Volume 3 Chapter 8: Part 2: (Patreon)

Volume 3 Chapter 8: Part 2:

"I challenge you to a fight!" Finn screams out as he points at Onyx.

"...Finn, do you know what I'm doing right now?" In Onyx's hand are a shovel and some seeds. He's helping Douglas out. He has to shovel out a hole and plant the seeds so they can sell them the following season.

"I have time! So come on, how about it!" Finn screams out again. You can feel the eagerness in his voice.

"..." You might. But I don't have any time. Onyx rolls his eyes as he continues to plant the seeds. However, Douglass looks at him, "Onyx, I can manage by myself. You should go and take your break."

"Alright." Onyx sighs as he hands the seeds over to him and jumps over the fence.

Finn smiles brightly as he thanks Douglas, "Thank you so much, uncle!"

Douglas only nods as he goes back to work.

"Come on, let's go. So what do you want to challenge me this time?"

"This time will be easy."

"You say that about everyone."

"Hey! This one is simple! It's a good old fashioned fist fight! The loser is the one who gets knocked out!"

Really? Onyx becomes skeptical, "Are you sure you want to have a fist fight with me? Are you sure your parents won't kill you when they find  out?" He knows his mother will kill him for doing something ridiculous.

"..." Finn stops and takes a moment to think, "How about this!" He begins to draw a circle on the ground before stopping his legs, "Let's do this! Whoever pushes the other person out of this circle will be the winner!"

"Ain't that kinda childish?"

"Shut up! The rules are simple, aren't they?!"

"Yeah, they're simple." Thinking for a bit, "Ok, I'm down." Onyx rolls his shoulders around as he gets into the circle.

Finn does the same from the opposite side. As the two are about to duke it out again,

"Look! Finn and Onyx are going to fight again!" A bunch of kids circle around the two of them. The contest between Finn and Onyx is entertainment for them.

"Who do you think is going to win?"

"Of course, it's Onyx. Every time they fought, Onyx would be the one who won in the end."

"Nah, I think this is Finn's day. It's his chance to take a win from Onyx."

Some of the kids start to analyze this fight as some sort of world-class fight. While others,

"Finn, you got this!"

"Even if you lose, I'll still love you!"

"If you ever feel like crying, you can lay on my lap!"

You can hear the girls cheering him on. And Onyx's case is the same, actually even more so.

"What are you guys even saying?! I'm not going to be the one losing today!" Finn screams back at the girls. How can they decide the outcome when it hasn't even happened yet?!

"Are we going to start or not?" Unlike Finn's focus on the girls, Onyx is the opposite. He ignores them. But that causes the opposite effect, causing them to love him more!

"Anytime! Someone start it for us!" One of the kids stands out and prepares to start it,

"On the count of three, fight. Got it." The two nod.

"1" Onyx crouches down, ready to charge.

"2" Finn does the same with a smirk on his face.

"3!!!" The moment the kid said this, the two charged at each other! They slam each other, trying their best to push the other out of the ring! It's a clash of brute force.

No skills, just their own physical capabilities put to the test.

"Finn's pushing Onyx back!" The crowd realizes this. For physical capabilities, Finn is much bigger than Onyx.

"Finn! You got this! Give that pretty boy his first loss!"

"Onyx! Please don't hurt your face!"

The screams from the guys and girls are so contrasting. But they're loud. Loud enough to cause more people to watch.

"What are these kids doing?"

"It seems like Onyx and Finn are doing those contests again."

"Seriously. Those young bloods have too much fighting spirit in them."

The adults can only shake their heads at how much energy those two have as they go back to work.

He's going to push me out. Onyx realizes his feet are slowly getting closer to the border. Bit by bit, he's losing ground. I'm not going to lose! Gritting his teeth, Onyx lets Finn push him.

But he slides under Finn! Before he can even react, Onyx's shoulder throws him out of the ring!

"Winner, Onyx!"

"Kyaa!" "That was such a cool shoulder throw!" The crowd and adults even cheered when they saw that. It was a clean textbook throw from Onyx.

"Dammit!" Finn slams his fist down to the ground. I had him! But the moment he let his guard down, Onyx took it!

"You will hurt your hand if you slam it down like that." Onyx shakes his head as he extends his hand out to him. But Finn slaps him away and glares at him,

"Why are you so strong?!"

"Hmm?"

"How can you be so strong?! I've been training my muscles to beat you, yet you beat me so easily!" Finn trained his best to get stronger than Onyx. Yet, he still couldn't beat Onyx.

"I don't know." Onyx shrugs his shoulders.

"Dammit!" Seeing his clueless face, Finn continues to slam his fist down even more, "All my hard work goes down the drain."

Now it's Onyx's turn to frown, "Do you really think your hard work went down the drain?"

"I didn't beat you!"

"And that's why you are a child" Onyx shakes his head.

"You're the same age as me!"

Ignoring him, Onyx continues, "Just because you didn't beat me doesn't mean you're weak. Aside from your annoying personality, your pig-headedness and persistence are great."

"Thank- Hey, how am I annoying?!"

"..." Did you not see what you just did? Onyx shakes his head and extends his hand out again,

"Come on, stop acting like a baby."

"I'm not a baby." Finn frowns as he grabs his hand, "I'm going to beat you one day!"

Onyx laughs, "Keep dreaming."

...

Just what caused Finn to become like this? Remembering the past, Onyx is still confused about how he changed so much. He was not the same person as the one who acted smug at the church.

Finn may have been annoying and loud. But he was a good person. So what changed him so much?

Could I have stopped it? Onyx grips his fist tightly and a dark expression forms.

"Onyx." A voice calls out to him.

Onyx looks up and smiles, "What's up, Madelyn?"

Madelyn smiles, "I was wondering if you have dinner yet?"

"Hmm? Is it already that time?" Onyx looks up at the orange sky to see it turning darker.

"Then do you want to come with me?" Madelyn makes a wry smile.

"Sure." Onyx gets up from the ground. Hmm? He tilts his head, "Why is your face so red?" What he saw was Madelyn's cheeks turning red.

She scratches her face, "Um, I didn't think you would agree so fast."

"Hmm? Why wouldn't I? I'm going to have dinner with a beautiful woman. Why wouldn't I say no?"

"!" Madelyn's face turns even redder, and Onyx laughs.

"Stop joking around!" "I'm not tho." Onyx makes a serious face as he says this.

"Let me change my clothes, then we can go out." "Ahh, let me help you with that."

Madelyn quickly casts her magic again, and his body is cleaned off.

Onyx looks down at his clean clothes and praises, "Your magic is seriously the best."

"It's only simple magic." Madelyn gives a wry smile, "Let's go now."

"Sure." Onyx follows Madelyn.

"Uhh, Madelyn, are you sure you want to eat here?" They arrive in front of a really fancy restaurant.

"Of course, I'm one of their regulars. Do you not like it?"

Onyx quickly shakes his head, "It's not that I don't like it. Rather," He goes up to her ear, "Isn't it going to be expensive?"

"....Pff." Madelyn laughs at what he said. How cute. She didn't think Onyx would have a side like this, "Don't worry about the bill today. I'll be the one paying. Treat this as a thank you for saving me from Galven."

"Oh." Onyx doesn't think much about it as they walk in. The inside is just as posh as the outside.

"Welcome. Oh, it's you, Madelyn. Are you going to- Ho." The waitress greets Madelyn. But when she notices Onyx beside her, the waitress's face turns to sparkles.

Madelyn's face turns red, "It's nothing like that, Amy."

"HOHOHOHO. Is it really?" The waitress, Amy, continues the ohoho laugh as she looks at Madelyn and Onyx.

"I thought you have no interest in guys. But it seems I was wrong. It's just that your standards are high." Amy looks at Onyx, "Really high."

She greets Onyx, "My name is Amy. As you can see, I'm friends with this one here."

"My name is Onyx."

"Such a seductive voice added on too. I can see why Madelyn's falling for you." Amy looks at him with interest.

"Amy!" "Oops. The queen is mad. I best be going back to work. Let me lead you two to your table." Amy leads the two to their table.

It was on the second floor. It's a nice and quant table.

"What will the two of you order?"

"I'll have my usual. Onyx, choose anything you like to have." Madelyn smiles, and Onyx looks through the menu. In the end, he looks at Amy,

"What can you recommend for me?

"Hmm, how about the mammoth steak? It's one of our popular choices, and customers come back for more."

"Sure, I'll get that then." Amy writes it down and leaves them to their own devices.

"So, how's the training going for you?" Madelyn asks,

"It's going 50-50. Thank you for letting me use the guild's training ground." The area Onyx practiced in was owned by the guild. It was spacious and enough for Onyx to go all out.

What's more, the one he's using is private, so nobody would bother him or see him use dark magic.

"You shouldn't thank me. The guild master is the one who allows this."

But Onyx makes a small huff, "I'm still mad at him for putting me on lockdown like this."

"I think it's overkill too. However, I think the guild master did it for your own good." Madelyn says with a wry smile,

"But what troubles are you having? Maybe I can help you out?" She noticed the dark expression as he lay on the ground.

"It's about magic. I'm having trouble casting intermediate magic." Onyx tells her the truth. Madelyn might know something about this. Remember how she used magic before; she should have an understanding.

He was planning to ask Etta about this. She's one of the only mages that he knows who can use intermediate magic and higher.

But she's out of the city with the rest of the group.

"Oh, if you want to learn intermediate magic, have you learned any elementary ones?"

"Mmmhmm, I've only learned two elementary magics."

"And this is your first time casting intermediate-level magic?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Ahh, then that makes sense why you're having trouble. For starters, there are fundamental steps needed to cast magic: the chant and the mana."

"I know that. But is the chant really necessary? I've seen people who've used magic without a chant." That's him.

"Ahh, those people are outliers. Normal mages will have to use the chant to cast their magic. The people you're talking about have great control over their mana. They're rare.

Rather than omitting the chant, they imagine it in their mind and create it with their control."

"I see." So I'm a rare type.

"What's the difference between casting elementary and intermediate magic?"

Madelyn smiles, "There's actually nothing."