Thomas awoke to a hazy figure poking his head.
“Hey, Mr. Cactus man? You should be okay now, but I need you to wake up for me so I can examine you properly.”
Thomas’ mind raced as he grew alert. How did anyone find me here? It must be a hired hunter who tracked my trail to here. He moved his hand backwards to grab a cactus but found nothing except for the cave wall. He heard the voice speak again.
“I’m sorry to say I’ve removed the cacti. We can’t have you relying on them anymore.”
Thomas leaned his head back in defeat. He was outsmarted before he knew the fight had even begun. Exasperated, he finally spoke to the hunter. “Enough with the words, you must already know I’m all out of mana if you even removed the cactuses. Just kill me already because I won’t be saying a single word.”
The man’s sudden monologue caught Alexander by surprise. He’s hallucinating. His cactus addiction must be way more serious than I thought. “Listen, sir. I am not here to kill you. I’m a traveling healer. I saw a fellow man in need and stepped forward to help.” Alexander summoned the white flames on his hands. “The only reason I removed the cacti was because I realize they are part of the reason you ended up in this state.” Alexander activated his white flames on his hands.
A guarded expression evident on his face, Thomas sat up. He was still dizzy, and the hints of water he felt on his lips had done nothing to ease his raging headache. But at least he was alive. Sensing the man before him was no higher than an Apprentice level Elementalist by the low-quality flames he was emitting, he began to ease up. “I assumed you had taken my only weapon in a ploy to torture and kill me without me being able to fight back. I apologize for being so on edge. Nearly dying alone in the desert does that to a man. You said you healed me out of goodwill?”
Alexander rubbed his chin in contemplation. He’s a lot more clearheaded than I expected, and did he just call the cactus his weapon? Maybe he’s not an addict after all. Passing the man more water, he responded. “If you’ll believe it, a fox asked me to follow her to this cave where I chanced upon you. I couldn’t leave you to die once I noticed you, and now here we are.” Digging through his backpack to take out another bagel, he quickly added. “Here have a snack. I noticed you were out of mana. This can help you recover; plus, they taste bang on. Also, if you suddenly feel eternally indebted to me, I wouldn’t be opposed to receiving mana crystals as payment.”
Thomas ignored the snickering man’s words and leaned forward to grab the bagel. He’s got healing and culinary magic? It appears my luck is finally turning around. He bit down on the bagel waiting eagerly for the expected flood of chilled mana before erupting into a fit of coughing. “Why would you give me this?” He managed to spit out.
“Obviously to help you. Stop being such a prima donna. I saw so many baking videos when I was learning to make those; I know those are fantastic.” Alexander emphasized the last words.
“I’m not talking about the taste, you nitwit! I’m a water Elementalist for crying out loud. You healed me. You should know this. What the hell is fire attributed food gonna do for me? You’re burning me from the inside out!”
Now that Alexander thought about it, when he scanned the man previously, his green aura felt like a flowing river. It was hard to explain, but it was definitely very watery. Hmm, it seems I need to experiment some more with the scan technique. I can tell elemental affinity? That’s so cool. Oh, I wonder what the color of the aura represents then? The armadillo from before had a red one, and this man has a green one. Wait, patient first, cool experiments later. “Have some more water. I’ll put some ice into it this time to cool you down.” Opening one of the side containers from his stove top, Alexander grabbed some ice, put it into another thermos, and passed it to the man. “To tell you the truth, I learned culinary magic very recently and didn’t really learn about how elemental affinities would affect the type of food a person could safely ingest. That’s my bad. How about a consolatory high-five?”
After a few long gulps of water, Thomas felt the burning sensation in his chest begin to dissipate. He grinded his teeth before saying, “It’s okay, but would you mind passing me some neutral mana regeneration food?”
Squinting his eyes attempting to see if the man was pulling his leg, Alexander responded. “I’m gonna level with you, champ. Until you asked that just now, I had no idea that was even a thing. Oh, maybe we can do it together. I once heard about a children’s story where a rising chef’s animal companion would pull on his ears to control him while cooking. I’m open to trying that and then you can just inject the meal with your mana!” Alexander knocked his head back laughing.
Opting to ignore the childish man’s words once again, Thomas tightened his jaw and instead focused on another topic. “Hey, would you mind passing me back some of my cactuses?”
“Absolutely not.”
“But why?”
“You called them your weapons earlier. I didn’t even know about the side branches of Culinary magic. I sure as hell don’t want to find out what cactus magic is.”
A joyous laughter echoed through the cave as an irritated Thomas took one last swig from the water bottle before deciding to take a nap.
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Half an hour later, Thomas awoke to see the healer sitting by the entrance of the cave writing on a book. He stared for a few seconds before deciding it was best to play nice with the healer. “What’s your name anyway?”
“Oh, good. You’re awake. You look much better than before. The name’s Alexander Dalo. You?” Alexander stepped forward and extended his hand.
Thomas was quiet for a second before shaking Alexander’s hand. “Thomas Sen.”
“Well, Thomas Sen, how about we get to know each other over a meal? I’ll tell you the harrowing story of how I got here while I cook up some still very delicious but quite normal food.” Alexander winked. “And I feel like that earns me hearing about how you ended up collapsed on a pile of cacti.”
Stretching his feeble body, Thomas sat up. A loud grumble made him realize how depleted he was. “Fine. A meal does sound nice.”
While preparing some hamburgers, Alexander recounted an abridged story of how he’d ended up in the desert, only leaving out the specifics pertaining to Agni and the 9 colored flame. “And after saving up enough money to leave my home island of Feu, I stepped through a gateway meaning to connect me to the metropolis of Insinua, but I guess it malfunctioned and I ended up here.” Alexander had decided to pretend he was from Feu, a tropical island in the west of Fausto he had read was known as a great vacation spot. It was filled with immigrants and far enough from Agni that it was a bit disconnected from the war.
“I was saved by a 2-week-old Elementalist, huh. Well, I can’t fault you since you seem to have done a great job healing me up.”
“Hey, I may have only had healing flames for two weeks, but I worked as a medical aid for years. I know my way around the body.” Alexander snorted at the unintentional meaning.
“You’re a clown.” Rolling his eyes, Thomas drank some more water. Gateway malfunctions happened sometimes in places without strong enough Elementalists to maintain the connections, but Thomas was curious about something else. “How’d you learn so much culinary magic in two weeks, anyway? Those techniques are usually very expensive, and all your supplies looks so high-end. You said you got an award or something for being born with the lowest recorded affinity in Fausto. Z-rank, you called it, and you were raised as a non-Elementalist for the past 23 years. I don’t really understand how you would afford everything, much less going through a gateway.”
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“You’ve got a good eye, my friend, but the answer is so painfully obvious, you might be sorry you asked it at all. How does any scion of the heavens get anything? I found a rich master who funded me.” Alexander clicked his tongue in pride and pointed upwards, seemingly thanking the heavens for making him so exceptional before he began to place the now finished hamburgers on napkins. “That’s all of me, though. Let’s hear what brought you to this cave.”
As the two ate, Thomas began to recount his tale. “I was, am, a prodigious Elementalist born with A grade affinity from Radhi, the capital island of Mesto. My family was well off thanks to the strength of my ancestors, and my father elevated the family business even further. He had a special ability to speak with the animals of the ocean and used that to create a humanitarian aquarium and sanctum for any aquatic animals who wanted a safe home away from danger. I didn’t have very many friends, but I suspect this was mostly due to intimidation. I trained hard since young and was even able to learn three colors of water. Unfortunately, my older brother had already been born with S-grade affinity, the best you can get, by the time I came around, so I lived my life in his shadow. My father is a great man, but even he struggled when it came to fatherhood. I never resented my brother, though. I only wanted us both to receive my father’s praise.” He let out a morose sigh. He didn’t mean to go off on a personal tangent, but Alexander had a warm, relaxing aura. He was very easy to talk to.
Alexander refilled Thomas’ glass of water and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not like you should drink alcohol in your current state anyways, but let’s pretend this is a glass of a delicious scotch because that’s what I’d like to offer you right now. I can’t pretend to understand how that feels. I was orphaned too young to really remember my parents, but I did have a fatherly figure: the doctor who taught me medicine. And what I can say is sometimes fathers don’t really know how to express their love, but I can tell you right now. Even though I just met you, I’m sure your dad had much to be proud of.
Thomas felt his lips part as a toothy smile formed on his face. “Thanks, Alexander.”
“WOW, so the man can smile, huh! Well, finish the story, bro. How’d you get here?”
“Well, although the situation with my father and brother was difficult, I was blessed to have a nurturing mother and a grandmother. It was actually because I was with my grandmother that I ended up separated from my people.” Thinking about his past few days, his smile was erased, and his fists clenched. “I was training as usual when we heard explosions all around the city. I had heard much of Tlaloc’s top brass had returned to the city after repelling Agni’s recent attack on Anima, the world of psychic Elementalists, which was why everyone was so shocked to see them set off a full-frontal assault on our capital city. Even though Agni was joined by the Jupiter and Geb clans, the Tlaloc forces were able to defend until reinforcements from the Kukulkan and Thoth clans arrived. Everything seemed fine, until the Saint of the Deep betrayed Tlaloc. Unleashing his power on his allies, the battle was turned on its head. Alarms sounded calling for an evacuation and much of the younger generation was sent away through nearby gateways. I was meant to travel to Tor, the capital city of Esente, to find refuge in Kukulkan headquarters, but because I had decided to visit my grandmother that day to train, I was thrown into the gate connecting to Derapen. I suppose it also malfunctioned, and I ended up here.”
After pausing for a brief moment, Thomas continued with a vehement tone. “Radhi had never suffered as much damage in the 17 years of the war as it did in that one day. Agni, Geb, and Jupiter are the enemy. I’ve grown used to that already, but what angered me the most was how one of our own caused everything: that I was forced to evacuate because I was too weak to help.” Drops of blood began to fall from Thomas’ still clenched fists.
“I’m sorry.”
The apology caught Thomas off guard as his fists unclenched a little. “What for?”
“Because it seems to me, that this experience is only gonna make you stronger, and once you are, you are going to rain hell on the people responsible for ravaging your planet. So I am sorry for your enemies.”
A chortle escaped Thomas at Alexander’s words. The previous tension gone. “You are a peculiar, man. Can I ask you a question though?”
“Of course, shoot.”
“Why are you so friendly and open with me?” Thomas had been wondering this after Alexander had basically told him his entire life story, realizing he had overshared in part because of Alexander’s frank transparency.
“Well, let’s just say I felt like it. I have a strong feeling we are going to be great friends.” Thinking inwards, Alexander wasn’t sure how to put into words his reasoning. When I scanned you earlier, I was overwhelmed with your feelings of vengeance and an intent to seek strength, but I also keenly felt warmth, honor, and loyalty. I would be lucky to gain a friend like this in an unknown land.
Thomas nodded his head, internally trying to decide if this was normal behavior or not. “I see.”
Snapping out of his own thoughts, Alexander continued. “Now, what do you say we pack up and leave this stuffy cave. I was following some animals earlier as they moved northward hoping to find some water. There’s still plenty of daylight left based on the sun’s position.”
Thomas agreed and helped Alexander gather everything up. The only luggage that was Thomas’ was the sack of cactuses which he promptly slumped over his shoulder.
“Oh, that reminds me. I know a lot more about you now, and I know how you got to this desert. But I still don’t know how you got here.” Alexander moved his arm around, pointing at the cave. “How’d you end up collapsed on a pile of cacti?”
A red tint covered Thomas’ face before he answered with a slight whisper. “I didn’t have any supplies with me, and I had read stories in books about people in the desert drinking from cactuses to sustain themselves. I drank from many on my second day, but the, ummm, the gastric issues they caused left me catatonic. Now, my mana is tanked, and I couldn’t summon water from the ground if I tried. I keep the cactuses nearby because they have the only water in this desert that I can use to defend myself with my meager mana.”
“HAHAHA.” Alexander keeled over as he clutched his stomach. Wiping a tear at his eye he managed to say, “I had decided to take up journaling on a book my mentor had gifted me. All this time I struggled with how to title it, but you’ve just given me a name on a silver platter. The Adventures of Alexander and the Cactus Warrior. Beautiful. We’re joined together as partners in crime now.”
Thomas stormed out of the cave with Alexander jogging after him. “You can’t leave me! What’s Alexander without his Cactus Warrior?”
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Following another few hours of hiking, Alexander and Thomas stood before a roaring river. The rocky sands of the desert had given way to a grassland surrounding the crystal-clear water. Hundreds of pink flamingos rested along its shores. The larger flamingos could be seen towards the middle of the river swimming and feeding on unsuspecting fish. On the other side of the more than 3-mile-wide river, a large city could be seen with a large white palace rising out of the center and overlooking the rest of the buildings.
It was now dusk as the two began to figure out how to cross the large river. They were sitting far away from the flamingo’s bathing spot in fear of angering their entire tribe. “I could easily make a road of ice so we could walk across the surface of the water. We wouldn’t even need to get wet, or you know what? I could make us surf boards of ice and summon a wave of water to speed through the river and cross in style. Or, or, or I could form bubbles around us so that we could just walk along the riverbed. We could take our time and enjoy the scenery from underwater.”
“But you don’t have any mana.”
“But I don’t have any mana.” Thomas kicked a rock outcropping, chipping away a few pieces.
Alexander had grown used to his new friend’s temperament after spending most of the day with him. Having little to no mana was hitting him hard. Noticing Thomas’ shoulders begin to slump from the corner of his eye, Alexander called out. “Hey, we can do that anytime. Once we cross, you’ll be able to recover your mana, and I’ll gladly come back to try any of those methods. For now, we can race across. I’m a pretty good swimmer. Last one there has to chug three cactuses!”
An approaching wooden fishing boat halted Alexander and Thomas before the two could jump in the water. “Look what we have here. A pair of desert urchins it appears but with fully packed bags. What do you say, boys? Should we give them the Kalas welcome?” Several men cheered as the man who appeared to be their leader spoke. He was shirtless and swarthy with a scar running diagonally across his chest. Tattered pants covered his legs with a red sash around the waist, and he pointed a dagger forward. The rest of the men were dressed similarly.
Alexander mused. “Ahh, well, what do you know, Thomas. It would seem we no longer have to swim. A perfectly fine method of transportation has delivered itself to us.”
“Quit fucking around, boy! Give us your things, and we’ll consider killing you slowly.” The lead man yelled.
Unintimidated, Alexander yelled back. “Do you even know who we are? We’ll crush you before you even know what hit you. Cactus Warrior, attack!” Without wasting a second more, Alexander grabbed a cactus out of Thomas’ rucksack and flung it at the group of thieves.