Differences in power

Chapter Ten

"Please calm down, Warmaster. I had no say in this decision. Even if I did, Cain's authority is equal to mine, so it is out of my hands."

A behemoth not unlike Cain loomed over Tryamon's desk. A red main of hair furiously danced on the man's back as his white dress shirt buckled underneath his bulging muscles. His pants khaki pants and brown boots seemingly had far more endurance since they comfortably held, showing no signs of stress. Lugh's rage was so intense that the wood beneath his feet began to smolder. He slammed his hands down on the Tryamon's desk, causing many of the items to get launched into the air.

"DO YOU THINK I'LL JUST ALLOW THIS? ALL YOU "SAGES" THINK YOU'RE ABSOLUTE, BUT PUSH TOO FAR AND YOU'LL SOON FIND YOUR LIMITS."

Tryamons' usually serene visage turned ugly and vicious. The purple of her ovals spread out to cover the entirety of her eye as she stood up from her seat. The air became soupy with Mana around her, weighing down on Lugh's form like an Anchor to a ship.

"Watch your tongue before you lose it, Warmaster."

~This pressure…! With only this much Mana…?~ He thought to himself as he fell to one knee, struggling to hold himself up.

Tryamon looked down at him with an extended hand and flicked. A gust of wind forced the struggling Warmaster onto his back, despite his resistance.

"You'd be wise not to anger me further. I don't think you would be able to stand any more of my wrath."

From the rightmost staircase leading to where the Arch Magus and Warmaster were:

"This doesn't look too good! Grandma really looks like she's going to smash him into pieces…!" Suzuka exclaimed.

Gydion could not see the scenario himself, which was for the best. He instead angrily waited a few steps beneath where Suzuka was.

The sound from the conversation was muted to all who were not within Tryamons barrier of influence and so Gydion could not hear that it was in fact his father who was currently the object of Tryamon's anger.

Suzuka continued to watch for a time before eventually the Warmaster gathered himself and left down the other staircase.

"I think the coast is clear. C'mon, let's go." Suzuka said, smacking Gydion on his shoulder with the back of her hand to catch his attention.

The two of them walked into Trya's view and bowed. Her crystalline eyes receded back to normal as she softened her face once seeing them.

"Welcome back Suzuka. How was your first session of Mana manipulation training with Cain?"

Suzuka smiled and held her right hand up to her chest triumphantly.

"It was great! I think I've got it totally down pack!"

She then began to tell the tale of events prior with great enthusiasm. Tryamon listened with tender consideration as she took her seat again. It was clear that the both of them were enjoying the conversation.

Gydion dejectedly found himself a spot in the corner of the space, sitting on the railing. He had not the courage to interject himself into the conversation and so opted to wait patiently.

"And so I ran away from him after Gydion here provided an opportunity for me to escape!" She said, pointing back at him with her right thumb."

Tryamon shifted her gaze from Suzuka to Gydion and raised her brow in faux question. He scratched the bottom of his chin again and shook his head, offering clarification of what happened from his perspective.

"It was nothing so Grand. I had just finished my tasks for the day and went to report to Cain. While he turned his head she hightailed it out of the room."

Tryamon closed her eyes and nodded.

"I see. That makes sense. Did anything else happen? After she had left?"

Gydion clammed up. His face was red and he did not particularly want to talk about the scenario in front of his charge. He shook his head and looked down.

"So tell me, why are you here? I do believe I forbade you from being in the general vicinity of my study years ago."

Suzuka interjected

"He is now my companion! We totally put the demons of the past to rest and are now sworn friends!"

Tryamon grinned slyly and rested her head on her hand as she leaned on the armrest of her chair.

"Hoh? Well isn't that just wonderful for you two. That still doesn't answer why the boy is here before me now in all his insolence."

Suzuka visibly tensed.

~Did I mess up by bringing him here? I mean I knew that he was also banned from coming around her, but I figured that she wouldn't mind if I brought him. What can I say to get it so he doesn't get punished again…!~

"I was ordered to serve Lady Tennyo by Master Cain, I thought that the good master would have informed you of my change of station in advance. I beg your forgiveness."

Gydion knelt down to the ground on one knee with his head lowered. Tryamon looked at the boy coldly for a few moments before looking back at Suzuka, who was taken aback by the boy's display. With a chuckle, Tryamon demolished the tense atmosphere and beckoned the boy up.

"Is that so? Well, then I suppose I should remove the previous limitations so that you could effectively attend to your charge. You may rise."

~It seems as though this dog is more sensible than its father at least. All it needed was a bit of molding.~ Tryamon thought to herself.

"Yes, Lady Tryamon."

Gydion rose to his feet standing slightly behind Suzuka. Internally, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. The display was not as humiliating as he had imagined it'd be and he spared himself the wrath of the Grand Magus.

Tryamon sat up in her chair and examined her desk. It was in complete disarray. Without raising a finger, tendrils of water shot out from the sleeves of her blouse and began to bring order once again to her desk.

Gydion watched in awe at Tryamons masterful manipulation of Mana.

~As expected of the Grand Magus. To use magic for something as trivial as this.~

Suzuka was used to such displays, having spent the last four years of her life being raised by the Grand magus.

The tendrils withdrew themselves as they finished their task. Tryamon once again directed her attention at Gydion.

"I've heard that you've inherited quite the ability. Would you care to show me?"

Gydion stood confused. He had no idea what she was talking about.

Seeing this, Tryamon pointed her finger at the boy's chest. A nearly translucent thread shot out from it and attached itself just in between his collarbones. Gydion fell back on one knee and gripped his chest with both hands. Suzuka freaked out and went to help him up.

"Stand back Su!" Tryamon shouted.

Suddenly, liquid Iron poured out of Gydions face. Suzuka looked on in horror. She had never seen something like this, nor did she find anything like this in her myriad of assimilated memories. This was just… brutal.

Gydion crumpled further, Holding himself up now with both hands on the floor.

"This is your special power. I'm sure now you understand. This Iron flows throughout your body, keeping it together when it cracks from being under duress. It's so rare in fact, that the last recorded instance was before the separation of earth and heaven, which occurred when I was but a powerless whelp. All I've done is draw the stagnant bits out by injecting a bit of my own energy into you. I apologize if this was a painful experience."

Gydion eventually stopped leaking the Liquid iron from his face but remained in that position. He was completely drained. The only reason he remained in his current state was because he had locked his joints so as to not allow himself to fall into the growing puddle of liquid metal.

Suzuka took a few steps back and stared down at the metal. He began to build up in her eyes as the pattern rotated slowly.

"It is saturated in his essence... "

"I'm guessing that when you were still forming, someone placed a liquid deposit inside your crystalline structure which caused you to bond with it."

Cracks opened up on his arms and hands that began to take the liquid Iron back into his body.

"Regardless of its artificial origin, this is a power worth cultivating. Take care to not allow such outrageous stagnation to take hold again."

Gydion looked up, tears of Iron leaking from his eyes, and nodded.

Tryamon left him be as she stood up and wrapped her arms around Suzuka, hugging her.

"I am sorry if that was a little scary, but it was necessary for his growth. You understand that surely.

Suzuka hugged back, though still looking down at Gydion. She began to think

~This world's magic is still a mystery to me. Mana and natural energy… I need to take time and experiment on my own to confirm some things.~

Tryamon let her go and folded her arms.

"Now that you've gotten a decent understanding of Mana Distribution we can move onto conceptualization. This is what gives form to the mana you utilize and is the step most people struggle with."

Suzuka snapped back to reality as Grandma said that, nearly jumping up in joy.

"When do we start?"

"As soon as Gydion has recovered we can begin. That way, the both of you can practice together."

Gydion had rolled over onto his back and was currently preoccupied filling the cracks in his body with the liquid Iron. All he could manage to do was raise his thumbs in confirmation before falling out of consciousness.