The Lone Wanderer

Grian tried rushing after Percy and Rambert, but Nesha would be damned if she allowed that to happen. Not after all the trouble they had gone through to split them up in the first place. Remaining hidden behind a tree, she moved her butterflies in front of him, blocking his path. At the same time, she crouched even lower, hoping her bandage would continue masking her core’s flares.

Drawing a large amount of mana from his sternum, Grian unleashed a barrage of daggers of his own, accurately hitting the butterflies one after the other, shattering them into nothing. Still, Nesha couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the poor display.@@novelbin@@

‘His mana isn’t that potent!’

The sheer speed and control of his magic was undeniable, of course. Befitting of his grade. That said, this latest stunt had clearly cost him a lot of his reserves. Then again, it wasn’t that surprising. Not all pure users were like Percy. Cursed with the weakest affinity, they were often treated as lesser among their peers, having to put far more effort to keep up.

Growing a little more confident, Nesha drew some more mana from her core, summoning a new set of butterflies, sending them after him before he escaped.

However, it appeared she had been tricked.

Grian’s expression morphed into a savage grin, as he manifested more bolts. This time, they were even thinner – more akin to needles than knives – shooting the butterflies down the moment they emerged from behind the tree. Unlike before, he used much less mana to deal with her attack too.

“There you are.” he said, turning to face her before casually strolling her way.

At the same time, he created more needles, launching them at the tree. Nesha barely managed to leap out of their path, a series of cyan projectiles drilling dozens of holes through the wood, as well as the ground where she had previously stood.

He looked at her with disdain, manifesting countless more cyan needles around him, about to finish her off. But he never got the chance.

“KRAAAAA!!!”

Unleashing a piercing screech, Micky dove in the attack’s path, shielding Nesha with his body. The constructs did draw some blood, though they failed to pierce deeper than an inch into the crow’s flesh.

A pang of guilt gripped her heart as she realized Micky wouldn’t have needed to endure the attack had it not been for her foolishness. Still, she rushed behind another tree, disappearing in the darkness, unwilling to waste the chance the bird had bought her.

She understood this wouldn’t be enough to take Micky down. Just as Grian probably stood at the bottom of all Greens, Percy’s familiar soared above all Yellows. With his two cores and just as many boosting arts, the crow’s flesh wasn’t something that could so easily be penetrated.

Sure enough, Micky took off a moment later, avoiding another round of spells with ease, his injuries having failed to slow him down in the slightest. Grian clicked his tongue in annoyance, though he continued to shoot at the crow, trying to pin him down.

‘I can’t let him get hit again. At some point, it’s going to affect him.’ she thought grimly.

The crow flew circles around the man, Acceleration doing wonders for his speed. That said, dodging the rain of needles was still difficult, a few grazing him every now and then. And it didn’t look like Grian had much trouble keeping the attacks coming, using far less mana than before. At the very least, he seemed content keeping the bird at bay, slowly whittling down his strength without giving him a chance to counterattack. Ｒ𝔞ΝổВÊŠ

Carefully observing the two with her Mana Sense, Nesha waited with bated breath for an opening. Eventually, Micky attempted to dive at Grian, only to be driven off with another barrage. Still, that was precisely the chance she had been looking for.

Creating more butterflies, she made them curve towards Grian, as she ran in the opposite direction. Naturally, the man spotted her instantly, pelting her location with more attacks. That said, hitting her on the move was harder. Especially since he had to split his projectiles three ways, to deal with the butterflies while also keeping the crow at a safe distance.

Nesha did her best to guard her vitals, though a few needles still pierced her leg. Sadly, her flesh wasn’t nearly as tough as Micky’s either, the cyan constructs punching right through, sending her tumbling through the mud.

‘At least, it wasn’t for nothing.’ she smiled bitterly.

Crawling away, she hid behind another tree as she followed the battle through Mana Sense again. Micky hadn’t wasted the opportunity she had created for him, diving towards Grian. He allowed himself to get hit by a few needles on the way – clearly having deemed it was a worthwhile sacrifice. He managed to carve a few nasty gouges on the man’s left arm and leg, throwing him on the ground. Still, Grian didn’t waste any time before fending him off with more needles.

Stolen story; please report.

The good news was that he appeared to have trouble standing afterwards, though Nesha wasn’t entirely convinced they had come out on top in this exchange. Sure, their opponent had arguably suffered the worst injuries among the three, but his fighting style was probably affected the least. After all, he fought by staying in one spot and shooting spells at them. Meanwhile, Nesha’s immobility meant she couldn’t repeat her previous move without giving her life up. Even Micky looked like he had more trouble flying right now.

‘Pathetic.’ she thought, the back of her head making a soft thud as she hit the tree’s trunk with it.

She’d worked so hard over the past two years. For the first time in her life, she’d done everything in her power, just so that she could support Percy and Micky without getting in their way. And for what? Here she was, as useless as always. It was at that moment that Grian’s earlier words rang through her mind again, truer than ever.

‘This affinity is really wasted on me, isn’t it?’

Taken to its extreme, the space affinity could bridge entire worlds together, overcoming unimaginable distances. And what was she doing with it? She just made a few pretty constructs fly around…

No.

There had to be more she could do.

Right now, her biggest issue was that she betrayed her location every time she tried to get involved. How ridiculous was that? The owner of a space affinity should have complete control over a battlefield! Not hide in some corner, afraid to cast a single spell!

Bringing her hands in front of her chest, she drew some mana between her palms, manifesting another butterfly. This time, she only formed one. Plus, she took extra care to keep all the involved channels hidden behind her bandage, unwilling to draw Grian’s attention. Looking at the construct, she couldn’t help but crack a faint smile. It really was pretty. She’d definitely grown better at making them.

‘But this is a fight to the death, not an art contest.’

Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her mana, trying to dig deeper than before. This was space mana. It had to be capable of something more than just flying around. Scanning the battlefield with her Mana Sense, she allowed her focus to sink into Grian’s head. Could she make the butterfly pop right inside that fucker’s brain, turning it into mush from within?

‘It should be possible, shouldn’t it?’

She’d never tried anything of the sort, but this sounded like it was within her affinity’s alley. Grian wasn’t even that far. Just a couple dozen metres or so.

Concentrating, she tried every mental exercise she could think of, from simply willing the butterfly to appear in a different location, to imagining it dig through the very fabric of space. At first, her efforts seemed to yield no result, but she didn’t give up, knowing this was her only means of helping Micky.

Eventually, she noticed something strange.

The butterfly still hovered in the same spot, showing no signs of moving. However, some mana suddenly vanished from her core, a blob of Yellow popping up in a random location near Grian. Naturally, the man instantly unleashed a barrage of needles to bring it down, but Nesha didn’t care about that, instead focusing on what she’d done.

‘Hmm? It worked… but why like that?’

She’d wanted to teleport her butterfly there, not a random blob of mana from her core. Why did that even happen? Was it because she was more intimately connected with the mana still in her sternum?

Either way, this could work. Did she even need to manifest the butterflies in her hands first? This was space mana, after all. If she could teleport it right out of her core, could she directly form her spells from it at the same time?

Trying again, this time she imagined some mana – the same amount she usually used when creating a butterfly – vanishing from her core. She pictured it materializing as a butterfly inside Grian’s head.

Something happened again!

More mana disappeared. This time, it did take the correct shape, though it still didn’t go where she wanted it, appearing a few metres away from her target. Spooked, Grian hurriedly put some distance from that spot, before destroying the construct. Though in his panic, he nearly gave Micky another opening to attack, only managing to drive him off at the last second.

Nesha’s heart skipped a beat at the sight.

Her latest trick wasn’t accurate in the slightest, but it could still work! Getting the butterflies to manifest inside her enemy’s body didn’t seem possible, and neither did she think she could teleport them a second time after they left her core. However, she should be able to control them remotely like she normally did.

Repeating her actions, she created a second one, and then a third, and a fourth… One butterfly after another popped into existence around Grian, each of them appearing in a random spot in his vicinity.

Taken aback, the enemy mage unleashed much more mana than before, trying to destroy them as soon as they appeared. Still, he seemed to have trouble keeping track of them all at once. Especially since they flew around erratically, making it even harder for him to hit them, as they all tried closing in on him.

Mana kept draining from Nesha’s core at a ridiculous rate. It appeared each construct sucked a little more than it normally did too, the very act of teleporting them not without its own cost. Still, she didn’t pay that any heed, doing everything in her power to gnaw at Grian’s attention.

It wasn’t until a minute later that her core dried up completely. In the end, she still failed to land a single hit, the enemy mage having just barely managed to defend himself against the chaotic spell.

That said, her efforts didn’t go unrecognized.

[Congratulations! Your spell has evolved: Butterfly – Crude -> Chaotic Garden – Refined!]

And her Status wasn’t the only one to have appreciated her efforts.

Through Mana Sense, she watched Micky dive towards Grian one last time. The man shot more needles at the crow – as he had been doing during Nesha’s assault. However, his half-assed attempts seemed to have finally reached their limits.

The bird dodged most of the needles, choosing to meet the last few head on. Drawing every last drop of mana from his abdomen, he allowed it to shroud him completely, sticking to his plumage. At the same time, he spun through the air, the wind itself fuelling his rotation, swirling right alongside him.

Some of the needles even bounced off him, only a couple actually digging into his flesh. Ignoring the pain, he continued speeding towards Grian, who was in no position to dodge. Reaching him, the crow dug a massive hole in the man’s chest, his beak drilling out of his back in a rain of blood and gore.

Nesha exhaled in relief, a faint smile tugging at her lips. Evidently, she wasn’t the only one with a brand-new spell…