Villain's Second Heart: Trapped in A Fantasy Novel (BL)-Chapter 88: How To Fight A Magician

"I didn’t know Rav told you to come with us," Ezra said quietly.

"It happened yesterday. I’m sorry. I should have mentioned it..."

[See, Ezra? I told you to be wary of Rav.]

Ezra shook his head. It wasn’t the time for Alcor. He pushed the voice completely out of his mind.

It didn’t take long for Rav and Deek to return from the other side of the pagoda. He floated an obviously damaged training dummy on a cloud - something Deek had clearly practiced with moments before.

"Alright, Oberyn. I have devised your test. But first, I must ask - how is your Mana Breathing coming along?"

"Good," Oberyn realized. He had started to do it subconsciously.

When he thought about it, he realized it had been a while since the curse mark caused him any pain - and it didn’t take Ezra long to cleanse it, even after their Crystalbug battle.

"Yeah, now that I think of it - I’m really getting the hang of the technique, Rav!"

The Ferin smiled, his ears twitching joyfully.

"Fantastic. In that case, this should be easy for you! All you have to do is destroy this dummy, and you shall become an official ’Magician-in-Residence’ to the great and mighty Sage of the Clouds!"

"Is that another made-up title like Sage-in-Training?"

"Hey!" Deek shouted. "That’s not a made-up title! I really am a Sage-in-Training!"

Rav gave Oberyn a devilish smirk. "We’re going to the northern country, aren’t we? If you can’t even blast a training dummy, I might opt to leave you here and take Decoy here instead."

"Oooh, I want to go!" Deek hopped up and down. "Please, please?"

Oberyn clenched his fist and let a ball of orange light form in his hand. "I don’t see how this is a test. I’ve blasted a hundred actual enemies, Rav. What’s so tough about a training dummy?"

He pointed his hand at the training dummy and released his magic. A burst of flaming light surrounded the target - and yet, when the fire cleared, the dummy remained completely unscathed, surrounded by a fast-dissipating stream of clouds.

Oberyn looked from the dummy to Rav, and realization struck.

"I see. I need to destroy it while you’re protecting it. Is that right?"

"And also while Deek is attacking you. Might want to duck!"

Decoy’s boomerang went whizzing over Oberyn’s head, crackling with magic. He darted backward so he could get both of them in his sights, just as the boomerang returned to Decoy’s hand. Rav spread both arms wide as a plume of billowing fog rose from the earth.

First, he had to distract Rav. The boomerang he could deal with.

Oberyn raised his arms into the sky and pushed a torrent of magic into the air. The space around him erupted with noise as his magic crackled and popped like fireworks. Simultaneously, he focused his mana into the ground. A triangular glyph appeared beneath him, each point glowing with unstable light. From the three points, he summoned burning missiles and launched them at the training dummy, each tracing a different path. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Rav deflected the first with his fan, hurled it through the air to suppress the second, and blew gently at the third, sending it off-course into a nearby boulder with a violent blast.

The boomerang came again. Oberyn swung his sword, knocking it out of the air. Then he poured magic into his blade and unleashed a beam of explosive light - a variant of his Ignition Blade. Not something he could use often due to the energy cost, but perfect for this.

Rav kicked into the air, sending a sonic blast that tore through Oberyn’s technique. The beam was swallowed by clouds that quickly blanketed the entire field of vision. Oberyn was engulfed in white.

"This is the power you’ll be up against if you face another Magician, Oberyn."

Oberyn turned toward the voice. He could hear Rav, but couldn’t see him. Or the sky. Or even his feet.

"This is what it means to have mastery."

From behind, Oberyn felt a presence. He turned to see Rav holding his fan aggressively. A sweep of Rav’s leg sent a wave of cloud crashing into him, knocking him off balance.

Rav appeared again to the left. Oberyn braced for the next wave, managing to duck a kick and swat at him with the flat of his blade.

"Oh, now you’re insulting me," Rav laughed, vanishing into the mist. "You can use your magic on me. You think a few fireworks will hurt the great Sage of the Clouds?"

Rav appeared behind him again, landing a kick to his back and a punch to his shoulder. Oberyn tried to pivot and defend, but Rav struck his sword arm with brutal precision, knocking the blade from his hand.

Rav twirled into the clouds and emerged on the opposite side. "I am now going to blast you with some of my strongest spells."

The clouds darkened. Rain poured. A bolt of lightning struck the ground near Oberyn, blinding and deafening him. Then a cloud beneath him launched him into the air. It dissipated - he fell.

Oberyn pointed to the ground and fired a blast of explosion magic. The force slowed his descent but didn’t stop it. He landed on one knee, got up, only to be struck front and back by hammering clouds. He slipped, and Rav appeared again, clotheslining him and knocking him flat.

"Come on," Rav growled, kneeling over him. "I want to feel it at least once. I’m not going to stop until you do. You were so eager for me to feel something last night, what’s the matter?"

The joke set Oberyn off-guard for a split second - enough for Rav to attack again.

A cloud lifted Oberyn just high enough for Rav to leap and land a powerful kick into his abdomen. The wind was knocked out of him.

He staggered to his feet.

"Fine. You want to see what I can do?" Oberyn roared. "Then I’m going to let you have it, Rav!"