Aurelius's heartbeat went back to normal after awakening at the campfire, and he squinted at the ash-brown-haired stranger. "Enhancers?"
"Good god," the stranger's lifeless look disappeared as his face dropped before he buried his head in his arms briefly before rubbing his eyes and continuing, "how exactly are you that strong with basically no knowledge? Who taught you?"
"Gabriel taught me," Aurelius answered with a nonchalant shrug.
The boy gasped, his eyes flying open. "Gabriel?"
Suddenly, Aurelius heart beat a little faster with an exciting idea. "You know Gabriel? Is he famous here?"
The boy's upper lip curled into a sneer as he leaned forward. "No," He said, shaking his head with disappointment. "It was a rhetorical question. Did you really expect me to know your lousy teacher?"
Aurelius furrowed his brows, flexing his body in a sudden want to get himself free. "Gabriel's not lousy. You're lousy! And what's a retanical question?"
The boy slowly put his palm to his forehead and moved his gaze to the pitch-black starry sky.
'I feel like he's thinking something not nice right now,' Aurelius thought as he looked at his exasperated companion.
"Okay," Aurelius said.
The boy moved his gaze back to Aurelius. "What?"
"I'll do it. I'll help you get the enhancers or whatever, but I want something in exchange," Aurelius explained, one of the many wisdoms in his notebook running through his mind.
"Hmm, sure," the boy said, tilting his head slightly. "What do you want?"
"I want to reach my full potential and be a hero like my father."
The boy tilted his head a bit more with deadpan look. "And you want me to do what exactly?"
"I want you to teach me. You're fast, but there was something else to what you did back there," Aurelius said, adjusting his position from uncomfortable to a bit less uncomfortable. "I have some good senses, you know. And your energy signals weren't normal. They were too fast. I don't know if you know, but setups—"
"—emit energy signals that build until the essence is released. I know," the boy reassured Aurelius.
"So teach me your setups," Aurelius demanded, his voice fluctuating as he tried to get more comfortable as he was wrapped in wire.
"Oh, you're a bit off your mark there. You think I have instant setups, but the truth is, I don't have any setups."
Aurelius stopped trying to seek comfort and was awed at what he had just heard. "Setupless essence usage?"
'Why did Gabriel not tell me about that? Surely he knew about it. I bet he could do it too,' Aurelius thought.
"It's called motionless magic," the boy noted. "I can teach it to you, but I can't promise you that you'll learn it. And your fundamentals should be excellent before you begin learning it, or else you'll have a lot of issues."
Aurelius furrowed his brows as he came to a realization. 'So that's why he didn't tell me.' He puffed and felt like crossing his arms. 'I would've waited until I had a handle on my fundamentals. Of course, I would have.'
He then concentrated back on the conversation. "Don't worry, my fundamentals are great. And you're my age, and you can do it, so of course I'll be able to learn it."
"How arrogant." the boy scoffed. "How old are you?"
"I'm 16."
"Arrogant and wrong," the boy added to his own statement. "I'm 19-years-old."
Mouth and eyes wide open was Aurelius.
The boy continued speaking, as he figured Aurelius wouldn't. "So yeah, that's our partnership. You help me with the enhancers; I teach you motionless magic."
Aurelius managed to collect himself enough to nod. Then he remembered his uncomfortable position again and addressed it for the first time, "Could you take these wires off me now? Or do you want me to break them?"
The boy sighed and stood up before beginning to approach Aurelius. "I'll take them off. You probably couldn't break them anyway."
"Can I try?" Aurelius' curiosity was awakened.
"Don't. I was just joking," the boy said very quickly and very seriously. It didn't seem like he trusted Aurelius' patience very much. "It's hyperwire, but it'll break if you try hard enough. Depends on how good you're at compression," the boy explained as he removed the wire.
"Compression?" Aurelius' asked about the foreign term.
The boy stopped for a second to show Aurelius. He put his hand out and flexed his fingers, which were curled up halfway. The joints in his skinny hands became even more apparent as they popped out, like wanting to squeeze through the skin and flee his body.
Then streaks of blue light appeared, and a sphere of compressed essence appeared at the streaks' meeting point at the center of his palm.
"Compression, as in this," the boy said before relaxing his hand, letting the streaks fade away.
"Oh, you mean close-range combat essence usage." Aurelius nodded with a smile of realization.
The boy sighed and got back to work with removing the wires. "Yeah, whatever."
"Oh, now that we're on the topic of names, what's yours?"
"I'm... Anwar," the boy said with some trouble as he worked with the wire.
"It's good to meet you, Anwar. I'm Aurelius," Aurelius said, having to look over his shoulder to see Anwar.
"You northerners really like long, overly complicated names, don't you?" Anwar spoke monotonously as he kept his focus on the matter before him.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with my name." Aurelius took Anwar's comment to heart. "And my father was the one who gave it to me. He's Zalfarian."
"You're from the west, then? What are you doing on this side of the great ocean?" The boy kept the conversation going naturally without much thought.
"No, I've lived in the Thropes for all my life. My mother is from there."
"Oh, a child of a Zalfarian and someone from the Thropes, huh? How did that happen?"
Aurelius had no real explanation and looked around the dark forest a bit before coming up with something to say. "My father just wanted to see the world and found my mother in the process. What about you?"
Anwar stopped for a few seconds again to think of an answer. "Mircrest. Lived there my whole life. My father was a soldier, and he helped me learn motionless magic when I was 12. He died a few years later. My mother got sick and followed soon after."
"My condolences. But..." Aurelius' face twisted. "At 12, really?"
"I was... am gifted," Anwar answered and got back to work.
"So about these enhancers?"
"Right, they're a kind of miracle drug. They're the blood from the hearts of cursed beasts."
"Huh, where did you think you'd find one of those? Even Gabriel told me he had never seen one with his own eyes."
"The Cloud-Piercing Mountains."
"Ugh, isn't that a long way away?"
"It's not as far as the maps would have you believe. It'll take five days at most, and besides, a long journey is good for you, isn't it? More time for you to train under me before we separate?"
Aurelius turned as best he could to face Anwar. "But I was planning to go to Mircrest too. Wouldn't it be better to go together?"
Anwar took the time to look back at Aurelius and make himself clear. "Look, I only wanted you as my partner because fighting beasts is easier with someone and because you just so happened to beat my former helpers, making me need someone else."
"But I can help you with other stuff too, as long as you help me with motionless magic."
"I don't need your help outside of this, and besides, people who are around me too much always end up dead. And that's because out of all the people I've ever known, I'm the strongest, but I can't protect others. You'll surely learn that one day as well," Anwar said, and there was a sound of the wire rubbing against itself as Aurelius was freed and Anwar gathered the wire into a portable shape.
Anwar then threw the neatly packed wire onto his bag on the other side of the campfire before offering Aurelius a hand. Aurelius took the offer and was easily pulled up to his feet.
Anwar didn't let his hand go just yet, though. On the contrary, he squeezed it harder with his surprisingly small hands. "So that's our deal. For a few days, we will help each other, and afterward, we will walk our separate paths. Is that understood?" He didn't wait for Aurelius to answer. "Good. Now go to sleep. Our journey begins tomorrow."
Aurelius's heartbeat went back to normal after awakening at the campfire, and he squinted at the ash-brown-haired stranger. "Enhancers?"
"Good god," the stranger's lifeless look disappeared as his face dropped before he buried his head in his arms briefly before rubbing his eyes and continuing, "how exactly are you that strong with basically no knowledge? Who taught you?"
"Gabriel taught me," Aurelius answered with a nonchalant shrug.
The boy gasped, his eyes flying open. "Gabriel?"
Suddenly, Aurelius heart beat a little faster with an exciting idea. "You know Gabriel? Is he famous here?"
The boy's upper lip curled into a sneer as he leaned forward. "No," He said, shaking his head with disappointment. "It was a rhetorical question. Did you really expect me to know your lousy teacher?"
Aurelius furrowed his brows, flexing his body in a sudden want to get himself free. "Gabriel's not lousy. You're lousy! And what's a retanical question?"
The boy slowly put his palm to his forehead and moved his gaze to the pitch-black starry sky.
'I feel like he's thinking something not nice right now,' Aurelius thought as he looked at his exasperated companion.
"Okay," Aurelius said.
The boy moved his gaze back to Aurelius. "What?"
"I'll do it. I'll help you get the enhancers or whatever, but I want something in exchange," Aurelius explained, one of the many wisdoms in his notebook running through his mind.
"Hmm, sure," the boy said, tilting his head slightly. "What do you want?"
"I want to reach my full potential and be a hero like my father."
The boy tilted his head a bit more with deadpan look. "And you want me to do what exactly?"
"I want you to teach me. You're fast, but there was something else to what you did back there," Aurelius said, adjusting his position from uncomfortable to a bit less uncomfortable. "I have some good senses, you know. And your energy signals weren't normal. They were too fast. I don't know if you know, but setups—"
"—emit energy signals that build until the essence is released. I know," the boy reassured Aurelius.
"So teach me your setups," Aurelius demanded, his voice fluctuating as he tried to get more comfortable as he was wrapped in wire.
"Oh, you're a bit off your mark there. You think I have instant setups, but the truth is, I don't have any setups."
Aurelius stopped trying to seek comfort and was awed at what he had just heard. "Setupless essence usage?"
'Why did Gabriel not tell me about that? Surely he knew about it. I bet he could do it too,' Aurelius thought.
"It's called motionless magic," the boy noted. "I can teach it to you, but I can't promise you that you'll learn it. And your fundamentals should be excellent before you begin learning it, or else you'll have a lot of issues."
Aurelius furrowed his brows as he came to a realization. 'So that's why he didn't tell me.' He puffed and felt like crossing his arms. 'I would've waited until I had a handle on my fundamentals. Of course, I would have.'
He then concentrated back on the conversation. "Don't worry, my fundamentals are great. And you're my age, and you can do it, so of course I'll be able to learn it."
"How arrogant." the boy scoffed. "How old are you?"
"I'm 16."
"Arrogant and wrong," the boy added to his own statement. "I'm 19-years-old."
Mouth and eyes wide open was Aurelius.
The boy continued speaking, as he figured Aurelius wouldn't. "So yeah, that's our partnership. You help me with the enhancers; I teach you motionless magic."
Aurelius managed to collect himself enough to nod. Then he remembered his uncomfortable position again and addressed it for the first time, "Could you take these wires off me now? Or do you want me to break them?"
The boy sighed and stood up before beginning to approach Aurelius. "I'll take them off. You probably couldn't break them anyway."
"Can I try?" Aurelius' curiosity was awakened.
"Don't. I was just joking," the boy said very quickly and very seriously. It didn't seem like he trusted Aurelius' patience very much. "It's hyperwire, but it'll break if you try hard enough. Depends on how good you're at compression," the boy explained as he removed the wire.
"Compression?" Aurelius' asked about the foreign term.
The boy stopped for a second to show Aurelius. He put his hand out and flexed his fingers, which were curled up halfway. The joints in his skinny hands became even more apparent as they popped out, like wanting to squeeze through the skin and flee his body.
Then streaks of blue light appeared, and a sphere of compressed essence appeared at the streaks' meeting point at the center of his palm.
"Compression, as in this," the boy said before relaxing his hand, letting the streaks fade away.
"Oh, you mean close-range combat essence usage." Aurelius nodded with a smile of realization.
The boy sighed and got back to work with removing the wires. "Yeah, whatever."
"Oh, now that we're on the topic of names, what's yours?"
"I'm... Anwar," the boy said with some trouble as he worked with the wire.
"It's good to meet you, Anwar. I'm Aurelius," Aurelius said, having to look over his shoulder to see Anwar.
"You northerners really like long, overly complicated names, don't you?" Anwar spoke monotonously as he kept his focus on the matter before him.
"Hey, there's nothing wrong with my name." Aurelius took Anwar's comment to heart. "And my father was the one who gave it to me. He's Zalfarian."
"You're from the west, then? What are you doing on this side of the great ocean?" The boy kept the conversation going naturally without much thought.
"No, I've lived in the Thropes for all my life. My mother is from there."
"Oh, a child of a Zalfarian and someone from the Thropes, huh? How did that happen?"
Aurelius had no real explanation and looked around the dark forest a bit before coming up with something to say. "My father just wanted to see the world and found my mother in the process. What about you?"
Anwar stopped for a few seconds again to think of an answer. "Mircrest. Lived there my whole life. My father was a soldier, and he helped me learn motionless magic when I was 12. He died a few years later. My mother got sick and followed soon after."
"My condolences. But..." Aurelius' face twisted. "At 12, really?"
"I was... am gifted," Anwar answered and got back to work.
"So about these enhancers?"
"Right, they're a kind of miracle drug. They're the blood from the hearts of cursed beasts."
"Huh, where did you think you'd find one of those? Even Gabriel told me he had never seen one with his own eyes."
"The Cloud-Piercing Mountains."
"Ugh, isn't that a long way away?"
"It's not as far as the maps would have you believe. It'll take five days at most, and besides, a long journey is good for you, isn't it? More time for you to train under me before we separate?"
Aurelius turned as best he could to face Anwar. "But I was planning to go to Mircrest too. Wouldn't it be better to go together?"
Anwar took the time to look back at Aurelius and make himself clear. "Look, I only wanted you as my partner because fighting beasts is easier with someone and because you just so happened to beat my former helpers, making me need someone else."
"But I can help you with other stuff too, as long as you help me with motionless magic."
"I don't need your help outside of this, and besides, people who are around me too much always end up dead. And that's because out of all the people I've ever known, I'm the strongest, but I can't protect others. You'll surely learn that one day as well," Anwar said, and there was a sound of the wire rubbing against itself as Aurelius was freed and Anwar gathered the wire into a portable shape.
Anwar then threw the neatly packed wire onto his bag on the other side of the campfire before offering Aurelius a hand. Aurelius took the offer and was easily pulled up to his feet.
Anwar didn't let his hand go just yet, though. On the contrary, he squeezed it harder with his surprisingly small hands. "So that's our deal. For a few days, we will help each other, and afterward, we will walk our separate paths. Is that understood?" He didn't wait for Aurelius to answer. "Good. Now go to sleep. Our journey begins tomorrow."
