Noon, Oblitesco
~Pax’s Perspective~
WHAM!
I punch a bandit in the stomach before sending a blast at another.
“Pax, duck!” yells Will.
I listen and shortly after, a bullet flies over my head and hits its target. I hear a body fall to the ground.
I jump up and fire a blast at Landon. He manipulates it around his right arm and smashes the ground, releasing a shockwave of electricity that takes out multiple bandits in the vicinity.
The fight continues for another 10 minutes. Floating above, Theos watches us, fiery wings emitting from a magic circle on his back.
I imbue my fists with magic and pummel a bandit. I feel a bit tired. I can see that Will and Landon are a bit tired as well.
Damn it. Where are all these bandits coming from?
Fwoosh!
A beam of fire flies at me. Landon jumps in front and manipulates the beam around his arm. He sends a shot of fire right back and takes down a group of bandits.
“Nice shot!” yells Will as he slices through another bandit. “Where the fuck are these people coming from anyway?”
There’s some sort of transparent aura, similar to Landon’s, emitting from Will’s body, although it seems weaker. I look at Landon after I send a bandit flying.
“You two went out earlier this morning to train, right?” I ask. “Did you have something to do with that?”
He snaps the neck of a bandit before responding.
“If you’re going to ask to learn the same thing, no,” he responds. “You don’t need it. I promised an explanation after we’re done, so let’s finish this.”
30 minutes later, Theos lands and tells us to stop. We run back to the town. I sit on the bench at the training yard, exhausted.
“Y’know what?” I say to Landon. “Let’s hold off the explanation until later. I’m fucking exhausted.”
“Agreed,” he replies.
“You did well,” says Theos as he lands. “Although you could use some improvement, it seems that you have reconciled well.”
“Shut up old man,” grumbles Landon. “We were fighting those bandits for an hour. We need to eat something.”
Theos smiles kindly.
“I’ll get you three something.”
He walks away. Landon looks at me.
“It’s later,” he states. “Want an explanation?”
“Alright,” I reply.
“Aura is the manipulation of trace amounts of magic energy to increase physical abilities such as strength and speed. It’s a vital part of why the greatest warriors can fight so well.”
“So why don’t I need it?”
“Two things. One, you have a spirit weapon and can use magic, both of which are already rare. Spirit weapons are so rare that some don’t even know or believe that they exist. Magic isn’t as rare but it’s entirely based on chance and mages only make up a small percentage of the population. Two, aura is mostly used by non-magic users because they can’t use magic. It would be redundant for you to use it when you already have lightning magic and have a spirit weapon. I’m surprised William can even use a small amount of aura at this point. It’s a pretty advanced technique.”
“Damn. What about your- umm…”
“Fighting style. It’s called Arcane Manipulation.”
He clenches his fist and an aura begins to gather around his hand.
“Aura is the manipulation of trace magic energy. Theoretically speaking, since mages use magic to send attacks, skilled aura users could find a way to manipulate it.
“Think about it this way. Magic energy is everywhere. Mages just happen to be able to utilize the energy in their body directly. So what if you could manipulate the magic energy within a spell and use it to your advantage? That is the foundation of Arcane Manipulation. The use of aura is the first step. By manipulating the magic energy within a spell, I can alter its properties to a certain degree and use the magic to increase my strength and speed. It requires a lot of focus to get but it’s pretty powerful.”
“Damn,” I say. “That’s crazy.”
Landon nods.
“The man who saved my life taught me. He pushed me to my limits, but I would be dead without him.”
Theos returns at that moment with food and hands it to us.
“So,” begins Will. “What’s next, Theos?”
Theos smiles.
“Why don’t we wait until tomorrow?” he responds kindly. “Eat your lunch first. I must go for a short period of time.”
He flies away.
“Damn,” mutters Landon. “He’s busy.”
“Yeah, he is,” responds Will.
I look over to see Castor and Avery sparring fiercely with wooden sticks. I make eye contact with Will.
“Wanna go say hi?” I ask him.
“Yeah, sure,” Will responds. “Might as well introduce Landon while we’re at it. But first, lunch.”
End of Chapter XXI