Chapter 4:Planting the Saplings (Prologue 4)
Narrator pov:
Aura and mana are extremely different from each other, yet they fundamentally serve the same purpose for humanity. They are used to go beyond the traditional limits of humans,
And transcend humanity itself.
While they serve the same purpose and are similar to each other, the way they are manipulated to and go about achieving that purpose is extremely different.
The main thing that distinguishes them from each other is their state of matter; first of all mana is tangible, typically it is in the form of invisible particles in the atmosphere, however dense clusters of particles can be found in liquids, and, if enough particles gather around and bond together or along with some sort of other matter they can have a solid form. Aura on the other hand is pure energy released by its user, unless the aura itself has some sort of special property its state of matter would be plasma.
Mana is found in everything, it flows through rivers and valleys, it is pumped through the blood of animals and flows through plants. Mana is universally present; however, Aura is exceedingly rare, most people live out their lives and die in peace before meeting a user or even knowing about its existence. It can only be manifested by people who have distinguished their existence and have abnormally powerful souls.
Mana users are very versatile and have a myriad of ways to go about transcending their limits; Knights are users who use mana to strengthen their physical capabilities, they wear heavy armour and carry a wide range of weapons for any instance of combat, in a sense they are walking armouries. Mana users can also go down the path of spell casting, where they manipulate formulas and patterns of mana to cast their spells; these casters utilise mana to create miracles and forcefully partially manifest their wills unto the world.
Knights and casters are not the only people who use mana, there are overwhelmingly different types of users, who have their own styles and sub styles to use mana. An example of this are swordsmen, while they use mana to physically amplify themselves similarly to a knight, they don't just stop there, instead of using a multitude of weapons they focus on one and develop special techniques and unique styles of fighting. Similarly to a magician they manipulate the flow of mana to perform arts that are more similar to spells than to swinging a blade. There are many different schools and styles that have their own techniques and mana arts that have been developed generation by generation.
What all mana users have in common is, that due to their affinity with mana they are able to surpass their limits and become superhumans. Yet, what mana users need to concentrate and study extensively to be able to perform, Aura users can pull off without a second thought.
After manifesting their Aura, a user is able to affect the world with their thoughts alone. Bending the laws of physics and performing miracles is simple to them. Along with these abilities Aura also has unique properties depending on the user, this unique ability is based on the lives led by the user and is a reflection of their experiences and perspectives.
Aura users are so far above mana users, that they could be considered a higher form of existence. Regarding them as humans makes no sense in the context of their abilities.
***
Arius Lionheart pov:
I watched the Scarlet Knight with wary eyes.Judging by his previous actions he would make use of the opening he made by headbutting me and charge at me before I could regain my stance.
Yet not only did he not charge at me, he even lowered his guard, simply inspecting the small wound on his right shoulder. He stood upright, as if all the weight of the world was lifted off his shoulders.
The way his arms fell at his sides made it seem like he was basking in sunlight. His demeanour was more similar to a person embracing nature and going on a pleasant walk instead of a monster flying over hell on earth.
Now that he was standing straight I saw that we were around the same height, he seemed a bit taller thanks to his helmet that was ornamented by dragon wings on its sides. His forearms and upper arms were covered in full plate, while his joints along with his shoulders were covered by small strips of plate sewn on top of black leather. The strips were small enough that they didn't affect his mobility in any way, but still provided some necessary defence.
The same could be said for his legs, large plates covered his thighs and for legs, His knees were partially guarded from the front with more strips of metal. He lacked proper waist guard, instead a belt filled with multitude of different sized knives, quivers and a longsword decorated his waist.
He wore a pair of black boots with metal soles that resemble hooves. They seemed to be made of the same dark metallic alloy that the platform was made up of, that must be the reason behind why he hasn't been flung off the platform despite its erratic movements and his lack of proper footing.
Then a spine chilling fear shot through my body, something was terribly wrong.
My body moved before I could process the sudden shift in the atmosphere. I took a single step back and brought my blade up to where my head would have been.
A sudden impact to my sword sent a jolt of pain up my arms, and thanks to the recent fracture in my right arm I could not maintain my guard and my blade was pushed back.
The knight was standing in front of me, his quick movements and power were incomparable to what they were moments ago. His grey eyes looked as if they were staring directly at my soul analysing and picking me apart starting from my very essence.
His weapons laid right where he was a moment ago. Instead in his hands was the blade of my sword, and if I hadn't moved in time my head would have been what was in his hand.
His gauntlets which were the same scarlet metal sharpened at ends of each piece of plate, the multitude of sharp edges on his gauntlets continued to the tips of his fingers, which were sharpened to a point similar to claws.
I watched his razor-covered hands grip my sword and pulled it towards himself, pulling me along with it. At the same time his left hand collided into my side
An impact to my side knocked the breath out of my chest, knocking down what meager confidence and hope I had managed to scrape up along with it.
As I struggled to regain my breath and kick to my stomach sent me reeling and crashing into the side of the platform, knocking me into a multitude of weapons and alloy railing.
I almost lost consciousness from the barrage of hits. I was hanging on by thread, losing focus here meant losing my life. I needed to get up before it was too late.
My body felt numb and unresponsive, what should have been inseparable from me felt like an empty, a shell made to imprison me.
All my resources had dried up, my mana core was dried up and what little drops of mana left in my body were being used up to reinforce my body so that it doesn't collapse from its own weight.
Most of my aura was being used to keep me alive and breathing. I had enough broken bones, fractures, internal bleeding, my burnt skin, open wounds and enough sheer exhaustion that I should have been dead a hundred times over.
The only thing that was responding to me just as it did before was my aura, I circulated it through my body and discovered a few new broken ribs. The aura coiled around the pieces of bone and moved them back in place.
This damned unresponsive body of mine wouldn't listen to me, but I could still feel the excruciating feeling of my broken ribs being forced back in place. Then I willed my aura and used its unique properties to burn the ribs where they were broken, the flames turned sections of the bones into golden crystals and fused them back together again.
After the painful process was done, I redirected the aura to push my unmoving body, using whatever nonexistent strength left in my arms to scratch the platform with my fingers pushing myself off of it.
I wasn't even halfway up, when the knight grabbed my face with his left hand pulling me up to my knees. His hand held my face as his fingers dug into my cheeks, forcing me to open my mouth.
I couldn't see the man under the armour as human. This creature riding atop terror incarnate, behind him the dark sky that seemed to have been engulfed in flames, the razor claws that held on to me and the grey eyes that were peeking through the demonic helm, stared down at me as if I was nothing but a toy.
The devil himself was holding me, strangeling my soul itself. In his right hand was red bottle, the demon popped off the head of the bottle and shoved it into my mouth.
Whatever it was burnt my throat as it went down, I tried my best to not swallow it but after dumping the contents of the potion into my mouth the knight closed my mouth and brought me close.
"What you are swallowing is an elixir made up of highly concentrated dragon blood that can only be found in a dragon heart. It's an extremely rare commodity even for someone of my standing. It won't just restore sight to the blind, it'll make them superhuman."
"Well…only for a short while though, they'll explode soon after since their body cannot handle that much mana. Even a swordsman of your calibre should have some difficulty absorbing that much mana. In a second you'll be back in optimal condition and with more mana than you'd know what to do with."
"So be a good boy and drink it all, and entertain your owner for a bit longer"
As the knight monologue I felt strength return to my body, my mana core turned from an empty sink to a vast ocean, mana raged through my once empty vessels. Breathing life back into my decrepit and broken body.
My torn muscles fused back together, and all my wounds healed. My exhausted body was long gone and my strength was overflowing.
My golden mane of flames died down and my hair and eyes returned to normal. As I suppressed my sura I sent mana throughout my entire body reinforcing every nook and cranny.
I grabbed on the hand that was holding on to me with my left, I delivered a series of punches to the knights head and side with right where he was defenceless.
His grip on me loosened and I pushed myself off the ground smashing into him with my left shoulder, I didn't let go of my grip on him and pulled him close.
I pivoted on my left leg and delivered a low kick to his knees with my right leg, which dropped him to his knees. Then I aimed my left knee towards his face, he caught it with his hand and dug into it with his claws.
His left arm onto mine as we held onto each other, using me he peeled himself up and threw a right hook towards my head which I ducked under. I moved under his hand, used the momentum of his swing against him and threw him over my shoulder, which broke our grip on each other.
He landed with legs and now that we were no longer grappling each other he regained his mobility. He spun around and delivered a spinning kick to the right right side of my torso.
I blocked his attack and grabbed his leg, yet before I could punish him for giving me an opening his second leg landed on my shoulder. He had used the leg I grabbed onto as leverage and performed a second kick.
I was knocked to one knee and forced to take a bow. The knight brought his left leg up and prepared an axe kick to split my head in two.
I rolled the side and dodged the kick, and then retaliated with a series of punches consisting of jabs and hooks, which the knight either effortlessly blocked or swayed.
He could predict my moves and knew what I would do before I did. The only hits I had landed on him were either because he was caught off guard or thanks to luck. I needed to do things I had never done before, I needed to be unpredictable, just as unpredictable as he is.
I knocked my fist back and threw a wide hook that would have left off balanced. The knight avoided my attack and got behind me, yet the moment he got the I performed the same spinning kick he did a second ago to and hit his side.
I dug my leg deep into his side and pushed the rest of my body off the ground, while in the air I straightened my leg out and delivered an axe kick as I was falling.
The knight brought both up and guarded against my kick. He then tried to retaliate with a grapple when I landed on the ground.
I did the same and clashed with him, our fingers interlocked and we began to push against each other. Then as our distance closed we both clocked our heads back and simultaneously headbutted eachother.
His helmet dug into the flesh on my forehead and rattled my skull, but I knew that even probably in a similar boat.
We had three points of contact with each other, and we continued to have a test of brute strength as we pushed against each other.
The steam from our breaths met in the middle of the clash, both dense in mana that was circulating in our blood.
"I'll make you regret toying with me, you coldblooded lizard. But there is something bothering me, you do know that cats hunt lizards right? And here you are sharpening my fangs for me" I spoke
"Or did you play with a lion's tail out of sheer ignorance?" I jeered at him
I barely made out his eyes through his helmet, yet now I could see so much more than before. I saw joy, excitement, pride, confusion and deep beneath it all there was a hint of fear.
For the first time in this fight I wasn't a rabid animal, I was a predator looking my prey in the eye.