《Path of Salvation》Chapter 009: Far from good

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They seem to be in a spherical building completely hollow on the inside. Up above were several glass spheres devoid of anything except for a golden, but also glowing fluid. "I´ve been here a few times only to think on these spheres, but instead they drain my light magic. Would be nice if I could access it somehow. It´s draining pure light magic as we speak," Alpha stated. "So you have no control over your barrier?", Franky asked. He quietly nodded as he stepped away from Franky. "How about a match? If you win, I´ll do anything you want!", Alpha announced. Something felt odd about his request to have a small match and felt like this was rigged from the beginning. "Anything?", he asked. "Anything!", Alpha reassured. They agreed on using no weapons and not resorting to cheap tricks and Prometheia sat by as a judge. "Well then... Ready!", she yelled. "Start!" Franky tried to rush in and knock Alpha out with one punch, but Alpha had expected that creating a diversion. With a small explosion, he created a smokescreen whose effect wasn´t to cover Franky in burns but to conceal him. Stopping short, right away from the cloud of dust that had arisen. Alpha used a finger to jab into the center of his stomach. His fingers, warm and brimming with close to pure light magic, created an explosion that lifted him off his feet. Something felt like it was tearing away at his body. "What was that?! Why does it bring so much pain? Is it poison? Explosions from within? A virus ripping me apart?! What is it?!", Franky thought all while midair. The pain disappeared as he touched the ground and couldn´t feel his stomach and his lower back. "My ability to create pure light magic allows for some of the deadliest attacks. With my ability, I can overstimulate your nerves by charging them or give you magical cancer that turns you into a pile of decaying meat! I call them the 'Fists of Glory'. You never stood a chance, to begin with," Alpha claimed. Franky never could have guessed that magic may be so grotesque and powerful even after Prometheia has told him so, but he saw something great within it. If it is so mighty that no matter the dose, it brings down any threat, there may be no reason to worry about Alpha´s safety. "The problem is...", he said as he formed another dagger. By now he is far better at maintaining and creating a dagger, but still far from what he desires perfect. Aiming at Alpha he threw it at full force. With Alpha´s hands still charged he tried to at least deflect the dagger, but failed to do so as the blade only created fragments that could be blown into his face as an explosion hit his face. While the fragments themself didn´t leave any visible wounds, the dagger scratched some skin off the backside of his hand. "I knew it!", Franky said. "Something that´s created mainly through magic is something you can´t deal with as the light magic rejects it barely breaking the surface." While correct with his claim, it still means Alpha´s attacks are somewhat effective against most, especially Demons. Still pondering whether or not there may be a way to help Alpha improve, he asked, "What if someone sees through this smokescreen of yours and makes reaching that person harder? What if your target's resistance is far higher than you thought?" "I honestly haven´t thought about that," Alpha answered. "Even if you were to land a blow, a higher immunity may be your downfall if you can´t channel it throughout your entire body! I know I shouldn´t be the one talking considering that I can´t even put up a barrier, but still, I have my somewhat useful strength and speed. You´ll have to build up a defense," Franky said. He didn´t tell Alpha all that just because he thought he desperately needed that advice as if he´s stupid, but to accept the fact that Alpha is far better than him and the fact that he may have to focus on helping him become stronger instead of himself. "Come on!", he shouted while faking a smile. "Let´s just test out some hand to hand combat while our time is limited."

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Alpha had several tries to try and beat Franky physically. As a perfect, handsome, and cliché student, he holds some knowledge in the arts of defending himself while not harming others. Forced to do taekwondo and judo, but mostly improvises as he holds the belief they don´t help much unless it´s just another match. His fighting style barely holds any resemblance to the original forms, but far more effective and a lot less predictable especially with his enhanced strength as a Dream Catcher. Ignorant and no real plan Alpha tried to measure his strength with Franky´s, someone who nearly quintuples in strength by now. Stopped only with minimum effort as Franky held out his palm to block the punch. Without budging, his attack was stopped by a simple block. Intimidated, he backed away. "How did he do that?", he thought. It´s clear that Alpha stands no chance at all when fighting Franky only with his strength. Going in with a right hook, he utterly humiliates himself as he misses. Both in speed and strength, Franky outmatches him. Trying to kick his head, Franky got ahold of his leg and smashed him into the ground. "I knew it! You´re only good for sniping and become useless whenever you run out of magic!", Franky realized. Alpha, feeling down as he had been told the exact same thing by Harpocrates, accepted that this is a major flaw that may cost him his life. "But what exactly am I supposed to do? Magic suits my imagination which is why it should be easy to use for anyone trying," he said. For him, it´s always been an issue to stick with something he doesn´t succeed on his first try. While he had his patience for learning how to use light magic, knowing that he was special and considered a great asset, he had the motivation to keep going. "Then what about spiritual power?", Franky inquired. Still averting his gaze, Alpha stayed silent. "I see... What did Harpocrates and Elena tell you about it?" "Just the basics. The only thing they told me is that it is useless to even attempt to draw it out if you can´t draw in Natural Power and draw out Dark Magic, Light Magic, and Physical Power," Alpha mumbled. "Prometheia? Is there anything you could do?", Franky asked. Prometheia smirked as she jumped into the air. Some type of white and chalklike gas emerged as she hit the ground. Trapped within the cloud, Alpha was coughing and trying to find his way out, until the hand of a child reached for his hand. Pulling him out of the gas, he finally realized what just happened. A white-haired child, looking like an elementary schooler with pointy ears and a white, puffy squirrel tail... Prometheia had transformed into something that resembles a human being, but something was amiss as she stood there awaiting his reaction. The rings that always remained around her tail and her ears vanished. With her pink eyes and her long, white and wavy hair, she resembled Elena. Within her white silky dress, she eyed down Alpha, jumped at him reaching for his ear, and pulled him down. "Hey! Crouch down when you talk to me!", she shouted into his ear. "You always could do something like that?! Can any Z do that?", he wondered. Her transformation amazed him and never had he expected to watch someone transform into another species. Franky stood by quietly but still was surprised by her sudden transformation. "I can teach both of you how to draw out each element! IN EXCHANGE... you´ll let me feed off your magic whenever I want to!", she announced. Prometheia didn´t seem to care about their opinion and only demanded that they do as she says. "Sure, but-" "Shut up! I didn´t ask! Just do as I say! Hold my hand!" Her demands seem straightforward and not that threatening, especially with the body of an eight-year-old. Still, they took her by the hand as they felt something leaving their body. Draining them of magic, she closed her eyes and quietly thought about something. After opening them again, she let go of their hands. Her body started to change as her pupils formed scopes within her eyes while her eye color transitioned from pink to blue. Growing more muscle, a belt sparked into existence containing a pair of daggers. Closing her eyes trying to remember how Franky summoned one of his daggers to attack Alpha after being beaten, the same blue and gooey liquid he would summon to shape weapons, it emerged from within her palms quickly adapting to her will without moving an inch. After that, it emitted a golden glow, the same glow that comes from the orbs of light Alpha used to create. "Alpha! I think you should be able to change this sphere we´re standing in. Do it now while I still have control over the dagger," she told him. "But how?", he wondered. "It´s your barrier! Just touch the ground!", she yelled as she grew impatient. The dagger kept increasing in luminosity and started to blind Franky. Gracefully touching the ground with his palm, the sphere largened to the point of bursting leaving them within space on a rock flying through space. Prometheia threw the dagger into the unknown, filled to the brim with lights, sky. Reaching its limit, the dagger hit another rock far away right as it burst open. Without having the chance to blink, they were blinded by what seemed to be a nuclear explosion. It was fairly big from their distance and Franky remained blind for a few dozens of seconds. The mushroom cloud she had created was enormous. Its might looked down on them as she collapsed. Her skin started to whiten while her hair fell out, grew fur, and shrank. By reaching the size and the form of a Z, she stopped shrinking but bit into Alphas leg. Worried, he touched the rock they were standing on and, almost like time had been reversed, they traveled back as the sphere they were in rearranged popped into existence. As Prometheia regained her strength, she got back on her feet and let go of his leg. Her teeth punctured his leg and made him bleed out, but instead of reprimanding her, he held her in his arms. "Say something when you feel like collapsing!", he shouted at her. Genuinely surprised by his need to make sure she´s okay and make sure she makes it clear whenever she´s feeling fatigued instead of berating her on her need to bite him and suck the magic out without permission. "You know, you can get mad at me sometimes," she said flustered. "What for?" Jumping out of his hands she transformed back into her demi-human form. "Let´s continue!", she ordered. "To draw out the founding elements, you need to consider where their core lies. Spiritual power flows out of your very being, your soul, and is located in two places. Wherever your Soul Solid lies, lies a part of your soul, some spiritual power... within your heart, your very core, lies your soul, a large abundance of spiritual power. Unlike spiritual power, light magic lies in your nerves as an energy source. Its counterpart, dark magic, lies within your blood, your stomach, and your enzymes, basically anything that breaks down within your body, but mostly in those areas. Physical power, basically the energy things are converted into to create bodies is your body. It allows you to interact with the material realm and you´re constantly drawing it out with every motion. Dream Catchers on the other hand, as a means to stop the destruction of entire cities, function on willpower. With willpower, they control whether or not they´ll add physical power to it and cause mass destruction. Obviously, there´s a limit as your body will break if not trained enough, but as long as you keep going, you could reach far past your current limits and achieve goals incomprehensible to the human mind," she stated. Starting off with spiritual power, she had her hands on her chest and slowly moved them outward till her arms were fully stretched out pointing to whatever was in front of her. As an experienced Z, she could not only coat but also infuse her body with spiritual power fully hardening it and strengthening it for increased physical prowess, but likely will burn out a lot faster. As she moved her arms back, her hardening came undone. Next, while still holding onto the power both Franky and Alpha hold within them, she formed fists moving them towards her hips. If she were to let go and show her palms, they would be facing upwards. Flexing her muscles, golden blades giving off a mystique glow emerged from her body. Like a glowing porcupine, she gracefully stood her ground as the blades faded out of existence. With no innate dark magic except for negative emotions, she could only show them what would be necessary to draw it out. Still flexing her body, but opening her hands, she placed her hands on her stomach. Folding her ring finger, her pinky, and her thumb, she slowly moved the index and middle finger still on her stomach, upward, up her esophagus. As both of her index fingers move up her throat, she divides them and lets them slide along her cheekbones taking in a deep breath and exhaling finally relaxing. With only natural power left, she placed her right palm above her head as she placed her left on her right hip facing outwards. With her right arm erected, she let the natural power within the ground beneath her feat rise. Slowly spinning around her own axis, the magic she had absorbed earlier reacted with the natural power and created a stream of neon blue and golden lights spiraling around her into the air. As she came to a stop, the lights faded away and allowed her to speak to Alpha and Franky. "I know what I just did made no sense at all... at least at the level you´re at, but using these forms as a foundation will allow you to climb up the ranks and make you proper Dream Catchers. So, please... Bear with me and Elena and keep training!" "Of course!", both of them replied as they started to try these forms on their own.

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