Chapter 8: Chapter Seven: Starting Strides

A few weeks had passed by since the first encounter with the Raptors, and each day as the sun rose, the sky took Valdus by surprise. Still, only a few clouds had formed, and the sky was a beautiful blue as the sun's rays crept over the mountains ahead. The grass was a calming green, and a few flowers sprouted across the plain. Lucile, Ace and Cedric had in those few days started training with Valdus, readying him to truly fight.

“Hold your ground, Valdus! Strike again!!”
Lucile commanded.

Valdus shouted back as he threw the blade of his sword down at Lucile, only to be parried and pushed back yet again.

“Again!”
Lucile commanded once more.

Each time Lucile shouted a command, Valdus followed, steeling himself for the harsh training. So far though, his physical strength on its own seemed to falter far too easily. After just a few more deflected strikes, Valdus staggered back and fell, panting heavily as he sat drenched in his sweat.

“T-time...time out...! I...need a break...!”
Valdus begged, placing his sword on the ground,
“I don’t...have muscles like you and Ace, so it’s hard for me to...keep up...!”

Lucile sighed and held his spear over his shoulder, before kneeling down to Valdus and handing him a flask of water. Valdus smiled weakly and thanked Lucile, taking the bottle and downing the entirety of it, only taking another breath once the bottle was emptied.

“Physical strength alone isn’t what you need in this world. You first need to relax more, Valdus. Especially in battle. We have made good progress though. The strength of your Essence has grown; thus, it seems you’re ready to hone it and understand it. Alongside that, I should teach you about Affinities and Abilities, too.”
Lucile said.

“My...Essence? I recall Ace saying something about that before... What is that about?”
Valdus questioned.

“Essence is what you can think of essentially as one’s pool of magic. It is part of the ‘soul’ of whatever it is contained within, but it doesn’t apply solely to the animate. Almost anything can have an Essence, but not everything, and the first step to understanding it is to be able to sense your own. From there, you can then learn to sense others, even without all the other five senses.”
Lucile explained.
“It will become much like a sixth sense to you once you master it. Now, Essence, not only acts as your source, but will tie to your Affinities, and represent what magic you can cast, as well. It should be very simple, even for one not well-versed in this world’s natural laws such as you, to learn Essence sense.”

“We can assume his Base Affinity is Flamma, since he’s created fire a couple of times already.”
Ace commented.

“So then...how do I start?”
Valdus asked.

“Follow my lead, and don’t lose focus.”
Lucile responded.

Valdus nodded and readied himself. Lucile then took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, and Valdus followed.

Silence fell over the grassy plain, then soon enough, Lucile spoke up again,
“Try to create an image in your head...something that resembles what your Essence could be. Let the possibilities fill your mind, and soon enough something will become clear... Judging by recent events, you’ll likely see a flame first.”

As Valdus listened, he followed Lucile’s instructions, letting different ideas rush his mind. Then, the ideas came to a stop. Fire filled his senses, flickering with a wild variation of colours brimming with warmth. The flames swirled about, turning white and blue as they shaped into the mark on his forehand. Then, they swirled about again, forming another strange symbol out of deep, purple fire. The symbol appeared to be a circle with three curved strokes of different shades inside of it. Once the flames finally dispersed, he reopened his eyes to see Lucile smiling.

“I sensed it. You’ve witnessed the first stages of your own Essence. So, what did you see?”
Lucile said.

“I...am still dazzled by it... First, the flames were of so many colours, then they formed the mark on my forehand out of white and blue flames...then there was this other symbol...made of purple fire.”
Valdus replied.

“Hold on, you saw it change? That can’t be, rarely anyone unlocks more than one Affinity that early!”
Cedric blurted out.

“I don’t see it as unbelievable, seeing as he’s cheated death already. And hell, look at Lucile, with all his Affinities. He even Summoned you, Cedric.”
Ace commented.

“Well, that’ll be enough of our training for today. You did well, Valdus. We’ll start again tomorrow.”
Lucile said,
“You’re one hell of a kid, you know?”

Valdus grinned and nodded, chuckling proudly to himself. The group then headed back inside the shack for the rest of the day. Keen, Valdus now felt more ready than ever for the training ahead.

 

A few weeks later...

Valdus awoke, feeling refreshed after another night’s rest. Nobody else seemed awake, besides Rex, who had woken up even earlier. The Raptor was playing outside, running in circles and trying to chase his tail. He then caught it in his mouth and stared at Valdus with a blank expression, who now stood in the middle of the living room. Valdus chuckled.

He sure is playful...
Valdus pondered.

Rex then let go of his tail and suddenly ran at Valdus. He leaped and tackled Valdus, causing him to tumble back and knock down some furniture, waking the others up in the process.

“W-what's all the ruckus?”
Ace shouted from his room.

“It's Rex! He tackled me-!”
Valdus suddenly wheezed as Rex curled up on his chest, weighing down on him.
Crap, why's he so heavy...! It feels like I'm about to get crushed!!

Valdus tried to push Rex off his chest, but he didn't budge. He then tried to call for help, but when the others came over to see what was wrong, they found it rather amusing to see Valdus pinned down. Rex then looked down at Valdus again, licked him across the face, got off, and danced around. Valdus gasped right after then sighed.

“Whew... I couldn't breathe...!”
Valdus said with relief.

“He's a playful one! It's nice to see at least one acting normal. Well, in their minds this’d be normal, but...he seems to run into a few things every now and then.”
Ace responded and laughed.

As Ace made his comment, Rex ran into the wall just near the door, then ran outside. He barked at Valdus from where he stood, then ran further away. Valdus got up and went toward the door to see where Rex was heading off to. The Raptor stood in the distance, seemingly waiting for everyone else.

“Uhh... I think he wants us to...follow him...?”
Valdus suggested.

“A little trip with the Raptor, huh?”
Cedric spoke up,
“This might actually be a good opportunity to bring it up, Lucile.”

Lucile heaved a sigh.
“With the situation we’re in now, I think it is high-time we set out for that plan of ours.”

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“Y-you want us to move out already? We should still be safe out here.”
Scarlet responded.

“Hon, Lucile’s got a point. We’re still yet to see the truth behind Valdus’s magic, and now might be a better time than later.”
Ace said,
“We saw that...those...things... They’ve been on the move for quite some time now.”

Scarlet glanced at Valdus, who shrugged back, then fell silent.

She then nodded to the others.
“All right... I’ll be safe...but that’s all I’ve foreseen. Please, be safe as well. Once we set out, I won’t be able to know anything else.”

Scarlet then hugged Ace, and a smile of relief lit up from his face. He then placed a hand on Valdus’s shoulder, before leaving the shack first with Scarlet. Valdus stood looking at Lucile with blank confusion, but Lucile stood silent, seemingly aloof.

Noticing that, Cedric spoke instead,
“We’ve been planning to evacuate the Cardinal Plains for a while. You’ll most likely learn why in the near future. Don’t worry much about it. Now, come on.”

Valdus nodded and followed Lucile as he exited. Ace was sitting by the door, staring at the sky. He mentioned that Scarlet had already run off to safety and gave a farewell. He then stood up, shifted his gear, and smiled confidently.

“All right, we ready?”
Ace asked.

Valdus, Cedric and Lucile nodded. They then walked over to Rex and continued onward with him. As they walked on, Ace glanced back at the shack, and his grin changed to a strange, solemn smile. Valdus felt he understood what was going inside everyone else’s heads; memories of that shack were now in heart. The shack itself was to be left behind. The group wandered almost aimlessly through the Cardinal Plains, following Rex. Valdus then began to slow down - almost to a stop.

“Come on, Valdus. If we’re going to find out what that magic of yours is, we don’t have time to just rest.”
Ace called.

“He’s not resting... Something’s wrong.”
Cedric commented,
“Valdus, are you all right?”

“It’s...cold...”
Valdus muttered.

Cedric appeared surprised, then without warning, growled and glared at the surrounding tall grass. Ace and Lucile also equipped their weapons. Valdus looked up and blinked, surprised by the sudden change in them.

“Looks like that training and teaching you to hone your Essence paid off. I’m surprised you detected them this quickly, though. Any later, and we’d most likely be in trouble.”
Lucile said,
“That cold sensation... If anything, it has to be one of those shadows.”

“Shadows...?”
Valdus questioned.

“We’ve got no clue what they are. They appeared in Eldoria out of nowhere, first targeting random people in this realm. Their influence spread like wildfire, and before we knew it, we were struck with some sort of outbreak. They ruined as much as they could...with unknown intentions...”
Ace explained.

Before Valdus could ask another question, a wolf made of pitch-black shadows leaped from the tall grass. Blood red eyes shone from it, but it was thrown back immediately when Cedric roared. A blast of powerful, sharp winds barraged the wolf, and it burst into black dust. The Raptor pack from beforehand then emerged, but their actions were a little different, seeming quite dismayed.

Are they managing to avoid their pack member...? Or...are they waiting for a signal, like last time?
Ace watched the Raptors, then gave a suggestion,
“It may sound a little stupid, Valdus, but I think Rex was the pack leader.”

Valdus noticed it too and readied himself to fight, shifting into a guard stance.
“Not stupid at all. If that’s the case, let’s get Rex’s pack back! And I’ve got a plan... You guys might want to step back.”

The others moved out of Valdus’s path, keen to see what he’ll do. Valdus took in a deep breath, then slashed at the air with his blade toward one of the Raptors shrouded by the black mist. As he slashed at the air, white flames formed across his left arm, and the mark on his left hand gave off blue sparks. White flames shot out in an arc through the air and hit the Raptor. The Raptor yelped and shook its head as the fire enveloped it. The fire around it began to fade quickly, and its scales began to change to a bright green, with yellow patterns. Its eyes were still red, but they were no longer riddled with bloodlust. The shadows surrounding it had disappeared as well.

“I-it... It actually worked...!”
Valdus laughed,
“And the fire doesn’t burn anymore!”

Lucile then suggested that he try it again. The Raptor that was just released from the shrouds rushed to sit beside Rex, and Valdus swung his sword toward the other Raptors, causing a larger wave of fire to blast out. The rest of the pack was hit by the flames, returning them to their original states. The white flames and blue sparks from Valdus’s left arm then gradually faded away.

“Haha, you managed to do it without harming them! That's...crazy! And amazing!”
Ace laughed.

“Quite the feat if you ask me.”
Lucile commented as well.

“And it’s good that there was only one shadow figure.”
Cedric said,
But that begs to question...why only one? Was it just after Rex?

The pack regrouped and danced around, cheering with loud barks and screeches. As they danced around, Valdus noticed the variety of their appearances. One of the pack members had bright green scales with yellow streaks across their sides. They had no frill, but yellow fins ran across the top of its head and down its back, while it had fiery red eyes. Another had sky blue scales with a drooping frill, and two large fangs jutted out from its upper jaw. Its eyes were magenta. One other Raptor looked similar to Rex, but its scales were darker, almost purple, and its frill had simple, crimson patterns. The fifth Raptor Valdus noticed had drooped ears and grey scales, while bits of fur grew on its back. The Raptors then stopped dancing, barked at Valdus, and ran off.

“I guess that was a thank you.”
Valdus laughed.

“While that’s nice and all, I’d like to figure out why there was only one of those shadows.”
Cedric responded.

“Is only one shadow attacking a concern?”
Valdus asked.

“Now that Cedric mentions it... Those things normally attack in swarms, unless the single shadow is considerably strong. That wolf wasn’t a problem at all...”
Ace explained.

Cedric muttered to himself for a moment, then glanced toward where the Raptors ran off to.
“They’ll be safe for now...but that thing... I could’ve sworn it was after Rex. Does that Raptor play some key role?”

Ace and Lucile visibly pondered, while Valdus still stood in confusion. The others each let out a sigh, then got up and started walking on. Valdus followed.

“We’d best get somewhere to rest. If those things are still out here, more will come. It’s highly likely they know we’re travelling now, and now with the fact that someone is able to clear that strange shroud...”
Lucile spoke.

“...they’re going to be mad.”
Cedric continued.

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