Volume 01 - Chapter 08: A Spar

(A/n This is last chapter of this volume. Epilogue will be published tomorrow.

It's already out on wattpad)

~3183 words

A feeble knock echoed in the room I was given by the elven royalty.

-- Flash Back Starts -- 

"I am sure this demonstration will be enough to let you know that I am not lying... your majesty" I replied, giving a minute bow showing the bare minimum of curtsy. I wouldn't have used my powers in front of them since the guard would've been stopped in time anyways. 

But acting like a victim and powerless individual in front of them may lead to them using me as they wish. 

"Forgive me for the guard's unruly behavior. We will see to it that he is properly disciplined", the king spoke, his tone and intentions betraying the words that came out of his mouth. 

Silently, I sat down, waiting for the king and queen to speak something. But my eyes were set on the old man, Virion Eralith. His eyes were sharp, ferocity and serenity in a perfect equilibrium. The smirk never left his face. His arms were crossed as he continued to scrutinize my every behavior and move. 

"As we now know what you said was true, I am sure you'd want something as a reward", the king spoke. 

Finally. 

The line I was waiting for. 

"Actually, if you'd be so generous, i'll like two things as my reward", I said and interlinked my fingers. 

-- Flash Back Ends -- 

Quickly getting up I went towards the door. The well-mannered triple knocks on the door had turned into violent clobbers. Judging by the impatience, I can already guess who it is.

Reaching for the handle of the door of my temporary room in this castle, I opened it. 

A gunmetal haired elf came hurtling towards me like a high-speed projectile.

Shifting my weight back at my heels, I turned to the side, narrowly dodging the clumsy headbutt. Her feet stumbled as she went flying towards the ground. My hand travelled quickly and grabbed her by the scruff of her dress. 

She stopped mid-air, her nose just above the white tile of the floor. 

"You need to be more careful", I said, letting her down on the ground. 

She got up, with a pout on her face she made her way towards me, "Meanie. Why did you act like that in front of my parents?", she paused and then her eyes widened like she had remembered something else to bother me with, "and what did you asked for reward? Why did you insisted on just talking to my parents?"

"I just asked them to let me go home", I replied. It wasn't a lie. I did ask them to help me go back to the human kingdom. However, I don't need to tell her that I asked for two favors. 

She nodded her head in affirmation as if she had comprehended everything. "Are you going to leave?" She asked. 

"Yes, I will. When the teleportation gates open, I will leave to reunite with family", I replied to her. Although, I was in no particular hurry to see Reynolds and Alice again, but I guess this is how a normal kid my age will respond. 

Her head lowered, subtle melancholy looming over her. 

I am not sure how should I respond to this situation. Should I pat her like a pet and tell her to cheer up? Should I tell her that we have time so she can still play with me? Or should I tell her the truth that I have no intention of mingling with her?

Things like these confuse me. I told myself that I will live a new life. I will experience feelings and see people in new light. Yet, here I am, turning every possible person into a usable piece in this huge game of chess. 

Was it my nature? The nature to manipulate people? Be apathetic. Or was it my pure instinct to do everything in my power to protect my peace, no matter how many tool-... people I have to sacrifice.  

Looking up I saw the elven princess still looking down, her shoulders shuddering. A sigh escaped my lips, 

"Do you mind if you leave me alone for a while, Tess? I need some time to rest", I said, trying to sound gentle. 

Her face shot up. The corner of her eyes had huge beads of tears, ready to cascade down her cheeks. Her eyes were moist which glistened as the light from lighting artifacts reflected from them. She looked at me for a while, hoping I would stop her so she can say whatever she wanted to say. 

However, whatever she wanted to say could wait. 

Her resolve to continue bothering me finally shattered as she started sobbing and finally left the room. I saw her pull the doors as hard as she could and ran away. Shallow, rushed steps bounced back from hallways, subtle sniffles reaching my ear. 

Once the sound of her steps vanished, I closed the door and made my way towards my bed. Letting myself fall on the bed, I stared at the ceiling. Something that I had been wondering about for some time now, crossed my mind.

Deviant forms of mana. 

Ice and lightning were exclusive to humans. Magma and metal to dwarves. Illusion and Plant magic to elves. The real mystery is the reason why the elemental or deviant forms are exclusive to races. Morphologically physical altercations between the three races existed, granting them their unique, distinguishable features.  However, the internal anatomy of them were the same. 

As of now, I never encountered a dwarf, but after secretly sending pulses of mana, I was able to get enough information about their anatomy. It was the same, except for a few contretemps but they weren't significant. Not enough to explain the reason behind the exclusivity of deviant forms of mana. 

Was it the environmental difference? The elves being close to nature were able to unlock plant magic. The same logic could be applied to illusion magic. They have already adapted to the bewitched mist. They do not lose their natural sense of direction and the mist's effects are null on their senses. 

So, for me to unlock them do I have the study the necessary essence of life? Plant magic was useful, in more ways than one. Just like any other magic form, it could act as the best form of automatic self-defense as well as offense. 

Still laying on the bed, I brought my hand in front of my face. A small droplet of water formed in front of me. The water droplet spin violently and started changing color. Streaks of white started to spread throughout it, forming a nexus of interlinked solid mass of ice. Fire mana ignited below it and I willed more ice into it. 

The ice and flames reacted to each other in a perfect harmony, fighting for control and dominance. It was at an equilibrium. Neither element was stronger than the another. Just a matter of output of mana and comprehension. The ice sizzled as I increased the intensity of flames. 

The flames changed colors. The color of flames in my previous world changed when a metal or metal salt was added to it. When a metal salt was introduced to a flame, a combustion reaction ensued. This reaction excites an electron in the metal from its ground state to a higher orbital. In order to return to its ground state, the electron releases the additional energy in the form of light.

However, in this world it's much easier. The raw input of mana in flames and the basic comprehension of the metallic salts related to the particular color of flames could result in the change. In other words, by increasing its intensity, one can change its color.

The way I unlocked fire element wasn't based on genetics. I had a clear comprehension of it. The cycle of oxygen, fuel and heat. Oxygen is naturally occurring, fuel is the mana, heat is produced from the combustion of mana particles conjured from core. A perfect, well-balanced cycle making simple orange flames.

Spells in this world worked based on visualization of spells. People chant their attack loudly because it helps them focus on the mass, output, intensity, density, volume of the spell. Search for an environment with copper or visualize adding it to the flame. Visualization helps in directing focus. 

I opened my eyes. 

The previously orange flames around the ice had turned into blue-green flames, surging with newfound power and intensity. Remove copper and add copper acetate. It was naturally present in this world. The flames lost their blue counterpart and burned even fiercely in a green hue. The mist from the smoldering ice, regenerating again and again filled the whole room. 

With a quick flick, I cancelled the flames and threw the icicle in the corner of the room. Wind mana propelled clearing the mist in the whole room. It wasn't mine. But rather a foreign presence. 

A lock of black hair fell on the ground. My vision warped as wind blew once again. I felt the world around me spin. 

"An illusion", I concluded and ceased my movement. If someone could use illusion magic to the point, they could deceive a solid yellow mage, then its best I don't make a reckless move. The wind whistled near my ear, but I had already augmented my ears in a protective veil of mana and an addition layer of sound, to filter out any other illusions. 

Ice condensed in my palms. 

"Aren't you a cute little scary boy", A honey tinted voice spoke in my ear. The breath touched the inside of my ear, but I didn't turn back. The voice and the breath... It was surreal. Too good to be true. A near perfect replication. But it wasn't enough to deceive me. 

"Ohhh", The voice spoke once again. I felt the voice's eyes looking at me with amusement. 

"Can you just stop and get to the point?" I said in a neutral tone, letting the elements shimmer out of life. The subtle wind that circulated around the room stopped as a silhouette appeared. It was a young woman, wearing formal white elven robes. Jet black hair fell down on her shoulder and below to her bosoms. Her corner of her obsidian eyes were creased as she had a narrow, almost a teasing smile on her face. 

"You are no fun. I was just getting excited", she said and laughed. 

"What do you want from me?" I spoke with no hostility in my voice. 

"Elder Virion has called you out in the backyard. He wishes to talk to you", She said and turned on her heel. Taking a few steps forward she stopped and looked back from over her shoulders, "You should make up for the damage you did", she said and paused once more as she cocked her head in the direction where her lock of hair was, "see you later, boy~" A tremor ran through my spine at her voice. Before I could see back towards her, she was gone. 

A sigh escaped my lips. 

"it's going to be a pain", I muttered under my breath as I made my way towards where the elder elf had summoned me. 

-------------------------------

Standing across the old elf, I let my arms dangle freely to the either side. I tossed the wooden sword to the side. The elder raised a brow at me. 

"Won't you be using a weapon?" He asked, cracking his index finger. 

"I prefer hand-to-hand", I replied to him. 

It was useless to act like an innocent child in front of him. He was shrewd but what amazed me was his ability to accept things as they were. 

"Very well. Show me what you got", he said and dashed towards me. 

I am not sure why I should oblige to his call of showing him what I got but I guess he wants to test me for something, evaluate my worth or just trying to satisfy his own curiosity. Whatever it is, it will bring me nothing but benefits. 

The girl from before. She is certainly stronger than the old man. The amount of mana her core held was phenomenal when compared to him. So why is she serving the royal family when she can topple the kingdom? 

As I was busy with my inner monologue, I felt jab directed at my solar plexus. My body caved in, and feet shifted a quarter of an inch. His jab slide right past me. Using the palm of my hand, I directed his blow smoothly away from me. A small opening appeared in his defenses from my action towards his shoulders. 

Taking advantage of it, I delivered a straight foot jab at his shoulder blade. 

The straight foot jab is an effective technique to catch your opponent and off balance them or to counter their attacks as they close the distance to throw them. 

It was an effective technique and one of the basic kick techniques used in Muay-Thai martial-arts. While it is used mainly to target the mid-section of an opponent, I had directed the kick at his shoulder. This is because this move involved hitting with the base of the foot. Augmenting the side or narrow portion of body result in a cutting effect while augmenting a wide area result in a fracturing effect. 

The Elder- Virion stumbled a few steps back. His eyes widened at me, a look on his face that indicated longing. Suddenly, he started cackling like a maniac. 

"You brat. You are really interesting. I already like you", he spoke although I didn't ask him to like me. 

"I will get serious now", he said, his cheerful expression being replaced by a more animalistic one. Jet black aura surrounded him, his eyes gleaming in a golden hue. "Here I come", he said and vanished. 

His speed was astonishing. Enough to perception blitz most people. I closed my eyes and focused. Wind mana coalesced around me in a thick green sheen. I remembered my research about my favorite element. Not just the wind, but the nature itself. 

Focus. 

The movement of wind. The change in wind pressure from the usage of mana. Wind blowing. Wind moving in irregular pattern because of someone manipulating it. 

Virion was a wind mage. His transformation included integrating with a high-level mana beast's will. 

With my eyes still closed, I felt the movement in wind. 

Subtle, erratic, serene, violent, tranquil, vicious. 

Wind fluctuated behind me. 

Tilting my neck, a bit to the right side, I dodged a blow. Opening my eyes, I gripped his hand clad in a black aura and ignited blueish green flames. The flames stuck to him as he pulled his hand away from me and created some distance. 

But I didn't allow it. 

Closing the little distance between us, I used the same martial arts technique again. In this situation, I had deemed the Muay-Thai arts to be optimal. 

My hands can't breach his defenses and attack at the same time. The diverse selection of complicated kicks in these martial arts were the most suitable right now. 

Using mana underneath my feet, I exploded it in rapid succession. The ground beneath me splintered as I closed the distance. Cacophonous booms resounded as I arrived just in front of him. 

Despite I couldn't see his face underneath the black aura, I could tell he was getting distracted by my techniques. His brain wasn't able to comprehend the techniques I was using. When his brain is split into two equally arduous tasks, all I needed was to add complexion in my attack pattern. 

I jumped up to his level and using the 'Slapping Foot-Thrust', I bent the kicking knee towards his already hit shoulder. Just as he was about to defend it, I used a quick leg extension to hit him with my foot. Usually, the top of the foot is used but also the whole foot can be used to strike the target with this technique. 

His head jerked back from the impact of the blow as he fell on his back. Augmenting my legs, I quickly dashed backwards, creating a significant distance between us. Not giving him time to recover, I conjured multiple ice spells and directed them at him. 

His prone form moved at impeccable speeds and started dodging my attacks. His movements were fluid and accurate. But the kick to the side of his head had dealt a significant damage. Every now and then an icicle would stab him when he could've easily dodged it. 

The black aura around him started to flicker as his movements became sluggish. 

In a head on fight, I would've lost because of the small reach and extension of body. However, dealing a big blow and then overwhelming with spells could help stall until his backlash occurs. 

He did a big mistake. If he fought in his normal form, he could've fought better since he would've had better stamina. But since he tapped into his beast will form, his stamina ran out quickly before he could make use of it. 

Either way, his loss was something that was inevitable. 

After a few moments he fell to the ground and the black aura around him subsided. His breathing was shallow and erratic. However, despite his loss he had a content smile over his face. 

"I guess I deserve this for being arrogant, buahahahahaha", he said and stood up, still laughing like a maniac. 

Dusting his robes, he got up. His gaze landed on me and placed a hand over my shoulder. 

"Brat, I have an offer to make", he said. I looked at him trying to express some sort of confusion but judging from his expression it seemed like my features were still stoic and wasn't reflecting my inner strife. 

"I am listening", I replied. 

"Do you know what's wrong with your core?" He asked me. 

Of course, I knew what's wrong with it and I knew how to solve it theoretically, but since he has a beast will, if I feign ignorance he can be of some help. 

"No, I do not", I replied. 

After that he started his explanation about beast ranks and origin of beast wills. Once he was done, he looked at me and crossed his arms, 

"So how about I propose a deal?" He asked. 

I merely nodded in response. 

"How about I make you my disciple and integrate your will. In return you can teach me your fighting style?" He said with a smirk that wasn't suitable for this situation. 

Although this wasn't a very beneficial deal, but since I would be staying here for a few years, being in a good relationship with the elder would certainly be useful in long term. 

"All right", I replied as he extended his hand. 

After a brief re-check of my decision, I shake his hand. 

My stay here is going to be fruitful.

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(A/n Hope you like the chapter. 

See ya all next time 

SAYONARA)