Cry For The Lost

"Apart from rankings, there are two types of spirits. There are bound spirits, spirits that mirror an already existing idea but these are limited in what they can do or be at any given time.

They exist as anything you've seen or heard of like weaker ones such as garden hoes, brooms, rakes, but there are also swords, daggers, and weapons of the sort which are more common for adventurers. The only thing is that a spirit is unique no matter what color or characteristic variation isn't enough to make a spirit unbound.

An unbound spirit is unique and like nothing that exists in this world or any other. The spirit comes into being with the person that awakens it, a unique existence so to speak. There is only one and the only person that ever knows the name of that spirit is the person that awakens it.

The core difference between an unbound spirit and what some people call common spirits is that unbound spirits can not only store more mana but they have special abilities that can only be uncovered by the owner. So If we were to explain in depth a common servant grade as someone steps into rank 2 has access to 100 points of mana, whereas an unbound spirit at the same starting point may have anywhere between a max of 200 and 300 mana.

Now we introduce the grades of spirits which at each rank doubles the amount of mana that a person from the rank before it can store. Peter, you awoke an emperor-grade spirit which means at the base with a common spirit you would have access to close to 51,200 units of mana. Now Regius with a forbidden spirit would have access to 204,800 units of mana. With both of you having unbound spirits it will vary by maybe 1000 to 10,000 units of mana. There are machines in the adventures union building that allows the testing of this but I don't think that matters much.

As rank 2 practitioners you'll always know how much mana you have left stored inside yourself and it's better left that way, you wouldn't want anyone to know how much mana you have access to, especially if they are trying to take your life.

Your spirit is where your mana is stored in this stage. You use mana by working with your spirit and channeling through it. If you both look inside yourself you'll notice that the spirit inside of you isn't completely solid; it's more so like a ghost somewhat see-through or transparent.

To progress through this next rank you'll have to feed your spirit more and more mana until it looks completely solid. I can't help you with this but when one of you reaches that point I'll explain rank 3 for now just practice and gather more mana here in the basement. I have a field trip planned for us tomorrow."

Macarthur released a breath of hot air as his long explanation came to an end. It wasn't until he left the room that Peter walked over to Regius and shook his shoulder and asked

"How much of that were you awake for?". Regius smiled back at Peter and responded.

"I was awake for maybe the first couple sentences I never thought sleeping with my eyes open would come so handy after getting out of the pens.".

Peter made a fist and bonked Regius on the head "How are you supposed to get stronger if you're not listening when you get told how."

Regius raised his arms to the sky to stretch. "I got the gist of it, already when I overheard guards talking while in the pens. Take in mana until the spirit is solid and easy enough.

I'm gonna start now to see how long it will take me." said Regius. Regius plopped onto the ground in a lotus position and closed his eyes. Just like rank 1, he started to operate the mana that he had always felt around him. The air began to move around Peter and a breeze formed in the underground room. Macarthur had once told them that he had special items embedded in the walls down here that increased the mana to a point probably found nowhere else in the world.

The scene Regius saw was completely different though as the baby dragon resting inside of him stood on all fours and at the same time, the mana started to move rapidly towards them both. The scales on the dragon slowly started to change as it woke up. The previous white was replaced with a sparkling silver while the blue gems darkened and then relit a beautiful amethyst.

Regius couldn't understand at first but as his spirit, the knowledge started to fill his brain as the change happened. The circadian Dragon has three distinct forms; day form characterized by the white and blue scales. At this time the circadian dragon would typically be more muscular as it grows older the brute physical strength of the circadian dragon would be at the highest during its day form. The second form would take place at night and the Circadian dragon would be faster than its day form and its body would be either. The final form and its current form was dusk. It was the strongest form that the Circadian Dragon was capable of. It was supposed to be gray but the one in him was a mutation and it had become a brilliant silver. The strengths of both forms would mix into this form making the dragon operate at its apex. The forms would not be forever though when both he and the dragon reached a certain level of energy they would be able to switch between the 2 forms at will and as they reached the apex of power the other two forms would vanish altogether and the only dusk would be left. With all of this information, Regius stopped moving the mana that was about to finally enter him and contemplated.

He spoke in his head and the spirit seemed to be staring at him as he spoke. "I can't just call you the Circadian dragon that may be your species but you are part of me now. We will live and die together, we will get our revenge together and fix all of the wrongs done to us. So I'll name you Link because you are my link to mana and without mana, none of these things would be possible. So, Link, this marks the start of our journey thank you for accompanying me".

The dragon let out a roar that sounded more cute than fierce due to its young age and for the first time, he finally realized that the spot the dragon was located wasn't exactly in him but a space that existed in the center of his chest. Now that he had done that he began to finally start the mana absorption and when he did something no one expected happened.

The dragon opened its mouth wide and inhaled and at the same time, almost every cell in his body opened like the maw of a dragon and just like the dragon they inhaled. The mana caused a storm as it rushed towards Regius unbeknownst to him this was also causing a phenomenon outside in which a massive tornado of mana was funneling into the roof of the building.

Peter had already had to use his mana and spells to keep himself from flying away with it. His absorption of mana certainly didn't cause any of this; he had already started the moment Regius sat down.

A forbidden rank spirit was truly different but what Peter didn't know was that this wasn't just the spirit doing this but the mana body that Regius had awakened due to Macarthur's experiment. His body itself was seeking to swallow all of this mana.

The mana flew into his chest and Link's mouth and slowly starting from his tail the dragon slowly began to become solid. Ten minutes later half of Link's body looked solid. Twenty minutes later and everything but the horns was completely solid. An hour after that both horns finished and Link closed his mouth and Regius cells did the same with a slight pop.

He opened his eyes to see Peter tied to the ground with what seemed like several layers of his tunic spell and a gaping Macarthur standing at the door. He closed his mouth and took steady steps up to the sitting Regius. " What in god's name did you just do? The scene you just caused was more likely than not seen for miles, not to mention the calls I've gotten."

Regius laughed out loud, " Old man why didn't you tell me to rank 2 was so short! I'm already done here, look at Link. All we did was start to absorb mana. I didn't notice any scenes." said Regius.

Macarthur's jaw dropped again as Link popped out of Regius's chest and ran around the room with the audible sound of his feet hitting the ground before he circled back, licked the frazzled Peter's face, and then bounced back into Regius chest.

Macarthur rubbed the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. " Congrats on setting the record then, the fastest anyone has ever completed rank 2 is 3 months but I guess your ten minutes takes the cake. I'll tell you how to get into Rank 3 but you need to promise to not do it Until you are 18 at least.

When someone breaks into rank 3 they gain close to 200 years of life and since you probably don't want to look like you're 13 for a very long time I suggest waiting." said Macarthur. Regius nodded his head and while shaking his head he went to walk over to Peter and instead of the single-step he thought he was taking carried him far past Peter and straight into the far wall.

He laughed as he rebounded off the wall it seemed he had to get used to a lot of mana coursing through his body at all times with the new status. He got on all fours and crawled over to the disheveled Peter.

Peter looked over at him before forming his hand into a fist and bonking Regius on the head once again.

"What did I do this time?!" Peter humphed ``You absorbed enough mana to reach the max of rank 2 and I completed one feather of this bird so it was for being inconsiderate." said Peter, but as he said it he swung his arm around and bonked Regius on the head once again.

" That one is because in your current state you can't catch me" with that he let out a loud belly of laughter as he sprinted for the door Macarthur had just left through while pointing backward as a purple beam shot behind him and wrapped him in several tunics from his spell.

Regius stood up with shaky feet due to the mass of added weight but it helped him be able to walk around without shooting around. He began to slowly walk around the room with the spell on him while unbeknownst to him Peter and Macarthur sat behind the closed door.

"You know he would have gotten used to it eventually it would have been funny to see him bang into the walls all night. You should use this time to catch up to him," said Macarthur as he watched Regius walk around through a glass pane in the door.

Peter shook his head as he concentrated on keeping his spell up while a bird on his shoulder slowly absorbed mana. "He has a forbidden rank spirit, Uncle Macarthur. I may catch up now but we both know no one will ever catch up to him. He's gonna leave every member of this generation in his dust. So if I can help him in other ways or simply be there to support him then I'll be there. I'll never stop guarding his back for as long as I live because he's my brother. When he makes the family's bow I'll do it at his side but if I'm being honest I don't think I'm cut out for all the fighting but he's different.He was born for this and so was that spirit. I would be lying if I didn't say a part of me weeps for what he's going to do to the families but I understand. The things they made us do in the pens were horrific.

He stood out and tried to keep us alive even if it meant him having to fight masses of mana monsters but he did it all the same and do you want to know how the Kord family rewarded him for his efforts?

They called it the Fall of the Valkyries; they pitted what remained of the guards of his home against him in a battle royale and they were each told the same thing. Kill Regius Lowe and you will get to go free. We thought Regius would die that day but what happened instead was worse in a way.

Regius stood there not able to swing his sword at the people who had helped raise him the last guards of the Lowe family. They made it seem like they were all gonna strike him at the same time but instead one by one they charged forward and impaled themselves on the sword that he was using at the time and as the blade slid to the hilt they each gave him one last kiss on the cheek and told him to make it out of those pens and Live a good life.

When the last one was done Regius stood in the center of the ring cradling her body and trying to wish life back into them as confetti burst in the air and a sign dropped from the ceiling that read "Good Riddance to the Lowe Family Valkyries". They were 4 teenage girls Macarthur.

They were his attendants, his guards, and babysitters he spent almost every day with at least one of them up until the day they came for us.

He wouldn't utter a word for the next year but still, when the Kord family threw criminals or beasts into the arena he was always at the front of the line to do what he could so more of us could live for just another day. So if I have to fall behind so that he can reach the peaks that you and the heads of the other families sit at then I will because what he craves is to make them kneel and he paid the price of my loyalty in his own blood time and time again.``

Macarthur stood with his back to the door now staring intently at Peter before he walked forward and wrapped him in his arms. Tears fell from his eyes as he said the only thing he could, "I'm sorry." and with that Peter maintained the spell while hugging Macarthur back and crying his tears.