Chapter 7 Part 3 of 3 (Patreon)

“Why are you two late?” Xun Liang complained as Erik and Rugrat appeared in the training room. Weebla had moved down into the training room, turning one of the sparring areas into a comfortable seating area with a kitchen against one wall.

“You live here?” Erik asked.

“No dodging the question.”

“We had a number of challengers that were trying to take our positions, so we defended them,” Rugrat said sardonically. “Apparently that sort of thing is common knowledge and if you don’t show up for your challenges you can be kicked out?”

“Oh, huh, I forgot about that.” Xun Liang chuckled.

“Cause everyone gave up trying to beat you.” Weebla raised an eyebrow and faced Erik and Rugrat. “Sorry about that, boys. I keep thinking that he will, you know, remember things, or not be an idiot, once in a while.”

Xun Liang made a ‘pah’ noise, opening and closing his mouth, but unable to form his words.

“Shall we get started?” Erik said, eager.

“Usually I have to drag you into the sparring areas,” Xun Liang said holding up a finger, keeping them on the teleportation pads.

“Well, we had a chance to test out what we’ve learned and if we have a month before our next round of fights, we have a long way to go,” Erik said.

“Okay then, next is going to be your domains. You’re getting better with dodging, but to dodge you need to know where the attack is coming from. So, use only your domains. Erik, keep working on using your elements through your body in short bursts. Rugrat, work on chaining your spells together. If you cast one spell and overlay another on top you will get a stronger effect. Should cut down on your casting time. Also, if one spell is destroyed it still leaves elements and mana behind. Why don’t you use that with your pure magic ideas?”

Xun Liang, the devil himself threw out formations that stuck to Erik and Rugrat’s necks. Erik pulled at it but it had fused with his skin. He could cut it out but stopped himself.

The formation activated and the lights went out.

“What?” Erik created a flame in his hand but he couldn’t see it or sense it.

“That’s a sense blocker, you won’t be able to see anything. You can only use your domain to see around you. So, I’d say get used to it!”

Erik used his domain, feeling the room around him. It was like when he was a child, relying on the light coming from the television downstairs through the crack under his door to see with.

“Bout time you learned how to use that domain of yours properly. Dodge, evade, don’t attack the Telarri. You want to show that I’m wrong? Show me what I’m teaching you is wrong.”

Light wrapped around him. The sounds of the forest disappeared but he still scrambled to his feet.

That bastard. He turned around, centering himself in the domain, it fed him information on the mana and elements around him.

He stretched it out across the ground, pushing it into the ground. He was confused about the sphere of information coming in and had a hard time focusing on where he was in relation to everything else, tripping over as he thought himself at the edge of his sphere instead of the middle of it.

“I can sense mana,” Erik paused. He was talking but heard nothing.

“Well that’s freaky. Okay, I can sense mana and the elements.” Erik looked at the disturbances of mana at the center of the sphere, finding himself, he was like a sputtering candle, releasing and drawing in mana through his gates. His body lit up with elemental power.

“Okay.” Erik felt another presence charging through his sphere before he was hit in the back with a claw of air, sending him spinning. He lost all sense of where he was in his domain.

Erik started running through what Xun Liang had been telling him and Rugrat.

Sense the elements, the mana around you, while someone can hide what they are doing internally, the external world has many signs.

Erik felt another surge of water and fire turning into a superheated claw of air. He jumped and rolled, hitting a tree, but the claw missed him.

On your feet, know your footing by your feet not your eyes. Erik adjusted to the ground, confused with how easily he started moving once he stopped over thinking things.

A kick, close.

He leaned back, hitting the creature in the knee instead of dodging. He’d misjudged his location as he grabbed the creature’s leg and spun with it, throwing them.

Erik’s existence was mana and elements, sprinkled with the fear of injury.

He forgot how many times he was sent out of the training area and shoved back in, battered bruised and determined.

“What did you learn without your senses?” Xun Liang asked as the formations on their necks were pulled away and the world came into almost painful focus.

“Keep your eyes closed,” Rugrat grimaced.

“If you don’t need to see someone to attack them you can hide behind a dozen trees,” Erik said.

“Both valuable. Now make sure to use your senses to sense everything around you.”

Erik would have turned a circle before, now he pushed out his domain to sense his prey. Instead of overwhelming as it had been, it had become familiar, understandable.

A Telarri approached.

“Let’s tango, mother fucker.”

Erik ran behind a tree as it released a sonic blast from its mouth. He ran away, keeping trees between him and the Telarri. It jumped from tree to tree. Unable to get a clear line of sight, it slashed through a tree in a rage.

Erik didn’t look down, he scanned with his domain

Come on, pull it together. Erik wanted to smack himself in the head. It was like learning how to dance, except his whole body and movement had too many old and bad habits and he had to force them out and replace them.

He channelled elements and mana through his body, making it easier to see through his domain and react faster and stronger as he dodged to the side. Claws hacked into a tree as he tried to not fall over from the leap.

He tried to send lightning through his body, but it didn’t respond. He drew on mana, nothing. Earth, nothing. Flame. He swatted wildly with a fist of fire.

The Telarri hit him in the side, spinning him around and slashing at his back.

Erik was disorientated as he tried to run.

He lasted for several dozen minutes, running blind through the fog with a screaming, clawing, and kicking Telarri getting more inventive every minute. Two more jumped out from the ground, stabbing stone spears at his face. He fell down on the teleportation pad, the light draining from his surroundings as he panted on the formation.

“Domains stretch out in all directions. Bout time you two idiots started paying more attention to what’s happening under your feet. Again,” Xun Liang said, sickly sweet. Erik could see his smile as he appeared in the forest again.

This is going to be a long three days. He circulated his fire element, the only thing he could rely on.