Incantationless

Ghouls, nightmarish beasts, howling demonic wolves, and the sight of deformed cryptids lingered about. This world, tainted by the curse of Darkness, was an unruly one in the hands of nightfall.

People begged Gaia to get rid of these monsters, but there wasn't any hero that could save them, no god of the Inner Plane that could overwrite it, and no miracle that stop it.

"Run. You must run away!"

Those were the words of a panicked woman.

"Mommy, I can't leave without you!"

The look of a scared child, tearing up, was engraved into the mother's memory.

"Quickly, run to the church! You mustn't worry about me!"

"No, I won't run! I just won't!"

The boy refused to run away.

The two of them remained outside of a town, surrounded by nightmarish creatures. His acts of defiance brought a burden upon the mother.

"...There's too many of them!" The woman was surrounded by the creatures with her son, but she continued to defy all odds. Slaying the fiends around her, whilst protecting her son, she would fight until her last breath.

The boy didn't wanna leave. His mother was the only thing he had in his life.

He sat on the ground, balled up, terrified at the creatures around them.

The only thing that comforted him was the sound of his mother's blade, carving through the endless horde, praying she made it until dawn break.

"I won't let you touch him!" She yelled, brazen as ever, as she slayed through the horde of fiends, taking considerable damage, but remained determined to win.

"Enough, you've done enough, Almedia!" A middle-aged man shouted from afar, standing in front of a church. Behind him were open doors, revealing the frightened civilians, praying to the Gods.

"I won't let them pass!" Shouted the woman.

"We can escape while we have the chance!" Said the middle-aged man.

"And what? Let them destroy our home?! The home we grew up in, together?!" Responded Almedia in anger.

"You have a child..." Said the man.

His words caused the woman to root in place, grinding her teeth. A look of pain crossed her visage as she glanced behind her, facing her child.

He remained curled into a ball, shaking in fear.

"Almedia, let us escape. There is a dungeon under the church, we can use that to hide and wait until morning!" Said the middle-aged man.

"...Why? Why did they do it, father? You're the priest of Gaia... so you should know, right?'

Almedia started to tear up.

"That is a question for another time, my child."

"No, it isn't! The reason we're fighting against these creatures right now is because someone broke the magic circle around the village, letting them in! That traitor... whoever has done this will pay!!"

"Almedia, watch out!"

A fiend appeared from the dark sky, swooping down at the mother. Its appearance resembled that of a dark angel, carrying a scythe.

"Mommy!!"

Almedia couldn't dodge. She didn't have enough time to evade.

Thus...

"Guh!!"

He woke up.

It was all a dream.

Hermfry jolted out of his sleep, sweating profusely down his forehead.

He could barely breathe, clenching his chest in pain, the Paladin leaned forward, as if he was suffering a heavy burden.

A burden that could not be forgiven.

"I was the one... who broke the magic circle."

He muttered under his voice, heaving a deep sigh of regret.

"...But I had no choice, Mother..."

***

Morning arises.

Adventurers gather together and go out hunting as a normal occurrence. Animals come out of hiding from caves and hidden areas in the forest, sheltering themselves from the fiends of night.

Birds are chirping in the bright blue sky, as fairies, and pixies alike, purify the dark essence that the fiends leave behind when morning comes.

Brunhilda, Thomas, and Hermfry are back on the road, leaving their temporary campsite.

"...By Gaia, this entire place stinks."

Thomas covered his nose while Hermfry and Brunhilda remained unaffected by the ambiguous stench lingering in the air.

"It's the smell of Dark Essence; you get used to it when being out in the wild, living your life away from human civilizations." Said Brunhilda.

"She's right." Muttered Hermfry. "There are tribes who live out in the wild, dealing with fiends, daily. They're used to the smell of Dark Essence and relies on fairies, and pixies, to purify the lands each time morning arises."

Thomas hummed to himself in thought, asking, "Just what the hell are fairies and pixies? Why is it only them who can purify Dark Essence?"

"They're a race created from the Light Mother, who is the direct opposite of the Dark Mother. They both exist in the Outer Plane." Proclaimed Brunhilda before smacking Thomas on the head with her staff. "You need to do your research. At your age, you should be learning your history, filthy bandit."

"Ow!" Thomas held his head, rubbing it back and forth. "I don't know if you're trying to help me... or kill me at this point."

"Both can happen simultaneously."

Thomas straightened out his back from her words, visibly shaken up.

"...You serious?!"

"Brunhilda, as much as I respect you and your power, Thomas is the son of an old friend. I can't have him dying, just yet."

"What do you mean, 'just yet'?!" Shouted Thomas. He looked at Hermfry in disbelief, slowly turning away to sigh. "I miss my friends..."

Brunhilda smacked his head again, saying, "Your friends are nothing but bad influences."

Thomas was now holding his scalp with both hands, tearing up from the pain.

"Can you chill out with the constant head smacks?!"

"No, I will not. From what Hermfry told me, you're the son of his old friend, who works in Camelot, creating fine weaponry. You disbanded such an honorary position to live your life as a criminal. You deserve nothing but smacks to the head." She hit him again, this time he crouched down, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Aaagh... that one hit harder than the last two!"

"This world is in dire need of men who can craft, fight, and aid the weak, and you're busy doing the opposite. Even if there was a personal issue going on as to why you left, you're still putting the world at risk from joining the masses who do nothing but spread evil."

Hermfry hummed to himself, wondering if he should scold him as well.

But Brunhilda seemed to be doing a good job at it.

"Oh shut up, you lousy Alchehead. You're just gonna use me as bait, anyways, so you're the one who's evil here!"

Brunhilda frowned at his comment as a magic circle appeared.

("A magic circle without an incantation?!")

Hermfry was shocked, widening his eyes at the display.

"Zokytus!"

Jet-black magic chains would erupt from the magic symbol, wrapping around the bandit's body.

"Shit...!" Thomas fell backward, slamming into the dirt road.

("There's just... no way! How can someone perform magic without saying an incantation? There's only a select few in all of Gaia who can do such a thing.")

"Thomas." Brunhilda approached him, brimming with anger in her eyes.

"Hey...! Let me go! You fucking mage!"

Brunhilda lifted her leg, stomping on the poor lad's gut.

"Watch your tone, speaking to your elders."

"E-Elder?! Hah, like hell! You look younger than me, and I'm seventeen!"

The mage smiled at his comment. "Why thank you, but I'm old enough to know your Great Grandmother, you little twerp."

"Agghh...!" Thomas mutated his expression into pain as Brunhilda would grind her foot into his stomach. "T-That's a lie!"

"Oh? Is it now?" A sadistic smile plastered her face.

"Are you sure you didn't take any traits from the Black Oblivion?" Asked Hermfry, sighing like a disappointed father dealing with two rascals.

"Hey, why can't I use Grofla?! What's going on?" Shouted Thomas.

"Zokytus seals off the usage of mana if you're trapped in its confines. Using mana is impossible."

"...Man, give me a break!" He squirmed back and forth.

("Zokytus. It's known as a powerful anti-magic spell that comes from the wheel of chaos itself. But that's impossible; she can use multiple wheels of magic, and even perform them without incantation. Brunhilda, just what are you?")

"Hermfry, help me! She's crazy! She's crazy!!"

Thomas continued to scream as Brunhilda laughed at his struggles, but Hermfry paid no mind.

He was too caught up in his theories.

("Throughout history, there has only been a handful of mages that could use magic without incantations. It's no ordinary thing. To use magic, one must perform an incantation ritual to access the wheels of magic, and only then, can they use their spells. But accessing these wheels without any incantation indicates a variety of things, however, 'these variety of things' are all theories.")

Hermfry brushed his beard with his hand in thought.

("The most common, and accepted theory, is that non-incantation mages are born from mana itself. It is said that they're mana with physical bodies, which explains why they can access the wheels of magic without performing any incantation.")

Hermfry hummed in thought, capturing the attention of Brunhilda.

"Hm? You seem troubled, Hermfry."

"No, it's not that." He stopped brushing his beard, walking towards Thomas to pick him up, and throw him over his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Let's continue south, we have a quest to finish."

"...Why are you picking him up? I was teaching him a lesson as his elder."

Hermfry sighed at the mage's comment.

"You're an elder and you act immature, how rare."

"...I should blast you for that."

"Hahahaha!"