The Virtues' Magecraft

The First Mission Goes Wrong, Part 2

Alexander stared at Gabriel, before glancing down at the gaping hole beneath them. He took in a deep breath. "Hey..." he said.

"New plan!" Alexander shouted with a smile. "But you... You just gotta keep at it, okay?"

Gabriel didn't understand what Alexander meant. Until he yanked his sword from the crevice. Until he fell.

"Alexander!" one of the Virtues shouted.

"Demon-Born!"

The curse's many arms reached out as Alexander fell into its mouth. He smiled as he gripped the blade with both hands, squeezing it with every ounce of pressure he had so he wouldn't let go.

And from there... The Demon-Born fell into the spirit's mouth. From there... The spirit clenched its jaw, pushing its teeth together, chewing and gnawing on what it could.

"Oh, God."

Gabriel was frozen in shock. Alexander didn't just kill himself, did he?

A bronze blade shot out from the spirit's insides.

His eyes widened. Alexander went inside to kill it. There was always the possibility that its core wasn't even here. Still... If it was, they'd kill it much more quickly.

This...

This was the only option that could allow Alexander to survive.

Alexander had fallen just fast enough to avoid being ripped apart by the teeth. And now...

He stood in a seemingly endless pit of darkness, barely managing to stand upright on a crooked, uneven mass of flesh and bone.

"Yes!" the curse cried out. "You're alive after all, White-Eyed Demon!"

Alexander kept slashing, cutting, tearing apart from the spirit's inside.

Gabriel swallowed his dry saliva. 'White-Eyed Demon?'

What Alexander faced was tougher than it was for Gabriel. The curse's arms and teeth had shifted into its insides, all of them trying to cut, chew, and tear apart the Demon-Born. And Alexander was still kicking.

He was still alive and slashing with everything he had.

"The best magicians are the ones with a few screws loose."

Those words echoed in Gabriel's head. He slowly began to smile as he slammed his silver sword back into the cursed spirit.

"You can't kill me!" the curse laughed. "You cannot find my core!"

And Alexander remained silent. He cut arms, slashed teeth, and stabbed faces. His movements became mechanical and robotic, continuing until his arms would give out.

"You are much weaker than you once were, White-Eyed Demon!" it cackled. "A pity! Truly, a pity!"

Alexander's eyes burst open, his eyes flashing and glowing with pale starlight. "Is that so?"

All Alexander could see or feel was a dense coating of water. No. What he felt to be water was energy. Pure energy.

He knew it wasn't from being in the literal inside of a spirit, but rather, something from within him. But now, he didn't have to think about it. He simply didn't care.

All he did was continue his mechanical movements ripping, tearing, and lacerating everything around him. He twisted his wrists as he slashed, the bronze sword sliding through the mass like water.

From there, it was all repetition. Alexander would rip and tear apart, Gabriel would s***h and cut, and the spirit would scream in anguish. The spirit would heal and regrow. Even so...

It wasn't long of these repetitive actions and movements that Alexander encountered it. The core.

It was shaped like a pitch-black orb of diamond, glistening even in the darkness of the curse's insides. On its end stood a single protrusion, connecting the core to the rest of the body. Alexander raised his sword to sever the protrusion. And at the same time...

'Found it!'

Gabriel had reached its core as well.

But before he could do anything, a bronze blade shot out from behind. That was Alexander's sword.

He had decided to impale the crystal orb. To play it safe, he told himself.

"Damned Demon!" the spirit cried.

And from there, the spirit began to fade to ash and dust. The corridor and rooms began to tilt, reverting back to where they supposed to be.

Alexander sighed, stepping out a cut and slashed crevice of the spirit's body. He held his breath as to not inhale the overwhelming stench.

Gabriel stared at Alexander in confusion. For a second, the Demon-Born's eyes glistened with white eyes before flashing back to their normal obsidian color.

He let out a deep sigh. "Well, that was terrifying," Alexander said, his voice almost nonchalant.

One of the hands that Gabriel had severed shot up from the ground, grabbing Alexander by the throat. "You... I'll kill you," the spirit's voice rang out.

But Alexander didn't budge. Not even as the curse squeezed his throat. Well, tried to. Alexander knew that it couldn't fight anymore. All of its attacks would be useless.

Even though Alexander hadn't encountered a curse before... he understood the feeling that had surrounded the curse. The feeling no one could drown out.

"Damned Demon!" it repeated, the rest of its many faces beginning to fade away, just like its arms and legs, and every inch of the connected mass.

Alexander hadn't moved. He still stood there, right from where he killed the spirit, right where he was choked, right where it had all ended.

Gabriel sighed at that sight. 'Damned Demon is right,' he thought, sheathing his sword.

"Is it- Is that it?" Giovanna asked, opening a door and entering into the corridor.

Alexander nodded. "Yeah. It's over now."

By now, water had stopped drizzling down on them. And the room was filled with the stench of death.

"The curse might've been smart enough to talk, but it didn't even think of putting its core someplace else," Gabriel said.

Again, Alexander nodded. "Well, at least it worked out for us." He clicked the button on the sword's pommel. It shifted, shrinking back into a shorter blade and a shorter hilt.

"Here," he said, handing the dagger to Liam.

Liam shook his head and denied the blade. "Keep it. Seriously."

Alexander smiled. "Thanks," he said, sheathing it. He stared at his pockets. He had no place to store it, so he just continued to hold it.

Anastasia took in a deep breath and extended her hand to the side. A Connection appeared, crackling with energy like lightning.

"You have no idea how tiring it was," she told Alexander as he approached her. "Fighting a battle over the domain of space itself was horrible."

He smiled. "Told you the plan would work, though."

"You never said that."

"Yeah, I... Wait, didn't I?"

She shook her head. "Besides, what the hell are you eating that can make you bust through a wall like that?!"

Alexander didn't understand what she meant. "Well, it's not like it was a concrete wall."

"That's not the point! It's a wall. It's impossible!"

"..." He took in a deep breath. "...Nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it."

Alexander tried to come up with something cool to say but all he could utter was that stupid remark.

Anastasia sighed. "You're an idiot."

"Yeah, I know."

A thin smile crept onto her lips.

Alexander hadn't seen her smile before. And she had just insulted him, at that. Before long, he himself began to smile.

Gabriel cleared his throat. "Wind and water."

"Huh?" Alexander asked, turning to him.

"Wind and water," Gabriel announced to the Virtues. "Those are my affinities. And for fear... I guess... failure. I'm afraid of failure."

Leonard laughed, patting Gabriel on his back. "Knew you had it in you."

"Let's go," Anastasia said. "I don't wanna hold this Connection open for a whole minute."

After killing the curse and exiting the building, the Virtues returned to the World Tree. The only pathway between realms. The only passage between Earth and Midgard.

And from there, they went back to Archibald's office.

He was elated to hear they had succeeded. And they accomplished their mission in less than an hour, at that. Except...

"Yeah, technically we were there for almost four hours."

"...Huh?"

The Virtues began to talk over each other, explaining what they knew and understood. Or rather, what they thought was the case.

Archibald smiled.

"I'm gonna need you all to slow down," he said. His smile was genuine. Charles Archibald had succeeded in creating this group. And this mission was all it took to bring them together.

"So... Alexander was the one to kill the curse, correct?" the Paladin asked.

"Yes."

"I did most of the work, but sure," Gabriel said.

Again, the Paladin smiled. Alexander couldn't use magic just yet, and still ended up killing the spirit. "Well... Y'know how I said the demon would be summoned in two months?"

"Well," he continued. "It's more like one month, instead of two. So uh... Take that as you will."

Alexander swallowed his saliva.

Archibald could see the concern on his face. He pulled open one of the drawers of his wooden desk. "Since you can't use magic yet, Alexander," he said. "You'll have to use these."

What he unveiled was a pair of silver bracelets.

"What are-"

Archibald suddenly appeared before Alexander. He slapped the bracelets onto his wrists.

"So what's the-"

Again, Alexander's words were cut off.

A sudden shock coursed through his veins.

Alexander coughed as the air was knocked from his lungs. "Jesus!" he cried, staring at the source of that shock. The bracelets.

"Basically, it'll shock you if it doesn't receive a constant flow of magic energy."

Another shock from the bracelets, and another yelp from Alexander.

"Jesus Christ, Archibald, you're gonna kill the kid," Liam interjected.

With the next shock, Alexander was already on the ground.

Even so... Alexander pulled himself up, grabbing onto one of the chairs for support.

Archibald smiled.

Even though the pain etched inside him still burned, Alexander forced a smile and got up.

No, he didn't force a smile. Something inside of him was making him excited. The craziness that Archibald liked. The mindset that was perfect for a magician.

"This is just to teach you how to control your magic energy. Or more specifically, its flow. Not too much nor too little. It's best if you keep it on all day to make sure you're capable of controlling your energy in any condition."

"But of course," he continued, a smile growing on his face. "You're welcome to take them off at any time you want."

Alexander's excitement grew, just like his grin. "Are you kidding?" he asked, clenching his fist. "I'm gonna-"

Another shock was sent through his body. He hit the floor again.

"Yeah, I said constant flow. Not too much, not too little."

"Got it," Alexander hoarsely muttered.

"But, hey," Archibald said, helping him up. "You'll get the hand of it."

Alexander swallowed his saliva. "Yeah," he said, letting out a sharp breath. "I can handle it."

Archibald smiled. "Perfect."

"Now," the Paladin continued. "Based on what you've told me... Alexander was the one to kill the spirit. Plus, Anastasia's magic energy is almost spent. They're both exhausted. You should head home."

Lumiel smiled. "Well, that's favoritism," she joked.

Archibald chuckled as he sat back down. "No, but seriously, he's struggling to stand right now," he said, pointing at Alexander.

He gave them a thumbs-up in return.

"Anastasia," he said. "Could you send him home?"

She sighed. That was becoming her only purpose nowadays, wasn't it? "You really gotta get this kid a transporter," Anastasia said, opening a Connection to her side.

"Come on," she told Alexander. "It's more distance than usual so I can't do it at once; it'll have to be multiple Connections."

Alexander nodded. "Well... thanks, Archibald," he said, before walking off into the circular Connection.

Archibald smiled as they left. "Now then... All of you will have to describe everything that happened. I have to file a report for each of your missions. So," he said, clapping his hands together. "Let's begin."