Nero took Spade's left hand. It burned slightly. Before he could inspect what happened, Ifrit grabbed it as well, once again burning. When she removed her hand he saw two marks, one was orange and red like a flame and the other purple and white in the shape of a lightning bolt.
"Those are our marks. Just imagine and focus on something like fire or lightning and it'll come into being."
Ifrit snapped her fingers, a tiny flame erupted. In a second it grew to monstrous size then back to a flicker.
Spade looked down at his own hand, imagining a small flame. It burst out then disappeared the moment he wished it to.
This is pretty awesome. Although I do feel a little tired.
"Be careful," Nero began, "Most people have their whole lives to get used to the feeling. You'll only have a few minutes before you'll be using it."
"What?"
Ifrit breathed to speak. A white shape moved behind her. It clanked slightly as it moved. Ifrit picked up on this.
"About time Alena. We've almost run out of time. Where have you been?"
She didn't answer Ifrit, continuing to clank her way towards Spade. The white shape turned out to be a large white nun outfit, her face and limbs were covered. She made her way towards Spade, not stopping and hugging him tightly.
"Wha-"
Alena didn't answer but did loosen her grasp.
He could feel her body but it wasn't soft. It felt like there were metal chains underneath covering her whole body. She looked up at Spade. Her face is covered by a steel mask, only allowing glimpses at her fair skin.
Spade was about to speak but silenced by Alena as she placed a steel chain covered hand over his mouth. Both her hands held his left, again burning slightly. When she left he saw a white pair of hands locked in prayer.
"Thank you, Alena."
"Alena here is the God of Prayer. Recite a prayer and it'll happen. It uses a lot of mana but it can do anything." Ifrit looked quite happy while Nero's eyes were trailing all over her body.
He couldn't tell for sure but he was sure that she was smiling.
"What took you so long?" asked Ifrit.
Alena didn't speak, or perhaps she couldn't and reached into a fold of her white clothing. She brought out a small triangular white crystal.
"Oh, do you think he's good enough?"
Alena nodded, her chains clanking as she did so. Before Spade could say anything she grabbed Spade's right hand and slammed the point into the center.
Ow! What the fuck?!
Spade collapsed under the instantly blinding pain but after a second it was gone. There was no sign of blood or damaged skin. The tip of the crystal sticking out. It was long enough to go through his hand but his palm was completely undamaged. Alena,, despite having chained skin, tenderly held Spade's hand as he regained his feet.
"Well, he's alive. That's a good start." Nero helped Alena get Spade's to his feet.
"Why…"
Ifrit smiled, "Hopefully it'll help."
A jaw chomped down near Ifrit's back, causing her to jump forward in surprise.
"Right, we're out of time, Spare."
Ifrit grabbed Spade's cheeks between her hands. "We're going to send you as far away from the demons and the New Heroes as possible, give you something at least. When you wake up you'll need to be moving pretty quickly. Okay? Good."
Before Spade could ask anything more, Ifrit 'pushed' Spade down through the darkness, with the jaws chomping where he had just been. The darkness crushed Spade, enveloping his body and lungs, bringing flashes to when he died.
If I die again after all that….
Once again, consciousness failed him.
Spade's consciousness again returned after his second horrific experience. Though this time he could feel something under his hands. It was scratchy and had many parts. He opened his eyes and looked down. Straw, a massive pile of it. The straw slid out from under him as he struggled free, eventually landing undignified on the dry dirt.
He still wore his old pajamas. It was strange how they could still be intact, though in a world with gods and magic he no longer knew what could be considered impossible. Quickly rising to his feet he surveyed his surroundings, brushing off the dust. It was a barn of some sort. A single lamp attached to the central beam provided the only source of light. The light flickered against the wood.
This looks handmade…
Spade rubbed his hand along the planks making the wall. It was uneven yet overall straight. Someone had built this by hand with an axe of some kind.
The barn was to be quite long with a single story. The builders may not have had the skill. Something else disturbing was the barn only had the single lump of hay that he had landed on. Otherwise, it was completely barren. Wherever this was, it looked quite poor.
A cry from outside startled Spade. It was loud and hoarse, someone was in trouble. He turned towards the door and was about to leave when he remembered the god's words. Something terrible may be befalling this place.
It was then that he noticed an odd feeling throughout his body. A thick and heavy feeling. He took a step yet it didn't feel harder to walk. Perhaps this was the new weight of this world. However, it did stir up a new thought, magic. As a child, he had always thought about using magic but now was his chance. Remembering the words of the gods he focused his thoughts on making a flame at the tip of his finger. The heavy sensation drifted towards his hand.
A small flame burst into being, the heavy feeling fueling the flame. He experimented with the size, the Heaviness, as he now called it, flowing greatest when the flame was largest.
He extinguished the flame with another thought, the Heaviness receding and smothering his body again, although it felt less
I guess that's my potential then. Still, it's pretty exciting.
"Run!"
This time there was no hesitation. He had magic and he was sure that he could help those people outside. The barn door was slightly ajar thankfully. Spade started to slip out, trying desperately not to make a sound.
It was night outside. From the barn door, Spade could see around six houses, all quite close to one another. These too appeared to be made of wood, perhaps even by the same person. Their walls were made from wooden planks with large upright logs driven into the ground to hold them in place. Their roofs were made from some sort of grass or hay bound together. There were even windows with blinds made of wood that were currently drawn shut.
Some sort of medieval peasant village. I never knew how dark these places must have been.
Other than the occasional light coming from the house and corners, it was completely dark. The stars were visible yet there was no moon of any kind.
"Look out!"
A person collided with Spade, knocking him down. It was a young man and woman. Their faces were dirty and their breathing ragged. They wore thick clothes, the stereotypical medieval peasant garb.
The young man saw Spade's clothes and visibly paled. Obviously he had never seen someone like Spade. He quickly got to his feet, helping up the woman who was trying to catch her breath. They both stood there for what felt like an age.
His mouth opened to speak but he coughed blood all over Spade. His body became stiff, hands trying to reach his back. The woman didn't seem aware and just watched him fall. He fell, face first into the dirt in front of Spade, a small axe protruding just below his shoulder blades. The woman gasped then screamed.
The shadows cackled and laughed. Spade's thoughts went immediately back to the gods' dimension, and its ravenous teeth. This felt different.
A small creature emerged into the dim flickering light. It was a meter tall and looked like a comically deformed human; its eyes bulged as if its bald skull was too small, a contorted face with jagged teeth and an elongated nose, scrawny and gnarled fingers with a pot belly. It looked disgusting. Its yellow skin caught the light very well, casting shadows on the diminutive creature, making it more terrifying than it originally appeared. Spade was about to ask the woman what they were when two more equally deformed creatures emerged.
The woman screamed again and tried to run past Spade. One of the yellow creatures pulled an axed from its belt and threw it.
The axe flew through the air, connecting with the running woman's neck. Blood flew from the wound as she spun towards the ground. She hit the ground next to Spade with an almighty thud, the axe dislodging itself in the process. She coughed and sputtered for a moment then stopped. The woman was dead.
The yellow creatures chuckled and pointed at her. They moved towards her, the light giving more detail to these creatures. They wore nothing except for a rag around their waist and this appeared to be quite tight around the front. They moved a few steps before stopping, a look of stupefaction on their deformed faces. It was almost as if they couldn't comprehend that another person could be there. The look only lasted a second, quickly replaced by one of anger. Their tiny arms searched around their belts, probably for an axe. They must have used them all before now.
It gave Spade a chance to process what he was seeing. The warm blood from the woman touched his hands. It made something within Spade snap. He knew he had magic and he should be able to deal with these yellow goblin creatures. Before he could rise to his feet the first yellow goblin shrieked and sprinted at him. It bounded with a mad look in its eyes.
Oh shit. Quickly, imagine a fire bolt…wait there's wood everywhere. Imagine a lightning bolt instead.
He did just that, the Heaviness surging to his hands. The yellow goblin was more than halfway, still charging like a bull. The feeling built and built until his hand tingles. It collected to a single point then it burst forth. A single bolt of lightning struck the charging yellow goblin in the chest. The bolt disappeared in an instant. The chest of the yellow goblin was burnt and boiled, the skin flayed at the edges exposing the muscle underneath.
The yellow goblin tripped and fell, gliding roughly on the dirt before coming to a halt. Its body twitched slightly and appeared to smoke. Spade looked at his hand, amazed at what just happened. The other goblins appeared to have the same look.
Spade rose to his feet, the Heaviness felt somewhat less than before yet he could feel somehow that it was growing back. The yellow goblins quickly glanced at each other before charging like their downed comrade.
These creatures are not smart.
Spade felt the surge to both of his hands, a bolt of lightning from each hand striking their respective goblin. Both twitched and fell just like before. The Heaviness was definitely less now. In its place was a confidence he had not felt for a long time. Perhaps he could not beat an entire army but he could take these creatures on one at a time at least. With the goblins dead he could hear clanking and yelling in the distance.
He took one final look at the dead people before him, their lifeless bodies bringing back painful flashes. He left them as they fell, muttering a few words of comfort to the dead then moving as quietly as he could towards the noise.