Chapter Fifteen
Gydion knelt down by a creek just outside the training area's perimeter and reached down to get some water. He cupped his hands and stared at the water for a moment before splashing it over his face.
"I never thought using Mana would be this hard."
He held out his hand and imagined the spell once again
~Just the basics. I just need to focus on that.~
*fwoosh*
The sound of wind was deafening. Frustrated, Gydion lashed out with his hand, striking a nearby tree.
"Why the hell am I so ass at this?!?"
The tree quaked and toppled over due to the sheer amount of force imparted by Gydions strike. He looked down at the length of the now felled tree with no remorse. His heart was too taken by his rage and feelings of stupidity to feel for the environment around him.
"How am I this hopeless…" He said as he began to follow the creek down the mountain.
Along the way he began to play about with his Liquid Iron, extending it out of his hand. He had wanted to see what he could now do after the Grand Magus "removed the stagnation" of it the day prior.
The length of liquid Iron condensed itself down into a simple rod. It was something he had been able to do before, and so it brought him a sense of relief that he was still capable of producing it.
The liquid iron separated from the rod, leaving it resting in his hand. He tossed it up into the air and caught it a few times.
"Same as ever. Good. Now, what about if I try this…"
He threw it up into the air again, but this time willed it to return to its Liquid state. It quickly lost its form and fell down in a messy blob. A tendril of liquid Iron shot out from his hand and connected with the falling blob.
Gydion smiled.
Before, something like this would be difficult to do, but now it was as simple as moving any other part of his body. He began to make all kinds of shapes with the Iron. While he was doing this he noticed something irregular for a mountainous forest region.
In the distance near the end of the creek, there was a small wooden bridge. The bridge itself was nothing special, just a rope bridge to help folk cross the gap from one side to the next as the creek had merged into a two hundred or so foot wide rapid. What was special was the bodies of two humans, lying face down in the center of it.
Gydion walked to the entrance of the bridge and stared out.
~I'd probably break this if I stepped on it.~ He thought to himself. He was, after all, made of rock and metal.
He opted to call out to them instead.
"Oiii! Are you two okay!?!" He shouted. His shout echoed throughout the mountains and caused a mass exodus of frightened birds.
The two humans did not respond. Gydion rubbed the backs of his fingers along the bottom of his chin.
~They must be dead out there.~ He thought to himself as he stared at the bodies.
He had never cared to interact with humans before, but for some to be this far up into the mountains and have a bridge built made him curious. Usually, humanity stayed clear of any places so much as rumored to have Fairy activity. Apparently sometime long ago a war took place at a global scale in which Humanity lost, particularly at the hands of the Fairy and the Fae folk. So as a result, generations of humans afterward steered clear for a misguided fear of annihilation.
"I don't suppose there would be much of a problem if I just dragged their bodies over here if they are dead." He reasoned.
Gydion extended his arm out and willed his Iron forward. Like a snake, it slithered through the air traveling fifty or so feet before he started feeling the strain. The Liquid metal became thinner and thinner as it traveled the remaining fifty feet, only being about as thick as shoelaces towards the end. Upon reaching the bodies, the liquid metal coiled around them at the waist and began to drag them back. As Gydion dragged bodies from where they had been laying, frozen bloodstains made themselves visible.
"Definitely dead." He said aloud as a glance from him at the bodies at his feet made the fact apparent. He held the bodies up in the air and began to examine them.
~One male and one female. The male looks to be in its older years while the female looks to be in the prime of its life. They're both dressed in heavy winter gear, though it seems the women's clothing is damaged. Otherwise, they're decently equipped for trekking in this weather.~
He brought the male down and took a closer look at its abdomen. He observed that it had multiple puncture wounds in its stomach.
~I assume this to be the cause of death. The blood also seems to be frozen so they may have been dead a while.~
He turned his focus to the female corpse, moving it closer as well. He reached out his free hand and lightly brushed away the torn fabric draped over it's stomach.
~This one… died from a slashed throat. No other injuries. Wait, there is some bruising on the abdomen and blood soaking the oversized pants where it's genitalia should be. Ah, I see. The brutality of humanity is astounding.~
He lowered the bodies onto the ground and looked at their faces. Dried tears merged with the dirt and mud that had likely come to be on their face during their escape. Gydion lowered himself down and grasped the chin of the female, moving it's face from side to side.
~terror… and despair. These creatures were probably fleeing for their lives. Running up into the mountains in hopes of escaping whatever it is that did this to them.~
He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. He noticed what seemed to be a small journal clutched tightly in the female's grip and grabbed it. He opened it and scanned its contents.
~I can't understand any of this… I'll have to show the Grand Master if I want to know what this all says.~
He closed the book shut and tied it to his belt before returning his attention to the corpses.
He knelt down on the ground and placed his hand firmly between them. Yellow Onyx energy shot into the ground from around his arm.
"I don't care about you humans, but all souls deserve to rest in peace, so please, leave your mortal forms behind and ascend." He said as he stood up and cleared himself from the immediate vicinity of the corpses.
Once clear of the bodies, roots wormed out of the ground and wrapped them up, dragging them down into the earth.
~Why were the bodies in the middle of the bridge though? It doesn't look like they died there so… Maybe it was intended as a trap of some sort. Does that mean bandits then? I heard those things rob and steal from the other fleshy races. Guess I'll go find out.~
Gydion walked back from the edge of the rapid and stretched his legs. His eyes measured the distance to be two hundred or so feet within a margin of error of about five feet.
~I should be able to easily make this.~
He broke out into a sprint and jumped using his Liquid Iron as a spring. He careened through the air and landed at the other side of the rapids with a loud *Thwump*. Cries of terror from presumably humans filled the air as he landed. In the next second, Gydion saw five or so human backs as they began to run away from him down the path.
~Guess I'll follow them a bit.~
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Back at the training ground:
"Let's start with your first manifestation."
I nodded and held out my hands, forming the water dagger.
"Alrighty. Now, what do you think the problem is with this?" Grandma asked. She was sitting down on a wooden chair inside the tent, leaning on her left hand.
I looked down and thought a bit about yesterday and the conclusions I came to and began to speak.
"The simplicity of the dagger?" I could not think of anything else. To be clear, when I say simplicity I'm referring to the mold of the dagger. It's not well defined and so is blemished in comparison to a real one even if I pour in a ton of mana.
"While that is an issue, that is not the one I was looking for you to say."
I looked down at the dagger for a moment before it lost form, drenching my hand. The water then came back up and made the head of a rose flower in my now open palm. Confused, I looked at Grandma. The index finger on her right hand was up, indicating to me that she had manipulated it. But how? Before I could ask she began to speak.
"Without a solid mold, any half-decent mage could hijack the mana you used and use it instead for their own purposes. In a world such as this where magic is commonplace, this is akin to allowing those who would do you harm to press a knife to your throat. Of course, this is only relevant when producing an object purely out of mana as you've done."
This was fascinating to me. The idea that one could hijack another's mana as a result of their lacking was something I for sure intended to do. Unfortunately, that also means that I need intimate knowledge of weapon designs so as to not leave myself vulnerable which seems… Like it's not going to be fun. I guess I'll have to shelve projecting elemental weapons now until I can safely do it.
"Why was the first thing you made a weapon?" Grandma asked.
The question took me completely off guard. Why was it the first thing I thought to make? It just seemed to make sense to me, but surely I could have made anything else. I began to nervously fumble around with my fingers as I kept on thinking about the question. Grandma stood up and placed her hand on my shoulder, gently shaking me.
"I'm sorry if my question startled you, but I simply found it interesting." She said with a light-hearted smile.
"If you want to make weapons and the like, I can teach you that once we go back to the tower."
I shrugged my shoulders and made my face smile in spite of my feelings. I didn't want to worry her over such a silly thing as the question after all. My cheeks felt heavy though. I suppose lying was something that I just didn't want to do to her, but nonetheless, I continued to perform.
"Thanks, Grandma ^^," I said in as sweet of a voice I could muster. She released my shoulder from her grasp and as soon as she did, I left the tent. I didn't say anything. I just left. I could feel her gaze linger on my back from the tent's entrance until I passed by a few pillars. I knew that she would likely maintain watch over me with one of her clones, but I also knew she'd be just as likely to let me be. It was just for safety after all.
My little feet pitter-pattered against the dusty ground as I ran from the training area and into the mountainous woodland.
Why did I just casually think of making weapons? I have to know. I'll ask my other-self. Maybe they could give me some insight.
The forest itself was eerie. I couldn't see any animals and there was this ominous fog that swelled the further I ran.
"Maybe… this wasn't the best idea?" I muttered to myself as I felt pangs of fear rise up from my stomach like butterflies. Even though I only ran for three minutes, I felt like I had entered a completely different area in the forest. Listening to my instincts, I pivoted backward and sprinted as fast as I could back to the training ground.
When I got back, Grandma was waiting for me. She stood at the edge of the training ground with her arms crossed, tapping her foot on the ground.
"Welcome back. How was your little jog out into the woods?" She asked as her gaze pierced into my soul. She was not happy.
"It was um… Not that bad y'know? There was this fog and well that got kinda scary so I just ran back here."
"Ah, is that so?" She replied.
"It's good that you came back. I didn't warn you earlier, but these mountains are dangerous. All manner of Mana beasts live and prey on one another here."
Her face softened as I got closer.
"Let's stay in the training area from now on, okay?"
I nodded and fiddled with my fingers behind my back.
"Alright, good. Now, come up here and get back to practicing. Only Focus on what you can do for now. I'll watch it personally this time and give you pointers along the way."
I nodded once again and ran past her into an open area.
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Tryamon watched from on top of one of the many stone pillars in the training field as Suzuka threw out one spell after another.
~This child is as much of an anomaly as she has been. Up to now, I've seen her casually manifest natural elements with mana as simply as one draws breath. I knew that she would be able to do so, but the sheer variety in which she has displayed her skill was a surprise. She isn't even aware that most people would only be able to manifest a single element. I wonder if I should tell her?~
Tryamon shrugged at the thought and tucked her knees up to her chest. She clapped her hands as Suzuka made a small fire tornado by mixing the two elements wind and fire together.
~That was really nice. That'd almost be usable in combat! Let me make a clone that she can practice with.~
Tryamon snapped her fingers and another version of herself appeared in front of Suzuka, jump scaring her. Tryamon stuck her fingers in her ears as Suzuka prepared a barrage of words for her.
"Yes yes, I know you don't like it when I surprise you but listen. That Clone will be your sparring partner. Feel free to go as wild as you'd like okay?"
Suzuka went from passionately annoyed to joyful in less than a second after hearing that. Tryamon lowered her hands back down and continued to watch while her clone looked back at her with pleading eyes.
~Don't look at me like that. I'm the original so just go ahead and practice with the little mana freak~ she thought.
Her clone's eyes glazed over as the mental thought transmitted. In the next second, a hyperactive Suzuka began to launch a wild flurry of attacks of every element type.
The clone jumped back and blocked every attack with a counter, nullifying the cast. The two continued like that for a few minutes before the bundle of energy began to slow down. Tryamon could see that Suzuka had started sweating.
She sent a mental command to her clone to start counterattacking with greater force to make Suzuka think about defense.
"Su, The clone is about to start countering with enough power to overwhelm you. Focus on defense and put up barriers between you and it."
Suzuka took cover behind a pillar and raised her hands in question.
"What? I don't know how to make Mana shields!"
Tryamon smiled wistfully, remembering her training during her youth all those centuries ago.
"You'll learn quickly."
With those words, Suzuka's jaw dropped in disbelief.