Lisa Ferlon

Rick frowned as he looked at Lisa's figure warily. Carla and Leon fell down as they fainted from lack of air.

'What's going on here? Why is she attacking us? It doesn't make any sense.. unless she's testing us.. But that's a bit too extreme of a test.. Could it be that she's an impostor?' Rick thought to himself as doubts rose from his heart as he looked at the woman in front of him.

His wariness increased when he recalled the transforming woman he witnessed back in Loren Forest.

He then recalled the spell she used earlier as he thought to himself 'That spell, [Deprivation], was it? What a frightening spell.. Depriving the area around the target of air'

"I asked you, didn't I? How did you suddenly sneak behind me?" Lisa gently said with a soft tone as she smiled.

"Why should I tell you?" Rick answered.

"Looks like we got a naughty boy right here" Lisa replied with a grin from ear to ear.

'If she's an impostor, then where's the real Lisa? Could it be that she's Lisa's enemy from within the academy? Or maybe she's actually the real Lisa but she changed and had a grudge with the village?' Rick thought to himself.

Speculations and doubts rose from his thoughts until he shook his head.

'Whatever it is, my priority is our safety' Rick thought to himself as he made up his mind.

He then looked at Carla and Leon's figure who lay on the ground unconscious. He then reached out for his bag and threw a bunch of unimportant objects in Lisa's direction.

This time, Lisa was wary of the objects and sidestepped as far away from the objects as possible as she raised her right hand forward.

"[Wind Scythe]"

A wave of sharp wind rushed forward at lightning speed from Lisa's right hand, threatening to cut Rick's figure in half.

Rick didn't appear to have noticed the [Wind Scythe] approaching in his direction. Lisa frowned when she saw Rick's lack of reaction towards her spell.

However, the [Wind Scythe] appeared to have passed through Rick's figure with seemingly no resistance.

"An afterimage!?" Lisa exclaimed.

She then looked around and found Rick's figure just right before the unconscious bodies of Carla and Leon. Rick touched their neck to check their pulses.

He heaved a sigh of relief when he realized they're still alive. He then tried to wake them up but his efforts were bound to be fruitless as they didn't show any signs of waking up.

'I'm afraid I can't escape with them being unconscious. I can only hope that she was just testing us' Rick inwardly said as he smiled bitterly.

Had it only been him alone, at the cost of revealing his elemental affinity and trump card, he could probably find a way to escape. But he could only teleport himself alone. He's still not good enough with the spell that he could teleport other people with it.

He then made up his mind to fight her and show her his prowess as he looked at her with a solemn gaze.

'I have to be fast. I'm still not used to scene and posture transitions but I'll make do with what I have for now' Rick thought to himself.

'Did he just teleport? Isn't that an elite rank spell? Furthermore, it's instant teleportation and can be used in combat' Lisa thought to herself as her brows furrowed.

Rick then rushed forward and threw two balls of crumpled papers in Lisa's direction but he sneaked out a crumpled paper on the further left.

'These crumpled papers again!?' Lisa inwardly said as she raised her hands forward.

"[Wind Blower]"

A powerful blow of wind came out from Lisa's hands and blew away the balls of crumpled papers. When she noticed that Rick's figure once again disappeared from her line of sight, she hurriedly looked around and found Rick's figure who appeared to be rushing forward with right hand raised forward.

"[Wind Slash]!"

Rick's right hand generated a sharp wind that threatened to cut Lisa's figure in half.

What she didn't know was that during the time she was looking around for Rick, he was able to sneak out a crumpled paper just right behind her.

"[Wind Sphere]"

A thin sphere of wind encircled Lisa's figure and redirected the slashing wind to the right side, protecting her from [Wind Slash].

'Tch, it just happened to be a spherical defensive spell' Rick inwardly complained as he clicked his tongue.

"Alright, enough games. Show me what you got!" Lisa said as she smiled as the sphere of wind that encircled her dissipated.

"Were you just testing us?" Rick replied as he looked at Lisa with a wary expression.

"Well duh, isn't it obvious? Otherwise, you'd be dead by now" Lisa replied as she rolled her eyes.

'What the f**k do you mean by obvious? Who the hell tests kids without a word by depriving us of breath!?' Rick cursed Lisa in his mind.

But he realized that it made sense. Rick knew that as the Vice Headmaster of the Golden Gate Academy, she should have been more powerful than this. It should have been easy for her to take him out

He heaved a sigh of relief after knowing that their lives weren't in danger.

'In that case, I just have to show her what I've got' Rick thought to himself as he raised his hands to the back and slightly bent his body forward.

"[Wind Rush!]"

Rick rushed forward at breakneck speed as wind was generated from his hands, propelling him forward to increase his speed.

Lisa smiled with her eyes sparkling when she saw Rick's spell and raised her hand forward.

"[Wind Wall]"

A two meter wall wind appeared in front of Lisa.

However, just when Rick was about to crash into the [Wind Wall], he raised his hand forward.

"[Wind Gust]"

A gust of wind disrupted the flow of the wall of wind only to a certain extent. Rick then raised right fist and let out a punching motion on the wind. However, before Rick's fist landed on the wall, his figure suddenly disappeared.

"[Phantom Rush]"

Rick teleported behind Lisa's figure where he was able to sneakily place a crumpled paper earlier.

"[Wind Sphere]"

This time, however, Lisa was prepared and instantly cast a [Wind Sphere]. Rick's punch was redirected, hitting nothing but air.

'She's strong, alright' Rick inwardly praised Lisa as the corners of his lips curled up to a bitter smile.