[Book 2 Complete] Industrial Mage

The door flew open and a body came flying through. Senna, specifically. The usually composed woman hit the floor, rolled once, and came up in a crouch with murder in her eyes. Her usual perfect hair was singed at the edges. Her dress had scorch marks. And was that a black eye forming?

Freya walked in, looking way too pleased with herself.

Her clothes were singed, there was a cut on her cheek, and she was breathing hard, but she was grinning like she'd just won the lottery.

"Finally got you, you smug bi—" Freya started, then noticed Theodore. She froze mid-word.

What was the protocol here? Hey, sorry I got kidnapped by an interdimensional being and vanished for however long it'd been? Good to see you? Nice throw?

Theodore opted to wave awkwardly.

"What's going on?" Theodore asked, because when in doubt, ask the obvious question.

"These two ladies have been going at it on the daily," Seraphina said, appearing beside him with her usual disregard for normal space. She was holding a new cup of tea, because of course she was. "The little phoenix likes to spar quite a lot. Mm." Seraphina tilted her head. "She has quite the peculiar Constellation clinging to her. I might take her for a spin sometime."

Theodore didn't like the sound of that. His 'spin' had involved nearly dying to interdimensional ants. Multiple times. What would Seraphina's version of training Freya look like? Actually, scratch that, he didn't want to know.

"I'd love a spar." Freya said immediately with a grin.

Senna got to her feet, brushing off her dress with as much dignity as someone who'd just been thrown through a door could manage. "One lucky hit does not constitute victory."

"Lucky?" Freya's flames flared. "I've been kicking your ass for the past minute!"

"You've been flailing wildly and I allowed one strike to land."

"Allowed my—"

"Freya," Theodore said, and her attention snapped back to him.

They stared at each other. It was awkward. Really awkward. Like, phenomenally awkward. Why was it awkward? For Theodore, it'd been... he didn't even know. Months? Time moved weird in the dimensions. He'd fought ants, learned magic, nearly died repeatedly. For Freya though, she was probably still pissed about the whole thing.

The silence stretched. And then Senna gagged.

"Ugh, get a room, you two." Senna limped past them toward the back room, muttering something about "violent maniacs" and "why is it always fire." And then whining about "my hair."

More silence.

"So," Freya said finally, looking at him eagerly. "Wanna fight?"

***

Since Seraphina took him for training, Theodore found his connection to his clones loosening. It wasn't completely gone, but he couldn't control them anymore. He was only able to receive thoughts and memories whenever he slept, and even that didn't happen every "night", so he only received information in spurts. It was annoying and jarring. One night, he'd go to sleep and wake up the next morning with his clone in Holden having experienced days, and another night barely minutes would've passed.

Right now, though, his "memories" so to speak, were back in sync given he was back in normal flow of time. The sewers back home were coming along nicely. There were some complications but things were smooth sailing. He had no idea how it would go from there, but that was a problem for tomorrow. Tonight, he had to deal with the problem standing in front of him.

The problem's name was Freya, and she was currently pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"You're going down, Theo!" she declared, flames flickering in her eyes. "You can't teleport forever!"

"I mean, I could," Theodore replied with a shrug. "It's kind of my thing."

She had no idea how true that was given how much mana he had now.

Though, he wouldn't be using [Blink] in this spar again. He's just used it before to see her reaction, and it had been worth it. The indignation on her face when he'd casually appeared behind her was priceless. He was sure he'd pay for it later, probably in the form of a punch to the face, but he didn't mind. It was just good to be back. To be here, in a familiar place, with a familiar person. With Freya. Even if she was currently trying to set him on fire.

They were standing in Seraphina's back alley, which had been conveniently cleared of all the usual trash and debris that accumulated in such places. Seraphina herself was leaning against the wall, watching them with a faint smile that promised pain for whoever lost.

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"Again," she said, and the world exploded into action.

Freya charged, flames bursting around her, the ground cracking beneath her feet with the force of her sprint. Theodore didn't bother dodging. Instead, he let the flames wash over him, using his own fire to nullify the heat. Freya's momentum carried her straight into Theodore, and they both went down in a tangle of limbs and curses. Theodore twisted, trying to get a grip on Freya, but she was slippery as an eel. She wriggled free and launched herself at him again, this time with a fist aimed at his face.

Theodore's mind splintered, one process dedicated to keeping his mana flowing, another to figuring out the best angle to dodge, a third to planning a counterattack, and a fourth to keeping track of Freya's movements. The fifth and sixth were dedicated to monitoring Seraphina's reaction, and the seventh was the one that actually controlled his body.

The punch passed through his body as it shifted to slime form, and Freya's momentum carried her right through him. She stumbled, caught off balance, and Theodore used the opportunity to grab her arm and twist, sending her sprawling.

She hit the ground hard, but rolled to her feet with a snarl, and they were back at it again. They exchanged a flurry of blows. Her technique had improved a lot since they'd last fought. She was faster, stronger, more precise. She had actual technique to her now, surprisingly, and was not just a hot-tempered hothead.

Had her desire to defeat Senna been that strong? What gives?

Still, Theodore's new swordsmanship skill and sheer number of thought processes gave him the advantage. He parried her strikes, dodged the ones he couldn't block, and countered with his own.

Seraphina watched them impassively, sipping her tea as they fought, with Senna having come out some time ago and looking on with a somewhat satisfied expression at seeing Freya getting countered so easily. Well, Theodore was kind of her counter at the moment. He could teleport, his perception was frankly ungodly compared to before, his parallel thought processing helped him predict her movements, and his regeneration meant he could eat a few hits without it mattering too much.

And his regeneration was nuts now. He had evolved his Race, and he had [Heal], not to mention his slime state. Which was insane.

Finally, after what felt like hours but was probably just a few minutes, they both collapsed to the ground, or more like, just sat down. Freya's chest was heaving, her clothes were singed, and her hair was a mess. Theodore wasn't much better off, his clothes were torn in places where he'd taken a hit or shifted his body, and his lungs burned from the exertion. He wasn't quite sure how that worked, given his body tended to shift between human and slime at whim.

"Pathetic," Seraphina declared, and both of them turned to glare at her. "You're both holding back."

"I'm not," Theodore said, and it was true.

Seraphina raised an eyebrow. "No? Then why haven't you used your new abilities?"

"Because," Theodore said, "I wanted to have fun."

"New abilities?" Freya asked, looking at Theodore with renewed interest.

"Yep."

"Oh?" She grinned.

***

"What's the point of this?" Freya asked as they moved around the capital, eating and drinking everything they could get their hands on.

"I've missed the food," Theodore explained.

"Have you now?"

"Yeah."

"Fair enough." She said, sipping a milkshake they'd picked up from a nearby stand. "But why am I here?"

"Because I need a partner in crime."

She looked at him in confusion. "Are we robbing someone?"

"Pfft. No, we aren't."

"So?"

"So... I need someone to stop me from eating everything." Theodore admitted. "I almost ate a whole cart full of apples earlier."

"I saw," Freya said dryly. "You're lucky the vendor didn't call the guard."

"Hey, I paid." And not like he was really eating it all. Most of it he absorbed with his slime. He just liked the taste.

Freya shook her head, but she was smiling. "You're ridiculous."

"Thank you."

They walked in silence for a while, enjoying the sights and sounds of the city. Theodore hadn't realized how much he'd missed it. The bustle of people, the smells of food and sweat and life, the way the buildings towered over everything and yet somehow managed to feel cozy at the same time. There were small boats flying overhead—wait what? Oh. Theodore ruffled through his memories. Ah, yeah. They were a thing. Magic could do a lot of things.

"Hey," he said after a while, "do you want to ride on that thing with me?" He pointed to the boat.

Freya shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

So they rode the boat, and when they were at the top, they looked out over the city together.

"This isn't as fun as I'd thought it would be." Theodore said.

"Well, duh. Flying isn't new to us." Freya said, leaning on the railing and looking down at the city below. "We can both fly on our own."

"Oh, right."

They rode the boat back down, and when they got off, they started walking again. They passed a street vendor selling fruit pies, and Theodore bought one for each of them.

"So," he said as they sat on a bench, "how have things been?"

"Fine," Freya said. "Training with your grandfather is fun. He's a good teacher, and he's been teaching me a lot of stuff about fire magic."

"What? He's been training you?"

"And Leona. I play with her usually, but she was very insistent on learning from him, so he finally gave in. You lit something in her, it seems, she wants to learn everything she can."

"Huh," Theodore said, taking a bite of his pie. "That's... interesting."

"Yep," Freya said, finishing hers. "She's got a lot of potential. Your grandfather says she'll probably be stronger than both of us someday."

"I have no doubt." Theodore said, thinking of the little girl. It was a shame he'd been missing for so long.

"You know she is doing all this so she can best you one day, right?"

"Is she now?" He smiled. Had she found another reason to fuel her growth? To pour her emotions into?

"Yep." Freya bumped his shoulder with hers with a grin. "So you better stay ahead of her."

"It seems like I should."