Chapter 3:

The Inauguration Ceremony

The Revelation of Utopia


"Let's split up! Sora and I will take this one two-on-one, you two focus on the boy at the entrance!" I ordered to the rest of the heroes as I twisted my body to face my opponent. The opponent whom which I was referring to was the woman who crashed into the middle of the grand hall. Even though she had a perfect landing, the ceiling is about two or three storeys high; surely she must have sustained some damage from that. Then again, I am now in a world full of magic, so she might have been able to reinforce her legs if she was an Earth mage.
I knew this would be a difficult fight. We have had no training with our magic, only our weapons, which we can't even use right now. On top of that, I can't even showcase my magic in front of the nobles that are gathered here for the banquet. To conceal my magical attribute, the forbidden Blood, I will use my mana to manipulate the blood flow inside of my own body. By increasing the speed of the blood flow, my body will exceed the average strength, speed, and stamina of a human body. I won't be invincible, but it will definitely make me a bigger threat close-range than anyone else in the room, which is a big advantage against a mage.
"Sora, I have a plan. I will get in close to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. Please support me from the rear whilst I take advantage of her ineptitude for close range battles" I requested from Sora, knowing his Spatial magic will be a big help to cause unpredictability in my attacks, "use your Spatial magic to create portals to help me attack and evade."
"It's worth a shot, just don't underestimate her too much. They clearly have a plan to kill us otherwise they wouldn't stir such a scene irrationally" Sora responded affirmatively.
"Thank you for your support" I replied gratefully.
After our mini battle plan meeting, I charged in straight in front of the woman, closing the twenty meter distance in just under a second. My body felt so light thanks to the magic enhancing all of my physical abilities right now.
As I swiftly covered the distance, she took a step back and I was pushed up high into the air by a magical platform erecting from the ground. I looked down and was surprised by the magical attribute in my sight. It wasn't Earth or any of the other attributes a typical human would have, but this woman possessed Cryo magic.
"Ice? Does this mean, you're a hero too?!" I shouted bewilderingly to the mysterious woman who just became even more of a mystery.
She sprung herself up to me using her magic the same way she forced me into the air, and charged at me with her lance pointed in my direction, "Those details are irrelevant".
I realised there was no point in trying to figure this out now, and if I kept thinking about it, I would be dead. I didn't have a lot of mobility in the air, so as the lance was in reaching distance, I pushed it down with my palm, whilst also propelling myself to spin around, and axe-kicked her down to the floor from about ten meters high, causing her to crash into the ground. I was aiming for the enemy's head to finish it in one blow, but she managed to slip out of the way and I ended up hitting her shoulder instead.
To break my fall, Sora opened a portal beneath my body and teleported me directly behind our opponent, allowing me to get another hit in whilst she was trying to stand back up and regain her balance. As I began the motion to sucker punch the foe, an ice-formed spike emerged from her back, growing with the intent to stab me through the torso. Reflexively, I redirected my jab to punch the spike from above, shattering it into many pieces. However, whilst I was distracted by the icy barb, she swung around and hit me in the jaw with her elbow, which was covered by a rocky-like ice formation. The hit pushed me back and left me vulnerable. As she stomped her foot down, ready to unleash a humungous ice wave, Sora stepped in and teleported me just far away enough to recover from the blow.
"Why do you want to kill us?!" exclaimed Sora, "Is it bad to have strong mages fighting for your country?" 
Despite Sora's attempt to fish for answers, the cloaked woman just shot him a stare and turned her focus back to me. Whilst I couldn't see under the hood, I can only assume it was a blank stare, annoyed that he even asked that question.
"You must have some inside knowledge of this country and the palace to co-ordinate an attack like this, right?" I probed the woman, "You knew the exact time we wouldn't have any weapons, you know exactly where in the palace we were holding the banquet, and most importantly, you found... no, you created an opportunity to kill us by keeping the Chancellor Vice-Chancellor, and the nation's army at bay."
"You're quite the perceptive man, I'll give you that much" the woman stoically replied.
"Given that you haven't questioned my fighting style, I believe I know who you are" I shouted out to the unrevealed opponent in front of me. That's right, only she would fully understand my capabilities at this point in time. Albeit, there is no point in me revealing her identity to everyone now, as that could also cause complications for me if she decides to reveal my secret. Sora looked very puzzled, which was a valid response to the words that just left my mouth, but I'm sure he's smart enough to figure out that her identity doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that we survive.
"While your physical and magical capabilities are not on the level of the Gravity or Spatial heroes, you impress me with the intellect you hold and how you use that to utilise your magic" the woman praised. She then started a barrage of icicles, darting them at me like missiles whilst shouting, "Your intelligence won't be a sharp enough blade to cut down my Cryo magic, Chihara Yoru!"
Hearing somebody shout my full name sent a shiver down my spine; it was as almost as if one of my parents were shouting my name in anger, ready to scold me for something bad I did.
Sora opened up a bunch of small portals in front of me to catch most of the icicles fired towards me. As Sora was new to using his magic like the rest of us, his portals were not a hundred percent precise, so I chopped away at any attacks that slipped through the cracks with my hands. It was at that moment, a sharp crystal of ice zoomed past the portals quicker than any of the previous attacks, catching me off guard. I tried to duck out of the way, but the crystal viciously tore open the skin on my cheek, causing my cheek to start drooling out blood. 
I chuckled to myself as the wound on my cheek started to close back up and heal itself fast enough that it was visible to the human eye. After a few seconds, the wound had healed as it was not too deep and I wiped the blood away. The reason why the wound healed so quickly was because I was manipulating the speed of my blood flow, allowing more platelets and white blood cells to reach the wound quicker to seal it up and fight off any infection. I wouldn't be able to do this infinitely though as by doing this too much, I may develop leukopenia - where the white blood cell count in the body is lower than normal - which would make me far more prone to illnesses and infections.
"You won't be able to cut me, so you can stop whilst you're ahead!" I exclaimed to her as I charged her head-on. It seems she had the same idea as she also rushed directly to me with her lance.
I evaded the approaching blade and fired a left-footed kick directly into the area where her liver would be. She reacted by forming a sturdy structure of ice to her right, blocking my attack. The ice cracked a little, but it was strong enough to withstand my attack, and give her the next opportunity to strike. The girl threw away her lance and struck me with an open palm to the chest. Her palm was powered by a frosty, explosive spell which left my body numb from the cold and propelled me rapidly in the direction of Sora. I was unable to stop myself flying through the air, but just as I was about to hit my companion, he opened up a portal in between us and redirected me at a diagonal angle to the floor next to him. The reason he probably did this diagonally was to use the floor to stop me from flying, whilst also reducing a lot of the force off my impact with the floor compared to if he was to do it straight into the ground. I hit the floor hard and ended rolling over two times from the force of the strike. 
My body felt shaky and hard to move, but I persevered and got back on my feet. I can tell my magic was starting to stabilise my body again, but I won't be full strength like I was at the start of the fight, and I most definitely cannot keep this up forever. If it comes down to an endurance match, she has me beat.
As I started reviewing the situation and my options, a massive wave of icy wind hit my face. It was so cold, my face started to tingle and my ears were stinging. Ice emerged up the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room we were currently in, and the noble guests were screaming in fear of their lives and the pain of the sub-zero temperatures.
"Playtime is over, Chihara Yoru." the hooded woman announced as a longsword created out of ice formed in her hand.
Without hesitation, I gave my next instruction to Sora, to make sure we could not only just keep up with the enemy, but to make sure we secure a complete victory...

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