Magic is a supernatural phenomenon that makes the impossible possible, according to my magic teacher, Beatrix. Frankie wanted to diversify our abilities and since I come from a prestigious family with a magic background, he had me learn magic. Beatrix is also an employee at Blue Ink, so Frankie didn't need to pay her extra, though I think he did.
According to Beatrix, there is no such thing as black magic, or even white magic for that matter. That distinction was created by the High Magic council so they can oppress the wizard community at large, again according to Beatrix. She was once a member of the council before she started working for Frankie, but was fired because she didn't want to limit mages. Beatrix also taught Gwen some spells, but she was mostly taught by our grandmother, who is a Jotun.
Magic is a neutral force of energy that exists everywhere in the universe. Some places, like Gaia, have an abundance of magical energy, which is called aether. Mana is the magical energy found in living beings and is similar to life force energy. Unlike Life Force energy, which anybody can learn to manipulate and control, mana can only be manipulated if one has the M-Gene. Those with a myriad of M-Genes are referred to as mages.
When I was taught magic, it was better to draw aether from your surroundings than to use your own mana reserves. If you ever run out of mana for whatever reason, then you would be a goner. In situations like this, where I am about to fight a buttload of dirty, stinky people, magic is a godsend.
Magic spells can be conducted in numerous ways, with incantations being the most common. The longer an incantation is, the stronger the spell will turn out. However, I can circumvent incantations altogether with Infinity. The problem is that I'll drain mana if I use it, but it's a trade-off I am willing to pay because I'd rather die than say incantations out loud.
Nick, the only non-mage in our group, has to rely on his speed, martial arts skills, and his weapon to keep the enemies back. Pulling from his Crest is a silver cylinder with a black grip and a red button in the middle. Nick presses the red button and light rods appear on either side of the cylinder, thus transforming the silver cylinder into a bo–staff.
The A-rod, a weapon that uses the holy light of Ultimate Force, is part of a series of similar weapons that only Frankie, Nick, and myself can use. Gwen, on the other hand, pulls out her wand. She engraved her wand in runes to make casting spells easier for her. Gwen uses runes instead of incantations, which makes me regret not learning magic from our grandma. I find saying incantations awkward to say out loud. I would rather perform a ritual that takes time to cast spells and is not practical on a battlefield.
Nick attacks first by extending A-Rod's length and with a wide sweep, knocking down the attacking group.
Gwen drew a rune in the sky and giant ice cubes started jetting out in front of her. The ice missiles are sent crashing into the faces of whoever is dumb enough to keep attacking her.
With the center and the left flanks taken care of by Nick and Gwen respectively, that leaves me to deal with the right flank.
I take in a deep breath and let the aether flow into my body like I am drinking water from a straw. In my mind, I have to think of the spell in my mind or else I can't perform the spell. There are things that not even Infinity can cheat through and this is one of them.
I think of the incantation in my mind: King of monsters, ruler of the skies, incinerate all of those who foolishly oppose me. Emperor's Breath!
Do you see what I mean? If I was saying this out loud, I would die out of pure embarrassment.
Anyways, I released my breath and a stream of fire came out of my mouth. It doesn't act like normal fire as it doesn't burn, physically that is. It is a mental attack that tricks the opponent into believing they are burning. There are spells that can produce real flames, but I don't want to kill them, despite them trying to kill us first.
"Damn! These kids are taking us apart!" Some guy shouts.
"We just got to rush them even faster!"
"Bring it on!" Nick shouts.
Blue electricity is surging through his body. He's about to unleash an Overdrive technique.
"White Orbital Overdrive," Nick dashes towards the group of charging enemies and unleashes devastating blows with his A-Rod. With a flurry of jabs, uppercuts, sweeps, twirls, and strikes, Nick sends many of them flying into many of the buildings of the shanty town.
Each hit with the A-Rod sends a huge amount of Chaos Energy flowing into the enemies' bodies. The effects differ with each individual but the result is the same: bringing pain to our enemies.
The Overdrive is one of Millennium's secret techniques that is taught to all new members as soon as they undergo the transformation of becoming an Acolyte. Unlike most martial arts techniques, it's a free form that allows creativity for the individual.
I don't know why but almost everybody always shouts a color, object, and the word Overdrive. It is pretty hype though.
"Anybody else wants some?" Nick shouts into the crowd.
They hesitate and stare at each other, waiting for one of them to make their move. Nick alone defeated hundreds of them, so I can't really blame them if they don't want to get hurt. Judging from the condition of this, I can safely assume that they do not have good hospitals around if they even have them.
"How about me?" A deep, smooth voice came from behind the crowd.
The crowd parted ways to make way for a large guy that easily toppled over seven feet. His muscles have muscles minus his legs, which look like they will snap in two if he jumps high enough and lands wrong. His pale skin is littered with visible dirt and his hair is long and greasy, surprisingly his teeth are pearly white. If I take this mask off, I would bet that his smell is absolutely horrid. Just thinking about it makes me gag.
"And you are?" Gwen asks, tilting her head.
"Me, I am the leader of our little family, the Junkies if you will. You can call me, the Garbage Lord."
"Yo, you really out here calling yourself the Garbage Lord?" Nick says giggling. Gwen joins Nick in laughing at the guy, which I do admit is pretty dumb.
The Garbage Lord's eyebrow twitches uncontrollably. "Silence! As if I care about what some freshies think of me?"
He bends his knees and extends his hands and forms claws with them. His pose reminds me of one of those fake martial artists who post videos on MeTube and lacks self-awareness.
Nick and Gwen laugh harder and the Garbage Lord and his eyes start to water. I almost feel sorry for the guy, almost. The reason I don't feel too bad for the guy is that he chose to skip a shower for gods knows how long.
"What the hell do you guys think you are doing here!?" I roll my eyes. It's Barbara, she followed us in here to yell at this smelly cult.
"You can't build a compound here, you werebabboon! This place is forbidden for civilians. I suggest you leave now or else I'll call the proper authorities!"
"I don't think threatening them with the authorities will make them leave," I tell her.
"Yugi please, nobody wants to spend any time in jail. Not to mention the fines they would have to pay."
Garbage Lord smirks.
Moving his hands in a circular motion, I can sense his energy rising. It's nothing to be concerned about, my little sister can beat him up. But still, I keep my guard up just in case things go south. Of course, it did, just not the way I was expecting.
A dark brown aura emits from Garbage Lord's body and forms into the shape of a serpentine dragon. "Now you fools will experience the power of my Mind Force: Garbage Force!"
Nick and Gwen continue to laugh and Barbara is shocked.
"Oh gods, the smell is horrendous!" Barbara holds onto her nose. Maybe I should make a mask for her so she can breathe.
"Too late!" Did he just read my mind?
The Garbage Lord releases the dragon upon us, but since it's weaker than a nest full of baby marsh mice, I don't dodge it. The "attack" washes over me like a garbage truck speeding down the freeway. Thanks to the mask I can't smell it, but I feel dirty just by having the green toxic gas wash over me. But the same can't be said for Barbara who had the unfortunate luck of experiencing the attack face-on.
She starts to gag loudly while holding her throat. Her eyes start to water and drool escapes her mouth with each heavy cough. Ms. Crown manages to run out of the compound before we see her puke all over the floor with her super speed.
"To think, that could've been you brat if it weren't for those masks." The Garbage Lord taunts.
Gwen finally stops laughing and looks annoyed. "If that's your Mind Force, then you better pray you to have some great or decent health insurance!"
"Well, no health insurance is a scam. Particularly if you're talking about Americana, where…"
Gwen points at them and in a flash, the whole compound is destroyed by an invisible force. Buildings, the earth, and people go flying in one direction as a powerful storm just passed through here and completely leveled the compound.
Seeing what was coming, I used Infinity to stick myself similar to how insects stick to walls. I also created a barrier around myself to keep dirt and other small debris out of my eyes. Nick was already out of the line of fire before Gwen fired off her attack. Once the dust and debris cleared, there was nothing but a crater left.
"Don't you think you went a little overboard, Gwen?"
Dusting herself off, she replies to me, "Maybe they should've thought of that before they shot a fucking missile at me."