How the Two Became Rivals

The five of them had already set their camp in the middle of the forest. They had only set up the bonfire to keep them warm and to give them light at the same time.

Since the Stygian Forest is dark and cold at the same time, setting up a campfire helps. Also, it gives them safety since, as Zann claimed, most beasts in the Stygian Forest are afraid of fire.

Zann opened his palm and the moment he did, a small ball of flame appeared, making Aranea and Elenea look at him with awe in their eyes.

Both of them watched movies back when they were in the orphanage and saw something like this, but now that they witnessed this right before their eyes, they found it amazing and too good to be true.

"I thought these kinds of things only happened in movies and in books," Aranea mumbled, but it was enough for the others to hear, making Leonel chuckle as he put down some of the wood he found on the ground.

The moment Leonel put the wood on the ground, Zann threw his ball of flame, giving more fire and heat for them as they stayed in the forest longer.

The twins reached out to the bonfire, warming themselves up as Leonel started to heat up water for them to drink.

Since there are no rivers or lakes near them, Leonel got the kettle, filled it up with water that came out from his finger, surprising the twins once more.

"Wow! Do you think we could teach the people from the orphanage to do something like this? What can Jack do with his earth magic?" Aranea asked, Elenea, contemplating for a while.

"Oh! If it is earth, I wonder what he could do. What he does was make repairs necessary for the orphanage," she said, Leonel, chiming in their conversation.

"Oh! So, there are people in your orphanage who have their magic powers activated now?" he asked, the twins nodding to answer his question.

"Yes, two of them," Aranea added, giving them more information. "Ralph has water magic, and Jack has earth magic."

"I see!" Leonel found it interesting for others to have elemental magic. "They could continue to learn how to control their powers while they're at home before they could be invited to the academy," he added, Aranea, cocking her head to the side as a thought passed her mind, making her curious.

"Which makes me think, Zann, Leonel… what is the difference of mortals having magical elemental powers compared to you Familiars who could use them, too?"

"Ah, that's a good question!" Elenea commented, the two of them looking at the familiars as they waited expectantly for an answer to the question.

"Well," Zann started, the twins' eyes on him. "For the mortals to inherit elemental magic, they only get to control them and sharpen them," he answered, Aranea and Elenea still feeling quite confused.

"To make it easier to understand, us Familiars could change the property of our magic. For example, with great magic control, I could shift my water magic to ice. For Zann, his flames could not be distinguished even with a strong water magic if he could."

"Oh!" Aranea then cocked her head to the side, "So it's like you guys have higher tier magic when it comes to elements, and us simple mages only have the surface? Is that it?"

"Hmm… something like that?" Zann agreed, the twins now nodding as they further understood their difference.

"Anyway, why not we talk about the hunt first?" Leonel suggested, Elenea, smiling as she shook her head, disagreeing with him.

"I think you guys are avoiding the conversation that Aranea and I have been asking for?" she said, their water kettle whistling at the same time, indicating that the water is already hot.

Sighing, Leonel got the kettle and gave them a hot water each, looking at Zann from the corner of his eye as if to ask him to start the conversation.

"Like we told you guys," Zann started, taking a sip of his water before he continued talking. "Leonel and I have been rivals since we were young. As we grew, we can't get out of this situation," he added, Aranea, commenting on what he said.

"But since you two grew up together, won't the rivalry make you two as best friends?"

The Familiars looked at each other, then back at the twins. They blinked their eyes for a few times and soon after, both of them laughed out loud at the same time, as if Aranea had said something ridiculous.

"What?" Aranea furrowed her brows in confusion. "Am I not right?"

Leonel shook his head, stifling his laughter before he spoke to Aranea.

"Me? Friends with Zann? You gotta be kidding me, Aranea," he said, the twins surprised with the way Leonel talked when they pegged him as a guy who, most of the time, spoke gently and formally.

"How could I be friends with a guy like him?" Zann added, shaking his head at the same time. "We've been at each other's necks and have been challenging each other because of the elements we possess. Leonel irks me."

When the Water Familiar heard that, a scoff came from him. He then rolled his eyes at Zann, expressing his thoughts out as well.

"You think I'm not annoyed when I'm around you? Well, guess what: I still am!"

"Did I ask you to tell me that?"

"Why you—"

"Guys!"

Elenea clapped her hand once, getting their attention as the sound traveled in their ears, one way of Elenea controlling her musical powers other than healing.

"You two are starting it again! Without us even getting the point of how you guys started to become rivals!"

With that, the Familiars glared at each other as they silenced, the twins, sighing in exasperation as they both found it difficult to let them tell the story of their childhood.

"Fine, I'll start," Leonel began, rolling his eyes at the same time. "It started when we were around eight years old, when the elements were gathered to hone their skills along with their weapon of choice."

Zann then nodded, adding more information.

"Before we turned to teenagers, that's when things started to get shaky between us."

With the familiars finally starting to tell them of what happened before, the twins silenced as they listened to them, wanting to understand how the two became rivals.