After a few minutes the black screen disappeared, and so did his system interface. All that remained was a simple light blue counter on the top of his vision that remained there no matter how hard he tried to get it to disappear.
The timer simply seemed to be counting down from 24 hours going by one-second intervals. It seemed like a simple timer, nothing strange about it but what was strange was the fact that Arvion could distantly hear the beat of thunder in the air as well as the pitter-patter of rain across the thatch roof of the house.
After a few minutes, the pitter-patter became more like bullets as the thunder came closer and the roof began to leak slightly. A single drop, dripped from the ceiling directly onto the face of Axel, waking him up. He sputtered lightly as more and more water began to leak through the roof as it sounded like a cacophony of slamming hail as the ceiling began to cave in.
"A storm?! Father should have known! We should have been prepared!" Axel said hurriedly with worry evidently on his face.
"Boy! Get in here, Quickly!" A deep voice echoed through the thin walls of the building.
Axel quickly sat up and began to stand up before seemingly remembering something and turning towards Arvion. He gently put down his arm for Arvion to climb upon his shoulder. Arvion quickly scrambled up the wet shoulder of his loyal Familiar and nestled in between his neck and his shoulder.
Axel moved swiftly through the house as he reached the front doors that led to the small porch of the house. He stepped outside to be greeted by flying hail and water that moved at incredible speeds, slamming into the ground, causing divets to appear.
"It's unnatural. I don't know what else to call it but it seems as if some High Tier Wizard is fighting not too far from here causing an icy storm to appear. My Magic would have let me know elsewise." Axel's father said with uncertainty in his voice. " Help me supply magic to the defensive perimeter around the glave. Your familiar should help as well, we will need it after all."
"Yes Father," Axel said hurriedly. The old man took long strides into the center of the field and even though there were heavy chunks of ice pelting down all around him, for some reason none hit, and none hit the duo as well.
After reaching the center of the field the old man nodded at a small plant that was placed in the direct center. It was surrounded by high grass and quite hard to perceive but after a few seconds, it was as clear as day. It was a light plant covered in red thorns that seemed to reach out beneath the grass to catch unsuspecting prey. Something about it spewed evil and malice but for some reason, when they approached, they were met with no harm and were instead met with the flower blooming.
It was a beautiful sight to see a flower bloom in such little time but now was not the time to admire it. The matter at hand seemed to be pressing after all. As the flower bloomed a bright red web of magic spread across the glad covering it from the ground up to about 20 feet into the air. It spread like a spiderweb in strange overflowing patterns.
The old man got on one side of the flower while axel got on another and finally Arvion on the last remaining side. All three of them stared at each other with uncertainty thick in the air. The old man reached out his hands to both his son and Arvion with trust seeded deep into his eyes.
"Repeat after me." The old man said loudly though it sounded like a whisper in the heavy thunder and pelting sleet. "Ste Serk Proliance." He said with a voice filled to the brim with conviction.
Arvion and Axel followed in suit.
"Ste Serk Proliance," Axel screamed.
"Ste Serk Proliance." Arvion squeaked.
"Again!" The old man said, "This time together!"
"Ste Serk Proliance!" They shouted together and as they did so the flower seemed to bloom further as a startling whirl of magic circled them. It was a mix of icy blues, deep greens, and dark blacks. The aura of magic around them seemed to stretch outwards towards the perimeter of the glade. After a short moment, the bright spectacular red web seemed to be a web filled with a strange array of blues, greens, and blacks.
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The most immediate effect was the fact that the thunder and pounding of sleet seemed to have completely disappeared. From a roaring sea of noise to silence only a few moments later changed the perspective of Arvion as he looked at this strange array.
'Truly magical' Arvion thought towards Axel to which he nodded with understanding.
"Now for the more complicated matters." The old man said suddenly
"First off we need to decide how much mana each of us have and what level our meditation spell takes."
"Why exactly?" Arvion squeaked at Axel who communicated for him.
" This array takes 1 mana per user per every minute of use. That means we have to ration our usage of mana. Additionally, as you should already know mana doesn't regenerate while casting magic or during combat due to lack of focus on our part."
"This applies to basically every scenario but one that I know of. And that's meditation. Meditating forces you to enter a state in which your body can regenerate mana even if you're focusing on a spell." He continued.
"This means we have to do the math for when we should be meditating and when we should be alert to the danger of the beasts outside the glade."
"At any time one of us may leave the formation and later join but if there remains only one person in the center the strain on them will be incredible and they will most likely be forced to use meditation constantly which is dangerous to the mind."
"Not only that but they will be completely vulnerable to all attacks as they don't have their natural guards up."
"Any questions so far."
Axel seemed to have already heard this sense he nodded simply while this was all news to Arvion.
"Why would beasts attack now out of all times?! Aren't they at risk as well?" He squeaked out and Axel translated.
"That's very simple. Usually, I'm here as a deterrent and so are the natural defenses of the glade. But in times like these, the defenses are used to protect us from the weather and I'm preoccupied with keeping the formation up. That makes it the perfect time to strike as I'm defenseless. I may not move during the period of the circle's protection not even though you too can leave. That leaves you two to defend me while I'm forced to stay within the binds of this smaller inner circle."
"If all fails I must end this formation and fight amongst you. But that means we lose the house and the spell books inside. This is something that I won't lose no matter what. Unless... You are in true danger." He nods to Axel.
Arvion nodded with understanding after the long explanation.
"My current mana maximum is 20 though I feel as if it's currently at 19." He said while checking the timer to see how much time had passed. One minute, that means one mana point had been deducted.
"Mine, Father, is 14 out of 15 right now," Axel said quickly in following after translating Arvion.
"And mine, for the both of you to know, is currently at 273/320 Mana remaining." The old man said gently.
Arvion left his mouth agape in surprise at the massive number.
"What level even are you?!" He squeaked.
Before translating Axel frowned and spoke mentally to Arvion.
'That's a rude thing to ask Arvion. You should never ask someone their level. Inspecting is also rude unless the target is your enemy.'
Arvion nodded slightly to show his understanding as the old man stopped him midway.
"Son, what did he ask?" He said in a slow voice.
"He asked what your level was Father," Axel replied politely. "I simply told him that it was rude to do so and he understands."
The old man nodded before looking at Arvion with a look of understanding.
"This mouse seems to be confused by the simplest things. He must be a newborn with no one to look after him. It is alright to ask child. For your information, I am a tier 2, Level 32 Ice Mage. 8 Levels away from reaching tier 3."
Arvion's face showed a look of utter confusion at the mention of tiers.
"Ah.. you are but a young mouse how could you know what tiers are. How foolish of me." He said with a simple laugh. "There are ten tiers that are known of young mouse. You and my son are at Tier one at varying levels while I am at tier 2, level 32. Each tier has there level caps and as you improve you will certainly reach these.
" After reaching these you will go through a certain, how should I phrase this... 'Evolution' As a beast perhaps. Evolving grants many benefits and after you do so you will reach a higher tier. " he continued.
Arvion nodded in understanding. This was the information the System never took the time of the day to explain to him. It was very gratifying to have the basics explained to him at last.
"I don't believe I ever learned your name young one. Would you mind sharing it with this old soul?" The old man said in a way that sounded strangely familiar. It was almost like he was squeaking in a way that Arvion could innately understand.
"A-Arvion Sir!" Arvion Mustered up the courage to say.
"Ah, and mind is Mag young Arvion. It is a pleasure to formally meet you now."
"Either way we must be quick with our calculations." The old man said after finishing up the topic.
"With your mana Axel, you should need to take a break every 10 minutes to avoid mana fatigue. And you Arvion should need to take a break once every fifteen minutes. And I should take a rest every other hour for the sake of maintaining spare mana."
Arvion nodded in understanding as did Axel.
"Make sure you are punctual with your rest," Mag said as he gently closed his eyes and began resting.
Axel and Arvion both stared at each other in explicit surprise and horror as a sound overtook the barrier.
It was the howling of wolves. And there was more than one, it was more than dozens. Perhaps hundreds? Who were to know for sure but it seemed as they were heading their way.