The runes that composed spell formations were a language. That was why Alec could understand spells to a certain degree with [Reader]. However, the runes did not work like any language Alec had ever seen before.

Rather than them creating a sentence or a text when put together, it was like they created a piece of art, an image. It was something that looked like a jumbled mess to others but a motif to Alec.

Of course, he didn't immediately understand the motif, even if [Reader] translated it for him. The longer he looked, the more he understood the spell formation. If he looked long enough, he could begin to see the individual meaning of each rune in the formation.

Right now, Alec didn't need more than a glance to understand that he was in trouble.

Taryeon had picked up a new spell, one that made up for his lack of finishing blows.

Alec had tanked his second—third now—most powerful spell and got off with a scratch and new hairstyle, after all.

His other spell, Buzzah, the slightly more powerful burst of lightning, would have probably knocked him out cold. But Alec had seen Erio shrug it off.

'I need more barriers.'

Alec considered evading since he did not want to take Taryeon's new spell head-on. Something told him that was a bad idea.

His only option was to increase his defenses.

While Taryeon channeled mana into a spell formation he still wasn't perfectly used to, Alec threw up barrier after barrier. He did as many as he could in the time he had, but he still only ended up at a total of five barriers by the time Taryeon finished.

Blue sparks coalesced in the air in front of Taryeon with loud crackling pops as they increased in number, finally creating a sphere of loud lightning. Then, that bright orb transformed and became an arm-thick, roaring bolt of lightning that darkened the surroundings with its powerful light for the duration of its existence.

It was the closest Taryeon had come to recreating a real lightning bolt.

It slammed into Alec's barriers, shattering two on impact, breaking the third almost instantly after, and used the last of its mana to tear through the fourth.

'Holy…!'

Alec's vision was still filled with dancing spots from staring straight at the bright lightning.

"What the fuck was that?!" He questioned Taryeon.

"Crackle!" Taryeon answered excitedly. The power had been greater than he thought it would be.

"I'm pretty sure I would have died if that hit me!"

"That's the point, no? To make sure it doesn't hit you while I try to hit you. Isn't that what a spar is? I mean, wouldn't I have ended up pretty badly injured if you landed your Pebbleshot or Fireball?"

"..."

'He has a point, damn it.' Alec was not going to admit that to anyone but himself, though.

"Argh, whatever. Just warn me next time."

"Huh? Didn't you know it was coming?"

Alec frowned at Taryeon's question.

"How was I supposed to know?"

"I thought the others told you or something. Why else did you stand still and take it instead of trying to dodge?"

Alec shrugged with his arms crossed and a raised eyebrow.

"It didn't feel like a good idea to try to evade."

"That's why…?" Taryeon asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah. Why? What would have happened if I had tried to dodge?"

"You would have been hit."

"What?"

"It's a targeted spell. You can probably dodge it if you're fast enough or have cover, but it follows you."

'A homing missile?'

"Crazy bastard." Alec glared at Taryeon and cast a Waterball at him.

Waterball was one of the weakest offensive spells, especially when cast by someone who didn't have an affinity for the water element. Alec was basically giving him a cold shower.

Taryeon figured he deserved it, so he didn't move. He winced and trembled as the cold water splashed in the center of his chest, soaking him.

As soon as he opened his eyes, though, he saw a Fireball right in front of him.

It was too late to dodge and too late to raise a barrier. The only thing he could raise was his arms and push out mana. It didn't do much. He tanked the Fireball.

The baseball-sized ball of fire exploded in a small burst of flames on collision.

It was not nearly as bad as Taryeon thought it would be.

As soon as the wave of heat passed, he opened his eyes and looked at his arms. They were a little sooty, and his uniform had a few singe marks, but otherwise, he barely took any damage.

"Phew. Thank goodness that you're not Maura." Although that's what he said, Taryeon couldn't stop his heart from beating like the hooves of a galloping horse.

Alec was more insidious than he thought. Even if it hadn't ended up doing anything, Alec had played with Taryeon's slight guilt and reactions to hit him dead-on with a Fireball. If Alec had been more powerful, he would have had to go to the infirmary and get a pair of new arms.

"Thank goodness you're an idiot. Don't close your eyes in the middle of a fight."

"Wasn't the fight over?"

"Just because I complained about your stupid spell? I still had a barrier left. You shouldn't let your guard down just because it's a spar, even if I went easy on you."

"Wait a moment. You went easy on me?"

"Yeah. The water from Waterball absorbed the heat from Fireball, reducing the damage you took."

"But without the Waterball, I wouldn't have been hit."

"If I'd thrown an Airshot?"

"..."

"There you go. It's my win. Now, if you'll excuse me."

"Hold on. Does that mean I could have continued attacking after I zapped you the first time?"

Alec scoffed.

"Don't be ridiculous." Alec turned around and started leaving.

"That's—"

"Of course, you could have."

Taryeon just stared at Alec's back as the latter left the training grounds.

"A tie?" He called out.

"My win." Alec answered without looking back.

"One win each?"

"My win."

"Damn it.

"Are you going to tell the others?" Taryeon asked, a final spark of hope glimmering in the darkness of his eyes.

"You bet your buzzing ass I am." Alec squashed that remaining shred of hope without mercy.

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