Chapter 94: Post Dawn Clarity

Diana asked permission to go out and hunt in the Tundra. Her mind was clouded, and she needed to let off some steam. Seeing that their commander's grandson would not be joining her and that they had to deal with the repercussions from last night's hurricane, the soldiers gave her the go-ahead.

'What the hell did I do?'

She ran.

'He is just a boy and I, I took advantage of him.'

She ran faster into the wild, her armor already engulfing her, and her warglaives were drawn.

'He was vulnerable and confused, I could feel his fragile mind, and I did what, I bonded him to myself.'

She searched. She wanted a fight, a big, bloody one. She released her aura in full, challenging everything that moved.

'And worst of all, this one moment of madness will shape the rest of our lives. He doesn't even understand what we did, hell, I don't fully either.'

A wolf had answered her call.

"Your kind doesn't usually come here alone human. What, were you chased out of your pack?" It asked in a mocking tone.

The wolf was an Alpha, but the rest of its pack had gone into hiding. This was going to be a fight between Rank Fours, and they wouldn't survive even being in the vicinity of one.

Diana looked at it and said nothing, she just charged. There was no plan, and no scheme in her head, just intent.

The wolf covered itself with Ice and matched her charge. Just before they clashed, the ground turned to Ice, and it burst upwards. Uncountable shards hit the silver knight, and her armor scratched all over, but that didn't even slow her down.

She felt it cut her, and even if it didn't make contact with her skin, the enchanted ice was still able to cause her pain, but right now, that was more of a blessing for her.

She needed a distraction, and she would take what she could get.

She empowered herself in the moonlight and blinked toward the wolf. With a circular motion of her wrists, the blades spun and cut into the animal.

It had a touch hide and most things out here couldn't even scratch him. It had grown overconfident, and in one exchange it had died.

Diana just looked at the wolf, pure disappointment hid behind her helmet.

'I will need a Rank Five.' She thought as she went further into the Tundra.

She ran for another hour before she saw a moose. It was just about as big as a small mountain. It rose three hundred meters into the sky ( 1000 feet) and it was busy munching on a grass field.

Most of humanity didn't know just how bizarre the natural world could seem, but Rangers had the privilege of finding that out firsthand.

'Rank Five, if I can hunt it down Ciaran would have a very boogie ingredient to cook with.'

Yet again she charged, engulfed in the light she headed to the colossus.

It knew she was coming for it, and unlike the wolf, it didn't set traps, it just slammed on the ground, and an earthquake hit the whole area. Massive rock spikes emerged from the ground, then they split into countless human-sized ones.

Diana couldn't cut through all of them so she was forced to retreat. She blinked out of the area of effect, and watch the devastation the animal had caused.

An area at least twice as big as the stronghold now looked like a spiky ball of rocks. This was just a warning from it, she knew this much. Rank Five was considered the beginning of the middle Ranks. It held substantially more power than the lower ones.

Diana wasn't sure she would survive this fight if she attempted it. She was strong, far stronger than a regular entity of her Rank, but nowhere near this.

The creature just continued to eat, while she retreated in shame. Not shame for her loss, as that was expected, shame because without a fight, she had to meet the consequences of her actions, and that was something she dreaded.

---

Back in the army base, Ciaran was experimenting with his new powers. He would have to wait until he was back in the wilds for a more hands-on experience, but at least he could meditate.

The voices that he heard were louder, and clearer than ever before. The Wind sounded like a cheerful child, happy about its new friend.

Before the Wind was more like a smart tool, able to handle a few commands, but without any thoughts of its own. Now it was more like a young animal, sentient, but not really.

'This… has some interesting implications. IF the Wind has a mind of its own, then so does the other elements, and as far as I understood Diana, practically everything could be an element.'

The boy was given a crash course on magic theory. Diana had told him that past the Novice Rank, a mage would begin their specialization. For example, she became a Moonlight Apprentice from a Light Novice. As she only had one element to her name, her body followed suit.

The problem Ciaran had was that he didn't feel any particular change. He was a Wind user before, and that hadn't changed.

He decided to go ask the Brigadier. The old man was no Mage, but he was old and had high social status. The boy thought surely he would know.

"I have no idea. Never understood how magic works in the first place. I know Earth, and I know how to use it, but I have never experienced a change in elements." The old man said, puzzled about what brought this question out of the boy.

He then frowned.

"Did you cause the hurricane outside boy? Needless to say, but my base is no place for your wacky experiments." He said, with no room for negotiations.

Ciaran just shrugged and then gave him a nasty smirk. Before the old man could tell him to wipe it off his face, the boy released his aura.

"You, you broke through? Already? Damn me, that's why there was such strong Wind, the damn planet was rejoicing. I love you kid, but fuck Mages and their preferential treatment, why do we not get a celebration?"

The Brigadier was over the moon for his grandson, but like all pure warriors, he was jealous of mages. They were far more feared and respected compared to their peers, and even the world itself acknowledged them.

"I don't know, but I could ask my Master when I see him next. If anyone can answer that, it's him." The boy said seriously.

The question the old man so casually tossed out got the boy thinking, was the world really discriminating against Warriors, or just against the mass-produced product that they had become.

Even at Rank One, he felt a connection to Water, almost as strong as the one he had with the Wind. Was it because of the special circumstances of his breakthrough, his blood, the person who was helping him, something else he wasn't aware of, or a mixture of everything?

"Why don't you ask that pretty little las, I am sure she would tell you if she knows." He asked.

The old man was still intending to tease his grandson. To his amazement, it actually worked this time.

The boy flinched and got visibly flustered. Then he just nodded and left.

The old man's aide just stood there and smiled.

"It seems your grandson takes after you after all sir. He takes his shrewdness from his father and his ruthlessness from his mother. But his ability with woman, now that is one hundred present inherited from you, Liam never had trouble after all." He teased.

The Brigadier got angry and yelled at his friend, but inside he was happy. There was nothing more normal than developing a crush on a pretty girl.

Sure the boy was a little young for that, but he grew up fast. The only thing that worried the old man was whether the Ranger would let the boy down gently, and if that would strain their future relationship. He didn't even consider the fact she could accept his feelings.

'She probably sees Ciaran as a little brother. She seemed like a good girl, but I want to make sure, I will talk to her when she gets back.'

Ciaran got back to his room and shut the door. He couldn't talk about 'that' with his grandfather. The man loved him, but he was a human, and in human society when a teenager gets intimate with a nine-year-old things usually get more than just a little messy.

"We didn't do anything wrong right?"

He waited but got nothing but silence as an answer.

"Come on Granny, you are everywhere and I know you hear me, give me a straight answer, please?

He asked once again, but the only thing he got in response was silence.

On a mountain near the base, a woman stood, pondering that very question. She saw what happened, but even she was surprised by the kids.

"Even in love, your disciple follows in your footsteps Eleftherios." She said, as she finally made her choice.

The Wind carried a very vocal "No" to the boy, easing his nerves.