Roland POV

  The arena was in an uproar. The crowd went wild stomping their feet and clapping their hands. The noise was deafening enough it startled Roland. He'd never seen anything like it.

  "He's stolen her magic!"

  "That's impossible!"

  "Look at the ice! He's copied it!"

  The arena was a chaos of disbelief.

  Theodore had gotten stronger again. He was considerably stronger than he remembered him being so much so in fact Roland knew Theodore no longer even needed him to be a guard. He was strong enough himself now. He didn't need Roland's help anymore.

  The many ice projectiles short forward making Victoria panic-create a wall of ice that jutted out of the ground trying to stop the projectiles. Futile.

  The wall was gone in a second and the next she was gone too.

  "Winner: Theodore!"

  The crowd roared even louder chanting his name so loud he wondered how they'd gone from underestimating Theodore to now actively rooting for him instead.

  There were moments Roland looked at Theodore and saw a ghost of that boy he once was but not now. Now he was a monster.

  ***

  Leona POV

  Seeing her friend stupified at her brother's display left her strangely giddy. Enough to startle her into questioning why. She still didn't understand it well. Renna had trashed her brother ever since they'd become friends so why was it bothering her now? It didn't make sense, but she just couldn't understand herself anymore. She used to be so sure but now...

  She sat in a stunned silence when she heard Renna say, "Do you know what he did?"

  Leona pondered. "He seems to have a skill that allows him control over ice, most likely. And it's got to be a higher level skill than whatever Victoria has, given she lost not only the duel also control over her own spell."

  Renna hummed thoughtfully. "He's strong."

  "O-Of course he is. I knew how strong he was before anyone did. He's my brother..." she mumbled, but she couldn't gather any enthusiasm. "I'm going to the restroom, I'll be back shortly."

  She stood up. As she walked down the stone steps she heard Renna calling for her to wait but she didn't listen. She was so unsure. She had been for days.

  As she walked into the empty restroom she looked into the mirror. She saw a face, her face, but it didn't feel like hers. She tried for a smile but the face in the mirror looked pained.

  What do I do? She asked herself. She couldn't reach a conclusion. She didn't know. She didn't know what to do.

  ***

  Theodore POV

  "That was fun." He was satisfied with the fight. He had a good warm-up.

  Freya didn't seem to think so. "You toyed with her."

  "She was good."

  "You had her on the ropes the whole match. You could've ended it in ten seconds. You just stood there and let her wear herself out."

  "And your point is?"

  "Heh, no point. Just saying."

  Theodore didn't care. He was bored. Bored bored bored. He wanted a real challenge. He wanted someone to push him.

  Anticipation... was he feeling—yeah that was definitely it. He was excited. He was going to fight someone stronger next given how this was coming to a close soon.

  It would be a great battle for sure.

  ...probably.

  ***

  Roland POV

  "Stop bullying the poor stag, Theo."

  "He looks lonely," Theodore argued much to Freya's amusement. Roland looked between him and the giant beast walking away with a deadpan expression. He was the only sane person here apparently and he was starting to get the feeling he was stuck with a pair of adrenaline-junkie maniacs.

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  "It's a stag, not a puppy."

  "He could be a puppy if he tried," Theodore said.

  "..."

  "He's not a puppy, Theo," Freya said.

  "Fine," he grumbled.

  "Why am I here again?" Roland said, shaking his head.

  "Because we're friends and friends are there for each other?" Theodore suggested innocently.

  Roland gave the puddle on the ground a look.

  "Right, of course, that's the reason," Roland agreed sarcastically. "Anyway, what do I need to kill?"

  "The stag. Help us kill it." Theodore wiggled.

  "...oh. Then why've you been playing with it?"

  The puddle of slime did not reply. Roland sighed. "Come on then."

  ***

  Slamming his fist into the beast's flank, the stag stumbled to the right. The pain hadn't been enough to stop its charge as it spun around. Its hoof slamming into Roland, his barrier protecting him. He was still knocked back across the ground but came to a stop safely. Then he ran.

  Theodore had an absurd idea. And because it was an absurd idea, it worked.

  The stag snorted and gave chase.

  Roland ran to the trap location they'd created. All he had to do was get this creature to fall in.

  The stag charged down the winding narrow roadway they'd set up and by the time it realized its mistake the pit was right there. Nice! But then it tried to stop itself and managed to steer away some feet in the loose dirt on the side. No no no. He leapt and tackled it in a desperate attempt to knock it down the pit.

  He had maybe one-tenth the mass of this thing and succeeded only in pissing it off more. He did save himself though as it slipped and tumbled and roared its fury while Roland shot back to safety with a well-timed application of mana.

  The moment it fell down and looked upward though it realized how fucked it was, as projectiles and a purplish fire that made Roland's skin crawl with revulsion rushed toward it.

  Roland skidded to a halt near the entrance and glanced behind him.

  The attacks thundered down and Roland had to scramble as a tremor shook the earth. Theodore and Freya both attacking without pause. He stared transfixed as another barrage of spells exploded against it. And that was the end of that.

  "Okay, that was pretty fun, actually." Theodore chuckled looking down at the charred remains of the beast. "Sure it took some time to prepare enough attacks and my fire, but yep yep, it was fun and it worked."

  "Your fire seemed pretty dangerous."

  "Well, yeah, Roland—" Theodore said only to be cut off by a sizzling sound. Looking down at the beast Roland saw as it slowly turned to ash.

  "Huh. Interesting. I've never seen this—ashification?—happen this slowly before." Theodore said grabbing onto some kind of golden string that came out of the beast with his mana and isolating it.

  The moment he pulled it near him however something overcame Freya as her eyes changed colors briefly and she stopped moving. "Huh, what?"

  "What?" Theodore looked at her. "What happened?"

  "That's familiar."

  "What do you mean? You said you didn't know what it was."

  "I did not, but apparently I do?" She looked confused, honestly. "I uh feel a connection, for the lack of a better word. Because this is a bigger string maybe? I feel it much better. I think... I can locate the source?"

  ***

  Theodore POV

  Theodore's eyes lit up. He couldn't believe it was finally happening. A revelation. Something about it called him, promising a payoff for the last three days of jumping around randomly. "Yes yes. Please do. Which direction are we heading?"

  "Uh..." Freya looked around in confusion. "I don't know... "

  She took a step left. Then a step right. She frowned, opened her eyes, and shook her head.

  "Well? Don't leave a man in suspense! Which way are we off? Onward, to glory!"

  Freya's nose scrunched in thought. "I feel it, but every time I actually focus on a direction, it's like it actively scrambles itself and goes somewhere else!"

  "Try using less mana," Theodore suggested.

  She tried that. Nothing happened.

  "Try using more mana?"

  Still nothing.

  "It's no use," she sighed. "I can't pinpoint it. It's like trying to find a specific drop of water in a rainstorm."

  Theodore watched her, tapping his chin. A lightbulb went off. A terrible, wonderful lightbulb.

  "I have an idea."

  ***

  "I refuse."

  "Come on," Theodore urged.

  Freya crossed her arms, looking at him like he had grown a second head. "I am not going to wear a blindfold, cut off all my sensory skills and let you spin me around."

  "Come on! We will go in the direction you stop! Become a compass, Freya!"

  "I am pretty sure that's not how this tracking works," Freya said dryly.

  "Nope, it does work like that." It made perfect sense. If her conscious mind was getting in the way, they just needed to bypass it. Let the magic do the driving. It was genius.

  Freya didn't look convinced. "You just want to see me tied up, and spin me around don't you?"

  "Of course not."

  ***

  "I hate this," Freya said.

  Theodore stood behind her, tying the strip of cloth around her eyes. He made sure it was tight.

  "Just relax," Theodore said. "Don't use your skills."

  He pushed his mana around her, dulling her senses, wrapping her perception in a thick blanket of fog until she was just a person standing in the dark. The compass was calibrated.

  He grabbed her by the shoulders.

  "Theodore, wait, I'm not ready—"

  And he spun her.

  She went round and round. Faster. Then a little slower. It was mesmerizing in a way. She spun and spun, her feet shuffling in the dirt, completely at the mercy of momentum and centrifugal force. Finally, he let go.

  She rotated a few more times, stumbling slightly, before gravity and friction won the battle. She wobbled to a halt. She was facing slightly northeast.

  Theodore pumped a fist in the air. "Onward we go!"

  "No way this is gonna work," Freya said with a groan.

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