The Burning Fiend

The old man looked at the battle with his mouth open and felt depressed as he realized that he could not defeat either of them and was even more surprised when he noticed that Linley was full rank higher that the other youth but he still could do nothing to him.

They separated and looked at each other, Linley had already forgotten his brother's bad joke and was fully invested in the sparring match. It had been years since he had crossed weapons with his brother and he was smiling. "You have become stronger, but still show no respect for your elder brother. Hmmmp..." said Linley as he knew he had no way to defeated him.

Before Reynolds could respond they were interrupted by a melodious voice. "Master, were you teasing your elder brother again. You are so mean! Why didn't you tell us so we could enjoy the show?" Linley looked at the gorgeous Windsor pouting while pretending to feel abandoned.

Reynolds lost the mood to spar and smiled holding the two girls and saying. "My lovely Windsor, it was a joke in the spur of the moment. You looked so beautiful while sleeping that I did not want to wake you up or I would have ended playing with you both in bed instead of training". The two girl were blushing and pressed their bodies against him enjoying the hug.

The old man was watching at the two enchanting women that were obediently allowing the brat to bully them while calling him 'Master' and the previous joke seemed to reach another level of insult. He sighed and laughed at the speechless Linley.

It was only now that Reynolds stopped playing around and said. "Old man I did not mean to offend you, I just wanted to see if I could provoke third brother into sparring as he has been lazy lately. I'm Reynolds, the red haired beauty is my maid Windsor and the brown haired one is my maid Jenne. The rank 8 velocidragon over there is Koral".

The old man smiled as if remembering his years of youth but could not avoid to look enviously when he noted that neither of the girls refused been called 'maids'. "Hmm. I am Zassler a 9th rank necromancer". He felt pride when he saw Reynolds face change for a moment but felt disturbed when he saw him smiling and felt that he was failing to understand something.

"You are a necromancer? That is fantastic! This is the first time that I meet another necromancer, old man Zassler I have so many question. This is so good!"

Now it was the turn of Linley and Zassler to look at him surprised and both said at the same time. "Are you a necromancer?" Reynolds smiled and said. "Well, yes and no. I do have the rank 8 level in death magic and fire magic, but I am following the path of the warrior and only use magic as support in battle."

Zassler was feeling depressed now, this kid was younger that Linley and he was already a 8th rank necromancer! He felt like he had wasted his life. "When did you became a necromancer?" Linley asked. Reynolds smiled and said. "Remember my first trip to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts? I found a space ring that contained a necromancer book with rituals and spells for rank 1 to 6. That is why I'm so happy to learn that old man Zassler is a necromancer, I hope he can help with the high level spells that I do not have."

Zassler was so depressed now that wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing. He took a book from his spacial ring and threw to Reynolds. "Sure".

"Thank you old man Zassler, I would give back it back to you tonight" It was only now that Zassler realized that he had given the spells for free to this annoying brat and felt even more depressed.

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Reynolds concentrated that morning in copying the spells and learning them, he had limited his practice of death magic to slaving souls and scrying memories, life magic was only used for healing and he even his fire elemental magic was only used for ambushing and destroying evidence. His battle tactics depended completely in his warrior training, still he felt that having a complete necromancer legacy was a good thing.

He still lacked the saint level spells for his fire elemental magic and rank 7 and above for his life style magic. Perhaps one day he would be lucky and find a chance to complete this two legacies, but he was not worried that it might take a long time. He suspected that after becoming a saint he would keep fighting as a warrior and only use magic as auxiliary skills.

That night he returned the book to Zassler and found that the old man was no longer angry so they had a conversation of their experience on necromancy. Zassler spoke more than Reynolds getting the feeling of being a teacher, perhaps having one or two disciples would not be a bad idea.

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Reynolds and his women continued with their happy routine, while Linley and Zassler occupied themselves with their war against the Radiant Church. One day they returned with a pair of twin sisters that were introduced as Zassler disciples, he decided to not joke around this time as he could feel the threatening look from the old man and his elder brother.

As time passed Linley progressed on what he called 'the profound mysteries of the earth' and discussed with Reynolds, comparing their methods of training hoping to get inspiration for their own training. Reynolds started to focus on what he now called 'the profound mysteries of fire' while practicing his spear, sometimes he could feel as if he was fire itself and tried to focus this fleeting feeling.

Koral was getting proficient with her control of 'impose' making her almost invincible among magical beasts below the saint level, as they focused more on their natural gifts than in understanding realms of weapons and the mysteries of the elements. She was determined to start following the example of her Master and practice the so called 'profound mysteries of fire' as soon as she master the 'impose' realm.

Jenne had managed to reach the peak of the first rank as a magus and her beauty improved notably making her happy and more determined to train hard. Windsor on her part continued with her training by sculpting, but it will take her at least 3 years to reach the 8th rank as earth magus.

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One day Haeru came back to get Zassler's two disciples and asked through Koral his help to communicate with the girls. Linley and Zassler had met trouble while rescuing 5 brothers from the grasp of the Radiant Church and the battle had ended with the appearance of a deity level combatant. This surprised Reynolds and decided to tag along with the girls to learn more about that battle, he was depressed at the idea of having missing the chance to witness a deity in action but he was not willing to leave Windsor alone as she was not strong enough to protect herself and she had no interest in battle at all.

She was too much of a temptation for others and having Koral around was not enough deterrent, it was better to avoid problems. There had been more than one time when he had to fight to keep his favorite maid, but those occurrences has been drastically reduced since Koral joined them.

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A few days later, they meet with Linley's group. He was surprised to see the 5 brothers as they seemed more bears than humans, they all were preparing to live there for a while as a mansion was undergoing construction.

He smiled as he decided that these five brothers would be his sparring companions for the next few years and he went to his room while the 5 brother felt shivers running through their back and looked at each other in doubt.