Confrontation in the Night

Lucius followed Rena back to her room. While she entered, he merely closed the door behind her. Technically he could enter his own room through hers by using the servant door that connected them, but it was improper to open the service door for any reason than being called to attend to the lady.

Instead, he closed Rena's door behind her and moved further down the hall to enter his own, small room.

"How long are you going to stand there?" Lucius asked with one hand on the handle to his door.

For some reason, Lucius could smell this person the moment they returned home, but thought nothing of it since he visited quite frequently. However, for him to still be present even at night was a strange circumstance. Lucius turned to face the person he called out to.

Standing in the hallway was a short, innocent looking old man. He had a long white beard and a bald head. Normally one could not separate him from any other geezer taking a stroll on the town, but this man was dangerous.

He was Wallace Carmichael, or Wally, a King Rank mage who mastered all Elemental and Transcendent magic. In other words, he could use Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth as well as their evolved counterparts; Magma, Ice, Thunder, and Metal.

"Oh come now young man, can't you pity this old man for a moment of your time?"

"Sir Carmichael, I…" Lucius began before being interrupted by a shock.

The old man had suddenly appeared right next to him and poked him gently on the shoulder with one finger. His entire arm crackled with electricity. "Come now, boy. I told you to call me Wally, didn't I?"

"Sorry, Wally…my head was still switched into formal mode since I am in the manor. I also just got back from speaking with Lord Richard so…"

"Bah! Phooey on that. Come with me." Wally dismissed before grabbing Lucius by the wrist.

He tried to pull away from Wally's grip but he felt like his wrist had been pinned in by a vice. Lucius could not help but thing that this must be what people mean when they refer to 'old man strength', seriously…what is this?!

All he could do was let himself be dragged around by the feeble looking, possibly senile, old man. The place he was being dragged to? None other than the private training room meant for Rena and her father, though Lucius was granted special exception to use it, courtesy of Rena's begging.

"What do you want with me this time Wally? Going to torture me again to see if I suddenly awaken any magic?" Lucius teased. Even though he was slightly joking when asking the question, it was not really that far off the truth of how most of his 'training' sessions with the man went.

Wally put one hand on his chin and slowly turned his back away from Lucius. "Hmm, I could…but no…that's not what I want…[Terra: Earth Wall], [Ferrum: Iron Spikes]!"

Wally quickly called out his two spells and spun around. Gray and brown motes of light shone from his hand. Suddenly the single stairway down into the training room slammed close as a solid wall of rock filled the space. A line of metal shot around the walls of the room making a complete circuit before massive spikes formed, pointing outward. Basically…Lucius was trapped.

"What are you doing here Wally?" Lucius questioned. His hand had already drawn his weapon the moment the word 'Terra' left the old man's lips.

"You plan to leave my training so soon, boy? Without accomplishing anything? Without telling me?" Wally growled. "What a stupid, young pupil you are. [Glacies: Ice Spike]"

A conical spike of ice flew towards Lucius' face as fast as an arrow. His body prepared for a counter the moment he heard the trigger word activate, so his blade managed to barely meet the spike before it met his head. The spell split in two and slammed into the wall on either side behind Lucius.

"[Ventus: Wind Blade], [Flamma: Fire Lance]"

Two more spells shot towards him from his teacher's hands. These flew faster than the ice spell did, so he could not block. On top of that, these were not the kind of spells that could be blocked by a simple weapon. Instead, he had to opt for dodging these.

The wind spell would strike first, though it was hard to see wind magic with the naked eye, those who trained hard enough could see them. Lucius was also blessed with stronger eyes than most, so he could see it plain as day. He instantly dropped to the ground on all fours, allowing the Wind Blade to cut past him. Wally had predicted this response, so the Fire Lance was aimed at the ground where Lucius had gone.

Due to all his time spent training with Wally, he figured this is what the bastard would do. Since he had dropped to all fours, he was prepared for this follow-up movement by launching himself up into the air, letting the spell fizzle out into the dirt. Lucius landed on the ground on his feet, weapon up ready for more. 

"Good one boy." Wally grinned evilly.

Lucius was beginning to sweat, not from the effort but from concern about what move his teacher would make next. The best option for him was to press the attack. Lucius gathered all his strength and pushed off the ground with his feet. In his wake he left small cracks in the ground and a cloud of dust.

The boy flew towards the old man with his weapon held out to the side, ready for a swing. He folded his arms to his chest and started a spin. Wally had leapt backwards to try and create space to cast another spell, but that simply gave Lucius more room to complete his maneuver. After his spin started, he once again extended his sword arm out. "[Forsaken Arts: Gouging Strike]"

Golden mana enveloped the blade of his machete. That combined with his spin made him look like a golden drill as he bared down on Wally.

The old man simply smiled in response, but Lucius was unable to see it given his current state.

"[Ferrum: Steel Wall]"

A giant, mental wall appeared between the two combatants. Lucius collided with the wall with full force, sparks flying from metal on metal. The attack lasted for a few seconds, before Lucius ran out of steam and dropped to the ground.

The boy watched as Wally stepped around the wall and investigated the damage. He responded with a low whistle.

"Not bad, boy. That was leveled down to an Intermediate Rank spell and you still managed to drill through about a third of it with that attack. Impressive." Wally commended.

After that, he waved his hand and dispelled all the spells he cast. The metal wall and spikes ringing the room vanished, and the rock wall that blocked the exit dropped into the earth where it was summoned from.

"Alright. You can go." The old man said with a massive, toothy grin.