Chapter 5
Battle to the Death
Chalés, from the city of Balia, had always been considered a genius, and his father Kurt always said that Chalés' potential could make the Maide family surpass the Solcren. His Circle Zero progress was at 98%, and he was only a month away from turning 15, when the Circles began to form. The family was happy every day until that day three months ago, when he had just been accepted into Astrong Academy and was returning home.
"I— I can't wait to make you proud—"
Chalés saw his house on fire. He ran and saw his father and family kneeling, and a man with black hair, golden eyes, and pale skin standing there—Matteo Solcren Ferreira, the patriarch of the Solcren family.
Chalés ran to his father but was grabbed by several guards around and thrown to the ground.
"Did you really think I would let your family surpass mine?"
Matteo looked at Kurt, who was trembling.
"Please, let my son go."
Matteo raised his hand. A mage handed him a dark stone, and Kurt's face turned horrified.
"No— please don't do this to him. That's only for criminals."
"What innocence on your part. Do you really think it's used for nothing but that?"
Chalés was filled with fear. When Matteo pressed the stone against him, he felt a pain, as if his body was breaking and something was being sealed. He heard his father screaming in fury.
"Aaaaaah!"
"You damned—"
"With this, his Circle will no longer evolve."
Chalés bled on the ground as he saw Matteo approach his family.
"What happened here is that Chalés Maide killed his own family and was arrested, do you understand?"
The guards nodded, and then Kurt let out one final scream of fury. Matteo swung his sword and cut off the heads of the entire Maide family—except Chalés, who watched in horror.
"F-Father…"
After that, he was taken to prison, chained, and stared at the ceiling with empty eyes. Time passed, and a month later, with the help of a man who invaded the prison to free someone else, he escaped. Since then, he studied everything about the Solcren family. He would kill them all—none would be left.
Matteo had four children: the oldest, next in line, was already eighteen and had graduated from Astrong Academy—so he was out of reach. The second daughter, next in succession, was seventeen and in her third year. The third son would enter the academy in a month and a half. The youngest daughter was thirteen and was watched by guards all day.
Enrico Solcren Ferreira—he didn't care much about him, so Chalés would start with Enrico.
"Besides, he's the same age as me."
Filled with hatred, Chalés crumpled the letter and began his plan. He stayed hidden near Astrong Academy, waiting until classes began. He waited every day until today.
"That was faster than I thought. Good."
He followed Enrico, saw him enter a forest and hunt animals—but that didn't matter. He would spring a trap if Enrico tried to escape. After finishing, he returned to a waiting position and launched a fatal attack—but Enrico dodged with difficulty.
"He dodged? Doesn't matter—he'll die."
"Your death will be very slow."
---
"Wood magic: form thorns."
Several pointed wooden spikes shot from the ground; one pierced Enrico's arm. He launched a weak fireball, weakened by the pain, which hit a wooden shield.
Enrico hid behind a tree, then quickly moved aside when a wooden spike flew from it and struck his nose.
"Damn, almost forgot—though he's Circle Zero, he can control something non-magical."
This should only be possible at Circle Two, but because Chalés had a unique ability—control over wood—he advanced faster in this evolution.
In this world, characters can have unique abilities—only 20% of them do.
"And the protagonist has five. Luckily, none have awakened yet."
Enrico crouched behind a rock and released two fireballs at a nearby tree. It began to burn, and he looked at the lake beside him.
[This is dangerous—you've spent 25 mana out of the 76 you have.]
"Can you sense others' mana? Because—never mind. Damn. I knew he'd have a lot of mana. Normal academy students have at least 100. Only Tolen has 47—and others."
Enrico had only ranked 103 because he used all his magic in the first trial, which earned him a good score. He used a mana stone to recover a bit and faked having more. Many others do the same, but this strategy only works during the early weeks, since tests become more monitored.
Enrico scanned the area and saw a spike pass inches from his face.
"Hey, you're Chalés, right? I know why you're angry—it's because of my family."
Chalés appeared above, lifting Enrico with wood, then slammed him into a tree. Enrico lifted his hand—held by the other—and quickly unleashed a larger attack. The tree shattered.
"I don't want to hear anything from you."
"I can help you with your revenge—"
A new attack came, and Enrico jumped aside. Chalés glared at him with pure hatred.
"I don't care—your entire family will die."
Enrico flung a fireball into the lake, creating smoke that momentarily blinded Chalés. Chalés erected a wooden dome expecting another attack—but none came, and when he looked again, Enrico had disappeared.
---
Enrico ran far and stopped under a rock, catching his breath.
[This is bad—you only have 35 mana now. Is he really your fifth favorite character?]
"I know. In the beginning, he even fought the protagonist, but he had such a good evolution."
Enrico held his head and moved.
"It's best to flee—"
Enrico paused. He saw a wall of wood—tree-sized.
"Damn, that bastard used a spell that costs eighty percent of his mana."
[Can't you break it?]
"With the mana I have now? No. If I could, he'd automatically know when a barrier is damaged."
[Why not try jumping over it?]
"Do you think he's an idiot? To prevent me from noticing the wood barrier, he placed it far enough away and added an invisible dome. Anyone who jumps would crash into the barrier—and he'd know. It's a trap—and high enough that no one suspects."
The system stayed silent for a moment.
[The best option is to kill him.]
"What are you, stupid? This world will become even harder to survive with the changes that could happen. And even if he dies in the future, he managed to eliminate one of the evil gods. In total, only eight evil gods have been eliminated by the characters: five by the protagonist—who dealt the final blow in two and eliminated the other three—two by what is considered the strongest mage currently alive, and one by him. If I eliminate him now…"
[I don't think he'll let you live. He hates your family deeply—and it seems he'd kill himself if it meant killing someone from your family.]
"I know, damn it. My plan was to become the protagonist's friend—little by little—and give him tips from afar to help him evolve."
Enrico took a deep breath, trying to think of something.
"Damn it. Actually, I have to make as many powerful allies as possible. I don't think even if I help the protagonist, he can handle it—because the eight they killed were the weakest of the forty-three evil gods."
[You have to make a choice.]
Enrico sighed and looked at the backpack he had brought.
"I'll try one last time. Now he must have around 70 mana, and he won't recover because of the barrier."
[Did you bring a weapon?]
"Weapons aren't allowed by the academy outside without authorization. So I bought something different to help when my mana runs out. But with you here, I can track him easily. I also need time to recover mana—and since he doesn't have tree-locating magic yet, I can buy time."
Enrico considered, looking serious.
"He may have the advantage in a forest, but I also do—elementally."
Meanwhile, the system thought: [Should I warn him about the tract? No—I want to see if he's really the right person.]
---
Chalés walked through the forest cautiously. It had been two hours since Enrico disappeared.
"He didn't try to pass the barrier; he must be recovering mana. The worst part is, while the barrier's active, any mana I regain will be drained to maintain it."
Chalés saw a flicker of fire.
"Does he think I'm stupid? It's definitely a trap."
Chalés climbed a tree and created a wooden clone, sending it to attack where the fire was. Chalés went on another path.
"It's best to—"
As he stepped on a tree, the tree ignited. He jumped down and realized suddenly every tree around him was aflame.
"What? He shouldn't have that much mana to do this—wait, this smell…"
A shadow stepped out of the smoke and fire at Chalés's back with a raised fist.
[Oil?]
Two hours earlier:
"Yes. With this, the fire will spread faster. Tell me—how far can you stay from me?"
[Five meters at most.]
"I'll climb a tree. When you move to the other side, begin spreading it everywhere. I didn't bring much, but enough to spread on several trees—then I use fire magic to ignite it quickly."
Magic in this world always surpasses natural fire, so even a bit of oil would burn stronger than normal fire.
[But how will you attract his attention?]
"With a bonfire."
[That will work? Seems obvious.]
"It's just bait. He may be impulsive, but he thinks things through. So he'll go the other way. And as planned, I'll make a bonfire near the right barrier…"
[He only has the left side to go. Hey, you're smart after all.]
Back to the fight: Enrico lowered his fist for a blow.
"If I use the same fireball basis—concentrate it at one point in my hand…"
A red light appeared in the center of his palm.
"…then spread it constantly to the fingers while still adding more in the center. Finally, I use the weight of this body."
Enrico's hand burst into flame, and he punched Chalés in the face, sending him flying. Chalés raised his hand, and a spike emerged from the ground—surprising Enrico, who dodged but suffered a small wound to his abdomen and spat blood.
"Damn it—this damn body."
[Your mana is now at 40.]
Enrico looked at Chalés, still standing and glaring with hatred.
"Bastard."
"Well, now you can't use trees. And I still have some oil left."
Chalés pressed on and launched two attacks from both sides of Enrico, who dodged and advanced on him.
Enrico kicked sand into Chalés's eyes, forcing him to close them—and was hit by another punch that knocked him back. Then Enrico executed a rear-naked choke on Chalés, who tried to break free but couldn't.
"You can hear me now."
Chalés turned his head with an ugly expression.
"N-Never."
He raised his hand behind Enrico, releasing multiple wooden spears. Reflexively, Enrico blocked with his arm, but Chalés didn't seem to care and let them pierce, hitting Enrico's left chest, thigh, and torso. Enrico dropped him while Chalés hung, suspended.
Enrico stood up.
"Damn, what do I do? I need to kill him before he—"
"I asked—why don't you accept me? I can save you."
Enrico heard a voice beside Chalés, followed by a demonic shadow.
"He won't."
Chalés, hanging, spoke with difficulty:
"I don't care if it's vengeance."
Enrico grabbed the rest of the oil and poured it over Chalés. He raised his hand, focusing all the remaining magic he had recovered. He trembled for a second but continued. A one-meter fireball formed and, upon touching the oil, exploded—burning Chalés alive.
"Aaaaah!"
Chalés was about to make a demonic pact… which is why…
Enrico's body began to fail after using everything. He tried to stay standing but collapsed when he saw Chalés crawling, entirely burned, with blood-red tears.
"I curse your family—Solcren—I hate you because, be—be—"
Chalés's eyes lost life while Enrico breathed heavily and looked at the demonic shadow, which had remained silent.
"I didn't think I'd find someone more interesting than Chalés. Pity I can no longer talk to you."
The demon turned and disappeared. Enrico looked up and noticed someone flying above the barrier.
On the ground, Enrico felt relieved but looked in pain at Chalés's body.
[You really liked him.]
Enrico put both hands on his face.
"Of course I did. In the story, I felt happy when he smiled for the first time after 300 chapters—and I almost cried at his death."
[Have you killed anyone before, right? How do you feel now?]
Enrico gave a bitter smile.
"It's very different—because those two people I hated."
[Wait, what do you mean two? Did you kill someone before the man who tried to kill you?]
Enrico fell silent, staring at the body, then began digging a hole with his hands.
[Hey, answer me—if you've killed before, why weren't you imprisoned? If you don't tell me—]
Enrico looked at the system with empty eyes.
"My father. Now can you shut up?"
[...]
After some time digging the hole, he buried Chalés's body and made a tombstone with his name.
Enrico grabbed his backpack, placed near the fire, and noticed Chalés's wooden clone shattered on the ground. He looked at it for a moment and walked away with difficulty.
Meanwhile, high in the sky, someone was watching. It was Enrico's dormitory maid, Angela. She took a stone and communicated.
"He's free—no demonic manifestations besides the person he fought."
"Understood. Keep watching."
"Yes, ma'am."
The person she spoke to was Professor Virelle. She placed the stone aside and rewound it—then watched a video of the fight.
"It seems he's stronger than I thought. That's a pleasant surprise."
She smiled with interest.
"If he continues with that intelligence, I might want to train him."