Ayla said 'Most people are not able to see these strings. You got a pretty good pair of eyes but it is useless if you can not keep up.'
She raised her hands and waved around the strings. 'These strings are infused with mana so I can freely control them in the air however I want.'
Smiley sat up and joked, 'So it is true. Ananke is now the weaker than us'
Another critical attack to already sulking Ananke which downed him completely.
Ayla extended her arm, aiding Smiley to stand as the sun behind her blinded her face. She defended Ananke, 'Well he did not really lose, he was holding back most of his power not to hurt you. I remember when we were at school, he accidently almost killed some poor boy which is why he uses a wooden blade now.'
Smiley this time could not ignore that red flag as he said 'Woah woah, too much information. That's kind of scary to know as I was just sparring with him.'
Ayla responded 'He only panicked thinking about how to not hurt you.' she giggled explaining
How Ananke first used his wind to slow you down but after failing to do so, he hit himself with his own wind to throw back backwards only for you to appear right behind him. That is why your sword bounced back so hard.
Smiley said 'Isn`t he too soft on me?'
Ayla proudly said, 'That idiot only knows how to go all out, that is why he is really bad at controlling his strength.'
Ananke came and said 'Stop stealing our professor's words to make me look dumb.' but despite that, her words helped him recover completely.
He looked towards Smiley and said 'It was my fault. I underestimated you by alot. Good thing it was wooden sword'
Just imagining what would have happened made shiver run down his spine.
Ananke responded 'Do not worry, I can assure you if it was a real sword then I would have flung it away… I think'
Smiley said 'I will give you some points for honesty.'
Ananke laughed, 'But that was a lie'
Ananke told Smiley, 'Your growth is almost exponential like you just recently hit a breakthrough' which reminded him of Ignis
Ananke continued, 'And with your "this" Mockery of yours, it is possible for you to learn everything easily. We call people like you "Jack of All Trades" but they often hit their limits easily.'
Smiley responded, 'But that does not mean I can't master them.'
Ananke looked towards Smiley, 'That is true. Your body already knows how to move like a but it seems like you are just too weak as a vassal for its full potential. What you need is not a master but a place where you can practice safely.'
Ananke replied 'But it isn't necessarily a bad thing. One can master healing but is left defenseless alone. Even though I use mana, I know a little of everything and because of that I can do this'
Ananke closed his eyes and raised his sword while hovering his other hand over it.
…
Nothing happened except wind gusting around which was not visible to normal eyes.
Smiley said 'Woah amazing!'
Ananke coughed, 'I should use fire instead'
His wooden sword was covered in high flames and was burnt off in just a few moments.
…
Smiley now felt bad for him as he said pitying him, 'It's alright.' wiping a none existent tear in his eyes.
Ananke coughed 'Basically what I just did was cover my sword into a fire element. I used wind before but you most likely would had not been able to see it since I was holding back quite a lot'
Ananke excused, 'You must be tired. With this, our today training is over'
Smiley said 'You sure the reason is not because you burnt off your sword.'
Ananke smugged, 'You really thought I burnt my sword by accident? I did it so you can rest up.' and started walking away, showing his back like a hero "who just saved the world and went quietly without saying a word" as his coat danced in the wind but in reality he was just running off.
Ayla sneaked up behind Smiley and said 'He totally did it by accident. He once almost burnt down our house the same way'
Smiley was not even surprised, 'I can see that happening…'
Ayla asked Smiley with a smile 'By the way, when is your birthday'
Smiley replied 'I do not know.'
Ayla seemed puzzled and said 'Oh how about we make it the day you came to our house? 23rd of October. It's close to Ananke's and he does not remember his so yours will remind him to come home at time.'
Smiley said blushing while turning his face to side trying to hide it, 'Sure whatever you say'
Ayla patted his head 'Lets head back to town now' as they followed Ananke who was still smiling like a hero as the wind grew stronger.
Ananke, still posing like a hero, was using his wind on the field and scanning around as he sighed, 'Smiley…', He looked towards the sky, 'Why is my wind not affecting you?…'
From Grass to Ayla sneezing from icy wind. Everything was engulfed by the wind controlled by Ananke… but Smiley— Not even his hair waved around even when Ananke increased its power.
He remained unaffected by the wind created from the "Blessing of the World". The power second to the world itself and considered Nature itself.
Yet Ananke was clueless of what Smiley even was. A thought came to his mind… 'Is he even human?' As Ananke's eyes turned cold before he looked back towards Smiley smiling and laughing with Ayla.
Ananke shook his head and cleared his mind, 'No… He is just a clueless kid. If timelines really exists then what were you in your past life— Smiley.'
Ananke joked, 'I can not even remember the things wrong with you. At this point, I might as well just try to remember what's right.'
On the way, Smiley stopped by the guild.
He headed back in and walked up to the counter of the "Scary looking lady"
The line was empty as usually so Smiley walked up to her and looked at her.
She looked back and the words got stuck in his throat 'Umm~'.
She noticed he was the same boy who passed out and said "Oh you are that same boy. How is your head? I have your files for the test right here with me." as she slid the files to Smiley.
Maybe no one would have noticed how she distracted him and pulled back her right arm but being observant, Smiley noticed it and said 'Your hand… can you show it to me'
She raised her hand and waved, showing nothing wrong but Smiley felt guilt so she said "It's nothing much. Just a simple scratch."
Smiley checked her hand to find a thin red mark running diagolane on her hand from protecting his head from hitting the table.
She continued with a smile "It's just a bruise. This will heal in a few days so you have nothing to worry about."
Smiley took out a sticky bandaid and put it over her skin saying 'Now with this we are even.' and walked away.
She raised her hand, looked at the bandaid and her side of mouth was a bit curved.
The popular colleague slid over and said 'Oh my, someone`s popularity is on the rise' commenting on her smiling.
Her smile disappeared as she looked at her with the same cold eyes for which she was known as Misses Death.
'Boo you are no fun' as she slid away not wanting to provoke her any further.
She looked down once again and smiled again but this time a genuine one unlike before.
———————
{Writer Note:
Umm author… This is a dark fantasy right?}[1]
———————
Smiley outside the building thought 'I guess I will head back now…' feeling lonely and tired.
Just as he took a few steps down the stairs to find Ananke and Ayla waiting for him outside.
He smiled 'I guess not'
He hurried down the stairs and walked with them back home.
Extra:
———————
The Desk Lady:
The bandaid she was given stickiness's was dull just to reveal behind the mark had vanished. Smiley had somehow infused his OG into the bandaid itself and healed the bruise she had.
Only to create another misunderstanding for later on.
———————————————
Ananke's Wind outside in field
Ayla (sneezes): 'Why did it get so windy?'
Ananke glanced at Smiley: 'Your body is interesting.'
Smiley felt creeped out wondering if someone was thinking weird things about him again.
[1] Also to clear up any misunderstandings, ‘I wrote this novel’ (Read the End Note)