Deep within the icy mountains of the Southern Continent, during the hour of Stormbreak that the region saw on a daily basis, there was quite the commotion afoot.
Animals and terrors had run in all directions away from the thunderous battle that had been taking place, but now that it had seemingly finished, they had begun to settle.
Within the valley itself, the calm demeanor that masked Masaru's deeper emotions had once again returned; any trace of his tension that Mr. Crab's appearance brought was now gone.
Eleanor Lynn stood before him with the Aether transformed into a hooked dagger that was more akin to a sickle than a blade.
Having finished watching Aaron's evaluation only a few minutes prior, she knew her defeat was but a guarantee.
The only question was how long it would take and if she would be able to stand afterward.
Her friend had hobbled away on his own, seemingly irritated at his performance and mumbling curses until he was out of earshot.
I won't be able to put up a fight of that level, but at least I can try to show that I'm not some weak priestess.
Tightening her stance, she could feel the pressure in the air around them begin to condense, the preview to their battle now upon them.
"You may begin."
As he nodded his head to signal the beginning of their training, he braced for another fast-moving attack.
However, unlike what Grimstall had attempted, she stayed still as if watching, waiting.
Craning his neck to the side, he met her gaze while deciphering every strategy that she could make.
There was something fundamentally different about her source of strength than the boy he had beaten previously.
She drew her power directly from the divine, while he did the polar opposite, repelling it at every turn.
"Quite the unlikely duo."
Whispering the words under his breath, he launched forward without anything in his grasp.
Firing a jab towards her jaw, he sensed a fluctuation in the mana around him, a blob of gold instantly surrounding him.
Ceasing his momentum, he stared silently as the goo consumed him beneath its hard shell.
From Eleanor's perspective, the Aether had devoured him whole, entrapping him in a prison of golden sludge.
Yet, while it might've been true for even a moment, that would not last long, as a sharp pang through her core forced her to tense up.
Cracks appeared on the trapped man's golden form, their depth only growing, and the pressure emanating from within never stopping.
So this is the power of a Marshal…
Grinding her teeth together, she fully retracted the Aether and shaped it back into the curved dagger from earlier, launching in for an attack before he could gather his bearings.
Without any proper stamina training, she relied on excessive mana use to accomplish such a task, and even still, it could in no way be considered practical.
As such, Masaru Kurogane could only sigh as his form phased into reality behind the girl; his foot colliding with her back and sending her flying forward.
Then, before she could recover, he appeared above her, kicking her downward.
He could feel her small bones on the verge of breaking, yet for some odd reason, they remained intact when even Grimstall's would've broken.
Her endurance, even compared to the boy's, was on another level.
"How long will it last, though?"
A smirk crept onto his face once more as he leaped backwards, allowing the girl to recover to a degree.
From the far reaches of the valley, Aaron followed their movements easily, careful never to miss a thing with his Mana Vision forced into an active state.
Masaru hadn't injured him to a degree that his weak regeneration couldn't fix, a fact that he greatly appreciated; however, he still couldn't get the thoughts of losing out of his mind.
Watching Eleanor be pummeled was nothing he took joy in; it was the opposite.
If he had one wish at that moment, it was simply that she would get up and continue fighting with all that she had left.
For if he were in her position, that is all he would wish for as well.
Regardless of his thoughts, though, nothing changed amongst the snowy tundra; a look of sadness started to dawn on the swordsman's face.
And from the sideline once more, Aaron couldn't help but murmur something beneath his breath.
"C'mon, this isn't close to what you've seen before. Get up."
The words were nothing special, merely the boy placing his faith in the girl to continue fighting; it was an act of goodwill, almost.
Yet, for someone who had been blessed with the Mark of Wishes by Death himself and held the power of miracles deep within her blood, faith was more than a concept.
Wishes themselves were merely tools at her disposal, and faith—faith was the building block to that power.
That one friend who believed in her was far from ordinary, either: gifted with the power of a Ghostship and the blessing of the Slayer, he was something different.
And as such, with his wish and faith becoming tangible in that moment, the dazed girl who had been staring into the heavens sat up quietly.
Clinging to that feeling that the Angels in the Great Beyond had told her that she would know, she wove the world around her to create that wish that her believer desired.
On her neck, the Emblem of Circe glowed a beautiful rose gold as if a reflection of the miracle she had begun to craft.
As her movements began to slow and the light upon her dimmed, she flicked her hand outward, causing a spark of light to burst into existence.
Aaron's body instantly felt hot, but also cool at the same time; a peaceful, almost relaxed state was overwhelming him.
Masaru stayed silent during the entire process, patiently waiting for Eleanor to finish her weaving of wishes.
By the time she regained her composure and the Aether was twirling between her fingers, her body had been restored to its highest condition, and her eyes hummed with resolve.
The first miracle performed by the young girl who had been trained by the Angels of Death had taken hold.
Wasting no time, she ran forward with the Aether in her hands, shifting form as she did so.
Long metallic chains appeared in their stead, with the pros and cons instantly balancing out in perfect synchronism.
The loss of her smell for as long as she used them would grant her the power of those chained blades as tools for her training.
Winding back her left arm and then swinging it around her, the force generated shook the ground and scattered snow in all directions.
The black-haired man blinked as he ducked downward, only missing the attack by a few centimeters.
"Not bad."
His smile had returned after the sudden realization about the girl's strengths and weaknesses, allowing his confidence to skyrocket once more.
Watching her prepare another strike, he carefully unsheathed a small pocketknife that he kept within his boot.
Timing the chains' return, he threw the knife at maximum velocity straight at the girl's mid-torso.
Piercing the sound barrier only meters from Eleanor's face, the tiny blade punctured a hole straight through her.
However, whether it be pure luck or utter perfection, not a single organ was struck, and the wound was sterilized instantly from the friction.
The only immediate damage left was the blood dripping from the ruptured eardrums of the blonde-haired girl, but soon, more would fall from the wound he had made.
Pain roared through her head while the only sound she could hear was a faint buzzing that drowned her in misery.
She could hardly feel what had struck her torso, and it was already too late to stop her windup on the strike she had been preparing.
Therefore, as she launched the chain forward again, she lost control over its grip; the metallic chains flung forward and fell weakly onto the ground.
The next moment, before she could even register what had happened, Masaru was standing over her with a grin and his hand extended.
"..."
His mouth was moving, and he was clearly speaking to her; however, she couldn't hear a thing.
After a few moments and the arrival of Aaron and Rudiger, he seemed to understand what had happened.
Eleanor watched as he looked at her friend and spoke with an odd sternness.
Then, she continued to observe as he vehemently disagreed with whatever he was being told, going so far as to place himself in front of the girl's body as if to shield her.
S-shield me from what?
She would never get the opportunity to wonder for much longer, though, as only a moment later, Aaron's body would be flung to the side with an exasperated backhand from the swordsman.
Finally, with a look of pity on his face, Masaru Kurogane, the Exiled Marshal of the Hunters' Guild, knocked her out with the side of his palm.