15. Bounty Hunters & Magic

June 8, 2010.

The next morning, I woke up at dawn, still hugging Gwen, who was lying on top of me. Since the old men were about to wake up, I decided to take Gwen to her room.

Putting Gwen on her bed and covering it with a blanket, I returned to my room and fell asleep again.

Two hours later my grandfather woke me up. During breakfast, Gwen glowed with happiness, which Max no doubt noticed, but ignored.

After breakfast, we said goodbye to Aunt Vera and set off to continue our journey.

_

(3rd POV)

In space near the Earth, there was a spaceship. This ship belonged to Vilgax.

Inside the spacecraft, on the training ground, three silhouettes stood in the shadows.

After turning on the searchlight, in these silhouettes one could recognize three well-known in the underworld of the galaxy, bounty hunters.

They were Six-Six, Kraab, and Tetrax.

Vilgax's voice came from the intercom and he ordered the hunters to start the competition.

Six-Six decided to show itself first. Coming down from the platform they were all standing on, using his jetpack, he began destroying the Vilgax drones with his weapons hidden throughout his suit.

After Six-Six destroyed a dozen robots, Kraab decided to go down as well.

After landing, with his large pincer and sword, Kraab destroyed several more drones. Until the ceiling opened and a large robot jumped out.

When the robot appeared, Tetrax, who had still not moved before, took out his flying board and flew towards the robot.

The robot, on the other hand, fired its laser at the approaching Tetrax, but he calmly took the shot on himself without receiving any damage.

Having flown close enough, he jumped and punched right through with his robot carcass, thereby destroying it, and calmly landed on his feet, making a superhero landing at the same time.

After completing the test, Vilgax, still unrecovered, appeared on the holographic screen, saying:

- Well, great. You suit me. Your task is to bring the Omnitrix back here. Those who succeed will receive a reward. Do this so that it doesn't become.

Following Vilgax's words, one of his soldiers brought three tracking devices that tracked the Omnitrix by its glow as it transformed its user.

Having received the devices, all three hunters went to the escape pods and they were sent to Earth.

_

(Lex POV)

Five hours after our departure from Aunt Vera, we stopped near an abandoned mining town, Slaterville. I asked my grandfather about this, because it was time to start teaching Gwen in magic.

First, we all had lunch, after which Gwen and I walked away from the bus and, having laid a blanket, right on the ground, sat on it.

And the grandfather himself began to delve into the engine, something happened to him there.

- Now, Gwen, sit in the lotus position and breathe evenly. - I began.

Sitting down, as I said, Gwen asked curiously:

- What will you teach me?

- First, you will need to feel the magic within you. Then you will need to take control of it and learn how to manage it. Since you are partly Anodite, like me, this will not be difficult. - I said in a lecturer tone.

- Why? - Gwen asked, bowing her head sweetly.

- You see, Gwen, the Anodites are a completely energetic race. They are made up of mana. Therefore, controlling mana is as natural for them as breathing for us. Although you're only ¼ Anodite, you still have the Gift of Heaven. This means that with training you can become a full-fledged Anodite. But right now, you should naturally have excellent control and some instinctive understanding of magic. - I enlightened my cousin.

After my words, Gwen's eyes shone directly, but taking control of herself, she asked:

- What can you do now, with Magic?

- At the moment, I can, by accelerating the current of mana in my body, increase my physical characteristics by about 20%. I can also do this...

After my words, I raised my left hand and a dark blue haze came out of it, which after a few seconds took the form of an unstable transparent disk.

When the disc was more or less able to stabilize, I threw it at the nearest stone. On impact, the disc exploded and slightly spoiled the stone.

Gwen looked at this with wide eyes, after which she said only:

- Cool!!!

- This is a magical construction. The Anodites use them as their main weapon in battle. This is very natural and simple for them. For ordinary magicians, magic is much more difficult. At the very least, you need to use spells, and more complex magic requires rituals. As you noticed, I did not use any spells, but only for constructions. For you and me, even to create a fireball, you need a spell. But I don't know any spells. Then you will need to find them and learn. But in the future, the more we learn and the stronger we become, the easier it will be. Moreover, as the descendants of the Anodites, we have an exceptional talent for magic. Magic itself loves us. - I finished my monologue.

- Why was your disk so unstable? - having digested the new information, asked Gwen.

- Well done, that noticed. Since I did not devote any time to magic, just a little more than a week, the creation of this disk is the only thing I have learned, besides the control of mana inside the body. I still have to work and work to make it completely stable. Later, after a couple of years, maybe less, it will be quite easy for me to create structures, but this requires training. Now let's start your training. - I said.

At my words, Gwen just nodded and began to follow my instructions.

We finished in two hours. Gwen is really much more talented than me in magic. During this time, she easily learned to feel mana. I was able to do this in only four hours, and this is at my 40 times the learning rate.

Just when we returned to grandfather, the clock beep, which means that a tracking device has arrived in the planet's atmosphere.

Yes, I installed back-tracking. When the tracking device is on my planet, the watch sends me a signal. This means that guests will be arriving soon.

- What's happened? - noticing the signal, asked the grandfather.

- Guests are coming to us.

- In terms of? - asked, who joined our conversation, Gwen.

- Yesterday I noticed in the watch the ability to track them through a special device. I could not remove this feature, without the device itself. Therefore, I decided not to touch anything, but set a signal when such a device arrives on Earth. - I said.

- So, then someone came to Earth in search of the Omnitrix? - asked the grandfather.

- Yes. - I replied calmly.

- And what should we do? How soon will they find us? - Gwen asked.

- They won't find us until I turn into an alien. The last time I did this was last night, so the trail is gone. But you have to do something about it, you can't just hide. And I have a plan. - putting my hand on my chin, I said.

- You want to lure them, prepare the battlefield, defeat them and pick up the device to remove the possibility of surveillance. - said the grandfather quickly. As expected of him. immediately understood everything.

- Yes everything is correct. This is my plan. Now I'm turning into an alien so that they can catch the signal and go in our direction. Then I will go to the nearest abandoned mine and wait for them there. You and Gwen will cover me, and help, if anything. - I said.

- Good plan. I just have the right weapon for this. I just need to put the bus closer to the mine so that I can shoot from it. - Max said after a little thought.

- What should I do? - Gwen asked.

- I'll give you a weapon too, for self-defense, or you'll cover me. Just be careful, please. - Grandpa said seriously.

In fact, it was a huge sign of trust from Grandpa.

- Certainly. - Gwen said with a smile. Apparently happy from the opportunity to help.

- All right, everything is decided. You go to the mine now and get ready. Then call me when everything is ready and I will come running. Then we will wait for the guests. - I said.

Nodding at my words, Gwen and Max got on the bus and drove to the mine. I began to wait.