Marcus took a break under a large tree, at the edge of the estate. Here, he spent some time talking with Xeen about his observations and opinions. The words of the old alien gave him confidence and allowed him to relax a bit. He was so engrossed in his internal dialogue that he failed to notice several people approaching him. "You can't hide from us!" Janette announced and Marcus was ripped out of his discussion with Xeen. "Can a man not rest in peace for a minute?" Marcus argued but Janette shook her head. "Your next opponent tomorrow is an Elemental Mage and you need as much training as possible," she said and Marcus instinctively looked around to see if Grace was sneaking up on him, to drag him away for more hardcore training.

Janette guessed his thoughts "Grace is not going to train you this time. We got you an excellent last minute teacher," she said and now Marcus realized that behind Cherry's impressive outline stood another woman. The newcomer in the dark gray uniform of Cerberus approached Marcus and gave him a smile. She had very short blonde hair and bright white skin, it took him several seconds before he exclaimed "Elena!" He jumped up and they awkwardly hugged, like people do who are not 100% sure what the correct greeting was.

"You look great! Sorry, it has been some time and you changed your hair a lot," he said but she waved it away. "Elena is one our most promising newcomers in the clan. I have no doubt she will prepare you properly," Cherry said and focused on the young woman. "Elena, there is not much time. I want you to push Marcus as hard as you can. Don't hold back, that is an order." Elena saluted and suddenly Marcus wanted to be somewhere far far away.

Elemental Mages are strong, deadly even, but Marcus had a few things going for him in the next battle. First, they are ranged combatants and the limited space would be a plus for him. Secondly, Elemental Mages overwhelm their enemies with damage but Marcus healed extremely quickly. In a war of attrition he would win for sure, especially if the Elemental Mage was too low level for Mana Boost. That was on Marcus' mind, as he got ready for his training with Elena.

The young woman stretched and warmed up too and Marcus watched her, purely out of professional interest. Liar. Mostly out of professional interest. She looked agile and extremely fit, less like your average Elemental Mage and more like... "I classify myself as a Combat Mage. I walk a different path than most of my class," Elena explained before they started. "Most Mages aim to become a walking artillery and that is fine, but I decided to excel in short to mid range combat. Fireball is only a backup for me, Fireblast or Plasmaball is my main weapon. I am particularly good at high speed attacks," she explained and Marcus listened with glowing eyes.

"That sounds amazing. What made you walk this path?" He asked and for some reason she blushed. "Experience," she just said. They started with a mock battle and Marcus soon learned what she meant with high speed attacks. The moment the battle started a Fireblast came his way and when it smashed into his leg another one was already following the first. Elena was fast and precise enough to have three Fireblasts in the air at the same time. Marcus could withstand the attacks but moving forward was difficult and Elena quickly danced around him peppering him with fiery death.

After a few minutes nearly all his clothes had burned away and he was sweating from exhaustion but so was Elena. At an opportune moment Marcus decided to use Burst charge and surprise Elena. He blocked two of her attacks and charged right at her, he could see the surprise on her face. When he reached out to touch her, something got in his way. A floating crystal plate blocked his hand. "Huh?" He said, and got a Plasmaball in the face for his efforts. Elena quickly stopped her attacks to see if he was alright. "I did not mean to aim at your head Marcus." Marcus was still not over the floating thing next to her. "What is that?" He asked and Elena looked surprised until she snapped her fingers "You were gone the last few years and have not heard yet."

"Two years ago a young Elemental Mage from Brazil came up with the idea to form the Crystal lance into a shield and use one hand to control it while the other hand is used for attacks. It is so obvious once you see it for the first time. The community was facepalming for months. It quickly became a standard for Elemental Mages," Elena said and Marcus watched the shield fly around by the whim of her left hand. He sighed, "So you have a mobile shield now, in addition to extreme firepower. Great." They made some tests with Impulse Hammer against her shield and Marcus was easily able to bounce it away, but Elena returned it as quickly. This alone would make his duel much harder than he had thought. He felt discouraged, but Elena had her orders from the "Queen", and she pushed him until she herself ran out of gas.

A last Plasmaball scorched Marcus arm and illuminated the incoming night. Elena was breathing heavily, and Marcus was covered in sweat and grime. He was nearly naked now and Elena tried not to look too much. The opposite of Grace who sat on the sidelines, had some ice cream and studied Marcus' body with joy. "So, how do you like our Titan?" She asked and Elena focused on Grace, removing some sweat from her face.

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"To be honest, I would not like to fight him. He is too damn tough. Even if you ignore his healing ability. Normally my attacks can take down an enemy on my level in a few hits, but in his case they explode like little firecrackers," she said while Marcus put on some clothes thanks to the helpful Kou. Grace looked unhappy for a moment, but then concentrated on the sweaty woman. "Do you think he will win?" Elena looked at Marcus, who was taking a water bottle from Kou and had a big gulp. "Yes. If the other mage is a traditional type he will definitely win, unless he allows them to pierce his head with a Crystal lance."

This time Marcus was allowed to sleep through the night and enjoy a nice breakfast too. Elena was staying for the fight and so they had the chance to exchange stories. Janette and her wife also joined the table, and Cherry praised Elena greatly. It meant a lot to Elena, as her red ears proved. "Don't you want to switch clans? We are really lacking long range firepower right now. I would love to have you on my team," Grace said but Cherry glared at her. "No stealing our prodigy! You have enough outstanding talent as it is." Elena's face turned all red and Marcus had to laugh. "It is not like we can not cooperate. Once we get stronger as a clan we will surely do raids together." Marcus said and Cherry squinted her eyes "It depends on how good you are." After that comment Janette elbowed her and she stopped teasing Colors of the Wild.

The atmosphere today was much more relaxed than yesterday, and even the arrival of Marcus' enemy, a guy named Xerxes did not change that. The Elemental Mage had proclaimed that Titans are trash, like all melee classes, and that he could take down Marcus with ease. Good enough reason for Janette to accept his request, and today he could show what he got. Because of the danger of missed attacks only people who were sure they could take a hit were allowed to sit in on the duel today. This reduced the spectator amount a lot. Only the more senior clan members stayed, including Cherry, Elena and an odd looking hooded guy.

Xerxes showed up with some of his clan mates and wore a fancy light armor, black in black, like a real poser cool guy. He was Caucasian, bald and used makeup to make himself look more menacing. Marcus warmed up and watched his enemy show off some Plasmaballs and Crystals. He was a lot slower than Elena, Marcus thought.

Don't get cocky. You are far too young and too weak to underestimate any enemy.

Yes sir! Xeen was right, Marcus knew, and he focused on the fight instead of idle thoughts.

The combatants took their positions and Xerxes chose to stay as far away as possible. "FIGHT!" Grace shouted and Marcus started rushing his enemy with his arms protecting his head. Xerxes did not hesitate and sent two Plasmaballs his way which hit Marcus with great force. Each of them hit harder than Elena's attacks, but they were a lot slower and Marcus could use his arms to block them. The constant bombardment yesterday had made him less sensible to the burning pain of the impact, and he charged right up to his enemy.

At ten meters away, Xerxes suddenly created two deadly Piercing crystals with both his hands, and launched them at the same time. The attacks were incredibly fast. Before Marcus knew what was going on, one punched through his left arm and the other through his right leg. He staggered in pain and surprise, and Xerxes prepared a new set of Crystals. So he did indeed have an ace up his sleeve, Marcus thought.

I told you so.

But he is not the only one. Until now the public had never seen his Burst charge and Xerxes had no idea what was coming for him.

Putting the strain on his healthy leg Marcus Burst right into the stationary man and landed a knee into his stomach. Impulse Hammer threw the man back, and he rolled over the floor until he stopped moving for good. Marcus watched the man while his wounds closed and soon after Grace announced the winner.

He put everything into offense, a fatal mistake. Did he really think you would never reach him?

Maybe? Those crystals were really dangerous. I can see how one good hit could slow down or even kill many melee combatants. But on the other hand, good luck hitting an Accelerator before he cuts you down. I think Elena's approach is much better. Marcus watched Candis and Rian work and was relieved to hear that Xerxes would live. Marcus got applause and praise from the audience, while the diligent demon was already retrieving camera footage to make a video for the masses.

Marcus slowly calmed down and realized he was watched with intense eyes. A thin young man with platinum blonde hair stared holes into him from behind a nearby tree. Had he been there all the time? Marcus tried to remember, but was not sure. The light gray eyes of the youngster observed him until their eyes met, and the blonde man turned and fled the scene.

What a curious young man. Maybe he has amorous feelings for you?

I don't think that's it. He is one of our rookies but I don't remember his name, it was something short.

"It seems like you already have a hardcore fan." The hooded man casually walked over to Marcus and he greeted his teacher.

"Remind me, that I teach you the old wisdom 'sometimes the shortest path is not the fastest'," Ye-jun said and Marcus took this as critique. He thought for a moment. "A straight charge is not always the best choice?" He said and his teacher nodded. "Well done grasshopper. Half a second later and you would have charged right into those crystals, and then things would have been dire for you. Still, you won," he said, but it sounded more like "you got lucky punk" in Marcus' ears.

Marcus nodded and said, "Understood. I will reflect on it." He could see Ye-jun smile under his disguise. "Two more to go," he said and left Marcus to celebrate with his clan. Yes, an Arcane Archer and a mystery opponent, Marcus thought as he watched Kim vanish into the night. The closer he came to that last fight the more dread he felt in his stomach.

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