A radiant navy blue flame flickered with terrifying potency burning the rain and firming through the hurling wind blowing at full speed. It's heat influenced the air around me even whilst I was still at least twenty meters away from it.

"What incredible power! Aldir...you've gone through a magic evolution!" A display showcased itself before me, a phenomenon spoken of in legends of great heroes. Mana fuelled by emotions can take the users hopes and accelerate their power tremendously, correspondingly acting on the intensity of the burning desire. This is the phenomenon spoken of in books and is a reality. I had witnessed certain people achieve this tremendous breakthrough which allowed them to deepen their potential pool by an incredible margin.

A phenomenon I chased, but knew I would never be able to achieve it. It's activation quite literally depends on the desire and people's emotions. At the point I became the strongest, I had no desires and I had no real bonds nor worries, hopes, aspirations, lovers or anything of the sort to serve as a catalyst for this incredible growth that would spiral me even further ahead. But you, Aldir! You seem to have clutched the emotion. You've grasped something as a person and pushed past your limits! You are...stronger of heart than I ever was!

My heart thumped at this fantastical panoramic. The setting blazed in the flames of something you achieved through your desire alone! The navy flame swivelling and weaving to the extent that no rain nor wind could blow it out.

In the instance, I burst forward in the spur of the rush running through my blood, accelerating at great speeds and seeing my father triumphantly laying next to the still Grassroot giant collapsed on the ground next to him.

My teeth clenched in a smile of excitement and bitterness. "No point in waiting here. I should help him up."

As I was about to jump down, the cold corpse of the giant rose once again, the thick branch spreading from its body and sealing its wound in an amethyst light that perpetrated alongside the symbol engraved in its back. The creaking noise sprouted from the very depths of it as it swayed about before stumbling by a tree and catching itself. It's leer caught my father, who simply looked exasperated with a single tear clinging at his eye slowly trickling with a smile on his face, muttering something to himself.

Ponderous hits levelled through the mood from the creatures extending steps. It arrived at my fathers body and pulled back its arm, in a fierce purple aura that strangely resembled a skull. My fathers head hung low from exhaustion and in defeat.

He's out of commission. Time to help him.

The beast let go of its restrictions on its arm and released the blow that sounded like a cannon assault aimed at the surrendered body of Aldir. His eyes closed in acceptance, but his eyes opened upon the realisation of him still being alive.

Clash!

"Don't worry father. I'm still here." I announced with my back turned to him blocking the creatures blow with sword I quickly unsheathed, sending all my mana through it and reinforcing my body. The blade leaked a nefarious sensation in the emerald fog as I pushed back, sending his arm backwards and his body along with it.

"E-E-Eli." He managed to suffocate out of himself.

"It's okay, father. Rest well. You've done more than I expected. Sorry for doubting your ability."

I repositioned myself into a stance and insinuated the swords time ability. "First release: Time lag!" My scream reverberated through the hollow forest. I was exhausted and hurt, but the magic flowing from my crux and around my body pulsed with more energy then before.

The atmosphere once more lagged. My senses felt more accustomed to this sentiment this time around and my look sharpened as I looked at the wildly confused creature. I attempted mana sight to see how the mana flows around it's body and how it's possible of such instantaneous regeneration from such a fatal wound.

"What? How is that possible? It shouldn't be, right?" Its figure was completely invisible whilst I used mana sight, which meant only one thing. "There's no way! It doesn't make any sense!" No mana was present around it nor flowed through it. It's strength, speed and regeneration were not assisted by mana. Instead, it seems completely stricken of the life force that exists within all.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I shook my head and affirmed my focus again. "Focus. Don't waste the limited time I have left with this." I reminded myself of the toll this would take on my body and my sight if I abuse it too much. My body may not even last the whole fight, so I have to finish it of faster before my body give ups.

I launched off the slimy ground that clung to my boots and weighed them down, conjuring lightning mana around my sword and swiping horizontally. The emerald blade now wrapped in a rope of lightning coalescing around it in powerfully charged voltage, surging outwards to the atmosphere and attracting a lighting bolt alongside it. I leapt forwards delivering the blow and coming back with an overhand grip slashing diagonally in a diamond pattern, but even in slow motion, its regeneration persisted and stitched it back in an instance.

"Fuck!" I winced at the sight.

I pulled back and switched to a combination attack, pushing mana outwardly from my legs, sending earthen spikes at the monsters core that pierced it and held it up. Following that, a condensed swirling flame danced in a sphere gathering incredible intensity and raging in a blaze as I threw it full force then using it as cover, slightly delaying my approach as to not be caught in the explosion, and blitzing at the mammoth.

The ball of fire exploded in a tyrannical heat that burned multiple of the trees directly behind it and my approach followed it perfectly ready to deliver an attack until I noticed the miniscule rune carved on its body leaking the amethyst glow, followed by the branches leaking of it.

"That's it. " My eyes opened like a hawks and centred around the carving. I made sure not to blink once and speared forward, cocking back my arm and gathering pure mana into the tip. Then I thrust explosively, aiming dead set on the rune and bursting it with no struggle. The cynical red colour in its eyes dissipated and it fell to the ground like a column.

My jagged breath searched for oxygen in the shallow pauses I took, but the pain gathering in my chest restricted me heavily. "I... did it." I looked over to Aldir who's still passed out. I pick my head up, which rested on the hilt of my blade, and looked forwards at the monsters corpse which slowly crumbled into small pieces. The thick branches covered in moss and the extremely hardened stone which served as the skin of the monster, all slowly started falling apart rising in ashes in the persisting wind that was now dry. The great torrent finally subsided.

My vision once more vanished into a hazy black and white and I was forced to convert back to mana sight. On closer inspection, the mana signature seemed to return to the remains of the giants body, but it was useless now as the mana returned to the atmosphere. I powered ahead to assess the leftovers, sheathing my word and using it as a walking stick, my left arm grabbing my chest in pain. I crouched down at the charred ground that solidified from its previous viscous state and began scrambling through its broken limbs searching for once certain organ.

"It's broken. As suspected." I muttered to myself, gazing at the cracked crux lying on the ground. It's original red colour looked like it had its life sucked out of it. The mana was completely dried up and this was completely useless now. No one would buy it and me nor my father would be able to get any mana from this, but in my eyes, it was still a worthy acquisition for different reasons.

"Maybe this could give me hints of how this giant actually ended up like that. Actually on another thought, I don't think I destroyed that purple rune." I immediately dashed further ahead in the fastest pace I could manage in my weakened state. The purple carvings still present in the stone. Still no mana perpetrated from the stone and practically became invisible to me with my mana sight, but a rough black outline that slightly faded still indicated of its position.

I carefully picked it up, and raised it closer to my face. I attempted turning of mana sight to see if my vision had been returned, and though the colour was back, I couldn't see much further than a meter away from me. "This'll have to do for now. It'll be good enough to gather the necessary sensory data on this stone."

I gazed on it further and tried to pour mana directly into it only for it to completely vanish. I then tried to put an elemental affinity onto it and try to alter it that way, but once again it was unresponsive and the mana dissipated into thin air. I flipped between mana sight and my currently limited sight for mana signatures, but it didn't tell me a different story at all. The mana didn't seem to get absorbed but rather just disappear completely. It was an entirely unheard of concept to me, and keep in mind I was fairly well versed in technology, artefacts and such.

"Once I make my way to the capital in a couple of years, I'll need to investigate this. Out here, there isn't many places with up to date information, but I might be able to still get something from this. Perhaps I may even need to travel to the dragons or dwarves, since they seem well versed in rocks, and the dragons especially, abstract power."

I looked back at Aldir and then settled on a thought. "It's best I make shelter for the two of us. We'll have to continue the hunt on another day. How unfortunate." I spoke, my breath lifting up in smoke. "It's getting cold again. Almost my sixth birthday. How time flies."