“So you two are the new recruits?” An old wiry man approached us from the hallway. His skin was weathered but not wrinkly, and he walked with a slight hunch on his back. Steel white hair was tied behind his head in a small bun similar to Japanese in my previous world.
However… “master, his aura…” I know. This old man is strong. Even though he was repressing his aura the air around him seemed to carry a certain ‘law’, as if whatever stepped into a couple dozen centimeters of him would have to follow his will.
I stood up while observing the old man, “Yes, we are, and I am assuming you are the examiner?”
The old man smirked, “Hoh, and why do you think that?”
I frowned and bluntly gestured to the air around him without knowing how to describe it.
“Ah, you can sense my restrained domain? Interesting.” He appraised me again. “Well then children, shall we begin? Feel free to use any magic and physical abilities to try and take me down.” He said while casually walking over to one end of the fighting ring.
““Flysa.”” I called out to her while taking off my cloak.
“Yes master?”
““Don’t hold back against this old man.””
“Hai.”
With that we both walked into the arena, in all honesty I was kind of nervous. That area around him truly unnerved me. It wasn’t his aura, but more like an extension of him. I believe he called it a domain? Raphael, come. “Yes master.”
With a thought Raphael materialized in my hands and I took a stance against the old man. One thing I learned about soul weapons from Alice is that they can turn into immaterial form at will and be stored in your body in some form or another.
With Flysa standing by me with Appoloin the old man across from us smiled softly.
“Soul weapons? You young ones are full of surprises. Well, begin whenever you’re ready.”
Instantly after he finished speaking I fired a condensed kinetic bullet at his face while charging, the ground breaking under my and Flysa’s feet. However without even moving his mana the old man let the bullet strike him- *tinkrr but it broke apart on hitting his domain, the mana seemingly neutralized. Narrowing my eyes I reached him in the next instant and thrust at his face. Barely tilting his body the spear was avoided, and I applied kinetic magic to my arm, swinging downwards towards his shoulder like a rocket. Twisting he avoided the spear and with a gentle step he moved backwards.
Growling I glared at the man while I glanced at Flysa with my left head. The bastard was positioning me between her and him. Applying kinetic force to my feet the ground exploded as I slid along it like ice, Focusing I rapidly tried to kite him to get Flysa behind him while bombarding him with blows. However the man avoided everything like a fluid dancer. Whenever I tried to use magic against him his domain somehow negated it. Annoyed but thrilled at the same time I slammed my foot into the ground causing it to balk with a wave of kinetics.
As expected when it reached his domain the kinetic magic couldn’t pass through and the ground subsided somewhat, only moved by its surroundings. But the old man didn’t even lose balance on the rolling ground, and glanced upwards spotting Flysa- who I boosted into the air with the wave- crashing down towards him with Appoloin. Stepping to the side his hand flowed upwards and gently snagged the blade in between his fingers before he rotated while pulling Flysa along then threw her at me- with Flysa yelling in surprise. Quickly I created a cushion of kinetics and caught her while I slid around and aimed the tip of Raphael at him Chaotic Smite!
A blue-red lightning bolt shot from Raphael’s tip, and upon hitting the man’s domain actually pushed it back, causing him to widen his eyes.
Grinning I instantly pulled mana from both of my tails, imbuing Raphael, Flysa and Appoloin with overload regalia while spreading the second tails mana around me. Instantly illusions separated from me and charged the old man next to Flysa who was shattering the ground with each step while charging.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Now it was Flysa’s turn to attack the elder, who dodged her cleaving swings with as much or more ease than he dealt with Raphael and me, and in disappointment I found my illusions disappearing upon getting close to him. Damn that domain.
Propping up Raphael I took aim, Lightning load! Chaotic Smite! Double casting along with (overload regalia) caused a giant lightning bolt as thick as my waist to pierce towards the man; his hand blurred and thrust towards the lightning bolt just as it left Raphael’s tip, mana coalescing on his palm. In the next instant the surroundings were dyed white with a thunderous roar.
I cursed myself for forgetting how bright lightning actually is and quickly recover my vision to find the two tracks of the mans feet gouged through the ground, his palm pointing upwards at the sky as he smiled at me. Flysa recovered a moment later and prepared to attack him. He glanced at her for a moment before smirking and his domain exploded, instantly covering the field with an oppressive weight. Gritting my teeth I strengthened my legs with kinetics, only to find the mana in my legs disappearing faster than I gathered it. Flysa had already fallen to one knee with Appoloin propping her up as she glared at the old man.
Gradually his domain was pulled back into himself and let me breathe easily again. Flysa who was closer suffered worse, and was now panting while collapsed. At some point my illusionary domain was also dispelled. Though I doubt it is an actual domain now that I felt that.
The old man kindly watched us as we gathered ourselves before speaking, “Despite being children not even a year old you have done very well.”
I blinked in surprise and stared at him.
He laughed, “Don’t be so surprised. How else would you explain not having a domain despite the enormous amount of mana you possess?”
I frowned and asked him, “What exactly is a domain? What does it do and how can I get one?”
He smiled kindly, “A domain is an area of influence exuded by older bodies that possess high amounts of mana after being saturated by the souls essence. The older a being is, generally the more powerful and large their domain is. How should I put it- think of your domain as a kingdom, inside that kingdom anything you do is considered ‘law’. Opposing magics cannot remain in your domain without your permission, and your own magics are amplified. The only way for another person to cast magic in your domain is if their’s overlaps yours.
As for how you can get one- simply age. Domains grow as you get older and your body ages. Babies, no matter how powerful or potent their mana, will not have a domain. Children might be lucky to have a small one.”
I tilted my left head and asked with my right, “But my body is already that of a pre-adolescent. Why don’t I have one?”
“Good observation- but it is simply because you have not actually aged into an pre-adolescent, but rather evolved didn’t you? Your body is still as fresh as a newborn. Umu, There was a case once where an alchemist and necromancer collaborated to make an army of dragon homunculi, however while their soldiers had massive amounts of mana they did not have domains simply due to the fact they were freshly born, even with bodies that seemed to have matured to full adults.
While capable of taking down A-ranks and lower their lack of a domain made them common fodder for anyone above S. Infact having a domain is a requirement of having S-rank, and is the main divider between the normal and abnormal.”
I groaned, “So I have to wait to grow older? Not having a domain seems like a massive demerit…”
The old man smirked, “Why do you think the guild has people under age thirteen get a mentor if they qualify? Before that age, no matter what race you are, you would be extremely lucky to have any resistance to another’s domain; much less possess one yourself.”
““That’s…”” I sighed and grumbled to myself, so even if I am extremely powerful at the moment I won’t be able to do anything to those with a domain. Fuck.
“Master…” Flysa worriedly called out to me while struggling to stand. Hurriedly I moved over to her and used my small body to prop her up. Ignoring my attempts to help her stand she merely wrapped her arms around me and dragged me into her lap, “I wasn’t able to protect master…” She muttered with regret and I comfortingly pet her head.
““Don’t worry about it” We’re both not old enough to possess a domain right now.” I said and sighed, letting myself sink into her chest.
Meanwhile the old man was kindly gazing at us, “Still, what surprises me the most is that you actually have resistance to my domain at your age, your familiar has it because of your mana, but you are truly abnormal. By any chance are you reincarnated?”
I shook and whirled to the old man in surprise, who merely smiled and shook his head, “Guessed so. I heard about powerful souls such as dragons and gods occasionally being reborn after dying, in fact I actually met an ancient brooddragon reborn as an elf. But I never expected to meet a young reincarnator. Well,” He sighed and stretched his back, “I won’t pry into your previous life, especially since among reincarnated its normal not to remember everything, however;” He looked at me seriously, “Be careful. There are many who would take advantage of you due to your youth and soul. I will see about mentoring you but you can never be too careful.”
I nodded with a sigh, “Yeah, I’ll make sure on that. What rank are you by the way old man?”
He grinned, “SS.”