“Ok. I think that’s enough for tonight.” Kiefer said, looking down at Sher’s tiny head. “We’ll continue in the morning, and then set off by midday tomorrow.”

Kiefer made the usual arrangements for the night and shut his eyes. Soon, he could hear the coo-ing coming from within his sleeping bag, but he had trouble sleeping himself. Still overly excited at the success at his experiment, he wanted to continue, but he knew his body needed rest. While thinking of new ways to improve (as if it needs to be even more powerful) his new skill, Kiefer gradually succumbed to the cooling night breeze and finally fell asleep.

As the morning sun’s rays hit his face, Kiefer reluctantly opened his eyes, and saw the tarsus slowly grazing on the thick forest undergrowth. Sher was already awake and chasing some flying insects in the field not too far from their camp. Thirsty, Kiefer grabbed one of the lime-colored fruits and bit into it, letting the juices flow out and quench his thirst.

Noticing her master already awake, Shearwood came floating back to the campsite, eagerly waiting to see Kiefer try out his newest skill again. She may still be a child, but she still loved destruction nonetheless.

“Hey Sher. There something I need to ask you.” (Kiefer)

Shearwood just kept quiet, tilting her head and wondering what it was that he wanted to know.

“Ever since we left the lake, I’ve found that my maximum mana capacity has decreased drastically. Is there any explanation for that? Did I over exert myself during the fight with the convoy?” (Kiefer)

“Master, that is impossible. No matter who or what it is, their mana capacity can only increase with continued use, I’ve never heard of anyone whose total mana decrease. The only way to lose mana storing capabilities is if you die. Since you are not dead, that shouldn’t be the case. How can you tell your capacity decreased? Can you not use as much spells as you used to?” (Shearwood)

“No I’ve been avoiding spending my mana because I’m afraid it would just further decrease my maximum capacity. Last night was an exception since I needed a cost efficient way to protect myself. I used to be able to sense the mana inside my body. It used to be a mist, but gradually increased until it was somewhat like a torrential rain. However, since the day before we set off, I feel my mana’s decreased back to a thin mist, maybe even thinner than what I started out with.” (Kiefer)

“Ahahaha.. Master. You are weird after-all. Only us Titans should be able to gauge our mana capacity in the way you described. All other lesser beings measure their mana by the number of spells they can cast. Like I said, it is impossible for mana capacity to decrease. I experienced what you described 6 million years ago, and was frightened myself too.” (Shearwood)

“And so? What is happening?” Kiefer asked, trying his best to remain calm and patient.

“Master, close your eyes and try to feel for your mana again. Search within your body, within that mist for something different. I’m not sure what it will be or what it will look like, but it is different amongst the 9 of us.” (Shearwood)

Kiefer followed the snake’s directions, closing his eye, taking steady breathes and sensing his mana. It was a thin silver haze like he had felt before. He kept observing carefully, and then noticed that the thin haze was not the same throughout his body. There was one particular point where it got denser. Probing his senses into that area, what Kiefer felt and ‘saw’ surprised him.

Opening his eyes, he muttered 1 word, “Liquid”. His dense mana cloud had condensed into a ball of liquid, floating serenely right in the middle of his chest. He quickly closed his eyes again, trying to get a better picture.

The silver ball was half the size of his fist, floating in the middle of his chest and pulsating along with his heartbeat. Kiefer deployed his mana armour, and felt a ripple travel across the surface of the ball, and then it became still again, going back to the regular pulse. Dissipating the shield had a similar effect.

“I see, Kiefer said. Mine is a small ball of liquid mana. What about yours Sher?” (Kiefer)

“Ahaha master you are really good at this. Mine is a crystal 10-sided star. But when it started, I had a lake in my body; my liquid mana filled me up starting from my tail.”(Shearwood)

“Thank you Sher. You have been really helpful. Now I can practice with peace of mind.” Kiefer said, while an evil smile grew on his face.

For almost 12 hours, loud explosive sounds rang through the entire Agrean Forest and Eastern Alluviate plains. By the time the sun was high up in the middle of the sky, Kiefer finally stopped his practice, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He had a satisfied look and grinned at the spectacle in front of him.

What used to be a wide expansive grassland covered in tall lush green grass now looked like the surface of the moon. Craters everywhere, dust covering almost half the entire field. There was barely any spec of green left within a 2 kilometer radius from where Kiefer stood.

Kiefer was thoroughly satisfied. He had developed 3 sub-skills from the one he developed last night. The first is the original high powered bullet, but with 500k rpm. It was to be used for long range bombardment and wasn’t very accurate. The second was a bullet with the cartridge packed with half the amount of repulsion particles. It was easier to aim with a range of up to 1000 metres. While the impact damage was not very high, he decided, it could be used for sniping since it was fairly accurate and had good piercing damage. These 2 types had to be fired from his hand.

The last one was what he was most proud of. Kiefer had designed a bullet with a quarter the amount of repulsive bullets, but with a new cartridge design. Instead of being sealed by the bullet, Kiefer sealed the cartride with another mana wall, and then fit the bullet into the end of the cartridge. This way, he did not need to control the repulsion particles individually, but instead only need to maintain that new divider wall. He could dissipate that extra wall at will and fire the bullet.

Without having to concentrate on managing the repulsion particles, Kiefer could summon multiple of these bullets anywhere in the space within 5 metres of him. To be exact, Kiefer had succeeded in mass summoning 50 bullets simultaneously. This last type of bullet had a range of only 500metres, but Kiefer was confident it would be able to pierce the steel breastplate of the knights he had fought at the lake.

Happy and tired, Kiefer mounted the tarsus, and headed in the direction Shearwood had pointed to. As he slowly progressed through the now dead quiet forest, Kiefer converted Shearwood’s mana into his own along the way.

By the time evening came along and the sky started to dim, Kiefer was only 2 days away from the city walls when Shearwood suddenly perked her tiny head up and said “Master I smell food. Delicious food.”

Impatient, Shearwood kept nudging Kiefer’s face saying, “master hurry up! This way! So many of them! All the delicious food! Master I’m starting to get hungry!”

Kiefer had never seen Shearwood so excited and was wondering what kind of food she found, so made haste in the directing she was pointing to, cutting through the undergrowth and narrowly missing low hanging tree branches. Then he arrived at a clearing and finally understood what Shearwood had meant when she said “Food”.

There, in the middle of the clearing was a simple looking carriage attached to 4 horses (not tarsus). Surrounding the carriage were almost 30 men with their weapons brandished. Some were holding swords, others wielding heavy maces or hammers. There were 3 with their bows drawn, all aiming at a short well-dressed man lying on the ground.

“Wow. What a template bandit situation.” Kiefer thought as he rode his huge tarsus in from behind the carriage.

Surprised at his sudden entrance, all the bandits turned to focus their attention on the new intruder.

“That robe! And a tarsus! Everyone be careful, he’s a mage from the royal academy! Do not give him a chance to chant!” (bandit leader)

With swift and precise orders, the leader immediately identified the new threat and made the decision to focus on the academy mage first. Instantly, 3 arrows along with several daggers went flying towards Kiefer. All the projectiles however, seem to bounce off Kiefer like Styrofoam darts.

Seeing the arrows bounce off, the leader was confused, but with the many years of battle experience, he made a different call instantly. As if to predict the bandit’s next move, Kiefer immediately leapt off the tarsus and stood in front of it, shielding it from possible attacks. He couldn’t let his only ride get injured.

Seeing how powerful the young man was, the dwarf on the ground immediately grunted for help, “Young man! Save me and I will give you all the gold I have on me now! Please!”

Kiefer sauntered forwards, with all the bandits on high alert and the dwarf still unsure of his motives. A smile could be seen on Kiefer as he silently repaired and strengthened his mana armour with an additional layer while anchoring himself to the ground with mana threads.

Staring straight at the bandit leader, Kiefer chuckled, and then yelled, “Come on then, try your best to do your worst.”

Instantly, without the need for orders from the leader, the bandits rushed forwards with their weapons. Sword slashes were deflected while maces and hammers felt like they were striking against a blacksmith’s anvil. Kiefer’s feet were slowly being dug into the ground, as if Kiefer himself was a nail being hammered in. However, Kiefer remained still, hands behind his back, still smiling.

“Stand back! All you useless fools! Guard the dwarf and make sure he doesn’t crawl his way out. I’ll handle this myself!” (Bandit Leader)

The leader brandished his lance, pointed it at Kiefer and disappeared, leaving cracks on the ground where he stood. Faster than Kiefer could track the man, the lance was already at his chest, having broken through 5 layers of his armour.

Stunned and shocked, Kiefer undid the mana threads and leapt back instinctively, secretly glad that he had added the extra layer before combat. As soon as the lance was withdrawn, the mana armour reformed. Kiefer now had some questions running through his head.

Not wanting to reveal anything about himself, he simply whispered to the serpent lurking in his robes (no pun intended), “Sher, leave the leader and dwarf. The rest are yours.”

No sooner had he finished his sentence, something small shot out of his robes into the sky and instantly, the entire area was covered by a large looming shadow. The giant serpent swallowed 6 bandits in one swoop and hovered in the air staring at the rest.

Scared out of their wits and not expecting everything to turn sour, all the bandits but one began fleeing in all directions, leaving the scene in complete disarray. The leader had wanted to flee too, but for unknown reasons, he was rooted to the ground, unable to move his legs. In a last attempt to kill the mage, the bandit leader poured mana into his arm, and threw the lance at Kiefer.

Having predicted his actions, Kiefer had already set up his dome shield, and sure enough, the lance bounced off the dome with a loud “klang”, and shot up into the sky, landing next to Kiefer moments later, blade in the ground and handle upright.

“You! What are you!?! I thought high elves were extinct! How can you use magic without chanting?!?”(Bandit leader)

All this time, while Shearwood was off chasing her meal, the dwarf had scurried onto his carriage, bruises on his face and tried to escape from the mess and the horrifying young mage that he had requested for help from. Seeing this, Kiefer extended his mana threads, securing the carriage and horses in place, while slowly constricting the bandit leader up to the neck. The entire clearing was now covered in silver mana threads moving constantly like a sea of silver snakes.

“Now then. I need answers and you will give them to me. Are we clear?” (Kiefer)

“Y-yes.. please.. don’t kill me.” The bandit pleaded, knowing full well how these things went. He had been on the interrogating side multiple times and he knew that right now, he was not going to get away completely unharmed. He would be lucky if he could leave with a shred of life.

“First, how many of your lot are there altogether?” (Kiefer)

“28, including me.. There’s 2 more back at my base, but please do not hurt them, they are my wife and child.” (Bandit)

“Good. Next. Why are you attacking this merchant?” (Kiefer)

“We- we had intel from inside the city--. Th-that he was carrying something precious, a- and that, that he would be travelling alone to avoid attracting attention.” (Bandit)

“And how did you move so fast in our fight just now?” (Kiefer)

“Ma-magic sir. I fused my mana with my l-legs. Allowing me to move faster.”(Bandit)

“oh?” Kiefer was now intrigued. “And do you not need to chant anything for it?” (Kiefer)

“Si-sir, you are a royal mage from the academy.. Do you not know ho—AAAARGGHHH!!!” (Bandit)

“I am the one asking the questions, you just need to answer them!” Kiefer bellowed as he broke one of the man’s fingers. “How do you enhance your muscles!?”

“I.. sniff.. I don’t know.. I meditate everyday.. sniff.. and then.. sniff.. I can feel my energy rise.. sniff.. a-and, my body becomes stronger aft-after meditating.” (Bandit)

“Oh? And what do you do when you meditate?” (Kiefer)

“I concentrate on-on my heartbeat, and my-my breathing and try to focus on my body” (Bandit)

“Ok good. It’s almost over now. Why did you assume I was a mage from the royal academy once you saw me?” (Kiefer)

“That’s because, the robe.. a-and the tarsus.. only royal guards and mages have tarsuses, everyone else uses horses.” (Bandit)

“Good, now leave and never let me see you again. Never mention me to anyone. Now its time for me to deal with the sneaky dwarf.” Kiefer coldly retorted as he undid his bindings and set his eyes on the carriage with a poor dwarf locked inside by his mana threads.

Kiefer watched the bandit scurry off into the forest and smiled. He had obtained a wealth of information and possible a new method to augment his body. He willed his mana threads to open and door and drag the cowering dwarf out, hanging him by his ankles.

“Now your turn you sneaky bastard. What are your moving in your cargo?”(Kiefer)

“Just- just some ores sir, I finished mining in a cave and was on my way out.”(Dwarf)

*KRRRAAACCKKK!!!*

Kiefer snapped a tree at its base, leaving only a stump, and proceeded to crush the rest of the tree into smithereens.

“Soorry!! I-I’m transporting a case of mithril silver ingots and a lump of Adamantium ore!!” Terrified at what he just saw, the dwarf quickly changed his answer.

“Why did you try to escape in the middle of the chaos?” (Kiefer)

“I- I was afraid sir.. afraid of you more than the bandits sir.”(Dwarf)

“And what of my payment for handling the bandits huh?! Did you think you could just escape with my money?” (Kiefer)

“So-sorry..” was all the dwarf had the chance to mutter before Keifer started shaking him up and down. From within his pockets, a few gold coins, an emblem token as well as a small pouch full of gold-rimmed coins dropped out. The token was a marble carving of a pickaxe and hammer crisscrossed, with what looks like the design of a white-gold coin in the middle of it.

Kiefer used his mana threads to pick them up and inspected them. Kiefer kept the pouch and the gold coins in a pocket inside his robe, and then held the emblem token up to the dwarf’s face.

“What is this?” he questioned.

“Sir, that’s the insignia for the merchant traders guild. Only Leaders and vice leaders of the guilds for each province has them. I am the guild leader for the Shearwood province.”(Dwarf)

Satisfied, Kiefer let the dwarf down abruptly from mid-air, and turned around to leave when the dwarf called out.

“Sir magus, please return my insignia. I am truly sorry for my irresponsible behavior earlier, and if it is not an inconvenience for you, would you mind travelling with me to Alluviate city? I would like to hire you for protection services.”(Dwarf)

“And what will you pay me with, you neither have any gold left, nor my trust.” Kiefer bellowed.

“You can have 2 mithril ingots right now and upon arriving safely at Alluviate, I will pay you 2 more. They are worth around 5 white gold coins each, and can be used to craft excellent armour for a magus such as yourself. Mithril is especially conductive of mana and is sought after by mages all over the Aioa.” (Dwarf)

“I have one more condition,” Kiefer replied, “You are to answer any of my queries while on the trip and not to question me about anything. In return, I’ll take only 1 Mithril ingot after the job is done.”

“Buying information huh?” the dwarf thought to himself. He smiled and firmly said “Agreed!”.

Preparing to leave, Kiefer received 2 dull grey ingots that weighed about 5kg each, and stored them iside his sack. He mounted his tarsus and begun following next to the merchant’s carriage. Shearwood, in the meantime had reverted back to her tiny form, came back and slipped in under Kiefer’s robe without the dwarf noticing anything.

[2 days later]

Kiefer could see the tall greying city walls and the 2 giant doors that led into the city. It was a grassland outside the city walls and there was a short line of travelers waiting outside the gate. As Keifer and the merchant joined the line, the merchant informed Kiefer that as a royal academy mage, he did not need to line up. Kiefer thanked him and went on ahead to the gate.

“Halt!” (Gate guard #1)

“Yes is there a problem?” Kiefer asked calmly, trying to keep up with his façade.

“I’m terribly sorry sir, but please present your identification card issued by the academy. It is part of the rules as we were not informed of your arrival beforehand.”(Guard #2)

“I seem to have lost my card while fighting some bandits in the forest. Could you tell me where I could get another one re-issued?” Kiefer asked, trying to convince them of his fake identity.

“I’m sorry once again sir, but it’s a rule that we have to confiscate all your belongings as well as the tarsus if you cannot show proof of identification. They will be returned to you once someone from the academy comes down to verify. Its just a measure to prevent theft of properties belonging to the academy sir.” (Guard #1)

Kiefer started panicking internally, not sure what to do. He was so close to the city but having the doors close in front of his nose would be too painful to bear. He decided the best course of action would be to turn around and leave, lest they take all his possession.

Just at that moment, the merchant dwarf appeared interfered. “Hello my friends, this mage here is my companion. He helped me fend off a group of bandits and indeed lose his identification in the chaos. We tried searching for it but gave up in the end. I hope you will let him through.” The dwarf said cheerfully, while flashing his insignia.

“Yes of course guild master! And you too sir, we are sorry for the inconvenience!” both guards apologized as they opened the path to the gate and bowed so low, their bodies made a right angle with their legs.

The dwarf winked at Kiefer as he tossed Kiefer 2 mithril ingots, and then directed his carriage through the gates, smiling. He was glad to have met this mysteriously strong young magus and secretly exhilarated that he might have possibly left a good impression in a future powerhouse.

For all those wondering, the terms magus and mage are inetrchangeable. Magus is just the formal and "official" way of addressing people with high mana affinity, while mage is a more commonly used shortened version of magus.

On a side note, try saying this really fast 10 times.

How much wood would a Shearwood shear if a Shearwood could shear wood?