Leon slipped the robe over his head and tied its front together with the strip of leather that passed for a string. Closing it most of the way, but leaving enough room for breathing. These robes were exactly like the old ones, only they had a different color to them, they were blues and golds, they were even cut in the same way, consisting of a long sleeve robe, complete with a hood. The front was laced up, and the side from the waist down was split to allow ease of movement. Once he had that on he pulled up his pants, pulling the robe out of the way to fasten the leather strap. Following that was a set of woolen stockings and then his boots.
It was all in all, not a bad set, a decent mixture of practicality and comfort. It, however, lead him to wonder why mages like robes, they would be impractical in a lot of situations including battles and the like. You would think mages would want to be better protected seeing as they were the nobility.
He shrugged, this world often made little sense to him, it didn't need to, all that mattered was the three that were still sleeping in the bed. He looked back at them, all three of them laying in their usual spots, Lira on the right side of the bed, Krya on the left, and fluffy curled up like a dog at the foot of the bed. There was also a cavity in the center that had been his place, up till he had pulled himself out of the bed, careful to not disturb the sleeping three.
He looked himself over in the dim light of the predawn mirror.
Ever since he had killed that old self he had gotten most of his memories back, or maybe he had gotten the memories of Maahes, the question now was whether or not he was his own person or simply an alter ego of Maahes. It was a question that burned deep in his mind. Shaking his head he dislodged those thoughts and headed out of the door into the cold stone hall.
This castle, this home of theirs, it was much too large for the four of them, there, however, was no need for anyone else, and the three others kept it from being lonely. He followed the path he had worn into his memories, right, right, left and out into the courtyard. He breathed in the brisk air, there was still a frosted dew on everything like there always was before the golden rays of the sun had kissed the earth.
He flexed his hand, willing a blade into his hand, it appeared there blazing, casting a red light around the courtyard and casting a comfortable warmth towards him. He looked at the blade, if his memories were correct Maahes had used this as his primary weapon, it was different, however, while that had been a scimitar, this was a more traditional long sword, perhaps even reaching into bastard sword territory.
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He spread his legs, adopting a pose more suited for fighting, and sprung forward, attacking his imaginary foes with a snarl and blaze in his eyes. He had many powers at his disposal, it just seemed as though they were out of his reach at this time. It would seem he was too weak to perform the more extravagant moves, hence why he was practicing.
He lunged forward, driving the blade hard into a tree, and pulled back just as fast, leaving the blade embedded, he formed a claw with this hand and twisted in mid-air, and in a flash of flame he was behind the tree, a flaming clawed hand came crashing down and removed a good fist full of bark and tree flesh, and in another flash he was back in front of the tree, several feet away with the blade in his hand.
You could almost see the tree shudder in pain as the wind caught the high branches causing a trimble of the branches that seemed to run all the way down into the ground. He banished the blade and looked at his hand, that was the first time he had been able to fully utilize his ability to distort space around himself. It was a great ability that allowed him to instantly close the distance, or to create some should the need arise.
He rolled his neck out, loosening the stiffened muscles and went into a fist fighting form, he flowed from form to form, building up a sheen of sweat as he practiced, committing the moves to muscle memory.
He would have been content with doing this until the others rose, but he felt something. Like someone was watching, as he flowed in a form he twisted slightly, teleporting himself to the location he felt the presence he found himself up in a tree, standing face to face with a living shadow, his hand didn't stop moving it snatched out forming a flaming claw that ached toward the shadow’s throat. His hand, however, didn't make contact, the creature that looked like it was made out of smoke was just as elusive as the substance. It bent in a way no human could ever move, and shifted around his fist, avoiding the fist by mere millimeters.
That was fine, he ignited his fist, flames leapt out, turning the right arm of his robes into a fine ash instantly, the smoke person hissed out in pain, stumbling back it formed a more human shape, it was male, and it was wearing a robe, holding a staff in one hand and his face in the other.
Due to the darkness that surrounded them, Leon could not see his face, that was fine, he would have as much time as he needed examining the face after he ripped off his head. With a roar that could shatter a lion’s pride he lunged forward once again, this time the blade in his hands, but before the sword could find itself in its new sheath the man pulled on a talisman around his neck, ripping it off of its leather thong and vanished in a blinding flash of light.
Leon blinked a few times, before hopping down to the ground and picking up the discarded talismen. He would have to talk to Lira about adding more magical barriers and defenses to the castle, that and ask about this…
He looked up at the sky, the sun was just barely rising over the ridge to the east. He looked down and found the arm of his robe completely burned away, he was going to need to get changed, it was after all the first day of classes for them. He sighed, he hated classes, but if it was for Lira and Krya he would be there, no matter how much he found it boring.
“You got away this time little rabbit, next time I will burn you away...” he called out to the silent forest.
Next time…