Lord of Charm

Getting close behind the wall seemed like a bad move from Gale's side; he'd have to use another spell to remove the earth, and then he would be able to use only one more spell since all three of them only mastered dual-casting.

Richmond and his ally simply switched completely to offense, and if Gale would remove his wall he wouldn't be able to take on 4 spells with a single one.

However, in the middle of their retreat, a large blade of wind swiftly cut through the soft earth and made its way to the unprotected water mage. He screamed in terror as he saw the blade gets closer and closer until it cut his body in two vertically.

"Fourfold mage! Who are you?!"

Richmond astonished shout of despair echoed in the vacant area. Fourfold mages were so rare that less than 5 of them were known in the kingdom, even fewer than Expert Mages. Fighting a random mage and finding out he was a fourfold mage was probably as unlucky as unlucky can get.

Gale himself was amazed by the benefits he had from using different elements. He used darkness to surprise and ambush one mage and wind to kill another; he would never be able to defeat all three of them if he only used two elements.

Using a different element allowed him to catch them unprepared and counter their special affinities and spells, putting him on the higher ground all the time.

"I'm Gale Stormborn, you should've asked before attacking."

"Gale Stormborn the son of the late Earl Stormborn? How is it possible? Most of the reports told us he has no magic at all while some others said he was an Expert Magician. Besides, he is under 20 years old, how can he be a mage?"

Richmond refused to believe that they angered a 19-year-old mage. The only way to keep a good relationship with someone so talented would be to remove Tara's candidacy, otherwise, the relationship of the Clarence family with Gale would be sour forever.

Gale didn't answer, he simply conjured wisps of fire. Richmond woke up from his thoughts with a slap of despair; he couldn't block this attack on his own. He used his fog of darkness again and ran in the opposite direction.

Gale couldn't find him, but he already had a solution. A tall pillar rose under his feet, taking him above the fog. Now, he could observe the fog and see the direction it was heading in. He could easily estimate Richmond's location since he would be in the middle.

The wisps swarm through the fog and quickly screams resounded again for the third time that day. When the fog was lifted, there was nothing left but ashes and a small bag, which was similar to the one he found on Jack.

He quickly ran to Moira and fed her with his best healing potion, which was a fourth-rank one. her breaths slowly turned even, and her pained expression relaxed.

Gale was far from happy; Moira lost one of her arms, crippling her forever. Additionally, her body was full of burns that would leave scars unless he could provide her with fifth-rank potions which he didn't have.

He suddenly had a thought; if they tried to kill him, wouldn't they also try to kill Nina and Sol?

---------

Same time as the attack on Gale:

Nina was meditating in her room, trying to break through the fourth stage and become a mage. Suddenly, someone she didn't sense appeared in front of her.

"You look quite beautiful. It's a shame I have to kill you."

The mage was quite carefree; he didn't have to worry about killing a magician.

"Are you sure you can afford it though?"

She took out a golden token with a symbol of fire carved on it.

"A student of the Fire Witch?"

The mage's attitude changed instantly from dominant and carefree to frightened. Both he and Tara would be in trouble if they angered the third strongest person in the kingdom, and even if Tara would keep her life, he definitely wouldn't keep his if he killed the witch's student. He only served Tara for benefits, he wasn't going to do something suicidal for her.

*BOOM*

"crap!"

The building started collapsing after being hit by a spell cast by the mage that was sent to kill Sol. Nina immediately jumped off the building through the window and left without any hindrance.

---------

As soon as this thought popped up in his head he used earth magic to make a stretcher for Moira, put her on it, and ran back to the mansion with Moira hovering on the stretcher behind him.

The sight of the destroyed mansion waited for him when he arrived. Evidently, there was a massive explosion on the second floor which knocked down the whole mansion.

"No!"

Gale ran frantically to the mansion but other than debris and ruins there was nothing left. He remembered his time with Nina; the times when she served him every day in disguise as a powerless maid, the times when she teased him, the times when she trained him.

He thought of the last few days when he suddenly realized something; Leo kept coming and took him out repeatedly to crowded places, letting everyone see them hang out together in public.

He had a realization; Leo machinated it. He knew Tara would be furious about him killing her mage helper and Sol's betrayal. Since he refused to work under Leo, he just tried to pitch Gale against Tara and hoped Gale could kill a few more of Tara's mages before going down.

Furious, he left Moira on the stretcher and cast a cage of earth around her to protect her from the weather and any curious bystanders. He ran straight to Leo's private mansion.

As he came closer to the mansion he coated himself with a concealing darkness spell and easily passed by the guards unnoticed.

When he closed his eyes and felt the mana around him, he found out he could sense three mages in the mansion. Since they weren't prepared for an attack, they were scattered across it.

He couldn't fight them all, so he planned to take care of them individually before capturing Leo. The mansion was 5 floors high and the mages were on different floors. He picked the one on the second floor which would allow him to intercept one of the other mages and keep the battles one on one.

He quickly located his first target and prepared for an ambush.