Harbinger: The Four Knights

Mana Channeling

With Razel’s visit, Mark told her everything that he learned about the empire and it’s plans as well as the truth behind their friend’s disappearance. The news shocked her to the point that she almost lost herself in anger but Mark told her that he and Luke had already plans to deal with the empire or whoever is using the empire for their plans. “We just need a bit more time, maybe 3-4 years depending on the situation and that kid is part of the plan, he is going to participate in this plan. Him being here is to prepare him for the unprecedented battles in the future.” Mark said as he referred to Amon.

               “Are you both lunatics? He’s just a kid! There is no way that Luke would want his own blood to be participating in that kind of war against the empire.” Razel said with an angry tone gravely disapproving their plans. “I know Razel, he is just a kid but he is already close to our level of strength, and its not like we forced him into the plan. He was listening to our conversation and decided to do it without even saying anything.” Mark justified as he calms Razel down but she refuses to.

               Their talk ended up becoming sour, seeing that there is no need to talk about it with a single meeting, they decided to take a break and return if they feel a little better. “You can ask that kid anything you want if you think I am lying to you. That kid is quite an odd one, he doesn’t think like the kids his age. He is interesting yet terrifying at the same time.” Mark said as he left the room.

               [Have they both gone crazy? Aren’t they overdoing everything even involving a kid in this mess?]  she thought to herself as she let out a deep sigh and decided to leave the room as well and head to the back where Marcus always hang out only to find that the training room is empty. “He must be with the other two. Well, he was lonely for most of the time fore two years of course he would like to be in their company.” She muttered to herself as she felt a presence behind her.

               “Is that you Zhuge? How are you?” Zhuge then appeared before her and greeted her with a bow. “Greetings Ms. Rojan. Its an honor to meet you again.” She said. “I see that you have already met the kid that master brought in this residence.” Razel nods her head and answered back. “Yeah- he is quite strong for a kid his age. If he is given a few more years I think he will be able to fight one of us alone.” Razel calculated as Zhuge agrees to the part that Razel said about Amon getting more stronger for a few more years. “Have you already seen him fight?” Zhuge nods her head and told her about the incident at the training grounds with Marcus.

               “So he was hiding the fact that he wears four bracers on his limbs to act as a handicap. That kid really is quite something. Your master told me that those bracers were supposed to be limiters so that he can’t be attracting too much attention but with the incident I don’t think they are doing a good job about keeping a low profile.” Zhuge then excuse herself since Kassandra seems to be calling for her. “I will now excuse myself Ms. Rojan.” Zhuge disappeared on thin air as Razel walks back in side the mansion to talk again with Mark but then she heard that Marcus and Amon talking about magic on their way out to the training room that is separated from the main mansion.

               “How are you able to easily use magic like it’s the same as breathing?” Marcus asked but Amon had difficulty answering his question. “Well, all I know is that your imagination of how you want your magic to take form helps really well and it also depends on the mana pool of the person.” Amon tried to answer his question as best as he can in the human’s perspective but him being as a demon, it was already given that he would be able to harness magic easily as a perk from his demon bloodline but Amon can’t just tell him about that so easily. Marcus might react like Razel and will see him as a cursed person.

               “Hmmmm, mana pool you say? I am not much confident in my magical ability but I do have confidence in my ability to take hits.” Marcus said as he flex his muscles. Abel looks at him with a slightly disgusted expression as Amon lets out a smile. “Woah! How long did it take you to master that ability?!” Amon, just like a normal kid got excited after hearing something that Marcus was proud of and wanted to know how he reach that kind of level. “Young master, I don’t think that is a good ability to have, you will be taking all the hits after all. There is a limit to how a body can withstand pain.” Abel tried to talk Amon away from Marcus’ weird flex but it was already too late, Amon is already hooked in.

               “Ah- so you are saying that I am a liar? Want me to prove it to you huh?” Abel and Marcus immediately lit a fire between them as they both stand up to their own beliefs. “Yeah- why don’t we test that out. If you survive a punch from the young master without a single scratch then I will also call you young master.” Abel said with confidence that made Marcus laugh. “Hahaha! Don’t go back on your words later, I will sue you if you do. Now lets get this going Amon, punch me hard like you mean it.” He said as he took a defensive stance.

               “Eh? Are you sure about this? Abel is just kidding you know!” Amon doesn’t agree to the decision of the two who are serious. “No young master, I really mean it when I said those things. That is the only way to verify his so called ability. If he fails then I can just heal him.” Abel confirmed.  Amon turned to Marcus who is a little excited of what is about to happen that he nod his head, telling Amon that he is ready but Amon on the other hand doesn’t want to be part of their blunder.

               “Come on Amon, I’m waiting.” Marcus said as he waves at Amon who is still hesitant f he should be doing something like this to a person he is close with. “Hey Abel, if something bad happens you heal him immediately you hear me?!” Amon ordered as Abel nods his head with a smile. “Don’t worry young master, you know that I do not go back on my words. I will definitely heal him immediately.” Abel swore as Amon turned to Marcus who is waiting anxiously.

               Amon cracks his fists and threw a fast punch, the air whistle as his fist came flying towards Marcus.

               FWEEEEE! BAAAM!

               Amon’s punch sent shockwaves to the ground while Marcus on the other hand is moved a little back but was still fine after taking the punch. Amon and Abel’s eyes widen after seeing that Marcus is fine and can still move properly. “I told you didn’t I? my ability to take hits is outstanding.” He said with a smile but as he walk towards the two, he slightly lost his balance and fell on his knees. “Good at taking hits my butt, your body may be okay after taking that punch but your head is clearly not okay.” Abel said as he reach out his hand towards Marcus who is a little dizzy.

               “But my body is unscathed right?” Abel stares at him blankly like he is about to slap him to bring him back to reality but seeing the patient’s situation, he refrain from doing so and explained why he suffered an even greater damage. “Stop with that nonsense. Your body is fine, yes. But that is not the only thing that you have to look after taking a hit. Our bodies have limits on their own and it differs from everyone, the reason you lost balance is the fact that the force behind the young master’s punch was transferred to you and if that force is strong enough, it would be able to turn your insides into a mess.” Abel said after he heal Marcus who is now trying to stand up.

               “Are you okay big brother? This is why I was hesitant about this idea.” Amon said with a sad tone while staring at Marcus. “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine, and besides Abel is here to take care of my injuries- but I won the bet right? Now will you call me young master as well?” Marcus still thinks of the bet even though he had suffered internal injuries which Abel instantly denied.

               “What are you talking about? You suffered an even heavier blow on the inside so it’s basically my win.” The two then started arguing who won the bet that they started pointing at the thing that made the both of them the winners while Amon on the other hand is just staring at them. In the end, it was Amon who was on the losing side.

               “Hey Amon, don’t you think this is a good training for me? You are a way heavy hitter than those guys, and when I mean those guys, I mean those guys at the training grounds. After what happened yesterday, I doubt they would be willing to hit me again. So why don’t you hit me as training, we have Abel who can heal me instantly if I get injured.” Amon and Abel drop their jaws after hearing his proposal. “This guy- his very idea creeps me out. You are basically asking to be a punching bag. Don’t tell me the punch earlier messed your head a bit.” Abel muttered with a disgusted expression as Marcus clear his thoughts.

               “I’m totally sane okay? It’s just that it is a great opportunity for me to train with Amon. This is my chance to be strong so can you please help me?” Marcus pleaded to Amon who is not even considering of doing that again. “Nope- I will not.” A straight up decline from the person who seems to be the one who lost the bet earlier even though he was not involved in the bet. Marcus exclaimed and tried to convince Amon but the young one is hesitant. Seeing that there is no chance that Amon will help him with a valid reason, he drops a bomb.

               “If Amon doesn’t want to help then I guess I will have to do this myself. Its such a waste that this is an opportunity for me to get stronger and not to remain a loser my entire life when that is the only thing I am confident of.” Marcus made him look so pitiful that Amon immediately felt a little terrible for not complying with his big brother’s request.

               [This despicable bastard- you dare use the young master’s innocence for your goals.] Abel emits a thick murderous intent and Marcus felt this but he still continue his act while Abel is about to pounce at him like a furious lion. “Will that really help you with your ability? I just can’t harm big brother like I did earlier but if you really need my help that badly then I guess I should help you in any way I can.” Amon said with an innocent face that Marcus almost felt a little guilty but to improve his ability, he has to be able to take drastic measure, even if he is lying to his new younger brother.

               With everything decided, they immediately started the training that Marcus devised in an instant. “The training is simple, Amon just have to punch me with the force that he can muster with his bracers and if I survive his punch he needs to punch me again until my body can’t handle it any longer. Abel is here to take care of the injuries so there is no need to be worrying about it, you both understand?” Marcus said with an enthusiastic expression as the other two nod their head.

               BAM! BAM!

               The first tow punches were enough to knock Marcus down with a broken arm but Abel then immediately healed him back to shape. “This is ridiculous, I get that this is a way to enhance the ability that you are so proud of but it still needs a limit. You don’t plan to do this the entire day right?” Abel voices his worry and to his disappointment, Marcus gave him a thumbs up. That is when Abel silently prayed for his soul to be safe.

               BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

A whole lot of BAM! later         

“Okay! That’s enough! I can’t heal any more. My mana is already drained. I can’t keep this up.” Abel said as he sat on the ground as the other two followed behind him. “Freaking hell, that last punch hurts like hell. But to think my body adjusted like that really fast, my ability is just outstanding.” Marcus praised his ability and stretches his arms and legs.

“Now that I think about it, big brother, the more I punch to that defensive stance of yours, the more it gets harder. That’s why my last punch is a little stronger. I wonder how you are doing it.” Amon ask Marcus who had a huge grin on his face. “I see that you are quite interested in my new found ability but sorry to disappoint you, my ability is just like any normal defensive stance. Its just that I use my hardened mana to reinforce my entire body not by just a simple barrier that has a shape of a circle. Just like you said earlier. Your imagination helps you shape the product that you want. I just thought of this earlier but if I imagine the barrier not to be a whole circle but a connection and series of plates, that way a simple barrier can get a little tough.” Marcus explained as he enlightened the other two who are surprised of his ridiculous experiment.

“Wow, I thought you were just insane but to think that you are beyond that. Who the heck would experiment on something to themselves after only thinking about it for just mere minutes. But I have to hand it over to you, that really is effective.” Abel praised Marcus for his brilliance while Amon on the other hand is trying what Marcus said. “Is this how it looks like?” Amon conjured a visible barrier on one of his arms to show the others, Marcus nodded and confirmed that it was the same thing that he used to his body.

TAK! TAK!

“That really is a dense one, way denser than mine. Just how large is your mana pool Amon?” Marcus ask after he taps the barrier that Amon made. “To be honest big brother, I don’t really know. The one who taught me magic made me waste my mana every day. He said that, that is  the fastest way to expand your mana pool by large quantities but it has its consequences.” Amon said without telling that it was his great grandfather that taught him how  to expand his mana pool.

“Eh? Exhausting your mana pool everyday? Isn’t that dangerous? I heard from people that some of the person who expended their mana pool to the last drop goes wild and undergoes mana distortion.” Marcus said that Amon and Able agreed to. “Do you have any solution to that?” he added as he turns to the two. “I guess we have a solution. Back in our place, every time I exhaust my mana, my master would channel his mana unto me, since his mana is way denser and immediately fills my mana pool but because it’s his mana, I need to circulate it inside me slowly so that my body can get used to his mana and turn it to mine.” Amon added but then Marcus complained that there is no way they can get a denser mana channel into his body, it is then that both Amon and Abel told him that there is one thing that can be used as replacement. “Don’t tell me, are you saying that monster cores can be used as replacement for mana channeling?!” Marcus stood up in an instant and pulled the core from the great ox that they hunted.

               SHIING!

“That really is plausible, only a few selected monsters have the ability to use their mana into magical abilities while the majority are only saving it up until the day they die. I think I am going to give that a shot. Mana channeling.” Marcus said as he turns to the two. “But I will not use this thing. You hunted this guy- its not right for me to use this like my own.” He added as he hid the core away. “What are you talking about big brother? It is something that you need so might as well use it right? I’m sure Abel will not mind at all, we can just hunt other great ox in the future after all.” Amon said giving him permission to do what he wants.

“What nonsense? This is the product of your hard work, I can’t just do that. My conscience won’t allow it. We can just join the guild and go on an expedition or something- the monsters there will be of –“ Marcus stopped what he is about to say after realizing that he said something unnecessary again and by the time he turns back to the two, they are brimming with excitement and interest.

[Aish! I should have thought of what I have to say before telling these guys. Now they can’t get it off their minds!] Marcus thought to himself as he bury his face under his palm. Razel who is observing them also got interested in their conversation that she forgot about her talk with Mark.    “A way to expand your mana pool huh? That seems interesting!” she whispered to herself as she tries to hold her excitement. [So what will these guys be up to in the future?] she thought to herself while hiding her presence from them. Mark saw her getting a little entertained by the kids that he let her be but his wife Kassandra pulled him inside the mansion and interrogated him about the things that he left her while he was away.

The next few days were spent with Marcus training himself with the method that he told the two. Their training became harsher and harsher as the day passed by to even enhance his ability and on the third day, Razel bid goodbye after her talk with Mark ended and swore to come back in the next few months and at that same day, the appraisal for their goods are finished, the apprentice of the head merchant was sent to inform them who is a little confused as to why he was sent to the lord’s residence only to find that the lord’s son and the other two are the once responsible for the mess at the market a few days ago.