~ Jasper ~

A small family of wild Antlas was grazing in a particular grove one afternoon, when all of a sudden, an arrow pierced the neck of the father.

Over the last few months, this particular grove had gone from being one of the primary feeding locations for a variety of herbivores in the area to almost completely desolate. This herd was simply attempting to take advantage of all of the free food, completely unaware of the reason it was abandoned.

When the arrow found its mark, the others immediately scattered, but one more arrow managed to find its way into the neck of the mother, killing her instantly. From the brush, a young man emerged, prepared to bring his prey back to his master’s cottage.

He wiped the sweat off his head and let out a sigh of relief.

“Man, that was close. I was running out of time before afternoon practice started,” he spoke to no one in particular.

The young man, Jasper, considered carrying them back one at a time, but opted instead to use his favorite method of transportation. He held out his hand and watched the air sparkle. After a moment, a rudimentary wheelbarrow had appeared on the ground. Jasper scrutinized his newest creation for any imperfections and came away with mixed feelings.

“Man, I can’t seem to get round wheels down quite right,” he complained, “They’re always a little bit angular, which makes my job that much harder. Still, this is an improvement to how it was three months ago.”

Jasper closed his eyes and nodded, considering the path his abilities had taken to this point.

It had been three years since Jasper had begun his training. In that time, he had discovered his aptitude for Formation magic, trained as a swordsman with one of the Kingdom of Aurem’s greatest talents, the sword master Lingzhi, and learned how to survive on his own. This had all been in preparation to travel and save his missing sisters.

He had finally turned eighteen, which was his society’s milestone of adulthood, several months prior. He took it as an opportunity to change his look, cutting his hair short and slicking back the top of his head. While his hair used to hang down to around his ears, and sometimes even got into his eyes, it was now in a position that never bothered him at all. He had also ditched his old Earth clothes, which were by now incredibly damaged from overuse, for a basic white cloth shirt and a leather vest. To help keep his hair back, he awore a green bandana around his forehead. He also began wearing gloves whenever he would be spending time outdoors.

Jasper was far more confident than he was before that he was capable of undertaking his original goal. However, during the time he had spent with Lingzhi, he had developed a strong bond with the old master. He had long since forgiven his master’s tendencies to put him through the ringer in training, and instead fully committed himself to getting as strong as he could. Ever since, a new understanding had formed between master and student. There were times where it felt like Lingzhi could read his mind or knew just the perfect words to calm him down when he was doubting himself. The man had turned into a quasi-father figure for the volatile young teenager, which was something he lacked even from his own father.

Jasper loaded the Antlas into his large wheelbarrow and began to wheel them out of the grove. He had found the location several months prior, and it was full of wild animals that would make good lunches. For weeks, he was able to go there whenever he couldn’t find any closer kills, but in recent times it was beginning to lose a lot of its former traffic.

I think I’m going to need to avoid this place for a while, Jasper concluded.

After about fifteen minutes of pushing, he could finally see the small cottage in the distance. His master was outside, and the firepit was already ready to cook the meat.

“I thought for a moment you weren’t going to bring back anything,” Lingzhi snarked, “Glad to see you found something.”

“I had to go to that grove again,” Jasper complained, “I don’t think we’re going to get much out of it for a while.”

Lingzhi sighed in disappointment.

“Well, you’d better keep your eyes open, then.”

After skinning, they began to cook lunch.

“Hey Master,” Jasper addressed, “How close am I?”

“If you mean what I think you mean,” Lingzhi replied, “You’re not far. Just need to get a little better.”

“I’m beating you almost as often as I lose now, and it’s still not enough?” Jasper pouted.

After his first year, Jasper began to ask Lingzhi when he would be ready to go off on his own. Lingzhi’s response had been that he would allow Jasper to go once the student surpassed the master. While Jasper had gotten much better since then, Lingzhi had held to that standard, and thus Jasper was still training.

“I said surpass, not match,” Lingzhi reminded, “And besides, you only have to surpass me as I am now, not as I was when I was in the Guard.”

“That’s a relief, at least,” Jasper admitted, “Not sure I’ll ever have what it takes to do that.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Jasper,” Lingzhi chided, “As you are now, you could probably take on anyone in the Kingdom one-on-one.”

“And yet I can’t go…” Jasper stated.

While Jasper had a desire to leave, it was primarily for the sake of finding his missing family. He had, in fact, grown very attached to Lingzhi and his cabin, and there was a part of him that didn’t even want to leave at all anymore.

“How’s your Formation practice coming along?” Lingzhi prompted in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

“Still can’t do circles well,” Jasper explained, “And sharp edges are still rough.”

The issue Jasper had been running into with Formation magic was the level of specificity and understanding that was required of the object being formed. Every aspect of the object had to not only be defined by the maker but had to be fully understood at the moment of formation. This meant that while certain objects, like bricks, which had a simple shape and uniform material composition, were easy to form, more complex or precise creations like swords, which had an incredible amount of complexity in the craftsmanship, or mechanical contraptions, which had a large number of moving parts, were either incredibly difficult or out of the question.

In addition, objects created by using Formation had a limited lifespan. Unless the creator touched the object, which gave it a form of magical stability that Jasper didn’t fully understand, the objects would only last between thirty seconds and five minutes before dissolving back into the atmosphere.

As far as Jasper’s Formation abilities went, he was capable of forming static, uniform objects without much trouble, and he could create basic swords, but the wheelbarrow was the most mechanically complex object he could make, due to its moving parts being confined to two wheels on the side.

“Hey Jasper,” Lingzhi called, “Could you go get some firewood? I think our fire’s about to run out.”

Jasper nodded and ran into the house. The firewood was stored in the closet, and it only took a moment for Jasper to grab enough to keep the fire going a little longer. He closed the closet door, and made his way back to the front when he saw something bizarre.

While Lingzhi was still out there, he was no longer sitting down. Instead, he was speaking to a third party, another person who had just arrived.

The man looked to be around fifteen years Jasper’s senior, with dark shoulder-length hair. He carried himself well, but his gaze, focused on Lingzhi, seemed like it was designed to pierce the old man’s soul. Jasper estimated the man was slightly taller than himself, but he couldn’t tell by exactly how much. An emblem was on his uniform, but it was too small for Jasper to make out.

Their conversation was barely audible, so Jasper opted to hide behind the front door and listen in.

“What? Can’t I just come check up on an old friend? Am I denied that privilege?”

The unfamiliar voice must have belonged to the newcomer. It wasn’t particularly deep, but it held a disturbingly mocking tone to it, as if he knew some kind of secret.

“I think we both know the answer to that question,” Lingzhi’s voice replied, “Why are you wearing those colors?”

“Oh? Can I not wear the colors of my homeland? Is that so wrong?” the man replied.

“You lost that right during the war,” Lingzhi accused.

“Well, as you may have guessed, I’m not simply here to say hello,” the visitor admitted, “I have a duty to fulfill, after all.”

After that, no more words were exchanged. Instead, clashes of steel could be heard from Jasper’s position. Despite his fear of being seen, Jasper turned his head around the door frame to watch the duel.

It was unlike anything he had ever taken part in. Gone were the slow, methodical swipes that he and Lingzhi had used when attempting to outsmart the other, and in their place was a different kind of fight; one in which speed seemed to prevail. The visitor was on the attack, attempting to poke holes in Lingzhi’s defense, while the old man carefully guarded his vitals with swift, precise movements. It was clear to Jasper: this guy was out for blood, and he was clearly capable of taking it.

After a minute of back-and-forth with the attacker launching an attack, followed by Lingzhi parrying, and back around, the old man finally made a move. He pulled his feet slightly off the ground, before being carried to the side at a high speed. The motion caused Jasper to gasp, as he knew what this was.

Lingzhi had shown him this ability before. Since the old man’s magical affinity was wind, he was capable of utilizing the wind to bolster his own maneuverability in battle. Combined with his natural craftiness, it was a large part of how he was able to rise to the top of the Royal Guard. However, Jasper had never seen it used in battle before. Lingzhi always seemed reluctant to use it, since there wasn’t anyone else he knew of that had mastered the technique.

Unfortunately, it was clear the visitor was prepared for the move, as the increased speed of Lingzhi’s motion didn’t faze him. He was forced to go on the defense, due to the old man’s superior positioning, but he matched every blow that Lingzhi attempted to land on him. Eventually, the younger of the fighters got tired of defending, and decided to attack. Lingzhi attempted to circle his opponent and flank him, but the newcomer was one step ahead of him, swatting his sword right as it was about to come at him. Due to Lingzhi’s high momentum combined with the swiftness of his opponent’s action, his sword flew out of his hand and landed next to the fire pit.

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The visitor didn’t miss this chance, and he immediately ran Lingzhi through.

In that moment, Jasper’s heart stopped. The man he had looked up to, who he had been trying to surpass, was just brutally killed in front of him, by an opponent who seemed to be in control of the entire fight from the get-go.

Unfortunately, in his shock, he began running toward Lingzhi, completely forgetting that his killer was still there. The unknown man, whose sword was still embedded in Jasper’s old master, turned his head at the interruption.

“Hmm?” the man’s attention was drawn to the young man, “Who might you be?”

Jasper didn’t respond, he simply glared at the man. Seeing the raw hatred emanating from Jasper’s gaze, his eyes widened in recognition.

“Oh, I get it!” he chuckled grimly, “So, he took on another student, did he? I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. He never did seem like the hermit type.”

“You bastard,” Jasper grunted, not dropping his glare.

“Oh, so you can talk,” he deadpanned, “Well, don’t mind me, I’m just here to deal with some unfinished business. Since you saw me, well, I’m not sure I can leave you out of it. Sorry kid, no hard feelings.”

The attacker removed his sword from Lingzhi and leveled it at Jasper, who didn’t have anything on hand. Faster than Jasper could see, the attacker had already closed the gap. He attempted to thrust his sword into Jasper’s gut, but Lingzhi’s student managed to bat the sword away with his left hand while lunging in the same direction, landing near the fire pit.

“Oh, not bad,” he praised, “That takes guts.”

Jasper took stock of the current situation. This guy was going to kill him if he didn’t fight back. The problem was, he didn’t have a weapon. He could use Formation, but he had never been forced to use it in such a high-pressure situation before. He couldn’t rely on it in a situation like this.

He turned his head to look around at the ground and noticed Lingzhi’s old sword. It was the same weapon that had inspired him to begin training, and despite the grime it had gathered in this fight, it looked as enticing as ever. Making his decision, Jasper lunged for the weapon right as his attacker approached. Grabbing the sword and swinging it behind him, he managed to block another attack.

“All right, all right!” the visitor cheered, “Glad to see you’ll put up a fight.”

Jasper tried to remember everything that Lingzhi had taught him in that moment, but, perhaps due to the stakes, he was having trouble coming up with everything. The only thing that came to mind was the principle of battle that Lingzhi had taught him so long ago.

The goal is not to win, it is to not lose. The goal is not to kill, it is to not die.

Lingzhi’s killer readied his sword for an attack, while Lingzhi’s student brought his into a defensive position. He needed to plan for a way to escape, all while not letting any attacks through.

The swords clashed as the unknown man swung his sword in a horizontal slice. Jasper met it with a block, but due to the positioning of the blades he was unable to turn it into a parry. His opponent tried again, this time a downward vertical slice, which Jasper blocked with an overhead horizontal block. This left the attacker’s front side open, which Jasper took advantage of with a kick to the gut.

The attacker staggered back, catching his breath, while Jasper returned his sword to a defensive position.

“Wow,” his attacker admitted, “You really are Lingzhi’s student, aren’t you? Heck, you might be better than he is. Goes to show how rusty he was, huh? Guess I underestimated you with those easy attacks. Mark my words, they won’t continue.”

Before Jasper could respond, his opponent rushed him with a flurry of blows, much more similar to what he had been using against Lingzhi earlier. Jasper managed to block all of them cleanly, but he wasn’t able to spot any obvious openings like before. It was clear that his enemy was holding back before, trying to gauge Jasper’s ability. If Jasper was going to win, he needed to find something useful fast.

He tried to consider if there was a way that he could bait his opponent into dropping his guard. It was the one thing he was occasionally able to use against even Lingzhi, who was incredibly cautious with attacking. The difference was, Lingzhi wasn’t quite this aggressive, making it harder to think on the fly.

However, Jasper had an idea for how to get past his opponent’s onslaught. If he had a chance to attack, he would be able to give it a go. And sure enough, after a particular parry left the man slightly off balance, he went for it.

Jasper raised his sword, so it was facing away from him, but up and to the left, across his body. He attempted a downward diagonal slash to the right, intending for the unknown man to dodge and strike back. Jasper would then dodge the counterattack, and his enemy’s midsection would be completely open.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Rather than dodge the swing, his opponent met the sword with his own, landing a clash right around ten centimeters up from the hilt. The two pushed on each other for a moment, before the man did something unexpected. Jasper could see the other man’s sword light up for a moment, before Lingzhi’s old sword snapped in half. No longer able to hold the swords against each other, the attacker kicked Jasper in the abdomen, sending him flying into a tree.

Seeing the half-broken sword in his hand, Jasper began to lose all hope. The sword that had, in his mind, represented his entire reason for fighting, had shattered. His inspiration was gone, and he slumped against the tree, the hilt falling from his hand.

“Well, this certainly wasn’t what I expected,” the attacker commented, “I’m serious, I didn’t think I’d have to use my magic against you. You’re crafty, I’ll give you that. If I hadn’t been able to figure out what you were trying to do when you swung your sword in that weird way, you may have killed me.”

Jasper gritted his teeth. He had assumed that because his opponent was so aggressive, he didn’t think through any of his actions. It was a naïve thought, considering this was the same person who had just killed Lingzhi, a man who had mastered defensive swordplay, but it made sense. Now, it would cost him his life.

“I suppose I have to end it now,” he declared, “But I can’t say it brings me any joy.”

All of a sudden, Jasper’s mind snapped. His only remaining thoughts were of the way this murderer toyed with his master, and how he casually shattered all of Jasper’s hopes with his magical ability.

“I’m not done yet,” Jasper growled.

“Sorry, but I think you are,” the man replied, his voice cheerless, “You have no weapon.”

“That’s…what you think,” Jasper panted, holding his right arm to his side.

While Jasper could have spent a lot of time thinking about what kind of weapon he wanted to create, there was only one thing that came to mind. It was the weapon that represented the warrior he wanted to be, the goals that he had set for himself when he started training. More than anything, though, it was the sword he wanted to use to avenge his master.

“What?!” the attacker’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Sitting in Jasper’s grip was a perfect recreation of Lingzhi’s sword, down to the smallest detail. While his opponent was gasping in disbelief, Jasper simply smiled.

“I never thought about it, but it makes sense,” he concluded, “I spent years staring at this sword, wondering if I would ever find myself worthy of it. I fought against this sword, alongside this sword, and admired it all the while. The image, the material composition, the shape, everything has been permanently imprinted on my mind.”

“That’s Formation magic,” his enemy muttered putting a hand to his head, “Unbelievable.”

Jasper lunged for the intruder, newly formed sword in hand. He was tired of staying on defense and was going on the attack for the first time. In response to his second wind, the attacker was struggling to keep up with the completely berserk attacks of Jasper.

“Damn, you’ve had this in you the whole time?” he snarked, staying rather calm, “Well, makes my job easier, I guess.”

The intruder locked blades with Jasper, then held his free hand out. Jasper was immediately thrown back at high speed, landing back at the tree.

“Oh, I didn’t mention this,” the attacker commented, “But my magical affinity is lightning.”

“Lightning?”

Jasper struggled to stand back up, with his back having taken two separate strong collisions.

The attacker nodded proudly.

“I can fire bolts of lighting from my hand at will,” he explained, “Or I can power up my sword so it can cut basically anything. Here, take a look!”

He fired another bolt, which Jasper could clearly recognize as electricity, at the tree, the bolt singing the tips of Jasper’s hair.

The tree, which had just taken a very large shock at a weak point, began to fall forward above Jasper. He attempted to roll out of the way, but due to his poor positioning, the toppled tree landed right on top of his left hand. Excruciating pain erupted up Jasper’s entire arm, completely obscuring his ability to think.

“You know, I was going to kill you,” the intruder explained, walking up to Jasper, “But you look like you’re not going to last much longer anyway, so I think I’ll leave you to struggle in pain. Plus, killing people myself always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

The attacker began to walk away, giving Jasper one last look. His expression was melancholy, but he still managed to make solid eye contact.

“Quick word of advice: if you manage to survive this somehow, make sure you don’t speak a word of this to anyone. I don’t want to have to run you through like I did old Lingzhi.”

With that mocking remark, Lingzhi’s killer disappeared into the forest.

With extreme pain still running up his left arm, Jasper attempted to shift his thoughts to how he could get his hand free from the tree. The fallen log was around three quarters of a meter in diameter, and it had fallen right on top of his left palm, meaning it wasn’t just a matter of getting his fingers out from underneath. He attempted to stand up, but the awkward angle at which his arm was bent made it nearly impossible to get his feet on the ground.

After failing a number of times to get on his feet, Jasper decided to try his arm strength. He rolled onto his side and attempted to stick his right hand underneath the log, but between the incredible pain in his hand and his exhaustion from the battle that had just taken place, he found himself unable to properly lift anything.

Well, not that I would have been able to lift it while on the ground like this anyway, he thought to himself.

With lifting the log out of the question, he wracked his brain for any other possibility to escape. One option was to use Formation to create a lever, but Jasper quickly ruled out that possibility. Levers meant for logs typically required more torque than Jasper could handle at this distance. Plus, it would prove difficult to wedge the lever underneath the log. He considered pushing the log, but with how exhausted he was there was little chance it would go anywhere. The last idea he had was to cut the log around his hand, but he had no idea how to go about doing that, and he didn’t exactly have time to learn, either.

Damn, Jasper winced, I think I’m going to pass out soon.

The pain from his shattered hand and from his well-bruised back were beginning to take their toll on what little stamina Jasper had remaining, and he knew that he had to act fast if he was going to survive. Of course, he did have one option left to escape, but it was the absolute last resort. If he did this, there was no going back.

If I pass out here, there’s no point. I think I have to do it.

Jasper took his right hand and used Formation to create the sharpest knife he could imagine. Despite his fatigue, he could feel the handle take shape.

I hope it’s sharp enough. If not, this is it for me.

Jasper held the knife between the log and his arm and swung down.

After twenty minutes under the log, Jasper finally managed to stand up, freed from his prison. The pain from the amputation was making him woozy, but after severing the nerves Jasper oddly felt slightly less pain than before he started. He wasn’t sure if the adrenaline was simply masking it more than before, or whether having no hand was simply less painful than a shattered hand, but it gave him enough strength to stand by the end of it, which he was grateful for.

Immediately after standing, he grabbed his white shirt and tore it off, forming it into a tourniquet for his left arm, which had been severed several inches from the wrist. A year prior, Lingzhi had given Jasper a crash course in first aid, which included making and applying a tourniquet one-handed. While Jasper had internally scoffed at the thought of losing an arm back then, he was beginning to feel grateful for the lesson now. Due to the temperature, Jasper immediately put his vest on for warmth.

Now that the crisis had been averted, Jasper looked around at the battleground. Aside from the fallen tree, and several scorch marks on the ground from the attacker’s electric bolts, the area was mostly untouched. However, one major scene caused Jasper to despair at the sight.

Lingzhi’s body was lying in a pool of blood not far from the fire pit. The man was face down, with the back of his shirt somewhat stained with blood. His scabbard had been detached from his belt and was on the edge of the stained ground.

When Jasper approached him, he didn’t know what to expect. It wasn’t impossible that the old man had somehow survived, after all, but it was clear that he hadn’t moved since he initially fell. However, when Jasper put his right hand to the man’s neck, all doubts were dispelled. He was dead.

Jasper’s arms fell, and his back slumped. In the end, the killer had clearly done what he came to do, and Jasper was unable to do anything about it. Worse, Jasper managed to lose an arm in the process, gaining absolutely nothing for his efforts.

His one remaining fist began to clench, and Jasper stood up, his despair transforming into frustration.

I failed again. I couldn’t save my sisters from the slave traders, and I couldn’t save Lingzhi from his death. Just when I thought I might be strong enough, just when I thought I’d be able to do what I had set out to do, I instead see just how weak I am. Well, I’m done with that.

He had seen the emblem on the man’s uniform. It was one that Lingzhi had shown him during one of their discussions of history. It was the symbol of the Kingdom of Aurem.

If Aurem wanted Lingzhi dead, they got their wish. But they went too far. I won’t stand for that.

Jasper walked over to the scabbard on the ground and picked it up. In that moment, his frustration transformed into conviction.

I don’t know who you are, Mr. Killer, or who put you up to this. But I swear before God, I will see my master avenged. I don’t care what I have to do. All I know is that I will see you dead before me. That’s a promise.

Jasper turned away from his master’s prone body. With his newfound conviction, he took his first step towards his new purpose. He would show the Kingdom that the student of Lingzhi was not to be messed with.

He would end the man who ended his master.