The Reborn Veteran is an Aristocrat

Chapter 6 - Graduation

Even though Fenris knew that his time with Rifa was coming to an end, the thought of her departure began to weigh heavily on his heart. They had shared many experiences together, and he was going to miss those moments. Rifa's attempts to maintain a strictly master-and-student relationship failed miserably, and she and Fenris ended up developing a sibling-like bond.

Fenris was no stranger to losing someone close to him, but in this case, it was all done with good intentions. However, for some reason, all he wanted was to keep her at the mansion for as long as possible. Yet, he knew that his intrusive thoughts went against Rifa's wishes.

Rifa and Fenris met on an expansive grass field far from home. The rolling hills reminded him of the very first day he trained with Rifa. Shaking his head, Fenris brought himself back from the clouds of past memories, focusing on the present, even though he didn't want to.

Facing Fenris, Rifa raised her finger and pointed it at him. "Alright, Fenris. The conditions are simple: we shall fight until one of us gives in."

While confident, her voice contained hints of somber feelings as Rifa was also faced with having to leave behind her star pupil.

"Understood," Fenris nodded as he took a battle-ready stance, planting his feet wide apart while his arms in their natural position.

Rifa assumed a battle-ready stance. The two stared at each other for a few moments before Rifa raised her foot and stomped it on the ground.

She activated earth magic at the moment of her stomp, creating a line of spikes aimed at Fenris. Startled, he countered with a flurry of wind blades, shattering the spikes before rolling to the side.

Raising two fingers up, Fenris channeled fire into his fingertips, releasing it as a stream of blue fire aimed at Rifa. She narrowly dodged Fenris's attack by leaping into the air and unleashing a volley of wind blades that sliced dangerously close to him.

Fenris countered by sending a multitude of ice spears hurling towards Rifa, but she suddenly vanished, causing the ice projectiles to miss their target.

Frantically searching for where she had gone, Fenris detected her presence behind him. When he turned around, she fired a multitude of small but potent fireballs at him. Fenris countered by sending ice spears after the fireballs, extinguishing them.

He followed up by conjuring three glowing rings and hurling them at Rifa. She dodged them once again as she decided to use more potent magic. Rifa conjured lightning from her fingertips, a feat that few magicians could accomplish, and sent a wave of electricity at Fenris.

He was briefly startled by Rifa's use of lightning magic and barely dodged it in time. Fenris panted briefly for breath. "I didn't know you could use lightning magic!" he exclaimed.

Lightning magic is its own branch, made through a combination of fire, wind and light magic. Since not many magic users had three elements to begin with, let alone having the ability to combine elements, lightning magic was a rare thing to come across.

Fenris changed his strategy and decided to engage in hand-to-hand combat. He used a mix of fire and water spells to generate a thick layer of steam that covered the battlefield. The mist made it difficult for Rifa to see properly, giving Fenris an opportunity to approach her.

When he reached melee range, Fenris launched a roundhouse kick aimed at Rifa's stomach. She conjured a blast of wind that scattered the steam, but it was too late to react to Fenris's kick. The blow landed, sending her tumbling across the ground before quickly regaining her footing.

Rifa smiled, surprised and also impressed by Fenris's ingenuity and use of the elements. She resorted to melee combat as well, quickly closing the distance between her and Fenris. The two engaged in a bout of high-speed hand-to-hand combat, but this is where Fenris had an advantage over Rifa.