He slides under its large skeletal arm, wind blowing dangerously beside him by its swing. He launches himself into a few skeletons and quickly decapitates them. He continues his loop around the skeletal ogre until he uses his halberd to propel himself at the ogre. A large skeletal arm goes flying as he digs his halberd into the skeletal ogre's scapula. He kicks himself onto the ground and immediately lunges towards its legs.
So now I'm reminiscing while I'm wide awake?
As he turns another corner, the image of him pushing back the skeletal ogre's foot from stomping on him fills his mind. He pushes far stronger than the ogre's foot and throws it off balance. He quickly tries to get on top of it, but the ogre throws one more swipe his way. When it slams into him, it knocks him into the dungeon's walls, knocking the air out of his lungs. Before it can even attempt to get back up, the ogre watches as Diantel is already leaping towards its chest once more. It swings at him once more, only for Diantel to swing his halberd in retaliation. Diantel's strength overpowers the ogre's remaining arm, and it breaks off from the force of his halberd.
Of course I'm remembering everything when I'm on my way to see her.
He turns down one more hallway and walks towards the only purple door. The memory takes hold again. He stands among the ogre's skeletal body as it slowly falls apart due to the destruction of its core. He looks into the distance, directly at Marian, who is staring back at him. But for some reason, her face is in terror as she words something out to him.
He knocks twice, and he hears one soft knock back. As he enters the room, the memory of him feeling something sinister behind among the ogre's bones takes hold. As he opens the door, he places his hand behind his neck, tracing the deep scar. His gaze falls upon a slim violet-haired woman, about the same age as him, deep into reading the book she is holding. She turns her head, and a soft smile grows on her face. He attempts to turn his head away, but a sword still manages to cut deep into his neck. The black skeleton. The woman notices where his hand is and puts her book down.
"You still remember it, huh?"
He stays silent for a while, staring at her own scars along her face, followed by a missing eye covered by an eye patch.
"I remember mine just as much as you remember yours, Marian."
There's silence between the two.
"It's been a while. Did you need something from little ol' me?"
"I would like to ask for another favor."
"You owe me a few favors already, Diantel. Are you sure you want to add another?"
"Would you at least hear me out? It's not for me this time."
She lets the silence stretch for a moment, then lets out a sigh.
"Alright, I'll hear you out. I'll make sure to collect my payment one of these days, though, so be ready for that."
"Marian, would you help out with Renkai's training?"
Her face shifts slightly, becoming more stern compared to her soft smile a few moments ago.
"Renkai's your adopted daughter, right? Because of her, you've been at your home more often, and the rest of us haven't been able to see you as much. Why can't you train her? Scared you're going to hurt her?"
"She wants to learn how to use a longsword."
Her eyes widen slightly as she straightens herself.
"Really? Considering she's the daughter of Telaria Elrod and your adopted daughter, I'd have assumed she'd learn how to use magic or wield a type of spear."
"I'm just as confused as you are. It's clear to me she wants to keep using one, so here I am asking you."
"Diantel. You know I can't teach her. My style isn't just about Swordsmanship, it's-"
"She was able to read mana at a very intense level."
Marian's eyes shift slightly, becoming more sly.
"How do you know this?"
"She was able to read the mana from inside my body."
"What do you mean?"
"After we finished sparring last night, she called me out. She noticed I was using Enhancement Magic."
Marian lets out a disappointing sigh as she closes her eyes.
"Diantel, figuring out Enhancement Magic isn't that hard when that limb has a white aura surrounding it. I thought you would-"
"I was using the internal variant, Marian."
That's when her eyes finally widen properly.
"That would insinuate that she has a proper understanding of mana, Diantel. That also would mean she had a proper mage as her teacher, which couldn't possibly be you since you only use Enhancement Magic. And even with a proper teacher, it's still difficult to just tell the difference. Tell me, how old is she?"
"She turns sixteen in a few days."
For a few moments, she keeps her stare. Then, a sly smirk emerges on her face.
"You're going to owe me one hell of a favor after this, Diantel."
He drops his head upon her words.
"I know. When are you going to claim those favors anyway? Do you have something in mind?"
A mischievous grin grows on her face as she stares down at him.
"That's a secret. For now, I guess I'll help you out. Don't blame me if she can't learn anything from me. Just let me get ready, I'll be at the training grounds in a bit."
Right before he leaves, Marian speaks up again.
"Speaking of which, how long do I need to train her for?"
"Just till tomorrow night."
She drops her boot.
"You're telling me, you want me to train a kid in a mere two days?"
"Listen, it's not as bad as it sounds. You just have to give her the basics, and I bet she'll pick up the rest on her own. She's been adventuring for a few years now."
"What rank is she?"
"Silver. Though she might become a gold-ranked adventurer on her next visit to the Guild."
"What weapon had she been using up till now?"
"A greatsword. She's broken a few, actually. I think that's why she wants to use a longsword, a weapon she freely chooses and can actually hold properly. Considering it did force her to use a greatsword."
"Wait, Diantel. You're telling me a mere fifteen-year-old is almost a gold-ranked adventurer, using a weapon she can't even use properly. Not to mention she's not even using magic."
"Maybe I shouldn't have told you..."
She grabs him by his shoulders.
"You're going to owe me big time. Take me to this kid, Diantel."
Upon reaching the training grounds, Marian's eyes open widely upon gazing at the scene in front of her. A young girl is fending off three attackers. She parries one attack, dodges another, only to take one to the chest, but she doesn't falter. She immediately targets Jason, wanting to get him out of the way first. Albert swings at her, only for Renkai to ignore him and continue after Jason. Jason tries to land a few blows to force her to dodge, but she keeps pushing forward.
What am I looking at right now?
"Diantel, why is she fighting the three of them?"
"She actually asked to fight four, but I had a better idea. You."
"Fighting four at the same time? Is she crazy?"
"Might as well call me crazy as well then, I was going to let her. Just keep watching."
After she gets close enough, Jason attempts to land a hit on her stomach, but she immediately sidesteps away and begins to target Seth. Seth does the same, and the two run towards each other and begin to clash. Renkai continues to be overwhelmed by Seth, but still clashes nonetheless.
"She's just... reckless. You can tell she's not used to fighting with a longsword, but she's holding on pretty well despite that."
"As I said earlier, she's been adventuring for a few years with a greatsword. She's probably had many situations where she wished she could properly swing a weapon, but she couldn't."
"That doesn't explain everything. She truly looks like she knows what she's doing."
"Think of it like this, Marian. You're using a weapon you can barely swing. How do you cut down something stronger and taller than you? You use the environment. Drop down from a high place or have a party member hit your sword to increase its force."
"And that's why you want me to teach her."
"Exactly. She's obviously developed some muscle, but because of her age, she still hasn't developed enough to swing a greatsword properly. At most, I'd say she could do three proper ones before she's out."
"But since she's been running around with a greatsword all this time, she can definitely hold her weapon for a long time; she just needs the strength to land a good hit."
Seth pushes her to the point she's down on one knee, but she begins to push back further.
"And thanks to all that running around, her legs also gained some muscle, allowing her to stand her ground more."
Albert shoves himself into Renkai, both of them tumbling onto the floor. Before she could properly get up, Jason already had his weapons pointed at her throat. She reluctantly drops her longsword, signaling her loss.
Diantel and Marian walk towards the four of them. Renkai just lies there, clearly exhausted from sparring. Diantel walks towards the trio and begins talking to them, while Marian hovers over Renkai. Renkai gives her a confused look, while Marian just stares.
"Hello, I'm Marian. It's nice to meet you."
Renkai's face shifts into one of irritation.
"And who are you supposed to be exactly?"
"Diantel's right-hand. I'm the person that you'd want to learn from."
"And why would I want to learn from some old hag Diantel knows?"
Marian tilts her head towards Diantel, who's already looking slightly worried.
"Diantel, your kid has quite the mouth on her. Do you mind if I teach her a lesson?"
Diantel sighs and reluctantly nods his head.
"As long as you can teach her something. I don't think you'd listen to me anyway."
"Diantel, you're not telling me this old hag is the fourth person you had in mind, are you?"
"She's going to be teaching you something I can't, Renkai. Swordsmanship. Now get up."
Renkai slowly gets up and watches Marian go towards the weapon rack. She picks up a longsword and goes to one side of the training grounds. Renkai goes to the other side and readies herself.
"You can come at me when you're ready, kid."
Renkai just stares at her, analyzing Marian. She doesn't get into a stance, just simply stands there with the training sword at her side.
I don't sense anything from her, Renkai. She's clearly confident in herself if she's not going into a stance.
I know, Iden. Just keep watch on her for me.
Renkai rushes towards Marian. She launches a vertical swing, only for Marian to simply move one step back. She throws two horizontal swings, but she blocks both of them effortlessly. Renkai continues her assault, beginning to throw reckless slashes aimed towards her. Marian continues to block each one easily.
The moment Renkai stops her assault, Marian raises her blade high, and that's when Renkai barely notices something. Her mana flow.
Iden!
I didn't sense it till you got close enough! But, that's not magic, Renkai!
Then what in the world is she doing?
I don't know!
As Marian's sword descends, it does so at lightning speed. Renkai tries to block it, but she's overpowered to the point that it breaks her sword, Marian's sword just short of her shoulder.
"And that's a match."
She retracts her sword and holds it to her side.
Iden, what did she do?
As I said, I don't know. Her mana flow began strengthening after she raised her sword, but that's as far as my knowledge goes.
"What did you do?"
A small smile grows on Marian's face.
"Whatever could you mean?"
"Just out with it already. Diantel brought you here to teach me, not play games."
"That's quite the attitude shift from a few minutes ago. But sure, since I'm such a kind individual, I'll tell you. I was using mana."
"I know that much obviously. What I want to know is why your mana veins were strengthening and where that mana was going."
Marian turns her head to Diantel, clearly surprised.
"I'm actually surprised, you weren't lying, Captain. This girl actually knows her stuff. I'm even more surprised she could tell I was strengthening my mana veins."
She turns her head back to face Renkai.
"You understand how Enhancement Magic works, right?"
"Of course I do. External reveals the parts of the body being enhanced through an aura from the magic circle. Internal applies the enhancement through the muscles themselves, but it's weaker because it's missing the aura."
"That's a really simple answer. The aura from the external variant creates a field that strengthens anything within it by the amount of mana used to maintain it. The more mana used, the larger the aura. You can expend more mana to condense the aura into a small protective layer, but that's up to the user."
"And what about the internal variant?"
"It's a bit more complicated. While the internal variant does have an aura, its much to thin to properly notice as it sits between the muscles and the skin. It's able to sit there because it's thin, but you don't gain as much from the enhancement. If I had to say, you only gain a third of the enhancement from internal compared to external."
"And what were you doing?"
"I was imitating the internal variant."
"How?"
"I can show you, but the moment I do, your father is going to owe me a huge favor."
Renkai turns her head to Diantel, who's already looking slightly worried. Despite that, his eyes say to trust her, and so she does.
"Alright."
Marian extends one of her hands, and Renkai reaches to hold it. When Marian feels her hand, she gives her a soft smile.
"I'll show you up to three times, then you have to replicate it yourself while fighting those three again. Ready?"
Renkai nods her head. Marian closes her eyes and begins to focus. Slowly, Renkai begins to feel Marian's mana veins not only strengthening, but also amplifying. A few seconds later, she begins to feel the veins slowly traverse throughout her body. Gradually, Marian's mana begins dispersing into her muscles. She watched as her body began to slightly flex her muscles, them becoming more apparent. Then, Marian stops, and her body returns to normal.
"When you mix mana into your muscles, they absorb some of it into physical strength temporarily. For some people, their muscles don't become more apparent, while in cases like mine, they do. By imitating it, you can reach the same amount of power as the internal variant of Enhancement Magic."
"Why don't more people know about this?"
"Because it puts far more strain on yourself. Not only are you forcing your mana veins to strengthen themselves, but you're forcing them to strengthen to the point they're leaking mana. And that mana goes into your muscles, which also forcibly strengthen themselves. You're constantly burning your mana supply and putting strain on your body in exchange for more power."
"Is it possible to maintain a constant flow instead of forcing your mana veins to leak?"
"Yes, but that can only really apply to adept mages. You can, of course, train your body using it to prevent the side-effects, but that would take a long time, even if you were doing physical training alongside it."
"Side-effects?"
"If you use it too long, you, of course, train your body. The side-effects you'll feel afterwards are at least soreness, dizziness, and pain. That's why I want you to only use it while you're fighting those three. Only use when you're prepared to land a proper hit. Do you need me to show you again?"
"No. I think I understand it. I'll practice it right now."
She turns towards the trio again, and they nod their heads, ready to keep going. Each of them moves to their sides and readies themselves.
Iden, what's my chance at beating that demon now?
This heavily depends on how long you're able to maintain the imitation, but I'd say it's no longer impossible. And that's only if he truly does come.
That's a start. We leave in the morning after tomorrow.
I hope that's enough time for you to get a grasp of it. Though I'll make sure to keep a note of how it works so I can remind you if you have trouble. At the very least, you should be able to cut him.
I'll be trusting you as usual, Iden.