5 August X774
"Wake up!"
Kane woke up, as he saw Laxus standing beside him. Grinning, he jumped out of bed, knowing it was finally time for his training to begin. Ever since he first came to Fairy Tail, he'd been practically begging the Lightning Mage to teach him Magic. And of course, Laxus readily agreed.
"You ready?", Laxus said, as Kane hastily got ready, tying his long deep blue hair into a ponytail.
"You know I am.", Kane smirked, as he threw on a loose white shirt and a pair of blue trousers. "So what do we do first?"
"First, we head to the training grounds. I hope you're not planning on trashing my house.", Laxus quipped. With no place to go, Laxus and his grandfather had taken Kane in for the while, and he'd fit right in with the Dreyar family. While Kane had been having nightmares occasionally, he'd dismiss them.
"Very funny. So anyway, where are the training grounds?"
"Just outside the city, it won't take us long on foot.", Laxus said.
"Let's go, then."
The Guild's 'training ground' was a large, dry field, used by members who would try to improve their mastery of magic while not going out on jobs. However, most learned and improved on the job, so the grounds were rarely used. However, as Kane clearly needed to learn Magic from the very beginning, he could clearly make use of them. The walk from the middle of Magnolia to its outskirts was brisk, and the boys reached in less than half an hour.
"Well, this is it.", Laxus said. "It isn't much, but it'll have to do."
"It seems alright.", Kane replied. "So what do I do?"
"Okay, so you need to have an immense level of concentration and mental power to use Magic, but if you can manage that, it isn't hard to use it however you like. Just like this.", Laxus explained, unleashing a massive, golden bolt of lightning, which travelled high into the sky. Kane stared at it, wide eyed, before looking at Laxus, who chuckled and continued. "Don't worry, you'll learn that part eventually."
"So, does the Master use Lightning Magic too?", Kane asked inquisitively.
"While Gramps does know a bit of it, he prefers to use Giant, which as you can guess turns him into a giant. My dad doesn't use Lightning Magic a lot either. I guess I'm the first to use this actively since my Gramps's dad."
"So you're the first to use Lightning in two whole generations? That's crazy!"
"Yeah, I guess it is. But enough about that, let's focus on your first lesson.", Laxus said. "Close your eyes, and try to think of nothing, but Lightning. Make it flow throughout your body, and maybe then, you'll be able to use the Lightning as well."
Kane his eyes, he began to meditate, before his thoughts focused on nothing but his objective, as he took a deep breath. Concentrating harder, he felt the lightning coarsing through his body, but along with that came a strange sensation. He felt something moving under his skin, moving slowly and painfully.
However, he did not pay much heed to it, believing it was simply part of the learning process. The pain travelled to his fingers,slowly, yet steadily as tiny, blue sparks formed between them. As Kane directed his focus, the sparks increased, and soon he felt the electricity running between his palms, even as it felt like his body was on fire. Forcing a grin, he looked at Laxus who looked a bit confused.
"Blue lightning, that's weird.", Laxus thought, but disregarded it, believing all was going well, as he shouted, "Try to release the thunderbolts, now that you've managed to concentrate the lightning, try and release it."
Kane nodded, as he tried to fire the beam of lightning, but instead of leaving his hands, it simply exploded. Feeling a sudden cramp in his right arm, Kane winced, as he grabbed it. A concerned Laxus immediately ran to him, checking his arm. Surprisingly enough, there was a blue afterglow still left in parts of his arm.
"What is that?", he asked.
"I don't know. I thought this pain is normal.", Kane replied, grimacing.
"Do you think we should stop?", the Lightning Mage asked, hesitantly. "We can get someone to take a look at it."
"No, I'll be alright.", Kane answered. "Let me have another try."
"I'm not sure about this, Kane, maybe we should stop for now."
"Trust me.", Kane said."Let's wait until this cramp goes away, and then I'll have another go."
After a few minutes, Laxus stepped back, as Kane tried focusing again, and ignored the pain as much as he could. The sensation returned, travelling through his arms slowly just as it had done before. The lightning formed again, as Kane took a deep breath, and attempted to release it. This time, he felt a sudden shock, as something seemed to throw him backwards, knocking the breath out of him.
"What the hell?", he murmured, as Laxus helped him up, grabbing him by the arm. Grimacing, Kane winced, as Laxus almost instinctively released him from his grip, revealing the burns on both of his arms, with his dominant right arm hurt more than the left.
"I knew this was gonna happen." Laxus remarked. "We need to get you back to the Guild, Porlyusica-san's house is way too far away."
"Okay.", Kane said, trying to walk, while holding his mangled arms in front of him, as he groaned. "Goddammit, my arms feel like they're on fire."
"I got you, don't worry.", the blond said. "We're just a bit away from the Guild, do you think you can walk till there?"
"Y..Yeah, I think I can.", Kane said, before falling to the ground, and had to be assisted to his feet by the Thunder Mage. The journey back to the Guild was much more ardous, and Kane collapsed as he walked inside.
"What happened to him?", Macao, a man in his twenties and a fairly experienced member of the guild asked Laxus.
"He hurt himself while training!", Laxus replied. "Where's Gramps?"
"He went to visit Porlyusica. We can get him there in the Four Wheeler.", Macao said. Laxus nodded, as the Mages put a barely conscious Kane inside, as they left for the healing Mage's house.
All that he felt before passing out was nausea, as he felt the four wheeler move.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself outside a burning village, with a child calling out his name. And he knew he had to go. Running through the embers and debris, he found himself face-to-face with them.
Waking up with a cold sweat, he looked at the three figures in front of him. Laxus, Porlyusica and Makarov looked at him, concerned, as he recognized them. Feeling the pain in his arms, he groaned, remembering what happened. Trying to get up, he was immediately stopped by Porlyusica.
"Don't move, you'll hurt yourself more.", she said authoritatively, as he lay back down.
"How long have I been knocked out for?", he asked.
"Four hours.", Makarov said. "Laxus told us what happened, but we need to know your part of the story as well."
"Well, the first time I tried to channel the lightning, I had these massive cramps in my arms, and then as I managed to manifest the lightning, it just exploded.", Kane replied. "I should have stopped then, but I didn't, and burned my arms."
"Well, that proves my theory about your injuries.", Porlyusica stated. "The part of your body- or soul, that conducts Magic, is broken, and probably irreversibly so."
"What does that mean?", Kane asked, his eyes widening, as the old woman looked at him, almost apologetically.
"You can never be a Mage, Kane."
10 June X780
"Wake up!"
Kane opened his eyes, as he saw two guards standing over him. They looked at him coldly, with a hint of smugness. He wanted to wipe that shit eating look off their faces, but knew it wasn't worth it.
"What is it?", he asked gruffly.
"Captain Kinley has ordered you to the interrogation cell."
Hello there, everyone! Here's chapter four of Mark of Kane, which I hope you enjoyed. Do follow and favorite if you do, and of course, please do leave a review!