Magic Intensity (2)

The shout was not referring to them but just hearing that way of speaking attracted their attention.

Both of them looked to where it came from. Then they noticed a rather muscular young man talking with several of the men who occupied the pre-departure hall.

Malcom and Skyler, who were on the upper floors, looked at the room downstairs.

Several empty tables were on it, and sitting on one of those tables, a muscular brown man with black shorts and red hair got out from Malcom's hat that the man was wearing at that moment as well.

"I am extremely hungry and Bones! He takes forever!" The man complained loudly.

Malcom planted his eyes on that young man, his gaze was completely wild, and he had no shirt.

The only thing on his torso was a tattoo, the tattoo placed a thick black line that rose up the line of his spine on his back, and from there, like legs that were surrounding his bulls, several black stripes encircled his chest until they joined in the center like straps tying the tattoo to his trunk.

Malcom looked at him with a mixture of anger and curiosity in his head. He had Harris's eye while Malcom's dagger rested in a sheath in his pants.

"He has them! Both of my treasures!" Malcom said through clenched teeth, as his eyes saw red due to the anger that he was feeling. He was having a hard time restraining himself from jumping toward the man and gets his treasures back.

The Marked was about to face him when Skyler, using her strength, pushed him away from the railing and hit him against the wall of that corridor to escape the sight of that man who was on the lower floors.

Malcom glared at her, but immediately his eyes soften when he noticed her worried expression. Her eyes were completely clouded with unshed tears.

"Don't go! Please no!" She whispered but determined.

Malcom didn't understand the fear in Skyler's eyes and insisted, "We have the advantage!"

"No, we don't!" When she said that the girl tried to regain her composure, and with a calmer expression, she asked, "What if that guy is like Bones?"

Malcom's gaze darkened. He had used all his tricks against Bones, and none worked. He thought that maybe with Harris's eye and being able to see the future, maybe the result would be different, but he was fooling himself.

Bones' attacks were not much faster and more complicated than what he could handle. Still, his power was far superior, and Malcom couldn't hurt him with anything he had.

While looking at Skyler in front of him, he said, "But what if he's weak? I can get my treasures back and go."

"What if he's not?" Skyler asked with a raised brow. It was something new to her to see Malcom being antsy. She always sees him as the type that plans before rushing. It was amusing, if not with their current serious situation.

Malcom knew she was right, but losing his treasures was something that caused him a lot of pain.

Looking at the girl, he slowly nodded while gritting his teeth and following Skyler's instructions. They managed to evade the guards and leave the lair.

When they left, they found themselves in a huge Forest that rose to a distant mountain. Running at full speed, they managed to put distances between them and the lair. After almost an hour's long journey, Malcom stopped.

She looked at him, he didn't seem tired, but his mind was full of haze. His eyes were on the floor, and Skyler exactly knew how he felt.

"Sorry, Malcom! I will gladly return the mantle of fire!"

He looked at her and shook his head, he tried to compose a smile, but he was not able to do it.

With some melancholy mixed with anger, he responded tightly, "No need," just as he said that, he looked at the ground then added, "It's not the treasure. It's me."

Skyler had never seen Malcom in that way. His spirit, even his characteristic anger, nothing was there.

There was only a strong melancholy and a remarkable sadness when lifting the face he said, "When we fought with Bones, I remembered something that I had forgotten, something that hadn't happened to me in a long time."

Skyler came over and, sitting next to him, she asked softly, "What thing?"

"I'm pretty useless," Malcom responded reluctantly through gritted teeth.

Skyler widened her eyes in surprise, looking at Malcom, took his face in her hands, and said tenderly, "Of course not! You defeated a Warrior of the Sun... you protected me from a dragon, and if this is about what happened with Bones, then I was defeated too…. "

Malcom smiled weakly and, looking at the young woman with a complicated expression before explaining, "I defeated the warrior of the sun with my dagger and my hat! I could only face the dragon because of the boots and the dagger! And Bones, he defeated us both, but he defended your attacks. He received mine many times directly with his face. I was not a threat to him."

Skyler wanted to say something, but in her mind, Malcom's attacks were approaching Bones harmlessly.

She was silent, and Malcom continued, "Being a Marked only allows you to use 20% of your magic. That doesn't just affect how many things you do. Also, the quality."

Skyler looked at him with curiosity, and Malcom taking one of his cards, created a spear, and giving it to Skyler, said, "That spear is made with all the power I can generate, certainly a functional weapon, but it will never break through the defense of Bones," Skyler looked at the spear and understood what Malcom was referring to, "My spells can only be created with 20% of my power. With that level, they will never be powerful enough spells to defeat anyone's defense, and now without my treasures..."

Malcom was crestfallen, and Skyler could perfectly understand his depression. Getting up, the young woman looked towards the lair and said seriously, "I'll be right back!"