Chương 7: Were Bandits Always This Weak?

In a snowy forest, a small white robed body sat in the snow with a cute silver kitten next to it. Greyson had made it halfway to the capital already and would soon arrive at another major city called Sirius City. He would stop every now and then to meditate and try to reach the next stage.

"Hey, Grey, you said that you used earth magic as well before, right?" Lucius suddenly asked.

"Hm? Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, can you use any other element magic?"

"I don't know how to tell. How would I know?"

"When you meditate this time, don't try to concentrate only on the water element of the snow. Try to feel the entire environment around you. When you open your eyes, you should be able to see the different colors of the elements. The colors represent what elements you can use. Why don't you try it out now?" Lucius suggested.

Greyson quickly nodded and tried to meditate according to Lucius's advice. Soon he felt very comfortable, as if he were no longer sitting in the cold snow but in a warm and gentle paradise. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a large amount of different colors. Blue, green, brown, gold, and black energy was everywhere. There was also hints of red and purple, but they were obviously more scarce than the others.

"Lucius, I see blue, green, brown, gold, black, and a little bit of red and purple! What does this mean? Can I use seven different elements then? That doesn't seem right." Greyson quickly questioned Lucius as he could not understand the myriad of colors around him.

"WHAT?! YOU CAN SEE SEVEN? Are you sure? Like definitely, 100% sure? Oh my god. I'm just going to go cry now. What kind of monster are you? Are you sure you're human, not another species in disguise? How could it be seven?" Lucius was beyond shocked and was almost hysterical.

"What do they all represent?" Greyson asked.

"Blue is obviously water. Red is fire, green is wind, brown is earth, gold is light, black is dark, and purple should be lightning." Lucius calmed down and answered seriously.

"Why can I see so much of the other colors, but red and purple are faint? Does that mean I can use those elements just not well? I'm not as sensitive towards them?" Greyson continued asking in order to understand his situation.

"No, it's not that. Elements obviously exist everywhere, however, some places are more abundant of some elements than others. For example, Snow Country is far north so it is always cold and snowing here. Thus, the fire elements here are much less than the water elements. Similarly, there are some locations like near a volcano where the fire elements are extremely abundant while the water element is more scarce. This is why magicians who can use multiple elements usually have an advantage because even if one element is weak in an area they have another to back it up." Lucius again taught Greyson more of the basics of magic knowledge.

"Ahhhh... wow that's pretty neat. Hey, this means I'm a super awesome genius, right? You're always bragging about your talent, but obviously you don't measure up to me!" Greyson felt super proud of his talent and made sure to brag to Lucius to get under his skin.

Lucius glared at him while retorting, "the amount of elements doesn't directly correlate to power and talent. If anything, it could slow down your progress because you will have to meditate that much more than me. In the later stages, your elements will not advance together automatically. You will have to absorb all of them to break through otherwise your body will be unbalanced and you could cripple yourself." Lucius's words were like cold water that woke Greyson up to the reality. His arrogance deflated at the thought of the extra work he would have to put into getting stronger.

"Well, don't get too discouraged. The elements seem to love you so you advance very quickly even with seven elements. Plus, having a plethora of elements to use will help you in the future. You will be very well-rounded and have less glaring weaknesses." Lucius felt like he was being too harsh, so he tried to console him.

"Yeah! You're right. I appreciate a challenge anyways." Greyson quickly smiled again with a new excitement for the future.

...

After that shocking discovery, Greyson and Lucius soon returned to normal and continued on their way to Sirius.

"Hey, Lu, didn't that grandma in the last town say there were a lot of bandits on the way to the city? We haven't run into any yet, though." Greyson looked towards Lucius on his shoulder.

"Yeah, maybe we're just lucky. Even if they did come, it wouldn't be a big deal with me here." Lucius answered confidently while yawning. He stretched his limbs a little and closed his eyes for a nap. Greyson looked at him with doubt, but had no other choice but to believe in the lazy kitten. He kept his complaints towards the annoying cat in his heart while he kept doing all the walking. Grumbling to himself, he hoped that Lucius knew what he was doing.

Just as the two both went back to silence, Lucius's eyes opened as his ears twitched.

He sighed lightly, "You just HAD to go and say something about bandits didn't you?"

Before Greyson could ask his meaning, a group of about 15 jumped out from the trees onto the path. Most of them were rather ugly-looking middle-aged men. There were a couple muscular women as well whose faces sent shivers down Greyson's spine.

The muscular man in front, who looked like the leader, loudly spoke to the others, "Darn, it's just a little kid. He looks poor, too. Maybe we could sell the kid? Some of those nobles are perverts who like children. Hey, kid, pull back your hood and let us see your face!"

Greyson was not stupid enough to show his face because he was well aware of his good looks. Instead he answered, "Mister, I don't have any money with me and I was born disfigured. Could you just let me through? I won't bring you any profit."

"Hmmm... even an ugly girl could still be a maid or something. A lot of female nobles don't like it when their servants are pretty anyways." Greyson's young voice was high and clear and nice to listen to, thus the bandits assumed right away that he was female. Annoyed, he almost shouted to correct them, but decided against being disrespectful.

"Sir, I'm actually a boy..."

Before Greyson could finish, Lucius suddenly spoke out, "Why bother negotiating with these weaklings? I'll just take care of them."

The group was shocked by the second voice and started looking around. One of the men shouted, "who's there?! Show yourself! Fight me in the open if you're so strong." They all did not know that magic beasts could speak and thus completely ignored the kitten on Greyson's shoulder.

"Idiots..." After mumbling to himself, Lucius swept his paw and the snow grabbed onto the bandits and froze. The bandits were shocked and tried to break out of the ice. They started shouting to let them out, but Lucius ignored them and closed his eyes to take a nap again.

Greyson looked on in shock and realized his worries were completely unnecessary. Magic was completely beyond what normal mortals could fight against. Although bandits would be scary to normal people, a decent magician could deal with them in the blink of an eye. He broke out of his daze and easily walked right past the trapped bandits. Once he easily passed by them, he looked back still slightly in wonder.

Turning around and scratching his nose, he murmured, "Were bandits always this weak?"

Although he said it rather quietly, the bandits could still here him. Overwhelming shame came over them as they felt completely speechless.

The leader suddenly shouted, "If you're a man, than fight with your fists!"

Greyson rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Sorry, but I'm a boy not a man. I'm not dumb enough to try to physically win over you." With that answer, he ran off leaving the bandits far behind.