Burn (Part-3)

"I can sense it you know."

"Hmm?"

"The large amount of mana you are amassing." Elaina replied.

"Well... I am just preparing for battle." I replied.

"That's still way too much. You could probably level the entire forest if you release it all at once."

"Haha. No, I can't do anything like that yet."

"And that expression on your face... Liam, what's going on?" Elaina seemed genuinely worried.

I stayed silent for a few moments, pondering my own feelings.

I smiled at her. "Don't worry about it."

"If you say so..." The answer didn't satisfy her, but she decided to not pursue it anymore.

I looked at Elaina, she still had that troubled expression on her face. I wonder how sensory types see the mana and magic in others. Perhaps I was indeed amassing an unusual amount of mana.

But Elaina, you really don't have to worry about it. When the time comes, I'll take care of it all by myself.

I'll make sure of it.

"Liam? Liam!"

My senses returned to the present with a jerk. Luca was saying something as I finally focused on his words. "Yeah sorry, what were you saying?"

"Don't blank out on us like that, we are here." Luca replied, irritated.

We had reached the forest. The sky was down to its final fading light of dusk. The forest wasn't exactly the largest you would ever see, but neither was it small by any means. In fact, the forest surrounded the village on three sides. We decided to enter from here only because this is where the goblins always come from. What one could say was particularly different about this forest was how deep and dense it was. Trees and plants of all sizes grew together in a congested space. We could barely see past the first few trees in front of us, especially at this time of the day.

A forest like this would be an ideal habitat for naturally born monsters and normal animals. Yes, you heard that right, monsters and animals actually coexist in peace most of the time. It seems monsters and demon-kind only see humans as their targets. Even in this situation, the fact that the forest goblins attacked the livestock was just to harass the human village. Of course, now the situation has escalated, which is why we are here.

"Good news, it's a full moon tonight. Bad news, none of that moonlight will help us in there." Ren noted.

Sylvie shook her head sighing. "Doesn't that make the good news useless?"

"Ren is right, the forest canopy is too thick to let any light in." Luca agreed.

"I think I can take care of that problem." I offered.

Ren smiled. "Well who better to solve the light problem than the Descendant of Light himself? Hehe."

Sylvie slapped his arm. "Aye, don't say it like that."

Luca cleared his throat. "Uhm. Anyway, Liam can handle that. Now we'll only need to look for the monsters themselves."

"Forest goblins are nimble and hard to catch. Especially in a forest like this. This is their home territory we'll be walking into." Ren said.

"I remember Elaina saying she has tracking abilities. How well can you track at night? Elaina?" Luca said, turning to Elaina.

Elaina was barely listening to the conversation herself. She stood at the edge of the forest, stretching out her hand and feeling the wind from the forest with her eyes closed.

"The wind..." She said. "Can you sense it?"

We moved closer to the forest, standing next to Elaina, reaching out to feel the wind just like her.

"What is it?" Luca asked.

Elaina said nothing, just continued to keep her eyes closed and quietly feel the air with her arm stretched out.

"I can't feel it..." Sylvie complained.

"I can." Ren said.

I tried to feel for whatever it was they were feeling, yet I couldn't. Just as I was about to say "I can't fee–"

"Calm your senses, calm your mind. Reach out to the wind. Feel it... lightly on your fingertips." Ren whispered.

Those words. It reminded me of the first time my father taught me to feel the mana around me, inside me. I took a deep breath and calmed the turmoil of mana and emotion inside me. I reached out once again towards the forest.

I could feel it. As the slow breeze coming from the forest touched my fingertips, I could sense a very familiar feeling. Mana is around us at all times, mana is everywhere. Yet this was different, it was beyond mana, something that can only be caused by a mind with a will to change mana into...

"There is magic in the air." I said turning to Ren and Elaina.

Elaina opened her eyes and looked at me. "Yes. A thin layer of magic perfectly immersed in the air. A delicate spell carefully crafted and weaved into the atmosphere, that acts like a veil covering all presence of mana in the forest."

"It's not a natural forest, is it?" Elaina asked Ren.

Ren was in a different state of mind than others. His eyes were still closed, and his hand reached out to the forest, not to feel the magic like us, but it seemed as if he was reaching out to someone. He pulled his hand back and as he opened his eyes, one could see they had started to get moist. Without saying anything, he continued to stare into the depths of the forest with a nostalgic smile.

"No, it's not." He said, finally replying to Elaina's question.

Elaina turned to Luca. "So to answer your question, Luca. No kind of mana tracking magic will work here."

A troubled expression came over Luca's face.

"Fortunately you have me..." Elaina continued with a smile. "I don't track mana. I track presence in the air. This forest has a different atmosphere of its own. One dense with mana. While it will limit my tracking abilities, I think I can manage to hunt down a goblin or two."

"Nice. Well, that takes care of tracking. Now, let's turn on the light." I said bringing forth Lightbreak.

Even now I could barely believe the blade was metal, considering how beautiful its clear crystalline form was. I have held the blade in my hand many times, yet the feeling when I grabbed the hilt still struck me anew just like always. A feeling of reassurance from the sword itself, as if it had a mind of its own and it accepted me, just like I accepted it. Like a partner letting me know it had my back. If Lightbreak is my sword, I, Liam Everhart, am it's human. When I first felt this, I knew there was more to this Magisteel sword than just its supreme ability to host magic.

But today would be the first time I will be truly passing my Light magic into it. So I did. And it was a unique unforgettable experience. I had seen my own magic before as it manifested on the various swords I have owned over time, but never like this. My Light magic didn't manifest on the sword, it manifested in it. It happened instantly, but for those first few moments, I could see it happen in slow motion. My magic first appeared at the base of the blade, right inside. For a fleeting moment, I could see my blade shine and glow all different colors that constitute light. From there the light spread all over the blade in a flashing brilliance, like a bird spreading its wings with proud glory for the first time. In that moment I forgot about everything and looked at my sword proudly as it declared itself to the world.

Once the entire process was completed, though barely a second to the eyes of others, I reduced the magic inflow until the light dulled down to a suitable output. "That should do it."

Ren spoke up. "Alright then, all possible recon and requirements that could come up have been fulfilled before we enter the forest. Just like Luca had been insisting the entire way. Now I know very well what's on all your minds. We should be rushing in right away. We literally had to hold back Liam to stop him from rushing in. The magic in the forest is unnaturally dense. And in there, we won't be the one with the advantage. That doesn't change what we need to do, but remember... Dead men save no lives."

Ren then turned to me with a smile. "All preparations are complete. Lead the way."