Chapter 3: Elementorum Artium

The atmosphere of the room changed almost instantly as the members of the table looked at the future that Relinquo portrayed, their faces expressionless. The hologram had turned red. A swivelling cloud spiralled over the heart of Mikeland, fuelled by a funnel of darkness sprouting from the sword that once was. Buildings were destroyed, fires ate at creations without mercy, and the ground was covered in rubble. Having zoomed in, several cloaked members protruded from the darkness that was now within the old building of Mike Shop. The hologram burst into shadows and the light of the room restored itself.

"As you can see..." Relinquo said, crossing his arms, breathing deeply, "they will somehow find it." Mike's face had become deeply saddened and filled with a kind of fear. This fear was different. This worried everyone. Mike was always able to help them through disasters.

"I wish to say something," Lossius said, breaking the silence. Mike looked at him, then nodded. "I, on behalf of the SPG, want to aid in the protection of the Amethyst."

"After the two Police that left?" Mick said, "I appreciate your enthusiasm, Lossius, however... we cannot allow you near the Amethyst." This angered Lossius, but he did think of the logic. Two Police left. They have to be this careful.

"But we're different," French said, standing up out of his chair, "we know what we're doing, unlike those children."

"Plus, didn't Mike say we were capable of mastering magic?" Magpie accused, standing as well. The Overlords turned to Mike, who nodded lightly. "Then why can't you teach us?" A moment of silence ensued as everyone began to think. Mike was the first to speak.

"Very well then. Von," Mike said, causing Von to look at him, "I want you to teach the SPG the basic elemental arts."

"My kin-"

"Don't 'my King' me," Mike interrupted, "I wish for them to know. They are well trusted."

"Yes," Von replied, "However, to teach Elemental arts in a matter of days?"

"Actually," Relinquo interrupted, "it could be a long time from now. I am unsure of it. There is no specific date that I got an image of." He then turned to Lossius. "Plus, I am sure that these men are able to adapt quite quickly."

"Where I came from," Lossius said, "it was mandatory to learn how to manipulate the element of Air." He then looked at Mike. "But the first day I arrived here, I had signed a contract agreeing to never use it." Mike then spawned a sheet of paper.

"This is what you speak of," Mike deemed, flailing the page, "I want to sign you onto a new contract. You, Magpie, and French."

"And I," Halo spoke out, "I wish to participate." Mike agreed, taking the pages and levitating them so all four could be shown to all.

"Halo, French, Magpie, and Lossius," Mike caused the papers to spin, "from here on, you are not bound to a contract, like the Ladies, Lords, and Overlords of Mikeland. You may practise the art of magic under the supervision of Von." The pages then burned up, the ashes disappearing. "Meeting dismissed. I wish to keep all of you informed of these events. And most of all, do not worry. Mikeland has never been defeated before, and it will not be. The future is what we make it, so let's do our best."

Von cleared his throat then placed his hands behind his back, beginning to pace in front of the four men. The five of them were in a desert that lays about 25 km south of the Heart of Mikeland. Von had brought the airship there. Halo, Lossius, Magpie, and French were in a line, side by side.

"Now," Von said, looking intensely into each of their eyes as he passed them back and forth. "The first thing you four must do is work together to discover who wants to learn which Element."

"So we all have to use different Elements from one another?" Magpie asked, his legs becoming weary.

"Yes. This is because Mike expects that we have equal numbers of Elemental users." Von cleared his throat, "The Elemental Arts are as you would expect: Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. Usually, a user is strongest in an Element that mirrors their personality. Fire is aggressive, Water is majestic, Air is courageous, and Earth is stubborn and firm." He then proceeded to gesture his hands as if he was raising an invisible object. In front of him, the ground immediately grew, rock dividing the sand of the desert. He then slammed his hands together and pushed forth, a gust of air slicing through the rock. As the upper part of the rock began to slide off, he gestured his hand as if he was restraining a spherical object from expanding. This caused water to appear out of his hands and surround the upper rock into a spherical water prison. He pressed his hands closer, causing the rock to be crushed into powder. Then, he slid one leg around the ground, moving his right hand up as his index and middle fingers raised. This caused a circle of fire to engulf the remaining rock.

The four men looked in awe as Von portrayed the four Elements. Von then stood up straight, grinning.

"Most view those traits to be negative," Von continued, "However, those traits usually fuel the Elements the mos-"

"I call Air!" Lossius shouted out like a child, "Air is mine!" Magpie then caught on, shouting out his. "I want Fire!"

"Hey, I wanted Fire!" French said, shooting a look at Magpie. Halo sighed, "I'll take Earth." French then crossed his arms, looking away.

"Fine," French concluded, "I'll take Water. It EXTINGUISHES Fire." Von just stared at them, stopping his pace. Really, Mike, really?

"... Well, that was easier than I thought..." Von said to himself, "Anyway, I guess that's that. Those are your guys' Elements." He then decided to go on. "Elements create balance in the world. Water is best against Fire, Fire is best against Air, Air is best against Water, Earth is best against Water."

"However," Magpie continued his explanation, "one can defeat the other if it's strong enough, right? You showed us that." Von nodded.

"I used the Art of Earth to create Earth," Von explained, "then I used Air to slice the Earth. After that, I used Water against Earth. Not the wisest decision. However, I know my own Elemental strength. I knew that I would be strong enough to create enough pressure to crush the Earth beyond recognition."

"That's because you didn't put that much Elemental strength into the Earth," Magpie said, stroking his chin, "Am I correct, Sir?" Von nodded once more.

"Then I used Fire as a little touch, to show aggression," Von finished.

"Because Fire beats all." Magpie laughed.

"No, because it has no concrete Elemental form whatsoever," Von laughed at his own joke. "But that's not entirely true. Expert Fire users can animate Fire into beings. And ultimately, living beings." Magpie did a little victory 'Yes'. "But, that takes decades of experience and training." This caused a frown.

"So, we start today?" Lossius asked.

"Yes, you do," Von said, summoning a sword made with diamond. The blue blade looked like it could divide heat itself. "Now, to test your instinctual abilities... Lossius!" He immediately jumped forth, lunging for Lossius. Lossius, having only a second to react, instinctively slid to the side. Von then slashed at him. Lossius then dodged by bending backwards, allowing the blade to pass over his stomach. He then flipped backwards and assumed the base form that he was taught years ago. Placing his hands in front of him, maintaining his ground, Lossius readied himself as the others watched.

"You said that you used Air before, Lossius," Von recalled, "show me this!" He then went for a stab. Lossius jumped up and landed on the blade.

"Light as a feather..." Lossius said in a trance-like way, placing his palm so it was facing towards the blade, "Sharp as the sharpest blade." A sharp current of Air came out of his palm and snapped the blade in half. Lossius jumped back, landing on the ground. He bent his knees to absorb the impact.

"What the HELL, Los," Halo exclaimed, laughing a bit in shock, "Since when could you do that?"

"There's a reason why I became a Police so quickly," Lossius said, regaining his full conscious state, "but the downside about my use of Air is that... I kind of lose conscious of it..."

"Yes, I saw it in your eyes," Von claimed, the sword disappearing, "You were allowing the Air itself to possess you." This caused confusion among the three men. Lossius nodded, looking to the side a bit. "It is how his clan worked with Air. Quite inefficient, no offense."

"None taken," Lossius responded, shaking his head, "They know nothing." Halo, Magpie, and French all knew that there was something about his past. Yet none of them wanted to ask.

"It's inefficient," Von said once more, "because if they use too much of it at once, they allow the Air to take control of them. It gives more power, yet they lose complete control if exposed for too long. It's one of the reasons Mike made Lossius sign the extra contract."

"You had an extra?" French accused Lossius, "It was because of that?"

"Yeah," Lossius replied, "he was afraid that I would lose control too easily." He then assumed his stance once more. "However, another thing is... if you practise hard enough, you can gain complete control of the Essence of Air itself."

"The Essence of Air?" Magpie asked.

"That is the being that takes over Lossius," Von explained, "as he uses more and more of Air. Lossius, I'm going to teach you how to fully control that Air!" He pointed a bow and arrow at him, almost out of nowhere. "Instinctual test, number two!" He then released the arrow at Lossius. Lossius raised a hand to aim, then jumped up, moving his hands in a form. This ultimately ended in him shooting a powerful gust of air towards the arrow, causing it to snap almost instantly.

"Fine, you wish to test?" Lossius spoke, placing both arms flexed at his sides, "One rule of battle is to make use of your terrain!" He then pushed his arms forward, shooting sand very fast towards Von. Von jumped out of the way, over the sand. He himself did a similar movement, but with one arm. This caused the Earth beneath Lossius to tremble. Almost instantly, a mound of Earth raised from beneath his feet. Lossius jumped back, then began to run as fast as he could away from the raised Earth. Von landed on the pillar of Earth, then aimed his hand forward. Horizontal, spiralling pillars of Earths then spouted from the raised Earth, shooting very fast towards Lossius. He kept running, then stopped, turning around. The pillars had just about caught up to him.

Von was coming at him with the intent to kill. The three pillars of Earth he summoned began to converge on Lossius very fast. He then jumped upwards, pushing a gust of air out of his feet so he could jump high. He landed on top of one of the horizontal pillars of Earth, running towards Von. He copied the same technique as Von did with his sand. Lossius then clamped his hands together and then opened them towards Von, shooting very powerful gusts of Air towards him. It was at this moment that Lossius began to lose consciousness.

"Tellis dolor..." Lossius began to say in a raspy voice, shooting endless air at Von, "Unus tantum... unus tantum cum eligit!"

"Air only becomes one..." Von thought to himself, "with Earth when it chooses..." He then decoded it, but it was too late. He was blasted by the violent bolts of Air. Lossius then raised the Earth with Air, straining himself greatly. Pushing forth, he shots 'needles' of Air through the rock, sending projectiles of rock into the air after Von.

"Enough, Lossius," A voice came out from below him. Von swung his arm, turning his body so he could face the invisible needles accompanied by pieces of rock. He then pressed his palms together, adding pressure to them. Then, in what happened to be a New York minute, Von released them.

"Annihilate!" Von yelled, flames sprouting out of his hands. Thousands of little streams of flames shot forward, seeking out every single needle and rock. This then obliterated the projectiles.

Mick had appeared at the bottom of the pillar, placing his hand on the Earth. He then made the pillar return to the Earth. This caused Lossius to fall down. Mick caught him, then laid him on the ground. Von made his palms face the ground, forcing a blanket of air to raise from the ground, catching him and lowering him slowly.

"He needs work," Von said, walking to the five men. Mick nodded, looking down at the unconscious Lossius.

"What kind of magic did his clan use?" Mick asked himself quietly, although everyone could hear. Lossius laid there, unconscious. "How could such an Essence possess this twerp?"

"I'm not sure, but he needs to learn to control it," Von stated, "I would teach him from square one, but he already has a lot of technique at his disposal. It would only screw him up more than he already is."

"This isn't a time for jokes, Lord Von," French said, "Worst part could be that he could DIE using it. Have some respect, will you?" Von looked at him, a serious face forming. Mick merely laughed lightly.

"He is right, Von," Mick assured, "don't be a douche."

"I'm not a douche!"