That's So Wizard

Chapter 10 - Survival of the Fittest

Kevin's blade, Drodias, performed a bisection to the floating green orb, like a magic blade through magic butter. The spell fizzled into a series of gradually descending sparkles, but before he could catch a breath, another appeared. This time, he jabbed forward the sword to pierce straight through the spell, and once again, it burst apart. Sweat came down from Kevin's forehead as he continued, but above his goatee wasn't a face of despair. He was enjoying himself.

"You're pretty quick," said Daveon as he materialized another floating ball from his palm.

"Thanks. Make the next one faster!" Kevin replied with a laugh.

"You've got it."

The two practised and played in a field away from view of the town's citizens. Daveon came here often, and knew the place well. He assured them it was a safe location to openly use magic, as it was more than far enough away from others, and because his animal companions would warn him of incoming humans.

Lucy and Deena sat on a large boulder in the meantime, watching the two boys play as they relaxed beneath the warm sunshine. Well, the devil seemed to enjoy it, but Deena wasn't one for bright lights.

"You guys have just been exploring the area then, hm?" asked Lucy.

Deena shrugged. "Mostly. Eldrian seems to be able to handle himself, surprisingly. I'm sure he'll be fine. I hope he returns soon, though.

"Worried?"

"Bored."

Lucy nodded. "Me too. Hey, so I heard you study demons and dark magic. Is that right? You're a cute little witch, and my dad rules the Demon World, so feel free to ask me whatever you want. I can't promise I'll be able to answer everything, though. I'm still loyal to Father."

"I'm not that little."

"Oh. Don't brood so much."

Deena said nothing in response, and instead crossed her arms and watched Kevin slash through yet another conjured ball of magic.

"Sorry," added Lucy after a moment. "We all have our reasons to act the way we do. Let me ask you a question then, Deena. Feel free to answer or not. Why do you study dark magic specifically?"

"It's what I'm interested in. I don't think that should be strange... and it runs in my family."

"Your family?"

"Nevermind that. I don't like talking about them."

"Strange family ties, hm? I can understand that."

"I have a question then. How do you know Eldrian, and what do you two actually do?"

"Well, I met him a long time ago. That's a story for another time. But basically, I run a kind of organization in the Demon World that specializes in finding and returning demons that make their way to Earth. Though since we're demons too, and we don't want to be complete hypocrites, we try to get wizards to help. I admit, I didn't care about Eldrian that much at first, but he grew on me. Not only is he passionate about everything he tries to do, but he's very kind. The latter can be hard to find back home."

"How many other wizards do you work with?"

"Hardly any, actually, but that's classified information. I'm afraid I can't tell you the details of our investigations."

"That's fair."

A few minutes passed quickly by. Kevin was no longer on the offensive, but was meant to stop attacks by Daveon, who wielded a blunt stick. Drodias was back inside the ring as well, and Kevin had a stick of similar size. They were sparring. However, it was obvious immediately that Daveon had little skill in the art of swordsmanship.