Jack’s POV

As Jack watched the battle in the middle of the intense heat, he thought back on one of his sessions with Sophie, and the discussion that they had back then. As always, they were in the very same training hall, going over the basics first.

Though that day, before they moved on to some more technical aspects of magic, Jack wanted to test his daughter.

“Sophie, why do you think chants, runes, and circles were rapidly developed after the nomadic tribes collapsed?” Jack asked.

“It’s because the frequency of battles that are immeasurable factors in growth have been decreasing, and we had to find a way to still develop and access magic without having to go through such turmoil,” Sophie answered confidently.

“That’s right. Simply put, the way we used magic revamped because of the changes of the times. In order for us to progress and accurately track our growth, the standardized magic system was created. Standardized magic, or what is now referred to as simply magic, has allowed us to better our lives and create magical technology. So my question now is…” Sophie leaned forward in anticipation.

“How did our ancestors fight their magic battles?”

Sophie frowned as she was lost in her thought. She perked up as a thought seemingly crossed her mind.

“Because they didn’t have to chant, they were able to do just about anything. So what mattered then was imagination and understanding of nature’s principles, and that all depended on each mage’s intelligence and creativity," she said then nodded to herself in satisfaction.

“That is true, but it’s not quite right,” Jack remarked.

“Huh? Then what was the difference aside from that?”

“The only reason their magic took forms of the elements or through phenomenon was because it was easier to yield mana when it has a construct that guides it. That is basic knowledge you learn when you first learn of chants, however, for our ancestors this meant an entirely different thingm” Jack paused, and Sophie shook her head, not understanding his point.

“Our ancestors fought not only through the effects that their magic conjures, but mainly, they fought through their mana’s influence,” Jack said.

“Influence?”

“That’s right. Back then, a mage battle was decided depending on who controls more mana in their surroundings, and who could exert a more established influence using their innate mana, thereby weakening or empowering the magical phenomenons. So to say, they didn’t rely on the actual phenomenon they create to win, but rather, they used those constructs as a way to empower their influence on their surroundings and against their enemies’ mana,” Jack explained.

Sophie nodded.

“I see. If they went about trying to use mana in an abstract way, those who used their mana with definition would always be able to trump their vague influence. So dad, are you saying that the mages now don’t fight the same way?”

Jack shook his head.

“Not exactly. To an extent, we still do so. But for us, who wield our mana more as tools rather than our actual weapons, we’ve grown more reliant on the physical phenomenon and the power that we’re able to conjure with our mana, our mana’s simply become fuel,” Sophie knit her brows in thought.

“Though in return, the sheer number and strength of the phenomenon we’re able to create are much more diverse and refined than theirs. In fact, magical tools, support-type and utility-type magic didn't exist in their world where everything was all about combat,” Jack smiled as he felt pride well up in the progress they’ve made as people.

“Of course, that didn’t mean that the elements and categories of magic didn’t exist back then. They just didn’t worry about it too much, since it was to them, nominal in the context of battle anyway,” Jack surmised. "So put simply, a water mage back then simply loved the idea of water and used it to give definition to their mana and to give life to their spells. Mages of old fought through mana, not magic. As such, that's what we call sorcery."

A glint of understanding underscored Sophie’s eyes as she excitedly sat up. “I get it. As opposed to now, where the attributes you're attuned with will determine the type of magic you'll be able to produce, and it allows for more possibilities. So we’re more powerful as mages, right?” she asked.

Jack wasn’t able to reply.

Kane Ordin’s POV

Lifelessness. That was the only word that could describe the scene that unfolded in front of Kane’s unbelieving eyes. Around him, the heat that his mana generated was being covered in a thick, suffocating air. The heat turned colder, and colder, until even the landscape of the hall fell deathly still.

As if in mocking, the red mist that signified what Kane believed was Hell was sloshed in a purplish winter that sucked the shine of the sunlight, making the hall blindingly dark.

Kane felt his power being stolen away from him as the hairs on his skin was capped with a prickly cold. His heart dropped its pace, as if it was afraid of moving in such a dead, uninviting space.

His eyes were locked into place, as his vision etched into his mind the face of a young man with eyes as lifeless as his surroundings.

But this young man was moving. Yet, his movement felt like that from a moving portrait. Jittery, heavy, and surreal.

Closer and closer, the silver-haired apparition approached Kane.

The lump of saliva caught in his throat as it freezed and choked Kane, but his muscles were too stiff to gag. The soles of his shoes stuck to the ground, as frost bit into his eyelids and tongue.

Step.

Particles of ice boringly gathered around the tips of the young man’s fingers.

Step.

Kane’s mind was shouting, but his thoughts felt delayed and his body couldn’t accompany its desire to leave, to just escape.

Step.

As much as his surroundings, Kane felt lifeless. He didn’t understand.

Step.

His gaze, guided by the ice in his irises, jittered upwards towards the young boy’s eyes. The look of it was swallowed by dark greed.

If Kane killed to instill pride and glory in the name of Ordin, this young boy… his gaze felt like he killed for the sake of it.

Step.

Kane didn’t want this. No, he only wanted to show his pride as Ordin. He didn’t want to be forced to be unmoving. If everything else was motionless, how could the young man approach him?

Step.

How could this young man create such a world? A world unfit for human life?

Step.

Kane’s flames couldn’t save him, and as he realized it so, his instinct of self-preservation shut down. What was the point? If he does escape, this boy will just hunt him down, and he doesn’t want that. He doesn’t want to ever feel that time has stopped ever again.

Step.

The boy was a few paces away now. Just a few more steps, and it’ll all be over.

Step.

Kane couldn’t close his eyes, but he couldn’t see anymore. A foreboding that told him of what awaited him outside of the cold. Nothingness. But it was better than the cold. It was better than being with the devil himself.

Step.

He could feel the boy was in front of him now, and it was colder than before. He didn’t want this, but if it could end now then he’d at least be spared any more of it.

“Goodnight, Kane.”

Kane felt a sharp, thin of ice crawl its way to his neck, but suddenly he felt a resounding boom.

“Kane!!” Vision flooded back to Kane’s eyes as it bolted towards the direction of the voice. There he saw the General clutched onto his shaking arm.

“Wha…” Kane still didn’t understand.

Suddenly, Kane was able to move again. The frost around him was nowhere, as the surroundings sprung back to life. He could even hear the chirping of birds. In front of him, still, was the boy.

Before he realized it, Kane was running towards the exit of the hall. When activity returned to the hall, an instinctual fear and need to survive revitalized inside his head. This boy, no… those eyes. He wanted to get away, to feel the heat of the sun welcome him outside.

Then, a wall of earth rose up and blocked the doors. In panic, Kane shot a large bolt of fire at the wall. An explosion rocked his eardrums. His body flew away from the door as debris accompanied him in flight.

He landed with a loud thud flat on his back.

Jack approached and held his hand out. Still confused and his mind still in shambles, Kane fumbled but managed to grab. Jack pulled him up.

“You awake now?” Jack asked.

Kane was confused. What did he mean awake? He just landed a while ago.

“You’ve been knocked out for a good 15 minutes now. Didn’t want to bother you. Kris took his leave while you rested.”

Kane thought back on earlier, and found himself thinking back farther and farther in his memories.

Then when he recalled the boy’s face, everything clicked.

“GENERAL! THAT BOY! HE’S DANGEROUS!!” He shouted frantically, darting his head to make sure that the devil of ice was nowhere to be.

Jack just shrugged.

“General, I’m telling you! There’s definitely something wrong with him! Didn’t you see what happened? We must warn the King!” As Kane was about to dart towards the door again, Jack grabbed him.

“No, we’re not going to warn anyone,” Jack said, more of an order than a statement.

Kane’s fury momentarily got over his fear.

“General! Are you saying that you’re going to let someone like that walk around freely?! You’ve lost your mind! Have you forgotten your duties as a General of…” A dull pain crashed onto Kane’s cheeks as it met head on with Jack’s fist, making him wince.

“Boy, I’ve put up with you for so long now, but it seems that you still can’t get over your thick head. You’re strong, but have you forgotten how easily that boy shrugged off your attacks? Of how in just a matter of seconds, he froze the life out of you and you couldn’t even do a thing about it?” Jack retorted, almost sarcastic in his tone.

“A few seconds?” Kane asked as he bugged out his eyes.

“What? You think that anyone’s going to take their time in a fight? How stupid must you be to be that insufferable?”

That wasn’t a few seconds. No, it felt longer than that. In a little space of time, Kane was able to contemplate his death, his surroundings, the cold, and that young boy’s eyes.

But that was only a few seconds. What if it was longer, then?

“In fact, I know how you feel, Kane,” Jack sighed as he closed his eyes.

“That’s why we’re not going to make this harder on ourselves by making an enemy out of him. Do you understand?”

Kane didn’t reply, but he understood. The magic that the boy used didn’t even feel like magic. It just felt as if his presence just swallowed everything around him and made it static. If that wasn’t magic yet, then he didn’t want to think about what actual magic meant to the boy.

Kane had survived through that frozen hell. But he knew that he’s not the same man and whenever he remembers the face and the eyes of that boy, a cold shiver will always engulf his body from now on.

Kane lost strength in his legs as a new kind of emotion that he never felt before captured his heart.

Dread.