Payment

Sid's reaction was immediate, he instantly snatched the red dirt from Lowen's palm and began inspecting it but no matter how he looked at it, it just seemed to be plain dirt. Closing his eyes, Sid tried to sense the earth elements within the dirt but no matter how hard he tried, it just seemed to be a void of energy, like a spot of nothingness.

(How is this possible? It's in my hand right in front of me, I can see it, I can smell it, wait, the smell, this is.)

*Sniff* *Sniff*

(This smell, its similar to rusted metal, this, is this blood?)

After Sid sniffed the dirt, he realized there was the faint scent of blood, hence the red color of the dirt but what left him completely baffled was why it was there in the first place. Looking at the dirt in his hand, he was no longer angry nor was he upset, he was just simply confused.

"I've never heard of the existence of such magic, what sorcery is this?"

Although Sid was speaking to Lowen he had yet to shift his gaze away from the red dirt he couldn't help it. He had used his best ability, an ability that many Earth Mages have mastered as well. It wasn't just boasting when Earth Mages say they can see without seeing. It was a literal fact, earth energy was found nearly everywhere on the planet but somehow within the palm of Sid's hand, there was none. Was this not dirt. For the first time in Sid's life, he couldn't be sure that what he held in his hand was actually dirt or not. Sid's ego actually fractured a bit from this realization. He continued to scrutinize the red dirt in his hand until Nia's sudden shout broke his concentration.

"Ah, your hand, it's bleeding."

Nia grabbed Lowen's wrist and examined him, sure enough, he had a thin 2 inch cut across his palm. She wanted to wrap his wound but could find nothing nearby. As she was about to rip some of her clothes for an emergency wrap, Lowen stopped her, shaking his head, he said.

"Nia I'm fine, it will heal soon enough."

Right after that, Lowen started circulating his ki to his palm and sure enough, his wound started to close at a visible rate and the bleeding stopped. With a wound so small, Lowen could heal it within a few hours. It was actually nothing serious, Lowen had cut himself just enough that the wound would start to drip blood but to the three others witnessing this, it seemed miraculous. Nia and Ben looked on with amazement and Sid as well, he too couldn't believe his eyes. Looking between Lowen's cut hand and the red dirt, the gears in Sid's head slowly turned and he finally connected the dots.

"This, it's your blood but why.....for what purpose?"

Lowen didn't wish to drag this situation on any longer, dealing with Sid was actually incredibly exhausting. Crossing his arms over his chest, he decided to give a simple explanation and be on his way.

"As you've guessed it, I won't deny it, that's just regular dirt your holding and coated on is my blood. Using my own ability, I was able to remove the earth energy from within the dirt. In doing so I knew you wouldn't be able to see what was in my hand and with that, I've won the bet. Now if you could be so kind and hand over that book I....."

"Wait wait wait, this isn't right, something doesn't make sense. What ability? How can there be a magic ability that can remove energy from its natural element? How can such an ability actually exist in this world? Only a powerful magic tool or a powerful magical creature of sorts could do this and the wielder themselves would in return have to be incredibly powerful, but you, your only a child and besides that Mammoth Boar hair your carrying, there are no other items on you, let alone magical ones. So tell me, how did you do it? Just what the hell is really going on here?"

Lowen shook his head, there was no way he would actually reveal his technique to this old kook. He had told Sid it was an ability but he never claimed it to be one of magic, Sid simply inferred that all on his own. Lowen did, however, learn something new, it seems that magic tools can be used to separate magical energies from there natural elements.

(If what he says is true, could there be a magic tool that could separate special energies such as the soul from a body? Could a creature posses such an ability?)

Lowen recalled that creature with the crimson eyes in his past life, he had only seen those eyes for a second before his life was snuffed out. When he came to he was already in this world in a new body. He had died but his soul had somehow wound up in this world, Lowen couldn't help but wonder.

(Did that creature posses some type of magical ability or was it really just a coincidence that my soul wound up here? Can there be such a coincidence? With every passing day my view of what's possible and what's impossible is constantly being challenged and inverted. In the end, is there really no way to be certain?)

A new goal slowly started to form within Lowen's mind. In the past, he never cared much for his own life, it was simply just existence and survival but it was still his life. Now a curiosity began to creep up on him.

(Should I try to solve this mystery?)

Lowen himself didn't know, that life was over and it was a bleak one at best. He was now alive again, he got a second chance, a fresh start. He wondered if he should even care or if it was even worth it. If he did find out the truth then so what, what would it change but for some unexplainable reason, the more he thought about it, the more it bugged him. Like there was something in the back of his head telling him to seek the truth.

As Lowen continued to ponder, Sid was growing impatient. This kid's answers just weren't satisfying enough and no matter how much he asked, he couldn't get the boy to reveal how he did it. Seeing Lowen now completely ignore him, the embers of anger within began to reignite once more. Sid snapped his fingers and the big vault like door swung open, as it did, statue after statue began to walk out from within the mountain. The three kids noticed this and Nia and Ben grew visibly alarmed, only Lowen remained calm. Although he wasn't scared, he was however shocked, for the number of statues coming didn't seem to stop. As the statues marched out in rows of three, the ground trembled slightly. Lowen could feel the earth energy within the nearby surroundings concentrating and condensing. The more statues that would come, the more the earth energy would compress. There was so much that the hair on Lowen's arm began to rise, not from fear but in excitement. But Lowen was annoyed, he went quiet for only a few minutes and Sid took it as a slight against himself. After a few minutes, the statues stopped entering and the huge metallic door slammed shut with a bang. This room that was 300 feet long was now completely stuffed with statues. The statues had encircled them so much so that a drop of water couldn't slip between their wall like bodies. Sid looked at them and saw that Nia and Ben were shaking with dread but looking at Lowen only pissed him off even more. Looking at Lowen, he showed no signs of fear whatsoever, instead, Lowen only had a look of annoyance on his face, as though he were saying, ["Are you done messing around"].

"You, tell me your secret now or I won't hesitate to end you."

Lowen looked at Sid and shook his head.

"No."

Sid's fist clenched with fury, he was about to order his statues to seize the three when Lowen shouted.

"Ah, I see, I get it now. You don't get your way so you throw a childish tantrum, I used to do that too when I was a child.

(What.)

Lowen's lines threw Sid off a bit.

"What are you talking about, you are a child."

Lowen had a slip of the tongue due to Sid's overreaction and so he quickly changed the topic.

"Even if I told you how, you still wouldn' be able to use my technique. It's not even earth energy that I use, so what good would it do you to know? Besides that, I clearly won the bet, if you continue to threaten me, then once I leave here, you won't have just me as an enemy but you'll have to deal with Chief Roland as well."

"Hahahahaha Ahahaha, Roland, he's still alive. I'm a second circle Mage while he's weakened beyond that, with his injuries, his death is close at hand, so to deal with Roland, hehe, I could slay 10 of him in my sleep. I wondered how you could still be so confident and calm in this situation and it turns out your trump card was Roland, hehehe. In the past sure but now, hehehe, to lose to him id have to be a true fool.

Lowen was surprised that Sid actually knew about Roland's injuries. Roland had said before that no one knew about his damaged 3rd and 4th circle so how Sid knew was a mystery but things were slightly different now. With the mass of pure magical energy Lowen had collected for Roland in the amulet, Roland had already made huge strides to recovery. Lowen in return laughed at Sid's misconception.

"Hahaha, Sid, you poor, poor old man, your information is outdated. Roland has already repaired his broken 3rd circle of magic and soon he will even repair his fourth. To say you could slay 10 of him in your sleep, tsk tsk tsk, now, you couldn't even kill him with a hundred of you."

"What, that, that's, impossible."

Sid's angered expression instantly reversed as he became pale with fright. Like a cold bucket of water being dumped on him, his flaming embers of fury were now completely extinguished. He looked Lowen directly in his eyes, trying to see even an ounce of falsehood but could discern no lies whatsoever.

(Is he lying? But if he's lying why is he so calm? Can a child like him lie with no expression? Bah, don't look at him as a normal child, everything he's done today proves how unconventional he is.)

Sid looked at Nia and Ben and compared them with Lowen.

(Those two over there, now that's how children act. They huddle in fear at just the presence of my stone creations. They have no care when it comes to my book and they don't seem capable of anything at all but this boy in front of me. he shows no fear what so ever. He uses strange fighting techniques and was even able to destroy one of my statues, even though he's so small. This proves that not only can he fight but there's also an enormous strength as well as speed hidden in his small body. This boy may be a kid but only in height and voice, in every other aspect its like he's an adult. Even his way of thinking is unnatural. To tell whether he's lying or not, for me, it's impossible.)

Whether what Lowen said was the truth or not, Sid had no way of seeing through him. All Sid could do was weigh the pros and cons.

(Even if I hurt this kid, there's no way he's going to talk and even if by some chance he does speak, I'll have no way of knowing whether he's speaking truthfully or not. I could take those other two as hostages but if what he said about Roland is true, then id be dead by nightfall. If I do get his technique, then what, there's no guarantee I can actually learn it, dammit all.)

*Sigh*

"It's your win, leave."

The statues parted a path and the door to the outside swung open and the beautiful light of day shone in. Nia and Ben looked at each other and saw the joy in each other's faces, quickly like foxes they raced outside. Lowen though continued to stand there.

"Big bro, hurry before he changes his mind, let's go."

But Lowen didn't answer, instead, he waited silently, finally, Sid walked up to him and held the book out. Lowen grabbed the book and tried to take it but Sid still hung on. As Lowen began to pull, Sid's grip only seemed to get tighter. Looking Sid directly in his crimson eyes, Lowen whispered.

"Do you wish to be enemies or friends?"

Sid's grip loosened and Lowen snatched the book away, looking at it closely, Lowen stroked it gently. This book will bring him so many possibilities. Lowen turned around and was just about to leave when he remembered one last thing. Putting out his hand he said.

"Smoking the meat, please give me the instructions."

Sid's eye twitched a bit in agitation, he stomped over to his messy desk and grabbed a quill and aggressively dipped it in some ink, quickly jotting the steps down he tore the page away from the other pieces of paper and shoved it into Lowen's hand. He then roared at the top of his lungs.

"NOW LEAVE!"

Lowen smiled casually, turned around and left, right as he exited, the door behind him slammed shut.

*BANG*

Outside, Nia was already pulling Ben and Lowen's hand, hastily dragging them back to the village. Lowen released a breath sighing in relief, that had all been way too much. But finally, it was over.

Ben looked at Lowen and asked curiously.

"Big bro, how did you do it? What trick did you use?"

Lowen thought for a moment.

"Since I'm going to teach you two about ki, I guess its fine if I tell you. What I used earlier was ki energy. You see, by practicing my ki along with my earth energy, I accidentally discovered that without complete focus and stillness, when I circulate the two energies at the same time they end up colliding with each other, destroying one another. So what I did was rather simple, I picked up some dirt that naturally had earth energy in it, then using a bit of the ki in my blood I mixed it in with the dirt. In doing so, my ki and the earth energy destroyed each other. In the end, the dirt became truly devoid of all energy, so when Sid used his earth sensing ability, he could truly not sense it, with that, I easily won."

Nia and Ben's eyes brightened, with ki, what couldn't you do but then Ben suddenly thought.

"Big bro big bro, how comes ki and earth energy destroy each other when they come together?"

To this sudden question, Lowen was stumped.

"I.....I don't know."