Fate/Academy: Episode 6
*Athenox walks into the Elite Combat Team's Student organization building and finds Mrs., who is sitting at her desk, and she currently seems to be going through files. Scene 1.*
"Hey Mrs. I need to talk to you."
"You look tense. Would like to discuss your problems over a sparring match?" Her words throw me off.
A sparring match right now. I want to ignore it and just start asking my questions, but I guess if she offers then it would be very disrespectful to say no. Besides I want to master my weapon to increase its own strength, and sparring against an expert swordswomen like her would always be beneficial.
"That sounds great." I can't control the level of frustration in my voice.
I still want to find out why Mrs. decided to do what she did. Manipulate all of the team members around me, on my own team.
"Since I think that your abilities have developed a sense of control that will prevent you from accidentally blowing up anything around you, we won't have to go to the arenas to fight. We will instead fight in the center of the building, in the courtyard." We walk over to the court yard and summon our weapons.
"Oh and since I know that you can handle it now, I will be attacking at full force. You could try to use my weapon again but I doubt you have used it since and all you would be able to manage is very poorly executed swings. I think you will have to come up with some other way of winning."
She is right, and Arondight is heavier and bigger than Caliburn so I would not be able to adjust for that in my attacks. I also know that she has a sense of my void abilities and how to react to them. She rushes in and I cross swords with her once again. This time however, she is moving and attacking faster than before. I can barely keep up off of skill alone.
"So Mrs., why did you only let your upperclassmen tell most of the team about my abilities and not all of them?"
I seem to have no openings for an attack that will land successfully. She must have been holding back a lot while she was training me. I am only able to evade her attacks with no possibility for a counter attack.
"There are quite a few complicated reasons, but they all lead back to you."
She apparently was not just holding back in terms of speed or skill, but also physical strength, because each time I catch a strike with my blade I am sent sliding back at least a few meters. I have never been so hopeless in a fight before.
"I did not want you to possibly lose your first official fight because of a complication in your powers. I think that it would be unfair as your skills are still very remarkable."
I empower and disengage from her blade and leap back, then I throw my sword and displace to it. I catch my blade and try to land a strike but Mrs. evades and I end up slamming the sword into the ground.
"So as I was telling the upperclassman about your abilities after you collapsed in training, I made sure that they did not disclose the information to your team." Mrs. Continues to explain.
"Why?"
"Because I didn't want your opponent to know what you could do. I overwrote the randomization system to put you against someone you had just spent the whole weekend sparring and training with. You had a great deal of knowledge about his phantasm weapon to work with. Alex is a very strong fighter but he wouldn't be able to expect something like you copying his weapon. And once he lost his mental footing, your swords skills could get in range and finish the fight."
She is fixing to slam her sword into the ground, but she is not at range to try and hit me. The amount of mana flowing into her blade increases significantly. It is an empowered strike. She wouldn't waste an attack like if she knew it was going to miss, unless it has enough force to still be able to hit me from here. There is no telling how far that attack will reach, so I am not sure that I will have enough time to evade it. I am going to have to absorb it. I plant my sword in the ground and brace for the impact. The physical force of the explosion is overwhelming. I lose grip of my sword and crash into the wall behind me. Immediately hitting the floor afterwards.
"Such a noble way to admit defeat. It seems as if your rapid skill increase over the past few days was not enough to bridge the gap in our skill levels but you are just a freshman in your first week of school so I do not expect much from you. If you ask me I do not think that you were really aggressive enough. You didn't even consider a fully empowered strike." She grabs my hand and helps me up.
"I never use a fully empowered strike. I can't control them and they are destructive beyond all reasoning. You only managed to target me when you used your empowered strike. I would not be able to do the same thing. I would easily destroy the building with it, and that was before I got my void abilities."
"That could be considered a good thing under certain circumstances. Anyway, I do not think that it would have been much of a problem for me to tell the team since they were going to figure out eventually, and as for your group I think it would be better for you to tell them when so that they have a more detailed explanation of how it works. You did look a bit angry when you walked in. What happened?"
I explain to her what I had happened with the Tohsaka sisters earlier.
"Well Athenox, I am glad that you were able to help Mary deal with the negative effects of Ea, but I wish you had a little more understanding about the sisters, or any of the other factions before you got defensive. You insisted that they did not know anything about you or where you came from? I must tell you that you are absolutely right about that. They like most of the children of the Holy Council faction, are trained privately within the territory and are given very little knowledge of other factions specifically of the Undercity faction. The only news they would be able to know of the other factions would be from their parents doing business with the higher ups of the factions they trust, which would never be the dark faction of Undercity. The factions have been locked in a stalemate for a long time, neither wants to acknowledge the other for fear that it will force another Mage war that could plunge the world back into chaos and corruption. The children however do not see it this way and instead think that they are of the elite status because of their affiliation with holy magic. It would be fair to say that Undercity children like yourself are the most in tune with what the world faces, as you all have at some point seen what the corruption is capable of because of the proximity to the source where the highest density of corrupted spirits are. The destruction it can cause, the confusion that it creates, and the fear that it can instill on people. As an officer and as the son of a dark faction leader, I know you have seen your fair share. Well they have not. Instead they are kept safe inside their city's walls. They do not know what it means to fight for the survival of their own lives or to see others ripped away from them with such intensity. Society over the years has forgotten the very reason we exist. It is because of brave heroes who fought, and not amongst themselves but against the evils of the world. Things that are unspeakable, and unbearable. However do not cast them aside because of that. They still possess great power just like every other magus. In fact I divided all of the members of the Team into groups based on how or what I believed you could do the best. I picked the freshman members of each team from what potential they showed and what skills that they already had. And to tell you the truth, Athenox, my decisions did not change even after you got your void abilities."
"What do you mean? What is it that you believe our group to do? What is it that you ask of us?"
"I believe that what you can do will be up to you, but what the Team asks of you is a very important endeavor that I could not ask any other group on the Team to do. This upcoming semester the Team is competing in a world competition. This competition is a series of arena style matches called The Grail War, however they are more than just combat. They require groups to build and manage resources like a business or kingdom in order to survive, because the matches are near constant and last for three full days. This is broken down into three major aspects. A team must be able to gather and prepare as many magical resources in the seven weeks leading up to the event, and they must be able to negotiate and trade with other teams and even negotiate with a panel of judges for additional resources that they want or need. A third team must also be able to effectively use the resources gathered in combat to earn as many points in the arena. Points are earned based off of eliminating other mages and completing bonus objectives. The end of the competition is a final elimination between the last seven teams. The last remaining team wins, and the winning team is rewarded very well. Granting them access to a spell or phantasm weapon of their choosing that they can learn to use. And just as in all school student competition events, their team earns and retains Elite recognition. Elite status is kept for up to ten seasons after a win, and will only be retained longer if the team manages to win another season before then. So I determined that given all of your knowledge from having lived in Undercity combined with your real combat experience that you would be with the group that is gathering resources."
"Wow sounds like an intense competition, but even though I am an expert in fighting the corruption. I have to ask. What is this doing to help me improve?"
"Well Athenox, the competition is to help teach mages to strategize and operate as a team to make them more qualified in the real world. The combat itself helps students become more exposed to the new and developing magecraft from across the world, not to mention that teams also showcase and display their magic research as a part of their marketing. I wonder if they will show any new discoveries about phantasm weapons. The school and the organization that funds the competition will fund you for your participation and in your case you will be financially and academically compensated for each mission. Specific amounts are of course determined by the amount and quality of your work. You will also be allowed extended access to the school facilities such as the armory, library, arenas, and even the cafeteria."
She does seem to know how to hook people into it. I already joined the combat team so I would of course do the activities that they do. I find the financial compensation part very inviting. Maybe if I work hard enough, Dad won't have to work so many nights a week. As a newfound void mage, the part about new developments in magecraft and phantasm weapons does sound intriguing also.
"So when do we start?"
"The official start of preparations is in a few weeks, but all of the groups are going to start their competition training at our first after school meeting tomorrow. Your group is going out into the field in the cursed zones. You are familiar right?"
"The regions between the territories where the corruption have been pushed back into and reside when they are dormant. I used to have to go into the cursed zones outside of Undercity quite frequently."
"Then I can expect that you will show them how it is done?"
"Yes Mrs., and I myself will try not to give Eric and Connor too much trouble."
"It is good to hear that. Now I think that you should get some rest for your long day tomorrow."
*Athenox is sleeping in his dorm and has another dream. Scene 2.*
I am in the desert again but this time there is a very big change. In front of me is a temple with a long staircase ascending to a gate. I unconsciously walk up the staircase and halfway I am stopped by a voice.
"I am ordered not to allow anyone to pass through this gate. Especially you."
"Why are you doing this? I have to pass through to get to my master."
"If you really want to get though then I suggest you fight your way through."
I do not know what he is talking about but I draw my sword and rush him. He draws his sword and steadily raises it while keeping the tip pointed towards me.
"You do not have the luxury of time. How long do you think your master can survive of off luck alone?"
I still do not get what he is saying. I ready my sword for a strike but before I can get in range to catch the blade.
"Concealed Sword! Swallow Reversal!"
The blade guts me and I fall on the steps of the temple. The way he struck with the blade. It is like that move that had Alex had tried during our match. I bleed out as the floor around me plunges into darkness.
"It is not all that special of a trick, but I mastered it in when I attempted the goal of striking down a sparrow mid-flight. It seems as if you are just as frail and weak." I black out.
*It is the next day after school and Athenox is at the Team's building where Mrs., Mr., and the upperclassmen have just gotten done explaining the premise of the competition and what their roles will be for the year to them. Scene 2.*
"All right, now that you all have an understanding of what the competition is your groups are going to start to be trained on how to accomplish their goals. Groups 1 and 2 will stay here while group 3 is to report to the flight deck to head out to the cursed zones. If groups 1 or 2 may need me for assistance then I will be in my office. If group 3 were to need me, then you can call me. Everyone knows where they are going? Ok, then you are all dismissed."
Devin, Miraldes, Alex, Adam, and I all follow Connor and Eric up the elevator to the top floor of the school. The looks on are faces are that of shock because we have never seen it before. It is a large open aircraft hangar with various sizes and models of aircraft. It seems to be vacant.
"I behold to you the Avalon Academy air fleet, well minus a few other ships."
"What do you mean?"
"The fleet is available as a resource to all of student organizations within the academy, but most do not have a need for them other than the occasional transport. So only a few seem to get checked out at a time. The only other organization who uses air vehicles as frequently would be the Elite Defense Forces, mainly for getting back and forth from the city gates and defense outposts."
"Wait I thought that air vehicles were only allowed by military personal as anyone it would be too dangerous for anyone else." Miraldes asks.
"That is technically true but because our school is able to maintain two Elite organizations, we are allowed to own and use them as long as someone with a good enough riding skill is at the controls." Connor states.
"I bet other schools would be envious." Alex says.
"Not so fast. You do know why they ban aircraft in the first place? It is why there are checkpoints setup along the highways that go across territories. It is very dangerous once you leave the cities shielding. You are almost guaranteed to be flocked by corrupted beast spirits." Eric says
"Yeah I heard of early attempts to use flying as a mode of transport within Undercity, but my father told me that it was not worth the trouble of maintaining due to intense amounts of spirits trying to down a ship as soon as it was airborne. Keeping the streets clear is a challenge by itself."
"So which vehicle are we taking?" Devin asks.
"For when we head out on competitions we have that large mobile fortress ship over there. But for small groups like this we usually use one of our seven transport vehicles over here. If our team was at full operation then might actually have a need to use all seven of them at once. I think we should use my favorite one."
He points to a black and orange ship next to the fortress ship. We approach the ship and get in. Connor is piloting since he claims that his riding skill is far better than Eric's.
*The ship lands in a field just outside of a forest. It is still daylight and in the far distance behind them, the walls of the city can be seen along with a roads leading out of the city. The group of freshman get out of the ship and immediately drops to their knees. Scene 3.*
"Oh no, I think I am going to be sick." Devin says as he runs behind view of the ship.
"I do not understand. What did that do to us?" I think my stomach has now officially become more volatile than my mana.
"Did you poison us?" Alex asks as he coughs.
A groaning sound can be heard from behind the ship.
"Whatever it was, I would appreciate it if we could not do it again?" Miraldes says as gasps for air.
"Oh come on. It is not that bad. Haven't any of you guys ever flown on an aircraft before?"
"NO!"
"Well I guess I should have asked beforehand, it is too late now."
"What you are currently experiencing is motion sickness. It is the result of your body trying to adapt to being on an unstable platform such as an aircraft, at high altitudes. It can happen the first time that you fly in a plane or other air vehicle. I guess it hit all of you really hard. The only question is why is it so bad for Devin? His secondary class is Rider, right?"
"I prefer ground mounts!" Devin shouts.
After the motion sickness subsides we all walk into the forests. After Connor and Eric tell us to, we summon our phantasm weapons.
"Okay, if you look up ahead there are our first targets. For the purposes of practice they will supplement. When we have to start gathering for competition though, we will need to find bigger and stronger spirits. Because these do not technically count as spirits."
"What are they?"
"Wraiths. Spirit beings that are the ghastly manifestations of souls. They are said to have been created in mass numbers after the cursing from human and animal souls who got lost in the confusion and died. Any person who suffers at the hand of the corruption will turn into one of these. They are relatively weak in terms of power but can kill trying to siphon off souls. Normally crafted weapons do little to damage them and require spirit weapons like our phantasms to destroy. They are hunted in mass numbers by many crafting vendors to keep up with supply demands because they are weaker. As a result anything you buy from a vendor will be weaker quality."
"You know a lot. I knew that you would know things about spirits, having grown up in Undercity but I was not aware of the full extent." Eric says in shock.
"Athenox, how do you know that much?" Devin asks.
Well if they are going to be my teammates and we are in the field, then I guess it would be beneficial to inform them of my expertise. Besides, they do seem trustworthy.
"Because my name is Athenox Emiya and my father is the current leader of the Undercity faction. Also known as Hades Emiya. I grew up in Undercity as his son and learned a lot about the spirits because they would tend to frequently attack the territory because of the city's proximity to what is believed to be the origin point of the cursed. I gained experience in gathering them because my father had to in order to maintain business within the city."
"I do not know much about Undercity but it is great that you know so much." Devin says.
"What kind of business?" Miraldes asks me.
"Well you know it is kind of funny. He was the leader of the faction and maintained business and relations between the other factions within the city. Specifically, the gathering and distribution of spirit essences, and on occasion distributing of magic goods crafted from those essences."
"That still does not explain how you know all of this. If you were training to become a mage, then the most he would have told you about his job would have been when? At the dinner table?"
"There is the next thing. I was not just his son, I was the one of the highest ranking officers in his army because of how much further in my mage training I had been than everyone else in my class at school. He gave me command of an elite unit when I was 10, known as the Reaper Squadron. So I was running some of the operations and if we are being perfectly honest, some of these operations also involved persuading members of other factions within the city. Which is why my father taught me counter magic as an extra method of dealing with those members, and it is also what I used against Luke."
"I am going to need you to repeat that, did you just say that you had command of an elite unit at 10 years old?" Alex says for confirmation.
"It does sound hard to believe, but we did a full background search on his records from Undercity and it is true. Even more impressive is that his unit was made up of a group of equally aged mages just like him." Eric says.
"Anyway as Athenox had said. These are wraiths and we are going to be using them for practice, so that you can get a good understanding of how they and other corrupted spirits work. We will explain as we go. Now it is critical to know that basic formation tactics will work against these but against a tougher spirit they usually do not tend to be as effective."
"So for now, Athenox do you think you will be able to them off long enough for your team members to figure out a strategy."
"Easy enough."
"Okay, be sure to get them in a group. You are going to get a better idea once you are in combat. For starters, Adam you should keep a safe distance off of the group so you can cast ranged spells to pick off the ones that Athenox is holding, as well as any stragglers but be sure not to stray too far off that you attract any extra. Miraldes and Devin, you should help Athenox take them down while they are focused on him. Alex, you should be ready for when Athenox gets to you so that you can sweep attack and deal with the majority of the group. Since this is your first time, we will help get any that stray."
Typically I was the one who dealt with the majority of the group with my full empowerment but I learned to be versatile. As I rush in first with my group behind me, I notice that there seems to be about 100 wraiths in the area. I activate empowerments in my hands, feet, and chest. I will be able to run long enough to get their attention. I start swinging and it gets them to notice. I empower my weapon and start slamming it around to get their attention. I circle up a fairly large group and start guiding them around. It takes a few minutes for Devin, Miraldes, and Alex to get positioned around the group. Adam seems to be about 10 meters behind us. Just far enough so that he does not run the risk of being attacked by the group we are dealing with nor any groups around us. He has also told us that 10 meters is about medium range for his Staff of the Trickster, which suits his shadow affinity. Devin and Miraldes are attacking from my left and right side, but due to Miraldes having a greater attack speed than Devin, there is an uneven distribution. Alex is about 50 meters back in the field charging up a massive attack with his battle staff. He told me that he could splay out the attack angles and attack an even more targets at a greater range when the weapon is in his preferred form. We keep this up and drag the group back to Alex and by the time we get near him we have probably wiped out about half of them. Alex seems to be done with the empowerment as he starts to use it, but I cannot help but help notice something weird. It was almost too easy to group the wraiths up. The groups around us are not taking notice of our presence, and if they are noticing us then they do not care. It is unusual activity for wraiths. Typically they will tend to draw others nearby. I see it. In the midst of combat, I did not notice that the groups around us are all marked with bizarre glowing lettering.
"Wait, it is a trap!"
I can't say the words fast enough.
As Alex starts his strike, red pillars of light erupt from the nearby wraith groups and connect with a red orb in the sky that cause the area around us to have a red tint to it. I count at least 100 pillars. It must be some kind of trap. Immediately Devin, Alex, and Miraldes pass out onto the ground. Connor and Eric are brought to their knees and only managed to be keeping themselves from hitting the floor by leaning on their swords. Adam and I appear to be unaffected at surface level but it is starting to feel hotter and the air seems thinner making it harder to breath.
"Adam, we need to break the circle, those outer groups were marked with some kind of lettering." I can say that but it seems as if within the area of the trap I would estimate around 200 wraiths are scattered around. Fighting through them is going to be nearly impossible but I have to try. Before I can make a move I hear shouting from Eric and Connor.
"Eric, do it now!"
"Caladbolg, Spiral Sword!" He shouts as he presses the drill like sword into the earth.
The ground starts shaking as glowing fractures appear. The soil starts to give way beneath us as a massive explosion of light energy bursts out and blurs everything from vision. After the light fades, holes seem to have appeared under where Eric, Devin, Miraldes, and Alex were. Following magic trails from their former locations allows me to see that Eric recovered them and ran back to the ship. Connor starts to regain his footing.
"Eric did his part now it's our turn. Look up there." He points to the sky where a white light streaks across the sky for a moment and then vanishes.
Without warning a shadowy figure crashes into the ground, causing the wraiths to be destroyed.
"So this is where the real practice begins. Athenox, do you know what this is?" He readies his blade and points it at the figure.
"Something I have only had the pleasure of encountering on a few rare occasions. It is a corrupted spirit and by the looks of what it just did. I would say that it is a strong one."
"Yes, which is why basic team combat strategies hardly ever work against them. As mages we are eventually able to be strong enough to take them down by ourselves. I could have but most of my power was drained with that trap. I will need your guys' help. Adam do you think that you can?"
"Yeah I will."
"Athenox, You and I are going to tag team it. You can detect magic right?"
"Yes I can."
"I need you to keep track of what it is doing and try to analyze as much as you can on it. Just like when you fought Mrs. before. If using its weapon will gain an advantage against it then do it. Also do not worry about passing out. If you manage to help me destroy this thing then I will carry you back to the school myself."
"Ok I will go in first to get the initial strikes and attack pattern." I rush in with Caliburn.
The spirit seems to anticipate and can evade, maneuver around me, and then attempt a counter attack. I block with my blade. The first apparent thing becomes the weapon that the spirit is using. With its fighting style and the way I was blocked. Based off of what I know about weapons, I would say it is a pair of daggers. Any detailing on beyond that is too hard to make out as thick shadow is covering the spirit. I hope that if I strike the weapons enough then I will get a clearer picture of it. The spirit jumps back and produces a shadowy length that narrowly misses my right arm. I grab the shadow midair and pull on it. I know that because of how weak my body is, it is will be unlikely that I can overcome the spirits grip and disarm it or even pull it to me. However, as I am sent launching directly towards the spirit I feel what I grabbed. It is a metallic chain. I get close enough to the spirit to see where it connects to the daggers in the spirit's hands, before it evades and sends me flying into the ground with a cut on my hand.
"Connor, the spirit is using two dagger like weapons with a chain on it! Switch."
The spirit stops for a moment, before proceeding in combat with Connor. His sword shines as it clashes with the shadowy daggers, almost as in contrast. The pace of the strikes between the two is almost too intense to keep up with. Connor's sword is a relatively large blade roughly the same size as Caliburn and yet he seems to be striking almost as fast as the spirits daggers, which is something that I myself was having trouble with when I was going against the spirit. I do not know much about Connor's abilities, but his reflexes with his sword seem to be leaving no openings for the spirit. If this is him drained of magical energy, then I would not even want to duel him when he is at his best. However, he is also unable to land a hit on the spirit. The two are locked in a stalemate right now, but if Connor doesn't gain an edge soon then I imagine that he will tire out. I have to find out more information in order to defeat it. Which means I have to fight it more.
"Connor, switch." I say as I throw my blade and displace to it, and catch the spirit's strike.
"Ok, if you think that will help."
I caught the strike from the daggers and wasn't sent flying despite its apparent physical strength. That means that the daggers are not generating a great deal of force per hit, but it is also attacking very fast. The image of the daggers are very clear in my mind, and I could replicate it if I wanted to but it may not be the best option given my lack experience with a weapon of that configuration. It will probably break focus of the spirit, if nothing else. I summon its weapon in my left hand. The spirit stopped again. In its hesitation I manage to disarm the daggers from the hands of the spirit. As I proceed to strike with Caliburn the spirits left hand catches it while its right hand delivers a punch to the center of my gut. I am sent flying and land on my back. The spirit raises its hands to its face and takes off what appears to be an eye mask of some kind, revealing what appears to be bright yellow eyes. Immediately my body starts to feel an intense pressure like it is being crushed. Connor from where he is standing seems to be unable to make any movements. Adam from some distance back seems to be relatively unaffected other than what looks to be the shock of intense pressure. There is a massive amount of magical energy that got released into the air. I will use it by following the mana back to its source. If I can do that than maybe I will be able to figure out how to stop it. The spirit walks over and picks its daggers back up. I see the eyes. My mana from the daggers has gotten on the spirits hands which allows me to analyze the eyes structure. The spirit turns towards me and seems to have noticed what I was doing. While it is distracted, Connor tries to rush towards it, but is immediately encased in stone up to his waist with his sword pointed at it. The spirit turns back to me and I see the full detail of the eyes. They are actually gray with yellow pupils and are dense and solid in structure. The cells seem to be made up of material that closely resembles the schools reality marbles. It is a gamble but if I can counter them by emitting my mana at the same frequency then I should be able to nullify the effect. I just have to change my spells encoding. I do this passively when I copy someone's weapon, so I should be able to do it right now. As a saber mage, the best way I know to emit mana is through my sword. I dismiss the version of Caliburn in my hand and summon an empowered pair of blades and stab them into the ground. I am instantly frozen in place and covered in stone. More accurately, my body seems to be turning into stone. The field around me darkens and the only thing visible is a women standing a few meters away, who I presume to be the spirit. I must have opened up a reality marble based off of the composition of those cells. She turns and looks at me and appears to be mouthing a word out to me. I can't make out what she is saying.
"Em…iy...-a." I can only tell through the broken syllables that she is saying my last name.
How?
Does she know me?
I have never seen this spirit before in my life. I try to respond back but my mouth seems to be made of stone. I can only watch as twelve shadowy figures appear around her and channel a spell on her and then bind her in shadowy chains. In the distance I can hear Connor.
"Adam, do it now! I do not know how long we can keep this up!" The field around me shatters and I find myself back to normal almost. I look down at my hands and find that I am now holding Connor's sword and am in the position where he was standing earlier. I look over at where I was standing and find that my body is still right there trapped in the stone with the blades stuck in the ground.
"Athenox, Connor wants you to finish her off now! She looks weakened. Use your phantasm's full empowerment."
I don't get it but on impulse I raise the sword I am holding into the air. If I this is not my sword, than this will not work. Wait, I can feel it. This is still my sword, Caliburn. Adam used one of his spells, Mass Illusion. It is a similar effect to a reality marble. It distorts the appearances and the appeared location of the targets inside. I feel bad about how much damage I am about to cause to the spirit, but if I do not then she will kill Connor, and then possibly Adam and I. I fully empower the blade and raise it into the air. The dark energy it emits almost makes it look like it is nighttime outside.
"Caliburn!" I shout as loud as I can as I slam the sword down, causing a flurry of dark shadowy energy to emit a torrent that erupts in a line that probably reaches out to about 10 meters. When the blast is over. The spirit is gone and the only trace left is the visor she was using and her daggers. As the illusion field vanishes and Connor turns back to normal, I feel the level of exhaustion proportionate to the mana I just used. I black out and fall to the ground.
*While Athenox, Devin, Miraldes, and Alex are in the Infirmary after their mission. Eric, Connor, and Adam are in a dark room with Mrs., and they are all sitting around a table explaining what happened on their mission. Scene 4.*
"It still doesn't quite make sense. From the start it was kind of weird. We heard Athenox call out that it was a trap and we were immediately weakened by whatever the effects were and Devin, Miraldes, and Alex all passed out from it. The trap made a perimeter in the form of the surrounding groups of wraiths. Whatever the spell was, it had used them as a binding." Connor says.
"We saw the three of them and I used my remaining energy to empower Caladbolg to destroy the perimeter and get them out back to the ship. I never actually got to see the spirit though." Eric says to Mrs.
"It dropped out of the sky and moved and attacked very fast. Easily an Assassin class spirit, further confirmed by Athenox identifying the daggers in its hand and the fact that he could take a strike from it full force without getting sent flying. We switched back and forth so that Athenox could identify as much information about the spirits abilities. Eventually the fight went into a standstill and the spirit used some strange optic magic which froze me in place. Adam was far away enough that the magic did not seem to affect him. Athenox was about as close as I was and also managed to be unscathed by it."
"It is probably because of his magic resistance." Mrs. exclaims to the group at the table.
"If I had to guess, then you are probably right about that Mrs. That may also explain how the trap had a minimal effect on him compared to the others." Adam interjects.
"That is true but the rest of the fight gets weird, and I can barely comprehend what had happened. Adam while you were channeling your illusion spell, did you see what had happened?"
"Yes I did but I am not quite sure how to explain it. You charged at the spirit when it was looking at Athenox, but you immediately got halfway covered in stone. If I had to guess Athenox was using his detection to try and figure out how to break the magic. He summoned two empowered blades and stabbed them into the ground. They were not glowing in the same manner as Caliburn usually does when he empowers it, and instead they were glowing a bright yellow color similar to the spirit's eyes. He turned completely into stone when did this. At that point you told me to cast the spell. Which seems to have distorted both Athenox's and Connor's location and appearances as is the usual effect of the spell. When Athenox got to Connor's location, I had told him to finish the spirit off. He of course did with his full empowerment. The spirit vanished and Athenox had probably drained so much of his mana that he blacked out."
"I myself don't understand the extent of what happened, but I am sure that Athenox may be able to add a piece to this puzzle when he wakes up. He may be getting stronger and more experienced with his abilities as he fights more. Definitely more versatile if he figuring out how to combine his void magic with counter magic which is what seems to have been the case."
"I didn't think that it was possible. Counter magic requires the ability to manipulate and match one's spell encoding and mana flow with another caster. It is impossible to do effectively against higher power spells unless they were of your own affinity. That spirit looked like it was a shadow affinity, not void. There has been no record of a void mage with the capabilities to steal a spell and use it to counter the original cast."
"That may be true Connor but keep in mind something. No void mage is alike. The only similarity that they share is the ability for their mana to siphon and contain other magic within itself as that is the very property of the mana in the same way that air lightens, fire burns, poison erodes, metal increases in density, shadow distorts, and holy light purifies. The mana within a user acts just as its corresponding element acts in nature, but void cannot exist in nature because its form is unstable, so it instead stabilizes itself through the absorption of other elements."
"You have told us that before and I get the concept behind it. It is just that I do not understand how Athenox can have this level of development with it in just a matter of a few days."
"Well if combat is the primary source for his abilities to develop, then the fact that he has fought every single one of those days is a reason for it. I would also think it is because within those fights he probably uses more mana than a normal person would which in turn strengthen his magic circuits. He also seems to very easily drain himself of mana in a fight, which is why consistently passes out or temporarily goes numb when he uses certain abilities such as his weapon copying. Even with this rapid development his magic circuits are still very volatile to say the least. Compared to a normal mages training, I would think that Athenox has recovered about five years of magic training in these past few days, at least in terms of power but he is far ahead in terms his capability. So we do not know what other surprises that his powers hold as he continues to get stronger. I am sure that we will find out in due time. For now we are just going to let Athenox recover before we try to explore any deeper into his power because damaging him would not be ideal considering his potential value to the team." Mrs. clarifies.
*End of Episode 6.*
