The world quaked and the sky turned a brilliant, pure white to the eyes of the cobalt-haired teen. The seemingly bass-boosted thrum of energy in the air turned his hearing into nothing but static and the vibrations of the ground around them caused pins and needles in his legs and arms.
Alec genuinely wasn’t sure if he was even able to move as he stared in abject horror at the beam of pure power that crashed against Alexandar’s shield. The torrent of energy exploded into tens of smaller beams that shot off and arced over and around the spherical shield to strike the forest around them. Trees shredded to sawdust in an instant and the ground cratered and charred within the brief seconds that the smaller beams struck.
“Mr Dius! Can you tell me why I don’t want this fight to go on for too long?” Alexandar called out, his shield pulsing a reassuring green as it held strong against the beam.
Somehow, Alec didn’t feel very reassured as he continued to stare almost unblinkingly at the raw mana cascading down on them.
“Because it’s going to break through your shield!?”
“Hmmm. Not quite! Have you ever heard of the Theory of Amplification and Synchronisation?”
“No!”
“Well, it’s quite simple! Mana draws in more mana! Mana of the same ‘attribute’ grows denser when it contacts mana of a similar or identical attribute and that denser mana draws in more at an accelerated rate!”
“So, this attack will only grow stronger!?”
“Hah! If I let it go on for another minute or so, perhaps!” Alexandar laughed, turning his head just enough to show Alec his confident grin before he turned back to face the beam of sand-yellow mana.
“Let’s see, spiral the shield’s shape and limit its firing range. That should give it a good boost to durability.” Alexandar mumbled to himself, unheard over the shattering ground and buzzing of the air.
Another magic circle flashed to life over the staff held within his hand, a tree branch of what appeared to be white wood with a perfectly spherical green gemstone trapped inside interwoven branches and small talismans dangling from each of the six interwoven branches.
The magic circle spun in sections and characters within it blurred for a couple moments before it clicked into place and pulsed. Immediately fading from existence as its effects were actualised in the world around them.
Amidst defending them from the beam of mana, the dome-shield that Alexandar had created began to shift and morph. The thick, solidified energy of the shield twisted in on itself to form a spiraled cone that still kept the two adventurers protected but at a much smaller range than previously, leaving Alec just a little on edge.
With a small crack of air, the twisted and condensed defence-turned-offence was launched straight into the beam of oncoming mana. The shape of the projectile combined with its condensed solidity and the purposeful limitation placed into the spell by Alexandar meant that it pierced clean through the beam without so much as a chip in the construct's form.
The ball of mana, from which the beam continued to originate, exploded the moment the point of the corkscrew struck it, shattering the ground in a cacophonous shockwave that picked Alec up and threw him a good few metres. The backlash of the energy whipping, slicing, and burning into the Dune Worm as it reared back in pain, turning the instant death of the now cracked and chipped corkscrew into a lethal, but time-consuming, puncture clean through its body.
Sticky, viscous, blue ichor poured out of the hole in its body, five metres below its head and a solid 7 metres in diameter. The life force of the giant beast poured down its giant form and filled the air with a thick scent of copper as it began to dye its sandy carapace a dark, shiny blue.
“Mr Dius! An important lesson for you. A beast is not to be considered dead until it can no longer draw breath. Until that beast falls, until its heart stops and its mana stills, it is a beast as dangerous, or more so, as any other.”
The loud screeching sound of bone slamming into and grinding against itself left the maw of the giant creature as it thrashed around in evident agony, a click of the tongue leaving Alexandar’s mouth. The bottom of his staff tapped on the ground and coated the earth in a giant radius around Alexandar in a sheen of green mana.
Just in time, as the Dune Worm tried to curl back towards the ground and burrow into it, only for its face to slam into the green sheen and bounce off with the mutilating sound of a cracked carapace and a dull ‘pong’ from the earth itself. The Dune Worm thrashed around even more violently and chaotically in pain, curling in and around on itself and beginning to slam into the ground like a whip being cracked.
“Oh dear.” Alexandar muttered as he stared up at the fast-approaching carapace of the thrashing creature, faint green sparkles leaving his legs as he flickered out of Alec’s sight.
The beast crashed into the earth, cracking and uprooting it almost as an afterthought as the pain continued to wrack its gigantic form, stirring the winds and dust with its every whipping motion.
Alec shot to his feet, his right hand gripping his blade in a white-knuckled grip as he looked around frantically, only to flinch back a little as he saw Alexandar standing right next to him, tapping the tip of his left shoe on the ground and shaking out his leg.
“Whoo! Been a while since I’ve used that little maneuver, legs are all tingly.” Alexandar hummed jovially as he shifted his weight onto the previously shaking leg and began to shake his other one out.
Alec just stared silently, beginning to understand just how vast the gulf between a [Copper-rank] and [Tungsten-rank] adventurer was.
“Now, I should put an end to this.” The mage hummed, raising his staff and slamming its bottom on the ground.
Like a tsunami given earthen form, a wave of soil and rocks began to rocket towards the thrashing beast, growing taller and larger with the distance it travelled. Raised to be three-quarters of the unearthed height of the Dune Worm by the time it slammed into it, shattering the earth beneath and around it. The creature began to fall like a tower with its supports shattered as the hole that it had risen out of broke and enlarged with the shattered ground, giving it no true support to stay upright as it had been.
And with a squelch that sprayed the nearby flora into the thick blue blood of the Dune Worm, an earthen spear stabbed clean through its head as it collapsed onto it, formed to perfectly align with the angle of the creature's fall.
“Alright. So, how was that for your first time experiencing Tungsten level comb- ah.” Alexandar spoke, initially proudly before he turned to see the expression on Alec’s face and the intensity that he clutched his blade with.
For a moment, Alexandar stared silently at his young charge. A boy of an age that Alexandar wasn’t even aware of, just barely on the cusp of [Iron-rank] being forced not only to witness a battle between monsters but also put in the direct firing line of the most powerful attack launched in the quick battle. The elderly man, looking at Alec, couldn’t help but think of the first time he had witnessed combat of this level, and how even as a [Silver-rank] he had been terrified of the clash.
He knew that it was no doubt worse for the teen before him, who was not only weaker than Alexandar had been but likely younger too.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“Mr Dius. Did my fight scare you?”
“O-Of course it did. That was terrifying.” Alec muttered, seemingly on reflex, looking at the older man with shaky eyes, no doubt somewhat scared of him as well.
“I see. Please raise your blade for me.” Alexandar made a small motion with his hand, getting a confused look as the teen followed his order with somewhat shaky movements.
The edge was well maintained, Alexandar could tell that just from a glance, which made the demonstration that he was about to do all the easier. His hand reached out until his palm was pressed against the sharp edge of the blade, and slowly he slid it down, drawing blood near instantly.
“Huh? Why did you-”
“I’m bleeding, Mr Dius.”
“Yeah, you are! Why did you-“
“Your blade cut me. Your unenchanted, unmoving, regular blade managed to do this to me.” Alexandar spoke, his voice deadly serious as he pulled his hand away from the teen to show the injury that went half a centimetre into his palm.
“That’s-“ This time Alec cut himself off, seeming to at least subconsciously come to the realisation Alexandar was hoping to.
But he wouldn’t settle for subconsciously, not when it was something this important to the formation of a young man that he knew would be something special.
“You were scared, seeing that fight between me and the Dune Worm. You probably thought something like ‘These two are monsters, I’ll never reach this’, right?” Alexandar spoke, letting the blood drip and pour from his injury to further exaggerate the point that he was building to.
“Something like that…”
“You went from a world of small attacks and unrefined techniques to the realm of giant creatures and micro-terraforming in the span of two minutes, I’m not surprised.” Alexandar spoke with a small grin and a huff of laughter. “But remember this. That this regular blade can injure even a ‘monster’ like myself.”
“Because you probably allowed it to.” Alec muttered, looking between his blade and Alexandar’s face.
“I didn’t allow the blade to cut me like this, Mr Dius. I have ways of increasing my durability, that’s true. If I so wanted, I could protect myself but that does not mean I allowed it to cut me. That acts as if I have to take something down or weaken myself in some way. I do not. I must put active effort into protecting myself from such things, Mr Dius. Your blade can hurt me just as much as that beast lying over there could, it is not special.”
It was like stepping into a sauna right after being stuck in the freezing cold for hours with no protection, the way Alec could feel his body beginning to relax and uncoil over the older man’s words. A realisation slowly began to set itself into his very being as he looked between the injury on Alexandar’s hand and the slain beast to his right.
Nothing is beyond being harmed and so long as it can be harmed, it can be slain.
“I…I get what you’re telling me, thank you Alexandar.”
“Always a pleasure to be of assistance, Mr Dius. Now! Let’s start working on clean-up, shall we?”
“Eh?”
“Heh. A lot of adventurers always forget about the clean-up, leaving it for others to pick up their slack. But no charge of mine will go without learning this lesson, however temporary this arrangement is.” Alexandar spoke, grinning and winking at Alec as he stared at the beast and the destruction around them with an entirely new expression of despair.
“Now you go collect what you want from the beast, I’ll work on the road and then we’ll work on disposing of the Dune Worm, does that sound good to you?”
“…Yeah. Ok.” Alec sighed, slumping over to the side a little.
XXXxxxXXX
That night, Kairahl Countryside
“Amazing how this happened only two days out of Kret, huh?” Alexandar laughed, sitting on a large rock that had been upturned from his battle earlier that day.
“Uh huh.”
“We’ve made some great progress on the clean-up. Now that you know the general to-do list for this task, I can use my magic to get rid of everything as soon as the sun rises tomorrow morning!” Alexandar said jovially, raising his canteen high into the air.
“….Uh huh.”
“I feel like you’re annoyed with me. Are you annoyed with me, Mr Dius?” Alexandar asked, the slightest of grins tugging at his lips as he finally turned his eyes toward his teenage charge.
The teen in question was sitting on a large rock much like the elderly mage, except both of his elbows were resting on his knees and his head was propped up by his hands. An annoyed scrunch of the eyebrows and flattening of the eyes only further accentuated the annoyance that practically emanated off the young adventurer like light from a bonfire.
“You had me cutting through the carapace of this thing for five hours and then decided that we’d set up camp inside its corpse. Forgive me if I’m a little annoyed.” Alec ground out in a clipped tone of voice, only narrowing his eyes further at the laugh that left the elder man’s mouth.
Not that the teen’s words were wrong, mind you. Their campsite, while still on the earth like normal, was situated inside the hole that Alexandar had blasted in its body. Using its gigantic form as both a barrier against the elements and protection from other beasts or being snuck up on. At least Alexandar had cleared the campsite of blood, organs, and other such bodily belongings beforehand; silver linings.
“Hah! Pardon me, Mr Dius. It’s just a pleasure to see a teenager be moody and annoyed like a teenager should be.”
He pretty easily ignored the further flattening of Alec’s expression as his eyebrow began to twitch.
“At least I believe you’re a teenager. How old are you by chance?” Alexandar asked, blinking quizzically and looking over at Alec.
“I’m seventeen.” He answered plainly, clearly not in much of a talkative mood.
“Seventeen huh? That would make you part of the Blessed Generation, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, I am. Born right in the middle of it, just like my friends.” Alec answered, his mood clearing up just a little as his mind went to what he actually knew about the Blessed Generation.
The Blessed Generation, despite its name, actually only applied to a mysterious two-year window that had enigmatically begun and ended without rhyme or reason. A single year where any children born or conceived, and thus born in the following year, were born with qualifications that were, on average, simply better than the vast majority of previous years in recorded history.
The regular vaguely bell-curve split between Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Tungsten, and Platinum rank qualifications was entirely shifted on its very paradigm during those two years. Where previously the vast majority of the Twin-Continents had qualifications that fit into Silver or Gold, those two years shifted the majority into Gold and Tungsten with a far, far greater quantity of Platinum qualifications birthed and –for the first time in recorded history– not a single [Copper-rank] qualification was born in those two years.
What this meant was that an entire two years’ worth of children –that were now coming into adulthood– had been supercharged. An, almost literally, blessed generation of craftspeople, combatants, leaders, and so much more.
“Hm. Lucky you.” Alexandar grinned, poking the campfire with a stick.
“Yeah, I suppose so.” Alec shrugged, staring at the fire as a few embers lazily wafted out of the flames and were snuffed out by the surrounding earth.
“You don’t believe so?”
“Not that, just…Hard to relate I guess.” Alec shrugged, not really seeing any reason to hide his thoughts from the man.
“Understandable. I suppose being extraordinary would just be normal for you, wouldn’t it?” Alexandar questioned, an odd melancholy in his voice that caught Alec’s attention.
“I guess you could put it like that, yeah.”
“That puts a few things into perspective.”
“Like…?”
“Your swordsmanship and the training you do.” Alexandar answered simply, raising an eyebrow at the confused expression that the teen shot him.
“I don’t get it?”
“Your swordsmanship, it’s bland, unfeeling.”
“Bland?” Alec furrowed his eyebrows together and blinked rapidly a few times, trying to understand what Alexandar was telling him.
“There’s no passion behind your swings, Mr Dius. I may not be a master of the blade myself, but I’ve met many skilled swordsmen and the difference between the good ones and the extraordinary ones is leagues apart.”
“So, because I don’t have passion, I can’t reach that upper level?” Alec asked, tilting his head to the side a little.
“You’re nearly there, but not quite. You go through the motions like you’re expected to be good with a blade. I can tell just from the way you swing and move with your blade that you hold no real love or reverence for swordfighting.”
“Not really. My qualification is [Swordmaster]. The moment I figured that out, I picked up a blade and here we are.” Alec gestured around him, to the ‘defensive walls’ the Dune Worms corpse made around the two.
“Exactly. You didn’t pick up a blade because you wanted to or needed to. You picked it up because you were expected to. I’m not saying you can’t grow to become an immensely skillful young man, of course not. But my personal belief is that if you do not enjoy something, you cannot reach its zenith.”
“How am I meant to enjoy fighting with a blade?” Alec asked, both curiously and a little snipped at the idea of being told he’d never reach his full potential.
“I don’t know. I’ve never found that enjoyment myself.” Alexandar shrugged, getting a twitch of Alec’s eyebrow, “That’s entirely for you to decide or discover, I’m sure you’ll know when you do.”
“Gee, thanks.” Alec muttered, giving Alexandar the flattest look he could possibly muster as the old man just laughed.
“Oh, don’t give me that, I’m only trying to help after all. It’s quite literally my job.” He chuckled, waggling his finger at the teen.
Alec just huffed and stood up, making his way over to his tent that he had set up earlier.
“Going to bed already?”
“Yeah. I’m feeling a little tired.” Alec answered, moving the flap aside to crouch into his tent.
Only to pause as Alexandar spoke up again. His voice so serious and full of steel that the teen couldn’t help but freeze as his blood practically turned to ice in his veins.
“When you wake up and can’t fall asleep again. Try training. It may not be the healthiest way to cope but it's certainly better than stewing in whatever cocktail that mind of yours comes up with.”
“O..kay?” Alec muttered, giving a confused and very much concerned look in the direction of the elderly mage before disappearing inside his tent entirely.
XXXxxxXXX
Coalescing mana. More than Alec had ever felt in a single place in his entire life.
Air that shook and vibrated in audible static.
Cracking and quaking earth. A sandy-brown carapace that seemed so impervious to anything Alec could do.
Death.
Death death deathdeathdeathdeATHDEATHDEATH-
XXXxxxXXX
Alec’s Campsite, 4am
Alec’s eyes snapped open as his entire body tensed up, the teen panting even as he lay on his back in his bedroll, sweat coating his form from head to toe.
Pins and needles stung at his extremities and static buzzed in his ears. Slowly he began to curl and uncurl his fingers and toes to get the horrible feeling out of them, only to realise his left hand was already curled around something. A very, very familiar object; his blade.
For a moment he stared unblinkingly at the edge of his blade as he held it out to his side, the point of the blade towards the entrance to his tent where nothing was. Even still he could feel his heartbeat in his chest and the bead of sweat that rolled down his back, he knew that he wasn’t going to be getting anymore sleep tonight, no matter how much he wanted to.
“…Gods damn you, Alexandar.” Alec muttered, perhaps a little bitterly, as he began to crawl out of his bedroll.
He couldn’t help but be a little annoyed at the seeming clairvoyance the man had to predict the nightmare he was going to have. But, at the very least, the man had also given him some advice on what to do in the aftermath. He’d never really trained with his blade for longer than an hour or two at a time, but if there was ever a time to put some more effort into it, it was now.
Perhaps if he tired himself out enough, he wouldn’t have to worry about a repeat the next night.