Rathmal surveys the room, as his sweat soaks his clothes. Ten shadows surround him, all holding jagged swords, focusing on nothing else but curing him down. Rathmal leaps in the air and outside the circle, positioning the shadows so they are all now in front of him.
They all rush forward, playing into Rathmal's hands, their swords clanking onto the ground as he cuts them down one by one until there are only five left. Before they can circle him again, he pushes the end of the handles together, forming a double-bladed sword. He swings the blade across, slashing and cutting through one. Not losing any momentum, he uses his back to glide the weapons across, hitting two more enemies beyond his peripherals. He swiftly takes apart the dual blades and throws them on each side, stabbing each of the last two shadows in the head. They fall as their grip on the hilt loosens, dissipating throughout the room.
Rathmal clenches his fist, his fingers and knuckles aching with each bend. As sweat drips down into his eyes, he wipes it with his arm as he stares at a much older man whose skin resembles spider webs covering a decaying skull. The man is wearing a rusted iron crown secured on his head, with ten silver gems embedded into it. Callimor, the Dark King, stares through Rathmal, a glare so menacing it sends chills down his spine. He slowly claps his decaying arms, patronizing Rathmal's victory. "Your weaponry skills have grown, but you still have much to learn. I conjured these ten without using even one percent of my power. Yet you drown in sweat and breath heavily. Was this too tough for you?"
"That is why I'm fortunate to have you as my teacher." Rathmal said, bowing his head toward the Dark King.
"Yes, I have regretted that deal since we made it. It disgusts me that you dwell here, taking my knowledge."
Rathmal reaches his limit with Callimor's disrespectful actions, as he lifts his head and stares straight into his pitch-black eyes. "With all due respect, you would be stuck here, scared to peek outside, if I didn't control the remaining elders."
Callimor squeezes the arms of his throne as his skin boils. "You speak to me in such a way that you forget where you are and who I am. I led that council of elders back when it protected not only Elk Fenios but all of Noth Mildor."
A purple glow surrounds him, while the rest of the room darkened. As Callimor steps closer and closer, Rathmal runs out of air around him, wincing and eventually falling to his knee. Callimor now stares down at him, but only a few inches away, while Rathmal gasps with every breath.
"I admit you helped me, disposing of some of them. But never think you have any power in this world." Once again, the room fills with air as the Dark King returns to his throne. Rathmal rises back to his feet, struggling to gain his composure.
No power? What a joke. He wouldn't say that if he stepped foot into my Kingdom. With all that so-called power. Why did he need me to take his enemies down? Breathe and relax. Learn all you can, and your time will come when his dead body will be at your feet.
"Return to your quarters. We are done for today." Callimor said while flicking his hand towards the door. Rathmal lifts his chin, walking out of the room with at least some of his dignity. But before the doors close, he notices something. Callimor let out a large breath and sank into his throne. The practice must've taken a toll on him, more than he would have wanted to show.
Rathmal makes his way toward the tower's library. As he opens the large metal doors, the smell of old books and burned-out candles wash over him. He walks towards the back, where the enchantment books are kept, scanning through the endless shelves of leather-bound books so old, the strings from the spine barely kept together the paper while others became a pile of unorganized paper. Rathmal reaches up towards a book, where he could barely read the markings, hoping it could be of some use.
"If you're searching for weapon enchantments, that book over there would be much more informative." A voice said. Rathmal turns around, with his sword now in hand, only to see a ball of light in front of him.
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"You should put that sword away. It will do you little good." The sphere spikes in random directions whenever it speaks, displaying different colors. The colors moved within it like a drop of dye entering a bowl of water as it flows around.
"What are you?" Rathmal said, staring closely at the light.
"That is none of your concern. You need to be more concentrate on your studies." The light said, sounding like a teacher lecturing her students. Rathmal hesitates to say something but listens to its advice on retrieving the book and studying the materials. He walks towards a bookcase enclosed with chains and locks. Rathmal put his hand above the lock, hoping it was an enchantment he could easily break.
"Dang it. This enchantment is far too advanced for me. Light thingy, is there any other book that would be of use?"
"There are, but that is by far the most useful."
"Useful'' is a relative term in this situation, since I can't retrieve it."
The ball of light zooms straight towards the tall, dark bookcase and hovers above the many locks that secured it. Rathmal stands there with his arms crossed, shaking his head while staring at the ball of light. The ball of light shines even brighter as it levitates in front of the bookcase. It slams into the metal locks one by one, shocking Rathmal, making him jump from the noise. Rathmal had full access to the library but didn't like the ruckus the light was creating as he peered around him to check for any guards.
Rathmal turns around and sees the locks still attached, exhaling a disappointing sigh. He turns around and wonders why he trusted a ball of light over his instincts. As he takes his first step forward, he hears a shaking noise. He turns around and sees the metal chains and locks shaking. One by one, the locks fall to the ground, sending a loud crash with each one. Rathmal was shocked to say the least, confused how it could do it when he himself didn't have the power.
The ball of light moves aside as Rathmal walks closer and looks up at the book that sat fifty feet high. Rathmal uses a bit of his magic as he glows a faint yellow, grabbing the book and tucking it inside his bag. He turns to ask a question, but the light is gone. Rathmal stands there in the dark library, perplexed by what had just happened, but rushes towards a table, eager to learn.
"I think she passed out again. Jasmin? Jasmin?" Yong said.
Jasmin wakes up, barely able to lift her head. "Sorry, where did I leave off?"
"We meditated, as you said, but no luck so far. What are we doing wrong?"
Jasmin blinks and closes her eyes tightly, loosening them, struggling to open them all the way. "Let yourself go and find what motivates you. Love? Power? Survival? Fear? Or something else or all. Whatever it is, you must concentrate and let the energy surrounding you fuel you."
"It's not working! You must not be telling us something." Junichi said as he became more and more impatient with the lack of results.
"I have told you everything you need to know to get started."
"There must be a trick, another way of achieving it. Tell me." Junichi said.
"Calm down Junichi. She's trying to help us."
A yellow flame lit the dungeon, shocking everybody, including Jasmin. As a yellow aura surrounded Jin. The aura soon disappeared, but everyone, for a moment, stayed motionless and stunned. "Jin! You did it!" Yama said, exploding in excitement. Everyone was now surrounding Jin.
"What do you mean?"
"A yellow light radiated around you." Yong said.
"Really? How did I look? Cool?"
"Super cool." Yama said.
"How did it feel?" Sora asked.
"My body felt weightless and strong. I could feel the energy throughout my body."
"What did you do?" Wataru asked.
"Honestly, I did what Jasmin told me to do. I thought of what motivates me, which is Mei and Chung. I want to get stronger for them. Once we venture out of here, I want to be that person they can count on." As he continues to talk, the yellow light returns, but this time stronger than before.
"Your body is like a battery, it's able to hold the energy flowing through your body. The more you train, the stronger you get, but be careful not to go over your limit."
"Why?" Wataru asked.
"Because if you go over your limit, it will tear your body apart, taking an unrecoverable toll on you. No one knows everything about magic, but the more you know and the more you become one with it, the safer you'll be. So, keep practicing."
Everyone quickly went back to meditating. Motivated by the success of Jin, hoping for success of their own. Junichi took a deep breath but struggled to find what motivates him.