Villain's Second Heart: Trapped in A Fantasy Novel (BL)-Chapter 43: Phantoms of the Clouds

The trio stood at the entrance to Rav's estate, weapons drawn, ready to defend the mountain peak.

Suddenly, the intruder darted into view, sprinting toward them at full speed. It was someone all three of them recognized.

"Deek?" Ezra said.

"Hiiiiiiiii!" the young Ferin girl shouted, waving her arms frantically as she hustled up the last stretch of uphill climb. She was sweating, huffing, and heaving - but Deek was a girl on a mission.

When she finally reached them, she collapsed in Rav's garden in the soft grass. "Whew," she wheezed, her chest heaving up and down.

"You ran all the way here? Just what I'd expect from a Sage-in-Training!" Rav applauded. He turned to give Ezra and Oberyn a snarky look. "See? This is the kind of hard work I expect from those I train. You both had better learn a thing or two from her."

Ezra and Oberyn exchanged a look.

"He's training you, too?" Ezra whispered to the Nephilim who lingered just inches away.

"Apparently."

They re-focused on Deek, who was finally recovered enough to get some words in.

"Agh," she spit. "Eughaa...alrig-alright."

"Oberyn, why don't you go make Deek a sandwich?"

The catboy curled his tail as he spoke. He did love being in command.

"Eh- okay," Oberyn agreed with no small measure of reluctance.

He trotted off, head down.

"Glad to see you made it in one piece, Mr. Nephilim!" Deek called out as Oberyn walked away. She turned back to Rav and made a wincing face.

"He was pretty beat up when I saw him. Could barely walk! But all he was on about was 'Where's Ezra at? Where's Ezra at', you know? So I told him, pointed right up to the top of the mountain, but he was in no shape to be traveling. Kind of a theme with that guy, huh? And before I could stop him, WHAM! He sprouted wings and flew right away!"

"Ah," Rav nodded. "I wondered how he found this place so easily. I should have known."

"He must have needed mana badly, if he went through such trouble to find me."

Both of the Ferin stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Yeeaaah, that's it," Deek mumbled. "Anyway, Mr. Rav! I'm here to officially start my trainin'!"

"You and everyone else!" Rav chuckled. "Your timing is fortuitous, however. See, I have the perfect mission for you. I've got a feeling Mr. Nephilim will be bored tomorrow, you see - Ezra and I have important business to attend to in Asteria. Do you remember that grotto I once took you to, on the north side of the mountain?"

Deek quivered. "That place? It's so creepy!"

"Yeah, well, the Lamia are starting to get a little antsy again. Nothing the 'Exploding Magician' and the 'Sage-in-Training' can't handle."

"Lamia?" Ezra asked. The word was familiar - he'd encountered it in many video games. "Let me guess...snake ladies?"

Rav blinked. "That's certainly one way to put it...come to think of it, have I ever seen a male Lamia?"

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Rav was still lost in thought by the time Oberyn returned with a sloppily assembled sandwich.

"Gee, thanks," Deek said, grabbing it off the plate and chomping on it - leaving Oberyn there with plate-in-hand.

"Do you like it?" Oberyn lit up excitedly, eager for a compliment.

"It's a freakin' sandwich, what do you mean? You add anything extra, Mr. Nephilim? An extra piece of cheese?"

Oberyn deflated.

"You and me are gonna kill some Lamia tomorrow, so hopefully you're feeling better!"

Oberyn was surprised to hear her address him. Like Ezra, he wasn't entirely sure what a 'Lamia' was.

"By tomorrow I should be alright, but I can't push myself too hard. Not with the curse the way it is..."

"Well, consider it settled, then!" Rav exclaimed, nearly smacking the plate out of Oberyn's hads as he raised his arms up theatrically. "Homework for the both of you, and Ezra and I will go on our Asterian city adventure! A thrilling day, hm?"

"Whatever you say, Mr. Rav!"

"If it's to help Oberyn, of course."

"How did I get volunteered for this?"

Rav lowered his arms, his tail swirling like a moonlit hill in a land of eternal Halloween. "Then tomorrow's settled. So for today..."

Suddenly, phantoms manifested from clouds began to descend from above, roughly the same size and shape as humans. A full circle of them surrounded the quartet, floating lifelessly and malevolently.

"Let's see which one of my students is strongest!" Rav cackled. "Whoever defeats the most can get a VERY special treat! Whatever you want!"

"Oooh! Training!" Deek was fired up, and threw the crust of her sandwich over her shoulder. She braced her boomerang and got into a battle-ready stance.

Ezra didn't skip a beat either, calling his System and summoning two 'twin-spears' from his inventory. Short, silver pikes, they had the ability to fuse together into one weapon. He already had a chance to try out his violet spear, and was eager to give the other weapons in his arsenal a go.

Oberyn was unarmed - he left his sword back in Asteria. But he had enough mana control where such a task would be no trouble to him at all.

"Lady and Gents, on your mark! Get set...!"

Rav held his breath, relishing in the anticipation. Nothing like a good spar - and he was eager to see how much Deek had grown as a fighter. Not only that, but he needed a good sense of Oberyn's ability as well.

"Go!"

In a flash, Ezra leapt from his starting position, his twin spears sparkling in the sun as he cleaved through Rav's phantoms. He sliced one - two - three of them in a single moment. He was already fired up from his dinosaur battle earlier, so slipping into battle mode was effortless.

And on the other side, a hail of explosive bullets blasted seven phantoms to smithereens. Oberyn stood still, calm and collected - each time his eyes fell upon a phantom, it was suddenly barraged by his relentless magical onslaught.

In the same breath, Deek's magical boomerang cleaved through one after the other, as more and more phantoms began to form from the swirling clouds above.

The three fought and fought - each one eager to be the winner of Rav's contest - if not for the reward, then for the bragging rights.