'My chest..'
I clenched my chest as power bounced around it. It was a pounding that I had never experienced before. My heart seemed to work over time, and the once bright blue sky became tainted with green.
"You're holding yourself back! You wanted to get stronger, then stop fighting with Roktavor for control! Subjatate your body and harness your power!" Fawkes called with excitement. "I know you feel it. Your mana is begging to be released! It desires your dominion and your direction!"
Fawkes was right. There was a distinct feeling of clawing throughout my body. I fought to hold it within, but my instinct told me what Fawkes was saying was correct. I clenched my fists as my focus grabbed that feeling and began weaving it within. There was considerable resistance to it, and pain shot throughout my entire body.
"What the hell is happening to him?!" Q questioned.
"I can sense it..." Bonner responded, which earned him a shocked expression.
Fawkes turned to the elf and scanned him with his eyes. "Ah, yes! This is better than Mother could have imagined! You're awakening by association."
"I'm awakening?!', Bonner questioned, and Fawkes jumped onto his shoulder.
"That is one of my father's astral arts. He's been holding back subconsciously, but now is different. He's struggling to dominate his mana, and that act unlocked access to yours. Extend your hand toward him and feel the focus on the flow." Fawkes instructed.
With it, there was a sensation that blasted my body. My eyes laid on Bonner, whose hand was extended in my direction. His face was serious but then warped in pain. My body reeled from the influx of power, but the pain receded as soon as it began. Searching within, I felt what I could only assume was my mana core heating up and then quickly cooling off.
"I-I think I did it.", I mumbled as my hand shined with a green aura.
My fingers tingled as I wiggled them, and that was when I noticed that the sky had returned to normal. Fawkes chittered excitedly before running toward me and leaping onto my shoulder again. Stars were in the small Fox's eyes, replacing his usual ones.
"I can sense the stabilization, and quickly, too. I thought you'd struggle more." Fawkes says before shifting his eyes to Bonner. "Both of you! Both of you are talented! This is good! This is good!"
My eyes shifted to my elven companion as a white aura wrapped his figure with splendor. Bonner's face remained blank for a moment before a smile formed.
"That shit hurt.", he grunted as he clenched his fists.
"Tell me about it, bud. Fawkes explain." I ordered.
The Fox nodded before pointing with his tail. "What happened just then was your magic in its purest form. That small crystal that you devoured was comprised of pure mana. It can be used as a catalyst to channel mana, but once devoured by a person who can do so, such as Mark, it could be used to unchain a body's astral art."
"I think Sine was going to mention something about one of those, but we were interrupted. Tell me about these astral arts. Are they abilities or skills?", I asked. My tail swayed as mana flowed through my fingertips.
"They are abilities. While there are common shared ones, the ones that matter are unique to individuals. I have it on good authority that those unique ones are bestowed to a person by a god based on their body's compatibility." Fawkes pointed his tail towards Bonner, and his whiskered face grinned. "For example, Bonner has awakened an incredibly rare version of Mana Restore. His is dubbed Mana Foundry."
"Mana Foundry? I think I know of it." Bonner replied, stroking his face to remember where he had learned of the skill.
"It allows the individual to double their mana reserves. In your case, you can double your mana reserves for a few minutes rather than seconds, and afterward, your mana reserves will drop sharply, and mana exhaust will begin to kick your ass." Fawkes explained with a burst of boastful laughter. "High risk for high reward! It'll be quite entertaining to watch in action. At any moment, Mr. Bonner will be the definitive strongest mage in your little three-man band!"
"I'm just like that anyway, so it only makes sense that I'd get this ability.", Bonner declared with a smile.
"It's wasted on you." Q says with a snicker. "We all know you'll try to spam that ability, and then we'll have to carry your sorry ass on our backs."
"You're just jealous that you were left out this time. It's okay; you'll get one next time! It's just Mark and me, is just more important right now."
"Shidd me." Q said dismissively. "I don't need a special skill to kick ass right now. You needed one to contribute."
"Alright now- God don't like ugly." Bonner retorted.
"If that were the case, Mother wouldn't have chosen Mark.", Fawkes said. He giggled, which sounded odd in my voice.
"I'll punt your little bastard ass-" His words donned on me, and I staggered with shock. "Wait, what? Mother?"
Fawkes grinned, but he didn't answer immediately. Instead, he let me stew as the other two looked at him. Obviously, my fox-like features and Fawkes were obvious similarities, but I didn't make a connection. His purple eyes were a clear inheritance of Sine, the goddess.
"Yep. Should I call you Daddy, or will Old Man suffice? Dad is the table, too." Fawkes said with glee. I could tell he enjoyed the dumbfounded expression on my face.
"Well, he kinda looks like you in the face, Mark." Q said, covering his jaws. He was stifling a laugh, but Bonner erupted in laughter, breaking Q's resolve as well.
"Like hell he do!" I declared, flailing my arms in protest. "He's a goddamn fox!"
"Don't not take the Lord's name in vain," Bonner replied with a mischievous grin.
"Fuck that!" I snapped, pointing to the elf. "I'm black, and he's orange." I smacked my forearm with my fingers to better illustrate my point.
"Your tail is orange, and so are your ears. " Q reached down and grabbed the Fox, holding him beside my face. "A spitting image if you were to ask me. This is your boy. Same white tips and all!"
"He can deny all he likes, but that eye matches mine. That is proof of our connection." Fawkes said smugly.
"He has a point. You have the same eye, and you said that you got it from Sine. That means you and Sine are Fawkes's parents. It's in the genetics. You can deny that, Mark." Bonner replied.
"Since my lineage is acknowledged, I'll move on to the Old Man's Astral Arts." Fawkes wiggled out of Q's grasp before stretching.
"I don't-"
"Follow me for a moment." Fawkes interrupted my words before jumping down to the dirt road. "the longer we take, the more taxing this ability on the Old Man's body. That crystal can only sustain the Mana Space for so long. It'll shatter into a million pieces and force you back into reality."
I sighed in defeat as Q slapped my back with a devious grin. Bonner's face grew serious as the two men followed the Fox. I watched them jump down to the road with the revelation of Fawkes being my son, reeling my body. I didn't trust his words, but there could be merit in them. The similarities could not be denied, so I had to withhold judgment. After collecting my thoughts, I jumped after them and landed with a light thud.
"Nice for you to join us." Fawkes declared before skipping onto the grass.
He frolicked with childlike steps before facing us, and we followed him. Fawkes explained that he was essentially a spirit created by combining Sine and my power. He has physical properties, but he's incubating in my mana space like a baby in a womb. He wouldn't be able to exit until I gained the ability to pull him out, and his body had matured to the point that he could sustain himself like a Spirit Beast.
"That deadly Lynx that kicked your ass is a good case of a Spirit Beast. Exposure to that amount of pure mana has supercharged that specific one. They are called mythical in this world due to their closeness to extinction. It'd be a myth to see a Lynx that massive.", Fawkes explained with a tag wag. It was odd seeing it since his tail wag was identical to how mine operated. It was jarring to see it.
"I recommend steering away from Spirit Beasts as a general rule until later. That Lynx slapped you around; just imagine if a more aggressive and competent Spirit Beast declared you its enemy."
"We'll keep that in mind.", Bonner says plainly.
"There are likely others like me, so I'm not that special, but I am the best, hands down," Fawkes said before focusing.
He hummed a tune that I didn't recognize before finally bringing us to a stop. The smell of grass filled my superb nose, and the wind shook my ears.
"You mentioned that Bishop was able to awaken due to Mark. Why didn't I do the same if that's the case?" Q asked when we stopped.
"That's simple. Bonner's magical aptitude is greater than yours. His man was bubbling under the surface, and thanks to his training with Horace, it was screaming for a catalyst for escape. That leads to the Old Man's Astral Art: Mana Command."
Fawkes scanned our faces and then flopped on his side. It spooked the hell out of me. I will not lie. He groaned in his disappointment before rolling to his feet.
"What's with those boring reactions?! I just said Mana Command!" Fawkes yelped.
"We heard you the first time," Q remarked before finding the small Fox hurdling towards his face. He grunted in pain as the creature headbutted him before landing on his shoulder.
'Listen up and listen well. Mana Command is the holy grail when it comes to Astral Arts. Astral Arts are higher-tier spells ingrained within a person's mana core, and they are virtually untouchable...unless you possess Mana Command!" Fawkes explained in a sing-song tone at the end. "The Old Man's Mana Command seems unique, so I have been told, on good authority."
"What makes mine so different?" I inquired, stroking my goatee.
"There are two factors, but don't quote me since your variation is such an enigma that I don't know all the details. I do know that your command over mana is so...grand... I guess... that you can even affect Astral Arts. In this case, your awakening of Mana Command forced Bonner's Mana Foundry to emerge." Fawkes said.
"So I have command over my mana? Doesn't everyone who can cast a spell could do that? I fail to see a distinction." I said.
Fawkes shook his head before leaping to headbutt me as well. he would find no luck since I was able to catch him. He wiggled defiantly in my hands for a moment before resigning himself.
"Sure, every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a form of Mana Control, not Command. They make suggestions to their internal mana reserves, and that's it. Yours, on the other hand, is far more impressive. You have a command over mana internally and externally." Fawkes explained.
"From what I understand, Mark, Everyone else can affect and direct their mana, but you can affect your own as well as mana that doesn't belong to you. Take your Mana Siphon as an example; that is not your internal mana that you're stealing. That comes from an external source. That must be your Astral Art at play." Bonner said while crossing his arms. The wind blew, carrying his braids to flutter. "I think when you struggled for power, and since we were in your Mana Space, it affected my mana too. I felt weaker, as if you were siphoning my mana."
"That checks out. I felt energy flowing from you into me, so I stole some of your mana from your mana core."
Q interjected and stepped forward. His hand raised in the air to get our attention,
"So when you stole Bishop's mana and in doing so you activated his Astral Art. You must've stolen a lot since his ability to Mana Foundry was the one selected for awakening."
"Right now, I'm riding high. I think my mana is doubling as we speak." Bonner says, extending his hand. That same white aura flowed from his fingertips.
"Quite astute. I don't even know why my guidance is needed. You three are more than capable of fingering things out together. However, there's one thing that you must know about Mana Space. It's a taxing ability that damned Deceit Realm." Fawkes said before I released him to fall.
The Fox landed on his feet before facing Bonner with a mischievous grin. Fawkes scampered in place before charging Bonner with intent. Bonner raised his hand in defense as the Fox leaped at him for a headbutt. The Fox turned his body out of instinct, and his feet hit what seemed like an invisible barrier.
"You've been holding back, Bonner! You've been holding back!" Fawkes declared before erupting into laughter.
Q and I were confused about what Fawkes was getting at as the Fox kept leaping toward Bonner from different directions. He seemed to be playing, but Bonner was serious. He focused his hand in the direction where the Fox attacked.
'What the hell is going on?' I asked myself.
I watched the two in action with a discerning eye. From what I could surmise, Bonner was using magic. I don't know which spell he used, but I could sense its presence. Fawkes looked with glee as he continued his assault on Bonner's defenses.
"Yeah! Yeah! Just like that! You're an observant man! A secretive man!" Fawkes declared during his giddy laughter.
This lasted a minute until Fawkes radiated a green aura and went through Bonner's invisible barrier. He tail-smacked the elf before backflipping from Bonner's location to Q's shoulder. He was graceful, but his purple eyes were menacing.
"Your friend is already an adept mage, and soon it'll be your turn," Fawkes said, his tail swaying.
"What the hell was going on? Why'd you attack him?" Q asked with a serious tone.
"Mr. Bonner has Mana Command, too," I answered with narrowed eyes.
That surprised the fairy, and he turned to Bonner. The elf brushed his clothes off before breaking into a grin. "It was supposed to be a secret until I was sure."
"No secrets in here. He has received the usual Mana Command, the standard one. Your friend has complete command over his mana and ambient mana. He can't touch another's Mana Core like the Old Man, but as you can see, it is effective nonetheless."
Mana Command is rare ability to possess to the point that it's damn near mythical. I could feel that that was true in my soul, yet Bonner and I have it. Why? That is the question. I thought back to Fawkes's explanation of my Astral Art.
"Think, Mark, Think," Fawkes said, poking his head with his front paws.
'If I possess Mana Command in a unique variation that could affect the Mana Cores of others, then it is possible that I affected Bonner's. How? I siphoned his mana, which forced his Mana Foundry to kick in. He seemed to be in pain, so does that mean that I was killing him?'
I shook my head before looking at the three figures before me. I took in the environment and then analyzed my mana reserves. That is when Fawkes' description of Astral Arts came to my mind.
"If Astral Arts are just spells ingrained into a person's Mana Core, and I can affect them. That means that I could interact with them. I could.-" The proverbial light bulb flashed in my mind, and I faced the trio. I pushed my glasses on my nose and spoke,
"I did that, didn't I? I gave it to him."
Fawkes jumped from Q's shoulder before quickly scampering over to me and climbing onto my tail. He scaled my back, climbing onto my shoulder like a kitten.
"About time, you were a little slow, but you pieced it together. Congratulations."
That son of bitch slapped me in my face with his paw, and if not for my glasses, he would've hit me in my purple eye.
"Damn you!" I cried before he jumped off onto the grass.
"You're running out of time to hold all three of you here, so I'll leave you some wisdom. To be effective, you need more of those crystals. You don't possess the mana reserves to manage the frontload of these spells yet, so you must make it a priority to return to the Hidden Grotto and collect some more for consumption." Fawkes said as he sat down.
"I need to meet with you three again soon, so make sure you collect a lot. Oh! Bonner! Show Mark how to utilize his Mana Command abilities! Your version came with knowledge, and his..."
A sharp shattering blasted into existence, and our view was warped. A sluggish feeling gripped my muscles, and with it, I fell on my ass. We had left my Mana Space and returned to the inn we called home base. I watched as the two men fell onto their asses in exhaustion too. Bonner was sitting on the table, nearly breaking it, and Q fell in front of the couch.
All of us were panting our asses off. I could feel that my body was different following that encounter. Curiosity gripped me as I noticed that something was missing from my palm. I looked around, and there was no sign of the crystal.
"You fellas okay?" I called the other two when they gathered their senses.
"I just experienced an out-of-body experience with a talking fox. It was like a dream." Q replied, rubbing his head.
He was the first to his feet again, and he helped Bonner.
"That was magic at work. All of it happened." Bonner declared before both men offered me a hand.
I took them, and my ears twitched once I returned to my feet. From the doorway, Claire and Horace entered with haste, both of them with curious expressions. Claire was panicking, and in her hand was a book. Horace, on the other hand, had a bucket and towel in his possession. They were disheveled as if they had just sprinted downstairs in a hurry.
"Are all three of you awake?" she asked, collecting her breath. "When we returned, you three were just standing there unresponsive."
"Were we?" I asked, fixing my glasses.
"Indeed. We assumed that you were inflicted with a paralysis spell, but I had never witnessed one with that effect.", Horace said with a blank expression. "I must say that your injuries have healed with great speed. It is remarkable."
"You!" Q's voice boomed with resentment, but Bonner held him back before he could progress toward the older man. "I warned you to watch yourself, and I heard that you attacked my brothers. I outta-"
"I apologized for my transgression. It was a misunderstanding between us." Horace responded, unfazed by Q's aggression.
"I also apologize for my actions with the bandits. I-I" Claire hesitated, her voice soft before I clapped my hands.
"Now, Lady and gentlemen, we are allies. We may fight and exchange blows, but our goals are linked for now. The people who ambushed me now believe that I am an informant, which I am." I said, gathering their attention. "They are deadly and united under a goal: eradicating Claire's family. That is why we overlook misunderstanding and plot our next action."
"You said you were an informant... what do you mean by that?" Claire asked, her eyes sharp. "Surely, you don't intend to turn me over to them."
"Of course not. Those bastards nearly took me out of this existence, but they'll soon regret that."
"You have a plan, bud. Don't beat around the bush and tease her. Just tell us." Bonner said flatly.
I glared at him as he took the air out of my reveal. I waved my hand weakly before sitting on the couch opposite him and Q.
"Horace knows someone in his network may be connected to our enemies. I pointed that out to him when we fought. I find it ridiculous that Claire kept her family name when she was supposed to be going incognito. Changing her appearance and altering her first name would only fool the idiots but not the mastermind. This is why we need to uproot the enemies within first. Qayshawn, Mr. Bonner, I need you two to work with Horace on that. I don't trust Horace's ability to discern friend from foe."
"How are we certain that Horace isn't the enemy? We can't rule him out. He did attack us." Bonner stated.
"He's still alive," I replied.
My words stunned the elf as he wrapped his mind around my meaning. "Understood. I believe I have an idea of what we're looking for."
"Good. So do I. I'll keep the old bastard in check. Know this, Horace, you attack any of us again, then I'll crack yer skull. Got it?!" Q declared with a scowl.
"You've made yourself quite clear," Horace replied with venom in his words.
I looked toward Claire and noticed the reservation in her features. It ate at her that she abandoned Q during his fight with the bandits. I could smell the shame from the woman.
"That is where Claire and I come in. We have two objectives." I said, holding up the amount of fingers. "We are outnumbered, and with the duel around the corner, we have to bolster our ranks for our clash with Percival and Mordred. They will likely bring talented fighters, so Claire and I will recruit suitable members to join our party. You can entrust me to find hidden gems, and to do that, we'll go to the Adventurer's Guild."
"You're thinking about the duel at a time like this?!" Horace snapped.
"Yes. To crush that asshole Percival is just as important to me as finding out who wants to take out Claire's family. It's a matter of pride. If we allow them to run over Claire, you might as well hand her over to her enemies. Her credibility will take a hit. Without it, her network doubts her, and our alliance hits a rough patch." I point out.
"We started this alliance out of convenience as it was mutually beneficial. We don't have to take on dangerous enemies for you two." Bonner stated. "We owe you nothing."
"We provided you with a place to live and food for your bellies. You-"
"Horace! That is enough. They are right, and I understand their reasons. I promised them that, so we can't hold that over their heads to manipulate them to do what we want. Even when Mark was weakened, he could hold off your attack. I will gladly accept their strength if they are willing to work with us after our... actions." Claire said while looking around the room. Her gaze shifted to me, and the woman reverted to her usual disguise as Clarice. "You said we had two objectives, correct? What is our second?"
She flipped her blonde hair and met my gaze. I could tell there was returning resolve in those grey irises, which made me grin. With a push of my glasses, I said, "The second objective is to travel to the Hidden Grotto."