Sigurd's precision was unmatched. Yacha watched in awe, unable to hide his admiration.
"That was… incredible," he murmured.
Sigurd caught his words and chuckled, ruffling Yacha's hair. "You've got potential, kid. If you put in the work, you'll reach this level—maybe even surpass it."
A chill crept into Yacha's gut as he followed Sigurd toward a massive, makeshift throne surrounded by warriors and flanked by two enormous wolves, Geri and Freki.
"Go," Sigurd commanded, and the wolves leaped to their feet, vanishing into the forest on silent paws.
He motioned to the ground beside him. "Sit. I don't bite."
Yacha hesitated, then sat, watching the warriors of Skara Brae celebrating nearby. After a pause, Sigurd looked down at him.
"You're a magic attribute user?"
Yacha nodded. "Yes, Sigurd."
"And you're not here to make trouble?"
"No," he answered quickly.
"Good." Sigurd placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. "The nightmares. How long have you had them?"
Yacha blinked. "Nightmares?"
Sigurd laughed. "Dreams that wake you in fear. Shadows of a curse you haven't broken."
Yacha's eyes widened. How could Sigurd know about his dreams?
"Thunder attribute," Sigurd explained, almost to himself.
"It runs in those who've fought curses." He paused, the humor draining from his face.
"There was another thunder user once. I had to put him down myself."
Yacha swallowed his questions.
That night, lying near the fire, Yacha's mind raced. The nightmares, the curse, the thunder. Before he could find sleep, though, he heard a soft voice.
"Can't sleep?" Ursang whispered from across the room.
"No," Yacha replied.
Ursang smiled faintly, then sighed. "Feels like a suicide mission, doesn't it?"
They lapsed into silence, memories of simpler days at the orphanage filling the quiet. Eventually, they drifted off, but the nightmares returned—haunting images of a woman shielding him, of blood, and a girl's gentle voice. "I'm waiting, Yacha…"
He jolted awake, following the sound of wood being chopped outside. Sigurd was there, his movements steady and sure.
"Another nightmare?" he asked without looking up.
"Yeah."
"Good."
Yacha frowned. "Why do you keep saying that's good?"
Sigurd looked over his shoulder. "Because nightmares mean you're still fighting. Every memory, every fear—that's your weapon."
Yacha watched Sigurd's precision with the axe, impressed. "Can you show me?"
With a nod, Sigurd tossed him an axe. "First lesson…" he said.
"…is to make the weapon part of you. Let the thunder run through it. The axe will guide your energy."
Yacha felt a charge as he swung the axe, feeling the power flow through him. Under Sigurd's guidance, he sensed the beginnings of a deeper understanding of his magic.
The more Yacha practiced, the more he could feel the faint hum of thunder within him, connecting to the weapon, and strengthening the bond between magic and steel. For the first time, yacha understood how deeply intertwined his magic was with the very weapons he wielded. For the first time, yacha got a mentor who knew about thunder attribute capabilities.
Ursang stood by the door of the house. The two of them fully focused on their matters. The connection between those two was getting stronger. Sigurd showed yacha how to feel the weapon and swing it precisely, how to feel all the tips of the axe and extend the things within those tips. Ursang wasn't worried that yacha may get stronger, he's just looked at them worried yacha may abandon the mission and turn rogue,
Days went by and yacha learned how to use the axe more swiftly. Now he needed a test.
"Now, I need to know what is your attribute?" Sigurd asked
No one of them spoke.
"I'm trying to train you, your current level is far weaker than any I have encountered."
Speira answered, Eline second. Ursang took a while " tsk!! I use earth attribute… but I started to unlock fire."
That was a surprise to them, eline specifically. Yacha jumped, Asking Ursang why he kept it a secret.
Sigurd interrupted them, he told them to pick their best weapon and follow him, yacha kept the axe, and he picked up another one. They walked to the depths of the forest. They spotted the first target.
Round eyes, large red noses, and too much hair on their body. Those Giant monsters, some of them had several heads and some of them had one eye. They eat some mooses, while from time to time fight among themselves. Savages with weapons made from sticks and rocks.
"Orcs??" Yacha asked.
" no, no, no, those are trolls, they grew a strong sense of desire for human flesh ." He said observing.
" so …? What are we doing here?" Ursang questioned.
He smirked an evil smirk " Your training begins here, council your aura as trolls can sense it, and kill all of them."
Yacha and speira jumped without questioning. Eline and Ursang stayed back.
Sigurd assured them he would be there in case trolls overwhelmed them. Still hesitating, they looked down. Yacha and Speira moved in perfect sync, their blades flashing under the dim forest light as they sliced through the horde of trolls. Speira's wind magic spun around her, enhancing her agility, while Yacha's axes crackled with fire and thunder, striking down any creature that got too close.
Yacha and Speira decided to split, each handling a troll as a challenge. Yacha's axes gleamed, slicing through the one-eyed trolls with ease, but the two-headed monsters were more cunning, forcing him to dodge their powerful blows. Speira spun like a whirlwind, her short swords flashing as her wind magic guided her strikes.
Just as the battle heated up, Ursang and Eline leaped into the fray. Ursang's heavy sword slammed into the ground, sending shockwaves through the battlefield as he struggled against a towering troll with two heads. Eline, with her water magic, weaved around the one-eyed trolls, cutting them down swiftly, but found herself entangled by a particularly tough two-headed brute.
The four of them moved in a chaotic harmony, each taking on their share of the monstrous horde.
Yacha's fire and thunder magic scorched the battlefield, while Ursang's brute strength held back the fiercest of the trolls.
Speira's wind magic swirled like a storm, while Eline's water spells dampened the ground, making the trolls slip and falter.
Though some trolls fell easily, others fought back with ferocity, their two heads snapping at any who came too close.
From the top of a jagged rock, Sigurd watched, his arms crossed, observing the four warriors as they clashed with the trolls below. Ursang, for the first time, let sparks of fire dance along the edge of his sword, a faint glow flickering in his movements. It wasn't much, but Sigurd knew the boy was close—each swing of his blade became more precise, more infused with the raw power of the fire attribute slowly awakening within him.
Yacha's axes cleaved through the thick hide of the trolls, his form relentless, while Speira and Eline moved like twin whirlwinds of wind and water, keeping the battlefield in constant flux. Sigurd's smile grew as he saw them adapt.
Before they could even register the tremors in the ground, a massive troll emerged from the shadows, towering over the rest. With three heads, each crowned by a single glaring eye, and a grotesque face snarling from its stomach, it charged at them with a growl, shaking the earth beneath its feet. Yacha and the others barely had time to grip their weapons, hearts pounding at the sight of the creature hurtling toward them.
But in an instant, a blur of motion descended from the rock above. Sigurd, with both axes gleaming in hand, moved faster than their eyes could follow. With a single swing, he cleaved through the giant troll, splitting it into three pieces, before it could strike. The ground trembled with its fall.
"Hahahaa!!! Good job kids, the trolls weren't a challenge I see." his axes dripping with blood, barely breaking a sweat.
"A challenge? More like, 'Hey, go train, by the way, you're going to die,'" Ursang shouted, clearly upset.
"Now, now, you let the fire out," Sigurd replied, calm and confident in his methods, shutting Ursang up.
"Can we eat those?" Speira asked.
Sigurd denied her request, leading them to their next objective—finding food.
Noticing something was off with Eline, Sigurd approached her. "You okay, kid?" he asked.
"Ye-yes, thank you for asking," she replied, but her tone betrayed a hint of sadness.
"Hmm, don't worry, you're still young, and you'll unlock new attributes. Cheer up, Eline," he reassured her.
Her face brightened slightly as Sigurd gathered them to explain more about magical attributes. He demonstrated how he could control all five elemental attributes, as well as thunder, explaining that with time, and focus, they could achieve the same.
"But let me tell you one thing," he added as they made their way to hunt moose, "the elemental attributes, aren't the power you need to seek, it's abnormal attributes."
The basic elemental magic is just an entrance, once a mage unlocks the first phase, the second one becomes the true essence of their abilities.