Chapter 33: Trial by Fire

Chapter 33: Trial by Fire

 Night had enveloped Darius's room, the only light emanating from a small lamp glowing on his desk. He leaned over an open book, quill in hand, immersed in his writing. The crystal light cast a warm glow over the pages, brightening his focused expression. Around him, the room was a quiet sanctuary, the peace broken only by the occasional dip into ink and the steady, rhythmic scratch of his quill.

 The scene was almost mundane except for the bandage encircling his head. "Ow," he grimaced, flinching slightly as he reached for his inkwell. 

"He didn't have to go that far, I mean...nevermind, I deserved it," he muttered, his sigh heavy as he resumed his task.

----

 Earlier that day, Darius stood in the center of the spacious training grounds, dressed in a fresh white tunic paired with new brown trousers and boots, his posture relaxed, breathing deeply to steady himself. The training area, flanked by tall, ancient trees, was bathed in the warm glow of the afternoon sun.

Opposite Darius, Jarek stood, his battle armor bearing the marks of countless battles. Though ancient and worn, its surface told tales of resilience, giving off an aura of impenetrability. The sun cast its rays upon the armor, drawing attention to the intricate craftsmanship and the Valdenes crest—a wolf's head howling over a broken crown—etched prominently on its chest.

 Beside the formidable figure of the Blue Wolf, his wife Amara, stood with grace and power. Her silver hair cascaded like a river of moonlight, complementing her emerald eyes. Clutching her staff, the robes she wore, a blend of light green and ivory, danced gently in the soft breeze.

In the quiet that had settled over the training grounds, Jarek's voice cut through, firm and serious, "if you want to convince us, then do it with your actions, not your words."

 In response, his aura flared to life, crackling with power. Blue manaforged gauntlets, vambraces, and sabatons, tinged with lightning, encased his limbs. This armor, a manifestation of his Tier 4 steel knight status, condensed over his standard armor, enhancing his formidable silhouette. His very stance commanded attention, making it clear that he was not merely Darius's father at that moment.

 "Remember, you can quit at any time," Amara's voice carried warmth, her smile unwavering. As she spoke, her eyes began to glow a deep and radiant emerald. Around her, water mana surged upward like a geyser, a powerful, spiraling column that encased her in a vortex of swirling energy.

 'With the Ethereal Steps only at small perfection, I can't rely on it just yet. I'll have to manage my mana while determining their weaknesses.' 

Darius widened his stance, "My turn," he declared, a trace of a smile flickering across his features.

 Darius initiated the first stage of his technique. His bones and marrow, now crystalline reservoirs of mana, hummed softly. Mana flowed, guided by his meridians, drawn irresistibly to his tattoos. These unseen marks pulsed, glowing just beneath his skin, channeling the energy directly into his muscles and organs. With each cycle, Darius's form grew more pronounced—muscles tightened and expanded, his frame slightly taller, defined by the potent influx of mana.

 Darius's transformation unfolded without a visible aura, yet Jarek and Amara, seasoned in the ways of magic and combat, sensed a profound change. The air around their son thickened with danger, as if a formidable predator had stepped into the light.

 Darius marveled inwardly at the surge of strength coursing through him, a sensation magnified beyond his anticipation. 'This is more than I expected! I feel five times as strong as before,' he thought, his eyes shining with the newfound power.

 "Mother, why don't you go first?" Darius's voice carried a newfound confidence as he faced Amara. 'Still not sure what I'm fully capable of, so better not test father just yet.'

 Amara's eyebrow arched in response. "Hmm," she hummed, her demeanor unchanged yet her aura flared, transitioning abruptly into turbulence.

 Jarek let out a low chuckle, taking a step to the side while his gaze lingered on Darius with a mix of sympathy and amusement.

 Darius tensed, feeling his pulse race. "I didn't mean any..." he began, but it was already too late.

Amara's voice sliced through the air, "Aig-tene!" Instantly, the temperature plummeted, frost spreading from her staff's tip, coalescing into a jagged shard of ice that hurtled toward Darius.

 Darius lurched sideways as four of his tattoos dimmed, leaving only the glowing wind star on his chest. His movement clumsy, too close to the blast of cold that nipped at his skin. 'Idiot,' he chastised himself, 'How could I forget her temper?'

More spells followed. A whirlwind of icicles, sharp as knives, spun toward him. Darius ducked and dodged, feeling the wind's cut around his body. Water twisted into serpentine shapes, aiming to ensnare him. Darius leaped back, the liquid ropes missing him by mere inches. Without rest, a barrage of ice needles formed above him, rolling away, Darius felt the impact left in their wake.

 His dodges were erratic, a desperate struggle against the relentless tide of his mother's magic. As he evaded, Darius realized the gap in their abilities—not just in power, but in control. His movements were reactive, barely keeping him one step ahead of the spellwork designed to test him.

The base of Amara's staff struck the ground, "Uisce cloch!" At her command, the air above her head swirled, moisture slowly condensing into a massive sphere of water. Its surface roiled and churned, suspended like a prelude to a storm.

In the brief respite, Darius steadied his breathing. His gaze fixed on the forming water orb. 'I can't keep running! If i want them to abandon everything,' steeling himself, he shifted to face the threat, body aligned and hands poised, 'then i have to risk everything!'

As the orb launched, hurtling towards him with inevitable force, Darius did not flinch nor attempt to sidestep. Instead, he stood firm, eyes locked on the oncoming spell.

 A calm focus overtook him. He extended his hands, drawing upon the depths of his mana. The air around him became agitated, a visible shimmer enveloping his palms. Mana, dense and pulsating, encircled his hands, weaving a barrier of swirling green and white.

Darius braced as the water orb neared, hands meeting its surface with a gentle, swirling touch. His palms glided over it, guiding and decelerating its rotation. Rooted in one spot, his feet traced along the ground, body spinning in place, a dance of control and balance. His hands, moving in harmony with the orb's motion, gradually redirected its path. With a final push, he sent it sailing away, harmlessly dispersing into the distance. Returning to his original stance, the ground beneath him bore a perfect circle, etched by his footwork.

 "That's my boy!" Jarek cheered from the sidelines, a giant smile covered his face.

Darius flexed his fingers, a wince flickering across his face, as he stopped concentrating mana into his hands. A sense of lightness began to envelope him. "Ethereal Steps," he whispered. In the next moment, he surged forward, his movement swift and direct, aiming towards Amara like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Amara, unfazed, launched a spiraling torrent of water towards Darius. Without pause, she followed with a dense, cascading wave. Finally, she conjured sharp icicles from the moisture in the air, hurling them with deadly precision, her incantations spoken in fluid, rapid succession. Darius, however, navigated through the onslaught with deft, profound footwork, his movements leaving trails of blurred afterimages.

Amara's eyes widened. "Arcaventus!" Water swelled beneath her, lifting and propelling her back swiftly. The distance between her and Darius expanded as she rode the wave.

 Darius came to an abrupt stop and crouched low. He then shifted his technique, the lightning tattoo beneath his skin awoke, channeling purple electricity to coil around his legs. Simultaneously, the muscles in his legs began to swell, moving and squirming beneath his skin like serpents.

 Darius exploded from his stance, a storm of dust and dirt trailing in his wake as he rocketed towards Amara.

 Amara ceased her retreat, the water beneath her feet withdrawing and encircling her rapidly. "Aig-aill!" she commanded, and instantly, the water surged to the ground before her, rapidly freezing into a towering wall of ice. Within moments, it materialized and stretched tall and wide across the field.

 "Shit!" In a flash, Darius's mind raced as he abruptly shifted to fire mana mid-stride. With a swift contortion of his body, he launched himself into the air, his leg targeting the looming ice wall.

 Darius's foot ignited, transforming into a fiery comet. Thunder tore through the silence, a fiery streak cutting the air as he hurtled like a lightning bolt.

BOOOOOM!

 Ice shards rocketed about the field, the aftermath of the collision sending a frosty haze swirling. 

 A fragment barreled straight towards Amara; she managed just in time to hoist her staff, only to partially deflect the oncoming ice boulder. A cry of pain burst from Amara's lips as the staff and ice collided with her chest, catapulting her backward and tumbling her across the terrain.

 "Amara!" In a flash, Jarek vanished, a literal bolt of lightning ripped from where he stood, only to reappear beside Amara, his aura buzzing and cracking loudly.

 From withing the ice cloud, Darius was sitting on a pile of rubble. He was holding his foot to his chest, rubbing it fiercely. After the pain in his foot subsided, he began scanning the destruction, "Phew...She timed that perfectly," Darius shook his head as he smiled, standing up, he dusted himself off and shook the ice from his hair.

 As the icy mist began to clear, Darius's vision sharpened. "Mother!" he shouted, bursting into a sprint towards his parents. Nearby, Jarek was crouched by Amara, his back to Darius as he assisted her to rise.

 "I'm OK, I'm OK, don't worry, you only knocked the wind out of me," Amara reassured, her smile battling a grimace.

 Just before Darius reached them, Jarek whipped his head around to face him, his eyes alight with lightning, his expression otherwise unreadable.

 "My turn," Jarek stated, his flat tone sent a shiver down Darius's spine as he skidded to an abrupt halt. A loud gulp was Darius's only reply as Jarek faced him squarely.

 "Be nice," she teased, chiding her husband with a playful tone as she departed from the field, "our brave little wolf seems to be growing faster than we thought."

 While his mother walked away, her hand placed on her chest, Darius's brows knitted together, his eyes narrowing as he observed his mother, 'Why does it seem like she's making it worse?' Turning his gaze back to his father, his eyes suddenly widened. Jarek had vanished.

 'The side!' In a swift motion, Darius drove his elbow down. TUNG! A deep, resonant sound echoed as a strike blindsided him. Propelled sideways, he spun mid-air, managing to orient himself just before impact, his limbs grinding to a halt against the ground.

 "Earth mana? Quick thinking," Jarek commended, advancing towards Darius, his aura erupting violently, with lightning tearing through the earth in its wake.

 "That could have seriously hurt me!" Darius announced, massaging his arm with an expression of mock outrage. Hastily, he channeled a surge of earth mana throughout his body.

 'Fuck!' roared through Darius's thoughts as Jarek vanished once more. Arching back, he sensed Jarek's leg brush past his nose. With a swift contortion, he realigned his stance and leaped, dodging another incoming kick.

 Landing, Darius swept his gaze around, only to discover Jarek had disappeared once more.

Darius's internal alarm sounded, instinctively he parried a punch aimed at him, feeling his arm go slightly numb from Jarek's lightning-infused blow. The two then engaged in a rapid exchange of attacks, the details of their movements a blur. 

As they exchanged blows, Darius found himself being steadily pushed back. Jarek's approach was relentless, each punch and kick straightforward, infused with the ferocity of lightning. Darius, feeling the numbing shocks of Jarek's lightning-powered strikes, countered with adapting a solid, grounding stance, strikes and counters were solid, each exchange designed for earth's endurance and defense. Even as he adeptly blocked and dodged, the force behind Jarek's attacks, tempered yet formidable, hinted at the vast reservoir of power he restrained. Amidst this fierce exchange, Darius's movements were fluid yet grounded, a reflection of the solid, unyielding nature of earth mana he harnessed, yet the pressure from Jarek's offensive left little room for anything but defense.

'He's too fast. This... I can't keep this up.' Despite the Ethereal Steps granting him fleeting advantages, they were barely enough. His reserves of earth mana dwindling.

Then, in a decisive moment, his eyes ignited with a purple blaze, hair bristling as if charged.

 Darius's senses sharpened; Jarek's movements, once a blur, edged into his perception. Darius seized the moment, parrying Jareks punch and thrusting forward with a counterattack. Jarek, unphased, caught Darius's punch in his grasp. "Lightning? That's bold of you," Jarek remarked, a hint of approval in his tone.

Jarek's punch broke through, landing squarely on Darius's shoulder, pushing him back a step. Unfazed, Darius spun, attempting a counterstrike that Jarek easily sidestepped. Jarek's fist grazed Darius's cheek, a close call that Darius narrowly turned into an advantage, his leg sweeping low towards Jarek, who blocked it with minimal effort. 

In the dim light of the training grounds, Darius's arms moved in quick succession, blocking, and painfully receiving, Jarek's rapid punches. A spark of lightning flashing with each collision. 

 From a distance, the training field resembled a stormy clash of elements, with small flashes of purple, and blue lightning arcing across the training field.

 Amidst this electric display, Darius and Jarek moved, repeatedly vanishing, their forms blurring into one another. Initially, Jarek's strikes landed with unerring accuracy, but as the duel wore on, Darius adapted, the frequency of hits landing on him visibly decreased. 

 The rhythm of the battle began to shift; Darius's movements grew more fluid, his blocks more seamless, and his counters sharper. Despite his growing prowess, Jarek's deft maneuvers kept Darius's strikes from reaching their target, turning their confrontation into a mesmerizing stalemate.

 "Screw it!" With a quick leap backward, Darius steadied his breath and clenched his jaw. "Be ready, Father!" He roared, his mana swirling chaotically as he channeled not just his mana but also the echoes of his past life, his rapid comprehension, everything he had, into this next maneuver. Along with his killing intent. "Don't blame me for being ruthless!"

 Darius's presence exploded, causing Jarek to instinctively retreat a step before regaining his footing, a wide grin spreading across his face. "What did I do to be blessed with such a son?!" he boomed, his laughter echoing. With a sudden motion, and a sharp crack from the heavens, he extended his hand, catching a bolt of lightning that formed into a magnificent broadsword. Even from afar, the weapon exuded a palpable sense of peril.

 Darius anchored his feet, legs set wide. One fist retracted, ready to unleash power; the other hand extended, a guide for the impending force. His eyes sealed shut, Darius breathed deeply. 

 The warmth on the training field began to creep upwards, a gradual ascent that thickened the air. The sunlight, too, seemed to pierce the atmosphere with more intensity.

 Around Darius, unseen by any observer, an aura of fire raged, swirling into a tempest of fire mana. Time stretched, the moment elongated, until at last, with the field bathed in an oppressive heat, Darius unleashed his voice, "Solar Tyrant's Fist!"