What the heck is going on?! This can''t be real! A 12-year-old boy is matching me in a fight?! How is this possible?


    I glanced over at Cecilia, but she''s struggling against Gregory too. No matter what I do, Agnis effortlessly dodges and seizes every opening I leave. Is this the same kid I wanted to marry my daughter off to?! And why is he so fast? I can barely keep up with him with my eyes!


    Thank goodness he''s not attacking, but I don''t understand why he''s just calmly observing my every move. It''s like he can see every move I make before I even make it. No counters, and no follow-up attacks. Is he just buying time? For what?!


    Gregory seems to be doing the same thing. I have no idea what''s going on, but it looks like Cecilia is fighting a ghost. Her attacks are hitting empty space! I can''t believe I have no idea what these two boys are capable of. They''re just supposed to be a blacksmith boy and an alchemist boy!


    I tried to make Agnis pass out by dropping the air pressure, but it only sped him up. He tried to slash me, but he slowed down mid-slash, allowing me to dodge it.


    This happened over and over again. I''m convinced he doesn''t want to hurt me. I triedto counter, but failed every time. I don''t want to damage the surrounding area, but I''ve already done so.


    Is this his plan? To make me destroy this place and pin the blame on me? That would be rightfully so, but I don''t think that''s his plan.


    “Aaargh! I''ve had enough!” Just then, I hear Cecilia shout.


    A lot of water droplets formed in the air, and before I could even stop her, numerous water lances shot toward where I assume Gregory was. The impact made a lot of water splash around, flooding the mall.


    I realizedvthat I made a grave mistake when I took my eyes off someone as fast as Agnis. I felt a strong impact on the back of my head, causing my vision to blur, but I managed to retain consciousness.


    Shit, the blow wasn''t heavy enough. The games and tv make it seem so easy... Agnis said as he looked at his hand.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    I was determined to protect myself and create some space. I planned to create an air barrier around me, but I almost lost my balance.


    My feet were frozen to the ground and I had a strong, unsettling feeling that everything was going according to their plan. I was unable to break free from the ice shackles, so I channeled my mana to my feet in an attempt to melt the ice. But as I did so, an elementless magic blast flew at me.


    I quickly retrieved the magic I had sent to my feet and used it to block the attack with a wind barrier. The weak elementless attack was merely a delay tactic to keep me from breaking free from the ice. I was not one to be easily fooled!


    I converted my wind barrier into a vacuum, determined to pull Agnis in and hit him point-blank with my Aero Blast. However, he cleverly used the pulling force to gain speed and attempted to hit me with the pommel of his sword. I refused to hurt him, so I expelled air from my lungs and blew him away.


    This time, I did not waste any time and immediately sent magic to my feet to break free. I was met with a massive tidal wave, but I was prepared and created another wind barrier to brace for impact. I waited and waited, but the impact never came. Had I imagined the tidal wave? I searched for Agnis, but he was nowhere to be found.


    "Charlize! I''m so sorry! I lost track of Gregory! And my new shoes are soaked!" Cecilia cried.


    "You did that to yourself though," I replied sharply.


    "But he was so annoying to fight! I couldn''t land a hit on him! Why are these kids so strong?!"


    "I don''t know," I answered.


    The exits were frozen shut, trapping us in. As a wind user, and Cecilia being a water user, we were stuck until the ice melted. Cecilia tried to forcefully melt the ice, but it was a slow process.


    "Say, Cecilia? How high would you rank Agnis'' water affinity?" I asked.


    "Hmm, let''s see," Cecilia thought for a moment. "I think it''s hard to say because he is still young and inexperienced in battle, but judging by the strength of this ice, I would say A tier isn''t too far-fetched."


    "Wow, that is quite high. So, a blacksmith with high water affinity. I wonder if he''s being taught the wrong profession. So, what happened with your battle against Gregory? It seemed like you were fighting against nothing." I asked.


    "Charlize, listen," Cecilia replied tearfully. "Whenever I tried to attack him, it looked like something was creeping up on me from behind. I kept seeing shadows in my eye corner, so I responded by attacking it! But there was nothing! But whenever I ignored it, I kept getting hit by stuff! Gregory didn''t move a lot, so I don''t know if it was his doing or not! So, I got annoyed and blasted the whole area!"


    "Well, that ended up with me getting my feet frozen and my moves restricted!"


    "I''m sorry!"


    "It''s fine, thank you for cancelling the big tidal wave."


    "What? I thought you cancelled the tidal wave with your wind wall," she replied in confusion.


    "Huh?" Cecilia and I looked at each other in confusion.


    When I returned home after three hours, I noticed I had a deep, yet thin cut on my left arm.