Lieren took a long, deep breath, taking in the world around him as he dived into his own consciousness, completing his concentration.
"Here."
A small object, about the size of his fists, flew towards him at high speed. Flexing his facial muscles, he opened his eyes and glared daggers at the object thrown. With a sharp whistle, an arrow flew from his peripheral, flying towards his target.
The apple burst into chunks as an invisible force tore it apart from the inside, its juices dousing the grass on which Lieren and Harita stood on. The former took a deep breath, while the latter whistled an impressed tune.
"Whew~ That's surprising. I had my guesses, but I didn't think you would base your first spell over mine. Or rather, the opposite of it." Harita was looking at the crushed apple's remains. That could have been him.
He bowed his head suddenly, but not quickly.
"It's an honor."
Lieren perked up, tilting his head.
"…What do you mean?"
"Oh, you don't know?"
Harita scratched the back of his head, casting Lieren a surprised gaze. This soon changed to realization, placing his fist on his palm gently.
"…Well, I guess you wouldn't, huh?"
He edged closer.
"Look, it's a very well-known fact that, if an Adorned ever shows any immediate similarities or clearly taken inspiration of a mage's spell, then that is marked as a symbol of respect, allegiance, or reverence. Of course, other factors may also contribute to this, but the most often case is that—if too much of a similarity is shown—then it is safe to say that an Adorned has great interest on a mage, or their spell, showing clear appreciation for their magecraft."
"…Magecraft?"
Harita raised his brow. This time, the surprise on his face is even clearer.
"Magic, other than the five affinities, can also be split up based on the way its is used."
Lieren nodded, making sure to pay rapid attention to Harita's words carefully. His almost insatiable thirst for knowledge told him so.
He raised a finger.
"First, there is magecraft. The most conventional and widely-used form of magic, often requiring the ever-popular magic circle. From what I have seen, you fit not into this category. Though, that could change, depending on what path you take with your spell, how it evolves, or what other spells you choose to develop. The choice is up to you… or so I'd like to believe. For beginner Warcasters and Seacasters, this art is their primary craft, being both the easiest to learn and master. Most move on to other crafts to better improve upon their spells."
He raised another.
"Secondly, there is druidcraft. The art of manipulating life and nature. Though most practitioners of this art refer to it more as 'communing with the spirits' or 'calling forth the power of the ancient divine.' Personally, I don't believe in their ideologies. If somebody like 'The Ancient Divine Spirit' really did exist, then he should have done something already. Then… then maybe…"
He shook his head, his forehead was scrunched into deep lines.
"A-anyways, though their belief system is highly questionable, their power is not. It lies most in their unpredictability, like how the forest is only as dangerous as the ones within it. This is commonly used by Wildcasters, conventional mages that don't adhere to the usual rules of the world."
Lieren nodded sternly. With his Aegis' words came a deep sensation of entrapment and isolation.
Suddenly, the enchanted forest seemed to be much more terrifying, the faint rustling and the shadowed creatures becoming much more ominous and sinister. He could feel the shadows coiling around him like a deep black snake, enveloping him. It felt familiar and gruesome. A sudden chill made him clutch his shoulders with a shiver.
Harita continued, raising another finger as he kept his eyes trained, but not focused, on the boy in front of him.
"Thirdly, there would be sagecraft. It is widely considered as the superior version of magecraft. This is because, unlike magecraft, sagecraft does not require the use of magic circles, often cast without them entirely. Of course, in cases of large-scale spells, or spells that simply affect a large area, then a magic circle will be required otherwise. Sagecraft is classified as the most advanced category, containing the most powerful spells in its roster like scrying and clairvoyance."
Harita glanced at his side, glaring for so briefly that it almost looked imaginary. As he did, surprised yelps and furious growls echoed from the shadows behind the trees not far from where they stood.
'There really was something there.'
Harita continued:
"There is much more to learn. But, for now, I think it's best that you find that out yourself. It's not like you're going to encounter anybody that can raise the dead or something, anyways."
"…What?"
"Don't worry about it."
Harita pivoted over to him, and Lierencould not help but feel a deep dark sense as he did. A smile appeared on the man's face.
"Catch!" With a quick flourish, he swung his arm so fast that his arm blurred. A knife flew for Lieren's neck no more than five meter away from where he was.
"…!!" Quickly realizing the situation, the boy's body tensed, then held his ground and, without even blinking, shot an invisible arrow at the quickly approaching projectile.
Only then did dread and terror hit him, empowering the spell with his desperation, increasing its speed even more.
Space itself seemed to rupture as the invisible arrow exploded, before even making contact with the knife. As if it had hit something hard and dense, it was deflected away much faster than it had been thrown. Its blade sunk into a three effortlessly. Despite his inexperience, Lieren could tell that the blade sunk not because of its speed, but because of its sharpness.
Lieren took a step forward, yelling madly:
"What the hell…?!" His voice was filled with a unknown sense of hatred and confusion, as well as deep melancholy.
'Just when I thought I'd found somebody I could trust.'
Harita, however, only looked at the knife, watching intently as it was blasted like water in a geyser, shooting straight for its enemy.
He was muttering something.
"Detachment and Transmutation… that's pretty close to my own spell, I would say. Not bad, not bad at all." He was nodding to himself, completely enamored in his own thoughts.
Lieren bit his hand, the one with the tattoo.
"OooooOOOOWW!" He glared at the feral boy. "What gives?!"
He grit his teeth in return.
"That's what I wanna know!"
◇◆◇◆◇
"So it was a test?" Lieren stared daggers at the lean man in front of him, making certain not make another mistake again. Ever.
Harita rubbed his hand, specifically the evident bite marks on it.
"Yes, it was. Damn, this hurts. Did you augment your teeth…? It's kind of hard to tell. Ow, ow ,ow, ow ,ow."
Blood as dripping from the wound in small amounts, just a drop, but still noticeable. Harita wrapped a handkerchief around it… something he definitely did not have the moment before.
"I thought you said that Creators can only materialize objects that the my are familiar with. Was that a lie as well? What are you really hiding?" His eyes were sharp, as if trying to pierce through the thick veil of unknown that constantly covered his figure.
Almost like Lieren's Resistance itself.
Harita was silent the next minute, unmoving. But picked himself back up the one after that. Lieren could not read his face—he did not have much experience in these matters—but he knew for certain that whatever was about to come out of the man's mouth was a bucket of lies and deceit. However, instead of calling him out for it, he decided to stay put.
'I'm curious to see how far he'll take this.'
Harita rubbed his neck.
"I… I'm not hiding anything from you. Promise. Okay, maybe not, actually. I'm really bad at fulfilling those. Incredibly so. Instead let's make a… pact? No, that's too much. Also impossible! But mostly too much… God, I' bad at this. Okay, okay, here we go… Gah! I can't say that, it's against the rules! …How about this instead? Let's… have a game. If you win, I'll tell you anything. Seriously, anything. Whatever you want! So… umm… how about it?"
His smile was both uncomfortable and disconcerting at the same time, like a sign that said both welcome and leave. It was just so wrong, on multiple levels.
'A game, huh... Wait a minute.'
"And if I lose?"
'Almost slipped my mind.'
Harita cheeks curled up into a playful grin, as if he had just won. Easily so, by the looks of it.
"Then you forget what just happened."
'…...'
Lieren thought about it for a bit, his eyes still staring daggers at Harita, but his mind completely elsewhere. A grin curled up from his mouth as well. It, too, was playful, but in the way most children are. Not the insidious kind that everybody else seemingly had.
'He got me.'
"Okay, I'll play. Under one condition…"