At an abandoned blacksmith's warehouse near the outskirts of Starhorn.
At the spacious dilapidated receiving hall, where the only source of light came from the gaps from the roof and damaged windows, fog-like shadow gathered at the center. Soon it dispersed and revealed two figures.
The first one who was standing proud and tall was Nolan, and the other one sprawled on all fours with a sorry state was Kyran.
As to why he became like this, well....
"Pathetic. And you call yourself a combat specialist with such a weak constitution?" Nolan ridiculed Kyran as soon as his magic disappeared.
"Ugh..." Kyran groaned and tried to sit up. "It was my first time trying to enclose someone else's magic while 'preserving' it. It takes too much effort to do. Why'd you have to create such a huge black mist, anyway?"
The 'escape' scene back at the Mercenary Hall was actually Nolan's idea. He instructed Kyran to wrap his magic with his void magic. Then made it look as if he vanished in the air.
Of course, Kyran did not really vanish. Nolan simply took him in his domain.
Once inside, Nolan disguised Kyran with Nar's face, then took advantage of the confusion outside the Mercenary Hall and undid his domain. After all, his domain was immobile, if they did not leave there soon, Celine might sense it.
Then they left the area. When they entered an empty alley, Nolan used his ability to hide both of them.
However, by then Kyran was too exhausted to walk which annoyed Nolan. He ended up having to carry Kyran as they made their way to this abandoned warehouse.
"It's called showmanship," Nolan answered with a matter-of-fact tone.
"What showmanship, I don't even know how to produce black mists!"
"The black mist is to confuse them of the things you can do. And will you stop calling it black mist! Call it Nolan's magic, not black mist!"
Kyran sighed. He just could not make sense of Nolan's strangeness. And why couldn't he just tell him what his magic was? Even calling it Nolan's magic as if it was some kind of personalized magic.
"I remember telling you to run wild. I did not even witness bloodshed," Nolan said and looked at Kyran who finally managed to sit up.
Kyran avoided his gaze and took out a potion from his pouch. "If I started killing those mercenaries, the Mercenary Hall will really see me as an enemy," he replied and downed the potion.
"Too soft. You are still too soft," Nolan shook his head.
He believed Kyran could become merciless when it really came down to it. After all, he saw how he half killed most of the army officers when they escaped from the forest. But his merciless state was only triggered if his life was in danger. If he knew there was a way for him to escape unscathed, he would act... well humane.
"You managed to frighten them, I guess that'll do." Nolan finally decided to let it slide. He just had to push Kyran to a more dangerous situation to make him understand that at times, he had to act mercilessly if he wanted to take full control of a situation.
"And? How disappointed is the Hall Master after you reveal your face?" He asked with a suppressed laughter.
Dark lines appeared on Kyran's face as he remembered Celine's outburst.
"She told me to take responsibility. What does that even mean?" He replied.
"Hahahahaha!" Nolan burst out laughing. "I told you that the Hall Master had a weird appetite, didn't I?"
"Yeah," Kyran replied with a nod.
"That old hag loves to watch men fighting with blood flying all over the place. But she had a bottom line. She only preferred men that's at least around late twenties."
Kyran's face turned sullen, "You knew that and still made me go through all that?"
Nolan raised an eyebrow, "What? She seemed to be infatuated by your mysterious appearance. I wonder what face she fantasized you had under the cloak. She probably wanted that Dante guy beat you up until you submit to her ... Pfft. Hahahahaha!"
Suddenly Kyran frowned, "You saw all that had happened from the moment I entered the hall, didn't you?"
"I told you, I have my ways."
"Then you don't really need to ask me how disappointed the Hall Master was!"
"And deprive myself of a chance to make fun of you?" Nolan replied with a disbelieving expression.
"You..." Kyran was speechless.
"But," Nolan looked at him curiously. "I'm surprised. I initially want to see your shocked expression after I called her 'old hag'."
Kyran sighed, "Well, I kind of expected it. She has almost the same presence you have. So I thought she probably was a Magus and made herself look younger."
Nolan smiled and nodded in satisfaction, "Good. Your memory really is good."
"Still," Kyran's brow creased. "She seemed a little weak."
"Hahaha! Of course, she's weak. I can trash her in seconds."
More black lines appeared on Kyran's head.
"Well, she's not exactly an offensive type. She is an Enchanter, so she mainly focuses on control."
"Enchanter?" Kyran vaguely understood that this could be a mage's specialty. Then he frowned after encountering the term offensive once again. "Not an offensive type? I've been hearing a lot of that today. What exactly does it mean?"
Nolan sighed, "Ah. Here we go with your endless questions."
A fog-like shadow appeared around him once again and a chair was immediately created.
"First, let me explain a mage's specialty."
He sat on the chair while he created another chair beside Kyran.
"Sit first," Nolan told Kyran.
Kyran looked at the chair and could not help but feel awed at how convenient Nolan's magic was. He wondered if he could do something like this as well. Shaking his head a little, Kyran pushed the thought out of his mind. He should first focus on how he could control his magic.
He stood up and sat on the black chair.
"There are five specializations a mage could focus on once they reached a level of mastery with their magic. But first, you need to understand what your magic type is and how you can best use it," Nolan started.
He controlled the fog-like shadow and soon formed a semi-circle barrier around him.
"My magic type is defensive. I can create a solid barrier like this or," the semi-circle barrier returned to its fog-like state and covered Nolan, "...cover myself in its particle state. For this kind of magic, a high-level mage can specialize in defense and become an Abjurer."
Kyran looked at Nolan's magic and noticed how he called the mist form 'particles'. Before he could dwell on the thought, however, Nolan continued with his explanation.
"The Mercenary Hall Master is an Enchanter because her magic is a support type. Have you realized what her magic is?"
Kyran contemplated for a second. He did find Celine's magic a little strange. Most of the time, the effect depended on how she said her words.
'No. Not on 'how' she said it, but more with her voice?'
"Sound?" Kyran guessed as he looked at Nolan.
Nolan smiled in amusement, "How did you come up with that?"
"Because I noticed her voice shifts with her magic. At first, I thought it had something to do with how she say a word, but depending on what type of voice she uses, the weight of her magic changes."
'Weight?' Nolan was surprised at the term Kyran used. Normally, someone would use the word 'effectiveness' right?
"Why did you use 'weight' to describe her magic's effect?"
"Because that's how it felt like. As if something you can't see is trying to weigh you down and do things according to what it wanted."
"Hmm," Nolan nodded in agreement. "I guess that's another way to put it. I honestly do not feel that way when I faced her, but well, your magic is pretty strange and its sensitivity to other magic may be different."
"That's right. The moment her magic tried to invade my senses, my magic stirred at once."
"Oh?" Nolan was surprised. The way Kyran phrased it seemed as if his magic had an awareness of its own.
'Interesting.'
"You're right. Her innate magic is sound. But her medium was her voice. And she can't form an offensive move because of it."
Kyran had a thoughtful look. "But if she added more weight in her voice to target a person's brain, wouldn't that become an offensive move?"
Nolan gave an exaggerated gasp.
Kyran reddened. He belatedly realized his idea was too unrealistic.
On the other hand, although Nolan acted shocked on purpose. He was really very shocked! This kid's idea on how to use magic was too scary!
"Forget what I said. I was only rumbling," Kyran immediately told Nolan.
"No. You're actually right," Nolan replied. "It will be difficult, but it is possible. Anyway, she probably does not realize that herself so you best not say anything like that to her."
"I won't."
"Good. Now, going back. An Enchanter focuses on control and illusions. The Mercenary Hall Master is the former. You noticed how she tried to control you by command, right?"
Kyran nodded.
"Now there's the more offense-focused magic type. Let's use your opponent back there as an example."
"Dante?"
"I don't care about his f*cking name. Anyway, that guy is an earth mage. But he can combine it with fire magic. If he becomes a high master mage, he can become an Elementor."
"Can a mage with no innate element type magic become an Elementor?"
"Yes. I told you before that anyone can use any type of magic as long as they know how to draw from its source. But it will be difficult for those without innate magic. No one would bother to waste their time since they will not be able to draw the full strength of that element."
"I see. I guess that balances out a mage's specialty."
Nolan nodded, "Yes. Then there's a summoner. This is a rare specialization. Because not everyone is sensitive to 'spirits'."
"Spirits, you mean elemental spirits?"
"Yes," Nolan smiled after he remembered something. "That's right. Rin is a Summoner."
Kyran smiled faintly, "I didn't know mother is a Summoner."
"Well, the spirits have always followed her around since she was small. And no, I am not going to start a talk down memory lane so don't ask," Nolan immediately stopped Kyran the moment he opened his mouth as if to ask a follow-up question.
Kyran closed his mouth with a blank expression. He wondered why Nolan avoided telling him more about his parents. Still, he did not pursue the subject. Someday, he would definitely make him tell their story.
"Anyway. Last is a Transmuter. Now if a Summoner is rare, then a Transmuter is very rare. Because mages who wanted to be a Transmuter have to specialize in creation magic."
"Creation magic?"
"That's right. You create something out of magic."
Kyran looked at the chair he was sitting on, "Like this?"
Nolan grinned at him, "Aren't you a clever one."
"But then Dante–."
"That's not creation magic, that's called molding."
"What's the difference?"
Nolan sighed and explained patiently, "Molding is when you change the shape of your magic into something else. In creation magic, you create a new form to your magic and even add more substance into it."
"That's why your magic can pierce through things!" Kyran realized.
"That's right."
"So you're an Abjurer and a Transmuter?"
"What do you think?" Nolan gave a faint smile.
Kyran took a deep breath. He kind of realized that whenever Nolan gave a vague answer like this, it meant he did not want to tell him. So instead of dwelling on the subject, he asked. "How about my magic? What type do you think my magic is? And what can I specialize in?"
"Your magic..." Nolan paused with a thoughtful look. "To be honest, I'm not sure either. We can say your magic right now is one of a kind, since you are the only one who can use it. You managed to use it pretty well today, what do you think?"
"Dante kept on saying that I am a defensive type because I kind of integrated it to the Regis defensive technique. But if I have to analyze its effect, it acts as a barrier, but I can also use it as an offense."
Nolan nodded in agreement, "I agree. I actually think your magic is the opposite of creation magic."
Kyran did not reply. He also kind of felt that. Whether he uses it as defensive magic or offensive, the end result when he used his magic was always destruction.
"Okay, enough of that." Nolan stood up. He looked at Kyran and grinned, "While we wait, on how the Mercenary Hall will act after your short 'visit', I'll teach you how to control your magic."