Intruders II

"What is this?" Ser Quinn asked, looking down at the metal bracers in front of him. He looked up at Sura within his pavilion with a questioning stare. 

"Squeeze it. With all your strength," Said Sura. 

Quinn stared at the bracers for a lingering moment, grabbing it. He gave it a tight squeeze. He'd recognized the metal to be Vox Steel. A black metal used by the common foot soldier. It was slightly weaker than normal steel but granted a level of defense against the arcane that normal steel didn't. 

For a second, Quinn had begun to frown as he increased his strength, and yet the metal would not bend. 

"What the…" He looked up, meeting Sura's smile. 

"Come on, Commander," She said, trying to stifle a laugh. "Put your back into it, or are you too old." she snickered mischievously, watching a vien stretch across his jaw. 

Quinn turned red before he began channeling his Arcana to help strengthen his body. Through the meridians, it flowed from his heart, stretching throughout his entire body. Every muscle, tendon, and ligament seemed to compress, tightening with a sense of dread that billowed out from Quinn's pores in a shroud of distorted air. 

Still, the metal remained firm until… slowly, it began to cave, bending before the might of the commander.

"What in the world?" Panting, he turned to Sura. "You did this?" 

She shook her head. "No… A kid did. And he's willing to sell it to us." 

Quinn could scarcely believe it. "Bull shit," he said, tossing the brace back down to the table. "Tell me the truth." 

"I am. It's not my fault you hate kids." 

"All they do is eat, shit, and play," said Quinn, falling back to his seat. He stared at the bracers for a while and looked up to Sura. " Did a kid really do this? How old is he?" 

Sura nodded, brushing her slender fingers over the bent metal. "He's six." 

"Do you think we can scare him into giving us the formula?" 

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Sura exclaimed, rolling her eyes, but didn't bother to protest. She'd known the man for years. He was an old soul, hardened by the endless war between Solaris and Lurmera. Thirty decades of war would harden any man. 

Quinn tsked, " Fine, how much is he asking? You know what, just pay him whatever. I don't care. Let the Empire deal with the expense." 

"Is that wise?" 

"Who cares," said Quinn. "and we've got bigger issues." 

With a smug look, Sura found a seat. "Let me guess. Those initiates you bullied a few weeks ago are back with some real power." 

Quinn looked away guiltily," they call him Renly. You know him?" 

"I do, but he's not a fighter. His focus lies in—" 

"You know what. That shit will always amaze me. Why become an Arcanist if you're not going to focus on battle?" 

Sura sighed. "You live your life every day battling. The average person might get into a fight maybe a single time in their lifetime. One simply doesn't absorb Arcana to become strong but rather to live longer. To be the best version of themselves."

"Sounds like BS to me." 

***

"The difference between Zero Spells and First Level spells comes down to one thing. Refinement. When your spirit grabs hold of the Arcana around you, twisting into the spell of your choice, you are essentially using an unrefined form of Arcana. Arcana that is impure and tainted by the elements. When you refine the Arcana, it blends together, gaining a level of purity that is unnatural when compared to unrefined Arcana. That's why Level One spells happen to be twice as strong as Zero Spells. Understand?" 

Aurelia, with her legs folded over one another, felt her cheek plump as she fell into deep thought. "So purity of the Arcana determines the strength of a spell, not necessarily the amount." 

Zariel couldn't help but smile. He quite enjoyed teaching. "That is correct. That is why, in the level two spell, we begin adding several types of Compression Formulas into the equation." 

Adamantly listening with stars in her lovely golden eyes every so often asking questions, Aurelia beamed away as the lesson came to an end. 

"Can I try it now?" Aurelia quickly asked him, jumping to her feet. The excitement practically vibrated through her small frame. 

"You've just barely gotten the hang of Spirit Control, and you want to cast a spell already?" He chuckled, recalling his first spell. 

Iluthath, known as the Realm of Blood, had been a hub of all types of energy, not just Qi or Arcana but hundreds. And while each energy reacted differently once refined and understood, Zariel found it to all be about the same. Though he was the only one to think that. 

His first spell was around the tender age of Two(200), having used the Weave to understand the strange mist of azure strings and nodes that seemed to exist everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Permeating bones and hair alike, it festered to the material plane as if it sought to exist. 

"Fine… Let's begin with the Abjuration(Protection). Let's try…" He thought for a bit, amused by her pleading stare. "Let's go with [Resist]." 

"[Resist]… sounds boring," Aurelia grumbled. 

Zariel flicked her head, and the girl all but teared up as her skin turned pink and then red. Aurelia nearly shouted when she saw his fingers whirled, conjuring an intricate rune that erupted into embers the moment it was complete. It billowed around her before fading. 

Aurelia gasped, feeling the stinging sensation dim. "The pain… it's gone!"

"Not gone. The pain still exists; it's just that your senses are ignoring it. Resist is a spell that can either be physical or mental, but not both. Had I invoked the spell on you before I flicked you, you wouldn't have even gotten hurt. If cast right, you ought to be able to tank an attack from a bear coming out with a scratch or two." 

And for the next hour or two, Aurelia attempted the Zero Spell with little to no success. Despite her near-perfect recall of the spell, she had only just gotten the hang of Spirit Control and could barely manipulate the Arcana like Zariel. 

Still, she didn't give up come morning, noon, and night. Aurelia trained and trained, and after two days of constant work, she was all smiles, dancing her fingers through the air, drawing runes one after the other. By the third day, she gained some minor success, failing to actually gather enough Arcana.

That might have been Aurelia's biggest issue. As for the next week, all she could do was patiently train by exposing her spirit to the outside essences of the world. 

Zariel had told her that spirit Control was the single most hardest concept to master. But once it came, spells would become as simple as breathing. Aurelia wasn't much inclined to believe him but nonetheless still practiced every hour of the day and night. Even as she hunted, the girl trained, finding the Arcana in this ethereal realm of mystery.

Until one day, her eyes sparkled like gemstones under the aimless rays of dawn. Ember's of Arcana glittered around her, bounding itself to her flesh. 

When Zariel found her minutes later for his lesson, Aurelia had been banging her head against the stones, trees, and earth as if to break them. To which she succeeded more often than not. Zariel's courtyard was in shambles. 

"Aurelia's~ the boss!!!!!" Squealed Aurelia, spry with laughter.

The boy had nearly thought she was a dog that caught the zoomies by the way in which she hopped about. 

He smiled, letting her tire herself out. He approached when she lay on her back, tired and weak, and looked down as she looked up at him, still with that silly smile of hers. 

Though she felt guilty to admit it, these past few months had been the best time of Aurelia's life. Her father had been a dull man and a drunk, and her mother a hateful shrew that would often pinch, slap or kick Aurelia when she'd pick up after her younger sister. 

'Useless thing, I don't know why your father decided to keep you. He ought to have left you in the latrine with the other shit,' She'd often say in a vile tone. 

"Thanks for teaching me, Zariel." She said, overjoyed. Not once had she thought of her Mother or Sister since he arrived. 

 Zariel chuckled, "You're quite welcome. Now tell me. How many seconds did it take for you to cast [Resist]?" 

Aurelia thought for a bit. "Twelve Seconds. Gathering the Arcana necessary took forever." 

"Then all that means is that you need to train your spirit," Zariel said, lifting his eyes toward the forest around them. He frowned, gleaming the snow-white strings of Intent from out of the forest. "Can I help you?" 

"Yes," said the shadow, stepping out from behind the shadows of trees and bushes with a peculiar-looking staff in his hand. He was handsome, with a stubbed beard and moss-colored eyes. The staff he wielded was long, like a spear, with an ornamental golden ring on its head, curling down over the oak. "I'm looking for the man who killed my initiate." 

Zariel glanced at the man's staff, frowning, perceiving a faint frequency of waves billowing from out of the staff. 'A truth field,' he thought, and said, " We don't answer questions. Go away. Come on, Aurelia." 

"Kay~" She exclaimed, hopping up to her feet. 

"Please!" The stranger insisted. "I just want to know if saw—" 

"Dismiss your spell, and we can talk like actual humans," Said Zariel coldly, ushering Aurelia through the doors to his cottage. He stared at the man whose eyes seemed wide as stars, caught in the act. He tilted his head. "You don't seem like a deceptive man…But faces can all be deceiving. Leave my property now." 

"I—" The man tried to say, but the door closed in his face.