NameLess

There wasn’t anything quite like getting blasted in the chest with water strong enough to crush earth to dust, especially at point-blank range. Jak wasn’t entirely hurt by the attack Mako had unleashed, but it hadn’t exactly tickled. In fact, he fully expected to be blowing water out of his nose and banging liquid out of his ear for the next week, the force of the magic having been enough to knock him back a good half kilometer and even disrupt the flow of magic keeping him above the water.

Spitting the remaining seawater out of his mouth, the fiery redhead rose back onto his feet, shaking the clear liquid away from his eyes. Grabbing the hilt of his katana, Jak fixed his sights back onto Mako, who was still standing in the exact same spot.

Without wasting any time, Jak raised his blade high and struck downwards, hitting the roaring waterfall before him. It was akin to a nuke going off as water sprayed in all directions, more and more eruptions closely following, rocking the area over and over again as Jak threw out a slew of Red Strings. The ocean was thrown into chaos as Mako struggled to keep tabs on where his opponent was, the eruptions becoming seemingly more and more random with each rupture. Even when a Red String landed exactly to his left and right, the blue-haired Rookie was unable to pinpoint where Jak was through the kicked-up shroud of salty liquid. There was far too much magic and water within the atmosphere to make anything out.

Woosh! Bang!

Before he could even register the sudden disturbance to the side of him, Mako was slammed from the side with the flat of a blade, his staff barely being able to block the force of it.

((”He lacked proximity, so he covered for it by blinding me.”)) Mako slid across the water before righting himself, his staff now held up in preparation for any follow-up attacks. ((”An obvious tactic, but it’s damn effective. I need to counter and create some space, or he’s gonna flatten me.”))

In a head-to-head collision of pure strength, Mako had absolutely no chance of beating Jak in a 1v1 matchup, and the blue-haired Rookie knew that all too well. When it came to people around the same age group, Mako was positive that there wasn’t anyone who had what it took to beat Jak in straight hand-to-hand combat, regardless of their experience. It wasn’t like Jak was super skilled, incredibly fast, or even magically gifted. Rather, he wielded a freakish level of strength and possessed an almost godly level of perseverance. Unless you could knock the young man unconscious or even kill him outright, Jak would get back up again and again until he won, and with nearly the same level of strength each and every time.

His stamina and endurance were nearly bottomless. Out of everyone Mako had ever fought, Jak was the one person who could scare him each and every time. The only proper way for someone on the same level to actually win was to keep some distance and wear him down from afar.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Three more Red Strings landed within Mako’s general area, throwing even more water into the already soaked atmosphere.

The Elemental Rookie didn’t even have time to fully breathe before Jak appeared yet again, this time bursting from the heavy mist in Mako’s direct line of sight, allowing him to fully deflect the blow. After the katana glanced off the staff, the redhead disappeared into the mist again. This happened a few more times before the water magic user eventually snapped and decided that that one tactic had already run its course.

”Enough of this,” Mako shouted, making sure his compatriot could hear him. He raised his foot and stomped on the rushing surface he was standing on. ”Water Manifest: Full Release.”

Immediately, upon his bare heel contacting the waterfall’s surface, all water within the area froze, coming to a dead stop. From the roaring of the waterfall and the sheer speed of the crashing current, even to the water floating through the air and the mist that swirled around, it all fixed itself in place. Nothing moved so much as an inch as Mako swung his hand downwards, his two fingers pointing towards the ocean.

”Drop.”

On cue, the water hovering in the air plummeted into the halted ocean, the mist and explosions disappearing in the blink of an eye. Just like that, the fiery redhead was exposed once again, showing Mako exactly where he had been, just off to the left prepping for another attack. Unfettered by the sudden change in Auntro’s ocean, Jak let out another smoky breath, swiping his katana through the air. A Red String, one that was obviously far more powerful than the rest of them had been, cut through the still night air, illuminating the night like the sun had never set.

However, Mako didn’t even bat an eye as he flicked his fingers upwards. ”Wall.”

A thick slab of water similar to the Blue Curtain rose up from below right before it could make contact with any part of Mako, cutting it off. Even through the wall, though, the blue-haired individual could feel the pure heat emanating through it and the amount of magic pouring off of it, even going so far as to ruffle his bright blue hair. If it had made contact, the sparring match would have been over right then and there, Jak having held nothing back.

”Rupture,” Mako commanded, pushing outwards with his palm.

The wall exploded, sending waves of water directly towards Jak’s face, forcing the redhead to shoot towards the left to avoid it, where Mako was waiting. With another wave of his hand, Mako muttered yet another word and summoned hands made of pure liquid from the depths of the Auntro Ocean. The hands tracked the fiery redhead wherever he went, attempting to grab and subdue him at every possibility. No matter how much Jak slashed and cut them down, they would simply regrow and continue to follow him, forcing him to stay on the defensive.

This was Mako’s most powerful nonlethal spell, Full Release. It was a spell that gave him full control of a portion of a body of water in exchange for most of his magic reserves. As long as he retained focus and didn’t run out of magic, Mako could do anything within imagination with simple key phrases. It was difficult to control and sometimes didn’t cast right, but had a huge payoff if successful, such as this time here.

Jak frowned as he threw yet another Red String at the hands of water, swatting them away once again in order to gain some distance.

”Fine.” The red-haired Rookie slipped across the watery surface. ”Have it your way then.”

Leaning forward, Jak narrowed his gaze, now completely ignoring the outstretched hands that were wrapping around his ankles. Placing his katana back into its pitch-black sheath, the youth gripped its hilt tightly.

Mako could instantly feel the shift in the surrounding atmosphere the moment Jak locked his eyes onto him. The water latching and squirming itself up the redhead’s leg was starting to boil and steam; the very air seemed to be burning up, temperatures spiking with each second that passed betwixt them. The longer Jak stood there, even beginning to chant some kind of spell, the harder it was for Mako to even breathe, the existing oxygen rapidly burning up from whatever magic Jak was building. It became clear that if Mako didn’t intercede in whatever plan was being cooked up, things were going to go south immediately.

”What the heck are you two doing?” a voice from behind them asked, cutting into the noise the duo were creating. ”Isn’t it a bit late to be out for a sparring session?”

The dual Elemental Rookies froze in place, Jak with his sword held to the side and Mako with both palms facing upwards.

”I haven’t seen either of you in ages, and the first thing you do is get into a fight?” The distinct feminine voice filled the area, drawing the attention of the bright-haired boys as they relaxed their stances, glancing in the direction of the one speaking. ”I guess some things never truly change, regardless of years.”

A woman walked towards them, one much taller than the other two were, standing at around 210 cm compared to their 165 cm. Black hair that reached her upper back, golden cat-like eyes, and a set of pearly whites currently fixed with a smirk—her face possessed a natural beauty that most would kill for. Donning a short black battle dress, one that showed off her well-toned thighs and hips, shin guards, shoulder guards, a battle guard on her left arm, as well as knee guards, she looked as fearsome as any warrior. Her long black tail, fixed with two overly large golden rings, flicked every which way, forming question marks in the air. This woman was Antarope Numen, a demihuman Amazoness working as Vice Captain to the White Turtle Guild and a close family friend to Jak and Mako, as well as best friend of Hadok Shimura.

”Oh, Ropes. It’s you,” Mako dropped his hands, completely releasing the spell. Though he would never admit it, he was actually quite glad at the cat woman’s sudden appearance. He highly doubted he was going to win the exchange between him and Jak, despite his best spell and battlefield advantage. It also didn’t help that he was only using nonlethal spells. ”When did you get back?”

The Auntro Ocean returned to its normal state upon Full Release’s deactivation, the rushing current once again resuming as if it had never stopped. The liquid that had ensnared Jak just past the waist dropped back into the moving waters.

Antarope didn’t seem to pay it any mind, though.

”Never mind that,” the demihuman said dismissively. ”You two looked like you were having such a marvelous time. You got room for one more?”

Mako laughed nervously as Jak walked up to stand beside him, the redhead not uttering a single word as steam rose from his clothes. The blue-haired Rookie gave his compatriot a side glance, clearly asking for some sort of assistance, but only managed to receive a few blinks in return and a deadpan stare.

”Ummm, I don’t know.” Mako rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how to put it. ”We kind of went all out on our sparring match just now and may have gone a bit overboard. I’m not sure if we have enough stamina to keep on goin—”

”You take things too far,” Jak said bluntly, cutting Mako off. ”Last time we sparred, we had to spend a week in recovery.”

Antarope feigned a hurt look. ”Nonsense, I would never do such a thi—”

”12 broken bones, 36 fractures, and multiple concussions,” Jak interceded, listing off the injuries they had sustained. ”And that was just on Mako.”

”Who even keeps track of all that?” Antarope muttered as she walked over to Jak.

Rubbing the top of his head, she pulled the young redhead into a hug. ”You’re just as blunt as you’ve always been, although you’ve gotten a lot less rambunctious since I’ve seen you. You got cuter, though.”

”And you still don’t know personal space,” Jak muttered, face buried in her abdomen. After a few seconds of the embrace, he elbowed his way out of it.

”Is Hadok home?” Mako questioned, trying to redirect the topic back to the subject matter. ”We were just on our way to see him.”

Antarope turned to look at the blue-haired Rookie, golden orbs focusing in on the youth’s light blue ones. Moments ticked on by before the other Rookie was also enveloped in a thick embrace, his thick blue hair being ruffled by the tan woman’s slender fingers. It was almost like she materialized with how quickly she moved, capturing the young adventurer in her vice-like grip.

”This doesn’t exactly answer my question,” Mako mumbled.