Chapter 8: Gale

(Eve Solaris POV)

I took in the environment around me, not a single sound to be heard. The sight of the lush green forest and the overgrowth of vines and leaves littered the floor below me. The sight from up above gave me a sense of calm; one that allowed me to fully relax without much thought.

Then, masked in the silence, my prey stalked me from behind. It was naturally a hunter by birth, but today was definitely not like the other days. To the naked eye, its movements would be indiscernible, however, to me it was clear as day.

I slowly moved my bow from my back and flexed it, transforming it into a bladed staff.

‘Now!’

As if on cue, I spun around and threw my staff through the air, launching it towards another tree, propelled with wind I had conjured up. I heard a high pitched squeal not more than a second after throwing it before it finally made impact with the tree. A couple seconds had passed before something had begun to appear impaled by my staff.

‘Hunter turned hunted, ironic.’ I thought as I leaped from one branch to the next until eventually reaching my staff.

Before pulling it out, I grabbed my knife from the side of my leg and stabbed the nearly translucent shadow monkey. It let out a final screech before its life faded away.

“I see you’re getting the hang of the basics of your affinity.” A voice came out from the other side of the tree.

“And I see you still love your shadows.” I said as I pulled the staff out of the monkey, wiping the drenched blade off on its fur.

“Yeah, well. I’m sure you’ll feel the same way once you start to experiment with your affinity.”

It’s been about a week since I took the mana affinity test. In that time, Ryla has been training me almost non-stop in both using my blade as well as assimilating into my affinity and using my mana.

She explained mana and affinities in such a way that essentially meant anyone and everyone could use every type of mana, however, the less attunement or “affinity” an individual had towards that element, the harder it would be to grasp and utilize it.

The way the mana artifact worked was that once you imbued your mana into the crystal, it would shine with the four basic elements that every human can influence. Those four elements are Gale, Hydro, Fire, and Earth.

In addition to these 4 basic elements, some individuals are naturally born with an affinity towards divergent magic. Those elements are Radiant, Shadow, Nature, Soul, Blood, Spectra, and Runic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So I know my first affinity is Gale; my mother had an affinity towards it so it makes sense, however the others I have no clue.” I said, looking at the crystal I was currently holding.

“That is correct. In addition to your first affinity with Gale, the next are Spectra, Fire, Hydro, Earth, and Nature in that order. I recommend you focus on Gale as it will be the one you have the most affinity towards.” Ryla said, taking the crystal from my hand.

“Wait wait, you said Spectra?”

“Yes. Spectra is one of the many divergent mana-types that allows someone to directly influence wave-lengths.”

“You mean like the ability to make a light place dark?”

“Oh and so much more…” Ryla said practically lost in thought. Her eyes were facing me, but her focus was elsewhere.

“So how exactly do I use my affinity?” I asked, breaking the silence.

“Hmmmm… Here, follow me.” She said as she began walking out of the training yard towards the courtyard.

I had personally never entered the courtyard to an extent, only merely passed by it from time to time. I was never able to take in the sheer beauty of it in its fullest.

Walkways cut through the middle of the courtyard connecting into a circle opening. From the opening, walkways jutted out from the other three sides, reaching all the way towards other buildings of the Church.

There were lush, squared bushes that flanked the walkways on either side of the walkways, as well as surrounding the opening in the middle. Tall thujas perfectly squared off the perimeter of the courtyard adding a sense of majesty and seclusion.

In between the bushes and the trees, there were flowerbeds with different assortments of flowers within each.

Within the middle of the opening, there was a magnificent fountain with a statue of a beautiful woman holding a hummingbird in her hand. The woman’s beauty was indescribable as words would fail to detail her true image.

“This way, Eve!” Ryla called out as she walked past the fountain towards the other church buildings across the way.

I made my may towards her, continuing to take in the breathtaking sight around me. Every look, every detail, made this feel straight out of a fairy tale.

We walked through a big set of wooden doors into what seemed to be a nave for gathering and mass. The interior itself was simple yet gorgeous.

Hanging from the ceiling were numerous chandeliers that lit up the massive opening with a sense of holy presence. The vaulting on the top helped accentuate the complex details of the pillars that seemingly came down from the sky.

We walked down towards the transept and took a left before reaching the choir and through a door. What awaited us were spiraling stone stairs that led up several flights.

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked Ryla, slightly perplexed.

“Somewhere where one can truly feel the breeze that passes through Lign Aloes to its fullest extent.”

I wanted to ask her what she meant, but she began up the stairs, signaling that further questions would only fall on deaf ears.

We reached the top of the stairs not long after. What awaited me, however, was another smaller, wooden door.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” She said, beckoning me to walk on through.

I took a hold of the steel handle and pulled it towards me, instantly being hit with a heavy gust of wind that threatened to knock me off my feet and back down the stairs.

I struggled to hold on to the door, slowly trying to push it shut until eventually succeeding.

“What the heck was that!?” I asked, still trying to gather my thoughts and catch my breath. My heart was beating hard enough to sound in my ears.

“I told you that we were going to some place where you could fully feel the breeze.” She said as if what had just transpired was commonplace.

“Yeah, a breeze. That was more like a tornado! How exactly am I going to learn how to use magic out there?!”

“You’re going to learn how to control that breeze and shelter yourself from being pushed by it.”

“What? Just like that? I don’t even know how to start utilizing my affinity, let alone controlling that torrent!”

“I’ll give you one hint: think about how you influenced ambient mana and made it your own…”

Her words began to fade as did her appearance.

“Nonono, you can’t just lea- Ughhh!”

Ryla had, once again, disappeared into the shadows, leaving nothing but a hint behind. How could anyone even call this training?

‘Whatever, I’ll figure it out myself.’ I thought as I put my hand on the steel handle once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took me about six or seven attempts to even take a step out onto the half-circle balcony that overlooked the capital.

After my several attempts to get through the wooden door, I had found a way to take minimal, yet hastily steps around, fighting against the fluctuating winds that blew at me from every

direction. Even with mana coursing through every part of my body, taking steps felt like a constant battle.

Once I was on the balcony, I secured myself next to a pillar that prevented me from falling over. I could clearly see the entire city and even parts off beyond the wall, stretching out into the horizon. To say the sight was awe-inspiring would be an understatement. Even the sight from Kalan’s office paled in comparison to this.

‘Now how exactly am I supposed to concentrate and learn anything in these seemingly unnatural and harsh conditions? Where do I even start?’

I began to think back on my first time taking in ambient mana. Every step and every feeling; every movement I made to weave my mana with the mana outside of me. This made no sense to me, though.

‘How does weaving ambient mana have anything to do with using my affinity?’

I began to think further back to the analogy that Kalan had made about breathing and mana when an idea occurred to me.

I started by summoning some mana to my hand and then pushing it out. I then began forming a ball of mana, not too much bigger than my fist. Once the sphere had reached a size of my liking, I urged it forward over the balcony and let it sit in the middle of the raging, oncoming winds.

Keeping it in place was easier said than done, however, after some time of concentration, I was able to hold it still without it wavering from the force. I felt as the wind clashed with my mana until I noticed something.

To my surprise, from what I could tell, every time the wind blew through my mana, it would leave bits and pieces of its presence interlocked. I watched as it continued to change my mana until I could feel as the sphere eventually began to spin.

It was slow and manageable at first, but after about 15 seconds of this, the mana started to rampage uncontrollably, spinning at incomprehensible speeds. I could feel as my control over the mana itself began to slip from my grasp.

I opened my eyes and felt a sense of panic rush into me as I saw how the ball of mana, previously unnoticeable, had materialized into a light bluish-green sphere. It continued to rotate faster and faster, progressively pulling in all the wind that surrounded me.

I tried to push more mana out of me and into the ball of wind to regain control, only to watch as it grew in size, slowly threatening to pull me in as well.

‘Oh shit, what have I done?!’

Suddenly, the sphere came to an abrupt stop.

‘W-what just happened?’ I said, watching it carefully, weary of any sudden changes to it.

It was after about ten seconds that it began to swell from inside, glowing brighter and brighter with every passing second.

‘Oh no.’ Were the last thoughts I had before the condensed ball of wind exploded, blasting me backwards and against the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Kalan POV)

I arrived at the main church building we had out in the Borderlands, or rather what was left of it. The gate had been blasted off of its hinges and the exterior fortress walls surrounding the compound were filled with holes big enough for me to pass through.

I dismounted my horse and tied it to a nearby post and made my way to the front entrance of the church building.

The entrance into the building wasn’t much different than many other official churches we had established; large, wooden doors with a stone arch and a holy maiden with a hummingbird in her hand ingrained above it.

However, the door itself had something written in what looked to be blood. The majority of it was indecipherable gibberish, however one thing stood out from the rest: the words “Rise of the four Apocalypse! Praise our liberator, praise Death!”

I pushed the door open and walked through. The sight that awaited me, however, was one that would make any sane person lose their mind.

Headless priests were impaled on pieces of broken pews, shattered glass littered the floor, the statue of our goddess was defiled and broken apart with pieces of the pristine marble scattered across the choir.

‘What… happened here? Where are their heads?’

I continued down the central aisle and took a left, reaching the door to the archbishop's office and holy room. I tried to open the door, however it was locked from the other side. I grabbed my sword and channeled mana into it before slicing the door straight down the middle. The door began to melt from where I had cut it, disintegrating it entirely within mere seconds.

‘It seems like my second question was answered.’

The heads of the priests were impaled with spears that stood at the back of the room behind a desk. Sitting at the desk was a headless archbishop with his head directly in front of him. In his left hand was a bloodied cross. He held it until his last dying breath.

I walked over to the desk and rummaged through the papers on top and then drawers on the side in search of anything that could give me some clues as to what had happened. I had found nothing, however. It was then that I noticed an unusual split in the side of the desk. I examined a bit before reaching on the underside of the desk.

‘Ah hah… you’re a smart one, aren’t yah?’

I had pressed a hidden button, sounding off a satisfying “click” before a hidden drawer appeared where the seam was. Inside was a book with a sleek black cover and a silver cross insignia on the front. I grabbed and opened it to the first page.

This journal is the account of Archbishop Artis Reginald. If you are reading this, then it must mean that I have perished. This journal will hopefully provide you with any clues as to my death and what I have been investigating during my time in the Borderlands.

Before I could continue reading, however, a chilling blood lust filled the air. I channeled mana into my storage ring and pointed it towards the book, seemingly absorbing it as if it was never there.

‘I’ll go ahead and greet the guests for you, Sir. Reginald.’ I said as I walked through the doorway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Eve Solaris POV)

I awoke to the same, dimly lit room I had become accustomed to. I tried to sit up but immediately decided against it when a pounding headache resounded from the back of my skull. I took a moment to orient myself trying to remember the last thing I could.

‘I was training up on the balcony when I pushed mana out of my body and created a sphere before… The explosion! Right!’

“You really outdid yourself yesterday. I wasn’t expecting to find you knocked out against the door. Although good thing you’re not seriously injured. Kalan would have my head on a pyke if you were. It’s almost comedic how much he cares about you.”

I recognized the voice instantly, annoyance overtaking the pain.

“Yeah, and it would’ve been almost entirely your fault!”

The pain eventually caught up with me and overtook the annoyance I previously felt. I laid back down and let my head rest on the stiff surface I called my bed.

“Debatable, but you made progress, no?”

She wasn’t wrong. I had found a way to influence the ambient winds, much to my expense, however.

“In any case, I’m glad you’re ok. You’ll have a busier schedule from now on so make sure you take the time today and tomorrow to rest. I suggest you think about what happened and what went wrong. In two days we’ll resume your training.”

“The first part will be us continuing your progression of mana and your affinity for three days and after that we will spend two days having you practice with the blade part of your bow. The following day you’ll go on a practice hunt to see how effectively you can use your affinity in a real environment. Any questions?”

“No, I understand.” I said, still trying to ignore the pain.

“Good, I’ll see you in two days, then.”

With that, Ryla disappeared into the shadows once more, leaving me to my thoughts.