Enrico received a kick to the abdomen and was sent flying backward, crashing through several trees around the castle.
As soon as he regained his balance, he sprang to his feet and narrowly dodged another kick delivered by Firlanda. Despite the injuries she had sustained, the princess still possessed enough strength to destroy the ground with a single blow, opening an enormous crater where her foot had struck.
"Double Flaming Shot!"
Two spinning arrows emerged from Enrico's fire bow and shot toward Firlanda. The projectiles struck their target directly, sending her flying several meters backward. However, despite being badly injured, neither of them showed the slightest intention of retreating.
"Abyssal Chains!"
Enrico already knew that attack and understood that the chains could drain his magic. Therefore, he dodged to the right before they could reach him. As he moved, his hand began to burn with flames, and the fire gradually hardened until it formed a kind of red gauntlet. At the center of the structure, a reddish stone glowed constantly, releasing intense energy.
"Crimson Gauntlet and Fire Fist!"
Enrico thrust his fist forward, releasing an enormous burst of fire that advanced at high speed and swallowed everything in its path. Firlanda tried to escape but couldn't get away in time. The attack struck her directly, triggering an explosion that devastated the entire surrounding terrain.
"What impressive power! If the version of me from two months ago had fought you, I would definitely have been defeated."
Vergel approached, observing the destruction left behind by the battle. After taking a few steps forward, he turned his attention to his daughter, who was trying to stand despite the pain in her back. Firlanda gritted her teeth and asked Marcelo to heal her.
"Damn it! Why can't I defeat this human?"
Marcelo began healing the princess's injuries.
"You should give up, Princess. You've only managed to defeat him once, and that happened at the beginning, before he advanced to the Third Human Circle."
"So what? I'm not going to give up and accept being defeated by a human! I'm sure I'll be able to defeat him in the future. Besides, I haven't lost that many times!"
"Since you lost to him two weeks ago, you've demanded fourteen rematches and lost every single one."
"That's not that many! When we reach a hundred, we can talk about it."
As Enrico had said, he had reached the Third Circle two weeks earlier, after facing Vergel in his true form. Advancing that day hadn't been particularly difficult, since he had already reached ninety-nine percent of the Second Circle. Thus, all he had to do was ask Vergel to put him in a situation of extreme danger, striking him repeatedly with various shadow spells until he finally managed to surpass the limit.
'It's a good thing I created the magic circle and the circular breathing technique. Otherwise, after all this training, I probably would have reached, at most, somewhere between seventy and eighty percent.'
[I have to admit that even I'm surprised by this. But don't get too arrogant, because the more Circles you reach, the harder it will be to evolve.]
'I know. Even so, I'll keep improving these techniques... Well, let's see if I managed to improve anything today.'
Name: Enrico Solcren Ferreira
Fire Magic: Circle 3 — 5% Water Magic: Circle 3 — 3%
Mana Quantity: 458
Unique Abilities: Elemental Clone / Transformation
Soul: 89
Enrico had reached a considerably higher level during those months, and the Third Circle wasn't the only achievement he had managed to attain.
He had also obtained information while capturing the enemies who had invaded the dungeon. Jago was sacrificing dungeons to create a Kairom-level Nartheis that he could control.
'That bastard! Besides gathering Ranvil-level Nartheis, he also wants to create something of that level? I'm increasingly getting the feeling that something is about to happen, and it won't be long now.'
Enrico had already asked the director and the king to find Jago secretly, but they hadn't managed to locate him so far. He wanted to eliminate him at any cost, but there were two problems: Jago was stronger than him, and finding him seemed practically impossible.
[I have to admit that even I'm irritated with him.]
'Definitely... That's why I need to find him soon.'
Enrico let out a tired sigh.
"She seems to be fine. So, I'd like to ask: what's the name of that magic?"
Enrico turned his attention to Vergel, who was approaching again. Upon noticing the gleam of enthusiasm in his eyes, he rolled his own. He didn't know how many more opponents would appear in his path, but he had the impression that he had already lost count.
"It's called Crimson Gauntlet. When I studied earth magic, I came across a few similar things. So, I drew inspiration from them and created a magic of my own."
"Interesting! Could you use it against me today?"
"Sorry, but I need to leave here in two hours."
"But what if I assume my female form, like I did last week? Would you accept then?"
Enrico brought a hand to his chin and seriously considered the proposal for a few moments. However, no matter how tempting the offer was for Vergel, he refused. He couldn't stay in that place any longer.
"What a shame. You're quite an amusing human."
"I'll return in the future, so don't worry. Besides, don't forget that I was the one who helped you increase your power during this period."
"That's something I'll never forget, Enrico."
During those months, Enrico had taught the Nartheis a different way to evolve, beyond simply devouring others of their own kind, which, depending on the victim's level, didn't increase the power of the one consuming them by very much. He introduced them to a technique created by a dangerous Nartheis who would be born in the future.
The technique connected three elements: the core, the body, and magic. A line linked all three, bringing them into synchronization. It was from this technique that Enrico drew inspiration to create circular breathing, although there were differences between the two methods.
'It's a shame it only works for Nartheis. Besides having no side effects like the other techniques, it seems to provide a more natural evolution, although it's difficult to learn at first.'
This technique would have been useful for helping the others learn to evolve more efficiently, but because of that condition, they couldn't use it.
Enrico looked at Vergel and decided to change his mind. Instead of ending the training immediately, he would agree to have one more lighthearted fight before leaving.
"Really? Then let's do it. I'll assume my female form, as promised."
"If you insist so much, go ahead."
Since Enrico still hadn't managed to increase his progress by even one percent, he intended to use those two hours to try to advance a little further while he remained in that place. After all, while hours passed there, time flowed differently in the outside world.
In fact, during that period, someone had already reached the Third Circle thanks to an obsession she had developed with him.
'Damn it, maybe I should have trained less. What if he's still in the Second Circle even after all this training? Do I need to hold back more often? No, that's impossible! It's all his fault!'
In the training room, now completely destroyed, Lira remained at the center of the area, surrounded by a white aura radiating from her body. She had reached the Third Circle in both her magics, and that wasn't her only achievement.
'I hope he can keep up with my new level.'