CHAPTER 48 -THE OPPOSITE- (2)

 

   The flow of the otherworldly magical energy had installed in me the assurance of no losing battle, whether with mana or not. I tried studying the strength behind the feeling of it but it was never ending. 

 

   It felt necessary to unleash the mana that scraped the surface of my mana ring, to understand its functions I needed to simulate a battle. At least that’s what I’m thinking of right now, the problem is where can I have a fight that doesn’t have to be a battle to the death? 

 

   I spent minutes trying to think of an opponent to test my newly acquired power l. A couple of people came to mind but there were some other downsides to it. I would like to battle someone without them spreading  it to other people. 

 

   Noah is pretty perceptive when it comes to combat but he is too afraid of harming his allies. 

 

   Grace is another potential candidate. Her understanding about power and influence is well above others, probably on par with grandpa Dale. Yet if she were to learn about my power as it is right now, her mouth wouldn’t be shut about it.

 

   Furgeson could be the perfect candidate, he’s a tanker and could potentially tank an Espion’s attack for a full minute. But he can’t take things seriously unless people’s lives are at stake. 

 

   There were two other people who came to mind but it would be useless, they didn’t—. I cut that thought personally before continuing any further, think, why would they be a better candidate than anyone else that I had in mind huh?

 

   The answer was right in front of me, the moment that I noticed their weird connection with mana, that is when I knew that they were better than all of our party combined. Both Charlie and Ava would be great to rest my new authority with this power. 

 

   Both of my palms then touched the dome shaped yellow barrier which I then concentrated on the mana spell itself rather than the matter that formed it, essentially making my connection with it wasn’t hard but it wasn’t easy either. Yet it was clear in my mind, the lines that connected my palms with the barrier were clear as day, all I needed to do was to strengthen them. 

   

   Was it possible? For me to do such a task without knowing what it would take? 

 

   Strengthening such a fragile relationship with the magical lines would make my plan work? I felt a smile that almost reached my eyes. With my intentions crystal clear there shouldn’t be a problem at this point or future ones. 

 

   If I could strengthen it, I wouldn’t know if I could or not. Not until I tried to do so. 

 

   As I placed my earth-affinity into the points that connected the barrier with my palms along with water-affinity forming a stable balance, yellow and red lighting cursed outside the barrier and inside the barrier as I injected it with more of the tri-affinity mana. 

 

   Layla only managed to stay quiet as she observed my actions, but it was clear that she was interested in my own thoughts. 

 

   Feeling that my mana wasn’t going to run out fast, I decided to initiate more of the same action with more force. Trying to overtake the resistance of mana that the barrier could hold, it was only a matter of seconds before the barrier became mine. 

 

   At least that’s what I thought, in less than a Milliseconds the mana I forced through the channel points erupted causing that connection between me and the barrier to become unstable and later then brake. 

 

   Shattering like it was glass, the yellow barrier soon lost its meaning.

 

   I only stared at my hands, trying to once again understand my own powers… or what I had just learned from it and done with it. The moment the barrier was up, the only plan I had was to take over it with my own simple powers, but instead ended up with a new plan that I needed to make on the go. 

 

   But out of everything there was in my mind, the only thing that stood out to me the most was a single question that would leave anyone else bewildered. Why… Why did I think that? How did I even come up with a plan like that? Was there a reason why I would think it like that? Almost like it was part of my nature to envision that thinking. 

 

   I cursed in my mind as I tried to not have those kinds of thoughts anymore. 

 

   “Do you mind if you suppress your aura along with your mana?” The multi-colored girl asked, walking towards me with a worried smile, “it seems to have worked… a little too much I would say.” 

 

   As she got close, her colored eyes looked at where the yellow barrier was earlier before it was shattered. To me it seemed like she was frowning about her barrier but I don’t blame her. 

 

   Between that frowning expression she also had a hint of jealousy and happiness towards the action. 

 

   “It seems my job has been done,” she let out a sigh. Suddenly she focused on the ceiling on top of us, like she was looking through it. “Now, there’s a little bug where you could use your newly found power.” 

 

   “What do you mean—“ 

 

   A tremendous amount of energy fell upon the monarch’s castle, it was terrifying just thinking about it. 

 

   Hurriedly, I left the lab room and arrived to discover three soldiers, two of them had wings that looked like baat wings with scales. The armor that they were wearing was above ours, the quality and endurance seemed overwhelming. 

 

   With the aura that the two winged humanoids had wasn't creepy enough, the one behind them was even more dangerous and disturbing. Essentially like it was irritated at something or someone. 

 

   Both abnormal beings with wings began to completely destroy the guards that were in keepance of the monarch’s castle. One by one, their body fell on the ground spilling their blood to then become a puddle of crimson liquid. I pushed my brows forward, even though I had this power right now I didn’t feel confident enough to fight them and even have the thought of winning. 

 

   Dammit… I cursed. Am I only going to have to watch as the soldiers get massacred here, in front of me knowing that I had at least some power to stop these people? No, to hell with that. I am going to do something, even if it's just a scratch, I have to stop these people. 

 

   With the barely formed resolve, I stepped forward not knowing what was planned for me next. When my foot landed solidly on the ground, when I moved my body forward planning to take another step. A deadly and fierce force pushed against me. 

 

   It wasn’t from the two winged people, this force was something else. Something stronger than Alter’s force when he rampaged in the academy, just what was this force? 

 

   “It seems that there is at least someone powerful enough to take me on,” a voice said behind me. Footsteps then became clear as they passed besides me with confidence, “But that is all, your power isn’t strong now that I sense it.” Then a magical power surged from him equalizing it, creating a clash between auras and magical forces. 

 

   The two that were opposite from the Vassal stepped forward, like they were guarding the hooded one behind them. Their swords were already in position to strike down the Vassal but their facial expression seemed normal. The Vassal noticed this and became irritated and said, “You guys seemed to look at me like a bug… that is unacceptable!” 

 

   Unleashing his aura along with his mana made the environment around us shake, however, the three people didn’t seem bothered by it but instead annoyed. Conjuring two attribute spells on each hand, all four elements were dispatched by his will. I was speechless, I thought there was only one person who was a quadra-elemental and that was Alter but there to be another? 

 

   Is there a rarity to being a quadra-elemental at all? Or… was it the power of the Vassal that coincides with it? 

 

   It was suspicious to me, why was there a reason for a new higher power–a rank? To ensure that the Espions are not the lackeys of Alter… or to keep the continent of Afreon safe from any other wars to come? 

 

   “Now die!” the Vassal announced as the spells were dispatched from his hands in mere seconds that even I couldn’t follow.

 

   Out of nowhere, everything around us shifted. The large corridor that we were in shrinked… folded like paper. The doors that existed no longer did, they were erased from the shifted world. 

 

   “How?!”  

 

   I turned my attention to the Vassal’s words. My eyes widened as I saw what he was witnessing, a phenomenon. The hooded person was in front of the four elemental spells that the Vassal conjured, their hand clearly touching the spell before flicking it with their finger and making it disappear. 

 

   Being confused, the Vassal began to ask the hooded person what they had just done, no response came out. Instead their head shifted to me, a small smile it had before changing its view to the Vassal. 

 

   Seeing what happened to his spell, the Vassal called for a lightning spear. Appearing on his right hand, he prepared to throw it to the person in front of him. As he did, another shift happened, changing where the hooded person was to directly in front of the Vassal. Being just a few centimeters away from each other, the hooded person then launched their left arm to the tip lightning spear before gripping it with mana. 

 

   With their free hand following the path towards the neck of the Vassal, picking him up as he undid the lightning spear with a recoil of wind, blowing away the hood of the person picking him up. 

 

   Their features were unveiled. Rid tips of its hair danced with the recoil of the wind; the blonde stretched away from the crimson tips to the base of the scalp. Her eyes were like emeralds jewels, her body seemed to have matured after all this time. 

 

   “Just who are…you?” Asked the Vassal to the former Espion, dropping the ranked soldier—that was currently stronger than three Espions—on the floor. The powerful guy whom I just met a couple of hours ago was on the floor gasping for air and weakened.

 

   The former human Espion took a couple of seconds before answering his question with pride. 

 

   “I am Luna Lyric, former Espion of the Londorwin Kingdom and of course disciple of the former general of the continent of Afreon. Alter Violet.”