Chapter 16: Weakness Born From Complacency Part 1

A whistle permeated in the small rocky hut, sheltering mine and Aldir's head. It was me, tossing around smaller rock against the thick layer of the conjured earth shell that I had encased us after the eventual finale of the battle last night, as to keep the predators at bay and seal us from the harsh conditions that persisted even after the rain had passed. The noise that could be heard from that outside was severely dimmed and hindered due to the density of the walls, but after putting a stop to my childish act of tossing the pebbles at my feet and halting my breath for a while, the emergence of chirping softly followed.

"I see. The birds are out, meaning it's most likely morning. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like we'll be able to go back home on time. Mother might be worried, but we need to finish what we originally set off to do. " I whispered to myself slowly, twisting my head to the soundly sleeping figure of Aldir collapsed on the ground after the intense drain of his incredible phenomena, 'Magic Evolution'.

I checked on Aldir, briefly, once more, activating my mana sight to check the internal workings of his mana channels and their effectiveness and productivity. I had watchfully maintained a close eye on his bodies condition and healed the minor injuries that hadn't been revitalised by the healing property of his magic's evolution.

"All is well. He should wake in a few hours and we should be able to continue. Still, the incredible effect of this foretold evolution is more incredible than I thought. His crux seems to be brimming with more stabilised mana than even mine. In terms of pure magical firepower, Aldir certainly exceeds mine at this current stage in my development, yet he is decades away from even reaching the bottom of my power. He may have a long way to go, but what about me? I've grown to complacent."

I scolded my actions I've taken over the past five years I had stayed here. Originally, I was on the right path, yet I seemed to convince myself this is all I should and could do for now.

"Wait, why am I still trying to reclaim my strength?" I thought aloud, covering my mouth with one of my hands. Bile rose to my throat and tears piled up in my eyes. A single image flickered throughout my head.

"Evert?" Why does he appear after all this time, I thought to myself, swallowing all that tried spilling from me. Perhaps I was more affected by him than I thought. I guess until this growing uncertainty didn't remove itself from my heart, I would use that as the excuse to further develop my strength. I'm just setting my mind at ease, that's all.

I then turned away from my fathers slumbering body and instead walked forwards before lightly letting mana seep through my body and into my fingertips, manipulating the already formed shelter and creating a doorway which I casually stepped out from.

Light glistened through the discrepancies not shielded by the grey clouds lingering amidst the cold breeze sweeping through the charred forest. My father's blue fire still remained lit, ever so lightly, the smoke raising up in an ominous tone. The giants corpse had fully withered away not even leaving its ashes nor destroyed remains. It seems that as soon as its link to the power core was exterminated, that being the rune, it could no longer function without the aid of mana that is naturally supposed to exist throughout all living things.

I withdrew the jagged rock from my pocket that still faintly glistened the same amethyst colour as it did last night. My gaze stuck to it as I rotated the stone repetitively like I had done during the night when I couldn't fall asleep.

"What could this be? A whole night of experimentation on this yet not a single hint as to what it could be. The amounts of mana I poured into this, attempting to discern this rune became so exhausting I passed out several times. The only real thing that seems to come into my mind when I look upon this would be...the thirteen limbs of God. Both my swords had the strange carvings that glowed the same amethyst, be it on the weapon or the scabbard."

The connection seemed vague yet was the closest thing apparent to me, currently. Whilst both the sword of Time and Wrath also give of no mana signature, they did not repel nor obliterate the mana into nothingness like this rune.

"Aghhhhhhh!" I screamed in an agonising tone, my eyes constantly weighed down by the fatigue. I looked back at the shelter and began walking away. "I have time before he wakes. I should wash myself...and think some more. Yeah, that's the right course of action." I reassured the faltering thought in my conscience.

My feet dragged themselves through the bog left behind, the additional weight clinging further to my boots and intensifying the opposing strain I already felt from both mind and body. My eyes still adeptly scouted the surroundings and my hand rested on the hilt of my sword.

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Blow.

I wafted my argent hair out from my eyes with a quick exhale. I dragged my hand through it and thought, "I really should cut it, huh?" Shortly after navigating my way around, I arrived at a large river that gently opposed the natural torrent of a stream powering just a couple hundred meters behind that I crossed last night to arrive at the battlefield.

"The battlefield, huh?" The words unconsciously slipped from my mouth and my mind fazed into a blur of yesterday's image. I was completely useless without the assistance of the sword of Time. I completely disregarded most of my training, only regaining partial control of the elements of mana and trying to convince myself that that would be enough.

Mana is around all us and exists in all living creatures. It has potential for destruction, yet so much more for creation. However, mana is still an ambiguous concept for most, and that includes me. Before I died, I had heard rumours of certain practitioners developing elemental forms that allow you to maximise certain elements. Magic still develops from day to day, yet I stood there disregarding the incomplete knowledge I had, instead of getting it ready to complete. If I want to change and form bonds, I'll need the strength to protect everyone around me, and last nights events proved to me, that I can barely protect myself.

"The world's strongest man...is far weaker than most would realise." I muttered with hard strummed voice, the bags under my eyes constantly causing me to blink in-between the conscious and unconscious world.

Out of the ten magical elements that exist, I had so far practiced six of them. The excluded ones I had yet to implement had been water, illusion, gravity and poison magic. Fortunately, the magic that exists isn't bound to certain affinities people are born with and is instead a path taken by the person of what elements they decide to cultivate. Of course, the elites of the world and the strongest would have learnt all of them and cemented their strengths in one or two especially. In my reign, I had cemented three, those being my currently most used affinities, fire, wind and lightning.

The only thing actually bound to talent, genetics and luck would be your mana pool, or, inherently, how much mana naturally exists within your crux. People can bypass this gap by using techniques that rely on a constant filtering of mana from the atmosphere and refilling their smaller mana reserves; however this can't exactly overcome the vast difference in the speed and usability of it. It takes time to filter it from the atmosphere, therefore attacks may be delayed. That's why mage type fighters struggle in close quarter fights.

There exists three types of magic combatants. First the mage. They are spellcasters that strictly use their magic to attack from a distance. A mage, to replicate spells that are innately natural occurrences in nature amplified, will use a combination of their own mana and the ambient mana present in the potential conditions weather can set, to cast there spells. They are often the support/sniper/bomber type. Next would be an infuser. An infuser immerses themselves in close combat by infusing mana into their body and using the elements as an assist that they harness in physical attacks. They complement themselves mostly through the use of mana pulsing from their own crux, but the option for them to use the support handed to them by the surrounding mana is still available. Most use it to just refill there depleting crux's. Finally, we have the Spriggans. To be a Spriggan, talent is required. Lots of it.

Firstly, I would have to clarify the actual extraction of mana from the surroundings. It's a much harder process than it sounds. Everyone can do it, on paper, but it takes for mana to be infatuated with you. If you don't have such an effect on mana, it becomes much harder for you to gather support from the surroundings. It's another matter of purely luck and talent. All Spriggans require this trait as well as undying thirst for combat. A Spriggan can do exactly what an infuser and mage can do. It takes both of the strengths of each combatant and can do exactly what the others can, but amplified. Spriggans, no matter the effort, always become formidable and are labelled as kings. In my previous life, I was only an infuser, yet I managed to surmount all others who were more gifted and became the strongest.

In this life though, I have been blessed more than previously. I discerned my spellcasting ability, experimenting soon after I had cleared my mana veins and realising the surrounding mana clinging to me. I had only tried dabbled in it so I don't use it in combat but this is another area where I could grow stronger. When I get back home, I need to re-evaluate my efforts and get my strength back.

I eventually arrived at a river that flowed calmly in the brisk wind. The rocky shore that encompassed the tranquil stream of water, was not gunky like the other areas of the forest that had flooded the ground and turned it into a boggy mess. I reached my hands behind and beyond my head, stretching my body thoroughly before folding into a sitting pose on one of the boulders scattered round with my legs crossed. I embraced the debilitation and gently closed my peeled eye lids, letting darkness scatter across my sight. I then transpired a soothing thin layer of mana around my being, that enveloped me in the tenderness and comfortability of my bed.

"A small break. Just a...small...break. So we...can...hunt." I marginally squeezed the words from my mouth, before falling into a deep rest.

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