Only Shiranui felt differently about the whole situation. Her initial surprise had quickly dissipated, and morphed into full blown rage. She was so angry that she began to laugh hysterically.
It was a deep, long, mocking laughter. Shiranui had only been around for a short period, but even she had heard about two students in particular; Dahila and Zavier. Their reputation preceded them so much so that even Shiranui knew about the glaring difference in their strengths.
Shiranui assumed that Zavier was deliberately baiting her. Her voice thick with disdain, she pointed at Zavier threateningly and said in a caustic tone;
"You poor fool. You picked the wrong enemy to mess with, I am going to beat you to death even if it means I get expelled from school!"
Her eyes glinted wickedly with demonic ambition. Zavier was under no illusion, he knew she meant every word she had just said. He watched her gingerly as she sheathed her red fan like a sword on her waist.
The cracked her knuckles gingerly as she assured him in her usual condescending tone; freewebnov(e)l
"I will do my best to rein in my anger so your fragile body does not get injured in the process!"
Thus saying, she charged at Zavier.
As Zavier stood watched Shiranui charge towards him, sparks of biochemical reactions in his brain ignited his synaptic nerves as Zavier saw firsthand (in his mind's eye) the memories of his clone from the night before.
These recollections were happening faster that the speed of light, so as Zavier relived the memories of his clone, time seemed to slow down around him. It was almost as if Shiranui was moving in slow motion towards him.
Zavier blocked out everything else and focused as he relived the details of the fresh memories of his clone.
Zavier's clone with the Magus System had had a pretty eventful night prior to this day. At night, while other souls had been peacefully drifting off into oblivion, the clone had ventured into the nearby forest.
With the enveloping blackness of the night shielding him from ordinary eyes, the clone slipped deep into the woods to work on improving his magical skills through diligent practice.
Deep in the womb of the forest, alone in the woods and far from any prying eyes, the clone version of Zavier chanced on an isolated section and settled there. He took a deep breath and focused on the task that had brought him here.
The clone sat on the bare floor cross-legged, and began to meditate.
Like a scientist slowly unravelling the mysteries of the universe, the clone unlocked the Magus System and began to explore its secrets.
As expected, the second level of the Magus System was wrought with an insane collection of interesting properties. Each feature was unique. They were all magical in nature and could be used to execute terrible things, especially in battle.
But amongst all of these cool magical features, one particular feature stood out the most. It had the most iconic and the most patronizing name; 'COLD BLAZE.'
Even the clone was intrigued. The cool name of this feature was suggestive of the fact that it was something lethal. At the same time, there was a certain ambiguity about it, as well as an aura of mysteriousness that further augmented its enigmatic allure.
The clone honed in on Cold Blaze and delved right into exploring everything about it. A datasheet appeared before him, glowing with bluish-green light and shimmering like an apparition. The clone digested the information hungrily.
It turned out that Cold Blaze was the psychic essence and at the same time, an insanely powerful spiritual power. At its core, it was composed of densely weaved mana.
The nature of its spiritual essence as well as its power on the magical spectrum made Cold Blaze to take on the color of brilliant dazzling white.
Cold Blaze wasn't just an abstract construct, its effect could be seen, heard, and felt by human mages.
Those who were unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of a Cold Blaze blast would testify that it could inflict a twofold injury and twice the pain. Cold Blaze cut across a strike in two dimensions; the physical and the spiritual.
Inadvertently, this meant that a blast of Cold Blaze could obliterate a person's flesh and at the same time, do some serious damage to the person's soul. But that wasn't even half of it.
Anyone who likened Cold Blaze to be an ordinary flame could be said to be a ridiculous liar. Cold Blaze wasn't like the typical blue flame, neither could it be compared to the conventional forest fire, no.
Cold Blaze was a sinister flame whose temperature burned below zero degrees, far lower than liquid nitrogen. It didn't need oxygen to ferment or grow, and it definitely didn't need a dry or hot environment to be formed.
Cold Blaze could be birthed anywhere and anytime, provided the mage was skillful enough.
Another chilling characteristic of Cold Blaze was its appearance. Unlike the traditional smoldering or raging flame, Cold Blaze had a certain seamless formlessness about it.
It could take on the form of flowing water and it could also solidify and take on the form of a sword. Its dazzling brilliant white color also added to its strange allure.
On a broad scale, Cold Blaze was an insanely difficult concept to grasp. It was too demanding. The mental and physical toll it took on both mind and body could very well drive an unskilled mage to paralysis and madness.
Mages who were lucky enough to even unlock the second level of Magus often had to make a lot of sacrifices to forge ahead with Cold Blaze. It was an enigma in every way and few users often succeeded in learning how to use it completely.
But Zavier wasn't just any other mage.
He was the exception to this trend because the Cosmic Consciousness had given him talents that were unparalleled. Zavier stood tall above every other mage.
This advantage came in very handy for Zavier. His clone immediately went to work on mastering its use. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours, and before he knew it, the golden streaks of dawn teased the horizon, signifying that day was at hand.
By that time, Zavier's clone had mastered the basics. Although Zavier still had a lot of ground to cover, on the scale of proficiency, Zavier had moved past awareness to competency. He was competent enough to use Cold Blaze in battle.
Other users could spend as much as ten years to get to this point, but Zavier had accomplished this astounding feat in just one night.
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