Part 3

What do you know about magic?

It was a simple question from Alistair, who sat at a red and white booth in a retro-vintage diner with checkered tiled floors across two Crystal Guardians.

Back to the question.

It was a simple question with several vague answers that were up to one’s perspective, but that question was directed to a teen that sat across from him and paused with his mouth open in an attempt to eat a double bacon cheeseburger.

The question caught the teen off guard, not because of its bluntness, but because he honestly did not have an answer for it.

Haruko Matsumoto.

To the right of him was Aoi, who was fidgeting with her own burger, trying to keep everything between the two buns from slipping out.

He closed his mouth and removed one hand from the burger.

Slowly, the teen’s eyes moved in several directions.

Up.

"Uhnnnn."

Left.

"Magic...."

Down.

"Ummmm."

His mouth was opening and closing as if he were trying to say something, but he couldn't find the correct words.

Right.

"Magic.....magic"

His blue eyes glanced over at Alistair.

"Absolutely nothing," Haruko replied with a blank smile on his face.

After a few seconds, Alistair closed his eyes and sighed.

"That was to be expected." Alistair said as he reached into his left pants pockets, pulling something out. "It seems that I have to try a different method with you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Haruko said it with a mouth full of food.

"Anatoli Azarov." Alistair started to speak before sliding a picture on the map of the city that was nearly covering the dinner table they were sitting at.

Haruko picked up the picture, staring at it, before a silent anger washed over him, swallowing his food.

The photo was a still shot from a CCTV camera of the old man with whom he fought earlier, although with a previous date and timestamp.

"He was a magician, part of a covert death squad out of the Soviet Union during the Cold War."

Haruko stared puzzledly at the photo.

"A magician... assassin? That sounds so..."

Alistair leaned forward with his elbows on the table.

"It was a radical and unheard of idea then, but it is probably because of those two reasons why it worked so well...." Alistair pushed himself off the table, leaning back into the chair. "If the rumors are true,"

"You don't believe in it?" Haruko said, wiping the barbecue sauce from his left bottom lip with his right thumb before sticking it in his mouth.

"With magic, you can't be too sure about a lot of things."

"This person..." Haruko said, attempting to steer the conversation back on track.

"Right, about six days ago, this individual snuck into this city after killing a booth worker and truck driver; he has been up in the air ever since."

Haruko felt something twist inside his stomach as Alistair said that last part. In this mass metropolis of a city, he had a run-in with a murderer in an encounter that was nothing more than a random coincidence.

"With his reputation, the original belief was that he would be after you two."

That statement caused Haruko and Aoi to stop eating.

"Why us?"

"One Crystal Guardian, and the birth of another is not a small thing in the world."

Haruko stared at Alistair.

"But the only way it could be a great concern is if..."

"Is if most of the world already knows about the Crystal Guardians themselves?" Alistair said, cutting Haruko off.

"...What?" Haruko mumbled out in a low tone.

Alistair placed his hands in his pockets, leaning back in the seat.

"Otherworldly to this world as it is, the Crystal Guardians abilities and title are not entirely unknown to this world as you believe, which brings me back to my original question."

Haruko sighed.

"Which I already told you, I don't know much about magic." Haruko said as he took a bite out of his burger.

"You don’t have to understand every fine detail about magic; you just have to gather an understanding of what I am about to tell you."

Haruko gulped, swallowing his food.

"On the surface of this very planet, its trees, bodies of water, vast buildings, the whole nine yards, and so on, there is an energy that exists in a somewhat dormant state until it is called upon. That energy is called Mana."

Alistair watched as a puzzled look appeared on Haruko's face.

"I can tell that you are having a hard time understanding all of this."

"Well, obviously." Haruko replied, sticking a barbecue-covered French fry in his mouth.

"Well, for this next part, you’ll need to pick up things very quickly from here on. That single source of energy is what allows magicians and spellcasters to cast their spells."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"At its core, performing magic is like initiating a ritual with the energy that lies within the earth." The voice came from Aurelius, who was sitting at the booth, along with Valeria and Camellia, who were sitting across from him, behind Haruko and Aoi. "Have all the right materials, have your symbols ready, perform the chants correctly, and you have magic."

"It’s somewhat similar to the way both of your powers work if those requirements were always met every time you used a spell. That energy is of the utmost importance to anyone who can use magic. You can have all the expensive materials, all the years of study, and hundreds of spells under your belt, and you can try performing the spell all you want, but if there is no mana to be used, then you won't be able to, basically hitting a dead end. Every magician and spellcaster in the world, regardless of rank, family status, experience, or thereof, is bound by that one caveat." Alistair explained this to Haruko.

"I see, I think I got an understanding—not fully, but something."

Alistair grinned.

"Well, it’s better than nothing. If you can understand that, then you will have no problem with this next part."

Haruko groaned.

"There's more," Haruko asked.

"Yes, and this is crucial; that energy is not infinite." Alistair said in a low tone, hammering that one-point home to the teen.

Haruko’s eyes widen at that statement.

"Energy that comes from the earth returns to the earth—nothing more, nothing less. It is a simple rinse-wash repeating cycle. Though there are ways to circumvent that issue, one way is to store mana in an area or vessel."

Haruko paused.

"Could such a thing really be possible?"

"Yup, it is more common than you think; in fact, that very method is how many barrier spells operate. Since that energy is still connected to the earth and the spell never truly dissipates, it presents a paradox, essentially creating a near-immortal spell until the spell is weakened or outright destroyed."

Haruko's mind flashed to the spell Alexis used for their house.

"Augmenting objects with mana is even more common and much more dangerous." Aurelius spoke out behind Haruko, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Performing a spell, the whole process can be done in a step-by-step process; some steps can be skipped, and other steps can be ignored entirely. My hammer, I can augment with Mana by initiating the first few steps, without performing a spell, holding the energy in place."

Pulling the white straw from her mouth, Valeria spoke, lifting her left forearm.

"By using the tattoo markings on my body, I can take the already basic level of augmenting mana we magicians use to increase speed, strength, and reflexes..."

As she said that, a hexagonal grid-like pattern appeared on her raised forearm.

Haruko watched in amazement.

"Applying my own magic, I can even take it a full step further."

(So that is how they were able to increase the strength of their attacks)

(.... Wait)

(She said basic level.)

A thought came to him.

Haruko placed his left hand under his chin, staring at the picture of Anatoli on the table.

(Perhaps I am overthinking things...)

Haruko's thoughts were interrupted once again, this time by Alistair speaking.

"With the way you are pondering, it seems that you are beginning to have an understanding."

"Somewhat they could have just said that their technique was like when Ichigo used Getsuga Tenshou to increase the power of his swings by not firing it off."

Aurelius turned his head.

"Excuse me." Aurelius said it in an annoyed tone. “Did you just compare our abilities to a cartoon?”

Haruko peeked back, smirking.

“Yes, and it’s a manga and anime, and you should explain it better.”

"Don't get him started, Aurelius." Alistair said. "Back to the point earlier, Haruko, based on what you just learned, what would you consider the most important resource in a battle?"

"Huh."

"If two magicians under the same circumstances were to battle, then what would be the most important resource to them?"

Haruko paused.

"Given what you guys said, it would have to be Mana.”

There was silence in the group.

Alistair lowered his dark glasses a little bit with his left index finger, staring at the teen with his red eyes.

"Are you sure?"

"From my understanding, mana flows through the earth, so location is out. Switch weapons for spells; regardless of how powerful a single spell is or how fast you can throw out multiple spells, it becomes meaningless if there is nothing powering it. That is my answer."

“Well, if this was a real test, you would get top marks for sure,” Alistair said, grinning. "Sorry about the pop quiz; it is not my way of doing things, but this was the only way I could explain the critical situation that we are in given this individual and our own mana zone."

"You believe that this person will strip the city of its magical energy.”

"Not him, but a weapon could, which brings up the weapon. Through intelligence and confirmation from both the United Kingdom and NEO New York City, the weapon this man has would be able to do that with no problem."

"How?"

Alistair pulled another photo out of his pocket.

"This is a photo of a relic of the Third Magic War a few centuries ago, the Mana Sword. I know it doesn’t look like much, given that it is nothing more than a sword hilt, but it is an anti-magic weapon at the highest level, just as your powers are at the highest level. It is also why we need to act with urgency."

"Why?"

Alistair quietly sighed.

"At 3:30, a little over an hour and a half from now, the city will begin preparations for declaring war with Russia."

There was silence amongst the group at Alistair's statement.

Haruko's eyes slowly widen at the realization of what was just said.

And then-

Haruko quickly shot up to his feet, his palms slamming down onto the table.

"A WAR, WHAT THE HELL ARE YO-" Haruko's shouting was cut off as Alistair raised his left index finger.

"Don't yell." Alistair said in a serious tone, his red eyes staring up at the teen. "We don't want anyone eavesdropping, do we?"

Haruko began looking around the diner.

Several people in the diner were staring at the teen after his outburst.

Realizing this, Haruko sat back down quietly, leaning over the table.

"Why war?" Haruko said in a whisper.

"Unfortunately, the situation may call for it, NEO New York City is a city with a population of over 8 million people. Sixty-four percent of that number identify as either spellcasters or magicians; mana that is taken by that weapon is lost forever. Mana covers the planet, but because of the weapon previous use empty pockets exist within that cover. The city and the Magi population can't afford to lose the mana zone in this area."

Haruko glanced down at the photo of Anatoli.

Noticing this, Alistair spoke.

"I don't know how the city fits into all of this, and there is not time to speculate. What we do know now is that this individual and that weapon are within the city. Given the method that was used to take the weapon, using him as a distraction, we know that he is not working alone, to what extent that is up in the air, but he may be acting as a proxy to eliminate the mana within the city, and then after that, Russia or whoever sent him would follow up with a bigger attack of their own. While he is within this city running about with the uncertainty of our own mana zone, we have to mount an attack while we still can."

Haruko clenched his fist as small sparks were emitted.

"How do we stop this?" Haruko said in a low voice. "This guy, the conflict, the war, all of it."

Alistair stared at Haruko.

"For now, there are two methods: either the individual is eliminated or the weapon is destroyed. If either of those conditions or both are met, then the call for war can be averted."

"That guy is no pushover, and with the way you are talking about this item, that is not going to be an easy feat."

"I know, that is why I gathered these magicians..." Alistair said, pointing at the group sitting behind Haruko, causing him to slightly turn his body clockwise toward the group.

Aurelius sat there with his back to the teen. At the sight of the teen staring at her, Camellia silently buried her face into the brown book that she held in her hands. Valeria blew a kiss at the teen before winking and waving her fingers, causing a light blush to appear on his face.

"...and you two."

Haruko turned back to Alistair.

"Sorry for bringing you two in like this, but we had no idea how far the reach of this proxy group is. The plan was to bring you in without drawing any attention, but that part failed. To what extent I don't know, but you are here now, and now that you are here, are you in?"

A question.

A question was asked by Alistair to Haruko, and without a second thought, the teen replied with an answer.

"Yes"

It was a simple answer, but it made him lean back, putting his hands in his pockets.

"That was a pretty quick answer, are you sure?"

Haruko attempted to open his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Alistair.

"I want you to fully think about your answer. When we leave here, our objective will be to stop him. It may seem simple, but if we fail, the city will be thrown into war, and a war between two superpowers will spill out into a world war. You, your family, the people you care about—everyone will be brought into it."

Haruko slowly looked around the diner.

Various people were eating and talking with each other, all in their own little world, oblivious to the fact that the city was inching closer to war.

"The risks are far too great for self-doubt and second guesses, so with all that said, are you in?"

Haruko pondered what was said by Alistair for a few seconds.

Then-

"It is just as you said, right, there is too much at stake for second guesses. People are getting hurt right now, and more are going to get hurt if we don’t do anything about this asshole. Plus, I want to kick his ass again. So, you’re asking me if I am in, Hell fucking yeah, I am."

Alistair grinned.