemed under control had spiraled out in moments.
In the middle of the chaos, Nayavu couldn't take his eyes off the general, and the general also kept his gaze fixed on the Inyankaran. Around the man, Nayavu's electricity and his own water ran wild, but whenever a lightning strike would approach him, he deflected it with little effort.
"Gunning for the toughest one, are we?"
"Not yet," Aurelio answered Nayavu's question. "I have to take my rightful position before I can fight her."
"Touche…"
In the blink of an eye, Aurelio became water, and reappeared right in front of the boy. With a final push, Nayavu transformed his body into electricity, and a tower of running water hurtful to the touch rose in the middle of the battlefield.
The fight between two elements was too fast for human eyes to catch. What happened in there was purely based on instinct and was impossible to explain to those who hadn't mastered transmutation.
What could be seen were lightning bolts and water spray, bubbles, and pure electricity going haywire.
Yet there was one more element at play, an element that made Tahu scream loudly. Sound was also being used within the Reman army, and the only one who could control sound on their end was Nayavu. As such, the boy had to focus on two fronts, and that depleted a lot of his resources.
When the water tower descended, one of the mages was on his knees, while the other who controlled water stood tall with only mere scratches.
"Is that what training with a soon-to-be god gets you? Pathetic," Aurelio said with disgust. He would have finished off the boy right then, if it wasn't for a stray jet coming his way and forcing him to dodge.
Just as Giovanni had done before, Nayavu took advantage of that stray jet and backed up, keeping his life thanks to sheer luck.
"Nayavu!"
Or maybe it wasn't just luck, is what the boy thought when he heard a familiar voice.
Following the voice was a pair of hands that embraced him.
"Nayavu! How dumb can you be?" the voice spoke again, confusing the boy even more.
"Tiva? But… Where did that attack come from?" he asked, stuck facing the other way instead of looking his savior in the eyes.
"What do you think, dummy?" the girl he had been the closest to in this life answered, and Nayavu could guess that the answer came with a proud, tearful smile.
"We've been training even harder than you, you know?"