Two seconds later, a jet of flame burst from his palms. It wasn't a blazing fire, the kind that makes the air shake, but it was fast and well-controlled - it crossed the space like a living tongue and enveloped the turtle in a wall of fire.
The roar that followed didn't sound like a turtle. It sounded like an angry, wounded hippopotamus, echoing off the rocks and making the ground vibrate beneath our feet. Before I could react, the ground began to crack and out of it came stone stakes with points so sharp they seemed to pierce even steel. They came towards us like an activated death trap.
Instinctively, everyone threw themselves to opposite sides - a disorder choreographed for survival. My body went into automatic mode. I entered a state of concentration where everything slowed down: the muffled sound of blood in my ears, the sharpness of the wind brushing against my face, the ground cracking beneath my feet. I dodged the stakes with precision, ducking and rolling as if my body knew the way by itself. At the same time, I felt the flow of mana around Mika explode like a wave.
It was different from what I had seen so far. Her mana vibrated strongly, almost unstable, but powerful - so dense that the air around her seemed to freeze just with its presence. This was no apprentice or ordinary person. Mika was, at the very least, an intermediate-level mage... maybe even something above that.
In an almost imperceptible movement, she cast a blue sphere - cold, shining like polished ice in the moonlight. The magic flew like a bullet, cutting through the air and hitting the turtle engulfed in flames.
The impact was dry, and what followed was surreal: a sharp crack cut through the air and, before our eyes, the turtle froze instantly - its entire body transformed into a translucent, bluish crystal. A second later, like glass under pressure, it broke into hundreds of fragments, shattering with a sharp sound.
A wave of cold air spread across the field, as if someone had opened a door to winter. Patterns of ice formed in spirals on the blades of the swords around us, including mine. I gripped the handle and felt it damp and icy, as if the metal was breathing in the same cold.
I looked at Mika.
She was panting, but her eyes were shining, almost smiling.
It was hard to believe... that girl who hugged my neck at the gate now looked like a force of nature in human form.
The curator looked at Mika as if he was seeing something completely out of the ordinary. A mixture of astonishment and respect flashed across his face - and frankly, it was well-deserved. Mika lifted his chin proudly, with that almost bouncy gait, and approached the shards of what was left of the turtle. She knelt down on the frozen shards, stirred carefully and, among the glittering splinters, pulled out a small, shiny, almost translucent blue orb, about the size of an apple.
She stood up and spun towards me, waving it in the air, excited like a child showing off a new toy:
"Hey, Remy, look how pretty it is!"
I almost laughed. Was this the contrast she was cultivating? A magician capable of freezing a creature the size of a horse with a single spell... behaving as if she'd just been given a sweet? Or maybe she did it on purpose. The image of the "powerful mage - kawaii girl" certainly confused and delighted in equal measure.
I approached, as did the rest of the group, all curious to get a closer look at our first monster core. The crystal shimmered in soft shades of blue, and inside it there were subtle movements, like mists dancing in spirals. It was mesmerizing. The depth, the transparency... they reminded me of the crystal from the exam, the one that defined our magical aptitude. Only this one seemed more alive. More precious. More real.
"Do you want it?" she asked, extending the core towards me with a mischievous smile on her lips.
Did I want it? Yes, of course I did! I want it so much that my fingers tingle at the thought of touching it. But admitting it in front of everyone? No way. I kept my face firm.
"Listen" she said, crossing her arms with a theatrical look of superiority.
Damn.
The core was more important to me than any semblance of pride or control. So I nodded, trying to maintain some dignity.
"Then you'll owe me!" she smiled even wider, stretching out her arm to hand me the crystal.
I took it carefully, feeling the cool surface against my skin. It was like holding a condensed piece of energy, vibrating in a subtle, almost imperceptible way. A shiver ran down my spine.
She stared at me with that sweet smile, but her eyes shone with insidious intent. It was clear that she was already planning some absurd request in the future.
But you know what?
That was a problem for the Remy of the future.
The one of now was too enraptured by the present.
***
After a few minutes of walking, we came across two more turtles and, as before, Mika easily destroyed them with a cold ball. She handed me the cores, and I held them, feeling the weight and energy emanating from them. Now it seemed that everyone was looking at me as a despicable parasite, someone who was defaming the goddess. Perhaps they called me a gigolo - someone who lives off the backs of others, doing nothing. With my transformed appearance, I couldn't help associating Mika even more with the goddess of kindness and generosity, almost untouchable and immaculate.
Just ahead, a pack of animals that looked like wolves appeared, and the whole group seemed to energize. The healer gave clear orders: the swordsmen were to protect the mages, and the mages, in turn, were to use spells to reduce the number of enemies at a distance before they got too close. Counting Mika, we were three swordsmen.
She smiled, pulled out a sword that looked exactly like mine and positioned herself next to me, in a stance that was deeply familiar. After all, we had trained under the same master - and that attunement was almost automatic.
I stayed in the same position, taking deep breaths. I sent my muscles a double dose of oxygen and mana, feeling the energy pulsing, ready to be channeled into combat. Above us, area-of-effect spells crossed the air, creating bright arcs that caused confusion and scattered the pack.
But the wolves were no fools - they quickly regrouped and fired in our direction. From their mouths, hundreds of blades of air cut through the air with frightening speed, like an invisible machine gun firing at us.
It was time to act.