"No," Andras replied. "But at least the Demon King was defeated. And the one five hundred years later too. The problem is the current one."
Eli's spirit floated closer, as if trying to read his face better.
"I wondered why you knew so much about the Goddess and these Valkyries. You're not a Hero, yet you're more than a simple mage. Who are you really?"
Andras sighed.
"That's… a pretty long story."
Eli's spirit looked at him almost pleadingly.
"But you'll tell me, right?"
"Of course. After all, you were the one who taught me magic."
The spirit's eyes widened.
"I was your magic teacher? Or rather, the real me."
Her voice was both proud and touched.
"I always wanted a student, but the longest any apprentice survived my training was three days. Then they ran away crying."
Andras laughed.
"I can imagine."
"Then how did you survive my training?" Eli asked, with a hint of offended curiosity.
Andras shrugged.
"By then I was just a soul on the Celestial Island. I had already died in my world. No matter how insane your methods were, I couldn't die again."
Eli's spirit fell quiet, then spoke softly.
"So that's why. That made it easy."
"It was absolutely not easy," Andras muttered.
Eli's spirit laughed — that familiar, slightly mocking, slightly genuine laugh the real Elisabeth used to have.
"Hahaha! So you're a Valkyrie too?"
Andras shook his head.
"More like a half‑Valkyrie. I wouldn't have been able to manifest in this world if my soul had fully transformed."
The spirit circled him slowly, as if seeing him with new eyes.
"Half‑Valkyrie… half‑mage… and half‑crazy too, if you survived me as a teacher."
Her voice softened.
"Now I understand why I felt something unusual the moment you appeared."
The lights in the chamber flickered faintly, as if the magic itself reacted to the realization.
For Andras, the trial wasn't a challenge.
It was a reunion with an old friend.
A friend he had lost —
and now found again.
The crystal lights of the chamber flickered, as if they too reacted to the crackling energy between the two mages. Eli's spirit hovered restlessly back and forth while Andras watched her with his arms crossed.
"I completely forgot about the stupid trial, but who cares at this point?" Eli waved dismissively. "My staff is yours, Young Wolf. Its esteemed name: Elisabeth's Magical Staff version 16.3 — EMS 16.3 for short! I proudly declare it the greatest staff on the continent. Its crystal was forged from the hearts of four elemental magical beasts, fused into one. The shaft is carved from Greenwood elderoak, reinforced with four runes."
Andras raised an eyebrow.
"So basically you used the runes to keep the four crystals from blowing up in your hand?"
Eli's spirit put her hands on her hips — or at least mimicked the motion as best a spirit could.
"Do you have a better idea? The runes seal the elements, and only one can be active at a time. If two elements reacted with each other, it would blow up an entire city, not just the user."
Andras nodded thoughtfully.
"Then what was the point of using four elements if you only ever used the fire one?"
Eli's spirit snapped indignantly:
"Because I was convinced I would awaken my second element! I just didn't know which one it would be. So I put all four in!"
Andras smiled.
"Well, you miscalculated, because your second element turned out to be light."
Eli's spirit froze.
"What?! Then this staff is another faulty version?!"
Then she quickly added:
"But at least you can use it, right?"
Andras scratched the back of his head.
"No. My elements are lightning and water."
Eli's spirit hovered in stunned silence for a moment — then erupted in fury:
"Lightning?! That's a rare element! Damn it! I'll snap this stupid staff in half so hard they'll hear it break all across Greenwood!"
Andras quickly raised a hand.
"Hold on, calm down! If you break it, they won't hear the crack — you'll blow up the entire castle!"
The walls of the chamber seemed to tremble with the tension.
Eli's spirit froze, then slowly lowered her hands.
"…fine, I won't break it," she muttered. "But it's still an incompatible, half‑finished, half‑failed, yet utterly brilliant staff!"
Andras smiled.
"Just like you were."
Eli's spirit fell silent for a moment.
Then — for the first time since their reunion — she smiled sincerely.
The crystal lights of the chamber flickered faintly, as if they too reacted to the energy crackling between the two mages. Eli's spirit hovered with her arms crossed, listening to Andras. Their conversation had long since outgrown the idea of a "trial" — this was the meeting of two mages separated by a thousand years and an entire world, yet speaking as if they had parted only yesterday.
Suddenly, Eli's spirit snapped her head up.
"What kind of staff does the real me have on the Celestial Island?"
Andras scratched the back of his neck thoughtfully.
"Hm? You got it from Uriel, but of course you couldn't resist modifying it. If I remember correctly, it's made from two legendary magical crystals, and you can use both your fire and light elements with it. I'm guessing you don't have the light element right now, so you're much weaker than the real Eli."
Eli's spirit huffed indignantly.
"I don't know how strong the real me is as a Valkyrie, but I'm not weak either."
Andras gave her a sideways smirk.
"Could you defeat a Demon General alone?"
Eli's spirit stopped mid‑air, then answered slowly and deliberately:
"Let's clarify my situation. I am currently an astral form — let's call it an artificial spirit. The magical construct that stores my copied soul is built into this stupid staff. To use most of my power, I need a host body that is compatible with me."
Then she added:
"In simple terms: my strength depends on the mage who wields my staff."
Andras nodded.
"Let's see… back on the Celestial Island, when you measured our compatibility, it was 33 percent. But back then I only had one element — lightning. Since then I've got a new body, a second element, I've trained a lot, and I've done plenty of experiments. I think our compatibility will be higher now. Do you have a device here to measure it?"
Eli's spirit looked around, then slapped her forehead.
"I do somewhere… where did I put it…? I'll find it."
And then chaos began.
The spirit started rummaging through magical gadgets like an orc rampaging through a porcelain shop.
Vials flew, crystals rolled across the floor, scrolls scattered everywhere, an old vase toppled over, and a suspicious greenish dust cloud puffed into the air.
"This isn't it… not this either… what the hell is this…?" Eli muttered as she left a growing disaster zone behind her.
Andras watched with folded arms.
"I see your love of tidiness was successfully copied into the staff."
"Shut up!" Eli snapped. "I know it's here somewhere!"
Finally, she yanked out a strange, crystal‑studded, glittering, beeping device from behind a shelf.
"Found it!" she declared triumphantly. "The Compatibility‑Meter 3.1!"
The chamber now looked as if a magical tornado had swept through it.
Eli's spirit proudly floated with the device in hand.
The next phase of the trial had begun.