Power and strength are influenced by the state of mind one holds, not just what they have physically. Having power and strength over oneself should come before using it on someone else.
While this idea was one that constantly floated in my head, it was hard to put that into practice. I had read this excerpt from a book written by the second magi. That is, the second of the sequential incarnations of the Aspect of Mana, Ayu. Though the events had all happened so long ago...I read lots of books on the matter. It's hard to tell if these things actually happened, that is, the parts concerning Ayu. There's proof of the magi themselves otherwise. And then there's the inverse, the Aspect of Flow, Uya. The equal and opposite of each other. And the incarnation of Uya...Ozix.
The existence of the Magi and Ozix was historical and had evidence. But the matters of God and the Devil having created Ayu and Uya...it bordered on theological storytelling. This was because anyone who could have witnessed it was long gone and left no records pertaining to the event. But one could also argue that the evidence was destroyed. This would have meant that the record of the event shared the same fate as the precursors who utilized Flux. That being no trace left behind except for circumstantial evidence.
I was losing focus. Delving into the works I had read rather than thinking about what was on my hand. And that was literal. The state of mind someone holds was directly linked to the power they have. While it was hard to prove in its own right, if anything else, I served as proof.
My blackened hand...every time I had used it up to this point to scry the future...disaster, horrid realities, death, despair...I wasn't sure why this was the case, but I was willing to brave these things again to give ourselves an edge moving forward. Imagine my surprise when I went to repeat a painful cycle, and the result was nowhere near as horrid as usual. In fact, I was able to glean more information than I ever had before doing the far-future method like this. It was as if I held more control over what I could view...
Something was different. I couldn't tell what it was. But thinking about that excerpt, I could infer that perhaps something had changed for me. Did I feel any different? Was there something that affected me recently...I was confused, but...
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"Avures." Rael shook the boy by his shoulder back and forth. Avures swung his head around and looked. He glanced over at Rael. Her face was relaxed, and her eyes and smile showed a bit of concern toward him. "Are you okay?"
"Oh...yeah. I'm fine." He felt silly, getting lost in his thoughts like that.
"Did ya see anything?" Lylas looked back at his friend as he guided the horse carrying along their wagon.
"You didn't get hurt by your visions again, did you?" Ventrix looked over with his eyebrows slightly raised.
"No-no. Uh...It was hard to make out anything specific. But there was fighting. It was in a close space. And the people we were fighting were...shoddily armored?-I guess that's the way to put it?" Avures looked down at the wooden floor of the cart.
"Shoddily armored...bandits?" Olicia shrugged and relaxed back against the side of the cart behind her. "My dad used to talk about how he killed a bunch of bandits outside our home before. They use a mix of whatever they can find."
"That makes sense to me." Bif thud his head against the side of the cart as he sat bored. "Anyone with mismatching shit probably peeled it off of a dead guy or something. Bandit behavior."
"I don't like the implications of this." Ventrix gripped his legs and tensed up. "Bandits? Kidnapped children?..."
"Slave traders might be the more appropriate word." Olicia sighed and closed her eyes. "I can't believe we're already off-script on our first contract."
"Miss Grula and Mister Zen did warn us. Either way, we gotta solve this." Lylas tapped his foot, feeling some frustration build inside of him.
"It's sickening..." Rael's eyes narrowed as she looked at the scene behind the cart. She felt herself start to shake with anger. Avures put his hand on her shoulder.
"At least we have this information beforehand. I hope it's the real difference-maker here." Avures sighed as he tried to use his touch to reassure and calm Rael down. Though, she just kept staring off.
"We could probably go right in and crack some skulls then. What do you think, bro?" Bif turned his head to where Lylas sat. Though he couldn't see Bif, he knew he was referring to him.
"We should make sure to get all the information we can from the contractor. That-a-way we can really know what we're up against and piece other things together." Lylas stared on at the road ahead...
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In total, they had traveled for over a week. Lontan was some ways away from the capital. It wasn't an area of high importance being in the southwestern front. From the maps available, it listed the area as being one located on a plain with smaller forests around it alongside a lake. Notably, it sat to the side of a mountain as well which was known to have some cave systems within. Outside of that, there were some farms around the area. Overall, it was a rather quiet town that didn't see much trouble from the frontier and didn't receive much traffic from the kingdom.
Going into this area and approaching this contract with caution, Avures, Olicia, and Lylas mulled over their plans. The three of them were the smartest among the six of them and came up with a set of rules and ideas. The first and most grounded idea among them was the idea of the kidnapped children themselves. Odds are, since this was the location for the contract as listed, the missing children must be held nearby. To them, this made sense for two reasons. One was ransoms. Two was trafficking. These kids were intentionally kidnapped for some purpose. So, in order to make gain from them, they'd have to keep them nearby in case someone pays up.
The second idea, but more of a ground rule, was the usage of their powers. Known among the three of them primarily, Lancers technically have authoritative powers. With the badge from the kingdom, and the terms between the kingdom and the contractor, Lancers have the ultimate authority in whatever operating area they enter. This was one of the more lucrative reasons individuals became Lancers. The authority, money, and access to government resources. The three of them all agreed. Bif was not to be informed of this.
The third idea was to find the man who contracted them and pool together their information. Between Avures's vision, and whatever this man left out, they would be able to piece together a plan hopefully. And if for some reason it didn't work out with the contractor, they'd make a rush for the cave in Avures's vision...
There was an air of uncertainty among the six of them as they pulled closer to Lontan. While they felt as prepared as they could be, it was hard to shake that feeling. This was it. Their first real-life test. The real deal. And there was already a lot at stake. The lives of children, the well-being of families...they were up to the task, but failure wasn't an option.
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As they pulled into the town, they received a lot of strange and intimidating stares from the locals. This place wasn't used to traffic, so it made sense to them. Things got quickly cleared up as they guided their wagon to the inn. Securing parking for their wagon and horse, the six of them were all able to explain why they were there. The air of animosity lifted, and the townsfolk greeted them with open arms. They were even so kind as to guide the six students to the person who contracted them. That is, to the mansion the contractor lived in. It wasn't surprising. Typically, wealthy people were usually the ones who put out contracts. If any of them had to guess, this person did it on behalf of the town.
Knocking on the front door, a man dressed in butler attire quickly escorted them inwards. The man most likely recognized them for what they were. Lancers. Leading them through a few halls, the six were moved into a dining hall. Sitting at the far end of the table away from them, a long-black haired man with a short beard and blue eyes caught their attention. As he finished whatever he was eating on his plate, he gazed over to the six of them. A smile appeared on his face.
"Welcome, welcome! I assume you're here for the contract? Well, look at you, I mean." The man stood up from his chair and walked to them with open arms.
"Yep. That's us!" Lylas pointed to himself and his peers. "My name is Lylas Tynto."
"Ah, well met. I am Gargas Bindle. Refer to me by either name, I am not so high and haughty as other nobles as to take offense. Pray-tell, what are your compatriots' names?"
"This is Avures, Ventrix, Rael, Olicia, and Bif." Lylas pointed through all of them as he called their names.
"I see I see. While you all look young, you seem quite capable. Shall we get to talking on the subject?" Gargas looked between all six of them. They all nodded in agreeance and stayed in silence, opting for the noble to explain first. "Great. So, there seem to have been odd disappearances of children. Most of us believe that there are some kidnappers working among us to take away children from here. While it's not verifiable, it would make sense to use them as ransom. Further-"
"Actually, we can verify that children are being kidnapped. First off, that is what the contract stated. Secondly, we know about the bandits in the caves." Avures raised his hand as he spoke.
"Ah-...well, there's no telling if these things are connected of course." Gargas chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I mean. We've always had a bandit problem in the mountain's caves, but that doesn't mean-"
"No. We're pretty confident in this idea actually." Lylas nodded in agreeance with Avures.
"Mm...well, if you seem to know everything about this...I suppose you don't need my help." Gargas sighed and shrugged his shoulders, walking away from the group. "Off you go, I suppose."
"His shit stinks..." Olicia muttered under her breath.
The butler swiftly escorted the six of them out of the mansion. Though mostly confused by the sudden cold shoulder, the six of them opted for the last option. Getting their wagon out from the stable of the inn, they decided on riding up to the cave. After all, Avures's vision had seemingly done most of the legwork in information gathering it seemed.
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"So far...things are going fast...and strange...but it might get wrapped up quickly." Rael tapped her hands against the bottom of the wagon. "I hope we can save those kids..."
"I'm sure we'll be able to." Ventrix nodded. "Olicia was right though. I don't like this."
"Huh? Right? About what?" Bif looked around clueless.
"She said "his shit stinks", frankly, I have to agree." Ventrix looked at the blue-haired boy.
"What? What are you doing? Smelling his ass? Weirdo." Bif chuckled and rolled his eyes.
"It's an expression of speech, moron. I'm just saying he seems suspicious." Olicia sighed, putting her head in her wrapped arms.
"Then just say that. You have a really bad habit of being sarcastic or beating around the bush." Bif shook his head.
"Oh! You can't understand mine, but you can use one yourself!" Olicia threw her arms up as she looked at Bif with disbelief. "God, I really hate you."
"I'm just saying. Want to be taken seriously? Act serious. Talk serious." Bif scoffed and crossed his arms.
"Coming from you? That's rich." Olicia gritted her teeth as she looked at the boy.
"Now now. Ya two calm down. This is no time to bicker at each other." Lylas rolled his eyes as he kept guiding the horse pulling the cart. He had a hard time coping with the fact that the two of them arguing might become a regular thing. To him, it was extremely annoying.
"That's the cave up ahead, isn't it?" Avures leaned over the wagon and pointed to the mountainside. A small indent could be seen.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"It's gotta be. Alright. Let's put this here..." Lylas guided the horse to the side. He'd keep the wagon and horse in the woods just in case, and the six of them would foot it to the entrance.
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They all hopped on out. The intensity was building. There was no doubt about it. They were in for a fight. Not another word was spoken between the six of them as they silently approached the cave front. As they came closer and closer, Lylas signaled for them to halt. There were two men in front of the cave entrance. By the looks of it, they hadn't even seen the six of them yet.
"All I'm sayin is, he better follow up on the riches part." The one on the left shrugged.
"Or what? Ya gonna pommel em? What a joke. Ya know what he can do, right?" The one on the right scoffed at the other.
"Well...I'll just slit his fuckin throat then yeah? Easy." The one on the left turned away and walked a few steps forward. Suddenly, he heard a cracking sound from behind him followed up by a thud. The man slowly turned around.
Bif stood overtop of his fellow man. His head and skull were flattened and blood covered the ground and the boy. His metal club was particularly soaked with it as well. The man recoiled, stumbling backward and pulling out his sword. But, Bif was fast, and was able to move in front of the man before he unsheathed his weapon. With a quick and violent swing...it was over.
"Sheesh. Muscle-brain!...a little more patience please." Lylas sighed as he walked forward to the entrance.
"Mm...nah. Sorry bro, but these guys were asking to be bopped." Bif laughed as he leaned against the cave's entrance wall.
"I was hoping we could interrogate them..." Avures walked up and knelt over to the first man Bif downed.
"What's it matter anyways? You saw the future." Bif watched as Avures placed himself next to the corpse.
"Right, but it wasn't that far into the future. There could be more danger past what I saw." Avures stood up and sighed.
"Then just look at their past then? Isn't that something you can do?" Bif lifted his club and pointed at Avures.
"I guess...it might give us some insight..." Avures started to bend himself back down, but had his shoulder grabbed by Rael.
"Too late. We've got company guys." Lylas stood at the entrance and saw a small horde of bandits ahead.
The bandits ahead clogged up the pathway past them. There had to be at least twenty of them. They all stood there with big grins on their faces as they held their weapons in hand. Though, they seemed intent on standing in place.
"Oy, bro. What's the call?" Bif walked to Lylas's side.
"Oh, now ya want to wait for my word." Lylas chuckled as he pulled out two knives.
"Well look. They got something planned." Bif pointed his club to the group of them. "Otherwise they'd be on us like savages, yeah?"
"Seasoned caster in the back." Avures put his hand on Lylas's shoulder as he walked behind him. "We've already changed the parameters a bit, but I recognize him. If I had to guess, they want to surround us after we charge in to allow the caster to support the rest of them."
"Good observation. However, putting on a front like this too...they might be trying to buy time." Lylas pointed back towards Olicia. "I can trust ya to run ahead, can't I?"
"Pf. Obviously not. That's why you pointed to me first, right?" Olicia stepped forward and threw her cloak to the ground, revealing the rest of her outfit. It was all the same as before, but the skin-tight suit ran up to her neck. "I have the assignment."
"Good. Ventrix, Rael, step up." Lylas beckoned the two up to his side. They nodded and came. Lylas twirled the knife in his left hand. "Ya know what to do..."
Both Ventrix and Rael nodded to each other. Ventrix pulled his sword from his sheathe, and Rael brought her ax out. Olicia pulled her silver chain out from it's holster and dropped it to the ground. All the bandits ahead watched in curiosity as the metallic chains chimed as they swayed together, and then as they thud against the ground. The instant the chains hit the ground...a slew of actions all happened at once.
Firstly, Ventrix and Rael both unleashed a single swing towards the group ahead. Though their strikes hit air, bounds of magical energy sprung forth from their weapons, conjured into slices of light and fire respectively. Slicing through the air, the magical attacks both hit a force-field of some sort, dispersing against the air itself as it smacked against a barely luminescent barrier. But, that was just the distraction...
Secondly, the moment it had happened, the silver chain burst out of the ground beneath Olicia's feet. She bent at the knees and used her hips to balance herself as the chain shooting forward carried her entire body on top of it. Olicia soared overtop of the bandits' heads, using the high ceiling of the cave entrance to her advantage. Also using Rael and Ventrix's attack to figure out what area the caster of theirs had placed the barrier. However, the bandit caster was not going to simply let this go. With a flick of his wrist, a bolt of blue sprung forth towards Olicia...
Thirdly, the moment Olicia's chain had sprouted, Lylas threw his knife and lodged it in Olicia's chain below her feet. The moment the bandit caster threw his magic towards her, Lylas's own activated from the dagger. A blue barrier expanded outwards, and blocked the bolt from the bandit, allowing Olicia to fully pass through unharmed. Lylas's thought and prediction had also rang true, as the moment she passed by all of them, the crowd had begun a dispersal of their own...
Fourthly, and finally, Avures took his left hand and balled it into a fist. Though he could cast it free hand, a much more concentrated version of the technique would serve better. He held his balled fist in front of his eyes, and released while making his hand flat. As soon as Olicia fully passed all of them, a wall of shadow blocked off the rest of the cave.
The bandits who tried following her slammed against the wall. Its form and purpose was to stop physical things from passing through. It also effectively blocked all vision through it. They were backed against a wall now. A sense of dread filled them all. Though there were over twenty of them, they were outmatched and they knew it. Lylas threw his other knife in front of them all. A transparent blue wall rose to the cave ceiling. Though their caster might have placed a wall in front of them, Lylas's was used for the purpose of truly locking them in...
"Rael. Ventrix. Go ahead." Lylas watched on.
Both Rael and Ventrix had to place their weapons aside. Utilizing both hands, Rael and Ventrix began to conjure up a large amount of mana. As the bandits caught sight of this and saw their magics growing in size in their hands, they panicked. They all either slammed themselves against either wall, or struck the walls with their weapons. Even the caster ferociously cast bolts to the walls, but to no avail as neither would budge. It was over for them.
Rael and Ventrix pointed both palms of their hands towards the makeshift cage and...a bright light shone between the walls. Both light and fire magic ravaged the caged bandits. Fire and light both swirled together and completely consumed all vision of what was even there in the first place. This went on for a few moments before both the blonde boy and redhead stopped their destruction magic. The fire and light both dimmed, and the only trace of the bandits left was a mere pile of blackened ash.
"Perhaps a bit overkill." Avures dispelled his wall as Lylas did the same.
"There were quite a few of them..." Ventrix grabbed his sword as he caught his breath.
"I only hoped a few could have saw it...woulda killed their morale." Lylas took a few steps forward before feeling some vibrations beneath his feet. He stopped in his tracks and looked around. "What's going on?"
"Mm!...Cave is crumbling in! Bif!" Avures quickly looked to his friend. "Magic!"
"Huh? Okay!" Bif was not one to shrug off the urgency placed by Avures. Acting quick, he conjured forth his mana, leading to his entire mana pool becoming exhausted as a sheer coldness overtook the entire cave area they stood in. A few more bandits had made their way down to them, but were instantly frozen solid in their tracks. Within a few more moments, the cold died down.
"What was that about?" Lylas looked to Avures with a confused glare.
"Rael's heat. Most cave structures are packed with ice. During that attack, it must have melted. So, the cave would have collapsed. Which means we needed Bif to exhaust his magic to refreeze it." Avures sighed in relief as he stepped forward.
"Yeah, and that means Olicia might have gotten trapped in here...good call, brainiac." Lylas chuckled as he stepped forward. "Though...Muscle-brain!...can ya fight still?...can ya even walk still?"
"Yeah yeah! C'mon bro!...Mana exhaustion is like...nothing." Bif panted lightly as he sheathed his clubs. "I might need a breather..."
"Mm...Rael, how are you holding up?" Avures looked back at the girl. Her expression beamed at his mere words, but it was clear that she was also a little winded.
"That was a lot of magic. It probably was overkill!" Rael's smile contradicted how she felt physically, but this was exciting to her. "I'll be good to go in a second or two!"
"She did most of the lifting there. So, I can fight now." Ventrix walked to the side of Avures and Lylas and nodded to both of them as he held his sword up. The three of them stood at attention as a newer group of bandits took the place of the ones they had just turned to ashes.
"Jeez...how many of these guys are there?" Lylas pulled out two more knives. "They must-a also passed Olicia on the way here..."
"That means they ignored her...or..." Avures clenched his sword with a intensity.
"I hope that's not what happened." Ventrix gritted his teeth as he took his stance beside the two other boys.
"We'll fight up to er if we need to. For now, Let's focus ahead." Lylas watched as the group of bandits grew closer.
Without a caster, they probably had no other plans but to charge ahead. But at this point, the uncertainty about this disappeared for the students. The training they had went through at the Academy put them far out of league for simple bandits like this. As the dirty and ferocious bandits approached, the three boys steeled themselves. In total, there were nine bandits. That would make three each. Simple enough.
Lylas threw one knife forward. The speed of the knife was unexpected, and caught a bandit right in the throat. As he fell to the ground slowly, Lylas appeared in front of him. In a quick motion, he jammed his other knife into the throat of the bandit to his left, pulled the first knife out of the bandit's throat he had initially attacked, and stabbed the other. It had all happened so fast that none of them had any time to react. Though, of course, these were some of Lylas's simplest tricks too.
At the same time, Ventrix went from his stance and suddenly lunged forward. All the bandits he targeted made strikes at him, but his blade-work was too fast. Every hit was deflected and countered with one of his own. A stab to the heart, a slice across the throat, and a stab in the forehead of another...these three attacks by Ventrix each felled a bandit.
While Avures had never killed anyone...they threatened him and his friends. For that, he had no issue with attempting to kill the bandits ahead. Without moving, as to hide his intent, Avures snaked a shadow from under his foot. As the shadows reached the feet of the other three bandits left, they froze in place. Avures was surprised. As it turned out, fighting opponents who were less adept at using magic than himself was quite easy. His shadow made it easy for him to curse them all, freezing them in place without having to use the typical mana encapsulation he used before. The bandits stood there unable to budge or move a muscle. Avures simply walked by and cut them down one by one.
When it was all said and done, the three kids had easily disposed of the bandit group that intended to assault them.
"There's no way Olicia got stopped by guys like this." Lylas shook his head as he collected his knives.
"Avures. Do you know about anything past this?" Ventrix pulled out a cloth and wiped down his sword.
"No. I was going to...Olicia. Are you okay?" Avures looked on ahead as the purple-haired girl walked on back towards them. Her hair seemed to flutter despite the absence of a breeze. She held her gold and purple chain in hand as well.
"Oh yeah. I'm totally fine. No big deal at all." Olicia nonchalantly shrugged and rolled her eyes. Everyone looked at her strangely before nodding.
"Right. See. That bitch is tough." Bif sat against the wall of the cave and grinned.
"Huh?...wait no, I was-" Olicia's expression changed entirely as a sudden gust of wind passed her by. Hurdling straight towards Avures, almost faster than they could even perceive, a blade was aimed straight towards his gut. Avures felt as time slowed down, crawling to a halt. A figure was right in front of him...the blade...he was suddenly thrown to the side against the wall of the cave. The air was knocked out of him as Ventrix managed to throw his body into Avures just in time to keep him out of harm's way. Instead, however, Ventrix took a stab straight to the side of his torso through his plate and mail. Whoever had stabbed him quickly pulled the blade out from his body. Ventrix gasped and coughed up blood as he fell to his knees.
The figure quickly reposed, and swung down with his blade towards Avures. This time, however, Rael managed to leap in front of them just in time, using the length of her ax to stop the blade in it's tracks. As the figure and Rael clashed steel, everyone was able to glimpse at the figure.
Whoever this was...they were wrapped head to toe in what looked to be gray bandages and a mix-match of other wrappings with faded colors. The only parts everyone could see was a single eye of theirs and their nose. Their eye was a brown color. They wore a beaten and worn steel chest-plate with mail underneath and extending out to their arms and legs. Their boots looked to be leather as well. They wielded a short-sword and a rounded metal shield with a wood handle. The most particular and odd thing about this person so far, was that despite the metal they wore, no one had heard him coming. And no clanking of mail could be heard from him as well.
As Rael struggled against this person's might...Olicia wrapped her purple chain around their shield arm and pulled with her might. The figure's might waned as they was being pulled back. Rael bumped their sword off of her ax's length, making them stumble back. She brought her ax to her side, and stepped forward as she made a sideways cleave at the person...
An indescribable popping sound erupted forth as Rael was suddenly forced against the wall in front of Avures. She retched and blood trickled out of her mouth as she slid down the wall. Olicia looked on in shock, losing focus for only a moment as the figure rotated their shield arm and took control of the chain from Olicia. They then used their force to throw Olicia into Lylas as she wouldn't let go of the chain. Lylas stumbled back as he caught the girl. Bif stopped resting and stood in between the figure and everyone else.
"Six in total...one particular character of interest..." A deep and raspy voice emanated from the figure. This was obviously an older man. He pointed to the cave entrance with his blade. "I ain't interested in killing kids. Do yourselves a favor...get outta here."
"You must think you're hot shit. Taking out the other losers." Bif took his clubs out and slammed them against the ground repeatedly. "I ain't like them. Let's go!"
"Muscle-brain!" Lylas grabbed the shoulder of Bif and tugged backwards. "Let's regroup."
"Coward talk, bro! He caught you guys off-guard! He-"
"Look. I'm only interested in killing the girl there." The man pointed his blade to Rael, who Avures was now holding. "But...I'm giving y'all the chance to leave with your lives for now. Keep talking big game, and I might not keep being so generous."
"...dammit...fine." Bif sheathed his clubs and walked over to Ventrix who was holding his side. He helped the blonde-haired boy up. Avures carried Rael in his arms. Her wound...it seemed like a deep cut, but also like she had been bludgeoned in the center of the cut. It went right through her armor. Her breaths were deep and labored and her vision was shaky and blurry.
The six students were all either worn down slightly or extremely injured. While Lylas was infuriated about having to retreat, he was more concerned for his friends' well-being.
The six of them slowly left the cave as the man stood there and watched. They had went in so confident...it would be hard to forget this loss...