The patrol continued with no difference to the usual monthly patrols, with the exception of the Laevateinn house having only the marquess for this month's patrol. Naturally this led to gossip amongst the crowd as they pondered upon the reasons why the duke would leave his son to go alone after all of the time he's accompanied him.
"Echo, you think your friend will be fine?" At the front with the Coeli-Rosa house was another lady belonging to another house. Her hair was black like the bird her name stemmed from. She, unlike most of the heirs from the other houses, carried a large polearm; this did bring controversies but her magical ability was nothing to scoff at, so no one ever did directly confront her. "Raven, he wouldn't be a friend of mine if he couldn't handle himself." Echo would respond with great confidence in marquess Hizen.
The first quarter of the patrol remained uneventful. The heirs of each house would converse amongst each other along with the ranks of soldiers. Though Echo and Raven remained on guard despite the lax atmosphere. Though they were strong, they were just as cautious; especially since they were the group's spearhead and first to meet danger.
It was this very attentiveness that they were able to notice something in the winds. "Everyone stop moving." Echo ordered, raising her hand as everyone would halt both their movement and chatter. Though the people here were nobles who lived extravagant upbringings. They weren't idiots and out of all of the noble heirs, Echo was one of the most respected as her magic ability and battle prowess was something to behold.
The area was a quiet gravel road wide enough to have three carriages side by side. There was nothing but forest land to the left and rolling hill plains to the right, with the walls of the kingdom several miles behind them and out of sight. Visually, there wasn't anything particular that was out of the ordinary but it wasn't what the two girls saw that put them on high alert. It was what they heard.
"Standby, I of the Coeli-Rosa house and Raven of the Stratos house will be heading in first, there's people nearby so stay alert." Echo would then inform, before she and Raven began moving into the forest. At first the forest was silent, but as they moved further in, the sound of bantering and laughing came closer and soon they arrived in an area where there were several men who were idling around a campfire. They were all armed and wore ragged armor, their demeanor was rough, even worse than peasants.
The two girls hid behind the trees as they moved to better listen to their conversations. "Damn tha' was a good haul, las' merchant dropped bout everything they had!" One of the bandits would speak with a laugh, arrogant and brutish.
"Think we'll get another one to'ay?" Another then asked.
There was no mistaking it, these men were a part of the group that had been ransacking the merchants just as discussed in the briefing. "Raven, head back and tell everyone to get ready, tell the Laevateinn house to come to my location too." Her friend would nod before quickly heading back.
Raven soon arrived back where everyone was. All of the nobles and soldiers perked their heads up, wondering what the news Raven was bringing them. "There are bandits nearby so everyone get your blades ready. Hizen of house Laevateinn, you move it and meet Echo in the forest." She'd then inform. This prompted several confused stares and whispered questions from the nearby nobles but Hizen didn't pay any mind.
He'd stand up from the rock he was sitting on, walking towards the forest where Raven came from but he was then stopped by another person; a boy just around the same age as he was. His hair was a rich blond color and he carried himself in a casual manner, his eyes were different, they were sharp and aggressive like a delinquent. He carried a huge great sword which was almost as large as he was and he himself stood a good six feet.
"Raven, why is he going? What use is he if he can barely use magic?" The boy then questioned; with agreeing nods from the others nearby. "Nihilum of the Krake house, you're doing something quite stupid right now so I suggest you shut it." The girl then retorted, not answering as she didn't see a reason to.
"No really, I'm sure whatever she needs him to do. Any of us can do better." The boy then added. "Nihilum-!" Raven was about to interject but Hizen lightly shook his head, before then staring at Nihilum who he shared the same height with. "Marquess Krake, your worries are unwarranted. If she asks for me, it is likely for something that only I can do. Maybe instead of spouting complaints, use some of that energy to improve yourself, if you really think you can best me." He spoke, full grin as he always had and calm as the moving waves.
"This fucker!" Nihilum attempted to grab him by the shoulder but Hizen simply side stepped him as there wasn't a point in having a confrontation right now. Raven was holding back a laugh, even the other soldiers were trying to hold back. As annoyed as the marquess of Krake was, he knew that trying to press the matter any further would likely only result in more humiliation. Hizen might be lacking in mana but he was sly just as he was now and Nihilum hated that.
Hizen continued through the forest, he used the voices in the distance to locate Echo who was remaining hidden behind the trees. She'd look over to the arrival of her friend and rival, smiling even. "You're here! You took a lot longer than usual."
"I only ran into some issues." Hizen responded with a grin.
He'd glance towards the group of men who had multiplied during the time that Raven was gone. "Though, it seems we too, have issues in front of us." The boy then commented.
"That's why I have you here. What do you think? I was thinking of luring them out with half of the patrol going through the route while the other half will flank the ambush." Echo then explained. It was a good plan and Hizen thought as much too. "That will work, but there is an interesting variable that may work against us."
"A variable?" The girl then questioned.
Hizen closed his eyes. He slowed his breathing as he began to create a mental image of his eyes and them only. The little mana he had in his body would slip away, creating a feeling akin to suddenly becoming tired. The mana would begin concentrating within his eyes. It was a careful process, akin to putting small drops in a vial using a pipette but it all happened in an instant.
The magic to amplify one's vision with mana was no easy feat even for a grandmaster who has studied magic for dozens of years. As the eye is both a small and sensitive body part and the wrong application of mana could very well cause blindness.
It was true that he had little to no mana due to his stagnated vessels, to a point that his capacity was even worse than the average child; his body refined every bit of mana that it was able to absorb intricately and coupled with his skills, it allowed him an inhuman control over the mana he wielded, more than just an extension of himself but rather as another organ that worked in harmony with his entire body and so for him, it made it possible to create a filter that allowed him to see the mana in other objects and organisms.
Mana, like air, has a color that exists in a wavelength that is non perceivable by humans and as such; would be reflected. This filter would absorb that color of mana.
The men were all glowed with a blue hue, each of them had a decent amount of mana but many of them fell short when compared to the mana the nobles in the patrol had, even the soldiers had more mana with their artificial means of increasing mana.
There was one particular bandit whom Hizen pointed at. He carried an eastern styled, slim curved sword similar to the one he had on his own belt. Though it was not just that but his mana was overflowing. It appeared as a raging blue flame with embers flaking away. "His mana capacity is close to yours, and although you might be able to fight him alone with difficulty. He will become a dangerous variable in a skirmish. And do not forget, they may have no formal training but these bandits are constantly fighting with their lives unlike nobles."
"Just like your training?" Echo would comment, smiling at the boy. He was a little surprised but he laughed and nodded. "Then I know what to expect, I'll go lead the others. I trust I won't have to see that man at all after I leave." She then affirmed; her last sentence wasn't a question but a statement, a statement made from trust.
"That is correct." The boy responded regardless. Echo would soon leave, leaving Hizen to wait and not long after, there was a shout from the distance and all of the bandits would look up with excitement in their eyes. "Alright! Looks like we're gonna have som' new loot boys!" The majority of the group would quickly arm themselves before running off in the direction of the shout.
The bandit with the eastern sword was about to follow suit but he stopped as Hizen stepped out from the trees, making noise by moving through a bush. He unclipped his one handed warhammer and drew his shortsword; it had an edge on one side and a row of hooks on the other side; known as the swordbreaker.
"Who're you?" The bandit then questioned, turning to face Hizen as he drew his own sword in preparation for the duel. "I am Hizen, marquess of the Laevateinn house."
"Huh, just some scrawny noble trying to make a name for themselves then? Then come at me, show me what you got boyo." The bandit took a rough stance with his sword. The blade was enveloping in the blue mana though its shape wasn't uniform. It was more akin to a serrated edge with the occasional spark of flames. The results of an unrefined, and untrained magic but while not razor sharp, it still was dangerous; especially with the quantity of mana the bandit had.
Hizen released the magic in his eyes and his vision returned to normal just in time for the bandit's first attack as he lunged at the marquess. Hizen reacted by stepping back, using his swordbreaker to parry the constant flurry of blows with the flat of the blade. Before each contact, Hizen concentrated all of his mana on the area of his blade that would collide rather than spreading it out the entire blade. A difficult feat especially in the heat of battle but the boy continued, and continued parrying and deflecting as it was what he was trained to do.
The effects of mana colliding created air ripples, the sound was like a high pitched cannon of air constantly being shot off. "I noticed kid but you really don't got a lot of mana do you, really think you should be out fightin?" The bandit questioned during the ferocious clashing of magic blades.
Although mana couldn't be seen with the naked eye. It can be felt, such as for the bandit's mana that emitted something similar to a flame; it too gave a heat that was almost scorching to be next to.
Compared to Hizen's mana, its miniscule amount had almost no presence and the bandit had taken note of this. "Maybe so." Hizen responded. He concentrated a collection of mana under feet before stepping backwards and creating a small explosion, allowing him to create several feet of distance with one light step. "But it seems you have not noticed, despite your great mana. You have yet even laid a scratch on me. Maybe you are just all mana and no skill?" The boy then taunted.
This enraged the bandit. "Oh you arrogant kid!" With two hands. He raised the curved blade, intending to split Hizen like a log with explosive power. He lunged towards the boy and swung his sword down. The mana enveloped his body and sword, exploding like grease to a fire, exactly what Hizen wanted.
He'd flip his swordbreaker with the hooks pointing upwards and caught the blade. The force pushed downwards as it attempted to sandwich Hizen into the ground and since he didn't have enough mana to reinforce both his body with the swordbreaker. His physical body took the full brunt of the blow, each joint being crushed under the strenuous weight.
But he knew his own weaknesses just as his father did and already he had physically trained his body with even more greater force than this bandit could ever exert.
Hizen then pulled the sword downwards, causing the hooks to clamp onto the blade. "Wha-?!" The bandit exclaimed, caught off guard as he tried to pull his sword away but to no avail. With the bandit's weapon restrained, Hizen then swung his hammer's pointed side into the bandit's shoulder but with the mana covering his body, it only bounced off like a toy. "Ha idiot! You think your measly mana is going to pierce through this armor?!" The bandit mocked.
"That was never meant to pierce it, this was." Hizen was only testing the rigidity of the mana and his consensus? There wasn't going to be a problem.
Hizen then concentrated his entire mana to follow a path from his abdominal core to his hammer.
While he didn't have the mana to reinforce his entire body for greater strength. He was able to control his mana to move as quick as his own nervous system. It traveled, reinforcing his core, then upper body, to the shoulder then arms. It followed the rotation of his body weight, and lastly, it all condensed into the point of his hammer; multiplying the amount of power his hammer can produce,
His refined mana, and refined control of mana allowed him to condense his mana into a point as small as a needle and just as how a knife's tip can pierce through flesh, a nail through wood, and a chisel through stone, it was this same principle of a smaller surface area having a greater pressure that allowed Hizen to pierce right through the shield of mana.
The shield tore apart as it made a sound akin to a tank of oxygen being ruptured with a loud boom, that sound was soon followed with the screams and cries of the bandit as the hammer broke into his skin, spurting blood and likely fracturing a bone or two.
His cries belonged to someone who rarely ever got hurt himself but Hizen wasn't done. The bandit had let go of his sword so the marquess pulled it away and dropped it on the ground with his sword breaker.
Now that he wasn't trying to restrain the bandit's sword, he now had more space to move. He performed the same technique but this time with his entire body; stepping forward, pushing from the ground and rotating his body, starting from his feet rather than his core.
This time he went for a sideways swing. The bandit, panicked, managed to concentrate all of his mana at his chin right before Hizen's hammer struck him. It was effective compared to using his mana to protect his entire body and reinforce his sword together. The shield protected his chin from being mauled but the problem was that he only protected his chin.
The impact from the heavy strike caused his jaw to recoil along with his head, both snapping to the side violently and effectively knocking him out cold with a likely concussion if he was unlucky.
He dropped to the floor with a thud. "His instincts are sharp but it seems he rarely has practiced self reinforcement magic." Hizen commented. He clipped his hammer back to his thigh belt, then freeing his swordbreaker from the bandit's sword and sheathing it back with his other swords.
"I suppose I should check on the others." The marquess pulled out a pair of handcuffs, it had engravings as well several purple crystals that were embedded in the metal.
They were magic handcuffs, otherwise an external magic device. The techniques and control of mana that the two had earlier performed is what is known as internal magic; a form of magic that can be subconsciously or consciously controlled.
External magic is magic that is performed using external mediums as the name implies; which is usually a mana conductive material such as metals. Along with this, codes are inscribed into the metal, essentially instructions of how the mana is manipulated. This gives almost an endless amount of possibilities as long an equivalent amount of refined mana is provided.
These handcuffs were coded to reinforce itself with mana to prevent being taken off though force competent internal magic users. The crystals were the power source that contained refined mana, an artificial form of vessels that allowed external magic to be performed without using the user's own mana.
Hizen placed them over the bandit's hand. Activation was done by inserting a key and turning it, completing the circuit by connecting the crystals to the codes. The crystals glowed a light purple hue indiciating it was activating.
With the man detained. He'd pick him up over his shoulder and began heading towards the direction that the group of bandits earlier had run off to.
The sound of fighting came closer along the rays of sunlight peering between the forest trees. It was the path that the patrol were going through, and along with that was the entire patrol fighting off the bandits. It was just as he thought, there wasn't anything to worry about, neither the soldiers or the nobles were having any trouble; each of them cutting down bandits as if second nature. As the fighting continued, there was someone who caught his eye, although it may not be surprising who it was.
Echo.
She amongst the others was cleaving through the air and bandits like a dance. The blade spun like a fluttering rose pedal as she herself twisted and turned though with bits of struggle. It was from the amount of mana she had which others touted as talent of a swordsman but in truth it only made it difficult for her to control; but unlike the other nobles. It wasn't her magic that achieved the feats she did, it was her skill in the blade.
Just like Hizen, the core of her abilities was in the art of the blade.
Her uncontrollable mana made her struggle in one on one fights, it still proved destructive in skirmishes like this. Several bandits charged at her with swords in hand and she'd step towards them with a similar performance to Hizen's technique, she'd concentrate with what bits of mana she could control in order to create a burst of energy starting from her feet, all through to her core, and then her entire blade.
With one sweep, the several bandits were cut down by the two handed long sword, all but one. He rolled onto the ground and just as Echo was about to stab right into him, he grabbed a small clump of dirt before throwing it at the girl to temporarily blind her, unfortunately for him, it wasn't enough to stop her. She'd let all of the mana around herself burst out, covering a range of around twelve feet.
As refined mana used through internal magic was essentially an extension of one's self, she was able to use this technique in a way similar to echolocating. Though unlike echolocation, rather than just her ears, she was able to sense the mana using her entire body as if it was a part of herself.
The bandit stood up, thinking he had the upper hand since Echo had her eyes closed from the dirt but before he could attack once more. She raised her sword and cut him down, the great mana had cut through the shield of mana surrounding him and down to his flesh, causing him to stagger back before falling, likely dead.
She'd then turn, facing the other bandits who'd reel back in fear from what they'd witness.
Indeed, her blade was truly beautiful, Hizen thought.