Burn it Down

Wisping his blade through the air, the sounds of inaudible clashes rang within the young lord's ears. Standing in front of him, a faint eerie shadow of an image reflecting the young lord's appearance was held within his sight, wielding a sword.

The Shadow's blade moved without fault; it was graceful as a Jackel, vicious as a wolf, and perfect if perfection could be perfect. He struck towards Zariel's neck, knowing its blade would never fall short of its target.

Parrying the sword just short of his neck, a silver glow hummed within Zariels eyes, glaring at the Weave, the very core of creation. An endless string of flaws laid bare before his young eyes.

Covered in sweat, The Young Lord pushed forward with a great amount of force just as their blades crossed. Forcing the Shadow of his imagination to retreat, his blade danced like a fairy of death.

Weaving, slashing, and piercing in a somewhat chaotic manner, the Shadow's blade reflected a relatively Orderly manner of defense.

Running his Arcana, which originated from his soul's depths, Zariels body flickered towards the Shadow.

Soaring through the courtyard in an almost impossible fashion. Their speed became faster than sound, leaving only the echoes of the wind barrier being shattered over and over; an endless battle of Order and Chaos ensued between these two.

Switching styles like night and day, Zariel's skill began to contort. With Order, his blade began to lose its flexibility, gaining a more ridged edge, while with Chaos, his sword lost its focus towards a singular target but gained a vicious sharpness.

Pushing the two styles of Order and Chaos to the extreme limit of their respected spectrum. Blood and sweat ran from his fingertips, staining his clothing; Breathing laboriously, Zariels vision grew cloudy, but his performance did not waver in the slightest.

'What was pain before a life in Hell?' He often thought.

Forcing his weary body to move and fight. Driving and opposing till perfection was met, his blade never ceased. Zariel's breath burned like fire against his lungs. However, he did not let up. He could not give up.

Striving for the impossible concept of perfection, a glint of insanity ran like blood from his eyes. He had spent years trying to achieve such a thing and would never stop.

"They say perfection was imperfection, but I will prove them wrong. The Heavens, the Weave, I will prove it all wrong. I will change it all; I will burn it all down and step over its ashes. " He hatefully spouted as the Shadow's blade landed upon his neck.

Vanishing at the moment of victory, Zariel sunk into the snow on his knees, his body steaming with heat, and his head hung low.

Pushing his hands down into the snow. A searing frost clawed at his bare hands. He did not mince in pain or show any discouragement at his defeat but rather reflected over this match and past matches; his weary body sank further into the snow.

Ignoring his injuries that refused to heal, millions of calculations ran through his head. Be it his sword arts, his Arcana usage, or his very body. Everything fell into the scope of calculation: everything but the young girl standing watching from a distance.

Having woken up a bit earlier due to excitement, the sounds of Zariels blade had stirred her curiosity. However, what she saw stunned her as she gazed at Zariel battling with the air.

There was nothing there, but his blade would clash against something. It had not taken her long to understand that he was shadow boxing, but his speed and skill had consumed her in awe.

Drawing closer to the young lord, who did not even seem to register her existence. Aurelia pulled his hands out of the red snow, devouring his spewing blood.

Zariel had long told her he could not heal. A fact that had scared her, to the point she would sometimes refuse to battle him. Pulling out gauze and a bit of ointment she had on her at all times, she tightly wrapped his hands after applying a good amount of ointment over his tattered hands shredded over the grip of his sword.

Still silent, Aurelia could not help but worry about her young master, who had not even seemed to register her presence.

"You are trouble; you know that?" She claimed, flicking his head.

Sending his eyes wide in shock, Zariel stared and touched his head, "How... why did you hit me!"

"How are you so strong?" She asked with stary eyes filled with wonder, "I mean, we are the same age, but you are so much more powerful than I am."

Flicking Aurelia back. A red swollen patch mark appeared upon her forehead. "Revenge."He cheered, staggering to his feet. "I would like to say I am older, but we are technically the same age. If one were to convert my previous age type."

'What does that even mean?" She painful muttered, rubbing between her brow.

"It means if I were a hundred years old, I would technically be ten; if it was two hundred, I would be twenty, so on and so forth. Time moves far different for those like me at the time, be it mentally or physically."

"So, how old are you really then?"

"I have no idea. Whatever age you are, I guess. I'm just more knowledgeable than you are. I know what I need to do, while you need instruction and discipline." He continued on looking down at his bandaged hands.

Glaring at the Young Master, Aurelia could not help but fume, "you can at least say thanks, you know."

"I train you every day, and I don't receive thanks. I made you my knight; this is your job." he countered frankly.

"Screw you."

"I don't know what that means." He mocked, releasing a bit of a yawn as the sun began to rise over the horizon. "Let's get something to eat before we get started. I had a long night."

"No! Teach me more!" Aurelia demanded, holding a competitive glint. "I want to be strong too." Flashing her hands, she revealed a singular rune that looked to hold two smaller runes. "Teach me the inner mechanics."

Eying the rune that glistered gold, Zariel chuckled, "Now all we need is the element of Lightning, and the Ward will be complete."

"Seriously? That's it?" She shockingly uttered.

"Yes, once you add the element of Lightning in your Ward, that is meant to defend against Lightning. The Ward will make its matrix and appear in your soul. From there, it all comes down to finding the element."

"Are they hard to find?" Aurelia impatiently inquired.

"Nope, you can just take from nature or make it yourself, but you don't know how."

"Firebolt. Doesn't it have the Element of Lightning? Will that work?"Said Aurelia smiling cheekily.

Touching his chin, Zariel lowered his head, "I did not think of that. Yet it would; the amount of Elemental Ether doesn't matter, so it should work. But that will take forever. Anima, if you would."

Shifting her gaze to the small rune on her wrist, a vibrant flash of light appeared as a small vial filled with the buzzing of Azure lightning filled her ears.

"I will teach you how to capture elements later, but for now, just pour this over the Ward and be done with it. This is what is called components. Using various materials to make something new, and in your case, it's permanent as this new rune will be branded in your soul permanently unless you destroy it for some reason."

Tracing her fingers over the veil, Aurelia frowned, "But how? While creating the rune was a bit hard, why should I not know the actual mechanics?"

"That's where it gets annoying." Zariel painfully moaned, shaking his head. "Creating this rune allowed you to build a brand new creation, which in turn created a new string of permanent karma between you and it.

"From there, when you added the components, which was Lightning. You are adding an already preexisting system or matrix. The Lightning components will fuse into your rune and follow the rules you stated. So let me ask you, what does this rune mean?"

"Protect Against Lightning."

"From there, the Ward will have to follow your rules and understanding, will make an invisible domain that will allow you to absorb zero spells or tier one spell that has the lightning element. It's a tad bit more complicated than that, but that's just the basic explanation."

"Whats karma?" Aurelia pitifully asked.

Slapping his face, the Young Master gritted his teeth, "Do you even know what a matrix is? Did you not read the books I gave you?"

"I did, but some of them didn't make sense."