As Kuroki was fast asleep, recovering from the fatigue of having traveled so much on foot in a single day, he had a various and vivid collection of dreams.
Somewhere of the culture and sports festivals he and his friends had been in. He often dreamed about those a lot. And about how they promised to always be there for each other, and to be best friends forever.
Others were nightmares, mainly centered around his shitty father. Fear penetrated his heart, his very being, with each one of these.
Sometimes though, they ended with him defeating his father using cleverness and tricks, or with magic. That last one was becoming especially common these last few nights.
However, currently he was dreaming something else. He wore the same long blue cloak that he currently used to cover himself with, but it was more open and longer, reaching down to knee length. It no longer needed to cover his body, as in this dream he was not naked. He had been in a few, often home life dreams with Master or his friends, but not this one. It felt more solid and real, as he wore a red short sleeve shirt under his blue cloak, and black shorts that went three fourths of the way to his knee from his waist. Around the top of the cloak that kept it secured around him was a sort of emblem that acted as a fasten, an oval shaped one that had rays of magic eminating from the center, where a lightning bolt was. Going across it was a wand as well.
Attached to his shorts was an old yet very detailed and expensive looking book. It was clearly a magical tome, a grimoire. It looked a bit large for him, yet despite that it did not pull down his shorts at all. ANd upon his feet were sort of black half-boots. They appeared to be almost like sneakers at first glance, but the rim was a bit higher, more like a boot's. It could be said to be a sneakerboot, one could say. His blue cloak had long sleeves, but as he stepped forward he shortened them, their length adjusting like magic, leaving his arms as exposed as his legs.
Standing alongside him was not his friends, who were the usual people to support him in dreams. Instead it was a blonde haired girl, holding a massive sword. Notably her hair was about the same length as Kuroki's, although her bangs were cut more. And when she pulled out her sword, it almost felt like it increased in size to be bigger then her, or shrank when it was necessary. Kuroki had never seen this girl before in reality, yet she appeared clearly in this dream and this dream only. She wore a blue cloak and emblem similar to him, but wore black short pants and a green shirt. She had boots similar to Kuroki's as well, and they likely came from the same shop.
And across from them was some sort of huge creature, rampaging through the city.
"You ready, Kuroki?" she asked without looking at him.
"Mhm. It looks like most of the people evacuated, but this is still a residential area with people's homes. We have to limit property destruction".
"Ehh, I am not good on that. I will leave it to you".
"What?! Hold on! You have to at least try! I don't want to be scolded and locked in the stockades again!"
"But its more fun to go all out!"
The huge creature charged at them, appearing to be half bull, half wolf, and perhaps half bear as well. Kuroki and the girl both dodged, and suddenly an ice barrier formed around it. Chains of ice shot out of the ground to bind it, but it broke through them all.
"Geh. It must have a fire attribute, my chains weakened through melting almost instantly".
"Doesn't that mean you will have to use time magic to repair the walls and buildings we break then?"
"You know I cant just do that. Most of them were made by another person's earth magic, so their mana traces will reduce any spell I try. Please just avoid breaking anything".
"Fine fine" she said, stepping forward. "Hear me now! My name is Anna the Hero! I begin this tale with a glorious waltz, a sword in my hand and a spell in the other. I wish and I wish, and I want and I want. My light will sing with my sword and my spell. My light will sing this tale for all, through the power invested by combining it all".
Suddenly, light flowed from her left hand into her sword in her right hand, as she charged forward. The beast appeared to have some degree of intelligence, as it jumped back and dodged her sword. And yet, it was cut through all the same, despite her blade clearly not reaching it. All that was seen cutting through it was a beam of light, that seemed to have extended from her sword. As if the light itself extended outward to extend the reach of her blade.
Not only that, but it should increase the power gained from centrifugal force, since the end of the blade moves faster then the parts near her hands.
Longer swords could be unwieldy, but consider a slash and the length of a blade. The hilt will barely change position at all, while tip arcs a great deal and goes a much further distance. However, since it reaches that distance at the same time as the hilt, that means that its velocity is higher. This adds to its attack power, which means Anna's sword did more then just extend its blade. The power was also increased.
The correct answer would have been to close the gap, or go to the sides and risk her being able to adjust the slash trajectory for a side step.
Kuroki refused to use a sword himself, but he understood and remembered enough to know how brutal Anna's spell truly was. A hidden surprise attack that would do more damage then if they actually took the blow.
Anna then looked back at him, as the dream began to get hazy.
"Thanks a lot! I guess I..."
But the dream faded, becoming an echo of a memory in Kuroki's mind, as light began to flicker.
"...daddy?"
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Late at night, a man was backing up against a tree, completely naked as he was in terror.
"Oh god, no please no! Please! Stay back! Stay back you monsters!"
Unfortunately for him, his prayers went unanswered, as he was turned to charcoal. His entire body roasted beyond recognition, with not even a trace to determine who he really was. And so close to the main road too, that it would likely be discovered within a few days. Not that any of it mattered to the corpse anymore.
At that moment, another one of the Starfallen met a brutal end. He was not the first, and he would not be the last.
But he was most certainly hunted and dead.
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It was the start of a new morning. What should be their final morning in the woods. According to Master, they would make it to the city by nightfall, so there shouldn't be any issue there. In the end, they never came across an Orc Settlement, but also they never found a place where Kuroki would be able to optimally attune to Storm mana.
Apparently, for Storm mana, they needed a wide-open location with a good breeze, and a natural place to sit somewhere around the middle so that they can better become one with the air and wind. Apparently that was usually enough, but Amyris had said something absurd about increasing its potency to the max by "summoning a storm" during the process. Furthermore, to do this, Kuroki would need to sit completely still in the middle of all this, so he wasn't sure how he felt about the storm part, but apparently it was considered incredibly effective.
However, he had briefly mentioned Anna had done the same, so Kuroki had decided to go for it. He had not even met her, and barely knew anything about her still despite the fact she seemed to have no sense of shame and was quite the active tomboy, but the way Master looked the handful of times she did come up and what was said about her, was making Kuroki feel a bit competitive towards his fellow Starfallen apprentice.
Apparently, all objects contained minute traces of mana, even the clothes they wore, so it could interfere during the process as well. He also mentioned something about "newbie mages having a mana-sense high", but seemed to refuse to elaborate on it no matter how much Kuroki asked. The most he got out of him was that it was "an unofficial trial all new mages go through", and looked away with an awkward chuckle.
Either way, it was something his Master wanted him to go through before reaching the city, since apparently it wasn't as potent in crowded places near people, so it would be more convenient this way. Plus apparently there was a place up ahead on the route they were taking where they would be able to, although noted it might be a chore later, according to Amyris.
At the moment though, instead Amyris was doing something that at this point in time, bothered Kuroki far more then having to make this journey naked.
"Now make sure you don't bite down okay?"
"I can brush my own teeth!"
"But will a little boy your age actually do it?"
"I am not a little boy! I am fifteen years old, master!"
"...that's not convincing when you keep making that mistake, Kuroki".
"Err, I mean, sensei!"
"You also called me daddy this morning as well..."
"I was just really groggy and tired!"
"Uh huh".
In truth, Amyris was pretty sure Kuroki was telling the truth about these things, but he found teasing him to be a bit fun. He had the same fun with Anna, even if she did make trouble a lot.
But also, it was his way of trying to both make him feel warm and cared for, while also trying to make it so that Kuroki didn't have some weird psychological fix on him. The fact that Kuroki called Amyris daddy was a bit of a red flag for the elf, especially since the day before it was just dad. Amyris wasn't sure he was comfortable with such progression. It had taken Anna a week after arriving to this world to start making that mistake, although she was younger then Kuroki's (claimed) age, given she had been eleven at the time. Well, supposedly eleven at least. It seemed she didn't have any development yet after all.
That said, he hoped it wasn't a side effect of the spell he used last night. After that whole dad comment, Amyris had gotten confused because he didn't expect him to say that word so warmly, even if it was towards Amyris instead of his actual father. As a result, Amyris needed to check on something, so while he huddled with Kuroki to help keep the boy warm as he slept, he used magic to investigate his mind and memories.
From this spell, he learned the warmth and the strength of the friendship between four boys, Kuroki and his three friends. He saw the parents of his friends, who had shown Kuroki so much warmth and care.
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And then he saw Kuroki's father.
No, he did more then see. He felt it. All sensory information from the memories. He felt every hit Kuroki endured, every humiliation he faced, every harsh word and rejection sent Kuroki's way. This man...no, this thing could not be ever said to be a parent. And that was what Kuroki felt as well it seemed.
The reason why Kuroki was able to say "dad" and "daddy" so warmly, despite what his birth father did, was because Kuroki at this point did not see that person as his father anymore. Especially not as a dad. Indeed, the older Kuroki got, the worse this man seemed to get as well, and the treatment got worse and worse. At some point, Kuroki had given up on him completely, and planned to leave the brute and get away from him. Amyris could understand why. What he had done to Kuroki was undeniably cruel and uncalled for. Furthermore, from what Amyris knew, he was sure that treatment likely contributed a great deal to his son's lack of growth. His body had to spend all that time using its energy and nutrients to heal rather than grow.
And from what he saw, he got his kicks out of scarring Kuroki physically and mentally.
If this bastard also arrived in this world, I swear, I will kill him.
Amyris made that silent resolve to himself as he finished brushing Kuroki's teeth, and had him spit out into the smoldering campfire.
"So why are we doing this now of all times?"
"...I just thought, given you got dumped all alone with a stranger like me, before we got to the city I would provide a little TLC. We are about to enter a city that is incredibly foreign to you, and you only have that cloak to cover yourself with...although it seems like you are getting used to it. I can't tell if that is good or bad, but know this. Make sure you learn from Anna, and dont even touch the door knob of the front door without clothes. At least some underwear, at least. Please spare my reputation far more then she did".
"...the front door? Wait, you mean she still went out like that through the back door?!"
"...the wall on my back yard isn't even high too, but whenever she had a dream that gave her inspiration for a new spell or sword technique, she would kick off the covers, not even pull on a pair of boxers, and run out into the back yard early morning to practice".
There was a lot to unpack there about Anna's behavior, however...
"...wait, boxers?"
"Yeah. That was another thing about her. She disliked girl's underwear. She only wore boxers when she did at all".
Kuroki wasn't sure what to make of this. It was probably strange, but he didn't have enough girls he had been close to in his previous world to know if that was an Anna thing or something that was actually more prevalent then he realized. Master seemed to find it a bit odd, but who knew for sure.
Still, leaving that aside, Kuroki could tell his Master was not lying when he said she had no shame. Also, he had ended up learning Anna was a swordsman and a mage. Kuroki had no desire to ever pick up a sword again, not after everything he endured, but he was still impressed with her ability to learn both.
That said, Kuroki felt like his Master deflected onto this topic to avoid another. After all, it was rare he would bring up Anna himself so directly, without any prodding needed.
Either way, they decided to move onwards, heading towards a nearby meadow Master's familiar spotted.
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"Now, like before, I am going to use a spell that will temporarily enhance your mana perception. During this time, you will need to work with your own effort to grasp the concept and remember it with wind and storms, got it?"
"R-right. Can we please h-hurry this up?"
While his master was totally unphased and unbothered, Kuroki was quite chilly. At the moment, both of them were quite naked, as Kuroki sat on his master's lap in the meadow. A huge storm was encircling them, raging all around them with wind and lightning and some rain. His master had placed their clothes where they wouldn't get dirty, wet, or blown away.
The two of them were sitting on a rather large rock in the middle of the meadow, as his master used his spell on him the moment the storm reached its peak. Kuroki felt the whole world expand, his senses feeling the mana in the wind and air itself. Within the clouds and the breeze, within the thunder and the lightning. Kuroki felt its nature, its essence. It called out to his consciousness, and for a moment, Kuroki started to follow it. But then he remembered what his master said to him, and quickly stopped.
Be careful not to follow the free winds, or you might be unable to return to your body.
Kuroki had stopped himself from following them, but not with communicating with them. His own mana spread out, feeling the sky itself. Storms, the power of the sky. However, part of the storm felt uncomfortable. Disruptive even. And within the wind, there was a darkness. A malice.
This malice came towards him, fast and strong. Kuroki pushed other wind in the way, but it seemed to tear through it and towards him. Rapidly flying towards him, like an ill natured beast. Like a bird swooping toward its prey. Kuroki panicked, and unleashed something else. Lightning seemed to twirl around his spirit, and launched itself at the bird. It dodged, only to suddenly be struck by a bigger and faster lightning bolt, as Kuroki felt himself pulled out of his trance.
"Kuroki! Kuroki, answer!"
The man whose lap he was sitting on was shaking him, bringing him back to his senses.
"What the...master?!"
"Oh, thank goodness" Amyris said, turning Kuroki around and pulling him into a hug.
"Master, what happened?"
"Sensei, remember...but well, everything went fine. You almost followed the wind, but then stopped thankfully. But then something else happened, and yanked you into some sort of spirit realm somehow. Then you got attacked by an unknown familiar. I was able to reach you, defeat it, and pull you back in time, but...that was quite shocking".
"Whose familiar was that?"
"I don't know. But I will say, its probably trouble. It might be from that Orc Settlement I theorized was out here and never found. Its possible they looked into who kept killing their scouting parties. In any case, we should hurry up the pace to the city. Come on, lets get dressed".
As he said those words however, suddenly Amyris looked off into the distance. Kuroki felt something as well, like traces of a lot of mana just blew their way. It was only for a moment, but it was a massive feeling, and it seemed to make Amyris tense.
"Let's hurry".
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Right after they got dressed, Amyris scooped Kuroki up into his arms and ran at a much faster speed. From his running and traveling, he had gotten used to having a breeze down there, but nothing like this. Amyris had to be running at 30kmph minimum. This was much faster than before.
And yet, right as they were closing in on the road, they came across a sight that gave them pause. There were signs of a battle, with damaged trees all over, but from what Amyris could tell it was a rather one sided battle. However, the most notable thing was the charred corpse...and the crater right in the center of the battlefield.
"Master, is that..."
"Yes, its identical to the crater I found you in. If I had to guess, even though its charred, that body likely was not wearing any clothes...so likely, he was also a Starfallen".
"So he died so soon after coming here...but I thought all Starfallen were placed in places where it was possible to find starting supplies almost immediately or where they would be found by someone who would be able and willing to help them like you?"
"Indeed. That should be the case. Its possible there were just too many Starfallen for accomodate them all, in which case the transfer probably prioritized the youngest first. However, they should have at least otherwise appeared in a safe place. Which means, this place was safe, but then something decided to show up here after he landed and attacked him".
"...thats really bad isn't it?"
"Yes. Hold on tight Kuroki, we are running towards the city".
Kuroki did as he was told, wrapping his arms and legs around Amyris as the elf went even faster then before. It was clear he had forgoed efficiency. It appeared it took exponentially more mana the faster you went, and would keep draining the longer it was held.
"Is the threat that dangerous? Didn't this thing litterally ambush a naked man before he even knew where he was?"
"It was able to pinpoint and immediately travel to that place and then used overkill to be safe. I am sure I would be able to win, but I am not sure if you would survive the battle".
Kuroki gulped, understanding the danger. It was not always as simple as defeating the opponent, Kuroki knew that all too well.
He decided to try Echo at this time. It was his spell, or rather his two spells he rolled into one by manipulating mana of wind and water. When he was in the waterfall, he utilized something that seemed to be like sonar in a way. And when he did wind earlier this morning, it seemed like he had an out of body experience and became sensitive to the vibrations in the air. It was admittedly a basic spell, Amyris had even told him he knew plenty of people who could do that, so it wasn't novel by any means. But he did say that not many would pick up on it as fast as Kuroki did.
The only issue was that using it made Kuroki very dizzy and unstable, and unable to move. He was still a novice after all, and he wasn't fully used to the effects of Sonar alone. When adding his Wind Sense to it, it increased the difficulty. In other words, right now, the only way Kuroki could use this spell and remain mobile is if he did it in a carriage, or if he did it while someone carried him. This left him incredibly vulnerable, which was not at all ideal. Wind Sense and Water Sense, as Kuroki was told their official names were, expanded beyond the five senses and therefore felt alien to people who tried it. It would often takes weeks or months for someone to properly adapt and get used to the spell, although supposedly Anna took all of seven days.
He had no intention of losing to Anna. This was the current state of his mind, somehow it had already established a rivalry with this person, despite the fact he was pretty sure she was dead, given the tone of his voice and what he said so far. But it felt like there was a bit more too it, considering his sorrow.
However, he had no time for such thoughts when he detected something.
"Uhg...we have...thirty enemies up ahead?!"
From what he could tell, they were Orcs. A few of them were stronger and tougher then the others, and Kuroki could actually sense mana from them.
"I see. From what I can tell, it appears to be seventeen normal orcs, six elite orcs, three orc mages, two orc berserkers, an Orc Champion, and an Orc Queen".
"...Orc Queen".
"Yep. I see you remember what I told you about Orcs the other day".
"You can kill them all right?"
"Not...as easily as before. But don't worry, I wont let the Queen get you".
"Mhm. Thanks".
"Willows of the wisp, heed my call. Summon an inferno that will transcend beyond burning. Let it ravage only what I wish to be ravaged, burn through flesh and bone and fat. Bring forth calamity to my enemies and peace for my allies. Spectral Blaze!"
Master chanted a spell, and suddenly purple flames appeared within his hand, before throwing it at the orcs. The fires raged around them, and yet Kuroki didn't feel a speck of heat or blaze. Even when embers fell upon his bare skin, they felt closer to snowflakes then cinders. His cloak seemed unharmed as well, in addition to the clothes that Master was wearing as well.
This went far beyond just manipulating mana, like what he had been taught to do. This was true and proper magic. This is the true power of a spellcaster. While directly utilizing the mana was faster and more flexible, proper spells formed from incanations clearly held more power and could be imbued with special effects, from simple things like not harming one's allies, to so much more.
It was true magic, that made a paltry fireball look lackluster by comparison.
"Woah..."
"Indeed. However, it seems these Orcs are stronger then normal. They must have been quite successful in their own hunts and training" Amyris said, as he watched the Orc Queen break through the flames. "A bouncy house bounces around. Up and down and side to side. Release the jelly beans all around, and watch them bounce inside. Place it inside of itself, and ride the bouncy ride. Bouncy Hell".
Suddenly, all of the remaining orcs found it impossible to stand up straight. Some bounces right off the ground, while others had their weapons bounce right out of their hands. So far they had yet to even close the distance to the two of them. The first spell had burned through most of their normal orcs, while this one made it difficult if not impossible to close the distance.
Kuroki noticed that Amyris often made his incantations quite fluid. They were basically hummable and singable. IIt seemed to not only make it easier to incant faster, but considering what he said before about incantations, it was very likely that was done to increase its efficiency and power as well.
The orcs were more or less at his mercy now, as he began a third incantation.
"Thrash and burn. Strike and churn. The wind will pierce as its anger is fierce. A pleasant end is not your fate. For now you are already too late. Slashing and bashing, flashing and gnashing. All of this wind coils around, all without any escape sound. For this will be a Squall, that will tear down the tall. Tempest Blitz".
All of a sudden, the wind and air itself turned against the remaining orcs. As they squeeled and screamed, Amyris quickly covered Kuroki's head again. The corpses were flayed and flattened, beaten and slashed. They were pierced several times with wind and lightning, gouging out huge parts of them. Amyris knew that such a scene was still too soon for Kuroki, so he made sure to cover the boy's head completely and not risk a repeat of last time. He had been able to handle all the other fights, witnessing Amyris' magic, but this last spell was just a bit too brutal. The winds themselves were also hot, causing even more pain to their enemies. Amyris placed a sound barrier over Kuroki's head ot filter it out, thinking he didn't need to hear this much. He had put a lot more mana in then usual too, so the spell turned out stronger than usual.
Its been awhile since I have gotten this emotional. Although I will say, I am glad that Kuroki seems a lot less reckless and carefree then Anna. Her first battle like this she didn't even bat an eye at first, although she was at least disgusted enough to throw up and lose her appetite for a bit at how gross it was. Anna was...a bit too strong willed and hard headed I would say. I mean, her reaction was still abnormally muted given that she saw so many living creatures brutally slaughtered in front of her, even if they were trying to eat us at the time.
Either way, the Orcs were entirely defeated by the elven mage. He walked through the battlefield, keeping Kuroki's head covered as they made the final stretch.
Once they were a bit away, he let Kuroki down.
"Well then, Kuroki. Welcome to the City of Azralia of the Ronia Kingdom".