***
Shortly before Callum, the fire mage, tried to burn Marcus through the bars of the cell, Marcus was trying to recover his bearings.
'Ugh...This is getting really old.'
Marcus was referring to him being pushed around by those stronger than him. Ever since his separation from his family, it had been a constant battle for Marcus just to walk a few feet without being attacked.
First it was the mysterious man that attacked him and caused him not to remember what happened to his family. Second, was when he somehow ended up captured by slavers and tortured to death. Then, he was brought back to life just to have to deal with several rank-F swamp creepers as a novice mage, and now he was being chased by idiots who wanted to kill him for a mere 10 gold coins.
'Okay maybe a 'mere 10 gold coins' is stretching it a little but still. This is ridiculous. Who puts such an enormous bounty on a 13 year old kid anyway.'
As Marcus was having these thoughts, he heard the sound of another [Fireball] spell being casted. He looked up to notice the mages chasing him had started to fight one another.
'Good. Gives me some time to rest.'
Unfortunately, the man who had shot the spell was now headed directly towards Marcus.
'Of course he's coming towards me. This is bull-'
Before Marcus could finish his thoughts, the fire mage interrupted him and spoke.
"Time to die you little vermin."
Marcus looked at the man wondering how he'd ended up in such a situation again. He was once again trapped like a slave with another fire wielding maniac that wanted nothing more than to kill him, and because of this he was subconsciously beginning to develop a hatred towards all fire mages.
Once the man casted his spell, Marcus tried to make one last desperate attempt to move his body, but despite his struggling, he was unable to do so. His body had been too beaten and battered for him to try standing up right away, so all he could do was sit and admire the grey spectacle of mana being formed in the man's palms.
'Wow. This would be beautiful if I wasn't about to die... and if it wasn't all grey.'
Just then Marcus started to notice the mana in the cage start to fluctuate and be drawn in towards him. Right before the [Fireball] spell could finish casting, Marcus was encased by millions of small mana particles that drifted from the cage and formed armor around his entire body.
'This....'
Marcus was mesmerized by the process by which the mana moved, as it encircled him to form a barrier around his entire body. The way the mana in the cage moved was vastly different from that of the mana in the other mage's hand.
The mana used to cast the [Fireball] was erratic and moved in unpredictable patterns; whereas, the mana that came from the [Earth Cage] was more calm and predictable. It was a subtle difference Marcus picked up on as the two abilities collided, and he didn't close his eyes even as he was unsure whether or not he'd survive to see the ending of the collision.
'By the gods. I actually survived.'
Marcus got to witness the two spell's collision and it was nothing short of beautiful. The way the mana particles collided and how they reacted with one another was captivating to Marcus.
The particles that comprised the [Fireball] spell mostly bounced off of the tightly compacted particles that originated from the [Earth Cage]. Some of the latter's mana did disperse along with the former's but for the most part remained intact.
'I wonder if this is how all elements react with one another or if its just these two. If I somehow survive this I'll definitely look into this.'
Marcus seemed to completely ignore the screams of the man beside him who had just lost his arm. To him, this man was irrelevant compared to what was before him. Marcus wasn't even aware of what or who it was that had saved him but in the next instant he figured it out.
Even while being encased in the stone coffin, Marcus could draw the conclusion that the earth mage from earlier had saved him, judging by how he was now struggling to defend himself against the screaming man who was now upon him.
The same grey spectacle took place again in front of Marcus. It was like he had front row seats to a grey fireworks show.
After Callum threw his first fireball and it connected with the stone wall, another similar reaction occurred on a slightly larger scale. The fireball impacted the wall, and this time trillions of particles scattered in every direction. The only difference was that the mana surrounding the [Earth Wall] lost a lot more particles this time and the ones toward the middle were slightly less uniform and more spread out.
'Oh, I see. The fire mage focused most of his attack to the center and penetrated further into the earth mage's wall, causing it to take more damage. I guess he does have something between his ears.'
As Marcus finished these thoughts, Callum was already upon Jerome and getting ready to deliver the final blow.
'Oh. He's about to die. Good.'
A small smirk appeared on Marcus's face as he witnessed one of his enemies about to die at the hand of another.
"Burn," Callum spoke.
*FWOOSH*
*HISSSSSSS*
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Jerome let out an ear-splitting scream as the skin on his face was melted. He could feel every bit of the heat as it scorched his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears and with him being in direct contact with the fire, he was able to hear the sound of his own skin sizzling like bacon on a frying pan.
"AAAAaaagGGGghHH!"
His screams were even starting to become a mix between a gargle and a choking sound as even the inside of his mouth was lit ablaze since there was no skin left on his lips to prevent the fire from entering his throat.
The man's face was a horrendous sight to see as it was a mix between a bright red color and black at other parts. Some of his skull was even showing and it didn't seem like it would be long before the man died.
Despite the scene occurring in front of Marcus, the thirteen year old didn't budge a single inch. This man had wanted nothing more than to kill him for money and so he felt no guilt or remorse seeing the individual burned alive.
Jerome may have saved Marcus but Marcus was no fool. He knew why it was Jerome saved him and it sickened him to know he was only saving Marcus just to kill him later on himself.
If the man was prepared to kill him, then he should also be prepared to be killed himself. It was only fair.
Thoughts like these continued to float around Marcus's mind and he allowed himself to sink further into these dark thoughts as the man continued to scream. However, these thoughts also conflicted with the promise he made to Beatrice.
'Promise me Marcus...Promise me you won't lose that kindness and compassion... Promise me you'll never abandon that side of you.'
Those thoughts rang out in Marcus's head and confused him.
The man from earlier had saved him from being killed by the fire mage so did he really deserve such a gruesome death?
Marcus thought so; he was going to kill him right after if he survived that battle instead of the fire mage. So didn't that make him evil too.
Then again, that man may have had a family he was going back to. He may have used that gold to support them, and if this was true, then he'd no longer be able to do this. This man would die in the middle of the nowhere and no one would recognize his face due to how thoroughly it was being burned.
Marcus's thoughts were in turmoil. It should be remembered that he was only a child. He may have matured faster than other's his age, but he was still a child and a child was extremely impressionable.
He was conflicted between the promise he made with Beatrice and his own emotions towards the people who'd inflicted harm on him. Should he allow himself to feel hate and satisfaction from witnessing his enemies kill one another, or should he feel sorry and disturbed that this man, this human-being before him was being mutilated in such a horrendous way?
Marcus's face scrunched up as he tried to decide which was right and which was wrong.
No, that was incorrect, he knew what the right thing was and what the wrong thing was, but was something right supposed to feel so wrong to him?
He didn't know, and it didn't seem he'd get much time to ponder on it as the man's screams and the sound of sizzling flesh had come to an end.
All that was left was a madman's laugher that was eerily similar to a particular clown whose life's work was to kill a man dressed as a bat.