章 8: Rain

Lucian stood there, panting as he held his hands before him, a silver fire ball floating above his open palms. His face was hardened, deep in concentration as he began to sweat slightly.

The skies were dark above him, the sounds of thunder were heard.

Lunaris, the Paladin Knight of The Darklight Sect, sat atop her log, her feet crossed as her wings fluttered.

Drops of rain began to fall from the sky as said drops replaced Lucian's sweat. As the rain began to pick up, Lucian's silver fireball began to flicker, almost as if it tried to stay alive.

Lucian narrowed his eyes, "I..." He said as the rain began to pour onto him, "No....."

The flames began to die out, being doused by the sudden downpour as Lucian's entire body instantly became drenched. All this while Lunaria sat there, her wing being raised above her, covering her body from the rain. She had a slight smile on her face as if she was amused by what was happening.

"You can't let mere rain douse your flames." She thought, "You've progressed so much in such a short amount of time. You can easily summon flames without bringing the Ether out first, it's a matter of keeping them alive and channeling its power."

Lucian frowned as the flames above his hand got stronger and brighter, the drops of rain immediately evaporating as they came into contact with them.

He then swung his hand and fired the firebolt at the ground an explosion of steam erupted.

"Ah..." he said as he flinched

"That's enough for today." Lunaris spoke up, "At this rate, you'll drain your Ether. You've learned how to summon the elements rather than the pure black-ether. Tomorrow, I'll teach you offensive spells."

Lucian looked at her, "I think I got the hang of it." He said, "I just summon the flames and I keep them at a particular temperature, right? A simple firebolt will do enough damage....but...."

He then began to punch the air, slight shockwaves being emitted.

Lunaris raised an eyebrow, "Hm?"

"I've...." He said, "I think I knew how to fight....back home....maybe, I'm not sure. These movements come naturally to me."

"Oh, is that so?" Lunaris said, "What is on your mind?"

Lucian looked at the ground, "Hm...." He said, "Maybe.....if I can just keep the flames on my fist....add more ether to them...."

He closed his fist and concentrated, summoning flames to engulf it.

Lunaris looked at him with a surprised look, "You're not thinking of...." she said

Lucian then swung his fist down to the ground, punching through the wet dirt and grass. Suddenly, the area around him shattered and silver flames erupted through the cracks, walls of steam being created as the rain fell on them.

Lunaris widened her eyes, "D-Don't do that!" She exclaimed, "It's risky to combine elemental magic with your bare body and cause a collision, you'll do more damage to yourself when the magic detonates, ignoring your natural resistance to it! Wh-"

She stopped herself, seeing that Lucian had pulled his arm up and was notably unscathed by the stunt. Normally, when a pyromage engulfs any part of its body in flames and causes combustion, for some reason, the spell ignores the mage's natural defenses to the magic and ends up burning the user.

But Lucian was unharmed. She wasn't sure if this was a side-effect of his Calamity, especially since all seals were still intact.

"Hm..." Lucian said, "That stung...but I think I can get used to it...."

Lucian shook his head as it emitted a bit of steam.

"You're..." Lunaris said before clearing her throat, "Let's get some rest, okay? Tomorrow we'll continue."

Lucian looked up at the sky, "I get it now..." He said as the rain hit his face, "I have a gauge on my current power...."

Lunaris frowned, "What?"

"Combined with my physical power, my flames can deal quite a punch if I combine them together." He said, "But something's been bugging me.....it's like a voice on the back of my head....is it my Calamity talking to me? It's telling me there's more to this I can do...I can become even stronger..."

"You Calamity is whispering to you?" Lunaris said, "That voice is the manifestation of the malice your Calamity has. You need to ignore it. In the meantime, your body and Ether needs to grow stronger so we can gradually undo the first three seals."

Lucian looked at her, "What makes you think I'll want to stop at three?" He said, "There'll be 61 more after that."

"Because we need to keep you monitored." Lunaris said

"To hell with that." Lucian scowled, "Who the hell are you people to control me? I'm my own person, you know."

Lunaris sighed, "Don't think of running away, I can always find you."

Lucian raised his arms to show the cuffs, "You think I'm worried about these?" He asked, "I don't care about these pathetic pieces of iron."

Something was wrong. And Lunaris could feel it. Lucian's demeanor was slowly changing, she wasn't sure if it was his original memories, reminding him of the person he is. Or that the Calamity was speaking to him, trying to force its way out.

Either way, she had to keep him under her control.

There was a loud crack of thunder as lightning flashed through the dark clouds above them, the downpour coming faster and harder as Lucian scowled at Lunaris.

"What do you want me to do?" Lunaris said

"Take these off, for one." He said, "I'm not some prisoner."

"Technically, you are." Lunaris said, "But I'm being nice to you by not forcing everything on you. You're progressing quite nicely, it is all thanks-"

"So I can be used as a weapon?!" Lucian exclaimed, "I don't think so! I don't care where I ended up or how I got here, I am my own damned person, I am not going to be exploited like some damn puppet!"

"There is no other choice." Lunaris said, "I don't want to hurt you, just play along with this."

Lucian frowned, "No." He said, "Either get rid of these things or else."

She sighed, "I guess we'll go with...." She said as she was surrounded by a dark purple aura, "Or else...."

Lucian assumed a stance, one that Lunaris was unfamiliar with. Maybe Lucian was right, maybe he was starting to remember some of his memories. But right now, Lunaris had to keep him controlled. If she suddenly lost a Cursed One, her superiors would not have it.

Lucian then summoned flames around his feet, something that surprised Lunaris.

"W-What?" She said as she looked at him

"How did he learn that? I didn't teach him that." She thought to herself, "Is this the Calamity's doing? It shouldn't be active, not with the First Seal intact! It should only be the leaked power, that is all!"

Lucian then lunged at Lunaris, his fist engulfed in flames as it trailed behind him, steam emitting everywhere as the rain hit them.

Lunaris waved her hand, a bright purple light beam hitting the ground, catching Lucian and causing an explosion that shook the ground. Lunaris then covered her face with her arm as steam exploded everywhere.

"You're being quite rebellious, boy." Lunaris said with a sigh, "I didn't want to-"

Lucian appeared on her right, bursting through the wall of steam as he had a silver firebolt on his hand, swinging it at Lunaris.

The firebolt was fired right at her face but she deflected it away, causing it to hit a tree and detonating a small explosion.

Lucian landed on the ground and then lunged at Lunaris, throwing a left straight right at her abdomen with such speeds that even the Paladin was surprised. She blocked the punch and pushed him away only for Lucian to fire a small bolt of flames at their feet, causing an explosion of steam.

Lunaris felt an intense killing intent as her sight was being covered and in an act of instinct, she punched through a figure that blurred at her with crazy speed. To her, it felt like a Demon had suddenly attacked her. The amount of danger she felt in that split second forced her to react this way, not being able to control it and as soon as she realized it, it was too late.

Her hand was engulfed in a dark purple light, piercing straight through Lucian's midsection as the young man widened his eyes.

"N-No!" Lunaris exclaimed as she pulled her hand out of his body, "Y-You imbecile!"

Lucian staggered back, clutching the hole as it bled out.

Panic and anxiety began to fill Lunaris's body as she stood there, frozen. She didn't anticipate this, she didn't know why she had done that. Years upon years of service to the Darklight Sect had honed her into a powerful soldier who was in control of her emotions and reactions. She had dealt with Cursed Ones but she never expected something like this.

"N-No...no no no no...." Lunaris said softly as she took a step forward, "I struck you right through an Ether vein.....i can try to heal you but you'll bleed out faster than normal....I....why did you do that?! Why did I react that way!?!"

Lucian collapsed to his knee and gave her a bloody smirk, "Heh."

"What?" Lunaris said

"Fell for it." He said with a chuckle, "Worth the risk, but I guess it paid off. The voice was right."

Suddenly, bright blue cracks appeared all over Lucian's body as he emitted a powerful aura and shockwave that shook the entire ground.

Lunaris widened her eyes with pure shock, realizing what this meant, "N-No!!" She exclaimed, "What is this?!"

Lucian chuckled as he stood up slowly, pure power suddenly oozing from him.

Lunaris was shocked at this, knowing full well what this was;

The First Seal was broken.

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