BEEP-BEEP...BEEP-BEEP
I'm late again.
'Shit,' I muttered as I rushed out of my house. I locked the door hastily and shoved the keys into my pocket. Leaping off the railing, I propelled myself toward the school, glancing at my watch.
Five minutes left.
'Maybe now's the time...' I concentrated, channeling the shape of the flame and injecting mana at the base. Suddenly, the flame steadied, and I surged forward even faster. The buildings blurred as the school loomed larger and larger in my vision.
'Ah!' I halted the mana flow, reabsorbing it and directing the flames forward with my hands to decelerate.
'Phew,' I sighed, slowly lowering myself with controlled bursts of flame until I landed gently beside Yunosuke.
"What a unique way to get to school. Fire manacians really have it fun," he said with a slight chuckle.
'Sure,' I thought to myself, more intrigued by this newfound power and its possibilities. But I need to be able to get this flame from the start, not form a flame first, and then get it to that temperature. I stared at my hand.
"You're awkward, bro. Quit staring at your hand."
'I had an enlightenment.'
"Haha, what happened?"
'Don't tell this to the other fire manacians.' I pulled him aside. This was the time to try forming blue fire from the start. 'Phew. Alright.' I imagined immediately injecting mana into the flame, visualizing the flame keeping its shape without hesitation, pouring mana... Alright...
Vrooth The sound of the fire forming. I watched as the fire started orange but quickly turned into a steady blue flame.
"Wha…" He looked closer but backed off from the heat. "In the world…" He gestured to form a ball of water above the flame, and as he unclenched his fingers, the water ball dropped, immediately turning to steam.
"You son of a bitch," he said. "One night was all it took you?"
'What can I say? I awakened at a young age.' I clenched my fist, absorbing the mana back and extinguishing the flame. 'But I can only maintain it like this. I'm not sure how to fire it off rather than just keep it under my control,' I said as we walked inside.
"Oi. Follow me," a familiar face called out.
"Koran..." Yunosuke said, looking at me. "What did you do?"
'I don't know. Why don't you tell him, Koran?' I said, staring into his eyes.
"This asshole thinks he's hot stuff because he got a draw," Koran said, gesturing for me to follow him.
Why should I? I have no obligation to. That's what I wanted to say. But no. I wanted to practice my theory.
'Yunosuke, I'll see you in class,' I said, patting his shoulder and walking off.
"Good luck... you're going to need it," he said as he walked away.
Do you think I don't know what this is? It's called bullying! Obviously, he's going to gang up on me… but this is a hard-found way for practical application.
'Really that angry, huh?' I said as Koran led me into the alley.
"Nah, I ain't… but they just wanted to send a message. Yonu Hachinan, meet the combat experts of Team Scorn."
Three people stepped forward, their presence menacing.
'Then come on already,' I said, holding up my palm and immediately creating a steady blue flame.
"…You're…"
I pointed the flame at them, ready to crash my mana into it.
"Gino" the leader barked.
A burly man stepped forward, stomping the ground as all earth manacians do, He swung his arms upwards pulling a massive slab from the ground. My jet stream of blue flame collided with the wall.
As I thought, it still wouldn't work... fire just doesn't…Wait a minute…
"Hey, it's melting" Gino yelled out amidst the chaos.
The leader was in awe.
"He's right, Fuji." A man leaped onto the untouched portion of the wall, standing tall. He raised both his arms.
"What in the..." I muttered as I watched droplets of water being drawn from the atmosphere.
"ARGH!!" He threw his hands down in a fierce gesture. I acted swiftly, halting all mana supply to the fire. There was no time to absorb it! The water was hurtling towards me. A single flame would be snuffed out. I had to act fast. Swinging my hands, flames at their palms, outward, I stomped, bursting mana into the surrounding space. I relied on the thin cloud of mana I had spread out to do its trick!! As the water fell, the atmosphere around me ignited, searing the droplets, and vaporizing them instantly.
I glanced down to see the wall half-melted, exposing the three men. In the distance, Koran lurked behind a corner. Panic surged through me. What now?
The water manacian descended swiftly. He clenched his fists, spreading them slowly apart. The steam transformed unnaturally into ice…
'Damn it… DOME OF FLAME!!!' I bellowed, thrusting my fists together, unleashing my mana in a torrent around me.
'How about this…' I twisted the mana into tight spirals around me. The flames twisted with it, effortlessly vaporizing the approaching icicles as the man crossed his hands.
"Don't let him rest!" came a shout from behind my dome of flame.
I turned toward the voice, but before I could react, a blurry figure emerged from behind the fire, executing a lightning-fast roundhouse kick. A gust of wind slammed into the flames, causing them to swirl violently behind me. My eyes scanned frantically, searching for any remaining icicles in the chaos.
But before I could react, he launched another roundhouse kick. Anticipating another burst of wind, I prepared myself, but instead, the earth manacian wound up and slammed his fist into the ground. Waves of spikes erupted from the earth towards me.
I considered taking flight again, but instead, I slammed my fists down by my hips onto the ground. Flames surged outward from my feet, spreading rapidly. The flames burned bluer nearer to my feet and glowed orange at the outer edges of the circle of heat. The spikes stopped abruptly at the edge of the circle. Basic Mana theory!
Principle of Mana 1: When a region is inundated with a specific type of mana, it establishes a dominant presence that precludes the manifestation of alternative mana energies.
In practical terms, if I saturate the ground beneath me with fire mana, the earth mana is unable to penetrate that area.
Air manacians are the rarest among them all. They wield moves with a low mana cost, but most importantly, in the hands of a strong air manacian, they can destroy any other element. My fire, for instance, was easily quenched by a mere gust of wind… A proficient air user can effortlessly slice through rocks with their sharp-edged winds. The only adversaries that give air manacians pause are water manacians, who expend considerable mana. Thus, in a battle of attrition, air manacians emerge victorious in the long run. Simply put, they reign supreme atop the hierarchy even though water manacians are the rarest of the bunch. Well, if they're good.
I stared at the three of them, my mana pool rapidly depleting. It feels like it's at half capacity, if not lower. What I need to do now is... Instead of relying on a thin cloud of mana around me as usual, I should create a denser fog and extend its reach. This way, the air user's wind will lose its velocity upon entry. But the water user... Damn.
I watched as he moved fluidly, manipulating the water from his reservoir to form a swirling ring around him. Then, with a sudden burst of energy, he spread his fingers apart and thrust his hands forward, palms crossing each other...
"ARGH!" I cried out as searing pain shot through my leg. I glanced down, only to feel another stab of agony in my forearm. Looking up again, I saw tiny icicles embedded in both my arm and leg...
"AHH!" With a swift motion, I brought my arms from my sides to in front of me, sweeping them in a single powerful arc. I unleashed a torrent of mana, igniting everything within my reach. I fed the mana directly into the heart of the flames, intensifying their blue hue as the barrage surged toward them.
"Gino"
"Alright!" He shouted, seizing the moment.
"HUP!" With all the remaining mana I could muster, I unleashed it into the area around him, strategically avoiding the flames. He wound up and clapped his hands together, but my mana was ineffective as the wind blew it back. 'Damn air manacians!' I cursed. But then, all the redirected mana collided with the flames, causing them to erupt uncontrollably.
I hastily withdrew whatever mana I could, cutting off the supply and allowing the remaining fire to burn on its own. Gino executed a high front kick, summoning a tall slab from the ground as they took cover behind it. "IT'S MELTING!"
'Now's my chance to escape,' I thought. Slowly, I began to walk away, watching the fire continue to pour from my palms. Just as the last burst faded, I turned to leave—only to find myself knocked to the ground. I struggled to rise, as I glanced behind me, Fuji had his palm facing downward. The wind pressure was so strong the ground trembled beneath me.
'Guess I'm dead. Haha! Well, at least I know how far I could've gone, huh? No... wait... if I can quickly burst flames from my feet, I should be able to escape for now. Alright, absorb the remaining mana in the air... and burst it all in an instant!'
'AHH!!!' The next moment, I was sent flying forward toward a wall, sparks of blue flames lingering in the open air. I didn't have enough mana to stop myself.
'AHHH!' Without a moment to comprehend, I was enveloped in a ball of water and stopped completely. I looked to the side to see Yunosuke!
The water ball collapsed and flowed back into the drain.
'Don't tell me you used the dirty water to stop me.'
"Really? I just saved your bloody life, but yeah, I filtered it."
'Haha! Thanks...'
"I just couldn't leave a guy to die. Can't believe you got out alive, though."
'What can I say? I've got the devil's luck.' I glanced back to realize they did not pursue.
"Haha, let's dry you up and get you back to class."
. . .
"Oi, Koran, come out," Fuji beckoned. Koran emerged from behind the wall, casting a nervous glance at the others.
Fuji propped his leg up as he lit a cigarette. "Who was that?"
"Uh… uh… a transfer student from yesterday," Koran stuttered.
"I meant his name, dumbass," Fuji retorted sharply.
"I… I don't remember," Koran admitted, visibly flustered in the presence of some of the top manacians at the school, despite Scorn being only the second-best team.
"You really are useless," Gino remarked with a hint of disdain. "But I understand why you lost. Fire that can melt earth… an interesting transfer student has arrived."
Gino continued, his tone contemplative, "Continue to observe him and his friend," Mizu, the water manacian, interjected calmly.
"Yes, sirs," Koran replied obediently.
. . .
'Do you ever feel like you want to climb?' I asked as we walked.
"I… I don't think I can… all my friends have moved up to higher classes except for me… I just can't seem to grasp what makes a better water manacian…" Yunosuke confessed with a hint of frustration.
'Why don't you ask your friends for advice?' I suggested.
"They're all Earth and air manacians…" Yunosuke sighed.
As we left the school gate, I looked ahead. 'I see… well… I'm sure you'll start improving… honestly…' I paused briefly. Yunosuke noticed and stopped, looking at me expectantly.
'I just want to make the best of my situation here… honestly, I didn't even want to be here, but… I didn't really have a choice, you know! Oh, uh, which way are you going?' I gestured.
"Oh, to the train station… which way are YOU going?"
'Ah… uh… I stay quite near here… uh… want to have dinner at the station?' I asked.
"Eh, why not" Yunosuke agreed.
As we turned and continued walking, I continued, 'Yeah… I just wanted to get a better lifestyle. Since young all I did every day was wake up, tend to the crops, meals, some television, play games, and sleep', I reminisced about my previous lifestyle, but I wanted something more than that, something challenging, something satisfying… So I thought that since I had a somewhat proficient level of mana manipulation, might as well try to be a mana beast hunter!' I sighed after saying that. Knowing things weren't always going to be as simple as I thought they would be.
"Haha, no means to downplay your concerns but, you're here by your accords, I would say that is a respectable situation. I was forced to be here… and my parents were hoping I could live up to my brother's legacy. He's a talented person."
'I see…' I said before glancing at the passing shops every so often. And there they were. I saw the same people.
"Oh boy…" he said.
'Yeah,' I said as we neared the restaurant.
'I don't think I have the mana to duel again…' I trailed off, feeling fatigued.
"I still can't believe you faced all three of them together. How the hell did you do it?" he asked, clearly impressed.
'It's mostly AOE attacks… fire works like that, I suppose. Its piercing power is the least among the elements… except maybe Air, but Air can overwhelm with sheer volume, so it doesn't really matter,' I explained as I tried to open the door. Maybe they won't be eating at this restaurant!
"Hey, you two! Let's go!" a voice called from behind us. Was that directed at us? I just wanted some peace man… I steeled myself, turned around, puffed up my chest, and said firmly, 'Let me eat my dinner in peace.'
They weren't even looking at me. They weren't even talking to me. Well, not until I turned around. The three guys I fought in the morning turned to look at me. I FUCKED UPPP!!
(West of the Xerathian Desert)
The family members panted heavily in the pitch-dark room, relying solely on the vibrations through the ground to track the beast's movements. The younger members struggled to catch their breath while the heads of the family went into overdrive, strategizing their next move.
"We need to destroy the mana core before the beast regenerates."
"Yoshida?" Kyousuke questioned, his voice tense.
"From what I sense, it's in its belly," Yoshida replied, concentrating hard.
Another flurry of spikes shot toward the Uons. "I GOT IT!" Yousuke shouted. He stomped his feet and thrust his hands outward, slowing the formation of the spikes.
The other family heads sprinted toward the beast's belly. "Wataru! Hatsumi! Wait for Yoshida to open the way!" Kyousuke yelled. He swung his arms up, causing a massive spike to pierce into the beast's belly. Yoshida propelled himself on the spike and slammed it, creating a large hole that exposed a reflective silver core embedded in the beast's muscles.
Hatsumi and Wataru launched a spinning spike straight toward the exposed mana core. Just then, a wave of mana pulsed from the core. As it passed through the members of the Uon family, they froze, motionless. The beast regained its balance, and the wound began to heal rapidly.
The Uon family members stood back up, their eyes and bodies lifeless. Without a word, they dispersed back to their estate, leaving a tunnel through the earth for the beast to travel through.
"I… learned…" the beast finally uttered
###
Fuji Kama --- Element: Air , Year: 3rd , Rank: 9
Gino Hazama --- Element: Earth , Year: 3rd , Rank: 22
Mizu Ishiyama --- Element: Water , Year: 3rd , Rank: 13
Yunosuke Sakata --- Element: Water , Year: 1st , Rank: 389
Yonu Hachinan --- Element: Fire , Year: 1st , Rank: 374