Chapter 45- Sister Training Arc Part 2

At 11, Sharp arrived. He was wearing a formal jacket and his storage pouch looked full.

“Sol, good to see you,” Sharp said.

“Nice to see you too. Come in.”

“Lovely place you have here,” Sharp admired as he looked around the house.

“Good morning, Mr. Demy,” June said behind her brother. She curtseyed and Sharp returned with a bow

“I’m very well thank you, Ms. Thorn.”

Sol couldn’t tell but it seemed like they were already flirting; he wasn’t on the same intellectual level as them so it was hard to guess.

“We have a training room in the back, so if you’d follow me,” Sol said.

“It’s ok, I’ll take him,” June declared, skipping in front of Sol.

“I think it will be best for your brother to watch for now, just for him to get a picture of your magic,” Sharp remarked.

“Urm… Sure.” June.

The three headed into the training room where Sol had already set up a few things for them.

“Right, Ms. Thorn. How far have you got up to in terms of rune conjuring?” Sharp asked as he brought out a plethora of devices and even a table.

“Stage 8 in water, fire and earth. The books instructed me to do these first to get a basis on the others.”

“Impressive,” Sharp remarked.

“How many stages are there?” Sol asked.

“10 basic ones for each area of magic, each rune may have different effects. It may just be a small flame or a fireball.”

“And how does that work?” Sol asked.

“Sol,” June angirlly muttered.

“Not to worry Mrs. Thorn, it is only curiosity.”

“For example,” Sharp said as he held up a basic rune on a piece of paper. “This is the elemental rune for fire. It’s basic; easy to conjure for a mage with a few months of practice. To give it a physical shape like a fireball you would add the parameters with the according runes. Then add the mana limit and distance. All very complicated but easy work for Ms. Thorn.”

“So, basically, you can create any magic?” Sol asked.

“Theoretically yes, but many rune writers are stuck with the basics and learn them for only 2-5 schools of magic. There are thousands of schools of magic, each possessing unique runes and when adding the parameters they will each be added differently in writings and can change entirely with each one. Therefore, Rune Writers have almost limitless potential given enough mana and time.”

“By Odin…” Sol stated while rubbing the back of his head. It was a heck of alot of information. Sol thought of himself as fairly smart but what Sharp was describing was far out of his knowledge.

“I always thought of them as ever changing equations. Mrs. Thorn, would you like to give your brother a small demonstration? I'll give the description of a random rune and you will draw it out for me with all the correct details.”

“Now?” June asked.

“Well yes, if you are comfortable that is?” Sharp asked politely.

She nodded enthusiastically.

June made her way to the back of the training room and prepared herself.

“You do realise stage 8 in rune writing is considered to be at the expert rank.” Sharp whispered to Sol.

“Is it a skill then?” Sol asked back.

Sharp uppened his lip and waved his head in a confused manner. “Yes and no, it is not a direct skill per say but rather she will gain passive skills if she receives the class which she most definitely will. Rune writing is an ancient form of magic. When Elora conjures magic, her mana creates the spell rune inside her and then extends it through her body- assisted by the system.”

“So rune writing is unassisted magic?” Sol asked, he was slightly worried now.

“Indeed, although in June’s case she has excellent mana control. Plus, I am here if anything goes wrong.”

“I’m ready!” June shouted from across the hall.

“Ok. Ms. Thorn. I would like you to summon a ball of water approximately 0.23metres in diameter and give it 25 units of mana spread evenly.”

“But the mana density would be too low, it would just fall when fired,” June replied back.

“Exactly!” Sharp shouted. “The more weak the better.”

June took a deep breath and began to carve the correct runes in the air with her fingers- leaving behind glowing interlocking lines.

“Amazing,” Sharp muttered. “Activate the runes now.”

June took her right hand away but kept the rune in mid air with her left hand. It pulsed for a minute then the runes began to form droplets of water that then moved out from the rune. The rune vanished and June was left controlling the ball of water with her left hand.

“Right, Ms. Thorn. I know you have learnt the ice transmutation spell along with the spear shape. I want you to merge the water ball through the rune to make it into an ice spear.”

“It will be full of holes though, the mana density is too little.” June replied back.

“Not to worry, you’ll see why soon. The more holes the better,” Sharp explained.

June nodded and began to draw the rune in her right hand while also keeping it still.

“Sol, you see how she’s able to hold while drawing. She has the ball in her left hand while writing and keeping the new rune still with her right. Very impressive, only a handful of people I’ve seen can do that after years of practising.”

“Ready!” June shouted.

“Hold on for a moment, pass it through on my signal.” Sharp said and then he turned back to Sol, “It would be best if you moved aside.”

Sol put his back against the wall while Sharp stayed in the middle. He began to draw a small rune with his own hands. It was extremely weak and barely held any mana within it.

“Ok. I now want you to fire the water ball through your transmutation spell and aim it for my own rune. Have you learned distant mana control yet?”

“Sort of,” June replied.

“Well, whenever you’re ready, Mrs. Thorn.”

June nodded. She gently moved the water ball behind the rune she held and gently passed it through. As the water went through the rune it flashed brightly and turned into a long iced spear with a sharp tip and littered with holes.

Sharp was sweating profusely as he held his own tiny rune. June passed all the water through the rune and it transformed into a 2ft blue ice spear. She aimed it for Sharp’s own rune and fired it off.

It flew through the air at around 10mph and passed through Sharp’s rune. It turned the outside of the spear hot and steam poured off of it. It hit the back of the room and stuck itself into the wall.

“Holy fuck!” Sol exclaimed. Also annoyed at the damage to walls.

Sharp hurried over to the spear and instructed the two siblings over.

“You added a steam rune to it?” June asked with excitement.

“I’m not as talented as you but I managed. You see why I wanted the holes? When the spear hits a target, it will be able to burn inside while blood can pour out- causing maximum damage along with bleed effect”

Sol gave him a wary look, “I think you should stick to defen-”

“That’s so clever! I never would've thought of that!” June exclaimed.

“Don’t worry Sol, everyone needs offensive techniques before defensive.”

“I trust you. June, that was amazing, this could have so many uses,” Sol mused.

“There’s a reason why rune writing is so difficult and rare. Not only must you be smart but possess a large mana pool along with equally as good mana control. I poured half my mana out just for my small rune.” Sharp said.

“By Odin, June. How large is your mana pool?” Sol asked.

“Thirteen hundred,” June said casually.

“Sorry, what?” Sol questioned.

“1,300, I’m only level 12 too. I only used 190 there. Most of it went to controlling the mana though.” June said.

“Well, it seems you are far more talented than your brother,” Sharp said.

“Hey!” Sol complained.

A knock on the door took them away.

“That’s Elora,” Sol said. “I’ll leave you guys to it, just don’t blow up the house.”

The two nodded fairly seriously and Sol then left to greet the two new tutors. As he walked into the living room he saw Summer practising her makeup. She was wearing some light armour that looked more fashion than fit and her hair was partially put into a ponytail. She seemed to be fussing over every little detail on her body.

“They’re only your tutors,” Sol explained.

“Tutors or not, Elora Evergrand and Kara Field are coming here. Are you not nervous?” she questioned.

“Why should I be,” Sol said. “Please tell me you actually want to be tutored.”

“Yeah of course. I’m just nervous.”

“Alright,” Sol said as he headed over to the door.

He opened it to see Elora smiling at him. She was wearing sunglasses and a hat to hide her identity; a plain but pretty dress draped off her.

“Hi,” Sol said.

“Hi to you too,” Elora replied.

“Please come in, where’s Kara?” Sol asked.

“Oh I’m here!” Kara said as he stepped out from behind Elora.

She was small, around June’s height and she wore black cargo trousers and a matching jacket. She had thick glasses on and her white bunny ears stood up tall. Her hair was long; all the way down to her waist and it matched the colour of her hair.

“So you’re the void mage, only met one a while ago.”

“We’re quite rare, many people don’t know we exist,” she said as she winked.

“Kara,” Elora sternly said.

“Right, sorry. Anyway, nice to meet you.”

Sol nodded back and he let them in.

Elora walked past Sol while Kara jumped on him and gave him a tight hug. Elora grabbed her hand and she quickly composed herself.

‘She’s crazy’ Sol thought. She seemed nice to Sol but more than intimate as Elora described.

“And you must be Summer,” Elora said. “That was a great performance.”

Summer courtesy. “Thank you, it’s an honour to be taught by Miss Evergrand.”

“Don’t worry about formality, Sol’s a friend so I consider you as one.”

Summer blushed colourfully.

“And I’m Kara Field,” Kara introduced as she went up and hugged Summer. “Elora told me you’re a void enhancer, never heard of one before.”

“Yeah, well Sol only told me last night when I showed him.” Summer replied. “Anyway, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve been following you on social media for years now.”

“Shall we get to it?” Sol asked, diverting the conversation.

The trio nodded and they headed to the training room. Sol had sectioned off half the training room for either of his sisters.

“Lady Evergrand, good to see you,” Sharp said.

“As with you…”

“Mr. Demy,” Sharp recalled. “Me and Sol met you on the salvage mission a few months ago.”

“Oh yes,” Elora said with a smile. She only knew him as Sharp.

“And Lady Field, a void mage. You two must make a terrific force,” Sharp complimented.

“Nice to meet you Mr. Demy,” Kara said, bouncing on two feet.

“Anyway, Ms. Thorn is eager to carry on so please excuse me.”

“Is that?” Kara asked quietly to Elora.

“Shhh,” Elora hushed. “So Summer, Sol told me you are a void-fire enhancer.”

“Urm, yes. Well, I’m not sure how I got the skill, it just appeared one day,” Summer responded.

“Is it an active skill or passive?” Elora asked.

“It’s an active skill, but I can keep it on for 30 minutes.”

“Ok, so just activate it,” Elora stated.

Summer nodded and took a few steps back. She wiggled her arms around a bit and activated the skill. Her whole body glowed purple and likewise flames licked around her body. The glow faded and now her whole body seemed to be affected by the flames.

“Woah! That’s so cool!” Kara exclaimed.

Summer smiled.

“What buffs does it give you?” Elora asked.

“So far it gives me 10% resistance to magic and 21% resistance to physical attacks. It also applies burn damage if I want it to,” Summer answered.

“Impressive, do you mind if I?-” Elora said as she walked closer.

“Of course.”

Elora held her hand out and tried to influence the flames, she was surprised when she couldn’t.

“Kara, do you feel void magic?” Elora asked.

“Oh tonnes, it’s practically filling her veins.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I can’t influence it. The void affinity causes me to lose grip,” Elora stated.

Kara hopped over and began to examine the flames coming off. She started to feel up her body like Summer was dead.

“Urm Kara?” Elora questioned.

“It’s not coming from her mana core, so it’s a genetic thing,” Kara said as she was touching up Summer’s chest.

“I can feel fire magic in her chest, so perhaps it merges with her void.”

“What does that mean?” Summer asked with worry.

“It means we’re sisters!” Kara exclaimed as she hugged Summer.

“Wait! Really?”

“Oh yeah, kinda, but more of the fact that we share a mutation. Practically sisters.”

“Can you explain?” Sol interjected.

“Void is not a naturally occurring magic in Gaia, others can generally harness it with powerful magic but people like us are born with it. I think the void actually awakened the fire affinity within you. Then the offspring of this happened. Does it hurt?” Kara asked. She spoke so fast it was difficult to keep up.

“The skill description! It just changed to fire-void affinity!” Summer exclaimed.

Kara and Elora high fived.

“How many people have this?” Sol asked.

“It’s rare, one in 100 million. Many get chopped up and examined by mad kings and stuff like that,” Kara said.

Sol’s face dropped and Elora nudged her elbow into Kara’s chest.

“On rare occasions!” Kara declared with a finger in the air.

“Is she sick or something?” Sol asked.

“The opposite actually, with my genetic mutation, it merged with my space-time magic. With hers it strengthens her fire enhancer abilities. Feel her skin, you should see a difference.” Kara said.

Sol did, it didn’t feel solid but her skin was definitely tougher.

“Can you test the damage on Sol?” Elora asked.

“I don’t want to hurt him,” Summer pleaded.

“Oh it’s fine, I have high resistance, Summer,” Sol said as he rolled his sleeve up.

“As long as you’re sure,” Summer said.

Sol nodded enthusiastically, he placed his forearm against hers and she willed the fire to hurt him.

It felt so strange to Sol, the pain wasn’t bad- equal to that of normal fire but it was like parts of his skin were disappearing. Elora and Kara both hurried over to see it in action. They looked to see small spheres of purple appearing then disappearing where the flames were.

“Woah!” Kara said, “That’s totally awesome. Awww, I wish I had flame-void magic.”

Sol shook his arm to get rid of the flame but it wouldn’t go away. He summoned a bottle of water from his storage pouch and chucked it over his forearm but it didn’t go away. The water didn’t seem to affect it all.

“Shit,” Sol said. “Summer, can you touch my arm and will the fire back, it’s not going out.”

“What? Uhh-ok-ok,” Summer panicked as she grabbed Sol’s arm and spread the flames further. “Ahhhh, sorry-sorry.”

“Relax Summer, take a deep breath and do it,” Sol said calmly, the last thing he wanted to do was stress his sister out.

She did take a deep breath and summoned the flames back into her own hand.

“Are you ok?” she asked.

Sol wasn’t fazed by the pain or his half burnt off arm and stood there casually. Elora handed him a healing potion, he refused at first but then realised his sister was there and took it.

“I’m sorry, Sol,” Summer said as she hugged him.

“It’s fine, I’ll be your guinea pig today anyway,” Sol said as he hugged her back.

In the corner of his eye he could see Elora whispering to Kara, he hoped it was about Summer but he didn’t think it was.

“Ok Summer, we’re gonna see if we can enhance the void-flames further then we’ll see if we can expel it.”

“What do you mean expel it? I’m an enhancer. I can’t do that.” Summer explained.

Kara put her hands on her hips. “Not yet you can’t.”

“I’m gonna leave you guys to it, if you need me for any testing let me know,” Sol said.

Elora gave him a wink and a nod. Now that he thought about it, he had found the best tutors possible. He was just happy to have them. Plus, Elora and Kara were eye candy for him.